In the early morning, amid Mr. Devil's usual morning lesson, Klein instinctively completed the entire routine: "Get up → walk four steps counterclockwise → check prayers → return to reality."
Although he had long grown accustomed to the noisy whispers when ascending above the Gray Fog, falling asleep again after hearing those sounds was still difficult.
Though Klein had gotten used to this schedule, he still grumbled inwardly before washing up and getting dressed. At last, he fastened the earring—worth a near-demigod Beyonder's favor plus a thousand pounds—to his collar.
It had to be said that Mr. Devil's after-sales service was quite good. Paired with an exquisite brass clasp, the earring now looked like a refined tie pin.
Looking at the remaining accessories in the box, Klein's lips twitched slightly. They were only loose brass parts, but with them, he could disguise the earring as cufflinks, a hairpin, a pendant, a button... and other ornaments.
"Should I get my ear pierced too?" Klein looked down at his clothes, always feeling that simply hanging such a valuable Mysterious Item on them was not secure enough.
Just as he studied himself in the mirror and considered giving his ear a poke, he heard the doorbell ring.
"Who is it?" Klein frowned slightly, but quickly remembered that Talim had apparently mentioned Mr. Mike Joseph, the journalist, would come looking for him today.
At the thought of the name Joseph, Klein could not help recalling the hooligan protagonist from Battle Trend. To decipher the "code" left behind by Senior Perrdax, he had recently been following the novel Mr. Sno was serializing in the newspaper.
Amid the jingling sounds, Klein pushed aside his random thoughts and walked to the door. The instant his palm touched the handle, the visitor's image surfaced in his mind—
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