Diary

There really was something strange going on...

While Tang Chuan had been waiting downstairs, Quintessa had told him telepathically that the attendant was lying.

They were not inspecting the suite at all. They were installing hidden surveillance devices!

Rather than having Quintessa destroy all the surveillance devices herself, Tang Chuan gave the Star Hunter a test—have him help destroy every potential bug.

The guy had seemed to sense something was wrong the moment he entered. He was a fairly competent bodyguard and underling.

He bustled around the room, occasionally pulling out an extremely tiny, translucent sphere from some exceptionally concealed corner and crushing them one by one.

Tang Chuan sat on the sofa, drinking an energy drink as he asked Quintessa, "Is this normal?"

Quintessa smiled bitterly. "Normal... perhaps. Some planets do give special attention to alien visitors, carrying out comprehensive covert surveillance. But combined with those pedestrians' strange looks, all the signs together make this far from normal. Exile Star... is being excessively cautious!"

Tang Chuan gave Chiliu some of the energy drink as well.

It had no mouth, but once the drink was poured onto its body, it could naturally absorb it very quickly.

Yet Chiliu conveyed a feeling of retching and disgust.

This is way, way, way, way... way too disgusting!

Great Calamity, are you taking revenge on me?

Garlic is still much tastier!

How can you even drink this piss-water?

Only after feeding it half a bottle did Tang Chuan toss the empty bottle aside and say, "You don't know what's good for you. It tastes so good, yet you're making a fuss. Go play somewhere else."

Chiliu crawled off his leg in grievance and went to the side of the sofa to question its life, feeling as if it had been contaminated by that piss-water.

Tang Chuan said to Quintessa in his mind, "Now this is interesting. I keep feeling that something is hidden behind this planet."

Quintessa sighed. "There is little Fantasy Attribute I can use. I only sensed a subtle strangeness, but I cannot make it out clearly. Now... all the surveillance devices in the living room have been removed. Turn the sofa over."

Tang Chuan was surprised.

But he still stood up, chased Chiliu away from beside the sofa, and flipped the luxurious sofa over.

Quintessa continued, "Lift the base panel on the left. There is something inside that you will definitely find interesting."

Upon hearing that, Tang Chuan threw a punch and shattered a loose section of flooring. To his surprise, beneath the fragments was hidden a... book?

Using the Fantasy Attribute to restore the sofa, Tang Chuan sat back down and opened the hardbound book, whose material he could not identify.

Only then did he realize that it was not a book, but a... diary.

And the contents of the diary made Tang Chuan's expression grow complicated and unreadable as he began to read carefully.

December 23, 5189, sunny.

Today's gathering was wonderful. Horasath, my best brother, has such an energetic girlfriend, Boye. Everyone likes her—well, naturally, myself included.

Month 13, Day 15, sunny.

Ever since that night, I discovered that I had fallen in love with that girl. She is lively, beautiful, approachable, and refined. It seems every beautiful word in the world could be used to describe her. Though I know this is wrong, I have finally sunk too deep. Horasath, I'm sorry...

Month 13, Day 32, light rain.

Today should have been a beautiful day. Wearing the clothes she chose for me and holding flowers, I walked toward her beneath the blazing sun. Over these past days, I felt that I had entered her life, and likewise, I enjoyed sharing every detail of my own life with her.

But today, she gave me an inexplicable feeling of distance. At first, I thought it might have been my imagination and tried my best to cheer her up.

That afternoon, the once-brilliant sky suddenly began to shed a fine rain. Unfading dark clouds shrouded the city, as though they wished to announce something.

That night, the drizzle outside the window continued without end. I saw that something was troubling her, tucked her beneath the covers, and held her tight. Breathing in the scent of her hair, which intoxicated me like the last beam of starlight in the wilderness, I asked why she had lost her liveliness today.

Yet the news she told me cast me forever into the depths of the sea, lost and helpless.

Yes, she and Horasath had gotten engaged. In the end, she still chose him. She told me this was the last time; she would pledge herself to Horasath for life and would no longer continue this relationship with me.

An indescribable sorrow enveloped me. I once tried hysterically to make her stay, but she was like a startled swan in late autumn, beyond my grasp, finally vanishing into the clouds.

Month 14, Day 28, sunny.

The day had finally come. When they made their vows of unwavering fidelity before the priest, I knew I no longer had a chance, even if—even if it meant losing Horasath as a friend.

I suppressed the jealousy, madness, and sorrow surging from the wound in my heart and offered them my blessings with a gentle demeanor.

Yet a whisper from Horasath by my ear plunged me into an icy abyss: I know everything. If you do not want to ruin her, come find me tomorrow night at eleven.

Month 14, Day 29, overcast.

I did not go. I admit it—I was afraid. I knew Horasath's personality, and I knew his influence. I feared he would make me disappear from this world.

But for Boye's sake, I still bribed a private detective to set up surveillance in the courtyard of his mansion.

What I saw that night, however, became something I would never forget for the rest of my life.

January 2, heavy rain.

Five days had passed. It had been exactly five days since that evil ritual.

For these five days, I had been distraught and unable to believe what I saw.

My friend, my... lover, along with their elders, became butchers, viruses, thugs, demons that night...

I knew they were looking for me, wanting to bring me into their ritual as well, though I did not know whether as one of their kind or as a sacrifice...

I hid, while the family, friends, and world I knew vanished beneath that evil power.

January 8, sunny.

I discovered some clues. I was glad that I had hidden in advance, but terrified of my situation. My world, what happened to you?

January 9, thunder and lightning.

Boye sent another message. She said she regretted it. Compared to Horasath, she would rather choose me. She asked whether I was willing to merge into one with her...

But after learning a glimpse of that evil, I knew she was no longer the person I loved.

I had already blocked the Communicator's tracking, but I still did not feel safe, so I crushed the communications chip beneath my foot.

The agonized wails outside the window, along with the unending roar of artillery fire, told me that everything—everything—could never return to how it was.

January 11, overcast.

I was like a maggot in a stinking gutter, curled up in a corner that evil had not yet discovered, praying to the gods, praying that evil would descend upon me a little later.

The gods did not answer me. The only answer was those bone-chilling, terrifying cries. They were everywhere, ruling this world.

January 12, sunny.

The hidden camera I had the detective install was discovered. I did not know whether it was Horasath's vigilance, or whether that detective had also...

But it no longer mattered. These past two days, I had been drafting a will. Though I knew it was meaningless and that they would destroy every trace of the truth, I still wanted to leave behind my mark in my final days, even if it too would be claimed by evil...

Civilization would fall. We would all become part of evil. Pharaoh was no exception!