August William Derleth's Former Residence

Since he had only provided the method of committing the crime, August graciously said there was no need for payment, as long as Hope was willing to take on the translation work.

August seemed to have already claimed this dormitory as his temporary base. He rummaged through the drawers, found a steel pen, ink, and blank manuscript paper, and handed them all to Hope.

"These are all yours. You can start whenever you want..." the drunkard said. "It'd be best to finish within ten days... but if you can't, it's not a big deal. Small publishers are pretty loose with deadlines."

Hope tested the steel pen and found it wasn't as good as his own, but he kept it as a spare anyway.

August lay down on the bed, ready to sleep. Since this was an unoccupied room, there wasn't even a bedsheet—the so-called bed was just a raised wooden plank.

August rummaged under the bed, then looked at Hope. "Have you seen my alarm clock? I can't find it."

"Are you asking me?" Hope said, puzzled. "This is my first time here, and my eyesight is... wait, is that thing by your headboard it?"

August rolled back onto the bed. "Perfect, that's it! Looks like I forgot to hide it when I left last time."

"Seven o'clock is a special time," he said. "I need to get up early, preferably leave here before seven, or I might get caught by the caretaker wandering around."

He let out a faint snore, falling asleep almost as soon as he set the alarm clock down. The fact that he remembered to find the clock first instead of hitting the bed board and passing out immediately showed remarkable willpower.

Hope suspected he'd been kicked out by the caretaker before.

Just as August had said, this was a four-person dorm with four beds. Hope picked one at random and sat down.

Hope didn't mind the bare bed board—his own living conditions weren't any better—but he didn't plan to sleep here.

He wasn't going back yet because he wanted to test the weakening side effect of the Heart-shaped Padlock.

It was raining outside, and it was midnight. Even if Hope wanted to find Elizabeth, he had no idea who to ask about where she lived. He had nothing to do.

So he brought the kerosene lamp to the table in front of him, spread out the manuscript paper and the original Hex Language text, and began his first job in this world.

"As a pastry chef, I must thank those scientists who invented such a marvelous thing as the refrigerator. Ice cream sales have skyrocketed, becoming an affordable luxury for the masses, with flavors growing ever richer. Praise the Lord who created all things..."

Hope's hand holding the pen paused. He crossed out the sentence he had just written, then reread the original text.

"Praise the Lord who created all things"—that was indeed what the original said.

Hope had no trouble reading this passage. Number One Hope's grasp of the Hex Language was no less than his command of New Federation language, so there should be no chance of misunderstanding.

But... "the Lord who created all things"...

Based on Hope's observations over the past few days, the New Federation had no legal religion whatsoever. Anyone who wanted to praise a god was a heretic, no matter which god it was...

Was it because the country was different? He had no idea where this Hex Kingdom was... Most importantly, did this "Lord who created all things" actually exist?

Hope shook his head. Such matters were far beyond his reach. Whether the Hex Kingdom had fabricated a nonexistent god, was being raised by an Evil God, or was protected by a true god, it had little to do with him.

Since the translation was correct, Hope rewrote the sentence he had crossed out. Whether to keep it in the end would be up to August to decide.

He rubbed his sore wrist. It had taken him about an hour to translate the first page. At this rate, the time August had given him was more than enough—translating twenty pages in ten days would only take about two hours a day.

Hope had plenty of free time; he just needed to squeeze in some spare moments. He just didn't know how much the pay was worth—how much purchasing power ten cents had... He shook his head, forcing himself not to dwell on it. Even if there was no payment at all, just getting the illegal right to use this room was worth it.

He was already feeling some fatigue, but it wasn't strong enough yet to tell whether it was from the Heart-shaped Padlock or lack of sleep.

August's snoring softened, and he began grinding his teeth in a way that set Hope's teeth on edge, then muttered something in his sleep.

Hope didn't catch it, but it sounded like a person's name.

"Len..."

His voice even carried a hint of a sob.

What the hell, man? You're pretty creepy like this in the middle of the night. Hope grumbled inwardly. Could it be a broken heart? No wonder he drank so much.

Hope put away the manuscript he had written, picked up the oil lamp, and toured the dormitory, memorizing its layout as best he could to use as a station for "Uncertainty."

He focused especially on the space under the beds. Teleporting to a closed, cramped place like that would give him some sense of security.

He skipped only August's bed among the four—the lamplight might disturb his sleep.

The fatigue grew more pronounced until Hope felt himself starting to lose his balance. He quickly grabbed the table to keep from dropping the kerosene lamp.

The side effect of the Heart-shaped Padlock had kicked in.

He set the kerosene lamp back on the table and took out his small pocket watch.

One fifty-seven in the morning.

About two hours after leaving the room.

Hope silently noted the time but still wasn't in a hurry to go back. Instead, he found the key to the Heart-shaped Padlock and placed it on the table.

He wanted to test whether the fatigue would subside once he was away from the key.

The moment the key left his finger, Hope's connection to the storage room vanished, but the fatigue remained.

Hope waited a little while before feeling his stamina recover slightly.

He retrieved the key and reestablished the connection to the storage room.

It doesn't recover immediately, huh...

Hope shook his head in disappointment. His hope of refreshing the negative state by removing the item had been dashed.

Though he hadn't managed to explore the campus of Miskatonic University or find Elizabeth, having a temporary base on this campus was already enough to satisfy him.

He placed the translated manuscript on the table beside August's bed, so he could see it as soon as he woke up.

After a moment's thought, he pulled out another sheet of paper and left a note, roughly saying that he had matters to attend to and had to leave first, but since he didn't know where his home was, he would bring the translated manuscript to the dormitory every night from now on.

Hesitating briefly, Hope did not leave his real name, but improvised a pseudonym: "Love."

Finally, he extinguished the kerosene lamp and closed his eyes.

Strangely, the rain at Miskatonic University was not light, but back in Dunwich, it was nearly clear, with the moon shining brightly in the sky.

It seemed the distance between Dunwich and Miskatonic University was farther than Hope had imagined.

Hope lay in bed, recovering some strength, but forced himself not to fall asleep. Instead, once his energy returned, he brought the manuscript paper, ink, and Steel Pen to Old Williams's house.

Leaving them in the storage room would make him feel unsafe.

After doing all this, Hope finally began what little sleep time he had left.