Residual Memories

The moment he obtained the two Curios, the feather pen known as the "Pen of Surface and Interior" began writing on its own, its nib tracing silvery-gray words across the Diary of the Outlander.

[March 7, 1881—London]

[The Samsara Bookstore has finally welcomed a qualified candidate. As the chosen first librarian, I came here today, only to encounter a troublesome matter—

The police have accused me of murdering my own uncle.

Just as I found myself unable to defend myself, Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard said he was willing to believe me.

Will he help clear my name? I don't know...]

[You have successfully written the administrator's first diary entry and obtained a fragment of residual memories.]

Along with the notification that he had obtained an item, a stretch of memories belonging to the original owner resurfaced in Ye Yan's mind.

A storm, the deaths of his parents, the original owner swallowing pills to commit suicide...

A month's worth of residual memories flooded into his consciousness all at once. Those unfamiliar perspectives that did not belong to him, those constantly flashing scenes, stirred up a tempest within Ye Yan's skull.

"Ugh—"

The accident came far too suddenly.

The young man who had been conversing calmly a second ago suddenly doubled over, his face turning deathly pale at a visible rate.

Lestrade's heart lurched.

Seeing the other man slide from his chair, he instinctively lunged forward.

At the critical moment, Lestrade firmly grabbed his arm, preventing the handsome young man's face from violently kissing the floor.

Ye Yan's vision went black, and the pain made him pass out on the spot.

"Someone, quickly! Fetch a healer!"

At that moment, Ye Yan lay quietly on the sofa.

He had actually woken up long ago, but he maintained an even breathing rhythm, pretending to be unconscious as he listened to the sounds around him.

Having received the original owner's memories, he finally understood his current situation.

No parents, no car, no house.

Although his family had left behind an inheritance, the money was not in the hands of the underage original owner. Worth mentioning was that before the original owner's parents had their accident, they had renewed the apartment's rent for a year.

At least that meant he would not be sleeping under a bridge.

Most importantly, Ye Yan had confirmed that the man named Philip had not been killed by the original owner.

This case had nothing to do with him.

After roughly sorting out the original owner's personal circumstances, Ye Yan sank his consciousness into his Consciousness Space.

Of the five originally empty Consciousness Spaces, two slots now held items.

A white feather pen and a worn diary were stored together in one slot, while another held a glazed fragment glowing with seven colors.

The diary was the first thing to draw Ye Yan's attention. He cautiously extended his mental power toward it.

[Diary of the Outlander (First Tier)]

[What is illusion, and what is reality? I need not distinguish them too clearly, for the reflections I have passed through are real as well.]

This was the diary's description. It looked incredibly impressive, but Ye Yan could not actually use it at all.

He could not turn the title page of the Diary of the Outlander. Some sort of power of rules seemed to have sealed it, allowing him to touch it but not delve deeper into its mysteries.

Ye Yan then turned his attention to the other Curio.

[Pen of Surface and Interior (First Tier)]

[When the gate between the worlds of surface and interior is pried open by a feather, every delusion believed to be unreal shall eventually, through history's cycle, condense into iron-gray signposts.]

Like the mysterious diary, Ye Yan could not activate the feather pen's power either. He could not even materialize the two Curios from his Consciousness Space.

Did that not mean the two Curios he had just acquired would permanently occupy one storage slot?

Ye Yan thought of the key in his pocket.

With a thought, the key vanished from his pocket and appeared in his Consciousness Space.

Interesting.

If he got hold of a pistol in the future, he could try storing it inside.

[Key to the Samsara Bookstore (First Tier)]

[Status: Inactive]

[A lady, tired of losing her keys, created a key that would never be discarded.]

Huh?

This ordinary-looking key was also a Curio?

The diary had mentioned qualified candidates and librarians. He had been utterly confused by those terms before, but now he had finally found a related clue.

Joy rose in Ye Yan's heart.

This experiment had unexpectedly revealed another use for the Consciousness Space. It could actually serve as an item appraisal tool.

In the future, if he encountered an item of unknown purpose, he only needed to place it into the Consciousness Space to find out what it was.

However, there was something very strange about it.

The original owner seemed unaware of the existence of the Samsara Bookstore. In his memories, this was merely the apartment key.

Yet within the Consciousness Space, it was identified as the Bookstore's key.

Temporarily suppressing his doubts, Ye Yan shifted his attention to the final glazed fragment.

[Fragment of Inside and Outside (???)]

[One of the essential materials for creating the Gate of Inside and Outside.]

Seven-colored halos continuously flowed across its surface. When Ye Yan tried to focus on it, those lights eerily twisted into countless tiny, bizarre characters.

Ye Yan's breathing quickened.

Realizing something was wrong, he forcibly severed his consciousness from it, then abruptly opened his eyes, his chest heaving rapidly from fright.

"You're awake?"

A gentle voice sounded beside him.

As his vision gradually focused, Ye Yan saw a friendly-looking man with mutton chops watching him. Even when the man's leather boots crossed the floor, they made no sound at all.

Ye Yan nearly jumped.

He had not sensed anyone nearby before.

His hearing had always been excellent. At such close range, it was impossible for him not to notice even someone breathing.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a surgeon from St. Bartholomew's Hospital, John H. Watson. You can call me Dr. Watson."

"Huh?"

Ye Yan's eyes widened.

Had he missed some crucial plot development while he was unconscious?

He had only just learned from the memories that he lived in an apartment at 222 Baker Street. How had Watson appeared before him the moment he opened his eyes?

"Don't get worked up."

Watson reached out and reassuringly patted Ye Yan's shoulder. "I treated you not because you have some serious illness, but simply because someone asked me to."

At someone's request?

Ye Yan's thoughts raced.

At whose request?

Holmes's, or Lestrade's?

Ye Yan dearly wanted to ask, but it would be inappropriate for someone in his position to ask so directly. He decided to probe Watson's attitude first.

"Thank you, Dr. Watson."

Ye Yan sat up from the sofa and carefully chose his words. "May I ask what happened to me just now?"

First, he needed to determine whether Watson had discovered that the original owner had once attempted suicide by taking pills during his examination.

"Well..."

Watson hesitated before finally answering, "Your Soul Essence was depleted, which caused you to suddenly faint. I had just been about to treat you when I realized you were close to waking up."

It was an unexpected answer.

Ye Yan froze for a moment, then quickly reacted.

This was not the detective world set in the real Victorian era from Conan Doyle's works. It was a mysterious world filled with undercurrents and supernatural powers.

He had not forgotten that the notification had mentioned "Soul Essence," and all the information regarding Soul Essence was now in his mind.

[The human soul is composed of nine elements. This is one of them.

The souls of most other things are far simpler.]

As the description stated, Soul Essence was a component of the human soul. The [Edge] he had acquired earlier was also one type of Soul Essence, while the other eight had yet to be obtained.

They were Health, Forge, Grail, Lantern, Winter, Sorrow, Knock, and Moth.

Hmm...

By that logic, he did not seem to count as a complete human being. But considering that he was already dead, Ye Yan felt it was perfectly normal that he was no longer human.

Was he supposed to gradually collect all the Soul Essence and become a true human being?

Ye Yan pondered silently.

Seeing the young man's blank expression, Watson assumed he could not understand these concepts and patiently explained, "You can think of Soul Essence as a component of the human soul."

"According to the rules of the occult world, this knowledge should not be revealed to ordinary people. But since you have already become involved in an incident concerning mysterious powers..."

He paused briefly before continuing, "Then telling you this does not violate the rules."

Was secrecy surrounding the mysterious so lax in this world?

He had thought Watson would be like a wizard from Harry Potter and cast Obliviate on him, a Muggle.

Still, that was also his good fortune.

Ye Yan did not want to miss any opportunity to learn about the mysterious. Seeing how friendly Watson was, he asked directly, "So, is that faint sense of presence around you also some kind of occult power, Dr. Watson?"

Watson was not surprised that the young man had asked that question. After all, the abnormality around him was rather obvious.

"That's right."

He smiled faintly. "My ability allows me to eliminate the sounds produced by my body."

Ye Yan blinked.

He had only asked casually. He had never expected Watson to so generously reveal his ability.

It sounded like the ability of an assassin, yet its owner was a doctor.

"Does your head still hurt?" Watson asked.

Ye Yan shook his head.

"Good. It seems your Soul Essence was only affected slightly and can recover naturally, so there is no need to use [Mead]."

"Mead? What is that?"

"It is a wine brewed from certain strange flowers and fruits. I do not know Mead's exact recipe, but it is highly effective at restoring Soul Essence."

Watson explained, then added another sentence.

"However, it is a special supply reserved for the Royal Research Institute, and the process of applying to use it is quite troublesome."

Ye Yan nodded slightly.

He roughly understood. That so-called Mead was likely another kind of Curio, except one artificially made. As for the Royal Research Institute Watson mentioned, it was probably a place dedicated to researching occult matters.

"Since you're all right, I'll be leaving now."

Watson turned and prepared to leave.

"Wait, Dr. Watson!"

Ye Yan hurriedly called after him. "Can you tell me exactly who asked you to look after me?"

"Sorry, that person told me not to reveal his identity."

Watson stopped, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face. "The only thing I can tell you is that he is a respected elder."

Leaving behind an answer that thoroughly confused Ye Yan, he said nothing more and turned to leave.

"..."

Ye Yan felt that he could now empathize with the players tormented by Riddler in Arkham Knight. He fully understood why players loathed Riddler so deeply.

Just then, the interrogation room door was pushed open.

"God bless, it's wonderful that you're all right!" Lestrade hurried in, his voice carrying obvious relief. "When you suddenly fainted, I thought you had been cursed by those cultists."

Ye Yan noticed tiny beads of sweat hanging from the man's temples, as though he had run all the way back after going out.

"By the way, I have good news for you."

Lestrade adjusted his breathing and said with a hint of delight, "A kind neighbor of yours came to the police station to testify. After verification, your suspicion has been cleared."