Lorne

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

The Dysenk Family

The original Lorne came from a family that had been merchants for generations. His mother died of illness shortly after his birth, and his father, Tarkin Dysenk, subsequently made a series of disastrous financial decisions 1.

A banker persuaded Tarkin to invest in a “Hall Family business” that was actually a closed-end fund belonging to Earl Hall’s daughter rather than Earl Hall’s bank. Tarkin sold the family’s Rorsted Archipelago land and spice plantation to finance the investment. Further losses depleted the family fortune, and he eventually died from stress 1.

Left without a reliable income, Lorne abandoned his opportunity to attend a business university and pursued mysticism as a means of recovering his fortunes. He studied mystical languages and spent several hundred pounds on a Monster potion formula and genuine ingredients, eventually collapsing from exhaustion and excitement while preparing the potion 1 2.

Transmigration

Chen Yuzhe died suddenly and awakened in Lorne’s body. Using the inherited memories and a newspaper dated May 27, 1349, he identified his surroundings as the world of Lord of the Mysteries 1.

His remaining usable funds amounted to roughly fifty pounds, or less than one hundred pounds including an emergency reserve. His inherited arms-factory investments paid no dividends, while the Hall fund could not readily be redeemed 2.

Lorne wrote a Transmigration Guide from videos he remembered watching before his death. Its claims—including that the authorities would eliminate transmigrators as heretics—strongly shaped his decisions, although they were not verified. Two supposedly crucial names remained impossible for him to recall 2.

Appearance

Lorne has refined features that retain the impression of a wealthy merchant’s son, although his complexion is initially deathly pale and haggard 2.

• Hair: Slightly wavy and dark brown 2.
• Eyes: Brown 2.
• Disguise: Wears a black trench coat and flat cap when visiting the Grizzly Bear Bar 3.
• Monocle: Wears a polished crystal monocle over his right eye when using its appraisal function; he initially also tries using it to partially conceal his face 20 21.

Personality

Lorne approaches mysticism with an engineering student’s skepticism. He questions whether universally accessible divination could coexist with stocks and gambling, and independently reasons that Beyonder powers might be inheritable. Nevertheless, he wants conspicuous supernatural abilities and initially finds the Monster Pathway’s subtle powers disappointing 7 10 13 35.

His survival instincts are strong, but his limited knowledge often leads him to mistaken conclusions. He trusts warnings from fate, flees Backlund rather than confronting the silver-haired woman, and interprets Klein’s attention as surveillance by a hostile hidden entity. He also considers forging Roselle’s unreadable notes as an inexpensive source of income 5 9 35.

Despite his anxieties and frequent complaints about Lucky, he is protective of others. He warns Mrs. Griffin that his pursuers might endanger her, rescues Melissa from a carriage, and prevents Lucky from consuming a substance that could make her skip Sequences. Caring for Lucky gives him moments of comfort in an otherwise unfamiliar world 7 28 47.

Abilities & Skills

Fate Warnings and Premonitions

• Experiences fate-related interference before drinking the Monster potion: attempts to drink the Assassin potion repeatedly leave him dazed 4 5.
• Sees a vision of himself dead beside the silver-haired woman and interprets it as a warning against returning to her 5.
• Receives an image of Backlund’s railway station, prompting him to leave despite Mrs. Griffin’s offer of protection 7.
• Feels an intense warning against proceeding along Iron Cross Street after hearing a distant gunshot 29.
• Regards these experiences as a transmigrator-specific advantage; their precise source is not established 5 6.

Monster Spiritual Perception

• Possesses unusually accurate intuition, demonstrated by repeatedly predicting coin-toss results correctly 7.
• Can perceive sounds and sights inaccessible to ordinary people and occasionally glimpse future events 6.
• Uses spiritual intuition when evaluating unfamiliar people, equipment, and potentially dangerous situations 8 31.
• Notices that changes associated with his Monster potion occur when he feels different from others or is treated as strange; he suspects this is significant to the potion’s development 22.

Spirit Vision

• Learns to activate Spirit Vision reliably through meditation and practice on the train to Tingen 11.
• Sees colored auras and spiritual phenomena around other people 11.
• Uses it to inspect suspicious locations and recognize a corpse as belonging to a Beyonder 29 33.
• Finds it less useful where surrounding spirituality is chaotic 31.
• Avoids openly examining another suspected Beyonder when doing so might attract attention 26.

Robot Computation and Physical Control

• Gains powerful computational abilities and precise bodily control 35.
• Receives substantial improvements to physical capabilities and a natural aptitude for combat and shooting 35.
• Uses enhanced vision to identify an approaching wounded woman at night 45.
• Has increased mental resistance, allowing him to withstand Sharon’s alluring influence 45.
• Limit: Enhanced aptitude does not replace training; Sharon recognizes his clumsy attempt to draw his revolver as that of a rookie 46.

Divination and Anti-Divination

• Studies divination using materials purchased from the Eye of Wisdom and acquires tarot cards and a blue crystal pendulum 13 15.
• Uses pendulum divination to assess antiques, an item’s safety, and whether a chain of events was accidental 16 20 48.
• Gains stronger, ability-based divination after becoming a Robot, though he does not consider himself as proficient as a Seer 48.
• Performs Dream Divination to investigate his transformed revolver’s powers and drawbacks 48.
• Possesses passive anti-divination, which he relies on when leaving the scene of Sharon’s death 47.

Knowledge and Practical Skills

• Mystical languages: Inherits his predecessor’s studies of Hermes, along with some Jotun and Elvish 1 6.
• Simplified Chinese: Can read Roselle’s notes, unlike the other buyers at the gathering 9.
• Palmistry and observation: Combines amateur fortune-telling with psychological inference when reading Daly’s palm 22.
• Cooking: Knows a few basic dishes from his previous life as a university student 3.
• Engineering: Has an electromechanical engineering background, but struggles to apply it without computers, modern infrastructure, or reliable hand-drawing skills 3 23.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

Crystal Monocle

• Produces appraisal information such as an object’s material, value, age, Beyonder ability, and usage restrictions when supplied with spirituality 20 21.
• Enables Lorne to read previously incomprehensible potion formulas in the ancient notebook 23.
• Can return “unknown” results; its criteria for assessing value are unclear to him 21.
• Consumes substantial spirituality, making prolonged use impractical at his early Sequence 23.

Wish-Granting Box

• Provides steps toward resolving a stated problem rather than a complete answer 21.
• Usage limit: Twice daily, with only one incomplete step supplied per use 21.
• Guides Lorne toward palm-reading work, the notebook’s formulas, Iron Cross Street, Tingen’s Port District, and Daffodil Street 22 23 28 31 38.
• Does not readily answer the same question twice; Lorne experiments with rephrasing questions to obtain further instructions 28.
• Drains spirituality. After advancing, Lorne reasons that it consumes a greater share of his spirituality at higher Sequences 28 38.

Revolver

• Originally a black-barreled revolver with a mahogany-colored grip, purchased from Bottle for three pounds with sixty cartridges and a shoulder holster 8.
• Accidentally fires when dropped during Sharon’s attack, striking her in the chest 46.
• Absorbs the translucent substance emerging from Sharon’s corpse and develops silvery-white patterns 47.

Other Items

• Ancient notebook associated with Antigonus — Reveals Seer, Clown, and Magician potion formulas through the monocle. Later disappears from his belongings, prompting a prolonged search 23 26 27.
• Ancient parchment — Develops markings forming a map of Tingen, with a star indicating a possible treasure location outside the city 17.
• Blue crystal pendulum and tarot cards — Purchased for divination practice 15.
• Transmigration Guide — His written recollection of ten video-based rules, with two important names missing 2.
• Eye of Wisdom’s instructional materials — Purchased for ten pounds; provide basic Beyonder knowledge, meditation instructions, and divination methods 9 10 11 13.

Relationships

• Lucky — Adopted companion and female orange cat. She accidentally drinks the Assassin potion intended for him, accompanies his investigations, delivers letters, and saves him from Sharon 3 5 13 23 29 46.
• Tarkin Dysenk — Father of the body’s original owner. His failed investments leave Lorne with little usable money and illiquid holdings 1 2.
• Mrs. Griffin — Backlund landlady. Offers to protect him and claims to have defeated many people who surpassed human limits; Lorne warns her about the danger his pursuers might bring 7.
• Bottle — Supplier and intermediary at the Grizzly Bear Bar. Arranges entry to a Beyonder gathering and sells him his revolver 3 8.
• Silver-haired woman — Demoness who offers him a free Assassin potion as an advance for joining her unnamed organization. A vision of his death beside her drives him to flee Backlund 4 5 9.
• Eye of Wisdom — Source of reliable introductory Beyonder knowledge and advice that helps Lorne recognize the danger posed by the silver-haired woman 9.
• Madam Wall — Novelist pen pal inherited from his predecessor. Lorne writes to her seeking advice on becoming a writer 3 23.
• Daly Simone — Palm-reading customer. He encourages her to confess to the conservative man she loves; she later kisses Dunn 22 36.
• Melissa Moretti — Passing acquaintance whom he rescues from a carriage and pays to send to school. Their later encounters become entangled with his investigation of Klein 28 29 38 41.
• Klein Moretti — Watches Lorne through divination above the Gray Fog. Lorne senses the attention and mistakenly suspects Klein serves a hostile hidden entity; Klein, in turn, suspects Lorne may be pursuing Melissa 33 35 41.
• Leonard Mitchell — Nighthawk who panics upon seeing Lorne wearing the monocle. Pallez cannot see through Lorne and later describes him as carrying traces of extremely high-level power 20 29.
• Five of Clubs — Introduces Lorne to a special Beyonder trading gathering in exchange for a share of transactions 31 32.
• Sharon — Attacks Lorne while wounded and fleeing pursuit. Lucky cuts her throat after an accidental gunshot disrupts the attack; her remains subsequently transform Lorne’s revolver 45 46 47.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Choosing a Pathway and Leaving Backlund

• Rejects “Monster” as an unappealing profession and pursues Assassin, partly because of videos recommending it for survival 1 2.
• Receives an Assassin potion from the silver-haired woman but repeatedly becomes dazed when attempting to drink it. Lucky consumes it after the bottle breaks 4 5.
• Drinks the Monster potion instead, purchases a weapon and basic Beyonder knowledge, then boards the earliest available train—bound for Tingen 6 8 9.

Tingen, Antiques, and the Missing Notebook

• Settles at the Azure Hotel, names his cat Lucky, and studies divination while fearing pursuit 12 13.
• Buys three old objects for fifteen pounds after noticing spirituality in a black-covered book. A parchment subsequently reveals a treasure map 15 17.
• Follows the map, injures his right leg in a fall, and discovers an underground stone door fitted with controls resembling an NES controller 17 18.
• Uses the monocle to uncover valuable potion formulas. After an unsuccessful attempt to divine the notebook’s origins, discovers that it has vanished 23 26 27.
• Follows the Wish-Granting Box’s clue to Iron Cross Street, where his search brings him into contact with Melissa 28.

Beyonder Trading and Unexpected Advancement

• Sends the police a report through Lucky after fate warns him of a possible Beyonder incident on Iron Cross Street 29.
• Enters a secret trading gathering through the Five of Clubs and returns delighted with his financial success and new access to Beyonder trading circles 31 32.
• Takes a transparent substance from a dead Beyonder. After it disappears, he awakens as a Robot and concludes that he absorbed the deceased’s power 33 35.

Investigating Klein

• Interprets the mysterious gaze he sensed as attention from a hidden entity and decides to investigate the Seer he believes connected to it 35 36.
• Follows a clue to Daffodil Street and learns Klein Moretti’s identity and security-company employment, mistakenly treating the company as a possible illegal Beyonder organization 38 41.
• Follows Lucky into an old house and discovers Hermes notebooks, resurrection-ritual notes, and a strange dark red liquid, giving him another lead for a report 41 42.

Sharon’s Ambush and the Transformed Revolver

• Survives Sharon’s close-range attack after she slips, his dropped revolver fires into her chest, and Lucky cuts her throat 46.
• Prevents Lucky from consuming Sharon’s remains because he believes the substance would make her skip Sequences. During the struggle, the revolver falls into it and absorbs it instead 47.
• Leaves for another inn, uses divination to investigate the night’s coincidences and the weapon’s effects, and begins preparing a report letter 48.

Notable Quotes

“What's the point of transmigrating if you don't get to be the protagonist?” 1

“Lucky, I hope you'll live up to your name and turn my luck around.” 13

“Be sensible! Unlucky people like us can't just try things at random!” 47