The Beginner Protection Period

Next came the question of confirming whom the prayers were directed to...

Neph drew a breath. She had not sought anyone else out, because she could do this entirely on her own. Pressing down on the Blank Canvas, she took one last look at the sentences written on the paper in Jotun, then fixed her gaze on the Blank Canvas and recited with concentration:

"Great God of Winter,

"You are the recorder of all, the witness of all;

"You are the ruler of ice and snow;

"You are the end of all that fades..."

Maybe I should just add 'the Empress of Winter's End'...

As that thought flashed through her mind, Neph instinctively wanted to raise a hand and smack her forehead. Yet she did not actually lift her hand, and uncertainty crept into her eyes.

Had the Blank Canvas... grown larger?

Unfurled, the Blank Canvas really did wrap toward her like an enormous canvas. Caught in an irresistible pull, she once again found herself standing in that pure white world. Only this time, in front of her...

There was an ice sculpture.

Neph pursed her lips and quietly studied the sculpture. It was lifelike, with finely detailed features, a long fishtail braid, a T-shirt with a cat on it, and a pair of cargo pants...

-it was her.

The ice sculpture was transparent and roughly human-shaped, but its icy shell was extremely thin. Neph dared not reach out and touch it, because it looked as though it would shatter at the slightest touch, and she was not sure what would happen if it broke.

The space inside the sculpture should have been large enough to hold a person-or rather, large enough to hold her. Neph felt that she had come out of it.

Although she could not touch it with her hands, she could still move her spirituality. Neph tried extending her spirituality toward the ice sculpture. A chill rose from the depths of her soul, making her shudder.

Crash-

With that shudder, the ice sculpture actually shattered. Neph blinked, then raised a hand. Finding that she herself had not shattered, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at the sculpture.

Unlike in the outside world, the shattered ice crystals did not vanish. They clattered to the ground, breaking into even finer dust. The dust drifted back into the air and, beneath Neph's gaze, pieced itself together into a thin, pure white sheet of paper that resembled ash.

Neph did not reach out to touch it. Following her intuition, she extended her spirituality toward it. The paper turned back into ash, fell to the ground, and merged with the fallen snow. Only a string of information remained in Neph's mind, combining with her understanding to form a profile:

Name: Cheng Jianxue

Race: Human

Sex: Female

Age: 18

A human of unknown origin. She appeared here following a sacrificial ritual. The civilization in her memories does not appear to exist. It resembles the civilization before Father¹ last awakened, but the corresponding memories of the world contain no trace of her. Nor can any information about her be found in the world's earlier or later memories. She appears never to have left any trace upon the world. Moreover, she seems to bear no trace of Father.

Her memories contain a book called "Lord of the Mysteries," which recounts the life of a human named Klein Moretti, also known as Zhou Mingrui. However, this story does not seem to have taken place in the current era. It may be a history from the future.

Note: The story seems to take place somewhere called Earth. Perhaps it would be worth visiting.

What was that...

Neph stood stunned for a long while before murmuring to herself:

"So I didn't actually transmigrate to the 'Forsaken Land of the Gods.' I, I...

"I actually transmigrated into an Outer Deity's divine kingdom?

"Huh?"

Neph sucked in a sharp breath, feeling that surviving this long had truly been no easy feat.

She guessed that this record had been left by the space's former owner. As for the "Father" mentioned in it, Neph figured that it was most likely the Oldest One.

But the world's memories? Why did that sound so much like... the Historical Void?

The corner of Neph's mouth twitched. Then she pressed down on her eyelid, which kept jumping, because she really had guessed one thing correctly-it seemed that this unknown Great Old One really did call prophecies "history from the future."

"I'm getting more and more worried..." Neph muttered. After testing the Blank Canvas and still failing to hear her own prayers, she left the pure white space.

Still sitting at the desk, Neph pondered for a few seconds before reciting the honorific name a second time:

"Great God of Winter,

"You are the recorder of all, the witness of all;

"You are the ruler of ice and snow;

"You are the end of all that fades..."

She still heard no murmurs or prayers in her ears, but the Blank Canvas did not swallow Neph again either. A cold aura merely spread through the room. Neph shivered and actively probed it with her spirituality.

The overlapping, surging voices made Neph's head ache. She struggled to concentrate, but still could not make out anything. Left with no other choice, Neph tried extending her spirituality into the Blank Canvas again. Standing in that pure white world, she once more probed with her spirituality within this special space.

The good news was that she could make out the prayers this time.

But Neph did not smile. She moved her body a little, her brows tightly knitted. It was a very strange sensation. If she had to describe it, Neph felt that her soul had finally broken free of her body's restraints and attained true freedom. Only when her soul breathed freely did she realize just how stifling it had been for her soul to remain inside her body.

Huh...?

The feeling was rather unsettling, but that was not the only unsettling thing. Neph realized that if she had entered the Pure White Space in spirit form, that meant she had, in a certain sense, truly become the owner of the Blank Canvas. Which also meant that she might no longer be immune to mystical powers!

In other words, her beginner protection period was over.

"I've read through the funeral procedures and have some ideas about how the ceremony should proceed..." Taking the honorific name written on the paper, Nim slowly said, "But I still have one question."

"What is it?" Neph asked in confusion.

Considering Moon City's lack of relevant information, Neph had annotated most of the terms, such as "coffin" and "urn." When Nim raised his question, Neph instinctively thought she had overlooked something and carefully thought it over.

"Do you intend to attend?" Nim asked, looking at her.

Neph froze. Her thoughts went in a circle, and she blurted out, "You mean I'd lie in the coffin?"

-Although the burial was, technically speaking, for Moon City's past, the core of this

ceremony was to welcome her arrival, so the most suitable place for her...

Was either in the coffin or among the deceased's family.

Well, Neph felt certain she would not be able to cry if she had to mourn, so she might as well lie in the coffin... After all, she could essentially play a corpse just as she was, without even needing makeup.

She looked at Nim, and Nim looked back at her, a fleeting trace of surprise crossing his face:

"...So that was what you had in mind? In that case, some of the procedures may need to be redesigned..."