Chương 1: Chapter 1: The Lucky One?
Chapter 1: The Lucky One?
"Huanhuan, if you were to find yourself in a world of lord of mystery, you'd surely be a natural-born monster!"
The girl called Huanhuan looked on with a puzzled expression—black hair in a student's cut, deep brown eyes, the classic Asian features, a heavy backpack, an oversized tracksuit, and something… what was it? It was unclear, but memory suggested it should be the school emblem.
Huanhuan—for now, let's call her that—looked around. Thick white fog obscured the surroundings, and the girl who spoke was the only clear presence.
At this moment, the girl stood shoulder to shoulder with her, holding her hand and chattering animatedly. They seemed to be… yes, on a road! Huanhuan blinked, looking at the white fog that filled the air around them. As her memory cleared, the dense fog gradually dissipated, becoming thinner, and the vague shapes around her started to become discernible.
They were standing on a road, wearing matching outfits—likely classmates, perhaps even good friends. This thought intruded into Huanhuan's mind, bringing a moment of clarity—yet it wasn't enough.
The varying heights of structures lining the streets, adorned with signs… those were shops.
The occasional metal boxes on four wheels that whizzed by, emitting sharp noises… those were cars.
What else? Mystery… monsters… these seemed to be elements from a book the girl in front of her liked, with a protagonist named… what was it? A sudden headache interrupted Huanhuan's thoughts, prompting her to consider a different direction.
What had just happened? Why was she here? And why was the expression of the girl in front of her turning to one of horror?
"Huanhuan—!" As time slipped away in Huanhuan's thoughts, she only managed to see the girl's increasingly terrified face and hear a piercing scream—followed by intense pain.
Huanhuan suddenly sat up, looking down at her unharmed body in confusion, realizing vaguely that everything that had just happened seemed to be a dream.
…So, who was she?
Huanhuan—perhaps that was her name—was about to examine herself more closely when she felt a shiver and instinctively looked up in a certain direction. There, almost blending into the darkness, was a person watching her warily.
"…Who are you?"
The sound of her own voice startled Huanhuan because it was different from the language she had heard in her dream—and the person in front of her responded in the same language.
"Do you remember what happened?"
…It was a male voice. Huanhuan blinked thoughtfully, her brain unconsciously following his words—what had happened? Or rather, what had this body experienced? The man with a look of terror stumbled backward, accidentally stepping on a pebble and falling to the ground, his head striking a sharp stone.
A beautiful, shimmering crystal slowly emerged from the breathless man's body. Huanhuan, as if drawn to it, walked over to pick up the crystal—then, while examining it closely, she tripped over something and fell as well.
The crystal flew from her hand as she fell—and, by chance, landed in her open mouth.
What happened next? Or even before that?
A slight pain in her brain and a premonition told her—stop thinking about it.
So she gave up trying to recall and looked at the wary man—if his voice matched his gender.
"I remember, a man died in front of me, and a very pretty, glowing crystal appeared on his body. I went over to pick it up and take a closer look…"
"And then?"
"Then, I fell."
"Fell…?"
"Yes, the crystal fell out, it seemed to fall into my mouth…"
The man did not answer her, but the scenery around them began to shatter, and she sat up abruptly once again—what had just happened was another dream.
She looked around in confusion; this time, it wasn't pitch black. She was in a small room, lying on a bed, and the man from her dream was looking at her with a complex expression.
The man was dressed in a police uniform, with three silver hexagonal stars on his epaulettes, appearing to be in his thirties, with a straight nose and deep-set grey eyes.
Beside him stood a man with black hair and green eyes, his posture casual and irreverent, his hair messy, with two silver hexagonal stars on his shoulder. Unlike his companion's complex expression, which was hard to read, this man's expression was much more obvious—clear surprise.
"Why are you looking at me like that? And that dream…"
Perhaps noticing the girl's confusion, the casually postured man gave her a gentle smile and said slowly, "Well, it seems we need to let you understand the current situation… First, what's your name?"
Name? The girl looked bewildered, trying to remember, but aside from the name "Huanhuan," she had no clues… wait.
Strange images flowed before her eyes—a girl chasing a talking white rabbit with a pocket watch fell down a rabbit hole. Accompanying the images was a faint impulse, and she almost subconsciously blurted out, "Alice Kingsleigh."
"That's right, Miss Alice, have you heard of… the Beyonder?"
"…The Beyonder?"
"Yes."
"…I don't remember."
"Hmm?"
"I don't remember… Besides what I just told you, I don't remember anything."
The man with black hair and green eyes exchanged a glance with the grey-eyed man, seemingly communicating something through their gaze, or perhaps not. In any case, the man with green eyes looked at Alice again.
"Well… okay, then I'll introduce you to the Beyonder."
…
"So, I am now… a Sequence 7 of the Path of the Monster, the Lucky One?"
After the introduction by the two police officers, Alice, who had come to understand the Beyonder, the Path, and the Sequence, confirmed with them.
"That's right, we didn't expect such a thing to happen…"
As he spoke, the expression of the man with green eyes twisted slightly again—a common person accidentally swallowing a Sequence 7 characteristic not only survived but became an Beyonder, despite apparently losing her memory. They had checked before—whether in body or spirit, the girl was very "normal," making it hard to believe she had actually swallowed a Sequence 7 characteristic whole… Should she be called the Lucky One?
Of course, it didn't rule out that Alice had hidden problems—like they hadn't noticed her amnesia before, but, in any case, her survival and becoming an Beyonder was clearly beyond ordinary luck.
Alice Kingsleigh is actually the name of the protagonist in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." The Alice who accidentally fell down the rabbit hole and the protagonist who stumbled into the Beyonder world share a striking similarity.
Choosing this name and this sequence also sets the tone for the story—Alice is just a "lucky one" who accidentally entered the Beyonder world.
She is not powerful or wise, even naive and innocent like a wandering girl who wouldn't have, having spent over a decade in the peaceful modern society, perhaps even a bit reckless—preferring intuition over rational thought.
Perhaps as the story progresses, Alice will, due to the characteristics of the Path, take on the common ailment of the Path of Destiny—becoming a charlatan.
She will also gradually realize that the world is not peaceful or beautiful, and the world of the Beyonder is full of countless dangers and horrors. Everything in fairy tales is deceptive, but that's a story for much later.
For those who want to see these developments but don't have the patience to wait, this is not the book for you. Let's not hurt each other.
(End of Chapter)
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