The Whispering Verses
Chapter 5: The Real World

Of course, in the end, Shade didn’t run. The three-month assignment left by Mr. Hamilton was suspicious no matter how he looked at it, and since Shade hadn’t left before Hamilton's death, there was no chance he would leave now.

However, investigating that assignment and delving into Hamilton’s secrets were matters for later. The immediate priority was to secure enough money to survive for at least a week before making further plans.

He packed the investigation report and map, not forgetting the compass and pocket watch in the desk drawer. For safety, although he couldn’t find any firearms, the cane could serve as a weapon, and he also slipped a fruit knife into his pocket.

For clothing, he chose an inconspicuous black coat and matching trousers, fitting the fashion typical of early summer in Tobesk City.

The two-bedroom apartment labeled "Room 1" on the second floor yielded clothes that fit his current physique in the other room. Unfortunately, the room that likely belonged to the original Shade didn’t have a diary or any notes—items that might have made life a bit easier given the original owner’s pitiful literacy.

By the time everything was ready, the corner clock in the living room showed it was nearing 11 a.m. Shade found the keys to both his room and the building’s front door in a bowl on the cabinet near the apartment entrance. Carefully locking the door behind him, he took a deep breath and, gritting his teeth, plucked a hair from his head. He crouched down, placing the hair in the gap under the door, squinting with his left eye to ensure it was aligned precisely with the inner edge of the room, near the corner of the bedroom door.

The staircase window was closed, the first-floor entry was sealed, and all interior windows were shut. There was no risk of wind displacing the hair. As long as Shade avoided stepping on it when returning and opened the ground-floor door carefully, the hair would reveal whether someone had entered his room.

Before standing, he glanced at the locked door of "Room 2" across the hall. After a moment of hesitation, he plucked another hair and placed it in the gap of that door, parallel to the lock. Given the abundance of mysteries left by Mr. Hamilton, it was better to err on the side of caution.

Descending the spiral staircase, the echoing sound of his footsteps in the otherwise silent building made Shade inexplicably nervous.

The handrails were dust-free, and the decorative paintings on the walls looked well-maintained. The closer he got to the ground floor, the faster his heart seemed to race. He told himself there was nothing to panic about, but this was, after all, his first real step into this world.

Standing by the front door, Shade changed into his boots and grabbed a black bowler hat from the coat rack. It took him a moment to muster the courage to grip the doorknob and push the door open.

The instant the door creaked open, his heart pounded even faster. The sensation of stepping into an unknown world and accepting the reality of his transmigration was deeply unsettling.

Crossing the threshold, Shade avoided looking outward immediately. Instead, he quickly lowered his head, locked the door behind him, and leaned back against it. He pressed his forehead to the cool metal plaque that read "No. 6."

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. Just stepping into another world... one I probably can’t return from,” he muttered to himself, struggling to suppress the urge to take deep breaths. Finally, he raised his head, turned around, and faced the street.

The air was tinged with smoke, the weather gloomier than in the morning. Yet the bustling square remained crowded: gentlemen in suits and bowler hats, ladies in powdered faces and dresses, porters carrying wooden crates, barefoot newsboys shouting loudly, shy flower girls looking for customers, four-wheeled carriages rumbling past, and plump housewives in lace-trimmed hats carrying paper bags.

The faint smell of burning lingered in the air as voices overlapped in the smoky streets surrounding the square. Across the plaza stood three-story buildings like the one behind him, their walls covered in dense networks of metal pipes that glinted like vines or spider webs in the thin midday light.

In the center of the square, a fountain featuring a girl holding a water jug stood dormant, its once-bright stone now yellowed. A patrolling officer sitting by the fountain, his badge gleaming, glanced curiously at Shade, silently asking if he needed assistance. Shade quickly averted his eyes.

A newspaper boy ran past, the sound of his shoes scraping against the gravel making Shade’s hairs stand on end. The jingle of bells from a passing carriage and the probing gaze of someone looking out its window only made his heart race faster.

Pressing his hands against the door behind him, he instinctively leaned back, overwhelmed by the vivid reality of it all. His heart pounded; his blood surged. The sudden toll of a distant clock felt like a bomb going off in his head, leaving him lightheaded.

This was real. This was utterly incomprehensible. This was a complete violation of everything he’d known for over twenty years. He truly was in another world, one he knew nothing about.

“Don’t panic! Don’t panic!” he repeated to himself, though his body betrayed him with its trembling.

“I’ll adapt to all this. I’ll integrate into this world!” he told himself desperately. Yet, his body instinctively pressed harder against the door, the fabric of his back damp with sweat.

Suddenly, the woman’s whispering voice echoed again. Though it, too, belonged to this foreign world, it grounded Shade, pulling him back to reality. Her murmurs, like the recitation of poetry, declared:

[You have gained 'Enlightenment.']

His pounding heart slowed at the sound, and his surging blood pressure subsided as the words echoed in his mind.

“Enlightenment? What does that mean?” he muttered, though he had heard it clearly. He just didn’t understand its significance. [Enlightenment] was one of the mystical four elements Hamilton had vaguely mentioned before his death, but Shade needed further explanation.

The woman’s voice responded indirectly, with a cryptic statement:

[You are me, and I am you. Stranger, you steer the course of fate before the curtain, and fate unfolds because of you. I, behind the curtain, glimpse the truths of this world, and you gain strength through me. Though you may doubt, we are one. There is no difference between us.]

Though her response dodged his question, Shade found himself comforted. His guess was correct: the voice in his mind was likely part of this world’s mystical system. This world seemed to have a cosmology akin to Lovecraftian and unknowable themes, where the supernatural held inherent power, influencing the mundane through its very existence. Thus, another force was needed to help mortals interact with these strange and dangerous phenomena.

“You are me, and I am you. You may say that, but there’s clearly something unusual about you,” he thought, attempting to confirm his theory with the voice. But all he got in return was the sound of her soft laughter.

At least he had taken the first step into this world’s mystical realm. Even if he understood nothing, he now stood here with a purpose.

The earlier panic ebbed away, and Shade felt a closer connection to this smoky Steam Era. Feeling more grounded, he told himself to accept this new reality step by step:

“Earn enough money from a commission, investigate Hamilton’s story, gather the four elements, and study the voice in my head... Move forward. Don’t panic.”

Repeating these affirmations calmed him. Finally, he pushed himself away from the door and abandoned the idea of changing his clothes. Cautiously, he descended the three steps at the entrance and stood at the edge of the square. He opened his eyes wide to take in the world before him and let it reflect in his gaze.

“No matter what happens, move forward,” he murmured, pausing briefly before following his plan. With steady steps, he walked along the circular road encircling the square, heading toward the entrance to the main street beyond.

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