My setting is above yours!

Chapter 5 Stepping into the Extraordinary
A huge red moon, large enough to cover half the sky, hung in the heavens, its scarlet light flowing and spreading, casting an eerie hue over the entire sky.

But the noise stirred up the night in Ideal City, masking all the coldness and oppression of this city that never sleeps.

The residents of Moen were not afraid of the red moon that covered half the night sky. Only Ron, who had just transmigrated, was occasionally frightened by the unfamiliar moon and missed the golden moon of his hometown.

He parked his electric scooter and squeezed into the apartment with his bags.

"Snapped."

The voice-activated lights turned on immediately. The lighting in Ideal City was clearly far superior to the kerosene lamps of the Potions Era, illuminating the cramped room brightly.

Although Ron's rented room was small, he had been renting it for a long time and had taken good care of it, so it was quite complete and had a very "homey" feel to it.

Ron tossed the plastic bag printed with "Guoyuan Food Hub" onto the table, gently placed the newly purchased experimental equipment aside, and leaned back on his small sofa, an overwhelming sense of peace flowing from the bottom of his heart.

Just like soaking in a steaming bathtub, a sense of relaxation permeates your entire body.

It's hard to imagine that he, an ordinary high school student without any superpowers, could encounter so many crises in just a few hours—

Whether it was the old magician of Ideal City or the monsters of the Potions Era, both brought Ron to the brink of death...

Ron was so worried about potential dangers after his trip to the mall that he only relaxed when he got home.

Having encountered these troubles but lacking the ability to protect oneself, one will always be on edge, living in constant fear.

So, you really have to become a superhuman first...

Ron sat up and took things out of the bag on the table one by one—

Fresh duck blood, shredded kelp, and a huge bucket of distilled water from a vending machine for only 3 credits...

These things that look like mere ingredients are actually all the auxiliary ingredients for the "Gravekeeper" potion.

Ron took the finger bone of the wrongfully murdered man from his pocket and placed it aside; only the final ingredient was missing—

He opened the magic book, picked up the letter tucked inside, and looked at the pale gold sealing wax on the envelope.

In the Potions era, this letter was put into Ron's spellbook as soon as it reached his hands, and only now does he have the opportunity to examine it closely.

On the sealing wax, the simple patterns of the book pages shimmered with tiny lights, clearly visible even to an ordinary person without loading [Embers of the Age of Gods] and activating Magic Vision.

Just by looking at the shimmering light on the sealing wax, you can tell that this is definitely not an ordinary item.

Upon closer reflection, this makes perfect sense. After all, it was a secret message that the Society of Truth wanted to send out, so it was impossible not to take some protective measures to prevent it from being opened by anyone other than Idrila.

This sealing wax, which the magic book identifies as a consecrated item, is probably the method the school used to prepare it.

"Thank goodness I didn't open it during the potion era; the 1% durability reduction from illusions definitely wouldn't have been enough..."

Ron muttered to himself, then easily tore open the bloodstained envelope and removed the sealing wax intact.

While it wasn't enough in the era of potions, it's a different story in Ideal City.

This era, like the concept of "fantasy dissolution," forcefully rejects the mysterious.

As soon as Ron loaded [Embers of the Age of Gods], the manual warned that [Embers of the Age of Gods] was being rejected by the so-called "Anti-Mystic Equation".

The mysterious power of the sealing wax is utterly insignificant in the current meta...

Thinking of this, Ron couldn't help but think of the old magician.

Using personal reality to drive a magic circle to unleash so-called magic...

Are these magicians forced to resort to such tricks because the current social climate rejects "mystery"?

Ron seemed to be deep in thought, then turned his attention back to the letter he had just opened.

The letter contained only a few words, written in elegant handwriting, as if it came from a nobleman.

I saw the letter written:

“Idrila, wrong beliefs will not lead you to the right path.”

Perhaps you are still hesitant, thinking that the church in the city of Ephemeral Bells is still the place where you can dedicate your life—but this is just wishful thinking on your part.

In the shadows you are unaware of, Father Sue has committed countless sins.

You should know about the recent trial where, in the courtroom of the Sanctuary, more than a dozen extraordinary individuals were sentenced to death.

The reason is simple—they were offered as sacrifices for the next fire-chasing ceremony, and thus they were unjustly imprisoned in the sanctuary.

Even more than them... You, Idrila, the 'saint' of Evening Bell City, have also become a sacrifice on the list.

So embrace new life, child.

Cast aside war, embrace truth... Once you step through the doors of the academy, we will be your strongest support.

So this saint isn't even a member of the Truth Society... What is this, NTR in progress?
The Truth Society even tried to abduct a saint from the Scorched Earth Sanctuary; the local society is truly shameless…

However, judging from the letter, the priest of this scorched-earth church is even less ethical—

After all, what kind of logic is it to sacrifice one's own holy maiden?

Looking at the letter's criticism of the priest at the Scorched Earth Sanctuary, Ron pondered for a moment, then put the letter back.

Clearly, this Father Sue is also a problem Ron will encounter in the Potions era.

After all, he was also a prisoner of the Scorched Earth Sanctuary, destined to become a sacrifice in the Fire Chasing Ritual.

If they wanted to escape from that prison, they would inevitably be prevented by the priest.

This time, it might not be enough to just talk the talk...

Ron didn't think that the kind of disguise he used against Kurt would work every time; he always had to be prepared for the worst.

The Truth Society and that saintly lady would likely be his best allies in his escape attempt.

However, that's a story for later.

Ron will never return to the Potions Era until he can resolve the Sequence 8 "War Puppet" that Kurt mentioned.

After carefully putting away the letters, Ron donned a mask and sterile gloves, retrieved the newly purchased experimental equipment, cleaned it thoroughly, and began the extremely cautious process of brewing the potion—

This is his only chance to become extraordinary, and he absolutely cannot allow the slightest mistake to cause the potion to become a failure!

"100 ml of pure water, 13 grams of algae, 20 g of avian blood clots..."

Ron muttered the potion recipe to himself, carefully measuring the amount of ingredients with a measuring cup and a balance, and finally cautiously poured them into a beaker to mix...

Then, following the recipe instructions, the finger bone and sealing wax were placed under a beaker and ignited.

The next moment, the pale golden sealing wax melted, enveloping the black finger bone and penetrating it completely, washing away the deep, dark magic power on the finger bone.

Before long, the dark magic was completely washed away, leaving only the deep blackness in the crevices of the bones that could not be washed away no matter what.

A moment later, the finger bones, now washed clean of their blackened surface and stained with gold paint, melted into the fire, radiating a chilling aura...

In Ron's magical vision, one could clearly see that the flames contained a mixture of white and black magic, but in the end they merged together and turned into ordinary ash.

The mixture of pure water, duck blood, and kelp in the beaker was also boiled, turning a dark gray color.

"Gulu gulu..."

The boiling water bubbles burst, releasing a gloomy, hazy gray mist.

The gray fog filled the room at an unimaginable speed. Through the hazy fog, Ron seemed to hear the rushing of a long river.

A faint, distant call rang in Ron's ears, and he caught a whiff of the desolate, bitter scent of the remote cemetery.

The next moment, the fog dissipated, and Ron came to his senses to see that the finger bone had long since burned away and disappeared, and the liquid in the beaker was no longer boiling.

Only half a cup of cold, dark gray liquid remained, swirling in the beaker without any external force, forming a shallow vortex.

This is the "Gravekeeper's" potion? It's hard to imagine that this stuff was previously a paste made of duck blood, seaweed, and water...

He stared at the swirling eddy in the cup for a moment, then drank the potion down without hesitation.

The icy potion slid down his throat; he tasted nothing, only feeling a long, cold thread flowing into his stomach and then, in an instant, spreading throughout his body—

In an instant, Ron felt as if he had lost his breath, his heartbeat, and all his vital signs, turning into a cold corpse.

The next moment, he seemed to sink into the deep sea.

A somber gray hue filled the field of vision, and the wails of the dead echoed in the air.

But perhaps because the sealing wax used as a consecration item was of a high grade, a golden light kept flashing in Ron's eyes.

A warm feeling also coursed through his body, allowing him to calmly struggle in this dark gray world, desperately swimming and trying to surface.

He saw countless shadows drifting among the dark gray.

But they didn't approach Ron; they just watched coldly as he struggled to swim upstream, calling out to him from afar beyond the boundary.

After an unknown amount of time, as if time itself had lost its meaning due to the cold and loneliness of death, Ron finally tore through the dark gray and floated to the surface of the sea, gasping for breath.

Then, all that darkness completely disappeared.

He came to his senses as the soft, red moonlight streamed into the room, and the ticking of the clock reminded him that everything he had just experienced was but a fleeting moment in reality…

However, although nothing in front of him had changed, the world Ron saw was clearly clearer and more vivid than before.

Is this the world of the extraordinary...?

He felt a surge of emotion as he heard the manual's notification tone in his ear:

You have become "Sequence Nine - Gravekeeper", and have acquired the profession: "Potion Sequence [Death]".

[Your player level has increased: Lv.0 → Lv.1!]

Sequence Nine: Gravekeeper? Death Sequence?
Ron suddenly froze.

He had already figured it out: the player levels in the manual were probably similar to the superpower levels in Ideal City.

At least, if we consider that a Lv.0 player is equivalent to a Lv.0 superhuman, then a Lv.1 player might be equivalent to a Lv.1 superhuman.

But that means...

Is Sequence Nine equivalent to a Level 1 superpowered individual?
As the name suggests, the death sequence obviously has nine levels, and there should at least be a sequence one at the end.

—But in Ideal City, the strongest are only those eleven Lv.5s who stand at the pinnacle of the city!

Is the strongest in Ideal City, in the era of potions, only Sequence 5?

real or fake?

Ron couldn't help but recall how respect Kurt had shown him before, and he fell into deep thought.

What sequence number is the "angel" Kurt refers to?

Level 5 superpowered individuals are powerful enough. Each of these individuals, who possess unique titles, is a towering figure capable of rivaling a nation and can easily raze a city to the ground in half a day.

Wouldn't those high-sequence extraordinary beings from the Potions era have become gods in mythology?
Thinking of this, Ron felt a surge of passion.

—Not to mention angels, if Ron had managed to reach Sequence 4 in the Potions Era and then returned to Ideal City, he could have surpassed Lv.5 and become a true god among men!

At that time, what giant corporations, what magicians...

Speak to my extraordinary magic!

At that moment, a cold notification sound suddenly rang in my ears.

Ron saw a prompt pop up in the manual:
[An older version of the class "Potion Sequence [Death]" has been detected, which conflicts with the 4.0 major update. Continuing to load it will be affected by the major update's settings. Should we load a class more suitable for the current version?]

Major version settings wear off?
Just as expected, it's like in the era of potions, where [Fantasy Dissolution] was influenced and worn down by the mysticism.

This version rejects mystery; if you want to use the power of the potion sequence in the Ideal City, you must also endure the erosion of the existing system...

However, the class that's more suitable for the current version... seems to be the superpowered one, right?

He made his choice, and a new prompt immediately popped up in the manual:
[The profession "Superpowered Individual" has been loaded.]

[Your player level has reached Lv.1, and new settings have been unlocked for you.]

[Unlock Settings: Personal Reality (Lv.1)]

What I perceive, what I understand, and what I acknowledge is my own unique reality.

The world spins in my palm, every single detail determined by my heart.

Therefore, my mind is the Dharma.

—The Laws Rule, the "Omniscient" Atina.

[This is a "Profession: Superpowered Individual" setting. After loading this setting, you will be able to influence the world using your personal reality and have complete control over the ability model you use.]

In addition, Ron received another setting:
[Settings Extracted: Ability Model - Telekinesis]

A model of the abilities necessary to influence the world through personal experience; the necessities for using those abilities.

[After loading this setting, you will have a telekinetic ability model and will be able to use telekinesis.]

Sure enough, it was telekinesis...

Ron had anticipated this, but the telekinesis that had now been properly constructed into a personal reality was clearly much stronger than when he was a Level 0 powerless user.

With a mere thought, it was as if an invisible hand had appeared, sweeping away all the test tubes, beakers, and other bottles and jars on the table and categorizing them for placement in a nearby storage cabinet…

Ron even tested the limits of his Lv.1 telekinesis, conjuring up an induction cooker and a small iron pot out of thin air from the kitchen—

That's nearly 10 kilograms!
Although this severely depleted Ron's computing power, he didn't care about the fatigue at all. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised to feel the telekinetic power that felt so effortless.

Real superpowers... these are real superpowers!

The troubles that had plagued Ron for over a decade, the personal reality he had struggled to build despite his best efforts, are now a thing of the past.

He has now become a true superhuman!
Just as Ron was overjoyed.

"Dong dong dong."

Suddenly, a rhythmic knocking sound came from the door.

Who?
Why would anyone come looking for me so late at night?

Could it be that the Magicians' Association has come knocking on our door...?

Ron immediately became alert, hiding the spellbook and secret letter in a nearby cabinet. He also turned on the induction cooker and poured all the potion ingredients into the pot.

"Boom boom boom!"

A few minutes later, the knocking became more urgent. Ron even suspected that if he didn't open the door soon, the person knocking would force it open...

"I'm coming!"

As he responded to the person knocking, he prepared to use his abilities and cautiously opened the door a crack—

But the people outside immediately pulled him away.

A tall girl in a black dress stood outside the door, with a work badge hanging around her neck that read "Discipline Inspector".

"Hello, I am C01, the executive officer in charge of discipline inspection."

As she spoke, she coldly scrutinized Ron:
"There's a case... that requires your cooperation in the investigation."

(End of this chapter)