Kisaragi's Long-Strange Collection Notes

tide knew very well that Chen Meimei wasn't interested in dry theories, so the notebook she gave her was concise and beautifully formatted, showing that she had put a lot of thought into it.

The first page directly presents the knowledge that Chen Meimei is about to collect from all over the place:

The Mystic's Advanced Guide

The mystery level of a mysterious person increases from 0.99 to 1, requiring them to confront an oddity alone.

To increase the mystery level from 1.99 to 2, you need to use a material dropped by any strange creature.

To go from 2.99 to 3, you need a strangely dropped material. This time, the material doesn't need to be highly compatible with your character, but it can't be completely unrelated either.

To go from 3.99 to 4, you need a strange material that is highly compatible with you;

Going from 4.99 to 5 requires highly compatible materials and a corresponding ritual. Each person's ritual is different, and the method of the ritual needs to be explored by the mystic himself.

From 5.99 to 6, the materials, ritual, and blessings of the sun and moon are of extremely high compatibility.

The knowledge above level 6 is inherently mysterious and has not been widely disseminated.

The degree of material compatibility is influenced by many factors.

What is more obvious is whether it is consistent with one's own [mysterious] characteristics. There are many hidden factors, such as the number of times the purchased materials have changed hands, the remaining usable amount, the hidden characteristics of the materials themselves, etc.

"Good, as expected of my good partner, tide Ke is a real lifesaver, she knows what I need and thinks what I need."

This advanced material is not entirely accurate.

White subtitles appeared.

Chen Meimei took it very seriously, while Xiao Shuang was quite aloof and rarely took the initiative to speak.

What's not accurate enough?

[Starting from a mystery level of 1.99 to 2, it's not just about obtaining materials dropped by monsters; you also need to personally defeat the monsters to acquire the materials.]

In "The Mystic's Advanced Guide", Xiao Shuang corrected "obtaining materials" to "obtaining materials after personally killing monsters".

"It actually requires obtaining it personally? I feel like no one around me seems to have realized that."

[The journey from 0.99 to 1 requires confronting the bizarre firsthand; this is a clear instruction. To go far on the path of mystery, one must personally participate in every step. However, the seven races, for some reason, have been taking shortcuts in their own self-deception.]

"Since there are shortcuts, some people will inevitably take them; after all, not everyone is willing to take on high risks for high returns."

Therefore, when [mysteriously] the level dropped from 5.99 to 6, the vast majority of people did not receive my [blessing]. They should have spread the risk across the first three breakthroughs, instead resorting to speculation and shortcuts. Once they reached a higher level, they would have to pay the price.

Chen Meimei seems to have discovered some incredible secret.

Yes, the graduation exam is just a breakthrough at [Mystery] 1. The success rate for the school's elites is only 5%. Why is the risk of breakthroughs at levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 decreasing instead of increasing? Why is it that obtaining the code name of [Mystery] 3 is as simple as following the steps and having hands?

"Xiao Shuang, do you mean that if someone achieved a breakthrough by buying materials even once before [Mysterious] version 5.99, you won't grant them [Blessing]?"

Mostly yes. Of course, there are a few exceptions where something looks particularly pleasing to the eye.

"I'm just a little curious, how often do you release one of those 'particularly pleasing' and 'few exceptions' that you mentioned?"

It's not fixed; on average, it's about 300 years.

Where's Xiao Hong?

She has more than me; she really likes exceptions, and there might only be one in a hundred years.

"Since we're already talking about this, Xiaoshuang, by the way, what's the relationship between the moon and the sun? Could we perhaps have some interaction with both of you suns?"

[The two suns of March are beings beyond this world. We jointly protect this world, but we are infinitely vast and infinitely far apart, making communication between us extremely difficult. Before you appeared, we in March couldn't even speak to each other, let alone the two suns.]

However, there are rare occasions when they have brief exchanges, discussing matters related to the world's operating mechanisms. If you want to contact them, that's probably when you'll have to wait until then.

When?

[Waiting for two special celestial phenomena: a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse.]

"At dawn and dusk, the sun and moon may briefly share the same sky."

That's an illusion.

Chen Meimei was chatting with Xiao Shuang.

Home at dawn.

There was no movement inside for a long time. [No tomorrow] was approaching, and we could not wait any longer. At dawn, we slowly pushed open the door.

"Kassan?"

No one responded.

"Kassan!" The shout rose in volume.

At dawn, I groped my way across the salt sand.

After taking three or four steps, I bumped into Cassan's body.

At dawn, he carefully helped her up and tried to move her into the living room.

Her movements woke Cassan.

"Dawn, let me go."

"Cassan, you?"

"It was a success, but the ceremony left me a little weak. I'll be fine after a rest."

A smile appeared on Fuxiao's face.

It's good that it succeeded.

[Mysterious] Advancing from 4 to 5, failure may not lead to death, but it is normal to waste resources, suffer heavy losses, and damage the foundation. If you are unlucky, you may even be permanently stuck and unable to make any further progress.

"By the way, Cassandra, your leg?"

When I helped Cassan earlier, I touched her leg. It felt strange, like flesh wrapped in a thick layer of salt.

Cassan looked at her legs; the salt and sand resembled scabs that had formed over, becoming a layer of keratin on her skin.

This was still her legs; her soles were completely devoid of flesh and blood, replaced entirely by salt.

In the future, when she dances, she will be able to perform even more inhumanly difficult moves.

"Just a minor mutation. At [Mystery] 5, everyone has their oddities. I'll get used to my new power and see if I can recover or hide it."

Qingfeng Tower in the East District, tide's home.

tide moved the two picture frames to the sofa.

"Mom, Dad, look at the gift Chen Meimei gave me! I can fly now!"

As she spoke, she flapped her moonlight wings and floated into the air.

tide was already extremely beautiful, but now she looked like a combination of a moon goddess and an angel.

In the picture frame, tide's father makes a disdainful expression: "Hmph, the brat's stuff is stinky too, what's so great about it?"

He said that, but he kept secretly glancing at the wings out of the corner of his eye and swallowing hard a few times.

tide's mother beamed with joy: "Good, good, good! My Xi is so charming, her wings are beautiful, and Chen Meimei did a great job too. We'll invite her over for dinner again next week."

"Mom, what are you saying? It's dangerous in the city next week. We can't let him run around everywhere."

"You've already taken care of it? Okay, then next week."

Every family has its own kind of commotion.

Time slowly passed, the clock struck midnight and the moon disappeared, and another [day without tomorrow] arrived.

Chen Meimei had just finished reading for a long time and was feeling sleepy, so she fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed.

First floor of the South Building.

The shops along the street had long since closed their doors.

Only one store remained open.

In the pitch black, a misty fog spread as we entered the still hospitable seafood shop.