A Powerful Sense of Dissonance

A profound sense of dissonance.

Why did everything feel so wrong?

What was happening?

Olivia’s eyes were filled with a mix of confusion, apprehension, and even a touch of alarm as she watched the scene unfold before her.

She remembered that she and the other four nuns had just walked through several streets in the South District of Kaliron to reach their destination for the day, Bates Orphanage. Nothing strange seemed to have happened, right?

And yet...

"My name is Georgina Bates," the director of the orphanage said, introducing herself to the nuns.

A sense of absurdity bloomed in Olivia’s heart.

Even though they were supposed to perform social service at Bates Orphanage today, she hadn't looked up the director's name beforehand. So why, when Georgina introduced herself, did the name 'Georgina Bates' already exist in her mind?

It was strange.

Far too strange.

"It’s so hot. I feel like the sun suddenly got much stronger. It’s hotter than before," Bethany muttered nearby, tugging at her collar in complaint.

Bethany had said similar things many times on the way to the orphanage, so it wasn't particularly unusual.

However, Olivia felt a jolt of realization.

She did feel that the sun’s temperature had seemingly spiked in an instant. It didn't feel like morning light at all; it felt as if she were standing in the middle of high noon. Only the midday sun would be this intense, this scorching.

This caused Olivia to instinctively look up at the sun's position, and her pupils constricted violently.

The sun’s position... it wasn't right, was it?

It was common sense that the sun occupied different positions at different times of the day. Why did its current position look exactly like high noon?

According to the time the nuns had arrived at the orphanage, it should only be around eight in the morning.

This succession of incongruities made Olivia feel entirely out of place in the current scene. A powerful sense of dread welled up from the depths of her soul, even sparking the urge to turn around and flee from this orphanage as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Everyone, please come inside."

Now that the introductions were over, Georgina led the nuns into the orphanage and called the children out, leaving the nuns to arrange the educational activities for them.

At the sight of the adorable children, Bethany immediately forgot about the heat. With a smile on her face, she approached them and began to chat.

Evel, looking tense, recalled the arrangements made by the formal nuns during their last social service and began to mimic them, organizing the tasks with a practiced air.

Before long, Olivia was assigned five children, all between the ages of ten and eleven.

As the five children were led before her, Olivia still felt somewhat dazed. A strange sense of déjà vu lingered, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

'Magic mirror, magic mirror, I feel like something is wrong with my state of mind. Do you know what’s happening?'

'Apologies, Master. When I am tucked away, I lack perception of the outside world and do not know what has occurred. Perhaps you could describe the anomalies you are sensing, so I may judge them based on the knowledge I acquired at the monastery.'

Upon hearing this, Olivia immediately described the dissonance she had noticed.

For instance, how she inexplicably knew Georgina’s name beforehand.

For instance, how it should be eight in the morning, yet the sun was at its zenith.

Furthermore...

Olivia’s gaze swept over the five children, suddenly locking onto a young girl who looked delicate and thin. A name surfaced instinctively in her mind.

Rose!

Even though they hadn't been introduced yet, she felt certain the girl was named Rose.

'Master, you may have encountered a supernatural event. Everyone’s memories may have been muddled. Because your mental strength is stronger than that of a typical Initiate and you practice the Radiant Meditation Method, your mind is more resilient. Thus, even if you couldn't entirely resist the influence, you weren't completely affected by it.'

Drawing from the knowledge within the monastery, the magic mirror quickly provided an analysis.

After the mirror's answer echoed in her mind, Olivia instinctively glanced at Mirabelle.

If one were to speak of abnormal mental strength, Mirabelle—with a second soul attached to her own—was clearly more special. Had she noticed anything unusual?

Olivia withdrew her gaze almost immediately, continuing to observe Mirabelle out of the corner of her eye. She found that Mirabelle looked perfectly normal, seemingly unaware of any discrepancy.

Had she truly not noticed, or was she just not showing it?

'Magic mirror, oh magic mirror, what time is it actually?'

'It is high noon, my Master. The nuns at the monastery are currently gathering in the dining hall for their meal.'

This answer caused Olivia to take a sharp, silent breath.

It was clearly noon, yet her memory was stuck at the moment they had just arrived at the orphanage? In other words, she had lost her entire morning?

'What kind of transcendent method could cause such a result?'

'Based on the information available at the monastery, this may be related to a forbidden artifact known as the Oblivion Pocket Watch.'

A forbidden artifact?

Memories belonging to the original owner of her body immediately surfaced in Olivia’s mind.

Forbidden artifacts were a type of extremely strange and absurd magical item that existed in this world.

These items could take any form and could even possess biological traits, but they could not be manufactured through standard methods. The birth of every forbidden artifact was a result of pure coincidence, often accompanied by extreme danger and bloodshed.

For example, if too many transcendent materials were piled together, they might spontaneously fuse into a dangerous forbidden artifact.

Or, if a powerful transcendent died, their corpse might undergo a mutation, becoming a terrifying forbidden artifact itself.

There were no formulas, no patterns; everything was bizarre and unpredictable.

Many transcendents were unwilling to hold onto a forbidden artifact even if they obtained one, because these items were not things a transcendent could fully control... They frequently killed their owners, and the deaths were often exceptionally gruesome.

To think she had actually encountered something related to a forbidden artifact.

A chill crept into Olivia’s heart, and her limbs felt slightly stiff.

'Mirror, tell me the specific details regarding the Oblivion Pocket Watch.'

The magic mirror provided an answer immediately. As Olivia read the contents of that response, her pupils shrank, and her heart began to hammer against her ribs.