"A try."
"Tr… try?"
Eli Walker couldn't help but repeat it inwardly.
If he hadn't read Lord of the Mysteries, he might have actually believed it.
No… he was now even a little suspicious—who exactly had the problem?
"Your Excellency, your try is over. Can you let us go back now?"
Audrey was equally shaken by this absurd reason. She glanced at the gentleman who sounded slightly flustered, took a deep breath, and tried her best to show an impeccable smile.
In a short span of time, Eli had resolved the language issue and checked the plugin he had installed multiple times. No matter how he perceived it, that plugin was of his own design, bearing his spiritual aura and divine imprint. Its core revolved around the transfer talisman that linked him to the Gray Mist—there was even a trace of Arrodes's power. It couldn't possibly be a forgery.
A long silence fell. Eli stood still, staring stiffly. The brief moment of harmony following the "mysterious figure" speaking had now been replaced by a deathly tension. Zhou Mingrui, who had been mentally held by Eli's presence, still needed to maintain his enigmatic persona. Could he afford to offer two more lines of explanation?
If no one asks, how am I supposed to say anything?!
"Your Excellency, your try is over. Can you let us go back now?"
In the end, it was the brave Miss Hall who spoke up again. Though frightened by the mysterious figure's casual tone, she forced a calm expression and smiled with admirable politeness, trying to restore some semblance of order.
Alger, although also eager to ease the atmosphere, was more than happy to let the lady take the lead.
Zhou Mingrui didn't respond immediately. He had just noticed something strange. The three figures before him were somewhat illusory—projections of crimson stars. He could clearly perceive the link between them and those stars, and he vaguely understood that severing those links would return them to their respective realities.
While Zhou Mingrui was gaining insights from Eli Walker's subtle connection with the crimson stars, Eli was also discovering unsettling facts.
When he tried to peer through his connection back at himself via those crimson stars, all he saw was his Sequence 3 self.
Where is my self from the Fifth Epoch?
Did I transmigrate or not?
Are they and I not on the same timeline?
Impossible. How could alternate timelines even exist in a world governed by the principle of Uniqueness?
Even if it were possible, this is above the Gray Mist. He should be able to observe alternate versions of himself through the crimson stars. Why, then, was there only the Sequence 3 version?
Eli couldn't understand. But the realization was deeply disturbing.
"If you formally request it, I can let you return," Zhou Mingrui—no, Klein—finally responded to the blonde girl, offering her a kindly smile to ease the tension.
As he spoke, Eli, whose essence and rank were higher, felt a faint aura of charm—not quite seduction, but closer to the eloquence and passive charisma of an Error Pathway Sequence 8 Swindler. Even though Klein had simply offered words, Audrey and even the experienced Alger instinctively began to believe him.
The bias of Sefirah Castle… was this what it looked like?
Eli suddenly suspected Klein's pseudo-authority might already be bordering on that of a god.
So now what?
These three were complete spiritual bodies. He was a mere projection from the past.
How should he interact with these familiar strangers?
Should he pretend to be older… or younger?
While Klein and Alger remained deep in thought, Audrey's curiosity remained far more straightforward. After regaining her composure, she couldn't help but ask how one became a formal Beyonder.
How to become a Beyonder?
You're asking me?
Klein was briefly stunned. He hadn't expected to be questioned so directly. Was there a way to make them hesitate a little more? To approach him as they would a great entity?
Was his current aura still too… casual?
On the other side, Eli continued testing how much of his backdoor still functioned now that Sefirah Castle had a new owner.
He recalled the giant buildings once erected on the Eastern Continent before the cataclysm, and with his own understanding—embellished with elven architectural motifs—he reconstructed a magnificent palace. Towering stone pillars supported a vast dome, and beneath it, a long bronze table appeared, flanked by twenty-two tall, archaic chairs.
Wishes granted at will? What convenient magic...
Klein, seated at the head of the long table, traced the edge of the bronze with quiet awe.
Cough, cough… I overused my spirituality again...
Eli suppressed the urge to cough. His right hand, already flickering like an illusion, was quickly tucked behind his back.
He noticed the others were already seated while he still stood awkwardly at the edge. Before they noticed anything, he casually strolled over, pulled open the second chair to Klein's left, and sat down with poise, hiding his flickering hand.
He turned politely to the young lady beside him and said:
"It's very simple. I'll teach you."
"This… sir?"
"What method do you have?"
Audrey was momentarily surprised. If he hadn't spoken, she might have thought he was a woman—his black hair was long and flowing.
Though his late seating had struck her as strange, she decided not to question it. She didn't understand enough to judge.
Klein didn't care either. With all that was happening, Eli's behavior was a minor detail at most. He pricked up his ears, just as curious about the answer as Audrey.
"Of course," Eli said smoothly, "the most orthodox path recognized by humanity to embark on the Beyonder journey is to gaze upon the profane slate."
He shared the method confidently—one endorsed by Solomon, Abraham, Tudor, Trunsoest, and others.
Everyone who had seen it said it was good.
"Uh…"
Audrey's smile faltered, slightly forced now.
Klein chuckled inwardly.
He knew it. What was he expecting—real guidance? How could you learn actual truths from people online? It was all just a game.
"This is indeed the most orthodox shortcut to transcendence," Alger agreed, smiling faintly. "No one doesn't wish to lay eyes on the profane slate themselves. But… it's been missing for thousands of years. It's said to have only appeared sporadically after the Great Catastrophe."
"Let's talk about something practical."
With that, Alger withdrew his gaze from Eli. As for the elf's earlier remarks—he took them as nothing more than a joke, offered to ease the tension.