After resting, Klein noticed four black dots on his hand arranged in a square, which soon faded but felt like they remained dormant within him. He speculated if this was linked to the four loaves of bread used in the ritual, pondering if future rituals could be performed without physical offerings. Despite this potential convenience, the ominous nature of the unknown markings and the unsettling events surrounding his transmigration, the strange ritual, and the cryptic gray world filled him with unease. He felt a conflicting urge to both understand the mysterious domain and to ignore everything that had happened.
Sunlight streamed onto the desk, offering a sense of warmth and hope, which slightly eased his anxiety. Overwhelming fatigue then washed over him, a result of his sleepless night and the bizarre encounter. He succumbed to sleep on his bed, disregarding the bread at the room's corners. Hunger eventually woke him, leaving him feeling somewhat rejuvenated but with a lingering headache.
Driven by intense hunger, Klein returned to his desk and checked the time, noting he had slept for three hours. His immediate priority was food, pushing thoughts of mysticism and the gray world aside until he had eaten. He retrieved the rye bread from the four corners, deciding to eat one for lunch, rationalizing it as a frugal choice and recalling a tradition from his past life. He prepared to boil water for a less dry meal, his thoughts drifting to the meager meat allowance in their household. Spotting the mutton, he resisted the urge to cook it, deciding to wait for Melissa. Remembering his basic cooking skills from his previous solitary life, he then recalled the peas and potatoes he had bought. He quickly boiled two potatoes, adding salt, and enjoyed a simple but satisfying meal, even dipping bread into the salty water. The meal and rest finally made him feel more like himself.
Refreshed, Klein sat down to plan. He acknowledged his inability to return to his previous life and the necessity of understanding the mysticism hinted at by Justice and The Hanged Man. Overcoming his fear of the unknown was paramount, and his current strategy was to await the next "gathering," hoping to glean information about the "Spectator" potion or other mystical knowledge. In the interim, he resolved to investigate the circumstances surrounding the original Klein's suicide. Unable to simply walk away from this mystery, Klein picked up the notebook on the table, hoping to find clues within its pages. He knew a stack of completed notebooks existed in the desk's cabinet, indicating the original Klein's habit of note-taking and diary keeping.
The notebook he began on May 10th contained early entries about his schooling, his mentor, and academic knowledge. Later entries discussed linguistic connections to the Southern Continent, debates about the inevitability of the Age of Steam, and his preference for archaeology over history. A significant entry on May 29th mentioned Welch acquiring a Fourth Epoch notebook, a discovery that caught Klein's attention as a potential catalyst for the suicide. He recalled that the Fourth Epoch, the "Age of the Gods," was a mysterious period with fragmented historical records. Subsequent entries detailed Klein's graduation, his initial examination of the ancient notebook revealing it to be a modified form of ancient Feysac, the deciphering of the first page mentioning a family named Antigonus, and a puzzling reference to the "Dark Emperor" which seemed anachronistic. The entries continued to document the deciphering process, mentioning a secret transaction with someone named Tudor and the author's acceptance of a mission to the "Nation of the Evernight" in the Hornacis mountains. The final entry, dated June 26th, simply read, "Are these strange things real?" The notebook ended there, two days before Zhou Mingrui's transmigration. Flipping to the page with the chilling last line he had initially seen, "Everyone will die, including me...", Klein felt a sense of unease. He considered visiting Welch to examine the ancient notebook but, wary of potential danger, hesitated. However, he knew he couldn't simply ignore the mystery. Just as he was contemplating his next move, a series of quick, forceful knocks echoed through the empty hallway outside his door.