Chapter 1239 — A Word of Warning

It was not the only way—Amber could not help muttering inwardly. From what she herself knew alone, the gentleman known as "the great adventurer Mojin," currently under the personal care of Duchess Victoria, had already entered this world three times in succession and returned safely three times in succession. She herself could depart from here through shadow-walking and return to the real world, without any need to climb some "boundary beacon."

But on reflection, she felt that what had happened to her and to Mojin could only be counted as special cases. Perhaps... ordinary people who accidentally found themselves trapped in this "misplaced divine realm" truly had no way out except to climb the pillar and jump?

She frowned and looked gravely at the black-covered book: "Do you really have to climb that pillar and jump off to leave this place? Why must it be done that way?"

"I do not know the specific principle behind it. The Lady of Night told me only one thing," Wilde said, recalling as he spoke. "She said: falling is the shortcut to waking from a dream."

"Falling is the shortcut to waking from a dream... a dream..." Amber's pointed ears twitched, and a thoughtful expression suddenly appeared on her face. "What does that mean? Does it mean this place is actually just a dream?"

"I do not know the precise meaning of that saying, but this place is by no means a dream—physical force works here; the Lady of Night said so herself. Ah... I suppose the reason she mentioned 'dreams' may have something to do with her own frequent dreaming?"

"The Lady of Night often dreams?" Amber frowned. "What does that mean? Why is she always dreaming?"

"Hahaha, how would I know?" The old man's hearty laughter came from the black-covered book. "She simply dreams often—sometimes dreaming while awake, sometimes dreaming in deep sleep. She spends most of her time dreaming—and I am only a passerby lodging here. How could I presume to ask the mistress of this place why she dreams?"

"That... all right, it does make sense," Amber said, scratching her hair. She carefully noted down what she had learned while considering what else she might ask—and just then her gaze fell upon the cover of the black-covered book. She had developed a tremendous curiosity about this book that called itself "the great adventurer Wilde" (or was it truly Wilde "himself"?). After a few seconds' hesitation, she could not resist asking, "Um... may I open you and take a look?"

The voice from the book sounded suddenly puzzled: "Open me?"

"Yes, look—your current form is a book, isn't it? I was just thinking..." Even with Amber's sturdy nerves, discussing this matter made her feel profoundly strange. She gestured with her hands, her confidence dwindling as she spoke. "I was just thinking of opening you for a look... Of course, if you would rather not, then never mind. If you find it offensive, I can even apologize..."

"Ah no, of course not, there is nothing offensive about it. I do seem to be a book at present, and, well... a book can be opened and read," Wilde's voice sounded a little odd, as though he too were considering this for the first time. "How interesting—I have never thought of it before..."

"The Lady of Night has never opened you?" Amber asked curiously.

"Of course not. Her... stature is rather vast, and she is probably not accustomed to reading such a small book. Besides, she has said herself that she does not much care for reading," Wilde said casually, and then his tone turned eager. "Little girl, weren't you going to open me and take a look? I think you should try. I have lain here for many, many years and have never been opened by anyone. Now I am suddenly curious too... just what is written inside this 'book' of mine?"

Amber broke into a smile at once, rubbing her hands in anticipation as she walked toward the stone pillar, muttering to herself all the while: "Then... I really am going to open you, all right?"

As she spoke, her hand had already come to rest on the cover of the black-covered book, and a peculiar sensation followed—as though she were touching jade rather than paper or leather. The first thing she felt was cold, cold as lifeless stone. Only then did she carefully open the pitch-black cover, across which starlight still drifted, and the nameless book that called itself "the great adventurer Wilde" finally opened its first page before her eyes.

The dense lines of text she had expected, or the mysterious and uncanny patterns and portraits, did not appear. On the pages, which gave off a faint white glow, only a few large, striking words met Amber's eyes:

BEWARE THE SENTINEL!!

The instant she saw those words, Amber felt her heartbeat abruptly quicken a little. She sensed that behind these simple letters lay hidden far vaster information, information that tried to enter her mind—yet it seemed incomplete, and the moment she became aware of its existence, it had already scattered to the winds.

She stared in astonishment at the letters before her, and only after several seconds of blank shock did she instinctively turn to the next page, where familiar words once again met her eyes:

Beware the Sentinel!!

Something clicked. She flipped rapidly through the pages that followed, and on every single one she found the same warning repeated without end: Beware the Sentinel, beware the Sentinel! Beware the Sentinel!!

"Little girl," Wilde's voice suddenly issued from within the book, jolting Amber out of her inexplicable tension and bewilderment. The old man's voice sounded warm and full of curiosity. "Do you see it? What is written all over my 'body'? Is it my life story? Or important notes from my adventures?"

"Beware the Sentinel."

"Beware the Sentinel? What does that mean?"

"There are only those few words in it," Amber snapped the book shut as though the thing had scalded her fingers. "Sir, do you truly not know what it means? From beginning to end, your pages repeat that one sentence over and over. It sounds like a warning... Beware the Sentinel!"

"I... I do not remember," Wilde said, a little at a loss. "Beware the Sentinel? It means nothing to me. I have no idea what this 'Sentinel' you speak of even is..."

Amber opened her mouth, but she was even less sure how to explain any of it to the "book" before her—and it was at that moment that a sudden sense of weightlessness and vertigo swept over her, scattering all her thoughts.

The next second, she felt herself falling backward, and she landed hard on the solid floor...