20demayo Chapter 3: Zhou Mingrui Makes His Debut
Chapter 3: Zhou Mingrui Makes His Debut
"Thank you, Sasriel." Rosen didn't really need anything in particular. In fact, he wanted some time alone to take a good look at himself.
Sasriel may or may not have noticed this, but after reaching out and ruffling Rosen's head, He considerately left the room.
As the door closed, Rosen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, even though he knew that a door couldn't stop an angel from spying if the other party wanted to. He then snapped his fingers, using the power of the thief's uniqueness to create a further barrier, ensuring that if the other party wanted to peek, even if he couldn't stop them, at least he could sense it.
Then he leaned back and lay on his newly acquired soft bed, and began to think about how all of this had happened.
"I didn't do anything strange, so how did I end up in this time travel? And this pair of glasses..." Rosen muttered to himself as he reached out and took off his monocle, examining what had once been an ordinary item but now possessed the unique power of a thief.
In fact, after fighting with Amon, Rosen basically confirmed that he had not actually obtained the Thief's Uniqueness. The Uniqueness itself was still with Amon, but the part of the power belonging to the Uniqueness was shared with this monocle.
Moreover, Rosen holds the dominant position in this sharing. As long as he doesn't relinquish this power, Amon cannot use the unique power. Similarly, if Rosen relinquishes his authority, he can make him and Amon simultaneously possess the unique power without any weakening.
It has to be said that this is somewhat contrary to the principles of Heaven and Earth.
"Haha, even Amon has his day now..." Rosen thought of the powerful and oppressive boss, Angel of Time, who had once given him some psychological trauma as a former reader, in the later stages of the original novel. Then he thought of little Amon, who had been suppressed by him with his unique power, and couldn't help but laugh.
After thinking it over, Rosen inevitably began to ponder why such an absurd thing had happened. How could an ordinary peripheral item allow him to share power with Amon? Was this a strange change brought about by the transmigration, or was there something special about the peripheral item itself?
"It can't possibly be that really Amon, right..." Rosen thought of the Amon cosplayer he had taken a picture with and muttered to himself, but he knew it was unlikely. Then he thought of something else and took out a few other things from his pocket.
That includes a series of items that can be called the "Mysterious Family Bucket" merchandise, such as the Red Angel keychain, the badge depicting the Celestial Venerable, the Zhou Mingrui mini cotton doll, and the gemstone buckle symbolizing Mr. Door.
These are all merchandise items he acquired at anime conventions, either through purchase or as gifts from enthusiastic cosplayers. Unlike the monocle, which has undergone significant changes, these items look exactly the same as before, with nothing particularly special about them.
"So only the monocle is special?" Rosen fell into thought, unconsciously kneading the cotton doll in his hand. It was a habit of his; when he felt stressed, he liked to squeeze something soft and fluffy.
After kneading it for a while, Rosen, holding the cotton doll by the back of its collar, stared into the doll's dark eyes and suddenly felt a pang of regret.
If he absolutely had to travel to the world of Lord of Mysteries, he would actually prefer to meet the protagonist of Lord of Mysteries, Klein Moretti, who was also Zhou Mingrui, rather than the Sun God and Amon.
It wasn't that Rosen had any protagonist complex—although he did quite like the protagonist—but he actually wanted to ask him face-to-face, "Will you regret it?"
Will you regret becoming the savior pushed onto the altar, sacrificing everything for an era that has nothing to do with you?
When Rosen thought of the ending of the Haunted House, and the little humanity Klein had left, his thoughts drifted for a few seconds, but his face remained fixed on the eyes that had been imprinted on his face.
The cotton doll's eyes are naturally the standard big, anime-style eyes, and because they are not glass beads, they don't have much highlight.
Then Rosen saw those eyes blink.
Wait... he blinked?
Rosen suddenly snapped out of his daze. He looked at the cotton doll in his hand and saw an awkward, flustered smile on its face, which should have been expressionless.
"Um... hello?"
"It's cotton doll," the cotton doll said.
……
Zhou Mingrui was a little flustered.
It's not his fault. Anyone who wakes up to find themselves turned into a cotton doll would probably feel a little uneasy.
So, did I time travel? But why am I a cotton doll?!
Is this scientifically sound?
Is it possible that time travel itself is unscientific?
Just as Zhou Mingrui was on the verge of a breakdown, he heard the child who had been holding him by the back of the collar but was now placing him obediently on the table suddenly speak.
Indeed, time travel itself is already quite unscientific... Wait a minute?!
Zhou Mingrui realized something and looked at the child in front of him in horror. He originally thought that he had transmigrated into the home of some kind of cub and become its toy. He was already prepared to fool the other party. What was going on?
"Why are you looking at me so horribly? Is there something strange on my face?" Rosen knew perfectly well what Zhou was surprised about, but that didn't stop him from saying it.
"You..." Zhou Mingrui paused, as if he had thought of something, and asked cautiously, "Sir, is my time travel due to you?"
To be honest, at this moment he had already imagined that the other party was some kind of strange time-traveling god or something, after all, this is not uncommon in novels.
"No, although I am indeed an angel now, and in this era I could even be considered a god, I am not the transmigrated god you are expecting."
Rosen retorted seriously, leaning on the minibus with one hand and smiling as he said, "Actually, I am also a time traveler, and I am just as troubled by the matter of time travel."
Rosen had no intention of hiding this from Zhou Mingrui, after all, his identity as a fellow transmigrator was something that would allow him to quickly build a closer relationship with the other party. Although, strictly speaking, he wasn't a transmigrator from the old era.
So you're a time-traveling victim like me? No, that's not right...
Zhou Mingrui looked at Rosen, his gaze sharp and scrutinizing, and said, "Do you know what I'm thinking?"
You might guess it by chance once, but it's not right if you guess it twice.
"No, it's just that I can sense your thoughts when you're emotionally agitated sometimes." Rosen shook his head, but didn't completely deny it, instead offering an explanation.
This is also true. Perhaps because Zhou Mingrui transmigrated into the body of the cotton doll, he was indeed able to sense what the other person was thinking when their emotions fluctuated.
Then Rosen saw that Cotton Doll's face turned red instantly. It was obvious that being mind-read was not something that people could easily accept, although the person involved clearly felt embarrassed and annoyed.
Of course, in addition to that, Rosen also sensed some of Zhou Mingrui's thoughts at this moment, which can be roughly summarized as a groundhog scream.