Chapter 25: The Unknown Shop Reward
Perspective: Velkaris
"System," I said after the shrine had fallen silent,
"Open the Unknown Shop. Use the first free draw."
[DING: UNKNOWN SHOP – FREE USE ACTIVATED]
Generating reward…
Calculating narrative entanglements…
Weaving world-thread resonance…
A shimmer of silver and mist rippled before me, as if space itself was blinking.
From the ether, something slowly emerged — small, reflective, almost afraid to exist.
It hovered midair like a trembling truth.
Reward Received
✦ Item: Echo-Mirror of the Fated Fool
✦ Type: Pocket Artifact
✦ Effect: One-way reflective link to the Gray Fog
✦ Bound Function:
When the Fool chooses to respond, and if you pray to him, you may enter the Gray Fog.
(Similar to how Justice, Hangman, and Sun entered the Fool's domain in the original plot.)
✦ Limitation:
The Mirror shatters after one successful entrance into the Gray Fog.
You cannot force entry. The Fool must acknowledge your prayer.
I stared at it — a simple silver pocket mirror, cracked faintly around the edges, like time had been trying to erase it.
But the reflection inside wasn't mine.
It was fog.
Gray. Endless. Breathing.
"So… he hasn't awakened yet," I murmured.
[DING: SYSTEM NOTE]
Reminder: The one known as Klein has not yet died.
He will take his own life in exactly one month.
After his death, Zhou Mingrui will transmigrate into Klein Moretti's body, awakening the path of the Fool.
You are witnessing the prelude to a god's birth.
The fog inside the mirror briefly cleared.
I glimpsed a young man — exhausted, broken, with eyes that had not yet tasted fate — holding a pistol in a dim apartment.
He hadn't pulled the trigger yet.
But he would.
And when he did…
The Fool would awaken.
"So this is the price of godhood," I whispered. "It starts with blood, and ends in fog."
The system chimed again.
[NEW QUEST ASSIGNED]
Quest Title: Corrupt the Image Before the Name is Known
The Fool has not yet entered the stage.
The world does not yet know of him.
You have the opportunity to paint the canvas before destiny fills it in.
Create and spread a false image of the Fool — as a malevolent god, a trickster, a shadow behind the curtain.
Sow fear, confusion, and half-truths before he claims his name.
Time Limit: 30 Days
Quest Reward:
Unknown
I closed my hand around the mirror. It felt heavier now, almost alive.
"Before he becomes myth, I will make him a monster."
"Let them fear the Fool before they ever pray to him."
"Let him climb to divinity through a fog of lies."
And so, the mask of Velkaris, the Faceless Sovereign,
turned toward a new deception.
This time, aimed at the future god himself.
End of Chapter 25