In that moment, his face betrayed his emotion.

  I don’t know this Autumn at all!

  He wanted to ask about the identity of this Autumn Hall, but looking at Felanor’s expression, Ulrich doubted that she would answer.

  Thinking so, he coughed and focused on her second statement.

  “Ma’am, what do you mean by the destruction of Belham?”

  His death and message on the headstone were one thing, but it’s another matter entirely when it comes to the entire city of Belham. After all, the scale between the two was too significant.

  He hoped to understand the truth of the matter. However, Felanor only smiled, leaving him full of questions.

  Seeing this, He sighed with regret. Would he dare to extort this mysterious lady? No way!

  In the end, all that was left was one final question.

  “Did I—“ He froze, realizing his mistake, then corrected his words. “Did this person leave behind anything other than this headstone?”

  She tilted her head, perhaps out of confusion or concern, before nodding.

  Don’t tell me it’s the Eternal Club again…!

  Fortunately, it wasn’t.

  “42.”

  42? What’s with this random number?

  For a moment, Ulrich had the urge to knock himself in the head. He couldn’t understand why his future self would leave behind all these cryptic messages. However, thinking about it, there must be a reason. After all, wouldn’t all these problems be avoided if ‘he’ were to leave behind a direct message?

  In that instant, he recalled Ms. Felanor's attitude and her indirect response.

  Unless… The reason is due to the existence of the Eternal Club?

  The further he asked, the more doubtful he grew. What kind of powerful organization is this? Even his future self cannot speak directly of certain matters and has to use this method of relaying messages!

  Noticing his confusion, Felanor explained.

  “Everything lies within Eternity. I cannot say any more than this. This number, 42, perhaps you will see it again, or perhaps not. However, where you find 42, you find Eternity.”

  Find 42… And find Eternity… He repeated in his mind.

  Saying so, she raised her head, staring at the night sky. After about ten seconds, she turned to Ulrich.

  “You can raise more questions; however, if it relates to the Eternal Club, I cannot answer it.”

  “Why not?” He blurted.

  “As long as you are not a member, your question will not be answered.”

  Ulrich frowned, then mentioned Zheng San. “That friend of mine, he’s a member of the Eternal Club, wouldn’t he be qualified to hear the answer?”

  She chuckled, finding it amusing.

  “Your friend is but a dispensable pawn. When I speak of being a ‘member’, I mean a true member, not a tool of labor.”

  Ulrich caught her phrasing and realized.

  "If that’s the case, what qualification makes someone a true member of the Eternal Club?"

  "A true member bears an exceptional trait beyond the norm. They are considered geniuses beyond geniuses, and their action will naturally affect the course of history. So as long as you meet the requirement, our leader will be aware of your existence."

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  He didn't dare to express his thoughts and smiled wryly. “Ma’am, you are a ‘true’ member of the Eternal Club?”

  Once again, she smiled.

  It’s a positive response…! That means, any matter relating to the involvement of the Eternal Club will be omitted? This sounds like a strict rule that each ‘true’ member follows.

  In that case, he can’t help but hiss with cold breath.

  If Ms. Felanor, a Servant of Night, and someone whose status was unfathomable, then how influential and mighty was this organization? How many members are there? Would they all be equal to Felanor’s status and power?

  Reeling in all his thoughts, he wondered.

  “If, and I mean, if I wish to contact you through mystical means, would that be appropriate?”

  She gave it a thought and nodded.

  “You can perform the same ritual from earlier.”

  Ulrich blinked.

  That simple?

  He didn’t doubt her expertise and simply nodded. More questions were lingering in his mind, but looking at it, he would likely receive the same response.

  For example, who was this Autumn Hall, and why was she investigating him? Or what was the connection between the Eternal Club, as well as the truth behind the destruction of Belham? And that number: 42. What is the significance of this?

  Ultimately, he buried them in the back of his mind and stared at the sky.

  I don’t have much time left. He noted.

  After getting familiar with the night sky in this world, he’d grow used to knowing how much time was left before the arrival of the white light. After all, the night remained the same after each night—constant and unchanging.

  With that thought, he bid Felanor farewell, hoping to see her again. However, knowing the truth of this dream, it was unlikely. If anything, they will meet in the next cycle. Either way, their meeting won’t repeat twice.

  After leaving, he wandered in the forest, eventually stopping in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t speak or move, only staring at the night sky. After a while, Ulrich took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  Regarding the white light and its origin, it was clueless, helpless even.

  Not to mention, it was too far into the future. However, Belham as well as his death, these two things were certainly in proximity. They are events that he will face sooner than the arrival of the white light.

  No matter what direction he looked at, all roads led back to that mysterious organization—Eternal Club.

  Search for Eternity… Ms. Felanor said that finding 42 is the same as finding this Eternity… But what is 42?

  This was the most transparent meaning he’d pulled from the headstone. But what does 42 represent? A number? A counter? Or perhaps… He paused, thinking of that particular beam of light at the end of his dream.

  Is it the time? Every midnight, the dream resets at 00:42. Not a second less or more. This is a secret that only I know!

  I-If that’s the case, then it makes sense.

  When Felanor spoke of 42, she didn’t seem to understand the truth behind this number either. Or perhaps, to her, the number 42 represented something else entirely.

  If she knew 42, or rather, 00:42 was the end of the world, there’s no way her expression would be that lukewarm!

  At the same time, Ulrich believed that this Eternity, or rather, the Eternal Club must exist in the real world as well. Since it came from him, presumably the future, then ‘he’ must have already gone through these events, and yet still chose to leave behind this message. What other reason could it be?

  Under the assumption that only I know the truth of my future dream, no one else does. Then, all message left behind by ‘me’ is ultimately a hint. That means… Ms. Felanor's appearance is well within ‘my’ consideration, even her words and answer… This loop, yes, loop—possesses a terrifying feedback!

  Thinking up to this point, he shivered, realizing that the truths of the matter were deeper than he thought.

  Since ‘I’ know the truth of 00:42, of the future, and of the past, then there can be only one reason why I got this message. Eternity must exist in Belham! Or at least, within the confines of my capability to search it!

  The word [Eternal Club] scribbled in his mind, leaving its imprint on all ends.

  At this moment, he took a deep breath and left the matter aside until returning to the Shadow Realm and Belham. For now, Ulrich focused on one last thing before the end of this cycle. That is, the mysterious white space that shared a connection with the boundless dream realm.

  With that in mind, Ulrich sat on the ground. Following his previous steps, he allowed his ‘body’ to enter a dream walking state, similar to dream scrying in the dream realm. Gradually, he lost consciousness.

  This feeling… I’m not mistaken, it’s completely different from entering the Dream Realm.

  The sensation of entering the dream realm was like sinking into a pile of wet mud. As for this white space, it was more like free-falling in space. After some time, he opened his eyes, blinded by the white space before him. There was no change at all. At least, not that the eyes can see.

  In that moment, Ulrich raised his hand and conjured the bronze hairpin from before.

  I still have control… If anything, I feel increased authority over this space. Where is the source of this subtle change? Nothing changed as far as he could remember. But thinking about it, his eyes glint with realization.