The next morning.
Quân stared at the abandoned mansion in Jinlus village, deeply lost in thought.
He let out a sigh and buried his face in his hands. He was now stuck in a completely alien world with a distinctly foreign society and worldview.
Reflecting on Ron Irus, he realized there were far too many bizarre anomalies surrounding the man.
'Oh, and then there's this damn thing...'
He picked up a few textbooks meant for children in this world.
He had already skimmed through the titles and tables of contents, but what caught his attention the most wasn't the magic books—it was the biology textbook.
Specifically: the zoology section.
Inside, he could clearly see illustrations of animals ranging from the ordinary to the magic-infused.
And it was raising more questions than answers.
'Crabs, bees, ants, hippos, seals, lions, tigers...'
Countless animal species made an appearance, described with meticulous detail. And that was without him even having access to the botany list yet.
What was the reason behind Quân being so full of questions? It was the very nature of evolutionary leaps in life, which consisted of three fundamental pillars:
Reproduction, mutation, and selection.
Ultimately, the most crucial element required for these three parts to take place was mathematical probability.
Quân didn't possess extensive knowledge in biology—in fact, he couldn't even remember clearly whether a bee had eight legs or six—but he understood that for an ancient ape to evolve into a human, it required an astronomical probability of genetic mutation and environmental changes over an immense period of time to truly become a human species.
Along the path of evolution, there might have been a more flawless species that failed to pass down its genes, or perhaps an extinction event had wiped them out.
To put it simply, going from a single-celled organism to a bee required tens of millions of trials, and even then, a proper bee wasn't guaranteed to emerge.
Hence, Quân suspected he was in a brand new world. At the same time, he also recalled basic common sense that he might have previously overlooked.
A twenty-four-hour day, an oxygen concentration perfectly balanced for the ecosystem...
He wasn't sure if his perception of this world was entirely accurate. If he tried thinking about it this way, maybe it would be easier:
'Hm... assuming the ratio of a human body to a speck of dust is X, but right now, I have a body of KX, how do I prove that K exists? Ah... a microscope for the calculations... but how the hell would I know? For all I know, even the worldview of time might not operate exactly like the old world...'
He clutched his head, an unbearable headache washing over him. Was it the aftereffects of drugs? He needed to question that bastard... he thought.
Actually, he had considered a highly probable scenario, one he had calculated before.
His past life was a lie. Completely. It was nothing more than a delusion. Yet, strangely enough, that paranoia felt entirely too real.
"A delusion... high enough on drugs to hallucinate a past life..."
Quân covered his face, sighing into the empty air as he paced around the decayed, filthy garden.
"So... what should I do now..."
He kept holding his head and looked up at the sky, seemingly reminiscing about something.
He stared at the clouds, squinting as the sunlight blinded his eyes.
He was terrified, yet also relieved. Terrified of who he actually was if his past didn't truly exist, but relieved... because he wouldn't have to carry the weight of his sins.
But as he closed his eyes, he thought of a more plausible scenario.
'Could it be... I traveled to the future?'
He thought, if this was the year 2995, did that mean he had traveled over 970 years into the future???
Quân took a deep breath. The reason he was overthinking to this extent was because of what he had heard from Ron. That absolute bastard had told him:
'Skepticism is the way to overcome manipulation-type magic Paths, perception alteration, and psychological illusion-type Gifts. Because that is the only way for a powerless guy like you. You must question everything—question reality, question even your own self to guard against everything.'
Quân needed to train himself to think. Even if he didn't like it, this was reality, not the pages of a book where he could collect a harem with a leveling system.
Quân fell silent. What was he supposed to do, complain about a life that wasn't a dream?
Frustrated, he scratched his neck, which was already covered in a web of claw marks. He looked past the walls—that was his freedom.
'Oh right, I forgot to ask about the concept of time. The books don't mention a thing about it.'
Quân thought, deciding it was best to go out and ask people himself. It was better not to rely too heavily on a mysterious guy like Ron.
Quân grabbed a gold coin and used a few books as a makeshift stepping stool. Standing on top of them, he climbed his way over the fence.