Chapter 36: Sleepless

Adeline leaned against the headboard, staring unblinkingly at the map on the table that was undergoing a dramatic transformation.

Centered on Lein’s card, the ink spread wildly across the table, gushing out like a river that had burst its banks.

The streets, houses, and alleys of Ash Lane—all the familiar outlines dissolved, reorganized, and deformed in the tide of ink.

The layout of the blocks, which had taken her several days to gradually become familiar with, was washed away cleanly in just a few seconds.

A completely unfamiliar scene replaced the original map of Ash Lane, spreading quietly across the entire table.

It was a tree, a tree growing upside down.

Adeline stared at the image for several seconds before confirming she wasn’t mistaken.

The thick trunk extended from the top downward, growing thinner as it went.

The lush roots were not at the bottom but stretched out from the very top, plunging into a pale void depicted with fine ink dots.

Those ink dots were extremely fine and faint, as if someone had lightly tapped the table with the tip of a needle, densely covering a large area of the upper half of the drawing.

Six main branches branched symmetrically from the middle of the trunk to the left and right, each drooping diagonally toward the bottom of the map like some kind of inverted candelabrum.

Countless twigs branched off from the branches, dotted with dense fruit-like ink spots, most of which were dull and almost merged with the pale background.

Adeline held her breath, moving her gaze slowly across the entire image.

The shapes of the six branches were not the same.

The branch on the far left was thick and twisted, with the deepest ink color, nearly pure black.

The fruit on the twigs were dense and messy, like some kind of uncontrolled proliferation.

The second branch was relatively slender, with erratic lines, and mist-like patterns painted in pale ink lingered among the twigs.

The third branch appeared withered and shriveled, with many twigs broken in the middle, and the hanging fruit were sparse.

The fourth branch was straight and strong, with each twig branching off at a very regular angle, and the arrangement of the fruit was as neat as if measured with a ruler.

Her gaze moved to the fifth branch.

The fifth branch branched off from the right side of the trunk, slightly raised compared to the others.

Its lines were smooth yet forceful, with twigs extending in all directions, each with a certain curve.

The fruit on this branch were more numerous than those on the third and sixth, but far less dense than on the first.

They hung quietly at the ends of the twigs, most appearing as dull ink-gray like the other fruit on the map, as if merely decorations.

There was only one exception.

At about the middle-lower part of the fifth branch, a fruit was glowing.

The glow was a bright yellow, warm and soft, like the halo of a candle flame shining through thin paper.

It was not dazzling, even gentle, but on this map dominated by gray, black, and pale tones, this glowing fruit was startlingly conspicuous.

It pulsed with an extremely slow rhythm, brightening and dimming like a tiny breathing heart.

Adeline leaned down, bringing her face close to the glowing fruit.

Below the fruit, a line of hand-drawn cursive script gradually emerged like ink dripping into clear water.

[Reason Is the Cold Fire, it never warms flesh, only illuminates darkness, driving away ignorance.]

‘This is?’

Adeline reached out and carefully touched the glowing fruit.

The texture was still the smooth surface of walnut wood, with no change in temperature or any abnormality.

But the moment her finger touched the fruit, the line of script flickered slightly, like a candle flame stirred by wind.

She withdrew her hand, shifting her gaze from the fifth branch to re-examine the entire upside-down tree.

Six branches, six shapes.

A large number of fruit, most dim, only one lit.

‘This is clearly no longer a map of Ash Lane.

This is something more abstract, more fundamental.

Mr. Slone said that Mystic Rites are roads to a certain place—is this what he meant?’

Adeline didn’t understand, but it was indeed Lein who, under her control, had completed the Initial Secret Ritual, and then the map had turned into this.

The lit fruit was on the fifth branch—did that represent Lein?

‘And extending from this, if each branch represents a type of Mystic Rite, then each fruit represents a supernatural who completed the corresponding rite?’

‘Could that glowing fruit be Lein?’

Just then, the box emitted a very faint crisp sound.

Adeline’s thoughts were abruptly pulled back by this sound.

She looked down.

A crack had opened on the side of the Card Box, and three cards were slowly sliding out from the crack.

Adeline reached out and drew out the three cards one by one.

The crack on the box closed the moment she pulled out the last card, returning to a smooth, seamless surface.

On the front of the first card was a painted open eye, with clear pupils and iris lines outlined in fine ink.

But unlike a normal eye, several extremely faint runes that were almost invisible surrounded the eye socket, circling layer by layer on the outside of the socket, rotating at an extremely slow pace.

She turned the card to the back.

The cursive script appeared line by line.

[Choice·Sleepless (Self-Nature): From now on, you will be free from the lack of sleep, no longer requiring sleep.

The third of life that belongs to darkness is forever returned to you.]

The second card also had a pattern.

The card depicted two palms, fingertips touching, with a small gap between the palms.

A wisp of bright yellow flame burned in the space between the two hands.

The flame tilted, pointing toward one hand, as if being drawn by something.

Adeline turned it to the back.

[Choice·Loss of Reason (Overflow): Through physical touch, you can cause others to lose their rationality and reason, transferring it through you to a nearby fire.

The lost reason will return after the flame is extinguished.

Cost: Part of your own empathy will also be lost at the same time.]

On the front of the third card was a solitary flame, floating in an empty blank center.

The flame was bright yellow, exactly the same color as the flame on the first card.

There was no fuel around the flame, no candle, no wood, no wick—it simply burned in midair.

She turned it to the back.

[Choice·Ignite (Omnipresence): You can ignite and create a flame out of thin air using only mental energy, without any tools or fuel.

The flame’s continuation will continuously consume mental energy.]

Adeline placed the three cards side by side on the blanket, moving her gaze between them.

‘From the description, these should be the three abilities Lein can obtain after completing the Mystic Rite.

But since it’s a Choice Card, it should be a choice of one out of three.’

Adeline picked up the card named Ignite and read the description again, still feeling it wasn’t very useful.

Igniting a flame using only mental energy did sound interesting, but she really couldn’t think of any situation where this would be useful.

After all, there were too many common ways to make fire—from flint to matches, from drilling wood to focusing light…

Besides performing magic tricks, the occasions where this ability could be used must be very specific and rare.

She put the card aside and picked up the next card.

Loss of Reason, which could cause others to lose reason.

This effect sounded quite useful.

In battle, if you could suddenly make the enemy lose reason and become a fool, half the fight would be over.

In interrogation, if you could make a stubborn prisoner lose reason, prying open his mouth would become much easier.

But there were two problems.

The first was the condition: physical contact.

This condition directly indicated that this ability was not suitable for use in battle.

After all, if you were able to touch the enemy in combat, wouldn’t it be more useful to just pull out a knife or punch them in the face instead of using something like Loss of Reason?

The second was the cost: loss of empathy.

Adeline wasn’t sure what this cost specifically meant.

Would Lein become cold and ruthless?

Or would he be unable to empathize with others for a period of time?

Either way, this was not a cost that could be taken lightly.

Part of Lein’s personal charm was built on his ability to understand others’ situations.

If that part was removed, even temporarily, it could lead to unpredictable chain reactions.

But what really made her hesitate was that the usage scenario was too narrow.

Loss of Reason was only useful when facing enemies, and Lein could now choose to run away or solve problems with a gun.

There was no need for such a method.

Adeline put the Loss of Reason card aside as well.

Next was Sleepless.

No need for sleep.

This description made Adeline’s eyes light up.

In her previous life, the superpower she most wanted was no need for sleep.

You know, at least a third of a person’s life is spent in bed—eight hours, sometimes more—each day wasted in unconscious darkness.

If she could take back that time, how much more could she do?

How much more could she learn?

How much more of life could she experience?

Now Lein had this opportunity.

No longer needing sleep meant Lein could continue to act at night, explore areas only accessible at night, track enemies that only moved in darkness, and read documents that required days of concentrated focus.

His efficiency would double, his growth rate would accelerate.

More importantly, it had no cost.

Adeline flipped through the card, indeed finding no description of any negative effects.

Of course, this didn’t mean there were truly no costs, but at least from the card’s surface, it was a pure benefit.

Adeline hesitated no more.

Pinching the Sleepless card, she pressed it onto Lein’s character card.

The moment the two cards touched, the ink began to melt.

The edges of the Sleepless card blurred and spread, turning into a bright yellow stream that seeped along the surface of Lein’s card toward the center.

The pattern of the open eye detached from the card surface, hovering for a moment, then suddenly contracted into a light spot the size of a mung bean.

Immediately after, a bright yellow flame ignited from the edges of the card.