Chapter 14: The Ruined Space

Chapter 14: The Ruined Space

"Wait!" Suye called out to Hake.

Hake stopped and turned to look at Suye.

Suye smiled and reached out to touch Hake.

Hake’s face suddenly turned cold, though it looked no different from before. Only he could feel the change.

Suye grabbed the short sword.

"I'll return it when I can. Thanks." Suye held the bronze short sword and rushed into his house.

Hake opened his mouth, exhaled heavily, and turned to leave. After a few steps, he looked back at Suye’s house, feeling an urge to climb over the wall and retrieve the sword.

This was not an ordinary bronze short sword; it was a magical one sharper than steel, costing him a year’s worth of savings if he didn’t eat or drink.

Inside the house, Suye held the short sword and examined it closely.

"Indeed, this is not an ordinary bronze sword. Good, it can be used for self-defense." Suye thought, beginning to ponder how to survive the night.

Holding the short sword, Suye kept thinking. No matter how hard he had tried, unexpected things could still happen. If Lawrence went mad or someone behind the scenes acted directly, he might die before dawn.

"There’s only one way left to save myself..."

Suye thought for a moment, then entered the living room and bowed ninety degrees to the statues of Zeus, Athena, and Vulcan.

"Great deities, I am resorting to this measure only to protect myself, not out of disrespect. Those who truly disrespect you are the ones who would cross your threshold and kill me in front of you."

After speaking, Suye slowly moved the three statues to the doorway, facing outward.

Standing in the dark living room, Suye looked at the backs of the stone statues and felt uneasy.

Suye opened the magic book and carefully sent a letter to the school administration.

"Someone is going to kill a student of Plato's Academy tonight—me. I’m not a good student, so I deserve to be ignored, but if I get killed, please take revenge on my behalf if you have the time. I believe you can do it! Suye respectfully."

After sending the letter, Suye began searching through the magic book for dynamic three-dimensional magic. Soon, an elderly man’s magic hologram floated up from the book, about a foot tall, with thick white hair and beard, a kind face, and blurry eyes but detailed features.

Plato.

Suye placed the open magic book behind the three statues and unfolded a copy of the previous letter in front of Plato’s magic hologram.

"You four, my life is in your hands!"

Suye bowed deeply, knowing he had done everything he could. If they still wanted to kill him, escaping Athens City would be futile.

He did his best and left the rest to fate.

However, Suye did not fall asleep immediately. Instead, he sat in a chair in the living room, holding the bronze sword, resting his eyes.

After a long day, he eventually drifted off to sleep.

"Huh?"

Suye blinked repeatedly, looking around.

"This dream feels unusually real."

Suye found himself in a ruined space, with a cluttered ground, broken steps, fallen pillars, and cracks everywhere, all old and worn, as if they had existed for countless years.

The ruins were only about two hundred square meters, forming an irregular circle, beyond which was endless white light.

After scanning the area, Suye looked toward the end of the circular ruin.

There stood a headless statue in a standing pose, its hands hanging down, wearing a simple robe.

Suye couldn’t determine the style of the robe, as it seemed similar to both Eastern and Western designs, yet upon closer inspection, there were subtle differences.

In front of the tall headless statue was a round table.

Suye walked up the steps to the round table and realized it was a stone platform.

Most of the platform was white, with concentric golden rings surrounding a central white circle, ten layers in total. Each ring was engraved with complex black-and-gold runes that grew larger from the inside out.

Looking at the platform, Suye somehow knew it was an altar, as if the altar itself had told him.

"This dream is strange..."

Suye touched the platform, feeling its texture clearly.

"No, this isn’t right!"

Suye suddenly spoke, "Major premise: Greeks believe in deities; minor premise: I am Greek. Conclusion: Therefore, I believe in deities. This..."

Suye’s eyes were filled with confusion.

Dreams do not follow logic, yet he was effortlessly using syllogisms, even though it was basic logical knowledge that should not appear in a dream.

Suye pinched his leg, but felt nothing.

"What’s going on?"

Suye began trying various methods and gradually formed a hypothesis.

"This is not a dream; it’s a peculiar space. My body hasn’t come here, but my consciousness, mind, or spirit has. I want to go back!"

In the next instant, Suye in the living room abruptly opened his eyes.

Suye was about to further test when he noticed the three statues at the door and Plato's silhouette. He thought for a moment, then picked up his bronze short sword and the bag of gold coins and walked toward the door. However, he did not step over the three statues or the magical image but sidestepped and left, avoiding any disrespect.

Suye avoided the living room and entered the bedroom. Then he closed his eyes and silently chanted, "I want to enter."

No change.

"I want to enter there."

No change.

Suye thought for a moment and began to visualize the altar in his mind. Then he silently chanted, "I want to enter here."

No change.

Suye frowned and pondered for a while. Suddenly, he closed his eyes and visualized the headless statue. For some reason, Suye felt a mysterious connection with the headless statue, similar to the connection he had with the magic book.

"I want to enter!"

Suye's vision darkened and then brightened as he once again entered the ruins space.

Suddenly, Suye remembered that when he encountered a tsunami in Greece and was swept into the sea, he saw a vast underwater ruin.

The style of this ruins space was identical to that underwater ruin.

"Could it be that I brought part of that underwater ruin here before I died? Or is my presence here due to the effect of that underwater ruin?"

Suye could not figure it out and temporarily set aside the idea of tracing its origin. Instead, he began to think about the purpose of this ruins space.

"There's an altar, so it should be possible to perform rituals." After discovering the key, Suye looked around, then lowered his gaze to his empty hands.

"Can things from the outside world be brought in? If not, can only I myself be sacrificed?"

Suye stared at the altar for a while but ultimately did not jump onto it. Instead, he focused his thoughts, and his vision darkened and then brightened as he returned to the bedroom.

Suye thought for a moment. This time, he held tight to the money bag and the bronze short sword, imagining himself standing before the headless statue with these two items.

His vision darkened and then brightened, and Suye found himself back in the ruins space, standing right next to the altar.

Suye looked down and smiled, seeing that both the bronze short sword and the bag of gold coins were still in his hands.