Chapter 33: The Diary
The diary was written in the Luins language, which suggested that this Holweg character was most likely an exchange student from the Kingdom of Luins.
The Kingdom of Luins was the birthplace of alchemy, and more than half of all ancient alchemical texts were written in its language. For this reason, Luins was a compulsory course in the alchemy department, so Zhou Ning had no trouble reading it.
Holweg clearly had a habit of keeping a diary. The current date was September 2nd, but the entries began six months ago, on March 2nd. The first several pages were filled with trivial matters about his studies. It was clear he was passionate about alchemy.
March 2nd. Today, I finally began my alchemy lessons. It is truly the most fascinating subject in the world. You cannot imagine the miraculous changes that can occur within a tiny beaker and crucible. And the most amazing part is that even as substances change, the total mass remains constant. After all, only when one thing disappears can another be born. Professor Bislock, my instructor, seems quite fond of me. That's understandable. After all, I'm a man destined to become a great alchemist.
…
March 19th. After half a month in the alchemy department, everything is going smoothly. Professor Bislock is very impressed with me and has made me the class monitor. However, I overheard him arguing with Professor Walter today. Professor Bislock claimed that the human soul has weight. Since anything with weight falls within the domain of alchemy, he argued that refining souls—and even life itself—was entirely feasible. Professor Walter, however, insisted that refining life was forbidden by God. He said that according to the principle of equivalent exchange, the creation of one life must be accompanied by the destruction of another. I didn't fully understand it, but I was deeply shocked. The next day, I asked Professor Bislock if the human soul truly has weight. He gave me a meaningful look and said, "Yes."
…
March 21st. Professor Bislock took me to a private clinic. A dying elderly woman lay on a bed that was equipped with an ingenious weighing device. Her weight was 90 pounds. Over the next six hours, her weight slowly decreased, likely due to dehydration. But at the very moment of her death, her weight dropped sharply by three-quarters of an ounce. Professor Bislock told me that this three-quarters of an ounce is the weight of the soul. It's truly amazing. I desperately want to know where the soul goes after death and how one might retrieve it. My goddess, not even Goethe's alchemy textbooks mention such things! I feel like a door has just opened in the darkness, revealing a new world.
…
March 29th. I truly am the chosen one! Today, Professor Bislock asked me to help sort a collection of ancient books from the era of the Four Heroes at his home. To my amazement, I found a mysterious alchemical pamphlet hidden between the pages of a large tome. It's by an ancient alchemist named Goodwin! This is absolutely— (The entry was followed by a string of Luins slang that was untranslatable.) I've hidden the pamphlet for myself. I have a feeling it will change my life.
Reading this, Zhou Ning's expression grew solemn. Only a naive fool like Holweg wouldn't see what was happening. It was obvious that Professor Bislock was a member of the Life Alchemy Society, and he was methodically luring this student into his web.
Modern players only knew of the Four Heroes era through promotional materials. It was said to be a time when gods still walked the earth, and the Four Heroes were their mortal agents. Statues of them stood by the Seton River in the capital, but even in the game, the history of that period was shrouded in mystery, and records were scarce even in libraries.
An ordinary university professor who just happened to possess a collection of rare texts from the Four Heroes era, and who would let a student sort through them unsupervised? No one would believe that was a coincidence.
Zhou Ning shook his head and continued reading.
March 30th. I read the pamphlet from cover to cover. It turns out it's only one half of a larger work; the other half is supposedly hidden in the library at the University of Wake Forest. But even this half was eye-opening. It contained terrifying and sinister alchemical techniques, written in ancient Faric. For instance, one recipe for altering one's bloodline to grant special abilities involved placing sheep's entrails and human sperm in a flask with leech powder, snake-flower, and other ingredients. Another described a potion made from epimedium and animal offal that, when taken regularly, could make the woman of your dreams fall in love with you. Though the techniques were sinister and complex, I found them utterly fascinating.
April 5th. I was unexpectedly chosen as an exchange student to the University of Vic. I hate the weather in the Docklands!
April 11th. Farewell, Luins. Farewell, Innek University!
April 21st. The people of Braxton are truly awful—arrogant and self-righteous. Not a single person has greeted me all day.
April 23rd. I think I'm in love. Oh, Maggie, my lovely Maggie. I want to be with you. (A section of erotic prose is omitted here.)
April 24th. A depressing day. Maggie has a boyfriend, and he's a simple-minded brute.
May 12th. I couldn't stand this unrequited love any longer. I started to wonder if the strange recipes in that pamphlet were real. I gathered the ingredients and began the refinement process. I hope it works!
May 17th. After five consecutive days of taking the potion, Maggie confessed her love to me today. Oh my god, the formula really works!
June 17th. This month has been both sweet and frustrating. Maggie and I are living together and have done everything lovers do. But her ex-boyfriend, that simple-minded brute, has been making my life hell. He's beaten me seven times in just two weeks. I can't let this continue. I remembered another technique recorded in the pamphlet.
July 5th. I finally gathered all the ingredients: sheep entrails, snake-flower, leech powder. As for the sperm, I provided it myself. After five days of mixing, the finished product looks like a large condom. Do I really want to transplant this into my body?
July 11th. I finally did it. The formula worked! I've gained a power others can only dream of: invisibility! I beat up Maggie's ex-boyfriend and his friends, then I wandered through the women's dormitory and spied on them in the stagecoach. I'm living the life all men dream of!
August 24th. It's been a beautiful day, but I've been feeling off lately. My memory is getting worse; by noon, I forget what I set out to do in the morning. And scales have started to form on my face. What's happening?
August 25th. My symptoms are getting more severe. I have to write more clearly in my diary to avoid forgetting things. Today, I received an anonymous letter telling me to go to 5 Greenham Street, claiming they had a solution. It turned out to be a group of lunatics who call themselves the Life Alchemy Society. They're planning to drop five alchemical bombs during Wake University's orientation, and they want me to be responsible for one of them. The bomb is incredibly powerful, but what does that have to do with me? I agreed and received the formula. After reading it, I discovered that they call this first stage of transplantation 'Alienation.' To reverse it, I have to transplant healthy human organs into my body one by one through a special refinement process…
August 26th. Maggie, you'll forgive me, won't you?
August 28th. The experiment was a success. After transplanting Maggie's stomach, my body returned to normal, but my memory is still poor, and my temper has grown even shorter. At the same time, I've set my sights on Sharon. She's very cute, exactly my type. This is the first time I've fallen so deeply for someone since taking the potion…
Zhou Ning knew what happened next. Holweg had brutally murdered Sharon. He couldn't be bothered to read the rest. The entire diary was a rambling, insane narrative that left an extremely foul taste.
Holweg may have started as a normal student, but he had become a lecherous, selfish monster. Killing him had been the right thing to do.
Zhou Ning and Sherlock looked at each other, a shared horror in their eyes.
They never expected that the Life Alchemy Society would be so insane as to target the orientation ceremony at Vic University.
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