Chapter 60: How can you read my mind?

Lucian was standing inside his bedroom, leaning slightly over the open window with his chin resting against his knuckles, his elbow propped lazily against the wooden frame as he stared out into the distance at the thin, golden light that had arrived several kilometers away from him.

The faint afternoon wind slipped into the room and brushed against his face, stirring the loose strands of his dark, short, jet-black hair. The curtains behind him swayed gently.

It was afternoon, making it almost impossible to see the radiant pillar with the naked eye. The sunlight washed over the city in a pale glow, blurring the distant shapes and drowning subtler lights beneath its dominance.

Even he could only see it because of his heightened perception.

“What is that?” he wondered aloud, his voice low and carrying a faint curiosity—though beneath it lay something sharper.

Unease.

His dark, black eyes brightened against the afternoon sunlight that fell over his face, reflecting a thin streak of gold from the horizon.

The light was far away.

Maybe a bit too far away.

He had seen the golden pillar in his previous life—wait, no.

He hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.

He had heard about it from Lia in the previous timeline.

Back then, she had told him that the pillar had arrived at night, nearly a month after the apocalypse had started.

A soft smile crept up his lips as he remembered how she had described it.

He didn’t exactly remember the description word for word, but he clearly remembered the expression on her face that day.

Her wide eyes, that had faintly brightened after so many days of survival. Her trembling voice, unsteady from fear and exhaustion, yet filled with something he had not seen in a long time.

Hope.

She had described how the golden pillar had appeared at night, how it tore through the darkness like a divine spear descending from the heavens.

How it looked beautiful and radiant under a world drowned in blood and despair.

For a brief moment, she had felt hope.

Even if it had been foolish.

Even if it had been fleeting in such a situation.

But this—

The smile on his lips slowly faded before turning into a deep frown.

This was too early.

The apocalypse had barely begun. The world had not yet fully drowned in chaos. Most people might not even know about the monsters yet, and some might just be discovering them. Even if they did see the monsters, they would still be too confused, too horrified to understand what was happening.

Which meant the past had changed again.

Yet he wasn’t worried about that.

It wasn’t like he had some script memorized that would collapse if events deviated from it. He had barely lived for a few months after the apocalypse in his previous life. His knowledge of the future was fragmented, incomplete—more instinct than certainty.

Still, too early meant something was accelerating.

And he hoped this acceleration wouldn’t bring any danger.

He even wondered if it had happened because of him, but he couldn’t clarify that.

Was it because of what he did in the mental facility? Was it because he cleared the dungeon? Or was it because he had saved someone who was supposed to die?

He didn’t know, and there was no possible way of knowing about that right now.

“I cannot even look at it properly,” he muttered as he squinted his eyes harder to take a clearer look, but there was nothing to see from such a large distance except a thin distortion in the air.

“There’s nothing to see from this far,” he sighed quietly, his breath brushing against his knuckles.

“So, how did you know it was going to arrive?” he asked aloud.

There was no one in the room.

He was alone. Lia and Seraphina were downstairs in the living room, probably talking, perhaps still unaware of what was going on.

Yet he wasn’t talking to empty air.

[I just knew.] Akasha’s voice chimed in his head, smooth and unbothered, again giving him a vague answer like she always did.

[It’s beautiful, right?]

Lucian’s eyes slowly turned deadpan.

“Is that why you are showing me this?” he asked flatly, with light frustration lacing his tone.

He had just woken up not too long ago.

He had been sleeping through most of the morning after he had returned home, exhausted after killing those goblins and clearing the dungeon.

His body still carried a faint soreness from yesterday’s fights. His forearms still felt heavy, and even ached a bit after taking the Hobgoblin’s hit yesterday.

And the first thing he did after waking up was look out his window.

Why?

Because his so-called system had told him to do so.

A system that clearly did not behave like one.

‘Why only me?’ he cursed inwardly.

‘Out of everyone in this world, why am I stuck with a system that acts like a mischievous woman?’

He sighed again.

‘If I ever get a chance to return her from wherever the fuck she came from, then I am doing it without any hesitation, no questions asked,’ he thought to himself.

[Oi, what are you thinking about?]

Her voice suddenly sharpened, cutting through his thoughts.

Lucian stiffened slightly.

“How do you even know what I’m thinking?” he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“You clearly told me you couldn’t read my thoughts unless I directed them toward you. Then how can you…”

He paused for a second before continuing,

“Was that a lie?”

His gaze was still on the golden pillar outside, which had started to become more and more difficult to look at.

The light looked thinner… and fainter.

‘Is it shrinking or something?’ he wondered.

[I didn’t lie.] Akasha replied calmly.

[I cannot read your thoughts if you don’t direct them toward me. But you also forgot one thing.]

‘What?’

[Did your dull mind forget that I can feel your emotions now? After you awakened? After our connection became stronger?]

Lucian could almost imagine her smiling condescendingly if she were actually a person.

“Ah…” he murmured softly.

“I did forget about that.”

He admitted, as he tilted his head slightly.

The golden pillar flickered faintly.

He blinked once, and in the next instant, it vanished.

Just like that.

The pillar was no more.

His eyes widened slightly. He leaned forward instinctively, scanning the horizon again as if it might reappear.

‘It vanished.’ He frowned slightly, wondering what it was.

He felt a sort of familiarity with it, but he couldn’t clarify it.

His mind was thinking about the pillar, and at the same time, thinking about what Akasha had told him last night.

Too early.

Everything was happening too early.

But he didn’t linger on the pillar too much. He knew better than to expect answers from Akasha.

He already knew what kind of response he would get.

And rather than asking her, it would be better to bang his head against the wall.

Instead, he shifted the topic.

“But you told me that I could feel your emotions too.”

He closed his eyes slightly and concentrated inward.

Not his own feelings.

But beyond them.

Even he didn’t know how he was doing that, but it came instinctively.

And then—

He felt it.

A faint ripple.

Feelings that weren’t his.

They were subtle, almost invisible, but he could feel them.

A feeling of happiness.

A flicker of amusement along with a hint of annoyance.

“I can barely feel your emotions.”

[Of course you do.]

He could almost feel her rolling her eyes.

It was almost a weird feeling, knowing and feeling someone else’s emotions simultaneously, without being confused with his own.

[You are weak. How do you even expect to read my mind properly?]

Lucian’s eyes narrowed. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, tapping his fingers lightly against the wooden frame.

He didn’t like that word.

He didn’t like being heard as weak, especially not from her.

He could even feel some sort of happiness coming from her… and guilt?

The feelings vanished the instant they came—almost for less than a second, leaving him confused.

It disappeared so fast that he barely felt it.

“I’ll grow stronger,” He said calmly.

There was no arrogance in his tone.

Just certainty.

“Just wait.”

His lips curled as he tilted his head slightly.

“And one day, when I am strong enough… hehe.” His words trailed off as an almost childlike laugh came from his mouth.

His eyes glinted darkly as a wide smile slowly spread across his face.

[Oi, complete your words. Don’t leave me hanging—] she suddenly stopped midsentence.

There was a brief silence in his mind.

[Tsk, she’s here.]

Lucian blinked.

Her words left him confused, but just as he was going to ask her—

The bedroom door flew open with a violent sound, slamming against the wall enough to make him flinch.

“Brother!”

Lia rushed in like a storm.

Her black hair bounced wildly behind her, and her eyes were wide with urgency.

“Brother, come down! You have to look at this!”

Before he could respond, she grabbed his wrist tightly.

She pulled him toward the door.

“Lia—” he started.

But she was already dragging him down the hallway.

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