Chapter 1 A Rough Log

The manuscript didn't record ancient magic or lost treasures. It was actually a rough and highly compressed log, intermittently recorded by Vivian starting thousands of years ago. Its main content was each of her sleeps and awakenings, and some impressive sights and experiences while active in the world. Since some content at the beginning of the manuscript was recalled and supplemented, its records could actually be traced back to over ten thousand years ago—perhaps even longer, as the beginning of the manuscript contained scenes from the end of the Fourth Ice Age, and ten thousand years ago was just a conservative estimate.

But Vivian herself had completely forgotten about it. If she hadn't been lucky enough to reunite with Hao Ren, these irreplaceable and valuable materials would have been lost forever. Just thinking about this made Hao Ren break out in a cold sweat for her: this girl's memory was truly unsettling.

Sleep after sleep, awakening after awakening. Using these key events as nodes, the manuscript recorded an immortal's experiences and sights over the past ten thousand years along a vague timeline. Glimpses of the Earth's primitive and desolate era were visible in those ancient words, and ancient gods and demons who had vanished with the end of the mythological era frequently appeared between the lines.

Hao Ren's thoughts seemed to drift back to humanity's ignorant ages along with Vivian's voice—a recent event for the Earth, but an unverifiable ancient time for humans. At that time, humans were still cave-dwelling barbarians, and the earth was ruled by ancient beasts and the power of nature. Ancient aberrations with god-like powers reigned over the world, and most of them hadn't even thought about establishing theocracy in human society—however, their activities had already deeply affected the primitive people of that time, so the most simple and ignorant primitive divine beliefs arose. They confused various natural phenomena with those aberrations who could summon wind and rain, and listed them as primitive gods. At that time, Vivian wandered aimlessly in the world, and in specific occasions and times, she was even one of those primitive gods.

It was just that each time she walked in the world, it wouldn't be too long: inexplicable sleepiness always plagued her.

The records in the manuscript continued. Now the seeds of human civilization appeared. For Vivian at that time, this was an interesting phenomenon:

"...Awakened in an underground fissure. The stone chamber I was in during my sleep was intact, but had sunk deep underground as a whole. It seems I encountered an earthquake during my sleep. Fortunately, I didn't fall into the underground magma. The surface is in spring, and has become unfamiliar again. What I remember as a large lake is now a grassland, and the nearby soil has become very fertile. Discovered humans grazing. They no longer wear animal skins, and their village has changed a lot—some houses, built with stone and wood. They seem to be developing quickly. My clothes are very old. Using magic to maintain them seems increasingly unnecessary. Perhaps I can get something from the humans..."

"Another note, I found the stone tablet paintings I left behind near my sleeping place before my last sleep. They still record the bad mood before my last sleep. This is strange, I have no memory of this. But I decided to copy these notes as they are, as I always have, perhaps they will be useful in the future."

"Proceeded along a river, discovered more fertile land and larger human settlements. They can actually propagate to such a large scale in the wilderness, which is amazing. Something must be helping them resist the surrounding threats. Humans can deal with beasts in groups, but they can't deal with my kind... Traced upstream, found the protectors of mankind, old friends, Amon and Osiris. They are protecting a human kingdom, which is rare, but also very pleasing. Their attitude towards humans is better than that of my other kind... I remembered Zeus and... hmm, was it Hela? Or Hera. That couple seems to have similar ideas, but I don't know where they live now. Perhaps I should go find them. My strength has recovered well, it's a good time to embark on a journey."

"...Failed to find Zeus and his wife because I got lost in a strange place illuminated by a red moon. Feeling annoyed. This place is full of villains hostile to me. No matter how many I kill, it's useless, and can only make the anger escalate... Perhaps there is some kind of illusion here. Anyway, sleepiness is coming, I must continue to hibernate."

Hao Ren frowned, seemingly noticing some noteworthy doubts between the lines, while Vivian just continued to translate:

"...Awakened in the water, perhaps I've been soaked for a long time. Looks like I encountered some changes again during my sleep. An underground river has flowed back in. This world is always changing. No matter where you sleep, it's not 100% safe. Even if you bury yourself underground to avoid harassment from others and animals, it's still difficult to deal with geological changes. I found the notes I left behind before my last sleep. They are again writing about fighting with people and emotional agitation, but as before, I have no memory of the strange emotions during that time, so I can only temporarily believe they really happened. I now have a new way to take notes, and can transcribe the things on those stone slabs and rags onto the soft gauze that Horus gave me."

"Still remembering the previous plan, set off to find Zeus and Hera. I remember they settled on a high mountain. I should still be able to find them based on the direction of the stars. I hope the changes in the stars are not too great."

"...Found Zeus and his wife, and we were all very happy. The humans they protect are also very prosperous. Those humans have even built huge stone cities and wonders. Although those buildings have no magic, they are almost as large as temples... It seems Poseidon is a little dissatisfied with this. He doesn't like to see humans being able to build wonders like gods."

"...In my spare time, I sorted out some previous records. I feel confused about my sleep and awakening. Others—including werewolves and undead, have not had as many sleeps as I have. I have discovered some patterns..."

"Some patterns..." Vivian temporarily put down the manuscript, her face slightly unsightly. "Landlord, I feel weird."

Hao Ren had long felt that this manuscript revealed strangeness between the lines, but those things were vague and difficult to grasp. He stroked his chin and looked at Vivian: "You don't remember anything about this manuscript?"

"I have no impression at all," Vivian frowned. "But according to the information revealed sporadically in the manuscript, although I would forget some of the things recorded on it in my previous sleeps, I would always leave a bit of incomplete memory, so later I could supplement this manuscript based on those incomplete memories. But in the last sleep... I simply forgot all of these, even including the manuscript itself."

"The last sleep... was after fighting the Rage Spirit three hundred years ago," Hao Ren looked at Vivian. "That was the most 'serious' one. The memory you lost happened to be the most crucial part: you forgot this 'diary' that you had been continuously recording for the past ten thousand years."

Vivian looked at the manuscript. The crude drawings on it recorded her experiences on Earth during certain periods, but more of them were various strange "creatures" that looked like monsters. Before each sleep, Vivian would inevitably experience a great battle. In a state of irritability and anger, she would eliminate those monsters, and then fall into a deep sleep because "sleepiness was coming". Before that, she would draw the image of her enemies, seemingly to allow herself to recognize them when she woke up and raise her vigilance the next time she encountered these monsters.

Looking at those strange paintings, Vivian pondered and said softly: "According to my summary, sleep is divided into two types: one is when I am idle—or when I am so poor that I am about to starve to death, I actively choose to enter sleep to get through the hard times. This hibernation is controllable, and it seems to have no sequelae. After waking up, I will only lose a small part of my memory or simply not lose any memory, and there is no phenomenon of a significant decrease in physical strength. The manuscript records entirely the second situation: sleepiness is coming, I have to sleep."

Hao Ren looked into Vivian's eyes: "After this uncontrollable sleepiness comes, you will lose a lot of memory, and your body will be abnormally weak after waking up?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Vivian waved her hand with a wry smile. "The most difficult thing for an amnesiac is to confirm what they have forgotten. But I really can't remember many of the details mentioned in this manuscript, and I did feel abnormally weak after waking up from sleep on several occasions..."

"Including this recent one," Hao Ren tapped the table lightly with his knuckles. "Your most recent sleep was after eliminating the Rage Spirit. That was also an uncontrollable hibernation caused by sleepiness, so you are now in a weak state?"

Vivian looked at herself: "But I feel quite energetic."

"Don't be silly, people feel like they have a big advantage right before they die suddenly."

"...Landlord, you really don't know how to talk."

Hao Ren coughed twice: "Ahem, anyway, that's about the gist of it. In short, I don't know if you've noticed a detail: in the records of this manuscript, you experience the same thing before each time 'sleepiness comes'!"

Vivian's eyes narrowed: "I noticed it, mania, anger, inexplicable quarrels with people, and... a fierce battle with someone I don't know. I have never seen the enemies mentioned on it, and these paintings also seem very unfamiliar."

"But the manuscript was indeed written by you," Hao Ren stared into Vivian's eyes. "Are you sure you can't remember this part of the content? Even your most recent sleep was just three hundred years ago, can't you remember if this phenomenon occurred at that time?"