Chapter 2: Situation

Characters

• Zhou Mingrui / Klein Moretti
• Benson Moretti
• Melissa Moretti
• Mr. Franky

What changes

• Zhou Mingrui accepts that he is physically alive in Klein’s body.
• He reconstructs the immediate physical evidence of Klein’s death.
• He identifies the luck-enhancement ritual as his strongest hypothesis for transmigration and plans to repeat it.

Worldbuilding

• The Moretti household is financially constrained, but Benson arranged a gas lamp so Klein could study for admission to Khoy University.
• Loen uses coin-operated gas meters; a copper penny is presented as a basic unit of everyday currency.
• King George III appears on the currency, grounding the scene in the Loen monarchy.
• The apartment’s tenants share a communal bathroom and water costs are folded into rent.

Mysteries / questions

• How did Klein survive a revolver shot through the temple, and why is the wound healing abnormally fast?
• Where did the revolver come from, and was the original Klein’s death truly suicide?
• What is the meaning of the notebook line about everyone dying?
• Did Zhou Mingrui’s luck-enhancement ritual cause the transmigration?

Ritual memory

• The recalled ritual uses four portions of local staple food placed at the four corners of the room.
• The participant walks four counter-clockwise steps to form a square while invoking four honorific titles.
• The fourth title contains “The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings,” an early high-value mystery anchor.