One-Eyed Monster

”This...” Kadi couldn’t refute Igor, but he also couldn’t understand. Igor’s explanation wasn’t entirely satisfactory to him. If he had to give a rating out of ten, Kadi would give it a seven.

Time advanced, tick by tock, not waiting for them. Regardless of their wishes, time was always with them, never slipping away.

”Your points aren’t without merit,” Kadi said. ”But whether or not we’ve lost time, I feel we must press forward.” With the assurance of seven-out-of-ten satisfaction, Kadi was no longer conflicted; now it was his turn to persuade Igor to move on.

”We can’t just blindly carry on,” Igor stated firmly. ”If we don’t retrieve those discarded segments of time, we’ll constantly be manipulated by others.” He had his own judgment about the current situation. No matter what, he was an outsider, and Guru Mountain would definitely be resistant to him.

Although Kadi was by his side, it didn’t prevent the real powers of Guru Mountain from rejecting him as an outsider.

”But how do you plan to find this lost time? I don’t have a clue,” Kadi said. He didn’t think they could find it. He never had any insight into such magical matters, and besides, using his brain wasn’t his strong suit.

”We just need to figure out the truth of the matter.” Igor rubbed his eyes, evidently deep in thought.

Kadi didn’t think it was necessary. After all, Igor’s explanation about the lost time had only satisfied him about seventy percent; many parts were quite far-fetched and didn’t form any coherent system. In other words, Igor’s recent talk about losing time was of no real use. So what if two days were missing from his memory? It had absolutely no effect on continuing their journey.

Kadi didn’t understand Igor’s reasoning. But he was also helpless when it came to Igor, because he still counted on Igor to lead him to Guru Guru, the monster leader.

”M-Master!” The usually reticent Spirit Book spoke again.

”Hm?” Igor turned his head, curious about what new trick this Spirit Book was up to.

”Well, Master, I’ve been paying attention to your worries, and it’s my duty to help you resolve them. So, in the name of the mighty Lord Soron...”

”Cut the nonsense and get to the point! Don’t beat around the bush. Everyone knows what you’re like,” Igor said, clearly irritated with the Spirit Book’s long-windedness.

”Yes, M-Master...” The Spirit Book became obedient again after being scolded.

”Although Master is always talking about discarded time, lost time, I’ve found something quite similar in Lord Soron’s notes.”

”Oh?” Igor became interested in what the Spirit Book was saying.

”Don’t worry, Master. I’ll organize all the relevant information for you right away.”

After a bit of maneuvering, the Spirit Book transformed. It rapidly flipped through its pages, changing its form, and in no time, it had organized all the relevant records. Now, if you picked up this Spirit Book and opened it, you would see all the compiled content. Moreover, the Spirit Book would read and explain each entry line by line, so it wouldn’t be as troublesome as flipping through pages back and forth like with an ordinary book.

”Regarding lost memories and missing time...” Igor picked up the Spirit Book and began to read.

”M-Master, this is the lost time you were talking about. If you read further, you’ll understand.”

”We usually perceive time as unidirectional, moving in only one direction. Therefore, there are two types of people in this world: the Forward-Time People and the Reverse-Time People. I, the great Wizard Lord Soron, estimate from my observations that most people on this continent are Forward-Time People,” Igor continued reading.

Kadi’s head throbbed. What are Forward-Time People and Reverse-Time People? I don’t understand, and I don’t get what it means at all!

”The so-called Forward-Time People are those who follow time’s progression in one direction; for them, time is nothing special...”

How boring, Kadi thought.

”Reverse-Time People experience time in opposition to Forward-Time People. They move in a direction completely contrary to time; as time advances, they retreat, and as they advance, time retreats...”

”Um, what does that mean?” Hearing Igor read this passage, Kadi felt utterly confused, as if shrouded in mist, unable to see anything clearly.

”AHEM,” the Spirit Book cleared its throat and explained. ”These lines are actually describing Forward-Time People—that’s us—who live normally, from morning to night, as time ticks by.”

”Then what about Reverse-Time People?” Kadi pressed.

”Uh, Reverse-Time People are those who move against the flow of time. For these individuals, morning is evening, and evening is daytime, I suppose,” the Spirit Book continued.

”No, that’s not right,” Igor interjected, no longer reading. He felt it was unnecessary. ”Reverse-Time People don’t experience night as day and day as night. Time is unidirectional; the perception of night and day is the same for everyone.”

”Yes, yes, Master! Your insight is incredible, your interpretation far more comprehensive! Compared to us, it’s like the difference between heaven and earth!” The Spirit Book’s flattery was utterly shameless.

”So, what exactly is the difference between Reverse-Time People and us?” Kadi continued to ask.

”The difference may be significant. We take each step towards old age, while they take each step towards youth.”

”What!” This upended Kadi’s understanding once more.

”That’s not all; there’s even more incredible stuff below.”

”More incredible? Let me see.” Kadi took the Spirit Book and began reading.

”Although time moves in a single direction, it is not entirely insurmountable. When Forward-Time People and Reverse-Time People come together, they can form a vortex. These vortices may bring about many other effects...”

What on earth is all this? The more I read, the more confused I get! It’s like my thoughts and this book aren’t on the same wavelength at all!

”At present, I, the great Lord Soron, by means of this vortex, have only identified two resulting phenomena. The first is the Time-Leaper People. They are not bound to the track of time; they can traverse this timeline, whether forward or backward, entering any point effortlessly.”

Holy cow! What kind of concept is this? Does this mean Time-Leaper People can reach any point in time? Doesn’t that mean they can jump back and see what happened before?

Kadi’s mind raced, taking a long while to settle. However, seeing Igor still looking calm and composed, he pushed aside his turbulent thoughts and continued reading.

”The other type is also quite remarkable; one could also call them Time-Leaper People. However, this kind prefers to pause time, and they also enjoy stealing. These Time-Leapers often attack normal Forward-Time People, because by doing so, they can acquire others’ memories...”

Holy cow!

Kadi’s heart began to pound again. This is incredible! Isn’t this exactly what Igor was talking about—lost time, vanished memories...?