Chapter 14: Candlelight

Luo Wei wanted a body.

The problem was, she didn’t even have a head right now. Even if she wanted to be some kind of head-swapping overlord, she lacked the basic hardware to pull it off.

Luo Wei had originally assumed this state of being a lonely wandering ghost would persist throughout her “second life.” At most, she figured she would experience the warmth of the living world through temporary sensory streams by dominating someone like Claudia.

But the appearance of these casual notes gave her a glimmer of hope.

Even if she couldn’t decipher the various complex formations within the notes, she could judge from the diary entries alone that the “Doll” Lilith intended to refine was a living vessel capable of housing a soul.

…Even if that flighty witch had tossed the recipe into a corner the very next day simply because she lost interest.

Unfortunately, judging by the staggering complexity of the recipe, completing it seemed like a distant, almost impossible dream.

“Regardless, it’s something to look forward to.”

Luo Wei made up her mind. Just as she had memorized every detail of the Grimoire of Forbidden Curses, she intended to etch the contents of these notes into her mind, including those “mathematical models” that looked like demonic scribbles.

But as the details were branded into her consciousness one by one, a sense of familiarity began to wash over her.

These arrangements of incantations… I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before…

Luo Wei stared at the incantations within the Doll recipe, and the realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.

Her gaze shifted slightly, landing on the mysterious polygonal object sitting on the desk—the one she had been using as a puzzle toy to stave off boredom.

The dim runes etched upon it matched the ones in the notes perfectly. It was an exact correspondence.

“It’s actually this thing?”

Luo Wei was floored.

This little decorative trinket had shared her three years of solitude. Her impression of it was deeply ingrained.

I thought finding a ‘Shackle of the Deep Space Era’ would be the most difficult part of the Doll recipe…

After all, Luo Wei could dedicate herself to learning the incantations and rituals. She had the motivation, the goal, and more than enough perseverance—as for talent? Was there even a need to doubt that?

But a “Wisdom Core” was something that couldn’t necessarily be found through hard work alone, especially since it hailed from the distant Deep Space Era.

Having undergone a total collapse of civilization, artifacts remaining from the Deep Space Era were exceedingly rare. They were things one could only encounter by sheer luck, not by seeking them out.

“Wait a minute, this ‘Ritual of Supplication for Fusion – Birth’ also looks very familiar…”

Luo Wei pondered for a moment before casting her gaze toward the incomplete ritual drawn on the floor…

With the help of the enhanced Candlelight, she was finally seeing the full scope of this ritual for the first time.

Indeed, it was a perfect match.

The only difference was that the ritual on the ground was only partially constructed; it was still missing several lines and the corresponding sacrifices.

Luo Wei fell into a profound silence.

The Doll recipe notes were the only written records left in this study. Even the Grimoire of Forbidden Curses didn’t quite count as a “textual record” because its contents were almost entirely composed of pure incantations.

The “Wisdom Core,” the only completed component mentioned in the notes, was sitting right there on the desk. The final birth ritual was drawn right there on the floor…

Aside from the questionable Spirit Extraction technique, she was effectively missing nothing but the magic potion.

One instance might be a coincidence. Two might be luck. But for three items to overlap so perfectly…

Everything suggested that a certain entity had once attempted to recreate the “Doll” here, only to be forcibly interrupted by some external force.

Luo Wei scanned her surroundings. She looked at the chaotic mess scattered across the room, the frantic and hideous script scrawled over the murals, and finally, her gaze rested on the birth ritual on the ground.

Under the protection of the flickering Candlelight, for reasons unknown, time had entered a final, urgent countdown. That entity, fueled by madness and despair, had cursed the master of this room while exhausting every effort to complete the ritual.

But in the end, they were too late. Everything had come to a grinding halt.

Who were they?

And why did they want to recreate the “Doll” recipe?

“……”

The silence didn’t last long. Luo Wei soon slapped her forehead, tossing the stray thoughts to the back of her mind as she muttered to herself.

“Whatever. I’ll just consider it this young lady’s good luck. I’ve picked up a massive bargain.”

There was no need to overthink it—at least not for now.

To complete the “Doll” recipe, Luo Wei was only missing the Blood Refinement magic potion.

Although the birth ritual on the floor wasn’t finished, it was nearly there. The most complex parts had already been done; she only needed to grasp the contents of the notes a little better to finish the final construction.

As for the Spirit Extraction technique in the recipe…

Luo Wei’s goal was to build a body for her own wandering soul. She wasn’t actually trying to create a brand-new doll lifeform from scratch, so there was no need to extract another spirit.

After carefully tucking the notes into the desk drawer, Luo Wei refocused her gaze on the “Wisdom Core,” slowly extending her consciousness toward it.

Over the past three years, her consciousness had brushed against this little object countless times without ever eliciting a reaction. This time, however, a change occurred almost instantly.

In a flash, the flame on the candlestick dimmed slightly. Simultaneously, one of the runes on the “Wisdom Core” began to glow. Once it was fully lit, a second rune began to flicker to life.

But by then, the Candlelight had almost dwindled to nothing, looking even more pathetic than before.

“Gah!”

Luo Wei hurriedly withdrew her consciousness, and only then did the state of the Candlelight stabilize.

Correspondingly, the runes on the “Wisdom Core” stopped lighting up, stalling at one and a half runes.

There were a total of nine runes.

“It seems I need enough power to activate this ‘Wisdom Core’…”

Luo Wei exhaled, staring at the nearly extinguished candle while contemplating for a moment.

To quantify it simply: if the original candle flame represented 1 unit, there was only 0.5 units left. The amount injected into the Wisdom Core was roughly 4.5 units.

This meant that activating a single rune required 3 units of Candlelight. To activate all nine, she would need 27 units. She was still short by 22.5.

Currently, the only way to obtain Candlelight was to strike deals with Claudia. One-fifth of a soul translated to 4 units of light.

“Even if I completely dominate Claudia next, I’ll only get 16 units of light. I’m still quite a bit short…”

More importantly, Luo Wei was certain that Candlelight wasn’t just for activating the “Wisdom Core.” Every mystery within this small room—and perhaps everything within the encroaching darkness—could likely be revealed through it.

It seemed that besides squeezing Claudia dry, she would have to look for other targets to exploit.

“I need to hoodwink as many as possible… Heh heh heh… Do you desire greater power? Then trade your soul for it!”

“…Tsk. I sound exactly like a villain destined to die in the final act.”

After her usual bout of self-amusement, Luo Wei’s slightly anxious mood finally lightened up.

She had her own ways of relieving stress; it was a necessary survival skill for any modern “salaryman.” If she let all the gloom pile up in her heart, she’d probably be looking for the nearest rooftop to jump off of before long.

“Better find a way to make Claudia keep reading first. Though… based on her performance, I might not even need to hoodwink her.”