Sitting at her desk, Dorothy examined the last few paragraphs on the tattered pages under the desk lamp. The alternative solutions for finding a guide intrigued her, and she began pondering their feasibility one by one.
‘A spiritual object of corresponding attributes can substitute for a guide? If that’s the case, then I need to find an item imbued with ’Revelation’. But ’Revelation’ primarily resides in knowledge—where would I even find an object containing it?’
Dorothy thought, realizing that given the nature of "Revelation," it would be exceedingly difficult to find something tangible imbued with it. Securing such an item would be nearly impossible with her current means. The most she could do was ask Aldrich if he had something. Even if he did, the price would undoubtedly be astronomical.
"Still, this method seems more practical than directly finding a ’Revelation’ Beyonder. I’ll note it down for now..."
She then turned her thoughts to the second option.
“Praying to a high-ranking divine entity? If they’re in a good mood, they might act as the guide for the ritual. This... feels even less reliable than all the other methods so far.”
Dorothy mulled it over. First of all, there was no guarantee that a high-ranking divine entity would even acknowledge her, a mere nobody. Even if they did, who could guarantee they’d help out of the goodness of their heart? The tattered pages had already warned that even if one managed to elicit a response, the outcome would likely not be favorable. The process was completely uncontrollable, fraught with risk, and could easily end in disaster.
More importantly, Dorothy didn’t even know which high-ranking divine entities existed. The only gods she knew of in this world were the Trinity of the Radiance Church. But who could say if they were real? Even if they were, with billions of people praying to them daily, why would they care about Dorothy? Besides, given that the Church was openly against mysticism and secret cults, praying to their gods was practically handing herself over to the authorities.
Leaning back in her chair and furrowing her brow, Dorothy sank deep into thought. How was she supposed to find herself a guide?
Dorothy muttered softly. The moment she finished speaking, however, a voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
“Don’t even know how to pray…”
Dorothy froze, sitting up straight in her chair.
What... was that voice just now?! She thought in shock.
Upon reflection, the voice seemed to be hers—words she had just spoken, though only the last part.
‘What’s going on? Are my spoken words echoing back in my head? Have I developed some strange condition? Or is this some kind of mystical phenomenon? Or could it be that the so-called cognitive poison has finally kicked in, and I’m losing my mind?’
Dorothy’s thoughts raced. The possibility of mental degradation terrified her, prompting immediate action.
“I need to test this…”
She whispered softly, “Hello? Testing… Can you hear me?”
But no echo came this time. For a moment, she thought she might have imagined it.
“No, think carefully… How exactly did those words appear? Why only the last part, and why incomplete? What exactly did I say?”
Retracing her thoughts, she attempted a cautious experiment.
“It was something like... don’t even know how to pray…”
The moment Dorothy murmured this, the echo returned.
This time, Dorothy’s spine tingled as she quickly steadied herself. She focused intently, analyzing the common factors in the occurrences of the strange echo. Soon, she reached a conclusion.
“It seems to happen whenever I mention ‘pray.’”
Testing this hypothesis, Dorothy repeated softly, “Pray… hello, hello, testing—can you hear me?”
“Hello, hello, testing—can you hear me?”
‘Unbelievable... am I holding a conversation with myself?’
She thought, slightly amused. But the repeated experiments confirmed her suspicions. The word "pray" was indeed the trigger.
Why was this happening?
Dorothy pondered deeply and soon arrived at a likely conclusion. The only thing capable of communicating within her mind was…
“System, was that you speaking just now?”
The system’s reply made Dorothy breathe a sigh of relief. At least she wasn’t losing her mind due to the toxicity of hidden knowledge. But the revelation raised even more questions.
Why could the system react to the word “pray”? And why did it relay prayer?
Suddenly, a thought struck Dorothy. Her system, which had accompanied her since she crossed into this world, could access knowledge of another world and extract spirituality from it. If it was capable of such feats, could it act as her guide?
With this possibility in mind, she hesitated briefly before asking the system.
“System, can you receive prayers? Could you act as a guide for my advancement ritual?”
“Affirmative. Capable of receiving and relaying prayers. Capable of granting guidance.”
The system’s response left Dorothy intrigued. The echo phenomenon turned out to be her system interpreting her words as prayers. As for "granting guidance," that seemed to align with the role of a divine being serving as a ritual guide.
With this confirmation, Dorothy’s curiosity about the system grew. What exactly was this system that had been with her since her transmigration?
Nothing in this world existed without reason. Even the system must have a purpose and a connection to her crossing into this world.
After contemplating for a while, Dorothy decided to ask decisively.
“System… what are you? Or rather, what is your essence?”
The system responded in a voice as faint as a whisper.