The first page was understandable enough on its own, but once he swiped to the next, things began to get serious.

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Page 2: The Descent

The path to the Otherworld begins with sleep.

By resting within a Rune Circle, the user’s unconscious mind is guided beyond the physical plane, allowing the soul to cross into the Otherworld.

The runes do not grant power. They only act as a bridge. It is the soul that travels, and the soul that must endure.

Upon descent, the soul is not placed randomly, but drawn.

Each soul is pulled toward a region of the Otherworld that resonates with its nature.

This resonance determines what the user will encounter.

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His gaze unconsciously drifted to the coffin, and now he understood things more clearly.

He had wondered about the coffin and the runes inscribed within it, but now he understood:

Those runes were the way he would be able to step into the Otherworld, making the coffin itself similar to a portal in function.

A portal to the Otherworld.

Now it was clear that if one didn’t have one of these Rare rooms, cultivating Otherworld Dream was close to impossible, as there weren’t any runes inscribed in the Ordinary runes.

Something, however, made White’s expression turn serious, and it was the part that said that each soul would be pulled toward the place that resonated best with its nature.

If that was indeed true, then...

He drowned out the voices in his head, moving to the next page, but... that only reinforced those voices.

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Page 3: Soul Resonance

Every soul carries a nature, and this nature is defined by one’s instincts, emotions, will, and existence.

The Otherworld responds solely to the soul.

A stable soul is drawn to stable regions.

A violent soul, to violent regions, and a fractured soul is drawn to fractured regions.

The deeper and more extreme the nature of the soul, the deeper the region it is pulled into.

Power and danger increase accordingly.

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[What soul do you think you have?]

The system panel White he finished the third page, temporarily lifting his gaze from the pages and to the walls.

’What type of soul do I have?’

It wasn’t Ordinary, that was for sure.

He had lived once, and in that life, he had been called a madman.

The things he had faced, fought, and survived, the power he had sought after and gained, had twisted his own nature, just like any Awakener, but his was extreme.

A B-grade awakener, climbing to a point of power where even A-grades struggled to hold him back, and only S-grades could truly put him down.

That was already insanity in and of itself.

And to top it all off, he had died.

It was something that ought to be final, but instead of staying dead, had ventured back into the past.

That seemed like he was starting from a clean slate, but White knew well that wasn’t true.

There was still that madness within him, just kept under even more control, but it was a lie to say his soul was clean now.

So definitely, he was no ordinary soul, and even calling him a violent soul was being nice.

If the Otherworld truly responded to souls, then that meant the majority of the students here would have fused with normal Otherworlders, and maybe some of them that were a bit more special would awaken more powerful Otherworlders from their violent souls.

But instinctively, White knew that if what he was reading was true, the place he would be pulled into would be a nightmare that would destroy the soul of any student.

He didn’t reply to the system’s question, instead choosing to continue turning the page.

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Page 4: The Otherworlders

The Otherworld is inhabited by entities known as Otherworlders, and each Otherworlder embodies a nature, concept, or existence that defines its power.

An Otherworlder with a normal soul will awaken in a calm region of the Otherworld and will find Otherworlders with corresponding calm and easily comprehended power.

But the power of an Otherworlder in such a peaceful place will, of course, differ greatly from that found in deeper, more chaotic regions of the Otherworld.

Those who dwell in deeper and more extreme regions possess correspondingly extreme power.

Be warned: this is not necessarily a good thing, as an encounter with such beings, whilst an opportunity, is also a risk beyond any measure.

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White’s hand on the grimoire had tightened considerably, but he refused to think about it, still swiping on to the rest of the page and rushing through it.

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Page 5: Fusion

Power is obtained through a process known as Fusion, which is the act of binding one’s soul with that of an Otherworlder.

Each bond with an Otherworlder is never random, but greatly influenced by compatibility, and compatibility is determined by the alignment between the user’s soul and the Otherworlder’s nature.

High compatibility results in stable fusion and greater power. Low compatibility results in rejection, instability, or destruction.

The closer the natures align, the deeper the fusion can go.

CAUTION:

Even if you do not like the Otherworlders that your soul pulls you toward, understand that not fusing with them and choosing a different Otherworlder outside your nature will lead to a higher risk of you destabilizing and eventually getting destroyed.

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SWIPE

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Page 6: Conditions of Fusion

Fusion requires two conditions:

Recognition and Acceptance.

Recognition occurs when an Otherworlder acknowledges the user. Acceptance occurs when both variables, the Otherworlder and the user, allow the bond.

In cases of extreme compatibility, acceptance may occur more easily.

In cases of opposing nature, acceptance may never occur.

CAUTION: if you find an Otherworlder who holds a 100% compatibility with you, it may fuse with you forcefully and beyond your will, overriding your ability to choose.

But such is often rare, and almost impossible by normal standards.

No two souls can ever be so alike, after all, not when they differ from two different realities.