The London sky was gloomy, as always.
Wool's Orphanage.
Room 201.
"Thud!"
A heavy wardrobe drifted gently down from the air and landed on the floor.
[The three hundred and fifty-eighth manipulation experiment is complete, which fully proves one point: the stronger my will and the more focused my spirit, the greater and more precise the force I can manipulate... Perhaps this power is a form of idealistic force?]
David looked at the small notebook filled with Chinese characters in his hand, then pinched a broken pencil and added a sentence at the bottom.
[After multiple experiments, the source and scientific principles of this power still cannot be confirmed, nor is it known whether anyone else possesses this ability.]
David closed the notebook, put it together with the stub of a pencil into his pocket, and stood up.
"All right, manipulation experiments can only go this far for now. Next, let's begin the second phase of the repair experiment..." David said, pulling a cracked chair over from the bedside.
David raised his hand and patted the chair lightly, and the chair split directly into fragments, scattering all over the floor as if its previous state had only been crudely glued together with cheap glue, not sturdy at all.
He looked at the fragments all over the floor, then solemnly extended his right hand, concentrating his mind to a high degree once again...
"Repair!"
As soon as the words fell, the fragments on the ground slowly moved, just like a video rewinding, and reassembled themselves, turning back into a chair. Only the cracks on it still remained. However, at a quick glance, the cracks seemed a little fewer than before.
David took out a piece of rope, measured it against the longest crack on the chair, and a joyful smile appeared on his face.
Because he found that this crack was a fraction shorter than when it was last repaired! David took out his notebook again and began to record.
[...As expected, using this power to repair objects is entirely feasible. The reason it is not fully repaired now is simply because I have not yet fully mastered this power! And as my mastery of this power steadily improves, the repair effect gets better and better!]
After his joy subsided, David looked at his palm, his youthful face carrying a sorrow that did not belong to this age. Although this power was magical and possessed endless developmental potential, if he had a choice, he would still rather have stayed in his original era.
Yes, David was a time traveler. A week ago, when he was doing an experiment in his laboratory and reached the most crucial step, his vision suddenly went black, and then he arrived here. Miraculously, his physical age also returned to around eleven years old. Most crucially, he discovered that he seemed to have gained a special ability that could easily influence other things.
It was not until he was sent to the orphanage as an orphan that he fully accepted this absurd fact and immediately figured out the basic situation of this world.
This turned out to be 1930s Britain! To be precise, his current location should be London, England, in the year 1938.
1938 was hardly a good year, because a failed art student would soon start a world war, and London would be bombed into ruins in this war.
Crisis was approaching, and David felt that the strange power he had acquired might become his backing. Besides, he had long been endlessly curious about this magical and bizarre power.
Thus, David quickly began practicing and experimenting with his power. So far, the progress had been very smooth.
Unknowingly, immersed in this, David had quietly spent his first week in this era.
David rested for a moment, took the chair apart again, and prepared to continue with the second experiment according to plan. With war approaching, he did not have much time left.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, the tightly closed door was kicked open violently, and the wooden door slammed hard against the wall with a loud crash.
David frowned slightly and looked up. He saw a boy about his own age standing outside the door.
This boy had black hair and could be described as very handsome, seeming quite capable of easily winning people's favor... Of course, that would be if his skin were not so pale and his gaze not so sinister.
"It seems you are the new Oriental." The boy sized David up, his voice, which could be called soft, carrying an inexplicable arrogance. "There's nothing special about you at all... So, how did you get that old woman to leave the best single room for you? Could it be by relying on that pretty face?"
David looked calmly at the boy. "Your way of knocking on the door is certainly unique..."
Due to his past professional needs, David's English had always been very good, so communication was naturally not a problem.
"You seem a bit unconvinced? There was an idiot a week ago who was also somewhat unconvinced." A cruel smile appeared on the boy's face. "However, I hanged his pet rabbit from the roof beams that very night."
"Oh?" David noticed the boy's slightly morbid smile. "So you're saying doing that makes you happy?"
"Happy? No, I do it simply to make them fear me." The boy slowly walked in from outside the door. "Only by making people terrified of you will they submit to you and obey your orders. And I have never liked anyone defying my will."
"Is that so... Then may I ask what the gentleman in front of me who wants people to fear him would like me to do?" David looked at the boy with amused interest.
At first, he had only thought this boy might have some psychological issues, like enjoying torturing small animals; such children were actually not uncommon in orphanages. But now it seemed reality was not quite like that.
Seeing that David seemed inclined to yield, a smug smile couldn't help but appear on the boy's face.
"I've applied to Mrs. Cole many times to move into this room... but she's always made me stay on the dark and damp ground floor..." the boy said, staring intently into David's eyes.
David nodded. "I see. You intend to swap rooms with me."
നേ "You're much smarter than those idiots." The boy was very satisfied to see David understand his meaning so quickly. "In fact, if that old woman Cole hadn't locked me in the dark cellar for a whole week because of a rabbit, I would have come to find you long ago."
David nodded again. "I completely understand. No one wants to stay in a dark and damp place all the time..."
"So, you agree?"
"No, I refuse."