After waking up early in the morning, Noctis prepared some money to buy cleaning supplies for himself.

  As soon as he stepped out the door, he was met with the bustling scene of a busy street filled with cars and people. The lively atmosphere made him feel both happy and at peace.

  Walking down the road with a cheerful mood, something suddenly felt off. With his extraordinary senses, Noctis could tell that dozens of eyes were fixated on him. Turning back, he saw that they were all looking at him with hatred and disgust.

  Noctis could only shake his head in sadness. He didn’t blame them for looking at him that way. In fact, he supported them—after all, the madman Noctis had committed too many atrocities.

  He had already decided to bear the weight of those hateful gazes on behalf of that man.

  Lifting his head high, he walked forward with confidence, no longer carrying the fear or madness of a lunatic.

  Following his memories, he arrived at a convenience store named Don’s Store. As he pushed open the door and stepped inside, the moment the store clerk saw who had entered, she panicked and pressed the emergency bell to call the store owner.

  This startled both him and the other customers, but unfortunately, only he remained shocked for long. The other customers, realizing he had arrived, quickly fled in fear.

  Seeing this, he sighed and swiftly walked toward the shelves. As the madman Noctis approached, the store clerk screamed, "Madman, don't hurt me! Please spare me!"

  Hearing this, he shouted back, "Calm down! I'm just here to buy some supplies, I mean no harm!"

  Despite his words, the clerk was still too shaken to respond and quickly hid behind the counter, whispering prayers.

  Noctis could only sigh again and continue shopping. After some time, he gathered a mop, floor cleaner, a few other cleaning tools, and some food.

  To his dismay, just these few items had already cost him one-third of his money, making his heart ache for his poor wallet.

  Once he had everything he needed, he went to the counter to pay. However, just as he placed his items on the counter—BANG!—the door was forcefully kicked open, and a group of armed officers stormed in, led by an older man.

  From his memories, Noctis recognized the man as Don, the store owner.

  The police aimed their guns at him and shouted, "Don't move, Noctis! Stay calm!"

  "You’re the ones who need to calm down," Noctis replied in an exasperated tone.

  After a while, he managed to explain the situation to the officers. Their expressions—along with those of everyone in the store—were filled with shock. They never imagined that a lunatic like him would come to buy cleaning supplies for his home.

  It was too unbelievable. But in the end, they had no choice but to accept his explanation.

  After paying for his items and stepping out of the store, he was about to head home when one of the officers suddenly called out behind him in a warning tone:

  "You crazy bastard, don’t do anything disgusting! One more crime, and you’ll be sentenced to death!"

  Hearing this, Noctis simply nodded and smiled without looking back.

  Watching Noctis's figure disappear into the distance, a female officer hesitated for a moment before speaking to her captain.

  "Captain, that guy was acting really strange today. He didn’t seem crazy at all—he was strangely calm."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The captain nodded in agreement. "We should report this to the Church and have them send someone to monitor him. I feel like he's undergone a major change."

  After ensuring his subordinate got into the car, the captain followed behind, mumbling to himself with suspicion:

  "He feels like... a completely different person."

  "What did you say, Captain?" the female officer asked, having heard his voice but not his words.

  "It’s nothing. Let’s go back," the captain dismissed his doubts and drove off to report to his superiors.

  -----

  Back home, Noctis rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning—starting from the living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and even the attic.

  Eventually, he moved all the furniture from his bedroom to the attic, as he found it a better place to stay. The attic had a window facing the city and a skylight, which made him feel unexpectedly peaceful.

  After finishing all the cleaning, there was only one place left—the basement, the source of his nightmares from the previous night.

  Grabbing all his cleaning supplies, he took a deep breath before heading downstairs. As soon as he arrived, he turned on the light—and was shocked by what he saw.

  The basement was a complete mess—shattered mirror shards were scattered across the floor, the ritual markings had been distorted, and there was no longer any trace of blood—only the ashes of the sacrificial offerings remained.

  Looking to the side, he noticed that the chest was still intact, but it no longer emitted the foul stench from before.

  In short, the basement that had once been used for a dark ritual now looked completely ordinary.

  Singing at the disappearance of all traces, Noctis got to work cleaning up.

  After some time, he locked the basement door behind him and left.

  Looking out the skylight, he saw that it was nearly sunset. The golden glow of the twilight illuminated the room, creating a peaceful atmosphere.

  Surveying the results of his efforts since morning, he was satisfied. His home was now spotless and tidy.

  Nodding in approval, he walked over to the kitchen table, picked up his phone, and grinned with joy.

  It was a smartphone, a technology that had been invented a hundred years ago in this world and had since been continuously improved.

  Even though it wasn’t as advanced as the ones from his time, it was good enough for now.

  From the beginning, he had wondered why smartphones, which had been invented a hundred years ago, were still not particularly advanced.

  That question was soon answered. In the memories of the original Noctis, he had learned that phones were not a priority a hundred years ago due to the war against the Void. Because of this, the government only recently had the time and resources to develop these semi-modern touchscreen phones.

  Since early morning, Noctis had been too busy working to check his phone. The moment he turned it on, dozens of notifications bombarded his ears with endless "Ting ting" sounds.

  Most were spam messages, but a few caught his attention.

  The first was a news article with the headline:

  "The First Event in Solarys Since Its Founding 10,000 Years Ago: All Bells in the 12 Grand Churches Rang Violently for 20 Seconds."

  As a reincarnator, Noctis might have been shocked by Solarys' ancient history. However, thanks to the memories of the original Noctis, he wasn’t too surprised.

  The next message was more important to him. It was from Solarius Arcanum Academy:

  "Attention, students: Classes will resume tomorrow after the holiday break. Absentees will be penalized."

  Sighing in exhaustion, Noctis had to admit that even though he had been a genius in his past life, he had always hated school and often skipped classes. Back then, he was known as the "Phantom Genius"—a nickname referring to how he always disappeared from lessons.

  Now, he was a student once again. But this time, he felt a bit more interested, as this academy didn't just teach ordinary knowledge but also magic and the supernatural.

  In just two weeks, the old Noctis had already learned a great deal—enough to broaden his horizons.

  Turning off his phone, Noctis had a more urgent matter to deal with: his empty stomach.

  Earlier at the market, despite all the trouble, he had managed to buy a whole chicken, a bag of rice, some meat, and eggs.

  Tonight, he would treat himself to a feast.

  Approaching the rice cooker with excitement, he lifted the lid—only to stagger backward in shock.

  The rice was still uncooked.

  It was obvious why—he had spent the entire day cleaning and had forgotten to cook it.

  With a frustrated expression, he had no choice but to start cooking and wait another hour before he could eat.

  When the food was finally ready, he devoured the fatty chicken like a starved beast that hadn't eaten in ten years—so much so that he nearly choked.

  After eating his fill and taking a bath, he headed up to the attic for a well-deserved rest.

  Lying on the soft bed, he gazed up through the skylight, admiring the beautiful stars above.

  As he reminisced, memories of his past home surfaced.

  Back then, he had lived a similar life, though it had been much duller. He had spent most of his time researching, constantly traveling to different places, which left him exhausted and without time to visit his parents.

  That was his greatest regret.

  Unknowingly, he drifted into sleep.

  From his dark-ringed eyes, silent tears ro

  lled down.

  They were tears of regret and sorrow.