Lord of Mysteries:When the Fool Meets the Masked Fool

Note: This is a chaotic story with many references. Those who cannot accept dense memes, please avoid.

In the Loen Kingdom, Tingen City, on Iron Cross Street.

The street bustled with people coming and going. Public horse-drawn carriages traversed the lanes in the middle of the road. Street vendors loudly hawked their wares on both sides.

"Gentlemen" and "ladies" dressed in Victorian-era style clothing stopped at various stalls, while workers in vests or bare-chested and vagrants hurried past, as today's work was not yet secured. If they couldn't find temporary work before the sun fully rose high in the sky, they would likely go hungry today.

Amidst the crowded throng, a strangely dressed man stood out, but oddly, no one seemed to notice him. People passed by as if he were invisible.

The man wore a white t-shirt and a black and white jacket with a silver garbage can flexing its muscles printed on it. He had on plain black wide-leg jeans, a sky-blue baseball cap, and colorful headphones around his neck decorated with a chibi blue-haired girl with a halo and wings. Various strange ornaments adorned his body.

His name was Celeris Bruce.

As he aimlessly followed the flow of people, he surveyed this new world. He was a transmigrator, and this wasn't even his first transmigration. In his first life, he had been an ordinary, fragile university student on Earth, with an unremarkable appearance and an unremarkable life. Even his name, "Chen Ming," was utterly forgettable. In his own words, he might as well have changed his name to Chen Sheng - at least then he might have had a chance at some good fortune.

He remembered the day he transmigrated. He had been telling fairy tales to the neighbor's child at his front door. The story went something like this: A tall man saw a cardboard box on the road. He went over, opened it, and found two adorable catgirls inside. The man reached out to pat the catgirls' heads, stroking their big eyes, high nose bridges, pointed chins, and cat ears. Nodding, the man confirmed his suspicion and pulled out a chainsword to loyally process the damned xenomorph.

Watching the child wail loudly, Chen Ming smiled as warmly as the dawn, feeling his image was so grand, like the evening glow of the setting sun.

Unfortunately, there was no time to mourn for the child. The next to arrive on the scene was the child's grandmother.

"Traitor, where do you think you're going?!"

The child's grandmother, riding a motorcycle, descended from the sky and crashed directly into Chen Ming. It was said her surname was Guan, a descendant of Guan Yu. In her youth, she had been a renowned ghost fire girl, known in the underworld as the Red Rocket Flower.

That was Chen Ming's first transmigration.

...

When consciousness returned, Chen Ming surveyed his surroundings and found himself in a vast darkness, with pinpoints of starlight twinkling in the distance, reminiscent of the night sky he had seen in the countryside as a child.

Suddenly appearing in a strange place made Chen Ming feel somewhat flustered and nervous.

He looked down and noticed he seemed to be emitting a faint light, at least enough to see his own body clearly. This was unreasonable - how could a person glow?

At that moment, a light screen appeared before his eyes with blue text on a white background: "Welcome, transmigrator."

Learning that he had become a transmigrator like those in novels, excitement slightly overshadowed his unease. Chen Ming looked around, the stars twinkling and surrounding him, making him feel like the center of the world. Suppressing his agitation, he softly confirmed: "Transmigration? Me? So you're the System?"

"Yes, that's right! Lucky host! You are the chosen one! And I will assist you," the text on the blue screen changed.

Chen Ming was overjoyed, his excitement and happiness completely overwhelming his initial unease at being in an unfamiliar place. He cleared his throat, feigning composure as he issued a command to the System before him: "I see. Well then, introduce yourself, System."

The System immediately replied, seeming very eager: "This System is dedicated to helping you succeed in your career in another world, gather a harem of wives and concubines, reach the pinnacle of life, and conquer beast girls, mecha girls, elves, human beauties, and more."

"That's wonderful!" Chen Ming recalled some settings from novels and asked, "By the way, System, are there any main quests? Oh, and there should be a newbie gift package too, right?"

"Of course. Your main quest for the first phase is to overthrow a tyrannical dynasty. And yes, there is certainly a newbie gift package. You will receive blessings from four deities."

"The newbie package is blessings from deities? And four of them? Isn't that a bit overpowered?" Chen Ming understood - he was playing the role of an overpowered protagonist. "Hmm, so which four gods are they?"

"The four deities are the God of Wisdom and Change, the God of Strength and Courage, the God of Life and Nature, and the God of Art and Beauty."

Chen Ming frowned, realizing things were not so simple: "Come to think of it, System, you haven't told me your name yet. Um... you're not called the Tzeentch System or something, are you?" As he spoke, Chen Ming slowly backed away, though he knew it was probably useless.

An orange-red light flashed, and the System panel displayed the answer: "There's a slight difference, host. This System is called the Saint-Qi System."

Surprise~

"Ah... Saint-Qi System, Saint-Qi... Saint-Qi is good... Saint-Qi... Who said this System wasn't good... This System is simply too awesome..."

Chen Ming suddenly let out a sharp, explosive sound, like a fart sprite whose toe had been stepped on. Then he turned and ran, shouting in terror:

"Emperor! Save me!"

After just two steps, he suddenly stopped, the corners of his mouth turning up sharply.

"Aha~"

This wasn't his laughter. The laughter came from all directions. Along with the sudden laughter, the surroundings became brighter. Orange-red light dispelled the darkness, and the clear laughter broke the silence. "This is too much fun~" The light and laughter intertwined, stars twinkling, stars laughing. Streams of colorful auroras flowed by from the distance, like dancers, like smiling faces, like clowns.

Chen Ming couldn't help but laugh too. Not just him, but his clothes, his hair, every part of his body was laughing. He felt utterly delighted.

"Transmigrator, Aha will bless you." Masks of various sizes appeared around Chen Ming, some laughing, some crying, some cunning and sly, some kind and gentle. Various circus props appeared next to the masks: party poppers, streamers, balloons, hula hoops...

Chen Ming realized he had been standing on a giant red smiling face mask all along, now standing on the forehead part of the mask. A mask suitable for his face size detached from the other masks and floated towards him.

That floating mask looked like a miniature version of the one Chen Ming was standing on. Its main body was red, without intricate patterns, but vibrantly colored. The smile was wild, yet the brushstrokes were restrained.

The moment the mask floated in front of him, knowledge that hadn't existed before suddenly appeared in his mind. It told him that the identity of this strange being before him was a special NPC from a game he had played:

[Pleasure] Star God · Aha, a god of fun seeking pleasure.

Aha? Chen Ming was a bit unsure, unable to tell if this was truly Aha or Tzeentch in disguise.

"Mom, I can't tell, I really can't tell!" Chen Ming joked bitterly in his heart, trying to calm himself by distracting his attention.

"Very good, room and board included." A mask with a worried expression continued the joke.

A beam of light shone down on Chen Ming from somewhere, and he felt his whole body relax, joy filling his heart. He felt truly pleased.

He suddenly understood that it was meaningless to dwell on who this god before him really was. Since this god could change his mood and stuff things into his brain, distorting his cognition wouldn't be difficult either. Therefore, lies and deception were pointless - he had no way to discern or see through them. An ordinary person should have an ordinary attitude. The god before him claimed to be Aha, so He was Aha.

Besides, this god should indeed be Aha. After all, if it were really Tzeentch, he would have been corrupted long ago.

"Look what I've found, a little cutie from outside, hmm... these... oh my... the big iron lumps and big glass blocks will like... and this game called 'Honkai: Star Rail'... So Aha really is a game character, hehe Aha guessed right... Woo~ Aha isn't even in the gacha pool, Aha is being disliked, poor Aha... The Pleasure Path isn't even shown in the game~ How mean~"

The masks surrounding Chen Ming chattered and argued among themselves, various props flying about chaotically like drowning fish.

In a corner he hadn't noticed, several pairs of gloves were trying hard to stuff a semi-transparent blue bird into a party popper tube.

With a squawk, the blue bird exploded on its own, disappointing the gloves. So they began to shirk responsibility and fight among themselves. But for some reason, as they fought, they suddenly started ganging up on a music box. Perhaps it had proposed the earlier plan.

"No, no, no, this is also part of the grand plan!" The music box desperately tried to defend itself.

Finally, a passing firework tube couldn't stand it anymore and dispersed the gloves with one blast.

And so, amidst the backdrop of fireworks, Chen Ming officially became an honorable Masked Fool, and on Aha's suggestion, renamed himself Celeris Bruce.

Unlike normal Masked Fools, Celeris possessed a mask bestowed by Aha from the start, which meant he didn't need to steal a mask from the Mourning Clown like other Masked Fools. Thus, under Aha's personal appointment, Celeris became His [Envoy].

In the world of "Star Rail," those who catch a Star God's eye and receive their blessing are called Envoys. Although becoming an Envoy doesn't necessarily mean one is incredibly powerful, those blessed by Star Gods are rarely weak.

...

On the second day after Celeris became a Masked Fool, while he was studying his mask, he suddenly felt darkness fall before his eyes and found the colors around him becoming muted. Looking up, he saw a huge shadow floating by in the distance, its projected shadow obscuring the starry sky.

Its form was wrapped in layers of black mist. It was the black sun, the sleeping Formless One.

It glared at Celeris with its mismatched eyes as it floated over his head.

O.o: "..."

Celeris suddenly felt so bored, so uninterested, feeling that everything was meaningless.

His skin became like rotten, withered wood, covered in scars and holes; his endocrine system went haywire, unable to distinguish between joy and pain, becoming numb to everything; he lost his memory, lost his senses.

Beside him, a headless person suddenly appeared, slapping Celeris on the head. The slap sent Celeris staggering.

Its headless neck nodded bit by bit, saying matter-of-factly: "Big Black Handsome is right."

Hearing Aha's voice, Celeris's body miraculously recovered from its "self-destructive" state. He frantically felt his body up and down, only managing to calm down after a long while.

Celeris turned his head to look at the headless person and asked: "How can you talk without a head?"

It twisted its neck: "I'm not talking."

It then pointed at Celeris's ear: "It's your ear that's talking."

Celeris instinctively touched his ear and found a mouth had grown on it at some point.

This mouth suddenly spoke: "Hehehe, so fun."

"Holy crap!"

...

Perhaps due to his status as an outsider, over the next period of time, he was successively approached by several Star Gods.

[Memory] Star God · Fuli and [Knowledge] Star God · Erudite descended simultaneously. Huge machinery covered the entire sky, Its appearance turning all unknowns into knowns, assimilating the world into an ocean of data. It was a Star God ascended from machinery; to It, everything is a question, and everything must have an answer. Around It was a blue stellar region as fragmented as broken mirrors, blue lenses forming a huge emperor. It is the emperor of memory, where countless memories intertwine here, transcending time and space. It is the fish swimming upstream, and also the key to the treasure vault. It sits in meditation at the center of the pure land, quietly observing all things in the world tirelessly repeating their mistakes.

After browsing through Celeris's memories, for some unknown purpose, They bestowed blessings upon Celeris. For an instant, he felt as if everything before him had turned into countless streams of information, with the essence of all things presented to his eyes, mind, and memory. But when he came to his senses, he remembered nothing.

Next to pass by was [Abundance] Star God · Yaoshi, with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, gazing upon every living being in this universe with infinite compassion. It is the Star God who never refuses prayers, who cannot bear to see decay and illness, the nurturer of all beings, the god of paradise, aiming to make life flourish endlessly and cure the stubborn disease called death.

It didn't ask any questions, nor did It directly browse through Celeris's memories like the previous three. It just looked at Celeris lovingly with Its countless eyes, then gently waved one of Its arms. Green sweet dew fell from the sky, landing on him. He saw flowers blooming wildly and heard birds spreading their wings and singing.

[Harmony] Star God · Xipei was the only Star God besides Aha who communicated with Celeris. It is the god of a thousand faces, a cluster Star God from multiple harmonic celestial bodies, Its body composed of countless puzzle pieces, with three-layered facial features full of love. Its voice was loud, soft, mellow, crisp, steady, melodious, deep, and high-pitched, like billions upon billions of people singing in unison, chanting harmonious music.

It proposed that Celeris join Its "family," and when politely refused, It didn't get angry. It just maintained a gentle, ambiguous smile that seemed somewhat strange. Combined with Its three exposed faces, it made Celeris feel a bit horrified.

[Hunting] Star God · Lan is the god of the celestial bow, with an appearance similar to a centaur but with wheels for hind hooves. It wears light armor and endlessly wanders between many worlds, proclaiming Its edicts with arrows of light.

Unlike the other Star Gods who had their own clear purposes, Lan appeared briefly on the horizon after Yaoshi left, took a look, and then hurriedly departed. It was hard to tell whether It had come specifically for Celeris or for Yaoshi.

One can only say that sasaeng fans are truly terrifying. Lan is undoubtedly Yaoshi's number one fan, sending rockets to Yaoshi every day. Yaoshi also lives up to Lan's expectations, casually transforming several planets along the way, knowing that Lan likes abundant people. This excited Lan so much that It waved flags, Its hands never stopping, shooting everywhere.

They're truly meant for each other.

The Star God with the "worst" attitude towards Celeris was [Preservation] Star God · Creeper. Like IX, It didn't deliberately suppress Its aura for Celeris. Its body was made of amber-colored stones, incredibly huge, with the giant hammer in Its hand able to cover entire galaxies. It is the builder of the Celestial Wisdom Wall, the Sub-space Crystal Wall, and the Giant Attraction Source Base Plate. Its worshippers call It the "Amber King."

Its arrival caused space to solidify, everything becoming as heavy as city walls, pressing down on Celeris so he couldn't move. However, Celeris could understand. After all, for Creeper, who had been building walls at the edge of the universe, Celeris, who came from "outside the wall," was undoubtedly "invader".

—-

A Mutual Pursuit, Indeed.

The Star God [Preservation], Klipper, had the "worst" attitude toward Celeris. Like IX, Klipper made no effort to restrain His presence for Celeris' sake. His massive body was composed of amber-colored stone, and the giant hammer in His hand could cover an entire galaxy. He was the builder of the Celestial Star Wall, the Subspace Crystal Barrier, and the Great Attractor's Foundation. His worshippers called Him the "Amber King."

His arrival caused space itself to solidify. Everything became as dense as fortress walls, pinning Celeris in place. But Celeris could understand—after all, to Klipper, who had spent eons building barriers at the universe's edge, Celeris was undoubtedly an "intruder" from beyond the walls.

Perhaps out of respect for the humiliated Aha, or maybe for some other reason, Klipper ultimately did nothing to Celeris. Instead, He merely left behind a cornerstone before departing indifferently.

According to the people of the Interstellar Peace Corporation, this cornerstone was part of the Amber King's "sacred body." But when Celeris asked Aha about it, Aha casually revealed that it was actually Klipper's kidney stone.

Celeris suddenly saw the bigger picture. That explained why those who could wield the power of the cornerstone were called the "Ten Hearts, Ten Warriors"—or, perhaps more fittingly, "Renal Fighters." Though, personally, he preferred the term "Kidney Stone Boy Band."

Through his interactions with the Star Gods, Celeris inexplicably received their blessings. He also acquired various peculiar items from them, like a strand of wheat that had fallen from the Apothecary's head. But then again, was it really hair? Or just oversized dandruff?

The Star Gods weren't entirely unreasonable. Once they had obtained the answers they sought from Celeris or completed their cosmic arrangements, they didn't mind tossing him a few trinkets as a parting gift. As a result, his net worth skyrocketed, briefly making him one of the wealthiest beings in the universe.

Later, upon examining his own body, Celeris was surprised to discover that he had accumulated a total of nine blessings. After consulting Aha, he learned that two extra ones had appeared—one unintentionally left by IX when passing by, and the other from the [Enigma] Star God, Myths.

Perhaps driven by curiosity about the new world, Celeris found himself developing a strange compulsion to collect things. Over the next year, he assumed multiple identities and created numerous avatars, infiltrating various organizations. He became a well-known collector and role-player among the Masked Fools.

He gathered all sorts of oddities—wondrous artifacts, planetary specialties, and unique trinkets from different factions. To expand his collection, he even commissioned the Interstellar Peace Corporation to craft several storage devices equipped with spatial folding technology.

He also fabricated several organizations of his own. Sometimes, he was a distinguished passenger aboard the Star Rail, following in the footsteps of the High-Trail Star God, Hakivili. Other times, he was a Spring Brow Knight, wandering the universe and proclaiming the unparalleled magnificence of the Spring Brow Star God, Idriha's eyebrows.

This, of course, led to multiple fights and heated debates with dozens of Pure Beauty Knights. In the end, he successfully convinced a few less-than-brilliant knights to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Spring Brow Knights. They even conceded that protecting beautiful eyebrows was a noble chivalric duty in the universe.

However, while some knights accepted the Spring Brow Knight Order, they still refused to admit that Idriha's eyebrows were "peerless." In their eyes, even eyebrows must bow to the supreme beauty of the Pure Beauty Star God. A small faction, however, theorized that Idriha might actually be an avatar of the Pure Beauty Star God, Idrihla. As a result, they kept their original Pure Beauty Knight titles while also joining the Spring Brow Knight Order.

…

Time passed quickly. Just when Celeris thought he would spend the rest of his days in the world of Honkai: Star Rail, he crossed over once again—this time into a world resembling the steam-powered medieval era of his old home.

------

This chapter is packed with meme references from internet culture, anime, games, and Warhammer 40K. Here's a breakdown of the major ones:

1. "Meme Density Warning" in the IntroductionThis is a common trope in chaotic, reference-heavy stories, warning readers that the text will be filled with jokes and references. It's often seen in meme-heavy fanfiction or web novels.2. Celeris Bruce's OutfitSilver garbage can flexing its muscles → Reference to the internet meme of "trash taste," possibly linked to anime fandom where people joke about their "garbage" opinions being superior.Chibi blue-haired girl with a halo and wings on headphones → This likely refers to Hoshimachi Suisei (a popular VTuber) or Hatsune Miku.3. Chen Ming (Original Name) Wants to Change His Name to Chen Sheng"Chen Sheng" could reference Chen Sheng (陈胜), a historical figure from China's first recorded peasant uprising. The joke is that even his name is so forgettable that he might as well have been a famous rebel.4. Fairy Tale Subversion (Catgirls & Chainsword)A parody of the "stray catgirl" trope in anime, where a protagonist finds and takes in catgirls. Instead, the protagonist identifies them as xenomorphs (from Aliens) and immediately pulls out a chainsword, a Warhammer 40K reference to the weapon of the Imperium of Man's Space Marines.5. "Traitor, where do you think you're going?!" and Grandma Guan"Traitor" could reference Warhammer 40K again, as the Imperium calls all rebels "traitors."Guan Yu reference → Guan Yu is a famous historical figure from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The "descendant of Guan Yu" joke is a common way of making a character absurdly strong.Ghost Fire Girl & Red Rocket Flower → This likely references Chinese street racer culture or a meme about legendary old people being unbeatable.6. The System's Newbie Gift Package & The Four DeitiesThe "blessing of four deities" is a common isekai trope. However, the way it's framed makes it sound like a Warhammer 40K reference:God of Wisdom and Change → Tzeentch, the Chaos God of Change.God of Strength and Courage → Khorne, the Chaos God of War.God of Life and Nature → Nurgle, the Chaos God of Disease.God of Art and Beauty → Slaanesh, the Chaos God of Excess.This implies the System is setting him up for corruption.7. Tzeentch System → "Saint-Qi System"The protagonist suspects the system is a trickster, possibly Tzeentch."Saint-Qi" sounds like a pun on "Sanqi" (三奇), meaning "three miracles" or "three wonders," making it sound deceptively positive.8. "Emperor! Save me!"A Warhammer 40K meme where people call out to the God-Emperor of Mankind when encountering Chaos forces. The protagonist panicking upon realizing he's in the presence of Chaos is fitting.9. Aha (Star Rail) and the Circus AestheticAha is a Star God in Honkai: Star Rail, representing joy and chaos. The setting with masks, laughter, and party props fits his chaotic nature.The masks, party streamers, and hula hoops reference circus and trickster gods like Loki or the Joker.10. "Mom, I can't tell, I really can't tell!"This is a reference to a meme about indecision or being confused by two identical choices.11. "Room and board included."A joke referencing how even in terrifying situations, some people focus on trivial matters like free accommodation.12. The Giant Shadow (The Formless One)This sounds like an entity from Lord of the Mysteries or another cosmic horror setting. The way it warps Celeris's emotions is similar to how beings like Nyarlathotep affect people.13. The Headless PersonThe headless figure slapping him and saying "Big Black Handsome is right" could be referencing a Chinese meme about mysterious powerful figures who give cryptic advice.14. "Big Iron Lumps and Big Glass Blocks"This could reference advanced technology or mechs (Honkai: Star Rail possibly).15. The Gloves Trying to Stuff a Blue Bird Into a Party PopperThis could reference Twitter (Blue Bird) and the meme of trying to "contain" chaos, but it inevitably explodes.The gloves then blaming each other references office/workplace politics.16. The Music Box Being Blamed and a Firework Tube Ending the ArgumentThis seems to be a parody of how random scapegoating happens in chaotic situations.