Time flew.

I’d been working part-time at the bakery for a few days. Most of the time, I was either slacking off or stuck washing dishes, but oddly, that kind of life felt pretty fulfilling for me.

I’d even started getting the hang of baking some pastries.

Lately, I’d been pestering Senior Ying Shiqian about transcendence—stuff like the meditation techniques I was obsessed with.

On her advice, I unlocked a new spot at the academy: the library.

It wasn’t weird for a school to have a library. It was a place for learning, so naturally, they had stacks of books, documents, and research materials.

The library had a ton of stuff on meditation methods. I even shelled out for a library card, which wasn’t cheap.

Borrowing books to take out costs extra, too. If I’d had time to read at the library, most books would’ve been free, but no such luck.

I brought them to the bakery to read. It was boring there sometimes, so I made use of the downtime.

“Yuehan, why were you such a nerd?” Ying Shiqian strolled over, her voice dripping with mock frustration as she unloaded her negativity. “I’d already graduated, and you were still stressing me out with all your studying.”

“Maybe I was just super curious about transcendence. Wanted to see it for myself.” I glanced up at Ying Shiqian, who’d sprawled across the counter in front of me. She was a slacker like me, always goofing off when the boss wasn’t around but turning on the charm when she was, saving me and Tang Yihan from her flirty nonsense.

“Who got curious about transcendence? That stuff was torture!” she groaned.

“Guess people were different,” I said with a knowing grin, getting her point. It was like someone saying they loved studying—sure, a few weirdos might, but they were rare.

In that world, everyone had heard of transcendence. Even if you weren’t at the School of Transcendence and couldn’t tap into its power, it was just part of life.

I could tell the academy tightly controlled access to transcendence, deliberately sparking curiosity in ordinary people. Only by fostering that curiosity and thirst for knowledge could they inspire people's interest in pursuing it.

Their efforts paled compared to my hunger for transcendence—someone who’d grown up in a world without it.

“You’re totally one of those straight-A types, aren’t you? I’m jealous!” Ying Shiqian teased, her voice lilting. “When you become a transcendence witch and graduate, you’ve got to come back and tell me about all the wild stuff out there.”

“My grades aren’t even that great, don’t overhype me,” I said humbly, shaking my head. It was true—my grades were average at best. Still, her talk about the outside world piqued my interest.

“No way, I’m not buying it,” she scoffed. “You newbies are scary good. This year’s batch has a perfect-score genius, too. The competition’s brutal. Don’t you feel the pressure, Yuehan?”

“Pressure? I haven’t even met them. Why stress myself out for no reason?” I shrugged.

“That’s some chill vibe you’ve got,” she said, impressed.

“It’s not about being chill,” I replied, steering the conversation. “You mentioned something about ‘beyond the world’ earlier. What’s out there? Other worlds?” My segue was clunky, but I was dying to know. Could my old world—the one I’d crossed over from—be out there? Probably not. If it were, I wouldn’t know where to begin.

Honestly, I loved this world with its transcendence powers. My childhood here wasn’t great, but this second shot at life? It just added another rough patch to my already sad story, nothing more.

“No clue,” Ying Shiqian said, shrugging. “They only tell you that stuff after you become a transcendence witch. What’s the point of knowing now? If you don’t make it, it’s just extra baggage.”

“Fair point,” I admitted, flipping through the pages of my book, diving back into the witch’s meditation method.

Ying Shiqian saw I was focused and didn’t bother me further. She wandered off to the back kitchen.

My eyes flicked toward Tang Yihan, still busy, hoping nothing went wrong.

A few days ago, I watched Ying Shiqian sneak up on her, startling her so bad she spilled ingredients everywhere.

After some fierce glares from Tang Yihan, Ying Shiqian tearfully took on dish duty and a full kitchen cleanup.

I turned my attention back to the meditation book. The witch’s meditation method was a whole different beast compared to the theoretical stuff I’d studied before. If this was the real deal, those pre-exam theories were just flowery words and empty daydreams.

The witch’s meditation method was abstract, aiming to refine mental energy into a higher-quality “thread of consciousness.” Only then could it sync with your life force to tap into mana, the high-level energy. Boosting mental energy was just a side effect.

I’d assumed most of the meditation method’s pages would focus on refining the thread of consciousness.

When I dug in, however, I realized it was still explaining how to enter the “meditative state.”

It dove deep into the concept of the meditative state and the subjective mental space that extended from it.

This didn’t feel like beginner stuff. How was someone who’d never touched transcendence supposed to grasp this?

The book also lists tools needed for meditation: specific audio tracks, visual meditation diagrams, and even pricey incense.

There were even advanced hypnotic techniques to help newbies understand what a meditative state felt like.

Just the few pages describing the required mental and physical control felt daunting. It demanded intense self-discipline over body and mind.

In short, it was about mastering yourself.

The witch’s meditation method had multiple stages, and the first—simply entering the meditative state—was a stage in itself. That alone showed how high the entry bar was.

But I wasn’t scared. If it was tough, I’d tackle it. How could I not try?

Trying meant spending money, though. Without the tools described in the book, meditating on my own could take forever. I knew my limits.

Sure, I pushed myself to stay confident, but I wasn’t delusional about my talents.

Translator's note: Anyone here trying meditation IRL? I have ADHD so it's quite difficult for me to enter a meditative state. It's very helpful, tho. Last year I did it for three month and like Yuehan said, I felt I have taken more control of myself. It helps with my ADHD.