[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-diary-of-a-dead-wizard":3,"chapter-diary-of-a-dead-wizard-diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-332":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Diary of a Dead Wizard",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1380738,1828,"Chapter 332: Useless?","diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-332",332,"\u003Cp>Saul spent the entire night asking the Nightmare Butterfly questions and intermittently reading the notes, finally gaining a rough understanding of her current condition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Haywood's notes, the eggs laid by Nightmare Butterflies were not their offspring—but rather, new bodies for themselves. Unless something went wrong, a Nightmare Butterfly could achieve rebirth by transferring her consciousness into one of her eggs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In doing so, she would inherit her previous memories—what they referred to as their “history.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, this process could go awry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Haywood had heard from the Tower Master that the moment of consciousness transfer was also the Nightmare Butterflies’ most vulnerable time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some true wizards—Haywood noted “at least Second Rank”—were known to target this exact moment to capture Nightmare Butterflies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the butterflies' death throes were also terrifying. There had been higher-ranked wizards who died attempting such captures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, the notes recorded that the transfer process often required the use of dreams—the more powerful the target’s mental presence, the better the dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This could greatly shorten the butterflies’ period of weakness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, and to draw power from your history, she observed you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul: “…No wonder she mistook me for someone else back then.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His history involved crossing between worlds and not just from a big world to a small one, either. These were worlds with fundamentally different underlying rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even he had nearly gotten lost when trying to observe his own past—there was no way he could’ve helped someone else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you remember what you saw during the observation?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little butterfly flapped her wings. “If I remembered, then I wouldn’t be me anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fair enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul felt a bit disappointed. If he could use this opportunity to learn what had happened during his crossing, perhaps he could finally understand whether something had changed in his soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even after going through that vague and inexplicable crisis, Saul still hadn’t figured out whether anything special had happened to him during the crossing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the observer, Penny—she had merely peeked at a fragment of his history, and that alone had cost her part of her own. She’d become a haughty little butterfly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why do I feel like I’m a bomb?” Saul shook his head. Exploring the secrets of world-crossing was even more dangerous than he’d imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So I should still focus my resurrection research on removing the soul’s rejection of its vessel. Studying the peculiarities of my own soul might not yield any results. And if I end up getting Master Gorsa involved…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul knew too well what becoming someone else’s research subject could lead to. Hayden and Herman were living examples.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your life wouldn’t be your own. Neither would your gender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of that, Saul looked at the Nightmare Butterfly again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you still have the ability to observe history?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nope!” The butterfly answered cheerfully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about altering other people’s memories?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nope!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul crossed his arms. Back in the day, he naturally wouldn’t want the Nightmare Butterfly to have such mind-warping powers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now that she’d become his bookmark, he naturally hoped his pet would be a little stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then again, if she still had her former powers, he probably wouldn’t have been able to subdue her at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply asked, “So what powers do you still have?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I dunno!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul sighed and was just about to put the Nightmare Butterfly away, when she suddenly sensed his intention and fluttered up pitifully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Saul, can I not go back to that dark and scary place?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t want to go back? Can you really stay outside for long periods?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why not? I was always outside before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul thought for a moment. The Nightmare Butterfly was, after all, a lifeform that existed between a wizard’s body and her consciousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe she was different from a wizard apprentice’s soul in his book and could indeed act independently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of this, Saul agreed to her request. “Alright, you can stay out for now. If anything feels off or you want to go back, just call me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Brother Saul, you’re the best!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Nightmare Butterfly spun in the air, then landed on Saul’s cheek, brushing him gently with her antennae.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul only felt a faint chill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nightmare Butterfly… forget it, I’ll just call you Penny from now on. Even if you’ve lost your past, you’re probably still her.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Okay! I like the name Penny!” The butterfly had no resistance to the name, accepting it gladly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Penny, why can your consciousness exist independently from your body? A soul without a vessel should be fragile—easily corrupted or mutated.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because I have history! Knowing history lets me affirm my existence, and the more history I know, the more stable my power becomes. Even if I get hurt, I can recover by revisiting my history.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But now you’ve lost most of your memory. Doesn’t that make you vulnerable?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Normally, yes. But my situation is special now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You mean your connection to the diary protects you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So that dark place is called a diary? Weird name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul didn’t bother explaining, and Penny didn’t need to understand it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In any case, the Nightmare Butterfly’s method of survival as a separate consciousness wasn’t something a wizard could copy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul paused his study of Penny, returned the notes to the sealed lead box, and went back to the lab to clean up the mess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still hadn’t figured out what had caused Herman’s sudden change when entering the female corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That afternoon, when Hayden came by as usual, he noticed that the tall man who always followed Saul around was nowhere to be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he could ask, he spotted Herman standing in the outer section of the second storeroom, eyes closed, amidst a cluster of corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately tensed. “Lord Saul, she…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul followed Hayden’s gaze and understood at once, but only replied mildly, “There was a little mishap with the experiment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hayden’s heart lurched. He followed Saul nervously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Herman’s “death” had him on edge. He hadn’t expected Saul to burn through a test subject so quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he’d mentally prepared himself to be used in various experiments when he joined the spirit infusion trials—after all, even ordinary apprentices were often voluntold into such roles—seeing a test subject consumed in front of him still filled him with fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Hayden walked much more slowly than usual into the lab, he was stunned by the device before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“An electro-sense chair?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, memories of his recent time as an experimental subject flooded back—his new body’s dull sensory feedback, the endless painful tests—it all made his heart race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze on the spot, unable to take another step forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He imagined electric currents surging through him, goosebumps all over but in reality, only his eyelashes quivered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hayden knew he couldn’t disobey Saul’s orders. Even if he were to die the next moment, he would still have to cooperate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But knowing that didn’t make his body any less frozen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul walked over and powered up the device. Noticing Hayden’s fear, he took the initiative to explain the experiment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Today, I’m researching how corpses repel souls. You’ll sit in the chair, try to separate your consciousness from your body, and I’ll record your body’s reactions.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He adjusted the chair and looked back at Hayden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>See? No electricity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Hayden still stood there dumbly, like someone had hit pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul frowned. “What’s holding you back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hayden’s trembling pupils shifted from the machine to Saul’s face. Her mouth moved, but no words came out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Saul was about to issue a firm command, Hayden suddenly shuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The aura of fear washed away like a receding tide. When she looked up again, her eyes gleamed with resolve and a trace of madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s afraid. I’m not, my lord,” Hayden’s second personality spoke, her face twisting into a rigid smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1304,"2026-06-05T22:22:08.873Z",1,"novelbin.me","28f0a5897263791a70189bd91676c1eea4f0f826005f834485873f03a354e7a2","diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-86","diary-of-a-dead-wizard-chapter-85",1037,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdiary-of-a-dead-wizard-cover.jpg"]