When Sean was still living in Europe, archaeologists discovered a mural in a cave in South Africa.
The murals depict scenes of human life thousands of years ago: people wearing wooden oil masks were performing some kind of ritual beside a campfire.
Archaeologists concluded that it was a tribal shaman performing a trance ritual. People at that time believed that this ritual could drive away evil spirits and bring good luck to the tribe.
Many different civilizations in the world almost all have similar cultures: they believe that "mask" can ward off evil prying eyes and please the gods to protect themselves.
A long time ago, before the concept of "searchers" appeared, people who walked in the dark side of the world and drove away evil had already put on masks.
The mask is still used today, adding many mysterious and practical colors, and has become one of the symbols of the explorer.
In front of Sean at this moment, the swirling masks became less and less.
Sean had a strange feeling - as if the gods had discovered him and came to observe him. After finding that it didn't fit, they silently retreated to their position.
Soon, there were only a dozen masks left spinning in front of Sean, still glowing slightly.
As expected by Sean, masks such as "Apprentice of Tower City" and "Young Scribe" that fit their functions were left to the end.
What makes Sean particularly excited is that the "Silent Clerk" mask is still spinning around him.
A silver mask with a calm expression, hair like fine silver waves, and a brass quill like a cap quill above the temples...
Sean could hardly keep his eyes away from it. He seemed to feel that as long as he kept staring at the mask, he could have a closer connection with it.
One mask after another extinguished the light, but the silent scribe remained. It turned slower and slower, becoming the only luminous object in the darkness.
Sean knew that he had been chosen, and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily. He watched the mask that exuded a faint light slowly turn in front of him. He stretched out his hand to accept it, and then...
The mask went out in the darkness.
In the darkness, Sean was stunned: What is going on?
He walked around in the darkness a few times to make sure all the masks were out.
For a moment, he thought there was something wrong with his mask ritual - no matter what, there should be a mask left, and now this situation of all being extinguished is really strange.
Sean was just about to shout a few times in the dark to ask the director to come in and take a look. Suddenly he heard the sound of a tidal wave.
In the boundless darkness, the sound of the tide suddenly came, which made him confused: "What's going on? Am I hallucinating?"
Then, the sky brightened ambiguously. He found that the surrounding water was constantly coming and going. The black marble floor on which he stood seemed to have become the only reef on the sea.
Sean looked around with some surprise. It was an ocean filled with heavy fog. It seemed that before the sunrise, everything was in chaos. Only the sound of tides confirmed that what he saw was true.
"Where am I?" Sean was just about to touch the sea water when he suddenly saw a transparent mask emerging from the air in front of him.
The mask was oval in shape, with only two holes for the eyes, as if it were ground from a single piece of clear crystal.
Sean straightened up and stared at the transparent mask. From his perspective, he could see the chaotic ocean and the thick fog above it through the mask.
Like a dream, the surrounding scenery disappeared, and the mask seemed to collect the foggy ocean.
Sean looked at this unknown mask, as if looking through an oval window at the sea before dawn, which was still dark and foggy.
The mask floats quietly. Sean took a moment to realize that this was his mask.
Sean took off the mask from the air, as if taking off a fog: "What kind of mask is this? Why isn't it on the map in the Explorer's Manual?"
The lights in the Thousand Faces Hall were turned on again, and the director, the mask maker and Moonlight walked in.
Sean could see that there was some surprise in the eyes of the director and the mask maker.
The mask maker stared at the "thick fog" in Sean's hand, seemingly obsessed. The director couldn't take his eyes away, but his voice remained calm: "The Hall of Thousand Faces is a divine place.
"You stand in the center of the hall, and you are actually letting the person who controls the masks choose the mask that best suits you.
"But if that being finds that there is no existing mask that matches you, he will create a mask for you.
"It's not that this never happens, it's just rare."
To have a mysterious being condescend to create a mask just for himself?
Sean looked at the mask in his hand again: "Then what is its name and what does it symbolize?"
The mask maker took a few steps closer and stretched out his hands as if asking for Sean's permission. Sean handed the mask into his hands, and the latter held the mask and closed his eyes, as if trying to gain some kind of revelation.
After a while, he opened his eyes: "The name of the mask is 'Sea of Unknown'. It symbolizes that the person wearing it has great potential... and it also symbolizes the huge challenges he will face."
"Whether it will survive the horrific storms and tides, only the god and himself know."
The director cleared his throat: "Although the process is a little different from usual, we still follow tradition and complete the awarding ceremony."
The craftsman solemnly held the Unknown Sea, and the director opened the "Explorer's Manual" in his hand and read aloud: "Mr. Explorer Sean, this is the mask chosen by fate for you. After wearing it, it means that you will step into this world. Mysterious side.
“You will witness beauty that most people cannot witness, and you will also encounter disasters that most people will not encounter.
“You will walk in darkness to protect those who walk in light.
"You will keep the secrets that ancient wisdom tells you and keep your lips sealed every day."
"You will cherish your soul, heart and noble character, and will not be tempted by evil, and refuse to be corrupted in the slightest."
"Finally. You were once a mortal, but you decided to pay the price and enter that extraordinary world. Swear to God, you clearly know the price and chips of this trip."
Sean repeated sentence after sentence until the last sentence: "...I was once a mortal, but I decided to pay the price and enter that extraordinary world. I swear to God, I clearly know the price and chips of this trip."
"Even so..." The director closed the manual and smiled at each other with the craftsman, "God favors explorers."
"God favors the seeker."
The mask maker held the mask to Sean. Sean picked up the Unknown Sea and gently placed it on his face.
He heard the sound of the tide sealed in the crystal mask. There were no straps or clamps, and the Unknown Sea clung tightly to his face.
Looking at Sean wearing the mask, Moonlight's face showed a look of surprise: Sean's face disappeared, replaced by a sea hidden in the mist - as if he was the incarnation of that sea of chaos, giving People feel mysterious, deep and powerful.
