On the document before me, the following question is written: "Do you know what the Secret Sealing Club is?"

Some of you may already know this from reviewing other documents, but these two are university students dedicated to uncovering secrets―Renko Usami and Maribel Hearn. The bond they share is profoundly strong, yet little can be gleaned from merely observing them. In a way, they themselves form a kind of barrier. Now, what would be the best way to learn about the Secret Sealing Club? How can one step beyond the confines of documentation? What's required for a journey of the imagination to transcend its limitations? How are impassable boundaries overcome? What's the best method for glimpsing the intangible? The answer to all such questions can be found through careful and continuous thought.

In which world can the Secret Sealing Club be found? At the very least, it is not the one we live in. Are the members even inhabitants of Gensokyo or one of the many otherworlds associated with it? The answer to that is no. Reimu and Marisa live in Gensokyo, and they've never met either Renko or Merry. It would make some sense if they lived in the future. A future where advanced nanomachines and artificial intelligence have embedded themselves so deeply into infrastructure and have become so commonplace that they are rarely discussed. A future where the population is decreasing, yet energy and resource problems have been resolved. A future where Earth's limited land space has become a museum for past cultures and the splendor of nature, causing yet another generation to long for the stars. A future where classical scientific supremacism has been abandoned in favor of a return to forgotten traditions—a New Renaissance, so to speak. Could such a future be home to the members of the Secret Sealing Club?

But if that were true, what about the document I discovered in Gensokyo? It was originally found and kept safe by Hieda no Akyuu, and its contents suggest that Merry herself was the author. And yet, it is extremely old, estimated to have been written 300 years ago. If the author truly was her, what would the consequences be? Could she and Renko actually be from a world in the past? That would certainly be fascinating. It would imply that our understanding of history is flawed and that there existed not an advanced ancient civilization but something that could be called an advanced Edo civilization. It seems the author of the "M Document" had no intention of venturing back in time, which might suggest that her era simply didn't possess time-travel technology. In that case, the notion that she is from the past is not so far-fetched. However, my thoughts lie elsewhere. I've concluded that the farside of any barrier is another world, a realm governed by its own laws and rules. They may be worlds you can only visit as a spiritual entity, and time may flow differently there. This brings up an interesting question: have you ever felt that time flows more slowly in Gensokyo?

But forgetting all of that for a moment, there's something I want to ask of you. Come to me as soon as you can. Being lost in thought is such a sweet and enjoyable experience. I, too, am always exploring. If you don't hurry, you'll never catch up to me. So leave that research facility I left to you and come quickly. Let us gaze out upon this view together. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do this. But I have to keep going to prepare for the inevitable. I'm counting on you.