“U-uh, alright then,” Floy cleared his throat, “what can I help you with… adventurer Ferti?”

“Please give me access to the next history books.”

“What?”

“I’m sure that there are more books pertaining to the history of this kingdom.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well according to records, Meleheim kingdom was founded approximately 1700 years ago by its first king, Malek Yorukan. The current year right now is 2116. The books on the shelves stopped documenting events after the year 1616. There is about 500 years worth of information missing, however, knowing how detailed those other books were… I believe there are more volumes to indicate what has been going on,” Ferti responded. Floy’s jaw dropped, but he quickly picked it back up and composed himself.

“Well I’m sorry, but you cannot have access to those books,” Floy closed his book and set it down. Ferti tilted her head, confused.

“How come?”

“Those books are located on the second floor, and only members who have earned it will have access to the second-floor library. You, at the current moment, is just a new member.” Floy said without a care as he placed the book in a box that sat on the desk. Ferti bit on her thumb, thinking for a moment before looking back up.

“How do I earn the honor to go up to the second floor then?”

“There are two ways to gain access to the second floor. The first is to be a loyal member here for two years.”

“Two years?!” Ferti blurted out. She would have to play the game for over half a year to be able to accomplish that.

“Yes.”

“What’s the other way?”

“Well, the other way is to read all the books here in the library. After that, you have to take a test and if you pass the test, you will gain access to not only the second floor but also the third floor, depending on your score.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Hmmm… I understand. Thank you for your information,” Ferti gave Floy a bow and then headed back to where she was earlier. She glanced over the books she just read and then looked around the library. “To read all the books in this place… would probably take me around 12 days in the game world, and three days in real life if I did it all in one take… I can do it,” Ferti mumbled to herself. “Status menu, open.”

Status Menu

Name: Ferti Health: 305/305 Level: 2 Mana 397/397 Race: Human Fire Resistance: 5% Light Resistance: 3% Gender: Female Wind Resistance: 5% Dark Resistance: 2% Class: N/A Water Resistance: 5% Goal: To become the ultimate supporter. Title: N/A Earth Resistance: 5% Goal status: Incomplete Attack: 12 Intelligence: 37 Defense: 11 Wisdom: 18 Strength: 17 Leadership: 2 Agility: 7 Charisma: 21 Fame: 0 Luck: 33 Stamina: 20 Charm: 35

From reading 120 books she ended up gaining 12 intelligence points, and six wisdom points. She also went up a level, gaining ten skill points, where she distributed into strength and defense. She knew that this trend wasn’t going to stay forever, so she had to decide carefully while she could still level up rapidly. It was going to be harder later in the game to gain skill points so easily.

If she wanted to accomplish her goal, then she would need a huge bar of mana for spells and other things. The most difficult things to level up also were the intelligence and wisdom skills for they took a lot of time. Reading books was probably the easiest way, however, it consumed the most time so people tried to look for another way.

As Ferti continued to stand there thinking, she heard Floy clearing his throat. She turned around to see him standing behind her, gesturing towards the door.

“The public library will close soon. If you wish to check out a book then please do so within the next ten minutes. A newcomer is allowed to check three books out at a time with a span of a month. If the book is not returned within a month, then the person who checked out the book will receive a fine,” Floy informed, bored. Ferti raised an eyebrow.

“What hours do the library run on?” she asked. Floy let out a sigh.

“We are open from eight a.m. to eight p.m. every weekday. On weekends we are only open from eight a.m. to four p.m.” Floy replied. Ferti nodded her head understanding.

“I see… just give me a moment to pick out three books then I will be on my way. Thank you,” she gave Floy a small bow. Floy rolled his eyes before returning to his desk. Ferti scanned the room looking for books. She squinted her eyes until they landed on a big red book. She raised an eyebrow as she made her way to it. She pulled it out, feeling its rough cover.

“Collection of Legends and Tales Throughout The Genard Continent,” she read out loud. From a previous book that she just read, she knew that there was a total of twelve continents in Road Builder. The Genard Continent was the continent that Meleheim was located in. She bit her lip, thinking for a bit before nodding. She picked up some more books next to the one she just got. They were all books based on legends and tales.

She walked up to the front desk and set her books down in front of Floy. Floy glanced up, before pulling a worn out book from underneath the desk.

“Books on tales and legends… are you a child?” Floy said with an underlying mocking tone as he documented the books on a log under Ferti’s name. Ferti smiled.

“You never know. Things like these may come in handy in the future,” Ferti picked up her books and inserted them into her inventory. “Now, please excuse me. I will be back soon,” Ferti gave Floy a bow as she left the library.

Ferti opened her map as she searched for her next destination. She bit on the nail of her thumb as two places stood out to her.

“The Herb Garden, or The Alchemist Center?” she muttered to herself. “Well… I already had the alchemy skill due to being able to choose three skills from the game setup. That is a huge step already, considering how in S.A they had every player begin with no skills at all… I would still need to learn more about herbs so I can make potions later… guess it’s The Herb Garden then,” she nodded her head and began heading to The Herb Garden.

Along the way to her destination, she had pulled out one of her books and began flipping the pages as she did earlier. She would occasionally glance at her map to make sure she was going the right way, but other than that, she did not look up in front of her.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen!” a voice yelled out ahead of her. She looked up to see a blue haired man, wearing an extravagant armor smiling, “The Blue Thunder Guild is currently looking for new members to join. If you are interested then line up and face one of our clan’s best player. If you are chosen, you will immediately receive an Orange grade weapon or armor of your choice!” his voice roared. People stopped in their tracks when they heard this.

“Woah! An orange grade attire?! Maybe I should check it out,” someone muttered.

“Orange grade attire! Ugh… too bad I will probably never make it in,” another one chimed. A line soon formed and a crowd of players had huddled up to watch who would make it in. Ferti let out a sigh as she now had to make a trip around the circle to get to The Herb Garden. She kept her ears open for information though, as she walked around the crowd.

“I heard that no one has actually seen whom the Blue Thunder Guild leader is!”

“Well whoever they are, they must be amazing! They managed to lead all the members through Black Widow’s dungeon and managed to get the best time!”

“Wow… I want to join Blue Thunder Guild also… sucks that I’m so low leveled.”

The chattering among the crowd was endless, however, the line begged to differ. Some of the people who went up to challenge got beat down in just a couple moves, which discouraged others and they left the line. Ferti ignored them as she finally made her way around, with her book still out. It didn’t take her long to reach The Herb Garden then. She had finished the thick red book and placed it back into her inventory as she walked in.

When she entered the room, the smell of medicine entered her nose. It was a refreshing smell to her as she took in a huge whiff. She looked up to see a man dozing off at the front desk. She walked up to him and cleared her throat. The man woke up and shook his head.

“Bru-brah-rah-rah- Excuse me, uh, how may I help you?” The man looked up and smiled.

“I would like to learn the skills necessary to grow herbs,” Ferti said.

“Huh? Uh, yes. Uhh…wha- no- wa-uh… yea. Admissions fee! Admissions fee please,” The man put his hand out.

“How much is it?”

“Uh… er… yea… you think. You pay what you think,” the man nodded his head and looked at her with a stern face. Ferti bit on her the nail of her thumb, a bit confused. She didn’t know if the price she paid would trigger a benefit or a downfall to her. Usually the price to learn a skill would be 10 to 30 coppers for a normal skill such as this, however, she thought about what the benefits would be if she paid a higher price. She knew she had to choose carefully.

“Excuse me.”

“Uh, huh? Yea?”

“Is it alright if I look around first?” Ferti asked. The man looked at her with a blank expression.

“Uh… er… yea. Go ahead.” he said. Ferti gave him a bow and started to look around the shop. She stopped in front of each plant and gazed down at it.

“Identify!” she whispered. A blue box popped up in front of her.

Fail to identify object!

“Identify!” she whispered again. She didn’t give up.

Fail to identify object!

Fail to identify object!

Fail to identify object!

Fail to identify object!

Fail to identify object!

Object identified!

Name: Green Grass

Class: Blue Class

These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.

Ferti saw the description popped up, but it didn’t matter to her as she kept going on.

“Re-identify!” She said this time.

Object identified!

Name: Green Grass

Class: Blue Class

These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.

Object identified!

Name: Green Grass

Class: Blue Class

These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.

Object identified!

Name: Green Grass

Class: Blue Class

These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.

Object identified!

Name: Green Grass

Class: Blue Class

These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.

Object identified!

Name: Green Grass

Class: Blue Class

These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.

Object identified! New Information obtained!

Name: Green Grass

Class: Blue Class

These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds, however, when mixed with Red Grass, it can become a toxic poison. Be cautious with use!

Ferti smirked when she saw the new information. “So the game mechanics here are similar to the game mechanics in S.A.” she mumbled to herself. She smiled, learning something new, as she continued going around to each plant and doing the same thing. She stayed in The Herbal Garden for countless hours just going to each plant and identifying them, and each time she heard a bing, she smiled. Bing!

Level Up!

Identification Skill Level: Beginner 3

Ferti smiled at her results. She knew that to raise up the identification skill, one needed to identify things that were useful. Anyone can just upgrade their identification skill by randomly identifying objects on the ground, however the experience it gave was little to none, and it did not help in the long run. If someone kept using identify on rocks, then, of course, they would level up, but the quality of their skill would not as they would not be able to identify more complex items.

It took a long time, but Ferti was finally done analyzing the plants. She stretched her arms as she stood up straight. The problem with the pay was still on her mind, but she did not know what she had to do. She sat down on one of the barrels that laid against the wall as she thought about what to do.

“What could they possibly want? Hmm…” she mumbled to herself as she stroked her chin. Just as she was thinking the bell to the shop ranged. She looked up to see a man wearing a majestic blue robe, engraved with elaborate patterns, stroll in. The hood of the robe was pulled over his head to hide his face as his tall stature continued striding into the shop. The man was holding a small bag, and he placed it carefully on the desk. The clerk from behind stood up immediately, and the once dumb look on his face was now faded. Ferti squinted her eyes as she stared at the clerk’s lips, opening and closing.

“Is… this…ment?” Ferti mumbled to herself as she bit the nail of her thumb. She saw the man nod. The clerk opened the bag slightly, and his eyes bulged before he closed the bag. The clerk looked up from his position and Ferti quickly averted her eyes as she feigned interest in the herb next to her.

“Ey you!” she heard the clerk call out. She turned her head.

“Yes?” she answered innocently.

“Go home! Come back soon! Shop close!” the clerk quickly shooed her out, waving his hand towards the door. Ferti sighed.

“Alright then, I will come back another day. Thank you!” Ferti gave the man a bow. As she bent back up she meticulously observed the man in the majestic robe. From his attire, she knew he was an experienced player. She nodded her head before turning on her heels and exiting the store.

Ferti stood outside the shop as she opened her menu screen. She saw the date and time in the game and also saw the date and time in real life. She yawned as she touched the tapped on the options toolbar.

“It’s getting late… I should also go to school tomorrow,” she yawned again before tapping the logout button.

-

Mona opened her eyes. The sunlight that had illuminated her room earlier was gone, and she would’ve been surrounded in complete darkness if not for the light on her alarm clock. She slid off the VR helmet and turned it off, before setting it on the ground.

After that, she glanced at her alarm clock to see the frame still standing proudly. She pushed the wretched thing faced down again and laid down on her bed. From the corner of her eye, she caught the sight of her once normal youth. The soft linen fabric hung up on the corner of her room. She caught the checkered patterned blue skirt and blue tie. Then she caught the golden badge that laid on the breast of the jacket that had three doves diving to their own deaths. She closed her round eyes to make the image disappear, before drifting off into her unpredictable slumber.