Something came up and so my brother will be home in a week or two. I don't really know what's going on, but according to the news, a few of the buildings were pretty old and they collapsed, so they're shutting down the school to fix that.

At least, that's what the school's saying. My brother called home saying there was some kind of fraternity or hazing thing that got out of control, and a few people either got arrested or got sent to the hospital.

Either way, I don't really care. The incident was on the west side of the campus but my brother lives on the east side.

There's also the fact that I'm in-game right now and trying to focus on making potions. And...

You took 5 damage.

Goddammit. I sigh and clean off the liquid with some water.

The GMs managed to fix some of the bugs in the game, but they also added a few new features. For example, in my case, there's a chance that if you fuck up in making a potion, instead of making poison it'll just explode. For no reason whatsoever.

Which can be good, but is mostly just really bad. Some guy on the forums posted a video of him making it into a pseudo grenade, by just making potions in the middle of the forest then running the fuck away. It did a little damage, but was mainly absorbed by the trees and faded pretty quickly.

The problem with that, though, is that, okay, so when you level up Examine, you can see more of the item's features. And one of those features is called Durability, which basically just means how many uses it has. Durability shows up as a fraction, so a new item might have Durability 19/19, while an older one might have 8/19, and a broken one might have 0/19.

So what do you think happens when you leave a pot about to explode in the wilderness and run the fuck away?

And so, this is the main problem with the potion thing, since you gotta spend potions to make potions. Some people started submitting complaints about it, but the GMs threatened to raise the costs on glass vials which shut them up.

And that's not all. Certain kinds of potions can do more damage than others. Which makes sense, since they might be better potions, but still. By the way, the one I'm currently working on is a mana potion. I still had a little space in my bag, so I bought 3 more glass vials. It's made using the mana stones from the monsters, which apparently are crafting materials.

Low Quality Mana Potion(C): Restores 12% MP. Potion-Making has become Lvl 2

Finally, it leveled up!

Thanks to the GMs, skills are harder to level up now. What used to be a few swings per level has now become a few dozen or a hundred swings per level. Plus, people that had skills at Lvl 7 or 8 got reset to Lvl 4 and 5. In exchange for this, the GMs changed up the skill descriptions and damages, kinda like how they did in that one strategy game based on another strategy game a few decades ago. They also made it so that your stats will increase if you gain a level in different skills and fixed a couple of other things, which do show up in my status.

Anyway, now that that's done, I'll try some more things I learned on the forum.

I head over to the training area on the outskirts of town and set up a scarecrow, putting it on the pole like how I did before. The place is practically deserted, with all the training equipment put away.

First off, I'm going to try to get some fighter skills. I put my fists just below my chin in a boxer's pose. I bend my knees slightly and lean forward. I punch forward and up with my right arm, aiming for the "neck" part of the scarecrow. It stings a little, but not as much as before. I do this quicker, going for a one-two combo. After punching the dummy for a few more seconds, the skill pops up.

Learned Uppercut(C) Lvl 1 Uppercut(C) Lvl 1: Damage dealt with fists to fatal areas increases with skill level.

A few minutes later...

Learned Hook(C) Lvl 1 Hook(C) Lvl 1: Damage dealt with fists to fatal areas increases with skill level. Learned Jab(C) Lvl 1 Jab(C) Lvl 1: Damage dealt with fists to fatal areas increases with skill level. Learned Elbow Strike(C) Lvl 1 Elbow Strike(C) Lvl 1: Damage dealt with elbows to fatal areas increases with skill level. Learned Roundhouse Kick(C) Lvl 1 Roundhouse Kick(C) Lvl 1: Damage dealt with legs to fatal areas increases with skill level.

It's nice that I got more skills, but isn't this too vague?

Learned Close Combat Mastery(C) Lvl 1 Close Combat Mastery(C) Lvl 1: Damage dealt with the user's body increases with skill level.

So is it going to be like a buff on top of another buff or something? Like my damage is boosted from Jab but then also this skill?

Close Combat Mastery(C) has absorbed Jab(C) Lvl 1 Close Combat Mastery(C) has absorbed Punch(C) Lvl 1 Close Combat Mastery(C) has absorbed Hook(C) Lvl 1 Close Combat Mastery(C) has absorbed Kick(C) Lvl 2 Close Combat Mastery(C) has absorbed Knee Strike(C) Lvl 1 Close Combat Mastery(C) has absorbed Elbow Strike(C) Lvl 1 Close Combat Mastery(C) has absorbed Roundhouse Kick(C) Lvl 1

Wait, what the fuck just happened? Did I just lose all my skills? I pull up my skill list.

Skills

Common

Examine Lvl 3, Staff Mastery Lvl 2, Gathering Lvl 2, Potion-Making Lvl 2, Close Combat Mastery Lvl 1, Poison Resistance Lvl 1, Cooking Lvl 1

And they're all gone. Goddammit. Did at least the description change?

Close Combat Mastery(C) Lvl 1: Damage dealt with the user's body is increased accordingly with skill level as well as absorbed skills.

Skills absorbed: Punch, Kick, Knee Strike, Elbow Strike, Roundhouse Kick, Jab, Hook

So basically the system decided to make my skill list neater. Okay then. No wait, isn't this actually good? Because this way I don't have to individually level them up. Or at least I hope so.

Welp, I basically did everything I needed to do here, so next up is to explore the town. I thought it would take a bit longer since the GMs made it harder to level skills, but I guess not.

Anyway, on the forums, a few players collaborated together and made a map of the town. There's a marketplace, a forge, a library, a town hall, a hospital, and a few restaurants. What's interesting, however, is that there isn't a church, bank, or school. Also, when the GMs were asked about this, they said that everything is there for a reason, and if it's not there there's a reason behind that as well. Pretty vague, just like everything else, but this means that the library actually has some kind of purpose in the game.

So I think I'll head there first. According to the forums, it's near the center of town, a little distance away from the town hall. I find it easily due to the sign with a stack of books on it outside.

The library is a pretty large building, around twice the size of a house. It's a brick layered building, with large glass windows showing rows of books inside along with two glass doors leading in. It basically just looks like your standard public library.

I enter through the doors and a lady at a counter greets me. She's wearing one of those sweaters you see on old guys that tell you to get off their lawn. She's got her hair tied back in a bun and is wearing glasses, just like your stereotypical librarian.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

---Um, I'm just here to look around.

"Do you need any help in finding anything?"

---Uh...

I look around the library. Leading in from the entrance, there's a line of tables and chairs, with plenty of books on shelves on both sides. They're divided up in different sections along with different signs hanging from the ceiling. Instead of having pictures on them, however, the signs look like a preschooler scribbled all over it.

"Is this your first time in a library?"

---It's not my first time in a library, but rather in this library.

"Can I assume you don't have the Comprehension skill then?"

---Uh, yeah, I don't have that skill.

"Well, then, you'll have to start with the easier books. Please follow me." The lady walks away from the counter and over to the far left side of the library. One of those cubby hole things that you see in kindergartens has little picture books shelved in it. A sign with two suns on each end drawn on it and a bunch of scribbles in the middle can be seen hanging over the cubby hole thing.

"You'll need to start with these books in order to get the Comprehension skill. After you've leveled it up enough to read the sign above, the instructions to where you can go next are on the back of the sign. If you have any more questions, I'll be at the front desk."

The lady walks away, leaving me at the preschooler section.

I take a look at a few of the books. One has a picture of a black and white dog with a hat on, another has a plate of red turkey and eggs, and a third has a really fat pig with a bunch of fruits.

Seriously? They spent so much time on this game and then they do this.

I sigh and open up one of the books.

Okay, so there's a dog. It's black and white and it finds a hat. And then it walks around with the hat on until someone sees it and is like "that's my hat." And then the dog gets the shit beaten out of it and it gets eaten.

What kind of children's book is this?!

Learned Comprehension(C) Lvl 1 Comprehension(C) Lvl 1: Increases understanding of other languages with level.

Are the rest of them going to be like this? No, more importantly, can I read the sign now?

Answer: No, but it looks like a QR code now, so progress?

I pick up the red turkey and eggs book next. Let's see... oh, I know this story! It's that one fable about that guy that killed his son and fed him to guests for dinner. Wow, this is really gruesome... And now that I look at it, that's not a turkey...

And now book number 3. Let's get this shit over with.

Okay, this is normal. It's a pig that finds things to eat, and now that it's fat it's going to- oh shit what the fuck is that?! It's like if a pig grew wings but they were made of flesh and blood. This is disgusting...

Comprehension(C) has become Lvl 2

Oh, I can read the sign now! The front says Banned Children's Books...

Why would banned books still be in a library?! Fuck it, what does the back say?

Most books in this library will require a Comprehension skill level of 2 or 3. A few may require Lvl 4, and there are less than 10 books that require a Lvl 5. Books you can read will glow blue.

And near the bottom, there's a few sentences written in very small handwriting. I have to squint to read it.

The signs have no use in determining sections and are there to distract people. The librarian is a sadist and enjoys the looks on people's faces when they read these books.

I look away from the sign to catch the librarian staring at me, before quickly turning away.

Well, anyway, I originally came here to find something interesting, but maybe I can get something useful from one of the books?

I walk over to the librarian's desk.

---Do you have any books related to... potions, mages, or materials?

"At least half of this library is related to what you are looking for. Could you be more specific please?"

---Hmmm... Then just potions, please.

"There are around 10-20 books on potions here. Are you looking for a specific potion book or just in general?"

---Just in general.

The librarian nods before heading over to one of the shelves nearby and pulling out a book the size of two stacked dictionaries. Well, maybe one and a half dictionaries.

"Here you are. We have around 3 more hours until closing time, so enjoy it till then. If you want to borrow the book you'll have to pay a fee of 1 Bronze Zil." she says.

I take the book, wincing at the weight. It's heavier than I thought it would be, maybe 10 pounds. The book is leatherbound with a single word scrawled on the front of it: Potions.

The librarian walks back to her desk, leaving me at a table with the book. Looks like I'll be here for a while.

Let's look through the table of contents first... there is no table of contents. Okay.

As I look through the book, I notice a few things. One: I have no idea where to get the things to make practically any of these potions. Two: there's a lot of little notes everywhere all over the pages which can make it hard to read sometimes. Three: There are things other than potions in here. Like for example, apparently you can make pills using Heartgrass.

Pills sound harder to make and probably take more time and effort than potions, but in exchange, their effects are supposedly more potent. Like the Heartgrass pill mentioned here can go up to 40% health at the lowest quality.

I guess I'll try that out later.

Oh, and three: I apparently don't know what the fuck I'm doing when I'm making potions. Which is true, but still. According to the book, there are specific ratios that you're supposed to use for these things, like making food.

So what I was making was actually a diluted version of a potion. Plus I fucked up a few steps when I was boiling it, making it low quality.

There's also a mana potion as well as a poison section, but just as I was about to start on the mana potion part a blue box pops up in front of me.

Incoming call from Jarvis. Accept? Y/N

A call? Oh right, we agreed to meet up later. I hit Y and Jarvis's voice starts coming through.

"Hey Daru, where are you?"

---I'm at the library. Did you just get on?

"Yeah, I'm calling since we agreed to meet up today. Me and Skye are waiting for one more person, but the rest of the crew is here."

---Alright, I'll head over then.

I close the book, place it back on the shelf, and walk out of the library.