Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 81: Notes and Discoveries

"Okay, the midterms are bad enough. But this... This is just pure torture from the developers!" I quickly shush him just before the librarian NPC notices his shouting. Sure, she might just give him a scolding, but I saw what happened with that shouting guy from before and I don't want him to end up like him if he even continued playing the game after that incident. "Don't tell you to have to leave us here forever?"

"It's not that long to finish it, though. I haven't taken the [Quest] because I have a [Scribe Mastery], but Wind passed it with flying colors," Kazu says, who is thankfully oblivious to the pain I endured from taking the [Quest].

"I'm okay with written exams, but isn't this a bit excessive for a [Quest]?" Razul asks in a sheepish tone.

"Yeah! Wind, please say something! I don't want to spend a Friday night doing more papers and home-"

"You get used to it," I calmly say as I stare at the two with no emotions and colors on my face. After that, I leave them to accompany Kazu into the library while ignoring Arthur's groans in frustration.

----

After leaving my friends to their fates, we pick up several books from the shelves we were interested in. I pick some books on geography and culture while Kazu picks up some books on Mana, myths, and history. After that, we spend a few hours there reading while Kazu takes some notes from them.

To be honest, this training he mentioned is more of his notetaking on the game's lore. But it isn't all that bland and bad since we're killing two birds with one stone with this, namely to learn more about <Lucidus> and [Mana Landmarks] and help him level up Kazu's [Scribe Mastery]. Even though I can't take notes, I did help him clarify some details for Kazu to understand, so I did contribute his training a bit.

Eventually, I become exhausted as I lie on the table, trying not to sigh loudly to avoid the library's ire. Checking on HUD's clock, I notice that an hour has passed since we started his training and it seems that Kazu seems to be exhausted as well. Yet, he shakes his head and tries to continue reading. Talk about some dedication over reading. No wonder why he was late leaving the school earlier. Still, I decided to break his concentration by tapping his shoulder.

"I know you want to keep reading, but how about you should take a quick rest?" I suggest.

"No thanks. I took a quick meal before we enter the library, so I'm good for now."

"I know, but you can't read and train forever. Just rest your head for a while. I know the game doesn't have any function on naps, but it still helps with your head when playing VR for hours now."

Thankfully, Kazu understands what I mean as he puts down his book and rests his head on it.

"I didn't mention this before to you, Wind. But the library is actually my favorite place to hang around after school."

"I can tell from earlier."

"Y-Yeah. But it's not only because I can read books as much as I like without being bullied there. But ever since that day when you first rescued me, it became a gateway of worlds I've never dream of before. Well, worlds except for textbooks. I can't even read through math without hitting my head."

"And all of that because I bought you that Seraph novel. Guess I did a lot of good after all, huh?"

"Yeah. Also, I started trying to write my own fantasy stories in my spare time. Though I'm not going to show them to you yet. It's a bit embarrassing and even some of my classmates were laughing just at the glimpse of it."

Wait, what?! Do those jerks never learn?

"Hey, you said you're starting to write them. Besides, what's so embarrassing about them?"