“Since the rice is already cooked, please serve it up first. It’ll be ready in just a moment.”
As I made the final touches, I sliced the last piece of meat with precision, preparing it in a sweet and spicy sauce made from cottonseed oil.
After letting it soak for a while, Miu laid shredded cabbage in the bowl she had prepared and began placing the fried pieces drenched in sauce on top.
“Let’s eat!”
“Not everything is ready yet! While I prepare the spinach ohitashi and miso soup with tofu, Miu has already taken a bite and is shoveling rice into her mouth. I can’t help but smile wryly at her energetic eating.
“Big brother, more sauce!”
“But that means less sauce for me,” I replied.
Since I had only made enough sweet and spicy sauce for two, there wasn’t much left. I reluctantly poured some into her bowl, reducing my own share.
“After all, rice soaked in sweet and spicy sauce is delicious.”
“Seriously, savor it properly.”
“Everything you cook is delicious, big brother.”
Hearing Miu say that with a bright smile as she devoured her bowl made me feel a bit disarmed, and I took a bite myself. Although there was a bit less sauce than I preferred, the meat was seasoned with salt and pepper, making it tasty even without the sauce.
After the meal, we enjoyed tea together, basking in a moment of relaxation.
“Ah, this is happiness.”
“Just a hot cup of green tea makes me happy. It would be even better if we had some wagashi to go with it…”
“No way, that’s too much food. You’ll gain weight.”
“Are you saying that to a girl? Well, well, since we’re going to the Atelier later, prepare some snacks! Let’s continue our tea party there!”
“No, we’re not doing that. Plus, Takumi has a prior engagement.”
“Ugh, Takumi… then I guess it can’t be helped.”
With that, Miu quietly backed down. I was a bit surprised by her demeanor, but she quickly put on a bright expression.
“Then I’ll take my leave first.”
“Alright, alright. Please put the teacup in the sink.”
I watched as Miu dashed off toward the bathroom. Honestly, I wish she would be a bit more composed at home. As her older brother, I couldn’t help but worry.
Afterward, I washed the dishes, took a bath, and returned to my room around eight-thirty. I spent some time preparing for school tomorrow until it was time to meet Takumi, then climbed into bed ten minutes before our scheduled meeting.
I placed the VR gear on my head and activated it. As I relaxed, my consciousness gradually faded into darkness through hypnotic induction.
The next time I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dimly lit stone workshop—the Atelier I had set as my login point.
From the workshop, I moved toward the store area. Since NPC Kyoko only managed the shop during the daytime, it was closed at night, and the Atelier was securely locked up, with a “Closed” sign hanging at the entrance.
At the entrance of the shop, a familiar boy was waiting for me.
“Taku. Sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“Well, it’s no problem. You’re right on time.”
I felt a bit flustered that he had been waiting, but I was still on schedule. Taku wore a cheerful smile.
“So, what did you mean this morning when you said ‘the results are in’?”
“Huh? Didn’t I mention it?”
“You didn’t. You skipped over what the investigation results were and the purpose, just going on and on. Seriously.”
As I crossed my arms in exasperation, Taku seemed to be recalling his memories, tilting his head left and right. After a moment, he probably concluded that he hadn’t communicated everything. He prefaced his explanation, deciding where to start with the investigation results.
“Do you remember the library we visited the other day? There was an oddly placed space there.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Considering the structure of the library visible from the windows, there’s a hidden space.”
It was a classic trope—old mansions and buildings often had secret spaces. It felt like something straight out of any game.
“Isn’t it just an area that’s impossible to enter? My Discovery Sense didn’t react at all. If there was something there, it must be at a level too high for my Discovery Sense to detect.”
Since I had the auxiliary Sense that allowed me to discover hidden items or things that couldn’t normally be sensed, I could confidently say there was nothing in the library. There was a possibility it could be added in a future update, but that was uncertain.
“Unfortunately, I managed to sneak in yesterday.”
“Seriously?”
“Well, you’ll understand when you see it.”
With that, we headed toward the library, but it was closed at this hour, and the entrance door was locked.
“Hey, why is this door open?”
“How can you have a locked entrance when there’s an area you want to let people in?”
“But it’s supposed to close in the evening…”
“Ah, apparently, entry is allowed even after closing time. However, if you take a book outside the library, your money will be forcibly deducted. Oh, and resisting is futile.”
“That sounds scary.”
“Well, it’s just a system thing, so as long as you don’t do anything, you can escape the library without issues.”
“That makes it even scarier…”
Even with my Sight of the Dark Realm, the nighttime library had a certain atmosphere. Taku took out a lantern from his Inventory and lit it.
Then, he approached the nearest bookshelf and pushed against the second shelf with force.
“A rotating bookshelf? Is this a ninja house or something? And the Discovery Sense that didn’t react during the day is now responding clearly.”
—(This is a time-limited entrance from the afternoon after closing until four in the morning. If you happen to get trapped inside, you’ll be forcibly teleported back to the front of the library.)
“Huh? How did you find that out?”
“I was trying to figure it out on my own and stayed up all night researching, but I got kicked out.”
So that’s why. If even Taku couldn’t navigate this, what could possibly be hidden deeper inside? I shivered slightly.
As I peered into the rotating bookshelf, I found a staircase leading down to the basement.
“…Hey, a basement?”
“Let’s go.”
“I have a bad feeling about this…”
With the lantern held high, Taku and I descended the stairs into the basement, where the atmosphere shifted as we reached the bottom.
It felt eerie and chilling, almost ghostly.
“I really don’t like this creepy vibe… it feels like a ghost might appear…”
—Yeah, I think so too, but the extent of what I could investigate yesterday was just around this entrance.”
I immediately turned to head back, but Taku grabbed my shoulder, preventing my escape.
“You don’t need to be that scared.”
“Who are you calling scared!? I just have a bad feeling!”
“That’s why I need you, Yun.”
Taku said that so casually, but being dragged into a place that feels like it’s haunted is more of a burden than a blessing. No thanks.
“I’m leaving. Ugh, let’s get back to the Atelier quickly.”
“Give it up, and besides—”
I didn’t listen to Taku’s protests and made my way back up the spiral staircase. Taku held the lantern, but I had no trouble finding my way back with my own vision. The overall scene was dim and lacked clear colors, but I could manage.
As I climbed the stairs, I could hear Taku following behind, so I quickened my pace.
“Wait, what?!”
At the top of the spiral staircase, there was a wall, and the path I had come from was blocked.
Taku, who had followed me, sighed and continued the sentence I had interrupted earlier. “And the entrance is blocked by a wall, so it’s impossible!”
Seriously? I touched the stone wall blocking the spiral staircase, knocking and pushing against it, but it wouldn’t budge.
As I took a few steps back from the wall, Taku called out, “Alright, let’s go back and explore the underground library.”
“Why do you sound so excited about this?”
With a heavy sigh, I felt the oppressive atmosphere that hinted at ghosts and turned to descend the stairs again when suddenly, light emanated from the wall behind me.
Turning around, I saw a party coming through the wall.
“…Huh? Miu, Miu? What are you doing here?!”
“I found you! Everyone, hide! Hide!”
Before I could even voice my confusion about why they were here, Miu conjured a glowing orb of magic at her fingertips, blinking her eyes. It was too late to hide now! There was nowhere to conceal ourselves on the spiral staircase.
As I reached out toward the light, Taku seemed to adjust to the brightness and asked Miu the same question I had.
“This? It’s Miu and the others. What a coincidence. Did you follow us?”
Taku said it in a teasing tone, but some of Miu’s party members were trembling. Seeing their reaction, I shot a sidelong glance at Miu, who began to make excuses without me even asking.
“Well, you see, when I sensed that Taku-san and my sister were alone together, my intuition told me something was up!”
“Excuse me. I tried to stop, but…” Rukato said, avoiding eye contact as she apologized. Well, I suppose it can’t be helped if Miu pushed her way through, but I can’t help but feel uneasy about it.
“Well, you can explore as you like. I’m heading back.”
“Why! You came all this way, so you should stay with us, big sister!”
“No, I’m fine. In fact, I’m logging out and escaping!”
I protested dramatically, but Miu grabbed both of my hands, refusing to let go. In response to this contact, Rirei was panting suspiciously, while Kohaku chimed in with a quip.
“Why does Yun-san dislike it so much?”
Rukato asked Taku, curious about the reason.
“Yun hates ghosts.”
“Ugh…”
Rukato tilted her head, seemingly not quite understanding, but Hino and Toutobi seemed to realize that we were in a haunted house.
It seems like undead-type monsters are appearing here. I could make a rough guess about that.
“See, if we’re all together, it won’t be scary! It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine!”
“Ugh, seriously. How did it come to this?”
With a sigh escaping my lips, I wanted to yell at Taku for dragging us into this situation, but I couldn’t help but feel grateful that Miu and the others decided to join in. Being alone with Taku felt lonely, and with Miu around, most things would end up being something we could laugh about later.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, an announcement for a sudden quest echoed through the party information.
【Quest: The Treasure of the Underground Library has been accepted】
It seemed to be a hidden quest triggered by standing at the entrance of the underground library. Among Miu and the others, there were some who seemed eager to take it on, but I personally felt no inclination towards it.
As we entered the library, a small sigh escaped as everyone accepted the quest.
“So, how do we escape? And what do we need the treasure for?”
“You’re more concerned about escaping than the treasure? Can you read this with Linguistics? You should be able to.”
Taku pointed to the bulging letters on the stone wall at the entrance.
Everyone looked at it, but it seemed none of them had the corresponding Sense, as they all tilted their heads in confusion.
“Um… ‘Return the correct color to its rightful place.'”
“Just as I thought, that’s the content. To put it simply, it’s a hint for the strategy. We need to return the correct books to the right bookshelves.”
Ah, I see. So we need to find the misplaced books and return them to the correct shelves. Taku then pointed to a bookshelf with several missing books.
“Hey, how do you know the content if you can’t read it?”
“I researched it yesterday by trial and error. Even if I couldn’t read the letters, I could guess it was a quest involving arranging something, but I got stuck halfway through.”
I quipped that it was surprising he could figure that out. A few others seemed to understand immediately.
“I see, so if we put the correct book in the correct place, the bookshelf will move, allowing us to proceed?”
“Correct. Rukato-chan, you’re quick to understand.”
“Thank you.”
“Geez, I understood that much too!”
Taku, with a refreshing smile, spoke to Rukato, who had answered, while Miu pouted in frustration.
“Anyway, I want Yun to help us move forward.”
“I’ll do my best to assist in our escape.”
It would be better to help Taku escape from this gloomy underground library, which had cobwebs in the corners and dust accumulating everywhere. I really dislike the eerie atmosphere here.
In a secluded corner of the bookshelf, I found a red book and inserted it into the corresponding empty red bookshelf. This seems to be a sort of tutorial for conquering the underground library.
“If you can tell by the color of the books, why is Taku stuck?”
“Well, I just can’t find the missing books. I wonder where I overlooked them.”
Taku’s response to my question surprised me. Even Taku can fail sometimes, I thought, as I gazed at the moving bookshelf. We needed to start the real exploration of the underground library from here.
“With this many people, how should we divide into groups?”
Since Miu and Toutobi would be splitting into different parties, we had to be careful to avoid any penalties in case of combat.
In the end, it was decided that I would team up with Taku, Rukato, and Hino, while Miu would pair with Toutobi, Rirei, and Kohaku.
It felt like there was an imbalance in our combat strength, but
“I want to stay by Yun-san’s side. And someone else too. Oh, I don’t need any men, so Taku, please go somewhere else.”
“Rirei, why are you making such selfish demands with a straight face?!”
No way! If I’m with Yun-san, there will be all sorts of mishaps! Hehe, I might get to see some lucky accidents!
I wonder what kind of impression I leave on Rirei. It’s a bit scary to ask, though.
Kohaku, pulling Rirei along, led the way deeper into the library, followed by Miu. Lastly, I saw Toutobi bow deeply toward me.
I exchanged a wry smile with Rukato and Hino, then said,
“Well then, let’s go.”
“Wait, huh? Are you just going to ignore Rirei’s reaction?”
— [For us, it’s just the usual thing.]
I understood once again from Rukato and Hino’s smiling faces that this was their default behavior.
“Alright then, let’s go—huh!”
As I caught sight of a white specter emerging from a nearby bookshelf, I straightened my back and froze.
Everyone noticed the sound of a whoosh.
“Ah, so even those kinds of spirits appear here?”
“Yeah, I was trapped here yesterday. I got stuck until the time limit, so I saw the treasure multiple times.”
Taku said with a hint of nostalgia, while Rukato and Hino looked on with interest, quickly turning their gazes toward me.
Having been caught frozen in fear, I snapped back to reality, but I was met with stifled laughter.
“Don’t worry, Yun-san. It’s natural to dislike certain things.”
Hearing Rukato’s words, I felt my face heat up from embarrassment.
“I feel like I’ve lost.”
Hino called me cute, which only made me more embarrassed. I glared at Taku, who was enjoying my reaction.
From there, we thoroughly searched the bookshelves, looking for the key books to our strategy.
It seemed there were only a few key books, but I finally found a green book and began searching for the corresponding bookshelf.
“It’s hard to find both the books and the empty bookshelves, isn’t it?”
“Well, it’s nice that no enemies are showing up.”
Indeed, the white specter-like enemy monsters I had seen earlier had not appeared since, making it somewhat easier.
We could only hear our footsteps and the occasional sound of wind, which felt eerily quiet. No, it was definitely not the sound of spirits! In that atmosphere, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. And it wasn’t just a few; it sounded like ten or twenty.
“W-What is that sound?”
“Yun-oneechan! I found some books!”
With the sound of wet clothes slapping together behind me, another group came racing through the narrow underground library. Miu was running towards us, holding two books in her hands, but what caught my attention was the purple-sheeted ghost, the Shadowma, chasing after her. Its eyes glowed red, and its black mouth peeked through the torn sheet. The Shadowma rushed through the narrow passage, trying to catch Miu, only to be trampled by its own kind behind it, causing my blood to run cold.
“Miu! Behind you, behind you!”
“Oh, they’re still chasing me!”
“Is this really the time to be saying something so casual?”
Toutobi slashed through the Shadowma approaching from behind, not allowing any to get close, while protecting Rirei and Kohaku behind him.
“Miu! Remember this later!”
Kohaku shouted angrily at Miu, while Rirei came running with an uninterested expression.
“Then, shall I cast a spell?” (Light Wave)
A wave of light centered around Miu surged through the narrow space, causing the leading Shadowma to vanish as if it had been blown away. It was like a moment of being tricked.
“Miu! What is the meaning of this?”
I questioned Miu, who offered me the book she was holding.
“Well, I found two books and was on my way back to regroup when I found a bookshelf of the same color as one of the books. When I placed the book in, it turned out to be a decoy.”
— I never thought that placing a treasure book in a purple bookshelf would turn it yellow, Miu reported with a wry smile.
“By the way, if you put the wrong book on the bookshelf, a horde of monsters will spawn.”
“You should have said that sooner!”
I threw the thick book Miu handed me toward Taku, but he caught it effortlessly.
“Seriously… But is there no way to distinguish between decoy books and disguised colors?”
“Well, if you have a central crystal, you could try trial and error.”
“Miu. If you’re going to do it, take care of it before you come back to me.”
“Roger that!”
With a cute and formal bow, Miu caught my attention, but all I felt was anxiety.
Worrying, I sorted through the books everyone had gathered, organizing them by color and checking their titles. A few dummies had mixed in—black and red books with the same title. While I could somewhat discern the volume numbers by comparing them to other books, identifying titles without any Sense was impossible. Without the Linguistics skill, I would waste a significant amount of time on these dummies.
[Every time I insert a dummy, a ghost appears. How chilling.]
I cleared my throat, determined not to make any mistakes, and returned to my search.
I found a bookshelf with a gap for one more book and used Linguistics to read the titles and volumes, carefully returning what I believed to be the correct books to their places. As I filled the gap, the bookshelf slowly slid to the left. I was worried about whether I had inserted any dummy books, but after successfully returning the correct ones, I let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Miu and her group had returned to explore another area, but I ignored the loud noises and screams echoing from their direction.
“We’ve come to quite a spacious area,” I remarked.
“It seems we need to search for books from here. How bothersome,” Taku replied.
“Then let’s split up and search.”
Ahead of the sliding bookshelf lay a maze constructed of numerous other bookshelves, and Rukato pressed her hand to her forehead, looking troubled.
“Alright, Taku and I will search the right side, while Rukato and the others take the left.”
“Got it. Leave it to us.”
With that, I entrusted the exploration of the left side of the vast space to the two of them, while Taku and I examined the right side. We rummaged through the bookshelves, which were carelessly stacked in the aisles.
Then, I spotted a jade-colored book lying horizontally atop one of the shelves.
“This is it, Taku. Can you hold the shelf steady while I grab it?”
“Sure.”
I climbed up the shelf step by step and reached for the book, but it seemed to be stuck on something and wouldn’t budge.
“It feels like something’s caught. Just a moment.”
“Be careful.”
“I know.”
Heeding Taku’s warning, I focused my fingers to pull the book free, but it wouldn’t come out. Growing a bit stubborn, I decided to use both hands to yank it out.
Suddenly, a completely dark void opened up before me, and after a brief sensation of weightlessness, my feet landed on solid ground. It was only a few centimeters high, but I couldn’t react to the sudden occurrence and fell to my knees.
“Hey, hey! What the—!”
“Seems like this is the usual setup. It’s starting to feel a bit cliché.”
As I turned back, recalling the tales of those left behind, I spotted a book-shaped MOB with jagged teeth.
—My eyes widened at the sight of the St. of Books.
In a frozen space, a headless book MOB was chanting, “Come here, come here, book, come here!”
It was quite surreal. And if it were just one, that would be fine.
But dozens of floating book MOBs were charging at me. My instinct was to run.
“Ahhh!”
The fear was overwhelming. It was a chaotic terror beyond human comprehension, unlike the ghostly fears I had faced before.
“Speed!”
It seemed I could still use the Speed Enchant in this frozen space. Yet, the book MOBs, appearing as if they were closing in on me, continued to advance.
“What the hell is this? What is happening?!”
I ran through the darkened space, not knowing how much time had passed. I felt like I had been running for over ten minutes. During that time, the pounding of my heart, driven by fear, echoed painfully in my ears.
And when I glanced back, a book MOB with a gaping mouth appeared right in front of me…
“—Yun!”
“Uh!”
Called by name, I was abruptly pulled back to reality, and the book I had been trying to pull out slipped free.
The book flew out with such force that it opened to the middle page, and from its pitch-black depths, the Ghost of Books that had been chasing me in that dark space emerged. It was as if the nightmarish scene I had just witnessed continued right before my eyes.
“Yun! Damn, even a MOB!”
As I pulled the book out, I lost my balance and stumbled backward. The Ghost of Books that had leaped out began to float in the air, and Taku’s sword was thrown to intercept it. I felt my body fall in slow motion as I watched my hand securely grasp the book. Thank goodness, I managed to catch it. I had a strange thought as I braced for the impending impact.
There was indeed an impact. It felt like I slammed into the bookshelf behind me, dulling the shock with a thud, but I felt no pain in my back.
“Yun… Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah, I think so.”
“Yun, what happened? You didn’t respond at all when I called out to you.”
“…Taku, how long was I out?”
“About ten seconds, I guess.”
“That’s not what it felt like. I thought I was in a daydream, or rather, a nightmare for over ten minutes…”
“Yun, are you really okay?”
“Ah, no, it’s just… I think I got caught up in the gimmick of this quest.”
Perhaps, like the summer camp event, the time in that dark space had been stretched out. My consciousness was shifted to a different field while my character’s body remained. And just as the book ghost approached, my awareness returned to my character’s body, and the ghost emerged from the book. I took several deep breaths to calm myself, feeling the tension ease as I lifted the book I had pulled out with one hand.
“Yun, Taku, are you alright?”
Having heard the loud noise we made when we fell, Rukato and Hino rushed over from between the bookshelves. Upon seeing us, Rukato and Hino exchanged glances, and I noticed their faces seemed a bit flushed.
“Y-Yun, and Taku. Um, how should I put this…”
As Rukato hesitated, I checked my own appearance and realized I was wrapped in Taku’s arms from behind. I had both hands raised, and Taku was supporting my waist with one hand while the other was on my backside. Though I was male, my character had been edited in OSO to have feminine curves, giving me a soft appearance. And above all, I felt a sense of embarrassment. I awkwardly swatted Taku’s hands away and stood up.
“Taku, I appreciate the help, but where are you touching?”
“Sorry, but I lost my balance in midair. I couldn’t catch you properly.”
As I stood up, Taku seemed to be concerned about his back, while he retrieved the long sword he had thrown to defeat the airborne MOB.
I turned my slightly flushed face away from Taku and held the book I had pulled out close to my chest.
“Seriously, touching me in weird places. There are people watching.”
It seemed my complaint didn’t reach Taku, but Rukato heard me. Her face turned even redder, and she stammered, “If no one is watching, then it’s fine, right?” No, that’s not it either. Hino glanced between Taku and me, and I could have sworn I heard the sound of skin being peeled.
“Come on, we’ve finished searching this area, so let’s move on.”
Taku proceeded ahead as if nothing had happened. In reality, since Taku and I were both guys, there was nothing to worry about. Ah! Don’t think about weird things. I shook my head once to clear my thoughts.
After that, our exploration of the underground library continued, with ghostly books leaping out from the shelves and skeletal remains pointing us toward keys to advance, creating a haunted house-like atmosphere. Miu and the others handled it all with ease, even when Taku, without a hint of fear, sliced through the skull of a skeletal hand that had grabbed him when he took a book.
Eventually, while we discovered several dummy routes, we reached the final area.
“Is this the deepest part? Hey, there’s a staircase behind us. Can we go back?”
“Before that, there’s a pedestal. We should check that first,” Taku urged, though it was practically a one-person job. I traced my finger over the rectangular inscription on the pedestal and the surrounding text.
“…‘The golden book is the treasure of knowledge. The silver book is the treasure of wisdom. Choose one of the two.’ So, it must be these two remaining books.”
Taku held a book with red letters on a golden cover, while Miu held one with blue letters on a silver cover. The sizes of the two books matched the indentations perfectly.
—”So, which one do we put in?”
I already knew that inserting a book would grant us one of the treasures, but I asked which one to choose. After all, I had been invited to this exploration by Taku, and personally, I wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
“Hmm. I don’t mind letting Miu have it.”
“Really? Big brother!”
“Yun, is that okay with you?”
“We can always come back. Next time, we’ll explore the other treasure. When that time comes, I’ll need your help,” I said, but I also told him to go alone.
“Miu, which one will you choose?”
“Hmm. Then, let’s go with the silver one.”
The others seemed to have no objections as Miu placed the book on the pedestal and took a step back.
And then,
“Oh! The pedestal moved!”
The pedestal holding the book sank down, and another pedestal rose in its place.
On it were three transparent orbs, likely the “Treasures of Knowledge,” each about the size of a handball.
Since they were orbs, they were probably supplementary items for divination or enchantment. I still didn’t know how to use them.
“Hmm. If the rewards aren’t distributed by party, then it’s fixed, huh?”
“No, don’t ask me; I don’t know.”
“But if there are multiple, we can split them.”
“No, I don’t need any, so you guys can divide them among yourselves, Yun and Miu.”
“I don’t need it either, just like Taku…”
“No way! Big sister should definitely take her share! It was thanks to you that we got these!”
“If you don’t take it, I won’t let you out of the underground library!”
“What a threat… sigh, fine.”
With Taku declining his reward, Miu and I discussed how to split the three orbs among us.
I only needed one, so the remaining two were divided between Miu and Toutobi, resulting in Miu getting one and Toutobi getting one.
“Seriously, big sister, you could have asked for more since it was your Linguistics that helped us get these.”
“I’m fine with just one. Besides, it’s not like we can’t get them again, so just accept it graciously.”
Miu seemed dissatisfied with the distribution and tried to hand over her share to me, but I skillfully deflected her attempts with suitable excuses.
Miu claimed it was because of my “Linguistics Sense” that we obtained the orbs, but there are things I can’t do alone. Therefore, I believe those orbs are a rightful reward for Miu.
Thus, the exploration of the underground library came to a close. This exploration quest was a limited quest, allowing each player to participate only once a day. After some time, as information about the quest spread, the number of people visiting the night library increased, regardless of whether they were combat or production classes, all eager to take on the quest…
Well, as for Yu, who is terrified of ghosts, he has no intention of getting involved ever again.
Chapter 4: Synthesis and the MOB Boom
I placed a colorless orb on the counter of the Atelier, and Zakuro rolled it around with his tiny front paws.
This item, known as a “Treasure of Knowledge,” is technically a consumable called “Search Open,” which allows one to gain basic information about an enemy just once. Taku had been visiting the underground library every night, gathering samples of rewards.
Another thing I learned was that the reward orbs are fixed at three per book. Additionally, the other item referred to as a “Treasure of Knowledge” is called “Oracle Open,” which is also a consumable. Its effect is to provide hints in response to questions. Personally, I find that item more interesting, but if the question is too far off, you might not get a response at all, wasting the item. One player who accompanied Taku to obtain “Oracle Open” asked about a specific player’s measurements, which was quite absurd.
“Honestly, I don’t think it makes much sense for a production class like me to hold onto this… should I sell it?”
If Miu were here, she would probably have a few words to say about making such a decision without any warning, but right now, I was in a situation where I needed funds to establish the production Guild. It would be better to sell the items I wouldn’t use and convert them into funds for the Guild.
However, if I sold it directly, I might get lowballed.
“I’ll hand the items over to Magi-san and have her sell them, using the proceeds directly for the Guild’s funds.”
If I could find someone who understands the true value of the items, I might be able to sell them for a good price.
Taking the “Search Open” orb from Zakuro, I stored it in my Inventory. After glancing at Zakuro, who tilted his head at the vanished orb, I noticed people peeking into the Atelier from the entrance.
Recently, more people had been quietly peeking inside, but they never turned into customers. It’s a small shop, so they can’t linger at the entrance forever, but to be honest, there hasn’t been a clear increase in foot traffic.
“Sigh, seriously. How did it come to this?”
I asked myself, but the answer was already clear. Their gaze was fixed on Zakuro, who was curled up at the counter, letting out small cries, and on Rui, the unicorn, who was squinting happily in a sunny spot, wagging his tail.
“Is this what they call a boom?”
The rare Young Beast Rui and Zakuro, whom I acquired during the summer camp event, were now being looked at with the same affection one might have for pets or companion animals.
Moreover, there was a growing number of people wanting to use non-combat MOBs as pets or for healing purposes.
A boom had emerged in the previously considered dead skill of Taming.
From a tactile perspective, fluffy herbivores and small-sized Milbirds were gaining popularity, and wild dogs, once cared for, became loyal pets, making them quite popular even as low-level MOBs.
In this pet boom, or rather, the MOB boom, those who couldn’t join in were secretly observing others’ MOBs or interacting with Young Beasts they encountered around town to satisfy their desires…
“Still no luck, huh?”
As if sensing an observer stepping into the shop, Zakuro hid under the counter, dressed in his attire. Rui, too, seemed fed up with the gazes he had been receiving lately, and the scenery shimmered as he used a concealment spell to blend in.
My Rui wouldn’t let just anyone touch him, and Zakuro, with his somewhat anti-social personality due to his cursed equipment, would run away if a stranger approached. It’s all about the atmosphere, I suppose. While some players interact with them without hesitation, that’s just the way it is.
If a player like Letia, who has the same Young Beast, approached, some contact would be acceptable, but I wonder what the criteria are.
“Welcome. Is there anything you need?”
“No, I was just peeking. I’ll be going now.”
The visitor made a fleeting disappointed expression before leaving, but it was obvious to me that they had been watching from the shadows.
Well, for those who possess the Stealth Sense to hide and observe, I could sense a certain fervor, but even at a low level, my Discovery Sense was able to spot them.