"What's your take with these players so far, Mr. Spears?"

A man in a light green dress shirt, black pants, and brown loafers turned towards a man in a white dress shirt and grey jacket as he shuffled through some papers on a large rectangular table. Ever since has launched, the two of them had been part of a team that observed special players interacting with the various items, environment, and non-playable characters in the game. This is to ensure not only that the world around them would behave as it was programmed to in the first place, but also to see that their "special additions" were working as planned.

"Very interesting. While most players would rather focus on the stats and [Masteries] that the game offers them to participate in guilds and PVP features like any other MMO player, most of these players’ goals are mainly focused on surviving in the world rather than taking on the competitive aspect of ," the man in the green shirt explained as he looked up towards one of the monitors in front of him. "It's not because they’re both new to VRMMO, but because they seem to treat their playthrough as an exploration in the fantasy world, like what was written in the lore during its creation."

"Not only that, they seemed to have triggered a reaction from one of the NPCs a few weeks ago. It's not much, but at least it's enough to see a bit of change in one of them," the man in the jacket added. "But I'm still not keen on letting these players be part of our daily observations. Most of the players we've observed so far are veteran MMO players and E-Sport athletes who agreed to work with us for this project. The thought of inducting them under the pretense of giving them the game early is a bit far-fetched and risk for the company."

"That is true. But the project head already agreed to this proposal, and it's too late for us to convince him otherwise. Besides, they’ve managed to surprise us with their choices so far. From choosing [Masteries] based on their roles in the virtual world instead of gameplay, to how they’ve taken advantage of the game's system with their large battles, they’ve become the "dark horses" of the team. Don't you agree, Miles?"

Mr. Spears’s colleague just sighed at this. He doesn’t dislike the players that he labeled as "dark horses", but he’s a bit worried about one of the players interacting with other players rather than the NPCs. "It's not that I disagree with you, White. However, some players might affect one of them negatively if they aren't careful. If a worst-case scenario happens, our team might get blamed for bringing him in in the first place."

"Hey, don't be like that, Miles." Mr. Spears said as he put his papers on the table and turned towards his colleague. "We're only halfway through the first month. The development team is already planning something to shake up the game before the first update that they have coming for Christmas, and I think these two might do something extraordinary by then. For now, let's trust the project lead and continue our observations as planned."

Seeing that he can't change what's happening in the monitors, for now, Miles sighed and sat down next to Mr. Spears. "Alright. But please, White, just call me by my last name. We're in a professional environment and calling me "Miles" is a bit embarrassing."

White chuckled as he continued to watch the footage. "I doubt professionalism exists when our lead's around."

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Once we left the girls' shop, we quickly decided on what we're going to do next. Since we both already had some materials and tools needed for our weapon crafting [Masteries], we knew the next step was to work on them and find a way to improve our weapons along the way. But as we headed to our next destination, I notice that my shirt is being pulled before I turned to who did it: a certain little brother of mine. "What is it? I thought we already found someone to work on our equipment."

"It's not that. It's just… I need to stop by the town's library first."

I became surprised at the mention of a "library". "A library? You do realize we can go to a public library in real life." I knew he loved reading books, but I doubt we had enough time to do so.

"I know. It's just that one of my [Masteries] is a [Scribe] and according to the wiki, I'm supposed to create books and papers, and if the NPCs permit me, I can also copy ones that exist in the game world. I thought I could get a bit of practice at the library for a few minutes. We might even get more information about the game's lore that's not even listed in the wiki yet!"

The game's lore, huh? That is something I’ve wanted to know about for a while. "Alright. But only for a few minutes, okay? We still need to log out for lunch and work on our weapons."

"Right! Race you to the library!" Before I know it, Kazu quickly ran off and shouts, "Last one there’s a rotten egg!"

"Wait, Kaz! Don't go off on your own! I'm still your [Guardian Player] and I’ll get in trouble if I lose you in this crowd!" Sheesh! I knew he has a lot of energy when it comes to this game, but he seriously needs to chill out a bit.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

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Thankfully, after a few minutes, we reached the library unscathed. I was a bit worried back there since Kazu had suddenly left my side while forgetting about our safety pact, and the fact we didn't even know where it was beforehand. Thankfully, with the help of a passerby and our mini-maps, we didn't run into any problems along the way, and I managed to catch up to him in time. However, I didn't expect that the library’s two-story building would look so similar to a church or old-fashioned academy building. And for some reason, I didn't see any players around the entrance. Many of them just passed by without even looking at the building. Strange, out of all buildings in this city, why ignore this one? Whatever the reason, I just felt relieved that we wouldn't encounter any straight long lines today.

As we entered the building, my eyes widen to see several large, long bookshelves lined across the walls with ladders and stools leaned against them, and near some tables in front of us. I also see a large candle chandelier hanging above the interior, as well a strange glowing globe in the middle of it. I turned around to see a wooden sign plastered on the wall near me. While it seems to be written in the game's fictional language, the pop-up window allowed me to read what it was saying.

[Speak aloud and suffer the lightning bolt from above.]

“What the hell?” I'm completely confused about what the sign said until I quickly heard someone screaming from behind the bookshelves.

"Hey, what's taking you so long, you magic nerd! Keep writing or else, I will burn your ass o-"

Before I know it, the globe suddenly turns red and blasted a yellow lightning bolt, which flew behind the very same bookshelves, and I heard the loud player's voice scream in pain. I guess that's what the sign meant by "a lightning bolt from above". Even in a virtual library in a fantasy world, the librarians have crazy ways to teach rule-breakers and loud patrons a lesson. It reminds me a lot of the time me, Damon, and Zac all in trouble thanks to us arguing about our studies last year.

Library rules aside, I noticed that Kazu had already left by my side as he approached an elderly woman. I didn't hear what he was saying to her, as I was browsing around the library trying to not accidentally wander off too far from Kazu, but I guessed he’s trying to ask permission to check some of the books as he mentioned before. Eventually, I saw him leave the counter and suddenly flashed some kind of card as he approached me while grinning mischievously.

"I see the librarian finally gave you permission." I’m not too surprised at seeing what seemed to be Kazu's library card for library. Other than the magic set present, it looked like any other ordinary library to me.

"Yep. I thought getting a library card would be kinda hard since I had to complete a [Quest] to get one. But turns out having a [Scribe] skill let me skip all of that. Even more surprising, instead of telling them about it, a s-"

"Hold it. As much as I want to hear how you got it, should you be working on your skill right now? I still need to make our lunch back home."

"Right. Until then, why don't you try getting your library card? I think it’ll a while until I'm finished with my training."

My library card, huh? That is interesting. Plus, it might be the easiest way to stick around the library while Kazu trained his skills. "Why not? It wasn’t like I can do anything else but wait. Just try to behave like in real life, okay?"

"Alright. I won't be long." Kazu then heads off into the row of bookshelves, to start his training. As for me, I begin to wonder if I should even try the [Quest] that he mentioned...

"Hey, young scamper! Yes, you! The one with the strange cowlick!" I quickly freeze in shock as I heard an elderly woman's voice behind me. As I turn around, I see that it was the receptionist that Kazu spoke to a few minutes ago. Upon taking a closer look at her with the game's HUD, it revealed that she’s the NPC in charge of the library. I know this because the crystal symbol next to the librarian's name is colored blue while most players have green crystals next to their names. I’m not surprised at this revelation, but I am curious about how she noticed me before I approach her. Maybe I encounter some kind of quest trigger or something?

"Come on, lad! I ain't got all day!"

Yikes... She reminds me of a lot of the librarian, Ms. Revel, back home. Just looking at her menacing glare made me want to leave here immediately. But knowing my current situation so far, all I can do is just approach her slowly and carefully. "U-Uh... Yeah... Can I also have a..."

But just before I can finish my sentence, the librarian suddenly ducks down behind the counter. I’m confused at this until she came back up and quickly put down several papers, along with an ink well and feather pen right in front of me. "That mage mentioned you a lot during his registration. But I don't trust a young lad who only reads 4 to 8 books. If you finish these forms though, I'll let you stay here for as long as you like."

Read 4 to 8 books?! I’m a bit offended at her claim about me. "Hang on! I actually st-"

But before I can finish again, the librarian quickly smacked some kind of a riding crop-like staff onto the counter, causing me to flinch and quickly back away from her. "Silence! Now sit down and work on your paperwork or else. I'm quite stressed out by you lads and I don't want any more noise in my library."

Okay... I wish I can finish my previous sentence, but I can only say in a fearful tone creeping up in my voice, "Y-Yes, ma'am!" Just as I left the librarian, a new window popped up in front of me.

[Urgent Quest: Complete the Library Exam *

To access the full features of the library, Ms. Resolane is giving you a test to see if you're worthy to enter her facilities. Leave no section or question empty!

Recommended Party: 1]

So this is the [Quest] Kazu mentioned? Seriously, I thought I can escape from my studies back in real life for a while. Guess there are types of knowledge quizzes and tests that are required to be completed to finish a [Quest] like this. And considering that what she said might be true, I had no choice but to grab most of the papers and writing utensils and quickly sit down at a table to start working on my paperwork. I already angered Ms. Revel last year, and I don’t want to unintentionally provoke another librarian. Besides, it’s just a few questions like you’d see in an exam. How hard can it be?