I see curious people gossiping in the hallway. New people have been popping out of the rooms, and they’re all from Japan.

I hear some of the newcomers talking, and to my surprise, I understand what they're saying. I never learned Japanese; this is another trick of the system. I see some of the Bureau's members explaining the situation to them. They seem as disoriented as we were when we arrived.

I find my friends in the cafeteria and learn more; "They all graduated from the same Japanese business school, the same year as us," explains Markus. "I heard it's a prestigious academy and that most of them come from wealthy families," he adds. Hundreds of new people arrived, so our population might have doubled. Tao explains that the rooms' numbers go up to 3000 so that even more people could come. "I wish my family could come next," says Lilly. That kills the mood since we all miss our relatives.

I finish lunch with my friends and then head to the library to do some research. Here I stumble upon an interesting book: Professions Guide for Adventurers. I learn that there are several professions available to us. On the different floors, you can collect items but also recipes. These recipes allow the craft of new items, assuming you’re skilled enough. Learning professions is time-intensive, and the book recommends picking one that is appropriate to your play style. For example, since I use heavy armor and swords, I should learn about blacksmithing.

The guide mentions all the professions, three of which catch my attention: Alchemy lets you craft potions with powerful effects. Calligraphy allows for the writing of spells on magic scrolls that can be used later. Enchanting adds powerful effects on existing items and allows disenchanting, which lets you retrieve raw materials and enchantments.

I decide to explore enchanting first. I’ve read that many rooms are dedicated to professions in the station's basement. I choose to explore the area and head to the nearest stairs.

The place is empty; I am the only one on this floor. The basement is darker than the upper levels, but some natural light passes through windows on the ceiling.

There are a lot of weird spaces with installations I do not understand. I find the enchantment workshop; it has an enchanting table, a disenchanting forge, and other strange tools. I see a few books, mainly enchanting guides. I open "My first enchantments: Beginner Guide" and get to work.

Disenchanting uses an amount of mana proportional to the item's level. You can adjust this amount, but not using enough mana can cause the disenchantment to wholly or partially fail. Using too much, however, is a waste of energy.

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My outer mana pool is massive due to my rigorous training, so I should be able to disenchant the loot I have collected so far.

I start with a few magic items that I do not need. Finding the right amount of mana to use is a challenge, but I get better with each try. I collect 3 types of resources from the items: raw materials (like leather, steel, or gold), magic crystals or powders (which are used as an energy source), and spells (which are automatically learned upon success). I understand that those crystals slowly absorb and store energy from their environment, so you can technically drain a magic item by using it too much.

Now I clearly see a solution to my wraith problem. If I can disenchant that magic robe, I'll be able to learn its psychic protection spell.

Enchantments' efficiency depends on the quality of the item and crystal used. It doesn't rely on the enchanter's affinity. This means I can enchant items with spells I am not proficient in.

Some enchantments affect the object's properties, like weight or hardness. While reading the advanced manuals, I learn that you can keep the original item intact after deconstruction. Still, a rare material is needed to stabilize the reaction.

When I feel confident with my technique, I try to disenchant the mage robe with great success. I learn two new conjurations: "Illusion Detect" and "Psychic Protection." I also deconstruct my favorite pendants and learn "Movement Detect" and "Nightvision."

I use this newfound knowledge to upgrade my protections. I rewrite some functions to only activate on movement detection, which should save a lot of mana. I create a new detection spell and, of course, add psychic resistance to my magic shield.

I have a lot of enchanting ideas for my gear, but I prefer to wait for better crystals since the ones I have are low quality. So I visit the other workshops to learn about other jobs.

It seems that every profession has its own rules and requires different talents. For example, blacksmithing uses the inner mana pool and requires great dexterity to handle the molten metal. My inner mana pool is correct because I never neglected physical training. However, my dexterity is quite bad, so I struggle to forge anything good.

Calligraphy is a lot like enchanting; it uses magic ink, paper, and your outer mana pool. However, the quality of the spell engraved is based on the writer's skill. This means you should only create scrolls of techniques you're proficient with. This might be an excellent way to save mana since it is stored inside the scroll. You could also share your best designs with your friends.

Alchemy uses no mana, only the quality of the ingredients and brewing methods affect the result. I find a few recipes that could be useful: "Mana Potion" and "Healing Potion." Those are basic plans, but you can discover new ones by mixing random ingredients. I'd love to try brewing some, but it's already 10 pm. I realize that I spent the entire afternoon here; I really get captivated sometimes.

When I reach the cafeteria, it is almost empty. Only a small group of newcomers remains; they all look pretty down. I salute them and sit at a nearby table. After a few moments, one of them comes to me: "Anou, sumimasen…."