The Boy in the Library

Sun Su Seung woke up in his chair. His father hated it when he slept in his chair, but he felt that it was much more convenient than getting in and out of his bed every day. He had enough problems already like bathing, and even worse, changing clothes. He was used to it, of course, but he tried to avoid more inconveniences whenever possible.

He left his room to go to the library (Note: library as in a room in his house, like a study). This was not very hard, as he had insisted that his room be attached to the library. He checked the time. It was a quarter to six, and he realised he had woken up somewhat later than usual.

The library was different than most, as the bookshelves only went up about two meters. It made up for this by being much larger, with more floors. He went over to one of the shelves and removed a book.

It was nearly noon when the Dong Gi Ji, the butler, came to get him. “Wooster, your father wants to see you.” The nickname was an inside joke they had, one of the ways they dropped formalities in private.

As Sun Seung began to head to his father’s study, Dong Ji said, “We might want to hurry, he looked excited.”

Sun Seung sighed, but consented.

They hurried to his father’s office. The moment they entered, his father burst into a grin. “I have good news two, no, three times over.” He exclaimed. Seung was used to his father becoming. over excited over small things.

“What is it this time?” He asked. He hoped it wasn’t like the last time, when his father “discovered” boomerangs. Seung actually rather liked the boomerang, although he didn’t admit it to anyone but Dong Ji.

“There is a renowned doctor from Omsk who believes he can cure your legs!”

“What?” Dong Ji and Seung said in unison.

“He has done similar operations before, although…” Seung’s father paused “never on someone who had never had their use. He says that most people simply have to become accustomed to walking again, but you will have to learn from scratch.”

Seung was in shock. “Worth it,” he muttered.

His father hesitated again. “This leads to another problem, the muscles in your legs, let alone underdeveloped, they are undeveloped entirely. He says that they are too weak even for standard methods of rehabilitation. That is why I haven’t brought it up before now. You cannot undergo rehabilitation without being stronger, and you cannot become stronger without rehabilitation.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Seung stopped as though he was struck. He thought it over for a bit before realizing. “What changed?”

“Indeed. The answer lies in Royal Road.” Seeing his son’s blank expression, he continued. “Royal Road is a virtual reality video game. My former secretary, and new advisor, suggested that you learn how to walk with working legs in Royal Road. When I asked the doctor if this would work, he responded that it would help, but that your legs would still be too weak.”

He paused for breath.

“That is the second piece of good news, the third is that I modified the virtual reality capsule which you will be using. It will allow you to use your real muscles while playing the game, and increase your leg strength. To make things even better, in the game time moves four times as fast, so your rehabilitation will be done even sooner.”

This really was good news, but Seung was trying not to get his hopes up. “The modified capsule…” he began.

“Is perfectly safe,” his father said. “The game is medieval fantasy, and we made sure that no damage would be transferred to your physical body. There is just one more thing. You should begin the game before the doctor arrives, so that you get used to the idea of having legs that work before your actions actually strengthen them.”

Seung nodded, at a loss for words. If he could walk, he could… “Father, maybe we should reconsider. This could seriously affect my studies.”

“Seung my boy, it could indeed. For example, you could be able to go to school, and learn to socialise for once.” He always was happy that his son enjoyed reading, but what had began as the only way he could pass time had began to border on obsession.

“Besides,” Dong Ji said, “If you spend half your time rehabilitating, and half studying, you will still learn twice as fast as in real life.”

Seung agreed.

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