mtl008 Chapter 24: The Gathering of the Moon
Chapter 24: The Gathering of the Moon
"Alright, listen up, trainees. The dungeon exploration is over, now it's assessment time. You will all be evaluated according to various criteria, including teamwork, combat effectiveness, adaptability, and problem-solving skills."
Irina wasn't listening carefully because she was thinking about something else.
“Morse Scott…” At that moment, my name entered her mind with a bad impression.
"Next time, I'll show you who's in charge." Although she was annoyed, she wouldn't go so far as to bully someone as lowly as me.
She was different from those abusers, after all. But she still secretly vowed that she would definitely humiliate that bastard properly in the next competition.
Seeing Julia grinning from ear to ear while chatting and laughing with her teammates, she became even angrier. Because she could hear that her team was ranked eighth overall.
......
The moment I left the artificial dungeon, I headed towards the college library.
The reason is simple. I'm looking for some books about mana control, and also to find a simple hidden Easter egg.
Now, I want you to think about the Easter eggs in genre books from a developer's perspective.
Where would you place it in the early stages of the game within the academy?
You would hide it under a tree in the forest or put it in a library, among the countless books that players can access, right?
After all, no normal player would bother looking into the contents of a book... except for some mentally ill people...
like me
Anyway, the developers included an advanced stunt manual as an Easter egg, and they chose to place it in a library—and there just happens to be a library in the forest. So, all I have to do now is find it and make use of it.
When I entered the college's enormous library, I was greeted by rows and rows of bookshelves, each filled with countless books on various topics. It was truly a treasure trove of knowledge.
I know that developers like to hide secrets in obvious places, yet in places that are not easy to find, so I began searching through the vast collection of books.
"It should be in the mana control area." I thought for a moment and walked towards the mana control area.
Since the library contains countless books written by scholars over a long period of time, it naturally contains a lot of content about magic.
The moment I stepped into the Magic Zone, a 50-meter-long bookshelf came into view.
There's nothing or no one who can help me right now. Although I know the book title associated with the Easter egg, its location isn't entirely clear. And no normal person could create a game that shows this book; the developer must be insane...
All I can do now is simply look at the books displayed there and find the one I need.
And so, I started reading.
Several hours passed as I meticulously browsed through the books on each shelf, occasionally turning to books that seemed helpful but were irrelevant to my pursuits.
It felt like searching for a needle in a haystack, but my patience and my belief that I would eventually succeed propelled me forward.
By chance, I discovered that the library had a section of books dedicated to ancient arcane arts.
“Arcane?” I thought to myself. “That’s the title of one of the books.” At that moment, I felt I was very close to finding the book I was looking for, so with a newfound sense of wonder, I began to peruse it.
As I browsed through these long-forgotten books, my gaze fell upon one that seemed out of place. Its worn cover and faded title caught my eye: "The Gathering of the Moon: The Legend of the Moon's Power."
The moment I saw the title, I felt a little strange. It was as if this book was something I needed to grasp, even though it had nothing to do with the Easter egg I was looking for.
Convergence of the Moon: The Legend of the Moon's Power
The name alone is enough to pique my interest.
I picked up the book, put it in my bag, and started flipping through it again, trying to find the Easter egg.
And just like that, another hour passed in the blink of an eye. Then, my head started to ache, because I felt as if I had read thousands upon thousands of books.
At this point, I would casually flip through the book, paying little attention to it, which became a monotonous routine.
I noticed some students looking at me. Although the area was quite empty, there were still a few students present; after all, considering a madman who casually opens a book, reads at most three pages, and then puts it down, their reaction was not unusual.
I absentmindedly picked up another book; the title barely registered in my weary mind. I opened it, flipped through a few pages haphazardly, assuming it was just another ordinary book like the others.
However, when I put the book down, I noticed something strange. The pages were empty; unlike the previous pages, there were no words on them.
The moment I realized what it was, I immediately felt refreshed and my attention returned to the book.
"found it."
My heart pounded with excitement as I opened the book again to see if my hunch was right. I examined each page carefully, running my finger across the seemingly blank pages.
"Finally found it." I thought to myself, and breathed a long sigh of relief. I had finally found the book I was looking for.
When my fingers touched this book, I had a strange feeling, unlike any other book I had ever touched before. It had an otherworldly quality that I absolutely needed to explore.
My tense body relaxed. I closed the book and looked at the title. As expected, the book had no title at all, just like a piece of paper.
Now, I can finally leave this place and go back to my dorm.
When I arrived at the reception desk, I registered the first book, "The Gathering of the Moons," and for the other book, I said it was a notebook of mine, so it didn't need a detailed explanation.
And so, I returned to my room.
I saw a box inside.
This must be my bow, but I don't want to open it yet because my attention is on that empty book.
Let's begin now.
So I took a needle from the drawer, pricked the tip of my index finger, and dripped a small amount of blood onto the book.
Then, a bunch of unknown characters began to flash, and my consciousness slipped away...