I enter the library as soon as my guide walks away and continues doing his job.


    Opening the door, I was greeted by the smell of books, reminding me of the scent of wood.


    Row upon row of bookshelves as far as the eyes could see is not what I am seeing.


    Instead, it was just a small room filled with scattered things here and there. There is a bookshelf, but it was such a paltry amount.


    Well, it was … compared to what I imagine. It was my fault for expecting a lot of books from an organization like this.


    To be honest, it was a room with a great amount of books, but it did not meet my expectations given how large the adventure academy is.


    Sitting near the pile of books is a girl with blue hair. She was reading without a care in the world.


    Is she the librarian here? I hone my sense, trying to search for a trace of people.


    After a minute of wasting my time, I was met with disappointment. There are no people aside from me and the girl.


    “Haah” I sigh.


    What do I do now?


    I think and continue looking around.


    “Is there something wrong, boy?” A sound of a woman came from behind me.


    !!!


    I jump forward from fright and turn around.


    I saw a woman in her thirties with a glass and book in hand.


    Where did she come from?


    “Did that surprise you, boy?” She asked me with a smile on her face.


    “It’s rare to see a visitor here, you know; that’s why every time anyone came, I surprised them with a little prank,” she said in a lighthearted tone.


    Even though she looks amiable, I feel like I can’t let my guard down.


    There is something indescribable feeling when I look at her, like looking at a beast clad in a fog.


    I take a careful step toward the back one by one, trying to widen our distance.


    “What’s wrong, boy?” she said as she tilted her head a little, looking quite confused.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Before I knew it, my back hit the bookshelf.


    My sweet, heavy breath started to trickle down from my forehead.


    Looking at her, I am still feeling an indescribable pressure. I look at my surroundings as I try to make an escape route.


    !!!


    I just realized something: my surroundings changed. Their scattered book, and the blue-haired girl is gone.


    The room that was looking small was enlarged before I realized.


    My heart beat fast, reminding me of the first dying experience.


    “Haah.” I took a deep breath. I took a look at the woman in front of me, a hand formed into a fist as I clenched it as hard as I could.


    A fist flies, not toward the woman but toward my face.


    “Baam” The fist struck true as it collided with my face.


    I did not scream in anguish, nor did I feel any pain.


    It confirmed my deduction that I was in some kind of illusion; it reminded me of when I ate a blue poisonous mushroom and entered some kind of dreaming state.


    At that time no one came to help me because I was in my own room when I ate the mushroom.


    Even though I knew it was poisonous, I was curious about the dreaming state that Cain told me, so I ate the mushroom in secret, knowing Cain would prevent me from eating.


    In conclusion, that mushroom made me experience a nightmare like no other; I don’t even want to talk about it.


    Thankfully, I successfully escape from the nightmare.


    That’s why I know how to escape from dream state or whatever this illusion was.


    To escape it, you must realize that you are, in fact, trapped in your own mind. To realize it, you must know that common sense didn’t apply here.


    Like when you get hit, you will feel pain; common sense like that didn’t apply when you entered a dreaming state or illusion.


    That’s why I hit myself to confirm I was in fact trapped in an illusion.


    After knowing it, the next step is to shock myself awake; it was impossible to do that from physical damage, as you can’t feel pain over here.


    The only way out is to mess with your own mind. That was what I did to escape from the blue mushroom nightmare.


    Thankfully, the woman in front of me is still smiling and unlikely to interrupt my attempt at escaping this illusion, because if she wanted it to be easier to kill me than just messing with my mind,


    It was probably some kind of test.


    … Oh yeah, we are in the academy. I almost forgot about that.


    In school they give you a lot of tests, right? This one is probably one of them.


    Let’s just finish this test first.


    I stare at nothing and start to remember all the unpleasant memories and trauma I experience.


    I see eyes all over the place. The surrounding started to distort.


    I see myself dying for stupid things. The place started to sink.


    I see blue light coming from a blue stone. The world of illusion finally ends as it is broken into pieces.


    I was standing in front of the true librarian. She was looking like a child with a big hat. But the feeling I got from her is no different from looking at her in the illusion.


    The beast is clad in a fog.


    This probably isn’t her true appearance either. My sense didn’t feel anything weird from her, but I know she was just … hmm, I don’t know how to explain it; let’s just say she was strong and leave it at that.


    She is just silently reading the book without much change in her expression.


    I turn my head and stare at the library. This time this place is looking like what I imagine, with row upon row of bookshelves and some students reading with full concentration.


    I walked ahead, but suddenly


    Three Rules of Library


    “No Talking”


    “No Borrowing Book”


    “Do not enter forbidden section.”


    A string of words appears in my mind to form a word. It was kind of disturbing. But after everything that I just witnessed, I don’t feel much surprise with just this much.


    I just shrugged my shoulder and continued walking toward my destination.