• 3^rd person POV

Birds began to chirp with Evan eyes still closed ignoring its cries as he continues to sleep. After a while has passed… *BEEEP* *BEEEP*

The blaring alarms from his phone goes unheard off with Evan still in his slumber. Until the morning has turned into afternoon as the alarm already died down long time ago.

Standing up from the bed and noticing the time from his phone “Sigh….” Evan disappointed in himself as he tries to fix his sleep schedule but failed to do so.

“I’ll try again” He decided the next time, he will try to sleep earlier. He stands up from the bed and bring out simple minced meat that he had thawed in the fridge overnight.

Cooking a simple stir fry with frozen vegetables and brown sauce paired with rice is enough to fill his belly for the day in addition to left-overs for dinner and tomorrow’s lunch as he look up in his phone to see for news about ‘Eidolon’

So far, there’s no important news being announced and that means today will be the day that Evan tries to complete some of his goals. Even finishing 1 would make him happy.

Exploring the dungeon <Moving Library> to check its rewards. He already searched the net about the rewards. It seems that they give the same reward no matter how long you’re inside the <Moving Library>

For example; a player have tried prolonging his stay in the dungeon for a total of 4 hours and he get around 25 gold upon completion. Compared to someone who managed to complete the puzzle by speed running gaining 25 gold for 10 minutes of speed running.

Although many players doesn’t want to stay in the dungeon for too long since its boring so the maximum amount of stay that is recorded is 4 hours from that player.

Evan doesn’t have good memory so he couldn’t remember the entire guide to solve the puzzle. In addition, he can’t open the net inside the dungeon as part of the restriction in it.

“Hehehe… it feels like an open-book exam, if you can open the net in that type of dungeon” Evan reminisces his time in university whenever they have ‘merciful’ lecturers that gives an  exam where students can bring a cheat sheet.

Finishing his lunch, Evan washes his face and brushes his teeth then finally entering the console to start the game. Entering ‘Eidolon’ he is spawned back in where he logged out.

He then moves toward Novitas’ Library since he already have a badge for an access to the library. Evan can freely explore the area.

While walking between the bookshelves, “Hmmm… I think this is where they mention the entrance of the dungeon?” Evan traces his palm through the books as he pulled a book out of the case.

Immediately after, two bookshelves moves forward almost hitting Evan in the face as the man jolt behind trying to avoid being hit by it.

“Eh?” Evan sees that the bookshelves stop in the middle before parting revealing a hidden path. He turn around and sees the NPC mages or players and they just completely ignoring him earning a sigh of relief. It must have been a common sight for someone to challenge it.

Without further ado, Evan pushes through the path. It is dark, as his figure vanishes to thin air transported to the dungeon dimension.

An individual noticed that brown-robed figure disappears “Huh…. I rarely see people challenge that dungeon these days” A gaunt looking player quickly opening his book and close it to gain 1 INT talked to the person in front of him.

The person’s that gaunt player referring to look to the side seeing the parting bookshelves as it closed in again. He replies “Yeah, it is the safest one to complete but not worth a lot compared to <Icy Cavern>.” He’s wearing glasses before looking down to the book and continues to read.

Looking more to the glasses wearing player, the gaunt player seems bored as he mention “Sigh….Can we leave now? We need to grind levels & money. Come on~, we already entered that guild after all”

Noticing him, he replies “Alright, alright we’ll leave” He closes his book and stands up as the gaunt player’s expression brighten. They finally left Novitas’ Library.

--

Evan is transported to a dimensional pocket where the dungeon lies. Looking around the library has been changed into night-time with lamps that gives dim-light to the building.

“It seems not just the time has been changed, the structure as well” He glances everywhere assessing where he is. He can see a staircase going up to the next floor, but he can’t detect on where he should go there.

Instead he looks up, Evan can see the 2 more floors above him and on the last floor is where he is supposed to go to complete the dungeon. So this dungeon consists of ground floor where he is, the first floor, and the second floor / the last floor.

He’s currently at the ground floor as he began processing what’s happening. In front of Evan is bookshelves arranged in circular formation with gaps in between leading to the middle that goes to the centre of the ground floor.

To the right of him is a blocked pathway so he has only one way to go and that is left. Passing through the circular bookshelves gaps.

He also noticed there is a cone of purple light sometimes coming out from those gaps as he immediately knew what that is, “That’s the detection zone… better be careful” Evan hides behind the bookshelf.

The cone of purple light moved as Evan quickly dashed to the left. Upon going there, he glances through the gaps and see what lies in the centre of the ground floor.

It is a pylon with a big stone like sphere on top. It is sculpted resembling an eyeball and moves to an angle before stopping. By the time Evan noticed it, he’s already at the other section of the bookshelf.

Counting the time, he heard rock moving against one another as the cone of purple light moved again. It is approximately 2 seconds of staying still then it will move as Evan dashed again seeing through the gaps.

“hm?” In a split second, maybe from his imagination  Evan sees something underneath the pylon since the pylon looks like a cone with the sharp tip on top where the eye resides.

They look like alcoves that is familiarly look like a book slot. He already hide behind the bookshelf as he waits for the line of sight from the eye to move again.

After waiting for a while, Evan got the chance again to peeked out of the shelf and sees one of the slot. It is small rectangular slot fit for a book and on top of it is a gem. For the one that he sees are green gem resembling emerald.

“Oh!!” He quickly hides behind the bookshelf again as the cone of purple light passes through it before settling for 2 seconds then moved again.

Since the eye itself moved, the pylon stays in place, so Evan decided to retrace his steps back seeing the slots of the pylon. Making a mental note in the meantime,

Through the gaps of southwest, there’s a slot fitted for a book of blue gem. The one on the southeast is where Evan sees the book of green gem.

Evan began to wonder whilst hiding behind the bookshelf. “Why isn’t that slot mentioned in the dungeon website? They only focuses on completing it fast enough and the puzzle for it located at the top most floor” Nevertheless, since he noticed it. Evan is determined to see it through the end.

He dashes through the northeast section and sees through its gap. There he finds another slot for a book of red gem as he mentally note it in his mind.

Waiting for another 2 to 4 seconds until the cone of purple light completely moved away, Evan dashed again to the next northwest section. Leaning his head in, he can see the slot for a book of yellow gem.

His brain began to turn, trying to figure out what the gems meant. “There’s no books that have gems inlaid in them in this ground floor and I doubt the developers put them in the 1^st floor. So the answer lies where I am now in this ground floor.” He ponders while making sure to not get noticed by the cone of purple light.

“Now… what does the gems meant? Colours? I didn’t see any leather-bound tomes that contain those striking colours. Content? It is possible but, that would waste a lot of time” Evan ruminates for a while as he then decided to do what he believes in.

Evan will check the books and read them albeit fast-read about the contents even the titles. Approximately 1 hour have passed in the room as he searches through the bookshelves & avoiding the gaze of that construct.

He managed to find 4 possible books to slot it in. With titles of ‘Book of Fire, Book of Wind, Book of Earth, and Book of Water’. “When I read them at a glance, I see they mentioned gems that resemble those colour, like emerald, topaz, ruby, and sapphire” Evan confidently think that this would be correct.

Waiting for 4 seconds allow the eye construct to look at the furthest away from Evan’s position as it did. Evan immediately rushed underneath the pylon and quickly slotted one in.

*GRRRRSSSSS*

The sounds of stones grinding against one another can be heard. “OH!! NO!” Evan quickly moves to another side as it seems upon slotting the book the resting time of the construct of 2 seconds begin to be faster than usual.

Slotting the second book the cone of purple light continues to move as Evan ran around then slot another one. He quickly rotates around the pylon with his outstretched hand slot another book in corresponding to the title & gem it describes in the book that he read.

All of a sudden, the whole room bright up with blue light instead of purple light as Evan closed his eyes “I’m done! I got captured” That’s the last thought in his mind.

After a while, he slowly opened his eyes and blue light greeted him, it was so blinding that he turn around and face the other way.

Checking around and confirming that there are no problems. “Fiuf… I’m save” Evan breathe a sigh of relief seeing himself didn’t get automatically transported to the entrance.

Looking up, it seems the entire library has been light up. The night-time of the library seems quite bright which gives him a sense of ease.

What Evan did, was that he manage to deactivate the defence system of the <Moving Library> as such there are no more golem constructs that would capture him. Due to this, he’s free to explore the entirety of the dungeon.

“No wonder, they didn’t put any in the guide. It is just a waste of time. Unless…?” Evan gasped at his own realization. “It would be too cruel for the developers to just add the gimmick without rewarding the players for discovering them.” Evan thought

Believing in that, Evan explores the 1^st floor, true to the dungeon name suggest. The first floor is a circular wooden floor that is projected from the wall. On top of that floor are bookshelves that are constantly moving at a slow pace but it’s quite annoying to deal with.

Evan looks up above him and he sees there are small orb constructs like an eyeball not as large as the one in ground floor with size as big as a tennis ball hovering in the air.

Investigating further, Evan determined that the construct has been deactivated due to what he did. It is not shining any purple like in a cone

It also doesn’t emit blue light, instead the constructs are just a dull grey stone colour and becomes a rather neat looking ornamental hovering in the air. No doubt if it was activated, they give a spotlight below them which players would try to dance around with the moving bookshelves.

Since there’s no need to worry about getting caught, Evan just moves forward passing through the moving bookshelves even under the constructs.

“Hmmm… I didn’t see anything particular on this floor? Maybe on the second floor?” Evan continues to look around the area.

He spent another hour inside the <Moving Library> searching through the nook & crannies of the dungeon including between the bookshelves. Unlike the first floor where the books are interactable, these ones are lodged in making it a décor.

Going up another staircase to the second floor or the last floor, he sees something that’s familiar. “So this is where the guide comes to play” In front of Evan is a large blackened bookshelf. “It feels like wood…” He grazed his finger tips on the side of that bookshelf.

Clearly what he’s seeing right now, is exactly where the screen shot for the dungeon guide came from. He doesn’t remember much on how to solve the puzzle, but it involves trial and error to create an image.

The spine of the books contained in this black bookshelf have a part of an image that should be arranged all together to create an image of an eye.

“Well… I’m thankful on what I did below” Evan muses, it appears due to the blue light coming from the ground floor. The spines of the book have a glowing outline part of the image making it easier for him to solve.

“Let’s see… here and here…” Spending 30 minutes arranging the books until the last one slotted itself in.

*WHOOSH*

Currents of air suddenly emerges from the bookshelves as Evan take a step back and sees the image appeared. He’s thankful that some of the books contained in it are lodged in and unable to be interacted so it serves as base to the image of an eye.

*GRSSSSS*

The sounds of stone walls opening itself can be heard from the back of that bookshelf. Leaning his head to the side, Evan confirmed that it is the exit as he have ‘completed’ the dungeon. Putting a hand underneath his chin he ponders.

“Is this really it? But so far, I didn’t see anything peculiar… I have checked the ground floor and first floor thoroughly. Even this floor too… “ Evan moved towards the exit almost coming out from the dungeon.

Yet his footsteps stop right before the exit, as he instead turn around. “There must be something that I am missing in this place” Either due to delusion or a foolish belief, Evan is sure that is some kind of reward for him to deactivate the defence system of <Moving Library> “Or I’m going to cry after spending hours on this dungeon” Evan thought

--

While his mind continue to turn, he unconsciously biting his nails thinking of what he has missed. “Is it the book titles? Do… they when arranged made some kind of hint? No… maybe?” Evan shakes his head dismissing that theory but sometimes confirming it too. Since some of the books in ground, first, and second / last floor are blank.

“There must be something… something that’s being hidden in plain sight” Evan brain twist and turns as he look around since he descend from the last floor to the ground floor. He wanted to inspect from the bottom up.

Investigating as much as he can, Evan takes out as many books as he can interact with and try to read them following the conspiracy theory he had just made. Taking an hour to do so, he didn’t find anything remotely important or a hint when he arranged the books according to its title.

He was dejected by this “Sigh… it’s just my insane idea. I better get out of the dungeon.” Evan decides to come out from the dungeon as he’s going to the staircase. Passing through the gaps, he glances the big pylon that houses the largest eye construct.

“It looks like a lamp lighting up the whole <Moving Library>. Ugh… its really bright” Evan try to face his head away from the beacon of light as something dawned in his mind when he faced away from it.

“What if… you hide something in that light? No one would ever sees it even if it is in front of you.” His eyes widened for a second as that realization hits him hard. Gulping down the anticipation and hopes coming from his throat to not expected too much or the disappointment going to hit harder.

Evan approaches that pylon, with an approximate height of 1.5 metres. He squinted his eyes since the blue light is incredibly bright. “Here we go!” Taking a chance, he outstretched his hands and reached to that ball of blue light.

Anticipating something such as the surface hard rock, instead he feels air or an opening. “Huh?” Evan hands just passes through what he thinks the sculpted eye as he try to grasp anything in it. He feels something moving as if he knocked something out.

“What’s this?” Evan is confused as he continues to reach deeper trying to get what he dislodges. “This doesn’t make sense”. Calculating his arm length and the size of the eye even if it is the largest size. His hand would have passes through to the other side.

Rather… he feels cold on his hand as if dipping into a fridge. He grasped as he felt something. Clutching it in his hand. He moved his hand around, it feels like the area his hand in is a small alcove. Sensing where it ends as he couldn’t find any ‘things’ getting dislodged or he can take beside the first thing he grasped.

Upon pulling it out, Evan jolted in surprise as a sound comes through his head.

*PIIINGGG*

 

“Whoa… “ Evan is excited and joyful about this, but he doesn’t know how to react as his lips slowly curved upward. Emitting a bright smile that warmed the entire room even more so than the bright blue light coming from the eye pylon.

Looking to what he has grasped, he investigate what the item on his palm. At first glance, the item looks like a crystal ball sculpted into an eye. His mind wanders “It does say [The Eye of Mana]… what does it do?” He eagerly check as a panel appeared in front of him.

 

A question appeared in his mind. “What is Soul-Bound?” Evan confused about that statement and surprised that this item correlates to the skill [Mana Sense]. Nevertheless, “hehe…” Evan can’t help but giggle as he’s happy.

*POOF*

“Wha-?” Evan world shift for a second as he come out to the familiar Novitas’ Library, seems like he is automatically ejected from the dungeon. Turning his back to where the entrance was. He sees the bookshelves slotting itself right back in. Immediately after, a timer appeared on top of the dungeon.

<Moving Library> Maintenance: 1D 23H 59M 59S

 

That notification attracted players who comes close to the entrance as Evan heart begin to pound faster than normal and he can feel cold sweat “I don’t want to get found” That is the word that echoes in his mind. Murmurs and gasped of surprise echoes through the library.

Feeling that, Evan hurriedly move to the side as he tucked in his cloak and pull up the hood. Since he began to hear “Eh? What happened? Maintenance?” A player wearing blue mage robe seemingly confused about what has just happened.

Accompanying that another player chimes in “Huh? I’ve never seen a dungeon maintenance before maybe there’s a glitch somewhere inside, so the developer is fixing it. It’s a big game after all” A muscular looking player investigating the entrance of the dungeon.

They are too late to notice as Evan have already slipped through wearing his beginner’s staff & robe mingling with many newbies who start as a magic caster. His heart still beats faster than usual as he felt nauseated, he entered an alleyway of Novitas as he leaned his back to its walls and take a deep breath.

“It’s okay… It’s okay…. Summon Umbra!” *POOF* Appeared beside him is a small puppy that wags his tail upon seeing Evan. In a fit of being excited, Umbra also swing his hips as he nuzzles into Evan with the male stroke the puppy’s head and giving him treats.

His sense of unease began to dissipates as stroking Umbra make him feels better. “Okay… let’s look at the time. I still need to farm slimes” Evan opened his character panel as usual he gained extra EXPs in addition to 25 gold.

*BARK BARK*

Umbra’s puppy bark elicit a small chuckle from Evan as he squishes Umbra cheeks while thinking. “Who’s a good boy, Who’s a good boy, you are! The bestest boy ever. Let’s go hunt more slimes” Umbra’s tail wiggle extremely fast like helicopter as if he knew what Evan’s thinking.

Once again Evan is thankful with the way the summoner can communicate with their summons without the need of voice. Moving to the west of the Novitas, he finally arrived at the slime field. He’s still carrying Umbra in his arms in a cuddle as Umbra leaped off from him and bite a slime.

“Umbra is really eager on hunting. I better not fail on that too” Evan optimistically think as he begin casting [Magic Arrow].

Another 5 to 6 hours have passed with intermittent logging out for breaks & snacks. The EXP gained from them is extremely slow as Evan didn’t Level UP rather Umbra has reached Level 10.

*WOOF* *Pokémon Evolving Noises*

Evan glances at Umbra behind him. “huh?” He sees Umbra body glowed for a bit before his form enlarges from looking like a 7 weeks old pup into a larger version as the glow fades.

Revealing Umbra with a size like a 6 months old Siberian husky albeit larger version of it, Since Evan height is around 1.5 metres Umbra is a third of him. The dog look at Evan and tilted his head as if the change did not affect him at all.

Evan comes forward to Umbra and stroke his head before giving him little kisses as well as treats for growing up well. The fur of Umbra feels incredibly soft and fuzzy making Evan smiles unconsciously.

*GRRRRR*

Umbra suddenly move his head to a direction across from Evan. His ears pointed upward in addition to his tail went stiff as if on alert. “Hmm? What’s wrong?” something appeared on Evan’s mind as he sensed what Umbra felt.

Lies far from where Umbra pointed are a group of people either a player or NPC. Both Umbra & Evan cannot discern which one, but they can sense they radiated some kind of… intense emotion. What Umbra felt is an obvious hostilities but its not directed at them.

That feeling is transmitted to Evan as his heart beat began to pound faster. His mind drawn multiple theories. “Are they PKers (Player Killers)? Is this an Event? But this place is just a slime field. Why would they be here?”. Those thoughts continue to roam his head until…

*BARK*

Umbra bark and with that Evan snapped out from his thoughts. He immediately ran to the side urging Umbra as well since the dog is quite big, he needed to lure Umbra with treats towards the Forest of Darkness to the spot he knew well.

The pair vanishes into the verdant forest as a voice can be heard outside. “Oi did you guys hear a dog barking just now?” A player wearing leather armour and simple looking iron sword turn around to a person behind him.

The one who replied to him is another player wearing green robes and embroidered, in that robe have a symbol of a magical circle with an eye in the middle. “You just heard things… I certainly didn’t hear any dogs barking. This is a slime field after all…. Sigh….” He exasperatedly explain while puckering his lips.

Evan already dismissed Umbra as he stand behind a tree watching over the slime field. “Why are they here? Is it… what I feared came true?” He feels dejected upon that thought crossing his mind.

That sword wielder player replied in annoyed tone. “I can’t believe that Iron Mountain is so overpopulated. We just migrated here instead” With that the mage replies in turn. “Yeah… even the battle dungeons are being ‘overtaken’ by major guilds. It’s annoying. I hope the developers do something about it”

The warrior begin by emitting a loud roar, as it attracts multiple slimes all-together. As the mage cast a wide area of effect spell decimating a lot of them with a blast of fiery explosion. Evan who spies from the forest of darkness are conflicted with two kinds of emotions.

Awe inspired since the mage used magic that he had only seen in MeTube and saddened that his slime field have been taken by those two. “It can’t be helped but If they are forced to come, no doubt it means many more will come to this field”

As such, Evan decided to give up the slime field as his mind begin to turn. “Where should I get money from then? <Moving Library> is in maintenance for 2 days. I am not confident in <Juggling Forest> or <Icy Cavern>. Especially the cavern, they did say battle dungeons which icy cavern categorized into being overtaken by ‘major guilds’”.

Major guilds are large player-based organization led by a single guild master and several vice-guild masters. Contrary to Minor Guild which consist of smaller size player organization who’s primarily from a close knitted friend circles.

He ponders for a bit “What does they mean by overtaking? Dungeon can’t be owned… But!” A horrible realization dawned upon him. “They must have resorted in PK people whose nearing the dungeon.”

That caused him to have shivers down his spines. Evan cannot afford to be killed! If he was, he would get a penalty of not being able to online for a day.

“ugh… that would make more problems in earning money” Evan gets headache upon imagining it. Looking to the time in-game and in-real life, he made a hard decision.

“I’ll sacrifice my sleep time then, checking when the slime field gets empty. In the meantime, I’ll train my skill, so I get to use [The Eye of Mana]” He decided as Evan lay down on that spot then begin breathe deeply calming himself down.

After he felt comfortable, Evan began to vividly imagine what mana is. By imagining atoms, he has a sense of it is in everything as they are all made from mana. “But it would be too ubiquitous, what about mundane objects then? They do not contain mana”

That musing contradicts with that Evan has imagine so he opted to think of something else that describe mana. “What I can best describe mana in my own understanding, is that mana is some kind of… fuel source or energy source akin to one in my world. Although mana is more flexible, capable of being converted into other forms to produce the intended effects.” Evan lips curved upward, that imagery clicks in his mind.

In doing so, multitude of pings occur in his mind, but he keep ignoring it as he finally able to tune it out. He snorted some air as if proud of himself to be able to tune that thing out. As Evan continues to imagine how mana is wielded, how it flows, by comparing it to how energy in his original world is used.

The thought of the slime field being taken have dissipated from his mind as he focuses on the thought of describing mana & how it flows. “It might be just me being delusional, but I feel more familiar with flows of mana.” His breathing become a lot easier just now.

Opening his eyes, he’s greeted with the same small glade where he usually rests as the sounds of fighting outside can’t be heard anymore. Looking at the panel for time, he only lay down for an hour or so.

He also open his own inventory panel to see how much he has looted from the grind in addition to the reward from completing <Moving Library>. “That’s enough for today” Evan internally celebrated the small victory as he gained around 500 gold. He converted it to 50 dollars before looking at the status panel to see what has changed.

 

 

 

Delighted with has just happened and managed to upgrade his [Mana Sense] skill to level 10. Evan bring out [The Eye of Mana]. A panel appeared before him

 

“Yes” Without a doubt, Evan pressed yes as the crystalline sphere that sculpted like an eye dissipates and absorbed to his body. He felt a refreshing cold outside of his body and inside as if he tastes mint. He breathes easier this time.

It comes as quick as it goes. As a panel appeared before him again.

Congratulations for Upgrading your [Mana Sense LV10] to [Mana Control LV1]!! You obtained the exclusive title <Mana Sensitive>

 

 

Evan smiled seeing all of this new notifications flooded his panels. Others would be annoyed but Evan just happy seeing progress in his character. “Although some of the wording is so weird ‘Understand’. I know about ‘Magical Resistance’ though.” Evan thought.

Magical resistance is meant when a source used magic such as spells, magical items, or magical effects to cause harm or detrimental status effects. “They haven’t fully calculated the effects when faced against harmful magics like destructive spells though. Only Status Effects” Evan remembered a discussion in the forum.

For example; Umbra [Howl] it inflicts 150% Fear status to anyone 15ft around him excluding allies.  Players always have 50% to all status resistance when they have 0 WIS as such when Umbra howled at them.

The number would be deducted, 150 – 50 = 100% meaning the fear effect will still comes through. Adding WIS status gives higher status resistance. “If I remember correctly from the forums 1 WIS = 1% Magical Resistance” Evan thinks but he could be wrong since the numbers are focused on status effects rather than harmful magic.

Same can be said to CON status, aside from the rumours of it increasing HP. The only one players have confirmed it provides Physical Resistance.

“Sigh…” Evan feels a little bit stressed knowing he’s even weaker due to that penalty gaining more physical damage taken. Shaking his head he opted to focus on something else “What about [Mana Control LV1] What is that?” Evan enthusiastically check, even forgetting that it is already way past his usual schedule of logging out.

 

“Great something to think about especially… modified… thing… *Yawn* I’ll play with this skill later tomorrow” It seems sleep finally clocking in hitting Evan with reality check. He returned to Novitas and logged out from the game in a quiet place after learning all the things he have.

Evan quickly showered and eat a quick snack bar since his belly gaining a bit of hunger processing what has just happened to the slime field and the growth of his character. Brushing his teeth, Evan dumped himself to the bed and fall asleep.

He forgot to set up an alarm for tomorrow.