Chapter Eleven- Paranormal Realm 9
Thirty minutes later
Rowan, dressed in black t-shirt with a flower design at the back, plain black trousers and a white stripped black Sneakers left the house, looking at the green lush trees and thorny rose planted at the left part of the house, looking both beautiful and dangerous at the same time. He kept on moving forward according to the direction the boss lady gave to him.
"You still haven't told me who I'm going to meet at the library "
[Heaven's secret shall not be disclosed]
He lightly scoffed and then mumbled softly, not daring to provoke the ancestors, "obviously you don't know who I'm going to meet, why the whole shenanigans of heaven secrets."
[. . .]
There isn't much difference between here and my home world, even the dressing, language and method of building house are the same, I was kinda expecting to see a primitive environment
[Maybe this realm discovered civilisation first. Maybe your world borrowed ideas from here.]
He stopped walking and turned to no one in particular, offended by the audacity.
"Borrowed? We have Wi-Fi. We have noodles. We have TikTok. Who is borrowing what from where?"
[You still eat like someone discovering food for the first time every morning.]
He gasped.
"Lies. I eat with dignity."
[Noted. Now keep walking.]
He sighed and dragged his feet forward again.
"How far is the library, I'm already tired." Rowan complained walking sluggishly as if he carried the whole weight of the world on his back
[Based on my calculations you are yet to walk for five minutes]
"Ahh!! Five whole minutes," Rowan exclaimed coming to a stand still
"This is the farthest I've walked?, I'm not going anywhere"
[You do know you'll be punished if you don't complete the mission, and I won't be lenient with the punishment]
"It's not like I expected you to be lenient with me," Rowan folded his arms on his chest, pulling a pouty mouth.
A warning tone chimed sharply in his mind.
[Ding]
[Reminder: Mission failure equals 50-point deduction.]
He groaned.
"Bruh, I don't even have points. How are you deducting nothing? That's not deduction, that's generational debt."
[That is why you should complete the mission.]
He crossed his arms, offended.
[Okay, okay, in order not to let people think I'm maltreating you, what do you want]
"Uhm. First of all, remove that punishment thing. It's giving villain energy and I don't like that for my brand. Secondly, maybe you could… I don't know… delay the mission? I don't want a repeat of the first day fiasco."
[Mission delay denied.]
He dragged a hand down his face.
"Why do systems always enjoy stressing their hosts?"
[It is character development.]
Rowan scoffed at that.
"Development should be paid, not forced. I deserve compensation for every inconvenience."
[You'll get extra 20 points as beginners package, if you finish the mission.]
"Okay, now we're talking business."
He resumed walking, feeling energized by the promise of points, The environment around him was noisy in a cozy way. Birds chirped. People chatted. Somewhere, someone argued about the price of pepper. It felt like home.
After another slow ten minutes of strolling (yes, slow enough to be considered a journey), the state library finally appeared.
The building was tall, brown-brick structured, with vine-like plants crawling up the walls like overachieving decorations. The sign above the entrance read in bold silver lettering:
STATE ARCHIVES & PUBLIC LIBRARY
He squinted.
"Archives? Archives ke? This place is doing too much. Just say library."
The doors slid open automatically with a soft hiss, like the building sighed before letting him in.
Inside, the scent of old books and brewed tea wrapped around the air like a hug. The floors were polished oak wood. The ceiling stretched high, painted with shimmering constellations that subtly moved when you stared too long. Rowan refuses to stare too long.
"Nope. Not falling for anything weird today."
The librarian sat behind the front desk: a woman in her mid-thirties, caramel-skinned, hair packed into a neat bun, thick glasses resting seriously on her nose, pen in hand like she was ready to grade works just like his middle school grade teacher.
She glanced up when Rowan approached.
"Welcome to the State Library. How may I help you today?"
Her voice was calm. Professional. Slightly enchanted with a motherly undertone.
Rowan leaned forward, whispering like secrets could hear him.
"I'm exploring. And maybe also fulfilling a mission I did not volunteer for."
She raised a brow.
"Mission?"
Rowan cleared his throat.
"Personal mission. Self-improvement. Reading… for oxygen… purposes."
Nyphrin sighed internally.
[You are embarrassing me.]
[I'm embarrassing myself independently, thank you.]
The librarian didn't laugh. That made him feel like the joke was funnier than intended.
"Right," she said, pushing a visitor log toward him.
"Can you help me fill it out." he needed to make sure there wasn't a hidden language or method of writing, to avoid selling himself out.
The librarian gave him a quick glance and took back the register to fill it up.
"Name?"
"Rowan."
"Age?"
He paused.
" 18 "
She nodded slowly
"Proceed inside. Return any borrowed material within 3 days."
" okay ma."
'Borrowed? I barely want to read, you think I'd want to borrow books?' he mused to himself.
She didn't reply. She just pointed inside again.
[Development,] Nyphrin whispered in his head.
He ignored her and marched forward into the aisles.
The shelves towered, stacked with books that hummed faintly with magic. Some glowed. Some sighed when touched. Some looked like they bit ankles. Rowan avoided all glowing books.
He scanned until a thick leather-bound book caught his attention:
A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE REALMS
He pulled it out. No glow. No hiss. No sudden mechanism. Perfect.
He sat down at the nearest reading table. The chairs were plush enough to distract depression. He flipped the book open and started reading.
"Okay, paranormal history. Let's see if this realm has common sense."
Nyphrin hummed.
[Page 8, paragraph 4 contains the creation of realm borders.]
"I'm not reading paragraph 4. I'm reading everything like a law student that's gossip motivated."
He read for another ten minutes, making tiny remarks between paragraphs.
"Oh, so mum's bff High Priestess Nerlin is actually powerful here?"
[Very.]
"And she didn't come see me. That's crazy. That's cold, isn't she like close with Rowan, or just with Evelyn, That's ice-aged emotional neglect."
[Focus.]
He flipped the pages again.
"Alpha bloodlines. Library politics. Portal wars. Ah, so this is where the great war will happen, this is very important?"
[Continue reading.]
He sighed and leaned back.
"Fine."
He didn't notice the temperature drop. He didn't notice the silence spreading from aisle to aisle. He didn't notice someone standing motionless between shelves, watching him. If he turned, maybe slightly, to check his surroundings he'd have seen the glowing red eyes watching him like a predator watches his prey.