It was already noon. The sun was right above Ethan's head. He stood in front of the old-looking building that the townspeople proudly called a library.
It took him almost the entire morning to get here.
He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and muttered, "It took me almost all morning to get here."
"And why do even people hesitate to answer me? I just asked them the way to the library, not like I asked them for their daughter's hand in marriage."
He let out a small scoff. "Well, whatever. "Let's just go and see." Saying that Ethan walked toward the entrance. Just when he was about to enter the building, a rough voice stopped him.
"Hey, hey, kid. Where do you think you are going? You're not lost, are you?"
Ethan turned his head and saw the guard leaning against the wall beside the entrance. The man looked bored but watchful, his eyes sharp in contrast to his lazy posture.
"No," Ethan replied calmly. "I'm actually from the orphanage."
The guard's expression shifted. "You mean the one that got burned down last… a day before?"
"Yes."
The guard then asked. "So, fine. Why are you here for?"
"I'm going to get awakened pretty soon," Ethan said, trying to sound confident. "So I want to learn something about awakening in the library."
The guard studied him for a moment, as if weighing whether this thin boy was trouble or not.
"Hm. Even though it's not a taboo for commoners to enter the library, it's still not something the nobles look kindly upon. So I suggest that you lay low and ignore whatever things happen inside. And please just don't cause any problems. Do you understand?"
Ethan nodded like a good boy. Problem was the last thing he wanted right now.
He stepped fully into the library. The inside of the library was clean, and the books are also very organized, but the whole library is somewhat smaller than Ethan thought it would be.
There were no devices for light inside the building. Sunlight came through the tall windows, forming pale golden light across the wooden floor.
At the center of the room, behind a file of books, sat a man. He seemed to be dozing off to some kind of dreams, his head slightly tilted forward as if caught between sleep and thought.
Ethan approached quietly and cleared his throat. "Mhmhm."
The old man didn't open his eyes or raise his head; he simply spoke.
"Who are you, and what are you here for, kid?"
"Aaa...my name is Ethan."
"Good for you, but I don't care. Just tell me why you are here."
His voice was calm, steady, and strangely clear.
"Well," Ethan began, "I'm new to the library. Could you tell me where I could find general knowledge about awakening? And also some knowledge about the universe?"
There was a brief silence.
Then the old man asked, "Why do you want to acquire knowledge? You would receive everything you needed when you awakened."
"The system will tell you whatever you need. So why don't you just wait until then?"
Ethan frowned slightly'
"You see, old man," he said after a moment, "even though power dominates everything, knowledge is also a kind of power. If you are knowledgeable enough, you can even beat powerful people without even being the strongest yourself."
For the first time the old man lifted his head, opened his eyes, and, with the sharp gaze, saw Ethan clearly. With a slight smile he asked, "Do you think being knowledgeable will make you… survive?"
Ethan didn't look away. "No," he replied honestly. "But using knowledge for survival will ensure my life."
The old man's smile widened just a little. "Well said, kid."
Ethan felt a small sense of pride at the approval, though he didn't show it. "But unfortunately," the old man continued, "the knowledge you wanted to know is not in this library."
Ethan blinked. "What do you mean? Isn't this the only library in this town?"
"Yes, it is," the old man replied. "But knowledge about awakening and other important things is very rare to see in lower-level worlds. You can only get that if you go to the elite worlds."
"Elite worlds?" Ethan repeated, confused. "Can you tell me what this elite world is?"
The old man gave a faint chuckle. "Trying to get a free course, huh?"
Ethan scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, I just wanted to improve my knowledge before getting awakened."
The old man leaned back in his chair. "What you awaken doesn't come from how knowledgeable you are," he said slowly. "It comes from your character, your personality, innate traits, bloodline, lineage, and maybe some unknown mysterious factors. These are all the things that affect awakening."
Ethan listened carefully.
"Other than that," the old man continued, "you don't have to worry about anything. Just go and train your physical body."
"Even though awakening doesn't directly endanger your life, it puts great strain on your body. If your physical body is not strong enough, there is even a chance of you getting killed."
"Killed." The word echoed in Ethan's mind. His face turned pale. His physical body is his greatest disadvantage right now.
He was malnourished. Weak. Thin. His arms looked like sticks. He barely had any stamina.
If awakening required physical strength… then he was in serious trouble.
I should improve my physique. The thought struck him clearly.
He looked toward the old man again. "Can you at least tell me how one should get to the elite world?"
"Just go and try to awaken a good ability; everything will come in your way when the time is right."
"Why do I feel like you are talking in riddles?"
"Who knows? Maybe I am."
"Whatever. Thank you very much, old man," he said sincerely. "And… can I know who you are?"
The old man closed his eyes again and replied, "Just think of me as an old man, for now." For some unknown reason, the old man gave him the feeling that he was some great expert hiding in plain sight.
But then Ethan tapped the back of his own head lightly and muttered, "The light novels I have read in my past life are influencing my thoughts even now. I should forget about them."
He turned and walked out of the library.
The guard noticed him immediately. "Why did you come out so fast?" he asked. "Well," Ethan replied, "I don't think I would get the knowledge I wanted in this library."
The guard looked him up and down. "Well, it's not surprising. After all, we are on a very low-level planet. But you were very eager before, right? Even if you gave up, it shouldn't be this fast."
"What made you give up so quickly?"
Ethan shrugged. "The old man inside is very persuasive."
"Old man?" the guard frowned. "I don't think there is any old man inside. There are some noble children reading, but other than that, there shouldn't be anyone."
Ethan felt confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. "The old man with a merchant-like round body, small glasses on his nose, curly brown hair, and merchant-like clothes is about 5.5 to 6 feet tall. Isn't he the library's keeper?"
The guard stared at him. "I don't know where you saw someone like that," he said slowly, "because I'm sure someone like that is not inside the library."
"But I just saw him." "Well," the guard replied bluntly, "you must be hallucinating. Just go see a doctor, kid."
"You said you're from the burned-down orphanage, right? That must be a side effect. You should have gone through trauma."
Ethan stood there for a moment. Hallucinating? Me?
He almost felt like he was being mocked by the guard, but he didn't have the time or energy to think too deeply about it.
"Well, whatever it is," he said finally. "I don't have time to care about some crazy old man or a crazy guard like you. Let me just go on my way."
The guard gave him a strange look, but Ethan was already walking away. "What a wasted trip," he mumbled as he left.
After walking for almost an hour under the sun, Ethan finally reached the woods near the temporary shelter where the orphanage survivors were staying.
He stepped between the trees and looked around, confirming that no one was coming this way. He said to himself, "Let's start the training now."
But another voice inside him whispered, "Let's start tomorrow." Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"NO! "Only lazy people say 'tomorrow' for everything," he muttered to himself. "For someone as energetic as me, I will do everything right here, right now."
He rolled up his sleeves dramatically. "Let's try push-ups for now."
He lay down chest-first on the ground. "One...ahh...two..." Before he could even attempt a third one, his arms completely gave out.
He fell face-first onto the ground. He slowly turned his head and looked at the sky through the canopy of the trees. "How fortunate," he said sarcastically. "Thank you very much, fate, for giving me such a strong physical body."
A breeze passed over him, as if mocking him. "Why do I feel like fate itself is looking down at me and laughing?" he grumbled.
He pushed himself up and stood unsteadily. Raising his hand toward the sky, he shouted, "You son of a bitch, I will surely get to you one day! Just you wait!"
As if on cue, a loud rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. Ethan froze. He slowly lowered his hand. "Okay, okay," he muttered quickly. "Cool down. Don't get angry. I was just playing."
He looked at his hands. They were shaking. From taking just two push-ups. "Well," he said after a moment, trying to sound wise, "sometimes even energetic people need to rest."
He nodded seriously to himself. "I'll just start the training tomorrow." He dusted off his clothes and began walking back toward the temporary shelter.