Gold Library Pass
Ding!
[You have cleared the Hidden Quest !]
[You have comprehended a portion of 's Insanity!]
[Your actions have alerted the existence known as !]
[ is intrigued by your existence!]
[You have received a title!]
[You have received a Gold Library Pass!]
[Congratulations! You are the first player to obtain a Heavenly Grade Title!]
[Your achievements shall be announced shortly]
Ying blinked.
"E-eh?!"
He remained utterly dumbfounded, even as he stared at the barrage of notifications before his face. But that was honestly only a small part of the problem...
The real issue was that Ying failed to comprehend even the slightest bit of information, despite it hovering directly in front of his saucer-sized eyes.
"Huh? What the hell? I don't remember taking on any Quest… And what's up with these question marks?" He muttered in a low voice, desperately trying to calm himself.
And he was actually making some progress, that is, of course, until a certain message—cast in gold—appeared in the starry night sky.
Actually, there were two gold messages in the sky. But Ying's gaze was only focused on one of them.
[Congratulations! Player 'Ying' is the first to awaken a Heavenly Grade Title!]
Instantly, all his toils for calm were thrown out of the window.
"Yippee!!"
With a hearty scream, Ying threw his arms up in the air and indulged in joyous celebration—which mostly consisted of needless jumping around and wild flailing of arms.
His reaction to acknowledgement was quite… Disappointing, to say the least.
But who cared?
Certainly not Ying.
He was far too preoccupied with happiness to even bother about outward appearances right now. And besides, there was nobody here!
"Kukukuku…now it's time to see what I really got." With a grin, Ying summoned his status window and checked what he got.
[
<
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< Great Tidal Sword Art: Flowing Wave Sword Dance>
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A strange omen follows you.
You are a very unlucky mortal with the absolute unheard of worst talent for Cultivation, you will later on become the victim of countless failures and most likely eventually quit after accepting your fate. My evaluation is to give up while you still can.
]
]
[
Grade: Heavenly
Description: You are one of the few beings in existence to receive the blessings of the mysterious '???'. Your mind and soul has been marked by '???' and your Comprehension knows no bounds!
]
'Ha…ha-ha! I don't really know what any of that means, but a Heavenly grade anything is always welcome.' Ying thought with a very broad smile. After which he reached into his inventory and pulled out the second reward he'd managed.
It was a ticket.
A small, bronze coloured ticket, and on it were words which Ying could never understand.... Where those even words? He wondered, as a translucent panel appeared.
[
Description: A single-passenger, single-use pass which grants access to the Gold floor of A Certain Obscure Library.
]
That was it. No other description or directions of use were given in regards to the acclaimed 'Library pass', and no matter how much he fiddled with it, Ying could not ascertain any clues about the mysterious item.
But he didn't allow it to get to him. After all, tonight was a good night, a good night.
'Yes! My name is finally on the board. Heavenly grade, Heavenly grade, Heavenly grade!'
While Ying was in the middle of his err… Celebration, a calm and familiar voice soon snapped him out of his Stupor.
"Um…Young master?"
The voice called quizzically—surprise and shock deeply laced in the voice. The sudden sound of another human caused Ying to freeze up, despite being in a rather precarious position like he was.
There was an awkward silence, as Ying turned his head slowly, before his flustered gaze crossed with that of the intruding housekeeper. Qing Lo was.... Smiling, and warmly at that.
Ying coughed.
"Cough Cough… Err, Qing Lo.... Mister, Qing Lo. Could I.... Did you perhaps... See THAT?"
Ying struggled to find words to properly express himself, stuttering gesticulations and all that. But eventually decided on a simple inquiry.
Thankfully, the young man didn't TOTALLY rid himself of his dignity.... That's good news.
"Of course."
Qing Lo answered simply. To which, Ying was silent for a full minute. Fully unable to think up a follow-up plan.
"Okay. Um, did…no, when…no, can you…no, that's not right either…" Ying could not come up with an appropriate question. In the end, Qing Lo was the one who saved the situation.
"If you are talking about the earlier… Spectacle, then, unfortunately, I saw all of it. But worry not, for I'm a man of my word. And I can promise you now—that I shall not disclose anything to anyone, lest I swallow a hundred needles." Qing Lo proclaimed reassuringly.
"..."
"….Thanks."
Ying's face reddened as he suddenly imagined how he would have looked from Qing Lo's perspective, jumping around and swinging his arms like a madman. After all, NPCs couldn't view Players' status screens.
'Ugh…did it suddenly get hot out here?'
"Well then, I don't mean to disturb the young master's err.... practice? But I must show the young master to his room before it gets too late. So if you will, please follow me." Qing Lo spoke with a gentle smile.
To which Ying nodded and trailed along.
He had completely forgotten and discarded his thoughts to log out just a moment ago. Why wouldn't he? He was on a roll right now!
However, there was one more thing which Ying had forgotten about. The second message in the moonlit sky. But perhaps it was for the best.
.....After all, there was simply no telling what it would have Ying's self-esteem.
…
Soon after he and Qing Lo's departure, Ying found himself walking through the wide corridor of the Xian family mansion. More specifically, on the second floor of the large building.
"Ah? Oh, yes, of course. Master Jiang Chu and Lady Xian Shan have already returned to the sect. After all, it would have seemed suspicious if they weren't around at such a time. I hope you don't mind?"
"Hmm, oh? Of course, no. I don't."
Ying lied
Honestly, he felt quite bitter at the fact that he'd ended up practically robbing the young disciple of his treasure. But he consoled himself with the fact that the latter was just an NPC.
As they walked, Ying couldn't help but notice that more than a few of the housemaids were throwing strange glances their way, secretly gossiping while doing so... Though if even Ying could tell, it would be very 'secret' now, would it?
In any case, their expressions were vastly different from those of earlier, which contained fear. This time, there was… pity? Or perhaps, disdain?
He listened in.
'I honestly… Saddening… Dragon... worm…. There is no hope."
For a moment there, Ying felt apprehensive.
But he involuntarily suppressed it after failing to successfully eavesdrop on the servants' conversations. What was the point of stressing over something you couldn't help?
Exactly, there wasn't any.
The servants themselves appeared to be veterans in the art of tittle-tattle, never letting more than a few loose phrases slip. Nevertheless, Ying made a mental note to… Question, a few of them later.
He saw a group of three maids carrying three large trays in a direction opposite from theirs. Their expressions were light and jovial, but soon turned sombre and reclusive as they picked up the pace.
As though they had made a mistake of some sort…
"Hmm?"
Unfortunately, Ying was not allowed time to thoroughly dwell on the matter as his attention was averted once again. But this time, to a sizeable wooden door. Qing Lo opened the door and revealed a room.
"Wow…" Ying was quite impressed as he looked around the lovely space.
Although the room was designed to fit a very outdated era, Ying was impressed nonetheless by the exquisite craftsmanship demonstrated in the spacious interior. The furniture looked quite luxurious and on the walls were paintings of things which Ying couldn't be bothered to describe.
The area was elegant and the atmosphere was cool as the room appeared to be dimly lit by magical lighting artefacts which— apparently—worked similarly to light bulbs. And although the room had but a single window, the ventilation was quite good.
Oh, and did I mention that the room was also extremely spacious?
Like, no kidding. It was roughly the same size as 3 standard apartment rooms put together!
"Judging by the young master's expression, I take it that the room is to your liking?"
Qing Lo asked with an expressive smile. And although he already knew the answer, he still waited for Ying's affirmative nod.
He appeared to be quite happy with the turnout of events. Perhaps, he was just very proud of the mansion he managed?
Ying was about to settle down on his bed when a sudden 'Ah!' escaped Qing Lo's mouth followed by a clapping of hands.
Soon afterwards, a single maid elegantly made her way into his room carrying a covered tray. The maid was different from the other three Ying had seen earlier.
Ying could only assume it to be his dinner, and unsurprisingly, he was right.
'Ahh… I can already smell the gains.' Ying thought euphorically, allowing the wonderful aroma to waft into his nose.
He was inching closer and closer towards developing a fetish for food....
"Okay then, I shall leave you to it." Qing Lo said and politely excused himself for the second time today.
After he did, Ying dug into the meal without hesitation and savoured the food's ravishing tastes before awaiting the system messages after completion.
Ding!
As expected, the alert came just as he finished downing his glass of water. Just enough time for it to fully go through his blood stream, but…
Bang!
"What in the-?!" Ying's eyes widened his mouth gaped, and his face crumpled, as the glass of water fell to the ground staggering
'H-how is this possible...?! What the heck is going on here?!' Ying's brain spun as he read and re-read the messages in front of him a dozen times over.
[A 'Bad' foreign substance has been detected!]
[Your Physique has been activated!]
[Purifying…..]
[Your body has been cleansed of dangerous substances! You have obtained 550 Qi!]
[Would you like to view the Constituents List: Y/N?]
Honestly, at this point, Ying already had a hunch of what had just transpired. But he simply couldn't believe it…
No.
I was more apt to say that he didn't want to believe it.
Did he really just fall into a trap crafted by a bunch of NPCs? If so..... then what exactly did that make him? An idiot, or fool, was far too generous an epithet.
"…!!"
'Y!!'
Ying summoned the Substance List, and only after looking through the large panel did blessed realization finally dawn on him.
"Did I.... Did I just get.... poisoned?"