It was a sh*tty day for James.
Not only had he just been fired from his job, while already struggling to make a living, but also discovered that his girlfriend had been cheating on him. When he had confronted her about it, she didn't show any signs of regret, instead berating him and then dumping him.
A real sh*tty day.
And so he was wandering around the city, just looking for a place he could rest without having to worry about any of his problems.
But who was he kidding? There was no such place in the entire city, after all, all the formerly nice and beautifull parks, in which he could have found such a place, were gone, replaced by giant factories, made out of cement and spewing gases in the air. And so, he was just wandering around the city, until it began raining.
When the first ash-filled raindrops fell, he began searching for a place to wait out the rain, but there was nothing like that in the immediate surrounding area. And so he began running along the pathways, trying to find a place to seek refuge from the rain.
That is, until he saw a door, in the middle of an abandoned alleyway. It wasn't rotten or dirty, but rather gave a nice, calming feeling.
And so he just decided to try his luck. After all, even if someone was playing a prank with him by placing this door here, he could still at least try and use it as a cover from the rain.
The instant he opened it however, he knew it wasn't a prank. On the other side of the door, he could see a... café? Either way he entered, thinking that it couldn't get worse for him either way.
Once he stepped inside, he was welcomed by a handsome young man.
"Welcome to the Akashik Café, James. An omniversal bookcafé, where you can find all the knowledge there ever was, is and will be in the entire omniverse. I am the owner and only employee, Rei Suzuki. Please, do come closer so I don't need to talk so loudly."
As requested by him, James went closer to him in order to try and get more information on this weird place he had stumbled upon. The moment he came closer, Rei handed him a card.
"Now then, take this, it is your personal access card. Using it you may enter the cafè from any place at any time, as well as communicate with me and holders of other cards.
It is soulbound to you, so there is no need for you to worry about it falling into the hands of others. Once you enter, you will receive a book the cafè deems suitable for you and your current situation. After that you can then take a seat and read your book. During this time it is also possible for you to order food and drinks from me, for you to consume while reading. Afterwards, you may choose to enter the 'Trialpods' as I like to call them. In there you can experiment with whatever knowledge or technique you have obtained without having to worry about any backlashes. The inherent system will judge the safety of whatever you are doing and you can, theoretically, try an infinite amount of times, with an infinite amount of whatever material you desire. Do keep in mind however, that the results shown inside will not be reflected in the real world and that you will only retain you knowledge and experiences.
If you need to leave at a certain time you may set an alarm, which will only be heard by you and me, in case you don't hear it.
When you're about to leave, you can choose to pay with artifacts or creatures belonging to you. You do not need to bring them here, since as long as they are indeed your possession they will be transferred directly into the corresponding space here. Do you have any questions whatsoever?"
"This... What do you mean techniques? And there is no way all of that could be real!"
"By 'techniques' I mean learnable natural and supernatural abilities. And yes, it is possible, that is, if you ask the one singular being that fits the description of God with all caps, meaning all three O's, for it. But why don't you just try it out for now and then decide wether this is real or not?"
"I suppose that would be good. Then how can I get a book?"
"Like this:"
And a book came flying into his hand from somewhere within the cafè, titled as 'The art of developing your mind and memory'.
"This is..?"
"Quite a good catch! Using this technique you will be able to not only slowly improve your memory, but also your overall intelligence, which will have the positive side-effect of maturing your personality. This won't be anything drastic like an immediate improvement, rather, it is going to be a constant, slow evolution and strengthening. I reckon that, within a month or so, your memories will be as clear as if they only just happened, maybe even reaching the level of photographic memory. Your overall intelligence will slowly rise while using this technique, allowing you to slowly become a genius. Of course there is a limit to how smart you can get, but that limit would still set you pretty much at the top in your world. Now, do choose a seat to read through the technique thoroughly. You may also ask for some snacks and refreshments."
"Okay, I guess. I'll at least try it."
He was still a bit sceptical, but hey! the cafe was behind a doorframe, standing in the middle of an abandoned alleyway, without any kind of building attached to it, so... either it was an illusion or very real. And he was gonna have to bet on it being real.