At the large city library, adorned was a carving of the words 'Bibliothek des Leidens', giving it a historical feel. The library was surrounded by people, tourists and residents alike. Seeing the sheer number of people gathered at the library, I had started losing interest in the library, planning to go back home and listen to music while reading a book.
Staring at the building for another two seconds, contemplating over the choices, I decided to at least check it out before going home. Slowly walking towards the building while looking down, I remember the letter I had received yesterday.
The letter, sent by Leid's SimuField High School had contained the information for the first day of school. The letter has specifically stated that the meeting point was at the Cologne Cathedral at 11pm, one hour before midnight. Another suspicious point was that the letter had stated that today was the meeting date, one week before the official start of the school year as stated in their email. Another very important detail was that they had asked me to burn the letter after having finished reading it. Alongside that, an unrecognized emblem had been stamped at the bottom of the letter. The emblem had resembled a phoenix, a phoenix spreading its wings.
'I should keep this as evidence just in case'
Deciding to keep this letter in case the letter had been falsified, I had kept it inside a drawer, planning to dispose of it after if the letter was valid.
'Instead of worrying about such matters, I should find some interesting books first'
Making my way through the crowd, I arrive at a majestic large door. Pushing the door open, the sight of bookcases lined up on both sides of the wall greets me, the middle hall leading towards the staircase at the end of the red carpet, spread from the large door towards the back, leading towards a large stairway that curves to the left and right, leading up towards the second floor.
The bookcases, lined up left to right, had made 15 rows alone on the first floor. Seeing this, I was quite excited at the prospect of reading all the books contained in the library.
'Before that, it is important to learn the language first'
While the 'Gate' allows for automatic language translation during conversations, its text to speech function tends to be very inconvenient, being much slower than a bookworm's reading speed.
'Not only that, but it's also not as fun to be read to'
With that intention, I approach the kids section located at the left side of the large doors, looking around for fairy tales as the first German book to read.
After 30 minutes of reading and translating, a system message appeared in the corner of my eye.
[Intelligence has increased by one]
Noticing the new message, I look around, before deciding to open my system interface.
"Open Interface"
[Name: Rover Veun]
[Level: 16]
[Title: The Lost]
[Class: The Fool]
[Vitality: 1 + 9 / NaN]
[Strength: 1 + 18 / NaN]
[Agility: 1 + 23 / NaN]
[Intelligence: 21/ NaN]
[Fantasia: *LOCKED*]
[Stat points: 4]
[Skills: ]
[Basic Sword Mastery Lv. 9/10]
[Basic Dagger Mastery Lv.8/10]
[Resilience Lv. 5/10]
[Beginner Concealment Lv.10/10 (Upgradeable)]
[Class Specific Skills: ]
[Foolish Endeavor]
[Mindless Cultivation]
'It had really increased'
While the increase had not seemed like much, it is quite significant. Even though the SimuField had been out for a while, no one had been able to figure out the way the system constitutes the stats into their system. At the beginning, an average person usually starts with 10 points in every stat, some starting off with more, depending on the amount of effort they have put into that respective stat. Those are rare cases, as some who have been national-level powerlifters had only been able to increase their beginning strength value by 2, starting at 12 strength, while some other people who exercise regularly had been able to start off at 13 strength, even though they had been weaker in the real world.
Even with the higher starting point, their strength does not increase drastically. In the game, a point difference of 2 or higher can be the deciding factor of the game, but in reality, the starting number of stats do not matter, as their capabilities increase based on the additional stats put into a stat. Usually, the strongest known people have been said to be able to draw out 10% of their additional stats points allocated to a certain stat. The phenomena of the stats applying to real life has been called 'extraction'.
'But the intelligence stat increase is part of my original value… is the game calling me stupid?'
The intelligence stat that is used for faster processing speed and other thought related skills like parallel processing, has been highly valued by many classes alike, ranging from attackers to supporters. The stat allows for mages to cast more complex spells and allows them to shorten the time required to cast a spell. In addition, it can also unlock recipes for professions like pharmacists and blacksmiths.
The intelligence stat can also improve brain functions for people in real life through 'extraction', albeit minimal, but a good way to recover from brain damage or other brain related disabilities. Hence, why the stat is also known as the 'realist' stat, being a stat that would be useful in real life, no matter what it is that you do, being desired by all the people who wish to advance further in their careers.
'These bonusses do not apply to me in real life though…'
Looking a bit regretful about the missed opportunity to get some free points, I decided to continue learning more German.