[AOTFL] Chapter 2: First World

What had sprouted within Zexuan after absorbing the power from the Fantasy Library was actually a form of authority that was both a symbol and a representation of a supreme and unparalleled power.

Zexuan's authority applied solely to the concept of 'armaments', where any form of armaments that could affect the wielder would fall under its influence—this included, but was not limited to, weapons, armor, and items.

Simply put, when he came into contact with weapons, armor, or items, he would be able to selectively invoke the power of this authority to control them as he wished.

As for how to manipulate them, that was something he would have to figure out on his own.

All he knew was that he had obtained the ultimate authority over the concept of armaments—a power that could even surpass gods!

'I feel like I just got something ridiculously powerful...'

As Zexuan watched the golden patterns completely merge into his body, this was the only thought left in his mind.

Unfortunately, without a powerful armament to use, this ability was nothing more than a decoration for now.

In other words, Zexuan was still just an ordinary person.

However, this situation was going to change soon.

Zexuan no longer focused on the power he had gained and instead turned his attention to the rows of bookshelves around him.

'By the way, these books... are they really entire fantasy worlds turned into books?'

Even though he had already gained basic knowledge and understanding from the Fantasy Library, Zexuan couldn't help but feel curious.

As a result, he walked toward a corner of the resting area, followed the steps upward, and after circling a modest loop along the wall, stepped onto a red carpet and entered the archive section.

Without heading anywhere else, he approached the nearest bookshelf and casually pulled out a book, but before he could even open it, the presence of the Fantasy Library silently appeared again.

[Open a book to enter the fantasy world recorded within it and experience a randomly selected life experience.]

[Please note that until a life experience reaches a designated point, the Administrator cannot return to the Fantasy Library.]

[If the Administrator dies in the fantasy world and cannot be resurrected, the Fantasy Library will revoke the Administrator's status and begin selecting a successor.]

Upon being told this, Zexuan quickly stopped his motion and furrowed his brow.

'Doesn't that mean, once I die, I'm just dead for real?'

After thinking for a moment, Zexuan's furrowed brow slowly relaxed.

'Yeah, makes sense... Since the whole point of the Fantasy Library is to turn fantasy worlds into reality, once a real person like me steps in and experiences it, that world starts becoming reality bit by bit.'

'If everything becomes reality, then of course real death would come with it.'

Maybe, before Zexuan entered, those worlds were nothing more than fantasies, but once he stepped inside and had actual experiences there, those fantasy worlds turned into reality.

If that was the case—

'In that case, let's just get started already.'

Zexuan didn't hesitate anymore and opened the book in his hand.

Swoosh—

In that instant, the book in Zexuan's hands suddenly started flipping its pages on its own, and as it kept flipping, the pages actually began to lift out of the book, fluttering around him like they had a will of their own.

"So many?"

Zexuan was a little stunned.

According to the rules of the Fantasy Library, every single page in every book represented a life fantasized by someone.

Just like writing a novel, some protagonists people imagined were extraordinary from the start—maybe they had noble blood, crazy powerful background, ridiculous cheat skills, or overwhelming strength.

However, some protagonists also started out super ordinary and only rose up and broke through later on.

When the Fantasy Library collected these fantasized lives, it would automatically filter out the ones that were too unreasonable, keeping only those that could logically exist.

Even then, every life had its ups and downs.

Some started off already at the peak, while others began with total disaster.

Simply put, the life experience could be completely different depending on the path.

Moreover, when the Administrator entered a fantasy world for the first time, one of those lives would be randomly chosen as the Administrator's background. Once that choice was made, the rest of the pages would disappear, so even if he came back to the same fantasy world later on, he would only live out the already chosen life.

It was only natural.

Once a life had been lived in that fantasy world, it became a true, existing world.

Right now, what Zexuan was going through was the process of choosing a background for his life—something that happened the first time he entered a fantasy world.

If he made the right choice, he would become the main character of this book, this world.

If he didn't, he was in for a world of suffering.

However, the worst part was, no one else could interfere in this process—even Zexuan himself could do nothing and just stand there watching helplessly.

Time passed just like that, and the pages floating around Zexuan started to disappear one by one.

In the end, there was only a single page left in front of him.

Zing—

At the same time, the cover of the book in Zexuan's hands lit up.

In the glow, it was as if an invisible pen was writing on the cover, forming a title—

—The Asterisk War.

"Hmm, this world?"

A look of surprise appeared on Zexuan's face once more.

Swish!

Suddenly, the lone page floating in front of Zexuan turned into a streak of light and shot straight into his mind.

At that exact moment, the book in his hands left his grip and unfolded itself again in front of him—though the pages inside hadn't decreased in number, they were all blank because the one meant to write it hadn't entered yet.

Staring at the completely blank book, he seemed to be drawn by some invisible force and, after taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and reached out to touch it.

In the next second, he vanished without a sound, leaving only the book hovering in midair, slowly rising and falling.

===

At this moment, Zexuan felt something truly strange.

He could feel himself leaving the ground, but there was no sensation of floating. Furthermore, everything in his field of vision had been dyed white, with no other color remaining.

Meanwhile, the space around him kept swaying like a movie changing scenes at a thousand times slower speed, and at the same time, the mysterious library he had just seen was gradually being replaced by other scenes.

By the time the pure white faded and the swaying stopped, he once again felt solid ground beneath his feet.

Zexuan realized, in a daze, that he had ended up inside a classroom.

It was a multipurpose classroom, which didn't have many desks, and each one was spaced apart from the others. Around twenty to thirty students were seated, all wearing school uniforms, giving him the strange feeling that he had returned to his high school days.

At the very front was a podium where a teacher stood, and behind the teacher, a projection-like window was displaying scenes of a disaster.

"And this is known as the Invertia—an unprecedented event that changed the entire world."

Gazing at the students, the teacher spoke slowly, with a voice lacking any energy or intonation.

"It struck the surface during the twentieth century and caused a disaster unlike anything ever seen before."

"For three whole days and nights, meteor showers fell across the globe, destroying countless cities."

"During this disaster, the strength of existing nations dropped drastically, completely reshaping the global order. If not for the emergence of a new economic entity we know as the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, the world likely wouldn't have recovered to what it is now."

Zexuan couldn't help but feel that the teacher lacked any real teaching ability, as his monotone lecture had the entire class nearly dozing off.

"And it was because of the Invertia that humanity discovered an unknown element within the meteorites known as 'Mana'. Not only did it accelerate the development of science and technology, but it also gave rise to a new type of humans with special abilities called the 'Genestellar'."

"Yes, I'm talking about all of you sitting here right now."

Even as the teacher said this, most of the students looked like they were barely staying awake, completely unmotivated.

Only Zexuan, sitting near a corner, took a deep breath as he listened.

He slowly lowered his head and looked at his quietly clenched fist, and from it, starlight shimmered—like dancing fragments of the stars themselves.

Feeling how different his body had become, sensing the energy flowing within him, an energy called 'Prana', Zexuan understood that he really was one of the new humans the teacher had been talking about.

In other words, a Genestellar.