Chapter 18 – Put to the Test (4)

“You want me to bring out what?”

“…?”

In a voice that sounded almost angry, I could not understand what was wrong. Since I had merely asked for a single book, the reaction was too dramatic.

However, I soon noticed my mistake from the actions of the boy next to me, who shook his head while looking at me in disbelief.

‘It must be because I look too young to read upper-intermediate books. I took it so much for granted that I didn’t even realize what was wrong.’

The magic engineers I had met since being possessed were Demian Vale and the boy. Moreover, since I myself was at the upper-intermediate level, this was a mishap that occurred because I had grown accustomed to talents that transcended common sense.

This meant that the female employee’s reaction, looking at me as if I were a madman, was not strange at all.

Furthermore, I was a yellow-bander who had come on Jack’s recommendation. It must have been absurd that a guy who clearly had not received an education was suddenly asking for an ambiguous upper-intermediate book, rather than an introductory or advanced one.

The thought, ‘He must have overheard it somewhere…’ would have naturally crossed her mind.

At that moment, the female employee muttered to herself.

“One kid asks for an intermediate book, while another asks for an upper-intermediate one…”

At her words, I turned my head and glared at the boy.

‘This brat…?’

The boy slinked his head away and avoided my gaze.

For a self-proclaimed genius who had also thoughtlessly asked for an intermediate book, where did he get off glaring at me in disbelief?

Resolving to work the boy to the bone in the future, I scratched my head in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to look at something difficult if possible.”

Although it was somewhat subservient of me, since I had no money and nowhere to go, I had to spend the night in the bookstore, leaving me with no choice but to adopt a low posture.

At that, the female employee, whose reason for anger was completely unknown, seemed to soften as she rested both hands on the counter and leaned forward to speak.

“You don’t seem to know, but without the basics, even the introductory books are difficult enough. Although they are called introductory, the difficulty is such that self-study is impossible for most people.”

I nodded. It was not to humor her. Even based on 21st-century modern times and not this world, her words were correct.

In fact, extremely few people understood the magic engineering books and various settings published in . The colossal volume was one thing, but the content was so deep and complex that it could be considered a real academic discipline.

‘At first, I didn’t know what any of it meant, so it took me a year to read through it all.’

Although I had confirmed that my skill was at the upper-intermediate level after being possessed, even I could not understand it at first. However, as someone who loved more than anyone else, I had memorized all the content and, based on that, began to understand it step-by-step starting from the introductory level.

The result achieved by that painstaking effort was precisely who I was now.

Therefore, the female employee’s words were entirely correct. It was hard to view it as trying to scare me to break a yellow-bander’s will.

“It would be better for you to buy a manual for on-site, physical work and study that. Even for those, the theory cannot be called easy, but it is at a level where self-study is possible. As for on-site skills, you can learn them quickly after working unpaid for the first five years.”

Look at this. A kind heart that did not spare advice even for a yellow-bander. Perhaps she was talkative with a customer after a long time because she was an employee at an unpopular bookstore tucked away in a corner, but her eyes were filled with sincere pity for me and the boy.

But working unpaid for five years, wasn’t that essentially telling us to voluntarily become slaves?

When I asked her back, the warm gaze from before vanished, and she began to glare at me as if looking at a highway robber, speaking sharply.

“No, aren’t you being way too shameless?”

“Pardon?”

“If they feed you, board you, and even teach you skills, you should work while saying ‘thank you.’ Five years is what I called the minimum, the absolute minimum! You really have no sense of reality whatsoever.”

I had forgotten because this was the First Embers, but I must not forget. Before this world was an era where it was basic struggle just to secure food, clothing, and shelter, it was a dangerous world where one had to risk their life in exchange for labor.

Even in our own embers, did not the laborers mining magic stones treat frostbite as a friend and death like family? Even I, who mined magic stones for three days immediately after being possessed, felt the threat to my life from the cold and overwork.

But if they provided room and board while teaching the job, there would be an abundance of people willing to work even if they had to pay instead of being unpaid. This was not just a guarantee of the right to survive, but also a matter of securing one’s future.

However, her words only applied to yellow-banders like me.

‘I am still just an outsider who is only well-versed in theory, not yet fully integrated into this world.’

Although I felt it time and again, the reality was different from the world I saw only in games and print. As a human living in this world, I had to deeply understand their way of thinking and integrate myself.

Also, from a leader’s perspective, understanding the realities of the bottom tier was essential.

“Then I will look around slowly.”

“Don’t even dream about magic engineering books. I’m telling you not to waste your time in vain.”

“…Yes.”

A bit of anger welled up at the continuous contempt, but since I lacked the energy to bicker with the talkative employee, I held it in. Just by allowing me to read without buying books in a bookstore, which was not even a library, she had extended all the goodwill an employee could offer, so it was better to let her misunderstand.

In that way, I…

“Hey kid, don’t you touch magic engineering books either. Follow that older brother and learn a skill, a skill.”

“Grr…!”

Letting the conversation between the employee sincerely worrying while stroking the boy’s head and the boy getting worked up because he was technically an adult slide past my ears, I headed toward the bookshelf.

Of course, the place I headed was the section containing magic engineering books. Fortunately, the female employee turned her attention away from this side and began to focus on the mechanical magic engineering book she was reading earlier, so there was no need to walk on eggshells.

‘By the way, are there… really this many books? What was in the study wasn’t everything?’

The bookshelves, which easily exceeded twice my height, were truly crammed with books. I had thought there was an immense number of magic engineering books even after seeing the ones in Demian’s study, but…

“This is… on a completely different level.”

Despite being a very small bookstore, the number of magic engineering books was beyond imagination. My eyes widened once again at this place filled with interesting things next to more interesting things, and as I scanned the shelves, I realized one fact.

‘The magic engineering books in Demian’s study were all public books!’

The books Demian possessed were all public books. To give an analogy, they felt like textbooks published by the government.

However, although there were public books in the bookstore, there were tens of times more privately published ones.

‘Are these research papers…? To think there are this many private magic engineering books written by magic engineers.’

If a public book was a textbook, a private publication was a research paper. Although they might not be as objective as public books, a private publication was the integration of the authoring scholar’s long experience and realizations.

Those books written by individuals far exceeded the number of public books.

‘What I saw was truly just a fragment.’

Especially, the classification of magic engineering books was highly systematic.

Not to mention pure magic engineering, which was the basis, but also lifestyle magic engineering, mechanical magic engineering, natural magic engineering, military magic engineering, and so on… Magic engineering was truly shining upon this world by combining with all fields.

Since even the public books were subdivided, it could be said that what Demian possessed was merely basic magic engineering books.

What I had seen was merely a part of the public books, and combined with private publications, it was a miniscule fraction.

‘By the way, the difference in book prices is huge. The minimum is four times…’

The prices of public books and research papers were eye-openingly different. If a public introductory book was fifty copper coins—fifty thousand won—the price of a paper on that introductory book was a whopping four times that, at two silver coins, or two hundred thousand won.

Facing prices that varied wildly despite dealing with the same introductory book, I opened an introductory paper. By the time I closed the book, I had no choice but to accept the price difference.

‘At this level, it is practically a perfect commentary. In fact, it almost feels too cheap.’

The introductory book contained the author’s detailed interpretations and views, which could not be bought with money. Perhaps because of that, the thickness of the book was also twice that of the original text, and it must have taken an extraordinary amount of effort to publish.

Of course, since it contained personal views, there were biased or distorted parts, but that was the same whether one self-studied or received teaching, so it could not be considered a drawback.

In other words, these commentaries or papers were worth more than their price.

‘If even papers are like this… the difference compared to being taught directly must be massive.’

Isn’t it true that even with books, if there is a translation, the words, expressions, and explanations vary depending on the translator, making it a completely different book?

That was why some people treated translations as entirely different from the original, while others studied the language specifically to read the original text.

It was just that in this world, the commentary transcended the value of the original text. Since the magic engineers who could publish books were a tiny minority and all of them must be skilled, the acquisition speed of self-study versus being taught would be worlds apart.

‘Come to think of it, most public books are paperbacks, and private publications are hardcovers.’

Public books were paperbacks, the cheapest method, and private publications were hardcovers, the most expensive method. Magic engineering books in this world were categorized into those two.

One could not judge which was right or wrong. It was clear that both contained helpful content.

However, in terms of value, the latter was overwhelming. Textbooks could be obtained anywhere, but magic engineering books infused with the insights of a prestigious magic engineer were scarce.

In short, it was like the study notes of a top student, or the lecture genealogy passed down by university seniors.

Anyway.

“For me, this place is a gold mine…!”

But there were naturally no papers authored by Herman Melville, and even when I checked the upper-intermediate books I had pinned my hopes on, there was no real harvest. This would be the limitation of Namiya, a small bookstore, but…

‘it also meant that the magic engineers who had entered the upper-intermediate level were a tiny minority.’

I had heard that Herman Melville was revered by the embers of the continent that came over to the Immortal Embers even when he was at the upper-intermediate level, not the advanced level. Magic engineers were those who led the salvation of humanity at the absolute forefront, but the upper-intermediate level itself was an extremely high realm.

Thus, it was natural that from the upper-intermediate level onward, obtaining or even catching a glimpse of the books was as difficult as plucking a star from the sky. In the first place, there was a near total absence of upper-intermediate magic engineers to write them.

I lowered my gaze to the intermediate level below that, but even those amounted to only one or two volumes. Still, the reason the intermediate books were in such a state was clearly because this was Namiya Bookstore. It was certain because the intermediate level was something one could somehow attain in old age, just before death, if they dedicated their entire life.

‘…There is nothing to read.’

As a result, there were no magic engineering books suited to my level. Having no choice but to turn my gaze to public books and read this and that, I soon put the book down. Perhaps because my realm was high, I understood every single thing I read, so I did not feel the need to read further.

There were many fields, but in my eyes, they were all essentially the same.

‘If lifestyle magic engineering is 2×2, then military magic engineering feels like 56×78, and mechanical magic engineering feels like 189×275…’

Although the calculation formulas became complex as the units grew larger, in the end, it did not deviate from the same arithmetic operation of multiplication. Even if the fields were different, there were many overlapping theories.

However.

“Why have you been picking up and putting down this book and that book since earlier?”

“Huh?”

“No, I mean, how can you understand anything just by looking at it for a moment when the fields are different? Are you really upper-intermediate? What’s your main major anyway?”

The words of the boy, who had approached my side after laying his sister to sleep on his coat used as a mat, were extremely shocking.