1 Chapter 1 – A 50-Year Old Dream

- 'The cake stopped in midair. Then it suddenly flew towards the face of his manager. Everyone in the office laughed. The boy, finally, could express his heart.'

"What a good ending."

Yoshino Aruven smiled. He was also sobbing as he closed the book he was holding after reading the epilogue.

He had spent a month reading that story.

He followed through the ups and downs of each arc. He eventually found himself cheering for the psychic MC that was unable to show his emotions before.

"Let's try another one."

Yoshino grabbed another book from his pile. He had been reading multiple series whenever they are published.

Hence he only needed to read their latest volumes in order to be up-to-date to their story.

- 'You go to the East. I'll go to the West. As we continue on our way. Our paths will meet again.'

Yaaasss! A white panel screen to a yet unseen world ♪

- 'Actually I'm a soul reaper too!'

Huh? What is this?

- 'Alright! Let's set sail!"

Haha, the story continues though.

Yoshino Aruven commented in his mind as he continued reading. He flipped through the pages as time went by.

Read, read, read.

Binge, binge, binge.

More! More! More!

Until.

< [Scanner] skill acquired.>

YEEESSS!

Yoshino Aruven was ecstatic upon hearing the announcement within his mind. He immediately checked the details of his newly gained skill.

After confirming that it was indeed what he wanted, Yoshino rejoiced.

Actually he could still not believe that he finally acquired this specific skill. This so-called [Scanner].

How long had he been waiting---no, reading for this?

"Two years! Two freaking WHOLE YEARS!"

The eyes of Yoshino were bloodshot upon remembering his struggles.

To be fair Yoshino Aruven was not dumb. He was a good student who reads whenever the teacher instructs them to read.

He even reads beyond what was tasked of him. However that does not mean he was not susceptible to doing dumb actions.

For example,

"PSSSSH!"

The reprimanding tone of an old lady had pulled Yoshino back from his ecstatic outburst.

Where was he again? Oh yeah, in a library where making unnecessary noises was not allowed.

Yoshino apologized to the old librarian and immediately left the building.

"With this I can finally resume my search."

Yoshino Aruven said as he left hurriedly.

The [Scanner] skill is a field ability that enables the caster to gather information within a specified area. It was an analysis-type skill that could also be applied when searching for something.

"This time for sure, The Book of N will be mine!"

Yoshino clenched his fist as he declared confidently.

Fifty years ago, the massive multiplayer game [Roku Shiki Online] had taken the world by storm.

Then one day the game suddenly became a reality. And the game mechanics were now usable in real life!

By that time, people were used to the stories about a person being transported into a different world. Commonly a world set on a game.

Some people would either call them Isekai-ed. Or on some media, transmigrated to another world.

But this time the whole world was transported into a game!

Let us discuss what this actually meant for a while. The modern world where people lived remained the same. No medieval settings had suddenly emerged here.

However beyond the borders of humanity the supernatural and the fantasy now existed.

Ogres, Griffins, Sea Kings, Dragons and all the magical creatures within the game called [Roku Shiki Online] have now came into reality.

And every one of them had overthrown humanity from the top of the food chain.

But all hope were not lost. The mechanics that enabled the 'players' before to go against these creatures have also been available to humanity.

At first the so-called 'gamers' had ventured to explore the somewhat new world. They braved through the odds against them.

They were hoping that their past experiences in the game would lead to immeasurable riches. While some ventured out in search of glory.

They did discover one aspect though: that this was still a world where you could die.

Despite the sacrifices, humanity is a race with high adaptability. They began to struggle against those superior existences.

Finally, they were able to fend off their aggressors and maintain their so called "human" territories.

Albeit some of these were inevitably lost.

People persevered though. They eagerly tried to increase their strength. They fought back, lost most of the time, but also win sometimes.

Thus they began to dream of recovering their "lost" civilization, to take back their "normal" lives.

And the key to this dream was --- The Book of N.

A transcendental item that was said could bring the end to the game. People believed that when the death game called [Roku Shiki Online] concludes then the world could revert back to normal.

And so the pioneering human of that time started their search for the Book of N throughout the world. Adventurers explored various dangerous areas that they could discover.

Yet no Book of N was found.

Years have passed with no success. The hype for the search then had declined.

Humanity is indeed a race with high adaptability. When people discovered the benefits they could exploit to their advantage, who would want to return to their past boring lives?

When hierarchy was established again, who among the top would dare to change the ideal status quo?

Humans then learned to accept that the game was now the reality.

This was done by collectively assigning the search for the Book of N as the 'game'.

In short, [Roku Shiki Online] had been diminished into a game about searching for the said book.

Thus not searching for that item equaled to not playing the 'game' which also equaled to 'living' normal lives.

And everyone loved their 'normal' lives.

Of course there were still those brave souls who continued the search. But imagine playing a single game, just one single game, for fifty years.

How many of those brave souls could still continue? How many of them are still alive? How many of them remained the same?

"Still I want that book. At the very least I want to read it."

Yoshino Aruven protested. He was now 20 years old.

In other words he belonged to the generation who was born in an era where [Roku Shiki Online] is already accepted as the norm.

And yet he still believes on the farfetched dream of finding an item which pioneers before him had all failed to find.

But why?

Is it because of a noble reason to put the end to all the dangers and suffering humanity has? Or is it the grand destiny to save the world from the supernatural?

The answer here is no.

"The Book of N, for me is the Book of End. There was a theory I once read that the one who finds the book could also write what they want for an ending."

Yoshino mumbled as he walked on the alley past the library.

Indeed, he is neither a noble knight nor a destined hero. He seemed to be someone that dares to find the phantasmal treasure for his own selfish reasons.

Nonetheless, this is the story of a man who wants to fulfill a 50-year old dream.

Together with the [Scanner] skill, Yoshino heads to his first clue.