Bookworm.

That night, Aurora couldn't sleep. She stared at the ceiling, but her mind was somewhere else. She closed her eyes deeply. The image of Ruby crying still stuck in her mind.

It bothered her so much because she now realized how little she actually cared about other people in that world. Her priority had been her own survival. But even after figuring out that NPCs like Lyra were normal humans in this world, she had glossed over that.

In the back of her mind, she still treated them as NPCs, thinking that her existence was more important than theirs, just because she was a player. That's why she hadn't really looked carefully at Ruby's situation.

Aurora sighed heavily.

No.

Probably she was wrong. Probably this wasn't about NPCs or not. Even in her previous life, it wasn't like she valued everyone's life the same.

At first, she only wanted to use Ruby as a tool for her survival. But without her knowing, she started to actually feel that they were real friends.

That's simple.

She felt bad because she didn't care enough about her friend, their problems, and their feelings.

"So stupid," she murmured to herself.

She woke up, feeling like she wasn't going to be able to sleep. She walked toward the bookshelf. There was a small collection of books that the original Aurora had. She had planned to indulge herself with books, but nothing really caught her eye.

Probably they had different taste? Aurora found that most of the books there were pretty boring.

Now she stuck. with an urge to read something, but nothing seemed to catch her interest. At that point she willing to putting in some extra work to satisfy her urge.

So, she got up from her room and made her way to the library. As she approached the library door, a thought crossed her mind, "If she comes this late, isn't it going to be locked?"

Despite her doubts, she continued forward and tried the handle.

The door was open.

She couldn't help but wonder, "Does the library never lock at night?"

She stepped inside and took in the nighttime scenery of the library, which always gave her a mysterious feeling. Especially because she was alone, it felt like she had the entire place to herself.

She walked towards the shelves, looking at the books. The moonlight still hit that place so it wasn't completely dark. However, it was still a bit hard to read without a source of light, like how her room was decorated with magic candles.

Aurora used her power, creating a ball of light that floated from her hand. The sudden appearance of light surprised someone so much that they screamed.

Aurora looked in the direction of the scream and saw a big girl with short red hair standing nervously and staring at her. It turns out she wasn't the only one there.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," Aurora said.

"No, no, it's not your fault," she quickly replied. "I'm just a little scaredy-cat, so don't mind me."

Aurora nodded.

She knew her. Another rival character named Sera Marlow. She was the daughter of Duke Marlow. Her position should be on par with Nova Wilder, but because of her personality, she didn't really stand out.

"Um... You're the first-year everyone's talking about, right?" She said, staring at the ball of light that was floating around.

"Yes, my name is Aurora Starlight. Nice to meet you, senior."

"Um... senior?" Sera said, with a confused look on her face.

"I believe you're Sera Morlow, right? Second-year?" Aurora asked.

"Y-you know me...?" Sera stammered, surprised.

"I like reading books, so naturally, I know fellow book lovers," Aurora explained with a smile.

"I see, that makes sense," Sera said, nodding.

Aurora smiled. "Are you doing a night-time reading session, senior?"

"Ye-yes, usually if I have a hard time sleeping, I'll come here. And please don't call me senior. Just call me by my name," Sera said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to disrespect you," Aurora said, with a concerned look.

"It's fine, really. Just call me Sera."

"If you insist," Aurora said, "Sera."

She smiled. "S-so, are you looking for something?"

"Yes, about that," Aurora said. "I can't sleep and I want to read something. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Oh... I-I'm not sure what I read will interest you," Sera replied.

"Why is that?" Aurora smiled playfully. "Are you reading weird books?"

"Wha-nononono, that's not what I mean..." Sera blushing hard.

"Really? Then what kind of book do you usually read, senior--I mean, Sera?"

"We-well, I like mysteries the most," Sera replied.

"Oh, I didn't expect that," Aurora said, kinda surprised.

"Wha-what did you expect then? What's your impression of me...?" Sera asked.

Aurora looked at her. She was at least one head taller than her. She was big yet acted meekly. The contrast made her pretty cute.

"You seem fluffy," Aurora said. "So maybe romance? Sorry if that's too generic of a guess."

"Nonono, I like romance too," Sera replied.

"Really? I bet you would say that to whatever genre I guessed," Aurora grinned.

"Well, I do read everything..." Sera blushed.

"That's cheating."

"S-sorry..."

Aurora smiled. "So any recommendations?"

"If you're okay with mystery," Sera said, "I will recommend this book."

She pulled out a book with a black cover and offered it to Aurora. Aurora carefully examined the book in her hand. It's thin, she can finish it quickly. The book was titled "A Murder Mystery in Lake Alpha".

"I-if you don't like it, I can recommend something else..."

"It's fine, I'll give it a read," Aurora said as she settled into her seat and began to flip through the pages. The ball of light that followed her made it easy for her to read in the dimly lit room. Sera too picked up a book and sat across from Aurora.

They read in silence.

As Aurora read, her mind kept working.

Did I make a good impression? I don't think I offended her or anything, Aurora thought.

As planned before, she was going to befriend all rival characters. That part of her plan hadn't changed. After all, it was an important plan to make sure she survived.

She still felt bad about Ruby, but she couldn't let this chance go either. She would think everything through properly later.

Time flew by and no one said a word. The only sound was the occasional rustling of pages being flipped, filling the air.

Aurora noticed that Sera kept stealing glances at her. For a few times, Aurora decided to ignore it. But after the fourth or fifth time, she looked up.

Sera immediately looked at her book in panic.

Aurora smiled and asked, "What's up, Sera? Is there something you want to say?"

Sera blushed and stammered, "It's nothing. I just... Do you enjoy that book?"

Is she worried about her recommendation choice?

"It's been great so far," Aurora assured her, "don't worry about it."

Sera nodded, relieved, and they returned to their reading.

Sometimes later Aurora finished her book.

"Okay," she said. "That was an interesting read. I never would have guessed that he was the culprit until the very end."

"I know, right?" Sera said with a gleam in her eyes. "When I first read it, I was amazed at how cleverly the author hid such obvious clues!"

"Yes, and I love stories that have a proper ending," Aurora said. "Everything tied together neatly. I've read a lot of stories that just go on forever, it can be tiring sometimes."

Sera nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. A lot of popular books written by commoners, they need to keep writing to earn a living. So it might be unfair for me to say, but sometimes stories that keep going endlessly lose their soul. And I don't mean to say I turn to hate it, but I definitely like it less and less."

"Yes," Aurora agreed. "It's a complex problem. There's no clear answer for that. Personally, I prefer when they write new books, new stories. But there's no guarantee that their new work will be as successful as their previous one."

"Yes," Aurora agreed. "It's a complex problem. There's no clear answer for that. Personally, I prefer when they write new books, new stories. But there's no guarantee that their new work will be as successful as their previous one."

They kept talking back and forth for half an hour.

"Ah, I think I need to head back," Aurora said. "I'm starting to feel sleepy."

"I see." Sera sounded disappointed.

"But I really enjoyed our conversation," Aurora said. "And thank you for the recommendation."

Sera smiled. "You're welcome."

As Aurora got up and prepared to walk out of the library, Sera stood up too.

"Um... Aurora, wait," she called out.

Aurora stopped and looked back. "Yes?"

"Will... Will you come here again?" she asked, fidgeting.

Aurora smiled. "Sure, if you don't mind."

She already planned to do it anyway.

"Of course, I don't mind," Sera said quickly. "After all, sometimes reading alone can be kind of lonely - Uh, I mean, I want to discuss books with you again sometime." She panicked and her cheeks turned red.

"Yes, I'd like that," Aurora said, smiling. "Goodnight, Sera."

Sera looked relieved. "Good night."

***