Yuhe left his brand new room a bit annoyed.
He was grateful he was given a room for free -minus some strings attached- but they failed to tell him that it was a shared room...
Yuhe had very rarely shared rooms with people. The longest time he spent next to someone that wasn't his parents was a simple man who had a strange habit of collecting monster parts, so Yuhe only spent around a week with the man before deciding the streets were better.
'Honestly I might like the bug guy more than these people.'
His roommates were some special people, not just personality wise but they also were hand picked to be researched by the Lunar Center much like himself. First there was an eccentric man in his later years of life. Tyson wasn't actually that old, only around 35 -which was way older than the life expectancy in his home town- it was close to the upper echelons of the age brackets in the mega city though. He was an above average height, strong, lean man with a head full of long dirty blond hair that was neatly slicked back revealing his smooth tanned skin and strong jawline. And while Yuhe didnt swing that way, he had to admit that he was a real gem for the eyes. His defined body seemed to always be in the city lights slightly glistening, which was exasperated by the fact that he never wore a shirt. Just simple light grey sweatpants. Which would be weird since it was always cold especially with the AC always being set to near freezing because of his other roommate.
Lumi was a quiet girl, she stood at almost the same height as Yuhe, and always wore the most she could. Always hiding her long white hair with a coat that was issued by the Lunar Center themselves. It seemed that she loved the cold and hated the warmth that food and people would emit, always choosing to stay away from others and eatting cold sandwiches or lunch ch meat. Lumi was 18 when she first met Tyson, and now a few months away from 19 when Yuhe showed up. She had a slender body that was almost ghostly white. Don't take her soft figure for granted though. She could easily pack quite a punch because under all those layers of clothes she was much more muscular than the average man, not like Tyson, but she could probably win in a fight to death with a few abominations.
'God they really are like polar opposites of eachogher, how in the world did they live together for almost a full year now.' Yuhe thought leaving his room whilst opening a map on the phone he bought with the money issued by the Lunar Center.
He quite enjoyed the whole electronics thing that the people in the city had become accustomed to using everyday. He was beginning to wonder how he didn't die of boredom while alone in his hometown or the long flight here.
'There's so many different buildings to explore around here. I guess I'll start with the library and go from there.'
Yuhe was first a little overwhelmed by the thing his roommates called a phone. But once Tyson showed him the ropes and how to actually use it, he quickly understood and got used to it. Right now he was currently using the map feature of the phone to find a library, Lumi told him -in one of the few conversations they had- that a library is a massive building that holds a near endless vault of information. Yuhe very much so wanted to see what exactly was in there. He just got here and had so many questions.
How did the world turn into this? How did people fight back for so long? Why did the Sun Lord and Moon Goddess fight to the death? Who's the important figures in the world? Who or what is the Lunar Center?
Yuhe wanted to know all of these questions before the Lunar Center would call for the next meeting. He also just wanted to explore the city and have some fun, he hasn't ever had real restaurant cooking before and simply wanted to try it out.
Yuhe's stomach grumbled, 'I guess ill go to a food spot first.' Yuhe hadnt eaten since way before he first got taken by Miss Major. So naturally, he was starving.
'I should've asked Tyson about good food spots around here, I guess this coffee spot works. Says they have great drinks and even better noodles.'
Yuhe walked through the doors and was hit by the fragrance of a beautifully prepared bowl of ramen noodles. He looked around and saw so many people happily talking and drinking, some were so focused on their food they just ignored whatever their friends were talking about. But when Yuhe walked in, everyone seemed to noticed him. Although they didn't stare at him directly he definitely felt some sharp gazes and disgust looming in the beautiful air.
How could the patrons not be annoyed? A dirty mouse just walked into their perfect diner and ruined the atmosphere. Of course, Yuhe wasn't actually dirty because one of the first things he did in the apartment was take a shower -he was actually almost thrown in by Lumi- but it seemed that he couldn't just hide the certain look that he had in his eyes, like he was going to steal or be disruptive. Anyways, Yuhe could look past the gazes, although annoying it actually gave him some peace. He liked to be left alone, even if the only reason people left him alone was because he was a clear class below everyone else.
Yuhe was sat at a small table in the far corner of the resteraunt. He was visibly separated from the crowd of people. But wasn't annoyed, he didn't mesh well with rich people anyways. After some time, he was met with an ebony women with long black braids wearing black jeans and a neat slightly stained red shirt.
***
After eatting his fair share of food Yuhe learnt that he doesn't like coffee and then paid for his food with the money given by the Lunar Center.
'Okay! Now it's time for the library!' Yuhe was getting more and more excited every moment. He was going to go to the library and have the most fun he would have had in years, discovering multiple things. Learning how things happen, it was safe to say that this single building would make or break his day depending on if they have books on the topics he cared about.
After looking up where the library is he started walking briskly
'The Great Library of Nanjing, huh, turns out it's sponsored by the one and only Lunar Center. These guys really are too popular, the more I look at educational buildings the more I see their name pop up. I hope they aren't withholding or lying about information. Ah who am I kidding, they definitely are.' Yuhe wasn't new to governmental Propaganda. He actually saw on a massive billboard something along the lines of 'Support your family! Open your Gifted Power by becoming a Challenger today!' While just walking towards the coffee shop and once again while walking towards the library
Yuhe had no clue what that meant -for now- and started to wonder what Gifted Power and what being a Challenger meant. This thought was quickly pushed to the side once he saw the massive building known as The Great Library Of Nanjing.
The uncomprehensible marble building was an insane feat for the architect's and construction workers. It truly seemed to house an infinite amount of information simply by just looking at its massive walls and doors. It was a massive white marble rectangular prism made of two layers. The outer one seemed to be just for show and was slightly extended out the main building on all sides, it had monumental marble pillars with gold outlines moving across the large structure. The actual building was behind the pillars by a few meters and housed a boundless amount of written works. The outside of the walls beyond the pillars were seamless marble and seemed to shine indiscriminately, there was three massive doors parallel to a couple of the pillars infront of the building that served as the main and only entrence. The doors were each eight feet wide and seemed to be as tall as the building itself. The inside was made of beautiful oak wood and seemed to somehow be even bigger on the inside than the outside, it felt almost mythical. The floor was perfectly cleaned with the wood reflecting anything it encompassed, the bookshelves seemed to go on forever and didn't seem to have an order to then. There were multiple floors accessible by winding beautifully crafted spiral staircases. There were intricate sculptures of the moon and its phases on the sides of the stairs, making it seem as if the higher a person went, the more in line with the moon they would become, therefore the more advanced knowledge appeared to be in the higher echelons of the building.
When Yuhe entered with his mouth slightly open he failed to realize the beautiful women with light brown hair and cute glasses trying to get his attention
"-Sir, sir, excuse me sir." A slightly annoyed women a pretty red cardigan and a flowing skirt that went down to her slick black heels said loudly
"Ah s-sorry what were you just saying I'm sorry." Yuhe answered, flustered by the women's simple beauty and somewhat angry tone.
"Do you have a library pass?" The women asked inquisitively.
"No sorry I don't, I was hoping that I can get one here Miss?"
"You can. Follow me and i am one of the librarians here, my name is Rebecca." The women made a gesture to follow with her hands.
The women said with a casual expression like she's done this thousands of times before "So what you have to do is just be able to pay a small entrance fee of just 200 Yuan. After you can provide I will mark your license with a special runic machine and you will receive access to the library."
As Yuhe was opening his mouth to tell her he doesn't have a license she spoke over him "Yes, we use runes here to find your books. I'm certain we have whatever you might be looking for. So don't worry about any of that. Anyways, may I see 200 yuan and your license?"
"Uhm, I don't have a license yet but just wait a little bit for me and I will find one right away! In the meantime, can I perhaps pay you the 200 and then browse for my books anyways? I promise I won't take any out of the library or anything bad like that." Yuhe doesn't have a license -whatever that meant- yet as the Lunar Center probably didn't expect him to actually do anything in the city other than sit around and eat.
'I should probably ask Lumi where to find one, she's really good at this sorta thing' Yuhe thought internally
The librarian staggered, slightly confused as how the man didn't have a license but lived in the city. "Uhmm, yeah, but you can only stay for a couple hours. Sorry but to be frank, I don't trust you and your only staying within my sight and the second I'm clocking out, your leaving." Rebecca said sternly.
Oh don't worry Miss, I won't cause trouble. Also thank you very much for this, I won't forget it and ill pay this back 10 fold atleast!" Yuhe didnt know why he added that last part, he wasn't nearly powerful enough physically or monetarily to actually do anything of use to the library or its librarian. But the gesture was nice.
Anyways, Yuhe paid the yuan and quickly asked how the rune book searching function worked.
"Oh its simple really, just walk towards one of the glowing platforms and say outloud a description of what your looking for, or even better, the name of the book."
Yuhe hadnt even noticed it but scattered around the whole building floor he could suddenly see multiple small platforms made out of slightly darker wood, they were only slightly bigger than Yuhe himself and now that he saw people flying about he saw multiple weird symbol and inscriptions written on the bottom side of the runic circles.
'I'm definitely gonna have some fun around here' Yuhe smiled as he left the girl and started walking towards the circles. Thinking about all the options he could ask for, he was overwhelmed, there was so much to learn and so much to do in such a short time frame. He had to think for a short while before telling the circle
"Take me to, How To Become A Challenger"
Without knowing what he truly just said would change his life in all sorts of ways, he smiled as the circle shuddered and lifted off the ground.