The library was silent, broken only by the soft shuffle of pages. Behind the counter, the young librarian leaned back in his chair.
Yawning, stretching his hands, his red eyes gazed at the small peaceful library, with bookshelves neatly organized in rows.
The young man glanced out the window with a distant look. The wind stirred gently, setting the trees into a slow, swaying motion, and up in the sky just above the forest where floating lands swung, doing their natural cycle.
Occasionally, a few feathered beasts with long, glimmering tails soared between the floating lands. If one looked at them closely, one would realize those are wyverns, the very ones one sees in movies.
Despite such a cinematic epic view, there's still a distant gaze as if such things have no value to him, as if he has seen such things for a very long time now that it doesn't matter anymore.
In fact, he really did see it all: monsters, strange-looking trees, even dragons. Thus the scenery before him is rather considered normal.
His name is Nithin. A typical orphan who just loves to read books, also writes them, and also found the best job possible for him. He's a librarian of this small store.
And one may ask why the heck a small library like this is in the middle of a forest, and not to mention in a fantasy world?!
Nithin himself doesn't know. It just happened. One day he just finds himself along with the library transported to this strange fantasy world, the world many dream of coming to.
The clock on the wall ticked steadily. As the minutes passed, Nithin closed his eyes, letting the gentle breeze wash over him. His black hair shifted softly with the wind.
And then all of a sudden, the clock's small doors creaked open, and a wooden bird rushed forward, beating its small wings.
"Cuckoo… Cuckoo…"
Nithin's gaze flicked toward it, unamused. Nodding, he fixed his messed-up hair, also giving a long stretch.
The sleepiness in his eyes vanished, replaced by eagerness. "Another day begins."
Right away the next moment, the scenery outside the bookstore changed, replaced by broad streets where people could be seen walking down the road.
This time, Nithin did react. "…I really am in a fantasy world." he muttered, looking at some of the features some had, like tails, fluffy ears.
Those were beast people, the very ones he saw many times in animes and read about in the countless novels he read.
'Well, I did encounter a dwarf... Still, it's fascinating,' he thought to himself. As it showed, the library wasn't something ordinary. It's his sixth day in this strange world. Every day, along with himself, the library teleports—in the forest, in the desert; he even was underwater, protected by some kind of forcefield.
People gazed at the store, weirdly. Some paused mid-step, whispering among themselves as their eyes lingered on the wooden sign above the door. A few children tugged at their parents' sleeves, pointing curiously at the unfamiliar building that hadn't been there the day before.
Nithin looked at them, but it seems they can't see him. As they should at least cast a glance at him, right? Thus Nithin concluded this window is invisible or the sunlight wasn't letting anyone see him.
'Please, some readers this time,' Nithin prayed silently. Despite the library already changing its location five times, he never had any actual readers. There was a dwarf, though, who did enter once, but the moment it saw the rows of books, it panicked all of a sudden and handed him a bunch of useless gold coins, apologizing before leaving the place.
This time he hoped it's different. He needs people to read the books! It's for his golden finger! Yeah, it's for the system! He also awakened one. But to use it, he needs people to read and borrow books from here!
"Yes yes, kid! Come here! I have kids' books too," Nithin uttered with a broad smile, seeing a small kid tugging, most probably her mother pointing at the store.
The woman looked at it before frowning and dragged the kid away despite her being on the verge of almost crying.
Disappointment washed over him, but he didn't lose hope and maintained his smile. He can't let customers see his disappointed face the moment they enter, right?
Many pointed at the store, but no one entered. Nithin frowned. Is it because of the rat with the hat?
The library's sign hung above the door: a plump rat in a black hat and glasses, looking like a distinguished gentleman—that's the logo of the library for some reason.
Does that… look like a monster to them? Nithin's eyes flickered nervously. If the sign really gave off ominous vibes, he was in trouble.
He scanned the street and finally noticed someone approaching: a middle-aged man in worn-out clothes.
It didn't matter if the dude was poor! Even reading a single book would do for him.
'Please… please come in.'
Nithin's eyes flicked toward the door, and it did wide open. Nithin right away stood up and spoke up.