*This one looks interesting.*
Lee Jakgaui took the book from the shelf and flipped through the first pages.
The book was titled "Il fu Mattia Pascal", a novel written by the Italian author Luigi Pirandello.
The story of an unhappy man named Mattia Pascal. One day, during a walk , he finds a newspaper that talks about an unrecognizable dead man and everyone believes it is Mattia Pascal.
Taking advantage of the situation, Mattia Pascal decides to change identity and start a new life.
*Interesting, but I have no interest about running away from home.*
The bookstore in the mall was busier than expected, sometimes even blocking entire passages of the shop.
It was 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20. School had been over for weeks; Lee and his family had decided to go to the mall to spend some time.
At that moment, his mother and sister were in some clothing store, while his father was still at work.
Lee Jakgaui was 17 years old, turning 18 on September 15.
He had brown eyes and hair, stood 1.80 meters tall, and was wearing a white linen t-shirt and black cotton sweatpants.
To escape shopping, Lee always asked to go to the bookstore to browse a bit.
Any excuse was good to avoid getting bored.
Lee put the book back on the shelf and then headed to the right, toward the "Teen's novel" section.
To his obvious misfortune, there was a small group of 7 boys aged 14-16 blocking the section.
Not wanting to wait; Lee opted to go from the biographies section, searching if there were any books about his favorite athletes.
The bookstore was rectangular and extended in height. The ceiling was white as the marble, in contrast with the floor as black as basalt, while the walls were grey and solid like rocks.
On the right side, where Lee was at the moment, were books divided by genre on red colpr shelves. On the left side, there were games and manga on light blue shelves, of course crowded as ever.
At the bottom were the registers. While at the upper section was dedicated to children, with books on yellow shelves.
On the way from one point of the bookstore to another, there were tables in the bookstore where you could pick up books either on sale or sports books or autobiographies.
Lee went straight to the latter, in the center of the store; then he bent down slightly on his right knee and simply glanced at the names.
Lee recognized each of these people; most were athletes, including soccer players, tennis players, and drivers; others were prominent figures such as top influencers or historical activists.
Sports had always been an interest of Lee's, but he was bad at them.
Really bad.
The only sport he practiced weekly was padel, which despite the numerous defeats, he found it very enjoyable.
Lee finally stood up and turned to his right to see if there were any improvements; but 0 news; people were glued to the spot, moving as slowly as snails.
*Seriously? Are you kidding me?*
Lee sighed, he wasn't discouraged yet as he still had one last chance: The Fantasy .
The only reason Lee had started reading was thanks to fantasy web novels.
Fantastic worlds and complex characters,
different contexts and legendary battles.
Lee walked toward the very first section where the Fantasy books were located.
The options were numerous; the covers were attractive, the titles as well.
He ran his finger along the books, shelf by shelf.
Shelf 1, Shelf 2, Shelf 3.
"There!"
Lee murmured softly after finally picked up a book.
It was titled "Meta Aware" and had a as cover a complex of optical illusions of stairs leading to the highest books in a gigantic library.
Interesting title, cover mysterious enough to catch attention.
*This book worths more than a ten-second glance.*
Lee opened the first page, remaining astonished by the content.
The pages were completely blank, no words, no illustrations, just white.
*But it's empty? Why is there an empty book—*
From the book burst a brief, immediate millisecond of blinding blue light, comparable to sunlight.
*Hey! What the—*
Lee could do nothing but cover his eyes with his right hand, making the book fall to the ground.
*Thud*
---
"Help! I need a hand!"
Lee shouted, hoping someone would come and do something to put an end to this.
No one answered.
"Can someone help me?"
The place was completely silent, except for Lee's moans.
Left to himself, Lee was forced to handle the situation alone.
He used his left hand to try to cover the book as much as possible from his view. He knelt slowly on his left leg, and with his eyes squinting against the glare, he tried to close the cursed book.
His hand drew closer to the book, and in response, the light grew even more intense.
The light gave off no heat, it simply blinded him, and too much at that.
Lee pressed on, wanting to end this torture. His hand finally touched something.
It wasn't the floor, but a mix of thin paper from the pages and cardboard from the cover.
*There it is!*
Once he felt the cover, Lee immediately shut the book tightly, holding him with his left hand.
*Deep breaths.*
*What was it?*
Questions sprouted in his mind. Thoughts were nearly absent, his mind confused and disordered.
*Another deep breath.*
*Is this a joke by any chance?*
Lee rubbed his eyes with his right hand, trying to push the discomfort away.
*Ugh, my eyes...*
*I can't believe i was about to get blind.*
Lee he narrowed his eyes and started looking around. Someone must have seen this, that light was almost as blinding as the sun.
Turning to his left, he saw a boy around five feet tall with black hair and black eyes. He was wearing jeans and a black jacket on white short-sleeved shirt, His head was covered by a black cap of some American designer brand and glasses with golden circles.
He actually looked more like a tourist, especially since he was more European than Asian.
Lee stood up from the floor, slowly trying to walk to him without stumbling.
"Excuse me."
The boy continued reading, It almost seemed as if he was totally absorbed in the book.
"Excuse me." Lee said in a louder voice, trying to sound more british as possible.
The boy was still reading, completely ignoring Lee's existence.
"Actually...Never mind." Lee muttered to himself, heading towards the cashier.
*It must have been some hallucination....*
*But... I'd like to take the book with me. Maybe it's a sign of destiny that i should read it!*
Lee's gaze was starting to clear, and he almost proudly raised his head to see if anyone had noticed what happened.
The people in the bookstore were frozen, like real statues.
A mother was at the register about to buy a book for her child, but the money remained in her hand.
A man in his forties was about to leave the store, but his right foot was suspended mid-air.
A teenage boy was texting on his phone, but his fingers had stopped moving.
*What? How...I-I....*
Time, due to some mystery or anomaly, had stopped.