Arvin canceled his invisible magic, allowing his physical form to become visible once again within the silence of the royal library.
His eyes immediately scanned every inch of the room, recalling the details of the area from the game he had played in his previous life.
"If I remember correctly, the location of the secret door is in one of the rarely visited corners of the room." Arvin muttered to himself.
He walked toward the area where old wooden shelves stood in rows, covering most of the walls. Slowly and calculatedly, he raised his foot and tapped it against the wooden floor beneath him.
Tap! Tap!
The tapping of his shoes resonated, producing a solid thud as his foot lightly struck the surface of the wooden floor.
This is not the place. This floor is too solid!
He moved to the other corners of the library, continuously tapping his foot against the floor surface at regular intervals, searching for even the slightest anomaly.
Until finally, when he arrived at a specific corner of the library...
Thud! Thud!
The sound of his footsteps in this area sounded vastly different from the rest of the floor. The noise was louder and echoed, indicating a fairly large empty space directly beneath the wooden planks. A subtle smile of satisfaction instantly formed on Arvin's lips.
It seems this is the entrance to the secret room!
However, he could not simply tear the floor apart recklessly. To avoid causing a commotion, Arvin activated his wind magic to serve as a soundproof dome, enclosing the surrounding area so that any noise occurring within it would not be heard from the outside.
After ensuring the sound barrier was perfectly active, Arvin aimed his right palm at the wooden floor surface below him and concentrated dense, sharp wind mana.
Crash!
The thick wooden floor instantly shattered to pieces after being struck by the immensely powerful wind magic. The wooden planks splintered, revealing a gaping dark hole that led straight down.
Clatter... Clatter...
The wooden debris tumbled down to the bottom of the hole, creating a clattering noise that was fortunately muffled by the wind magic.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he immediately jumped down into the dark hole.
Upon reaching the bottom of the underground passage, he immediately looked up. With precise mana control, he lifted all the shattered wooden debris back up, making them float using his telekinesis magic.
Once all the wooden splinters were hovering in their original positions, he immediately used his alchemy magic, fusing the severed wood fibers back together and repairing the destroyed floor.
In an instant, the library floor above him became whole and seamless once more, as if it had never been destroyed at all. The traces of his break-in vanished completely.
However, to ensure that no one would be able to discover this underground room after his departure, he cast his earth magic.
Rumble...
The earthen walls in the underground passage rumbled softly. The earth rapidly crept upward, filling the empty space in the vertical shaft and sticking tightly to the underside of the library's wooden floor. Now, the access route down was completely sealed off by solid earth that could not be easily penetrated.
After making sure the entrance was perfectly sealed, Arvin turned his body around, activated his light magic to illuminate his path, and began stepping forward, delving deeper into the underground tunnel.
As he walked further down the passage, he continuously activated earth magic behind him, creating a protective earthen wall that followed his every step to secure his route.
Fortunately, this tunnel is high enough. Arvin thought in relief. At the very least, this passage doesn't force me to duck while walking like that annoying tunnel I once traversed beneath the Astoria Academy's library floor.
His casual steps continued to trace the dark passage.
A few moments later, he arrived at the end of the tunnel. Before him now stood an old iron door that looked incredibly sturdy, tightly shut, and covered in dust and rust around its hinges.
Arvin grabbed the handle of the iron door and pushed it.
Grrrrkkk...
The door swung open as the sound of the old, grinding iron hinges squeaked quite loudly and deafeningly within the narrow passage.
Thank goodness the door opens inward. Arvin thought, letting out a sigh of relief. If the door opened outward, I would definitely be in a lot of trouble since this earthen wall I created is right behind me. I almost trapped myself.
Arvin stepped into the room behind the iron door. Pitch-black darkness welcomed him.
With the light magic hovering above his head, Arvin could only smile to himself. His eyes swept across the interior of the secret room with a sense of nostalgia.
Its damp stone walls, rows of dusty wooden shelves filled with worn-out books, an old wooden reading desk along with its fragile chair, and... a medium-sized wooden chest sitting sweetly in one corner of the room. Everything possessed the exact same layout and shape as what he frequently saw on his monitor screen while playing 'BL Game: The Sign of Destiny' in his previous life.
Arvin shifted his attention to the bookshelves. He walked over to them and immediately stored all the dusty books neatly arranged on the shelves into his dimensional storage space.
After all the shelves were completely empty, Arvin finally turned his body and walked enthusiastically toward the wooden chest in the corner of the room.
He crouched in front of the chest, brushed off a little dust on top of it, and then unfastened its iron latch.
Clack!
The lid of the chest popped open easily.
Arvin's eyes immediately sparkled with excitement upon seeing the contents inside. Within the chest, twenty bottles of Elixir of Archmage were neatly stored. And beneath them, a stack of pure gold bars was neatly arranged, radiating an incredibly tempting gleam.
Ah, I still remember how frustrated I was when playing this game back then. he reminisced with a smirk, recalling his past. The difficulty level in the game was absolutely absurd. Players were forced to complete various impossible missions just to melt the heart of that tyrant Victoriaz King, and even then, it was only to gain access to enter his palace library.
After briefly dwelling on his nostalgic memories, Arvin began storing all the bottles of Elixir of Archmage, along with the entire dazzling pile of gold bars, into his dimensional storage space until not a single piece was left.
In the game's rules, that damn king was incredibly stingy! He would only allow a Hero with a perfect reputation or a high-ranking upper-class noble to even set foot in this palace library. Arvin thought again, continuing to recall how troublesome the king's requirements were for the players. But now, I have infiltrated with absolute ease.
Once the wooden chest was completely empty, Arvin closed its lid again. He stood up, sweeping his gaze once more around the secret room he had just completely drained of its contents, smiling in relieved triumph.
My plan went far more smoothly than I anticipated. Arvin thought, accompanied by a sigh of relief. Initially, I thought I would have to use the great name of the Vedegra family and rely on my official status as a delegate from the Astoria Kingdom to gain entry into this palace. But thanks to the invisible magic Alvein taught me, I was able to easily sneak in here and not a single person noticed.
Feeling that all his business was concluded, Arvin decided to return immediately.
He closed both his eyes, focused the flow of mana in his body, and activated his teleportation magic with the coordinates he had marked inside the Victoriaz Kingdom palace library above him.
A golden magic circle appeared and glowed brightly beneath his feet.
Zap!
In an instant, Arvin's body vanished from the stuffy underground room and he stood once again upon the wooden floor of the silent palace library.