Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Chapter 158: Choices [II]

I barged into the reading room, barely holding two tall stacks of books and documents in my arms.

The dim lighting didn't help.

Nearly stumbling as I navigated through the shadows, I finally reached the table where Michael was seated and slammed the towering stacks down in front of him.

"You're late," he commented, not bothering to look up from whatever he was reading under the soft glow of a desk lamp.

"The second floor is a damn maze," I grumbled, collapsing into the chair across from him. "And why is the Archives so dark?! Every corner of this place is pitch black! I know the Academy is definitely rich enough to light up a place this big!"

Michael finally glanced up, lazily sliding the books I had bought for him toward himself. "You do realize this is a library and not a sunbathing lounge?"

I scoffed. "That's still no excuse. There's not a single ceiling light in any of the reading rooms! The streetlamps outside barely work, and the whole second floor is so shrouded in shadows you can't even see around the corners."

He shrugged. "This place was built ages ago, during the dark times. They didn't have the resources or manpower to fully illuminate it back then, and now they can't risk a reconstruction project because the knowledge stored here is too valuable. Just use a flashlight."

I threw up my hands. "That's not enough! I nearly tripped over a chair just trying to find this table."

Michael hummed noncommittally, flipping through one of the documents. After a few moments, he raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Wow. You actually found everything on my list."

"Of course," I said, grabbing a book from my own pile — the ones I'd brought for myself.

He tilted his head. "What's that?"

I waved a hand. "Just doing some research of my own."

"Here?" He narrowed his eyes.

I shot him a pointed look. "If you don't like it, feel free to find another reading room. I'm not wandering around in the dark again until it's time to leave."

Michael sighed, shaking his head. "You really have a problem with the dark, huh?"

I glared. "No, I have a problem with ambush spots. Do you know how many horror stories start with 'The library was eerily dark, and then—'"

"You do realize this is the Academy, not a haunted mansion?" He rolled his eyes.

I pointed toward a random corner of the room, where the shadows seemed just a little darker than anywhere else. "Tell that to whatever's lurking back there."

Michael glanced at the spot, then shrugged. "Pretty sure it's just a librarian taking a nap."

I choked. "You're joking."

He smirked. "Maybe."