[Would you like to track this civet based on the footprints illuminated by the Pumpkin Lantern?]
Somehow being targeted by a cat, the events illuminated by the Pumpkin Lantern are usually benign, so it’s definitely worth pursuing at this point.
[You follow the tracks of the civet all the way and finally arrive at a shop.]
[The sign on the door reads ’Silent Bookstore’. There are no lights on in the shop, nor any customers. Only the cold moonlight filters through the window, illuminating row upon row of desolate bookshelves, out of place in the bustling street.]
[At this moment, in front of the bookstore floats a ghost girl dressed like a magic student. The ghost has braided hair, wears exaggeratedly thick glasses, and holds a cardboard in one hand. With her other hand, she makes a silence gesture at you, then shows the cardboard, which has the Star Spirit Language written on it: ’Please keep quiet in the shop.’
[The ghost girl then leaves the front of the door and sits back at the reception desk to continue reading. The civet you were tracking is lazily resting on the desk, but its gaze is still fixed on you. Will you enter the bookstore?]
Mu You did not rush to choose but first clicked on the text of the ’Silent Bookstore’.
[Silent Bookstore: one of the most famous urban legends in the Imperial Capital, located in a corner of Four Leaf Street. The Silent Bookstore only opens late at night when everyone is quiet. The bookstore’s owner is a mute ghost known as ’Jing Moniang’. She was once the most outstanding student of a magic academy, detested noise, and had an obsessive passion for reading. She has read almost all the books she could find. Later, due to violation of certain taboos, she turned into a ghost and was bound in the bookstore left by her parents, still reading endless books. As time went by, everyone, including her, forgot her real name and was only known by the nickname ’Jing Moniang’.]
[Because Jing Moniang has read so many books, she knows a lot and possesses knowledge beyond imagination, which earned her the alias ’the all-knowing Jing Moniang’. Each day, everyone can ask her one question or ask her to explain a spell, but only after giving her a book she has never read before will she respond.]
Looking at the newly appeared text, Mu You was somewhat surprised.
It seems a fairly powerful NPC has been unlocked. A silent ghost, similar in function to the Scarecrow, from whom one can ask questions. Yet, according to the description, she is far more powerful than the Scarecrow, she is even hailed as ’all-knowing’, with the identity of a top student in the history of the magic academy. Not only can one ask her questions but also seek advice on magical insights?
Mu You looked at the requirement mentioned in the text. This ’Jing Moniang’ has read a vast amount of books, probably every book in the Star Spirit World, hence the lack of customers as no one can meet her requirement.
However, this is only true for the Star Spirit World. The situation would be different on Earth; there’s no way she could have read books from Earth.
Mu You went to his study, took a copy of ’Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ from the bookshelf.
This was part of a whole set he bought online while researching magic shortly after starting the game. This book, of course, was written in Chinese, but the other party only said they needed a new book; they didn’t specify the language, whether Jing Moniang could understand it or not was not his concern.
By sending this book into the game through the Space Ring, Mu You had his game character deliver the book to Jing Moniang.
[Jing Moniang takes the book you hand her, opens it, and looks at you with some surprise.]
[Jing Moniang then releases a ’Translation Spell’ on the book, and the words in the book instantly turn into the Star Spirit Language.]
[After reading the first few pages, Jing Moniang finds satisfaction in this never-before-seen book, writes text on the cardboard to ask if you have any questions.]
[You can ask Jing Moniang one question or request her to explain a spell. Any magical insight that Jing Moniang shares will increase the level of that magic by one level, up to LV4. If you are currently learning a spell, your progress will greatly increase. The length of the teaching varies depending on the difficulty of the magic and your comprehension; if it exceeds three hours, the teaching will fail.]
A direct upgrade of magic level to the highest of LV4!
For Earth players, this feature is pretty powerful as it can save a lot of book pages, and the cost is just one random book. Of course, the prerequisite is to get the book into the game; you either need a door or a Space Ring like Mu You.
However, this feature seems superfluous for Mu You as he doesn’t find upgrading the level of magic challenging. As long as he finds a single comprehension page, he can upgrade it to LV5 at any time.
So, it makes sense to ask questions at this point.
After careful thinking, Mu You finally types ’City of Dawn’ in the text box.
[You asked Jing Moniang for information about the ’City of Dawn’.]
[Jing Moniang is writing... Jing Moniang raises the cardboard, it reads: I don’t know.]
The first question ran into a snag, so much for her ’all-knowing’.
[Jing Moniang explains; she only knows what’s in the books. The City of Dawn belongs to the Fool, and all information about the Fool has been secretly sealed by the Wizard Association, becoming a taboo that everyone is unwilling to mention.]
This answer did not surprise Mu You too much.
However, just as he thought this question was not going to get an answer, a new prompt popped up.
[Jing Moniang raises the cardboard again: Although she can’t answer this question, she knows of a place where you might find the information you’re looking for.]
[Now, you can choose to ask another question or continue to inquire about this question.]
Mu You thought for a moment and chose ’continue to inquire.’.
[Jing Moniang is writing...]
The top student began to write silently again, but this time the writing took longer. It wasn’t until half a minute later that the game popped up a new prompt.
[Jing Moniang raises the cardboard.]
[In the Historical Library of the Red Rose Magic Academy, there’s a hidden Silent Reading Room, where many historical books that can’t be destroyed are sealed. You might be able to find the information you need there.]
[As its name implies, absolute silence must be maintained in this reading room. If you make any noise, you will be struck by the curse of the room and turned into a ghost forever.]
Moreover, since all the books are sealed, you can’t directly read them, but you can use spells to read them from a distance. Therefore, before entering the Silent Reading Room, you need to learn the ’Silence Curse’ and the ’Search Spell’ first.]