Authority

"Authority"

Something that had sprouted within Azer and only came into being after absorbing the power of the Library of Fantasies was, in fact, a type of authority.

That authority was both a symbol and a representation of a supreme ability.

This authority only affected the concept of "armaments." Any armament capable of affecting its holder would fall within its scope, including but not limited to weapons, armor, and items.

Whenever Azer came into contact with such weapons, armor, or items, he could choose to use the authority's power to manipulate them.

As for how exactly he could manipulate them, Azer would have to explore that himself.

Azer only knew that what he had gained was the ultimate authority over the concept of "armaments," an ability that could even surpass the power of gods!

"...I feel like I got something incredible."

Watching the gilded patterns sink completely into his body, that was the only thought left in Azer's mind.

Unfortunately, before he acquired powerful armaments, this ability was nothing more than decoration.

In short, Azer was still just an ordinary person.

But... that would soon change.

Azer stopped focusing on the power he had gained and turned his gaze toward the surrounding bookshelves.

"Are the books here really each transformed from a complete fantasy world?"

Although he had already received the most basic knowledge and understanding from the Library of Fantasies, Azer could not help feeling curious.

So, he walked toward one corner of the rest area, went up the stairs there, followed the wall in a moderately sized circle, then stepped onto the red carpet and entered the collection area.

Without going anywhere else, Azer came before the nearest bookshelf and casually pulled out one of its books.

Before Azer could even open it, the library's will appeared soundlessly.

Open the book to enter the fantasy world recorded within it and randomly draw a life experience.

Please note: before the life experience reaches its designated point, the Administrator cannot return to the library.

If the Administrator dies within a fantasy world and cannot be revived, the library will reclaim the Administrator's identity and select a second Administrator.

Azer hurriedly stopped himself from opening the book, his brows knitting together.

"So that means if I die, I really die?"

After thinking for a moment, Azer's brows relaxed again.

"That makes sense. The purpose of the Library of Fantasies is to turn fantasy worlds into reality. Once I, a real person, enter one and experience it, that purpose will gradually be fulfilled."

"Since it becomes real, there will naturally be real death."

Perhaps, before Azer entered them, these worlds had been nothing but fantasies.

But once he entered them and had real experiences within them, these worlds would turn from fiction into reality.

If that was the case...

"Then let's begin."

Azer no longer hesitated and opened the book in his hand.

"Rustle—"

The book in Azer's hand immediately began flipping its pages on its own.

As it flipped, the pages actually detached from the book, fluttering back and forth around Azer as though they possessed awareness.

"Th-there are so many?"

Azer was somewhat stunned.

According to the rules of the Library of Fantasies, every page in every book was a fabricated life.

Just like writing a novel, some people imagined protagonists who were extraordinary from the start—either born of noble blood, backed by immense influence, blessed with outrageous advantages, or possessed of exceptional strength. Others wrote protagonists who began as ordinary people before gradually rising and transcending their origins.

When collecting the fantasies of others, the Library of Fantasies automatically filtered out lives that were excessively unreasonable, recording only those that could plausibly exist.

Even so, every life could be good or bad.

Some began at the peak, while others began in utter ruin. The experience was completely different.

When entering a fantasy world for the first time, the Administrator would randomly receive one of those lives as a background. Once selected, the pages describing the other lives would disappear. Even if he later returned to that fantasy world, he would only experience the life he had once chosen.

After all, once he completed a life experience, that fantasy world would become a real, existing world.

What Azer was undergoing now was the selection of his life background upon first entering a fantasy world.

If he chose well, he would be the protagonist of this book—this world.

If he chose poorly, he would suffer for it.

Yet this process could not be influenced by anyone's will. Even Azer could only stand there and watch helplessly.

Time passed under these circumstances, and the pages dancing around Azer gradually became fewer and fewer.

In the end, only one page remained before Azer.

"Clang!"

At the same time, the cover of the book in Azer's hand began to glow.

Within that light, a line of words appeared on the cover as though written by an invisible pen—a title: "Asterisk War."

"This world?"

A look of astonishment appeared on Azer's face again.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, the life page floating before Azer turned into a streak of light and flew into his mind.

At the same time, the book in Azer's hand slipped free and opened again before him.

The book had not lost any pages, but all the pages inside were blank.

Because its author had not entered it yet.

Looking at the completely blank book, Azer felt as though some force were guiding him. He stepped forward and reached out to touch it.

The next second, Azer vanished from where he stood without a sound, leaving only the book floating in midair as it slowly bobbed up and down...

"——"

At that moment, Azer felt extremely strange.

He could feel that he had left the ground, yet he did not feel as though he were floating.

Everything in his field of vision had been dyed white, with not a second color in sight.

The space around him swayed constantly, like a scene-transitioning film playing at one-thousandth speed. The mysterious library from moments ago was gradually replaced by other scenery.

When the pure white faded, the swaying ceased, and he once more felt solid ground beneath his feet, Azer realized in a daze that he had arrived in a classroom.

It was a multipurpose classroom. There were not many desks inside, each spaced apart from the others. Around twenty to thirty students sat at them, all wearing school uniforms, giving Azer the strange feeling of having returned to high school.

At the front of the classroom was a lectern, where a teacher stood. Behind him, a projection-like window was displayed, playing footage of a disaster.

"This was the Starfall Rain, an unprecedented event that changed the entire world."

The teacher spoke slowly in a flat, uninspired voice.

"It struck the Earth's surface in the twentieth century, causing an unprecedented catastrophe across the globe."

"Meteor showers fell all over the world for three days and three nights, destroying countless cities."

"In this disaster, some nations suffered a drastic decline in national strength, and the global order was completely reshaped. If not for the emergence of a new economic entity known as the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, the world likely would not have recovered to its current state."

The teacher was truly poor at teaching, leaving the students in the classroom drowsy with boredom.

"It was also because of the Starfall Rain that humanity detected an unknown element called Omni-Response Element within the meteor swarms. It not only advanced scientific technology, but also gave rise to a new kind of human possessing supernatural abilities—the 'Star Vein Generation.'"

"That's right. That means all of you sitting here now."

Hearing this, most of the students in the classroom still looked half-asleep, unable to muster even a shred of enthusiasm.

Only Azer, seated in one of the corner seats, took a deep breath as he listened.

He slowly lowered his head and looked at his hand, which had silently clenched into a fist.

Starlight shimmered across it, like Star Dust drifting through the air.

Feeling how utterly different his body had become, sensing the power called "Star Power" flowing within him, Azer understood.

He truly was one of the new humans the teacher at the lectern had been talking about.

In other words—the "Star Vein Generation."

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