Chapter 18 ~ Library Encounter (Two Chapters in One)
After Teresa’s profile was inscribed into Coleman Academy’s registration crystal, Dylin removed the Golden Butterfly Hairpin and made his way to the library.
Ever since his return from the Elf Temple, one question had been nagging at him. The Golden Butterfly’s enchantment included a random, dramatic boost to one skill’s effectiveness—which explained how his Divine Analysis Technique had improved so drastically overnight. However, none of the enchantments involved transforming a human into an elf, let alone a man into a woman.
And yet, to transform into Teresa, Dylin had relied on this very accessory. Which led him to theorize: perhaps the hairpin itself didn’t directly grant the transformation power. Maybe it was simply a medium—a key that unlocked some latent ability within him.
Of course, that was just his theory. He couldn’t be sure.
Coming to the library wasn’t born from some sudden burst of ambition to better himself.
With one hand in his pocket, Dylin lightly clutched the butterfly hairpin concealed in his pants pocket, while his eyes shimmered, intently watching a panel only he could see.
[Avid Reader] – Reward: Half a Chip
[Trial Run] – Reward: Two Chips
These entries were written in Elvish, projected by the Golden Butterfly’s panel, yet Dylin could understand them perfectly.
Familiar?
Oh yes—very familiar. When Dylin opened this page, he had an almost visceral reaction. So familiar it was practically burned into his DNA.
This… this is just like daily and weekly quests from those brain-dead mobile games!
Each day you were forced to grind out a few mind-numbing, repetitive dailies to satisfy the devs’ sadistic whims, in exchange for pitiful token rewards that weren’t even enough to fill the cracks in your teeth. Dylin, who had raged at such systems in his past life, felt the burn of recognition deep in his soul.
And now, in another world… he was being subjected to weekly rotations again?
And that wasn’t even the worst of it. There was a calendar icon in the top-right corner of the panel. When he clicked it open, it got even more painfully familiar.
A Sign-in Sheet.
Day One Sign-In Reward: Blindness Potion.
No. Nooo. It’s too much. It’s too strong. This is the exact same energy. I’m gonna be sick.
…And seriously, another flashbang? Can’t they switch it up for once? What was he even supposed to do with so many flashbangs?
Dylin stared miserably at the colorless Alchemy Potion he had just received, mentally conjuring a ridiculous image: a golden-haired loli about to get captured on the battlefield, flinging flashbangs wildly at enemies in a panic.
Come to think of it, how much does a flashbang go for on the open market in Coleman City?
He’d never really paid attention to the city’s demand for alchemical goods.
Dailies gave half a chip, weeklies gave two chips… by his calculations, he could “pull” five and a half times per week. Two weeks would let him complete a 10-pull and a few extras.
That miserly, piece-by-piece approach where you’re given slivers and told to build the whole thing yourself?
So familiar. Too familiar.
Even with religious daily and weekly completion, you only got thirteen pulls every two weeks. Looked like a little, and it was a little.
You needed 150 pulls to hit hard pity. And the base rates didn’t go up the longer you pulled.
That meant, without enough chips, you could dump pull after pull and come up completely empty.
And don’t forget—this was a limited-time UP banner. When it was over, it was over. Even if you had an AE86, you wouldn’t catch up.
Still, the meager daily and weekly earnings weren’t the only way to earn chips. For example…
Dylin’s gaze landed on a line highlighted in red below the daily and weekly entries—clearly intended to grab attention:
[Limited-Time Trial: Win First Place in the Freshman Crown Tournament] – Reward: 50 Chips
Fifty chips—equivalent to nearly two and a half months’ worth of dailies and weeklies. The difficulty was equally staggering.
Win the Freshman Crown Tournament? As if that’s easy.
At this point, Dylin’s goal was just to avoid getting expelled. Now they wanted him to take the championship?
That was one hell of a leap.
Better to focus on the present. No point in hoping for miracles.
Dylin sighed.
The Avid Reader daily didn’t actually require one to read exhaustively. All he had to do was use Divine Analysis to parse ten books at once—it was basically just going through the motions.
As for Trial Run… that was a bit tougher. He had to kill one magical beast in Coleman Forest—any beast, any level, just as long as it was a kill.
Seeing the half-chip added to his account calmed him a bit.
Hey, even a mosquito has meat, right? A little was better than nothing. Even if all he got were flashbangs, he’d accept it. After all, his only two hopes for escaping this wretched state were:
One: the Divine Awakening.
Two: the Golden Butterfly’s Gacha Pool.
Dylin leaned toward the latter. Truthfully, the term “Divine Awakening” left him confused… even afraid.
He wasn’t a natural-born Divine Maiden, nor a native of this world. What locals saw as sacred and profound, he viewed only as unknown.
He came from a world without magic or martial energy—this was all new and alien to him. It would take time to adjust.
Moreover, everything he was doing now was just temporary. He didn’t really believe he could undergo some miraculous transformation into a Divine Maiden and proudly stand on the tournament stage.
As his thoughts wandered, Dylin—chin in palm—failed to notice three girls entering from outside the reading room, each graceful as spring blossoms. Their pointed ears quietly proclaimed their identity.
***
As the trio of Elf girls entered the grand library, they immediately drew attention. In the quiet space, chairs scraped and books thumped as heads turned.
But none of this seemed to faze them. It was clear they were used to this—used to being the center of attention no matter where they went.
Maybe… they even thought it was only natural?
Had it not been for a familiar glint of silver, Dylin wouldn’t have even noticed them.
He subconsciously looked toward that familiar figure. And just as he did, that figure, sensing something, looked back at him.
Their eyes met mid-air for half a second before both turned away with uncanny synchronicity.
The difference was—the silver-haired Elf girl looked away in haste, as though afraid to be caught staring. Dylin, meanwhile, waited calmly for her gaze to shift before coolly looking elsewhere.
Princess Astrid possessed a kind of magnetism—one so powerful it could even sway other women. For men, resistance was futile.
No man had ever “survived” her allure. It was born from her noble race and divine bloodline, a charm emanating from her very bones—and since her Divine Awakening, it had only grown stronger, becoming irresistible to mortals.
Put simply, countless female students had fallen for her. Male students? Even more.
Astrid was the most popular girl in Coleman Academy. Who knew how many rabid fans she had?
Dylin had been the first male to witness her post-awakening form. Logically, someone who had seen that kind of beauty up close for a whole month, as a teammate no less, should have become deeply obsessed—maybe even a bit of a “fallen dog.”
And yet… even he didn’t know why, but today, upon seeing Astrid, his heart felt oddly… calm.
In the past, knowing that someone of her stature was out of reach, he would’ve deliberately avoided her. Even at school, he’d take alternate routes just to dodge awkwardness. He tried not to care—but deep down, he failed.
Had he truly let go, his reaction upon seeing her again would’ve been casual—maybe a polite nod, a familiar smile.
But now, seeing Astrid again, Dylin was shocked by how completely unbothered he felt. As though it were just another passing moment, nothing worth fixating on. If she greeted him, he’d smile politely. If not, he’d just keep reading, as though nothing happened.
He savored that feeling.
It was, perhaps, like losing interest in something that once captivated you.
While emotions and people weren’t “objects,” it was the closest analogy Dylin could think of.
He didn’t know why it happened.
Come to think of it, Astrid had been a loli before she awakened, and afterward, she became this soul-stirring Elf maiden overnight.
What would Teresa look like after her own Divine Awakening?
That thought made Dylin glance at Astrid again, trying to mentally simulate what his own transformation might look like based on her example.
So focused was he, he completely missed the fact that the three Elf girls had drawn much closer to him.
“Ahem. Hey, classmate, it’s a bit rude to stare at people constantly—especially when you’re less than ten meters away,” said an unfamiliar girl’s voice, snapping Dylin from his reverie.
“Hm?” He looked up to see a stunning Elf girl with beige hair and fair skin, lightly rapping on his desk. She bent forward slightly, and Dylin finally realized he’d been staring—lost in thought.
“Apologies,” Dylin said, quickly averting his gaze and apologizing to Astrid and her two companions.
Astrid lowered her head, hands clasped together in silence, like a stranger.
“Know your limits,” said the beige-haired Elf meaningfully, casting Dylin a final glance before pulling Astrid and the other girl away.
“Know your limits”... In other words: “Don’t overestimate yourself.”
Dylin didn’t take the comment to heart. His mind was elsewhere—occupied with thoughts of Divine Awakening.
“Your Highness Astrid... that boy, he was your former Divine Child, correct?” the beige-haired Elf finally asked once they were out of earshot.
“Mm,” Astrid nodded. Sunlight filtered through the wooden window lattices, illuminating her silver hair like moonlight against the night sky.
The beige-haired Elf said nothing more. To her, that boy had seemed completely ordinary—unremarkable even among human Divine Children.
But she held her tongue. She didn’t want to earn her princess’s displeasure.
She could tell her princess… still hadn’t let go.
But that was fine.
Astrid was still young. She hadn’t met many men beyond that one human. That was why she kept looking back.
Once she met a few High Elf gentlemen, she’d surely change her mind.
The beige-haired Elf was certain of it.