I needed to find a way to sneak this book out of the library without getting caught.

  "Do you know how I can carry this creepy book out without anyone noticing?" I asked while staring at it.

  "Hey, 'creepy' is such a rude word, you know. Your mother happens to be one of the eight legendary Cursed Books! Shouldn't you be amazed and proud, my dear? And also, how long are you going to keep calling me 'you'? Call me Mom, okay? You have to! You just have to!" she pouted and started messing up my hair.

  "Alright, alright, fine! Just stop messing up my hair already, Mom. So... do you have any idea how we can sneak this amazing book out of here?" I asked, trying to get her to stop.

  Honestly, it felt a little embarrassing to call her Mom… but I had to admit, it wasn’t that bad.

  "Aww, you finally called me Mom! I’m so touched. Come here, sweetie, let me hug you just a bit longer!" She wrapped her arms around me and kept stroking my hair.

  "...Fine, do what you want. But Mom, we don’t have much time here. Just tell me how we can sneak out without alerting the door guards."

  "That’s easy, sweetie. Just kill them. Your amazing mother can instantly destroy any living creature she touches, remember?" she said proudly.

  "Yeah, no. That’s not an option. We’re inside the royal palace, the strongest fortress in the war against the demons. Killing even one guard might be easy, but once they realize one guards missing, we’d have the entire army on our backs. I can’t fight, and I don’t even have magic. If we’re going to escape, we need to plan this carefully and avoid any suspicion."

  I sighed and shook my head, then tucked the book inside my clothes and walked out, slightly hunched forward to hide the shape of the book bulging under my shirt.

  Turns out, I wasn’t caught. Or rather, the guard seemed like he didn’t even want to see me when I walked past him. I guess this is some kind of discrimination, but honestly, who cares? I won’t be staying here much longer anyway.

  I finally reached my room, closed the door, and continued my conversation with Mom... I mean, the book.

  “So other people really can’t see you, huh? Even when you're floating right in front of them. But how can you understand my language so well? We’ve been talking so smoothly this whole time,” I asked, curious.

  “That’s because I have a translation skill, sweetheart. It’s a rare one, but some beings are just born with it,” she replied, gently stroking my hair. “Every living being in this world has at least one skill and a status screen. You're the only one who doesn’t have any of that, my poor child.”

  Yeah... she really likes stroking my hair.

  After that, I started learning the basics. Letters, numbers, and simple phrases used in this world.

  Thankfully, this world only has one language, so I won’t have to study multiple ones.

  Time passed quickly as I focused on learning numbers, and before I knew it, the sun was already setting. Suddenly, I was startled by a knock at the door. It was a maid calling my name, it was time for dinner.

  I placed Mom. Uh, the book, under my pillow and quickly made my way to the dining room.

  As usual, Alice and the others were nearly done eating by the time I arrived.

  "Why are you always late, Bayu? You really need to be more disciplined with meal times," Alice said, pointing her fork at me like she was scolding a child.

  "Yeah, yeah, I won’t be late tomorrow. Also, maybe swallow your food first before talking, geez," I replied, sitting down slowly and grabbing a glass of water.

  Suddenly, the King began to speak. It seemed like he had been waiting for me to arrive before making an announcement. Alice and the others reacted with visible excitement, but I just quietly continued eating without a word. Once he finished talking, the King left the dining table without waiting for any response.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  I leaned toward Alice and said, "Can we talk for a bit in my room after this?" She nodded.

  Just as we were about to leave together, Jayden spoke up.

  "Don’t you think you’ve been asking Alice to talk alone a bit too often, Bayu? If there’s something you need to say, you can say it in front of the rest of us too. We were summoned here as a group, but you keep...."

  "This isn’t your business, Jayden," I cut him off coldly. "I just want to talk to Alice for a moment. That’s all."

  I stared at him, expressionless but firm.

  "Hey, don’t get mad, Bayu," Alice said, reaching out to touch my hand gently. "Jayden just wants us to stay united as a group. He doesn’t mean any harm."

  Lisa chimed in too, of course. "She’s right! Jayden didn’t say anything wrong. Why are you so upset?"

  Hah… I was so tired of this nonsense.

  "So, Alice, do you want to talk with me for a moment or not? If not, that’s fine. I’ll just go back to my room and sleep."

  I spoke in a low, cold tone, not even trying to hide my irritation.

  "Alright, let’s talk for a bit. Just… please don’t be mad," Alice agreed, her voice calm and slightly worried.

  Once we got to my room, I closed the door behind us and got straight to the point.

  "So, what exactly did the King say back there?"

  "Ah, you must’ve been too focused on your food to hear it," she said, half teasing. Then she explained.

  Starting tomorrow, each of us would receive training to better understand our class and abilities. Every Chosen would get their own instructor, and we’d all be trained in separate rooms. Training would begin at sunrise.

  "Thanks, Alice. I know I can always count on you," I said with a soft chuckle.

  "It’s nothing difficult, Bayu. We should help those who need help, right?" she smiled. "By the way, maybe after this, you could apologize to Jay...."

  "I won’t, Alice." I cut her off, still smiling, but my tone had turned cold.

  Her smile faded a little. She looked down, clearly disheartened.

  "...If there’s nothing else you want to ask, I think I’ll go back to my room now," she said quietly.

  "I don’t have anything else," I replied.

  I walked with her to the door, intending to accompany her back, but she stopped me.

  "It’s okay. I’ll go on my own," she said, and left.

  As Alice opened the door to leave, we were both surprised to find Jayden and Lisa standing right outside.

  "Hey Bayu, what did you do to make Alice look so sad? You should be ashamed, making your own girlfriend feel that way!" Jayden shouted, loud enough for the whole castle to hear.

  "Not loud enough, Jayden," I replied coldly, barely keeping my anger in check. "Shout a little louder, make sure the entire kingdom hears you."

  Alice quickly stepped between us, insisting that she was fine, then gently pulled them both away and led them to their rooms.

  "...Bastard," I muttered as I closed the door behind me. I pulled the book out from under my pillow and resumed my conversation with my ‘mother.’

  "My poor child," she whispered, pulling me into a hug and stroking my hair. "They’re picking on you on purpose, aren’t they, sweetie? Should we just kill them all?"

  "What he did was just cheap provocation. Normally, I’d ignore stuff like that... but with everything that's been going on, it’s really starting to wear me down. And worst of all..." I paused, gripping the book tighter. "I could feel it. That intense hatred coming from him. It was real."

  I let out a shaky breath.

  "What did I even do to deserve that? I’ve been holding it together, pretending everything’s fine when it’s not. I don’t have any magical powers. I still can’t fully understand the language of this world. I feel completely out of place here."

  I slumped onto the bed, resting the book against my chest.

  "...Since I was a kid, I’ve always had this… vague ability to sense emotions from living beings. Whether they’re angry, sad, happy, afraid, I could feel it. That’s probably the only reason I managed to survive where I came from... in the slums, in the most dangerous part of the country."

  "It's okay, my sweet child," she whispered softly. "You're not alone. Your mother is here, and I understand every emotion you're feeling right now. When you held this book, your emotions flowed into me. That’s why I’m the one who understands you best in this entire world."

  She continued hugging me, gently running her fingers through my hair.

  Damn it... I almost felt like crying.

  But I couldn’t afford to break down now. I had too many things I needed to do. I had to learn the basics about this world. And then, I had to get out of here.

  That night, I fell asleep hugging my mother. Yeah, maybe I was a little too old for that... but honestly, who cares? It felt warm. It felt safe.

  The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window and hit my face. I slowly opened my eyes.

  "Good morning, my dear. Are you feeling better?" my mother asked, floating directly in front of my face.

  "...Could you move back a little? You're way too close. And besides, if my emotions are connected to you, shouldn’t you already know how I feel?" I replied groggily, trying to gather my thoughts.

  Not long after, someone knocked on my door. A female servant entered and informed me it was time for breakfast.

  When I arrived at the dining room, I found myself completely alone. Alice wasn’t there. Neither were the others. Not even the king showed up.

  Well... at least they’re still feeding me.

  Even if every single person here looked at me like I was some sort of criminal.

  I glanced down at the food. Then I realized something, Damn... what if they poisoned it?

  What the hell am I supposed to do now?