Science and Technology Library - Chapter 1

Lightning lit up the rain as though it were a curtain through the transparent windows. The unending  rain drove away the sultry heat as it turned this new season just a bit cooler.

Chen Mo looked through the bookshelves of the library. His eyes continually searched for a specific book.

As he turned the corner to go down another row, Chen Mo felt a sudden pain around his nose accompanied by a light fragrance. A feminine smell entered his nostrils, which left Chen Mo slightly stunned.

Covering his nose, he took a few steps back. Chen Mo could now clearly see that he had walked into a girl.

Jet black hair, a simple low ponytail, and two dragon whiskers styledbangs in front of her forehead all combine to give off the appearance of a gentle and elegant temperament. A white T-shirt paired with ultra-short jeans,  exposed her long legs which made people who looked at her get a feeling as if they just took a breath of fresh air, it was truly a sight that one would never tire of seeing.

Her eyes were bright and soft, and her skin was a fair white. He wouldn’t say that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

But she was the most pretty and delicate.

These were Chen Mo’s first thoughts.

Realizing that he was just staring at her like a statue, Chen Mo hurriedly said, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” the girl rubbed her forehead as she smiled at Chen Mo before she turned away.

Looking at the girl’s back, Chen Mo rubbed his still aching nose, he could still smell a hint of her fragrance lingering in the air, which made Chen Mo involuntarily continue thinking about her.

Chen Mo shook his head to clear his thoughts before he continued to look for the book he came to the library for.  It wasn’t long before he saw the girl again.

They looked at each other with a smile and passed by each other without speaking. The pleasant, lingering fragrance made Chen Mo look back at her again.

Boom!

A massive crack of thunder and lightning  exploded over the library, accompanied by intermittent screams from the occupants of the library.

The girl was also shocked by the sudden loud noise, while Chen Mo felt his heart leap and he drew his neck back involuntarily.

Just as the screams  were starting to soften the sound of a loud crash came from  the bookshelf next to them.

Chen Mo’s pupils shrank as he noticed that the bookshelf closest to the girl had begun to slowly fall towards her.

“Be careful!”

Is all Chen Mo said before he rushed towards the girl.

Bang!

Chen Mo felt as though he had been struck over the head. He quickly pulled the girl into his arms to protect her as he fell forward,  Once again his nostrils were flooded with the familiar scent of her.

“Someone knocked down the bookshelf…”

“There are some students stuck under the bookshelf. Come and help.”

“Call an ambulance.”

…

Chen Mo’s head throbbed with pain, everything felt blurred and his world spun as though he were in a trance.

Before he lost consciousness, he still heard the noise of people rushing around  the library.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Mo began to regain consciousness  bit by bit.

As soon as Chen Mo woke up, his eyes landed on a set of gold gates hundreds of meters in front of him. All kinds of obscure words and symbols on the gate covered the whole entrance, they were thick and unreadable. In Chen Mo’s eyes, it seemed very strange.

‘Didn’t a bookshelf hit me?’

Where am I?

Is it a dead end?

Several questions circled around within his mind. Chen Mo stared at the door for a long moment before he reached out. As soon as he touched the gate it suddenly opened, he was blinded by the burst of white light that seemed to pour out endlessly.

Chen Mo only managed to look around once the light was gone.

He found himself standing at the epicenter of endless layers of bookshelves, each one reaching hundreds of meters in height with no visible end to the amount in sight. Each bookshelf held a wide assortment of books, their varying degrees of thickness fluctuating like waves of smoke.

Looking at the sea of bookshelves Chen Mo’s eyes glazed over, he felt like an ant who had wandered into the center of an enormous library and got lost.

Where was this place? Is this a library of hell or a library of heaven?

Could it be possible that if you were killed in a library, you would appear in the library of heaven?

Chen Mo sadly thought to himself after regaining his senses as he looked out across the vast library. Not even a library for giants would need to be this big.

“Is there anyone home?”

Chen Mo called out softly, but he didn’t get a response.

“Hello? Anyone?” Emboldened, Chen Mo shouted through the library with an even louder voice.

“Anyone? Anybody?”

There was still no response, only his echo as it faded into the distance. His eyes drifted towards the center of the library, there stood an ordinary mahogany table with a book placed on its surface. The thick cover of the book was a dull, dark red. On closer inspection he found that it was a formula, symbols and letters were arranged in a sophisticated, dark pattern.

There were five gilded words printed on the cover of the book: Science and Technology Library.

This was a library of science and technology?

Chen Mo hesitated for a second but still found himself opening the book to the title page. It was blank.

Chen Mo hummed to himself as he looked around since he still wanted to explore. A beam of light fell from above into the library and a figure appeared in the open space behind him.

An old man who wore a gray robe had gray hair, a wrinkled face, and eyes full of wisdom light. The fellow’s smiling face was  friendly and kind in appearance, just like the stereotypical grandfather from next door.

“Hello, old man, what is this place?” Chen Mo asked hesitantly. This old man didn’t look like a bad man.

“Isn’t it written? You are a lucky kid ” the old man said as he smiled at Chen Mo.

“The Science and Technology Library?” Chen Mo pointed at the cover of the book.

“Yes, there are countless civilizations worth of technologies recorded within this library, which is why it is called the Science and Technology Library.” The old man looked behind him towards the endless bookshelves.

Chen Mo hesitated for only a moment before he decided to walk over to a bookshelf. After seeing the book titles listed on the bookshelf, his eyes flashed with wonder.

“Quantum Portals”, “Superalloys”, “Gene Editing and Human Augmentation”, “Artificial Intelligence”, “Hyper Dimensionality”, “Antimatter Extraction Technology”, “God-Particle Stability and User Application”, “Human Potential Development Agent”, “Superpower Techniques and Awakening Methods”.

The bookshelves as high as 100 meters contained all kinds of technical books. They covered everything from physics, chemistry, biology, computer, mathematics, information, medicine, military, and other high-tech fields.

Here, every book represented a type of technology. Any technology he saw here if developed and turned into reality would be able to earn both endless fame and wealth.

‘How much science and technology was covered in the Science and Technology Library?‘ Chen Mo wondered in shock as he turned to look at the endless library.

After mentally returning to the situation at hand, Chen Mo reached for a book, but instead of touching a firm cover all that welcomed him was emptiness. He realized that these bookshelves did not seem to be in his time and space and therefore could not be touched.

After a few more attempts to grab them, he bitterly only caught the air.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t touch the bookshelves. He could only walk through them.

“Old man, am I dreaming? Why can’t I get any of these books?”

Chen Mo laughed bitterly. There was literally a mountain of gold in front of him, and yet he could only look at it, not take it—the furthest distance in this world was often the smallest.

“It’s not a dream child.” The old man pointed to the dark red book on the desk: “Write your name within its pages and you will become the new owner of the Science and Technology Library.”

Chen returned to the desk, hesitated for a few seconds, then picked up the black feather pen beside the book. He wrote his name on the blank title page.

Just as he finished writing down his name, the handwriting flashed with a golden light, then dimmed as though it was never there.

“Chen Mo.”

A loud voice sounded over the library. Chen Mo couldn’t help himself and looked up but found nothing there.

“No need to look for the voice. The library is just verifying your identity.” Seeing Chen Mo’s confused appearance, the old man smiled. “From now on, you are the owner of the library.”

The old man’s words made Chen Mo smile. This could truly be a real adventure for him.

“What should I call you, old man?” asked Chen Mo.

“I’m the Supervisor of the Science and Technology Library. I don’t have a name. You can call me the Supervisor, or whatever you like.” The old man looked at Chen Mo with a satisfied expression.

“How could I do that? You are the administrator here. You must read a lot. There was once a book I liked to read. You look like Shu in the book. I’ll call you Shu Lao.”

“I wasn’t expecting to get a name,” the old man chuckled, “whatever you want.”

“Shu Lao, I am the owner of the library now. Can I get a book?” Chen Mo couldn’t wait to get to a bookshelf.

“You may try.” Shu Lao said with a smile.

Chen Mo grabbed the bookshelf with his hand, but it passed through it just like before. His face became depressed.

“Why can’t I get these books?”

“Your authority is not high enough.” Shu Lao shook his head. “You have only just become the library owner, your authority is currently that of a  [Trainee]. What you were reaching for is high-level technology, you can’t access it yet.”

“That means I can at least get the lower-level technology?” Chen Mo immediately got the point.

“Yes, your permission is [Trainee]. Every month, you can randomly pick a book that is at the [Trainee] level. Since we have just begun and you haven’t picked anything yet, you can choose one book. ”

“How do I know which books are  at the [Trainee] levels?”

“In the book, read for yourself.” Shu Lao pointed to the dark red book on the desk.