Lucian sat on the couch, arms crossed, staring at the ceiling. His eyes had a vacant look as if his soul had left his body. Neo, lounging nearby, smirked as he scrolled through his phone.
"You know, Big Bro, at this point, you should just get a job or find a girlfriend. Pick one."
Lucian slowly turned his head toward Neo, his face completely expressionless. "I invoke my right to remain silent."
Neo burst into laughter. "Again? You've been using that excuse for days now! C'mon, do something productive."
Lucian groaned, slumping deeper into the couch. "I tried joining a guild, but let's be real—who would accept me? I'm like a walking red flag."
"Oh, definitely. You'd probably get them wiped out on the first mission," Neo teased.
Lucian waved him off. "Blah, blah, blah."
As if on cue, the book suddenly vibrated on his desk. Its pages flipped open by themselves, and words formed in glowing script.
Weak. Feeble. Weak-minded. Have you become this pathetic?
Lucian sat up straight. "The hell are you talking about?! And how the hell are you talking?!"
The book didn't respond directly. Instead, more words appeared.
You have unlocked the first piece of the Training Chapter.
Lucian blinked. "Wait, what? Training? What do you mean training?"
Open me.
Lucian hesitated, then reached for the book. The moment he flipped it open, a bright light flooded the room, momentarily blinding him.
"What the—?!"
Neo, hearing the commotion, barged in. "Big Bro, what's going—" He froze, staring at Lucian holding the glowing book. "Wait… wait… are you… are you reading?"
Lucian looked up. "What?"
Neo pointed at the book, eyes wide. "YOU. ARE. READING. A BOOK. That thing looks older than time itself!"
Lucian groaned. "Language."
Neo smirked. "Alright, alright. But seriously, what's happening?"
Lucian sighed. "I have no idea."
Neo crossed his arms, grinning. "You know what? This book needs a name. I'm calling it… 'Booked.'"
Lucian chuckled. "Booked? Really? That's the best you've got?"
"Yup. Booked. Anyway, have fun with your ancient tome. I'm out." Neo left, closing the door behind him.
Lucian sighed, then turned back to the book. More text appeared.
Choose a training focus: Strength or Mana.
Lucian frowned. "That's it? Only two options?"
You have only unlocked the first piece. Stop complaining. Now choose.
Lucian squinted at the pages, rubbing his chin. "Both."
You can train both, but only if you sign a contract. You must complete 10 quests within a month.
Lucian thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Fine. Deal."
The book glowed, and a contract formed on the page. Lucian placed his hand on it, sealing the pact. Then, his eyes widened as more text appeared.
First task: Carry a 300kg boulder across the city.
Lucian's jaw dropped. "What kind of nonsense—?!"
And so began his training.
—
Day 1: Lucian tried to lift the boulder. He fell flat on his face.
Day 3: He managed to lift it an inch before collapsing.
Day 7: He dragged it a few feet, muttering curses.
Day 12: He finally got it across town, drenched in sweat.
—
"This is hell," Lucian wheezed, collapsing on the couch.
Neo walked by, eating chips. "Wow, you actually finished a quest? Good job, Big Bro. Proud of you."
Lucian groaned. "Shut up."
The book flipped open again.
Next task: Sprint 50km with weights on.
Lucian stared at the text. "...I hate this book."
—
Days passed. Lucian struggled, training relentlessly. He lifted, ran, dodged, fought illusions, and even meditated. Every day, he collapsed, exhausted. But slowly, he noticed progress. His strength grew, his mana expanded, his reflexes sharpened.
One day, after completing a particularly brutal challenge, he opened the book to check his stats. His eyes widened. His strength and mana had increased significantly.
"Holy… it's actually working."
The book vibrated again.
Final training: Combat Trial.
Lucian narrowed his eyes. "Combat? With who?"
A ripple in the air. Then—
A familiar, composed voice.
"Sir, I am at your service."
Lucian turned and saw the butler standing there, expression unreadable.
Lucian smirked. "Perfect. Let's see how strong I've gotten."
The butler bowed. "As you wish."
With a flicker of movement, the battle began. Lucian lunged, mana flaring. The butler dodged effortlessly, countering with lightning-fast strikes. Lucian barely kept up, his newfound strength pushing him beyond his limits. Each clash sent shockwaves through the air. but even after training that hard , he couldn't properly attack butler but even he has gotten stronger, he was happy thrilled, excited
Lucian grinned through the exhaustion. "Finally… a real fight."
The training had paid off.
And this was only the beginning. And he would have his revenge on that world ,soon after the fight he felt the book calling in the pocket dimension and he summoned it and flipped it and the saw the thing he wanted to read
[Quest: goof,act stupid, around people U know ]
[Quest finished]
When Lucian first saw this quest, he was baffled and cursed the creator of this damn book but what piqued his interest was the reward for the quest ...
To be continued