New beginnings

If only there was more to life than the mundane day-to-day life working in an office. That is what Mio Aoki, a 27-year-old office worker, often hoped for. She would mostly spend her free time immersing herself in various fantasy novels as that was her only way of escaping the grueling desk work. She would often get distracted at work while fantasizing about being the protagonist of her own fantasy story.

One day Mio was stuck working overtime, because she made a mistake in her calculations while fantasizing about a cute companion animal she would have in a magical world. Finally, after 3AM, Mio got home to her small studio apartment with the only house decor being her bed and piles of various fantasy books. She walked over to her bed and threw herself on it, not even bothering to get under the covers. It only took a second for the exhaustion to hit her and she drifted to sleep.

But instead of waking up in her bed in the morning, she found herself in an empty white space with only a bookcase in front of her. The space was eerily quiet, and it felt like she was standing on nothing. Thinking this must just be a dream, she walked over to the bookcase. The bookcase was old-looking, but still in good condition. She started looking at the beautifully decorated spines on the books while reading the names.

“Sylvarune...Nivaros...Caelmyra...” She then picked up one of the books titled “Verdelore”. It was a book with amazing looking greenery on the cover, while the spine of the book looked like a tree. When she opened the book, a bright light blinded her and when she was able to see again, she was standing in the middle of a forest. It didn’t even seem like a dream anymore. She could feel the soft breeze on her skin, feel the heat from the sun, and feel the soft mossy ground under her feet. “This feels too real to just be a dream.”

She tried to pinch herself to see if this was truly just a dream. But after feeling the pain from the pinch, she started to get excited. “Is this what I think it is?” Mio was thinking out loud, while smiling ear to ear. “Could I have been transported to another world?!”

“What just happened certainly seems like something straight out of a fantasy novel. But there was no god or goddess to give me a mission or tell me about the world I would transport to. In the first place, why did I get transported? It’s not like I got in an accident with a truck and was reincarnated, like in the fantasy novels I’ve read.”

“But then again, I’m not complaining, if this really is a fantasy world I can finally live out my endless fantasies. Also, I have a lot of knowledge from reading countless fantasy books, so I should be fine.” Mio looked around a bit to try and see if there were any fantasy-type elements around her. Mainly trying to see any unfamiliar fauna or greenery.

But before she could do that, she noticed that the clothes she was wearing were not the same ones she had on when she fell asleep. Instead of a jacket and a pencil skirt, she had on a wine-red-colored dress with some navy blue and brown accents. Instead of heels, she had on brown boots and dark stockings. And on her shoulders was a cape in the color of navy blue. After closer inspection, she still seemingly had her trusty old glasses on. Mio took a second to admire the new look.

After prancing around in her new outfit for a bit, she started looking at the trees and the bushes. It seemed like a typical forest back home and there were no animals to be seen. Mio started to think about all the fantasy novels she has read and started thinking, in what ways she could truly confirm if this was a fantasy world with magic “Since I am not seeing anything out of the ordinary, other than my outfit, maybe I should start with trying something commonly seen in anime and try to open a status screen of some sort. Or try to shout out magic commands.”

“I wonder, if this really is a fantasy world, will I be a hero who saves the world from a demon lord, or will I be the most powerful wizard of all time?” Mio was thinking gleefully.

“Status open.”

A blue transparent screen, with text written on it, appeared in front of Mio. She looked surprised and became even more excited. “It actually worked!”

“Let’s see...”

“...”

“I’m a librarian?!” Mio shouted in shock.

“What am I supposed to do as a librarian? Am I destined to live a boring life in here as well?” At this point Mio was on the ground on her knees with her face buried in her hands. “It’s all right, maybe I have something amazing like unlimited mana or inhuman strength.” She desperately began looking at her status once more.

“Name: Mio Aoki
Race: Human     Age: 17
Job: Librarian     Level 1

HP: 150/150
MP: 50/50
Attack: 1
Defense: 1
Agility: 1
Magic attack: 1
Magic defense: 1

Skills:

Multilingual Mastery – Fluent in ancient, modern and lost languages; able to decipher Zhaloric (passive)
Grimoire Whisperer – Can calm and communicate with sentient books. (passive)
Dimensional Shelving – The ability to store books in pocket dimension.
Cursed lines detection – Identifies and neutralizes hexes or curses literature. To use, chant: Vireth nal”

“Well, this doesn’t seem completely hopeless. Maybe I can easily level up by reading a bunch of books. And after leveling up a bunch, I could go on adventuring. Maybe even encounter someone in need and jump in to save them, becoming a hero in their eyes.” Mio had an amazing talent being able to see things optimistically even in hopeless situations. Even at her job, co-workers were always surprised how she could stay so optimistic while also thinking realistically. But with that mindset she was able to perform well even when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. Thanks to that, she was given a promotion when the company bounced back, after sealing a deal with a major company.

“But hold on a minute, since when have I been 17?!”

Mio rushed to find some sort of reflection to see herself in. She managed to find a small pond close by. When she looked in the water, she was surprised to see that she had indeed gotten younger and even her hair and eyes had changed color. From the previously black hair and brown eyes, her hair was now fiery red in color and her eyes beautiful emerald-green. Now she was really able to see the full look of her new outfit. The dress had a beautiful embroidery design at the neckline, which she wasn’t able to see earlier. Also, her hair was now on a regular ponytail instead of being in a bun like she had it before going to bed. She hadn’t realized this earlier, as she was so focused on the new clothes she had on. She also had a braid going to the ponytail on the sides of her head. Mio smiled at her reflection. “Now it finally feels like I have been given a new life in a fantasy world.”

“Well now that that is over with, I should start thinking about where I am and how I can get to a town before nightfall.” After unsuccessfully trying all kinds of commands to show her a map of the world or any kind of information about her whereabouts, Mio decided to set off on her journey towards the unknown.