Haven Online

Never once in his whole entire life did Melting Snow ever disdain his short stature, but as he peered up at the glowing orange book that was perched on the topmost shelf of the towering bookcase, he was beginning to.

Melting Snow could only bemoan the situation he was in because there was a literal gleaming book that held all sorts of hidden secrets just a few feet away. It was figuratively calling out to him to look inside of it, and he couldn't even reach it; how sad was that.

The smart move would be to retrace his steps and locate Drifting Cloud. He knew that he would be able to count on the green-haired man to think of a way to get the book down. 

But Melting Snow felt reluctant to do so. He had a strange feeling inside him that told him he would never be able to find the book again if he were to leave now.

If he only trusted one thing, it would always be his instincts; they were right about that conniving Rose Lily and the corpse hands in the Mormântul Lordului Nebun dungeon. So he knew that his best bet was to figure out how to get the book himself.

Furrowing his brow, Melting Snow stared at the bookcase thoughtfully. There had to be some way for him to be able to get up there, but how?

That's when it hit him, like a ton of bricks, and as the smile spread across his face, he finally understood that the best method was always the simplest. And in this case, it was climbing.

'Why didn't I think of it before,' Melting Snow pondered as his fingers made contact with the coarse brown wood of the bookshelf. 'It looks like it will be sturdy enough to hold me.' 

Cautiously as if to test the structure, Melting Snow began to climb slowly up the bookshelf, making sure that it could hold his weight. When he was convinced that it could, only then did he start to pick up his speed. 

Humming happily to himself as he scaled the bookcase, Melting Snow was inwardly gloating to himself about his cleverness when halfway up, he realized that he could have always just called Drifting Cloud to him using the party function. 

'All well, it is too late now.' he concluded as he continued to climb up the wooden bookshelf. 

At the pace he was going, it didn't take long before the orange tome was within his grasp. He just needed to climb only one more step, and it would be all his.

As soon as he snagged the book off the shelf, a blindingly bright grin flashed across Melting Snow's face, because as soon as his fingers brushed the book's cover, a familiar notification sounded in his ear.

[Quest Triggered!] 

"Yippie!" Melting Snow exclaimed, waving the book around excitedly, imagining the adventure that awaited him once he read it. 'I guess just being in the same proximity as Drifting Cloud will cause entertaining things to happen.'

Amused at that notion, Melting Snow clutched the book tightly to his chest, while gripping the shelf with his other hand. He was glad that this bookcase was as sturdy as he thought it would be, or he would have some trouble getting down. 

However, even before that thought could altogether leave his mind, the shelf he was stepping on let out a loud creak before collapsing from his weight. 'I guess I spoke too soon.'

As Melting Snow dangled by one arm 20 feet in the air, he flailed his legs, trying to reach the shelf below to steady himself. It never occurred to him in his panicked state that he could have just jumped down.

Before his feet could even reach the hardwood of the shelf to stabilize himself, the bookshelf began to wobble violently before, to his horror toppling over.

Surprised at the sudden shift of movement, Melting Snow's grip loosened, and the last thing he thought as the books rained down on him knocking him out was, 'I should have just called, Drifting Cloud.'

Boom!

~

Out of nowhere, Xinya was disturbed out of his readings by a loud deafening boom that echoed throughout the entire west wing of the library. Puzzled by what could have caused such a sound, he looked around for the source. 

It was only then that he realized that Melting Snow was nowhere to be seen. Knowing straight away that the boy had to be the cause of the commotion, Xinya leaped out of his seat and pulled up his map so he could use the party function to locate the boy in the library.

After finding the furry-eared boy's position, Xinya made sure to take a quick glance at the boy's health status to check if he was alright, only to be shocked that Melting Snow's health bar was yellow, meaning that he was in a stunned state.

'What could have happened!' Xinya thought as he followed the map, sprinting to where the boy was. 'I never heard of there ever being any monsters in the library.' 

While he ran through the forest of bookcases, he noticed that Pan Yingjie had somehow appeared out of nowhere next to him and was now running alongside him. 

Xinya found this a bit odd because even though the sound was loud, there was no way the man could have heard it from the central part of the library. 

However, he put that thought in the back of his head, for now, he was too worried about Melting Snow at the moment to be bothered by anything else.

Since they were running, It only took a couple of minutes before the two of them were skidding to a stop where the disaster took place.

~

Without even realizing it, Xinya let out a sharp, shocked intake of breath at the sight before him. He didn't think it was possible, but the scene was somehow fascinating in its horrificness.

One of the large bookcases had toppled over, but luckily it had been stopped from crashing to the ground by the bookshelf across from it. However, from what Xinya could see, this didn't stop the books falling out of the shelves, and from what he could tell, burying Melting Snow underneath them.

After giving a swift glance to the librarian, who seemed as if he would start steaming out of his ears at any moment, Xinya checked Melting Snow's health status once more.

Once he knew that the boy was alright, he let out a sigh of relief, before going over and digging him out. 'What did you get yourself into, puppy.'