Welcome Log ⬡ 02

[liburuzaina]

	Welcome to The Library! Welcome, everyone, to the Library! As you wander your way in, wake up at a desk, or descend an elevator, the library's ambiance is, well... the same as it always is. Comforting-but-not. Warm-but-cold. Empty-but-populated. And, as always, there are certain things going on that just might make settling in a little easier. Information Desk ⬡ Maps At the Information Desk, there will be a large stack of looseleaf graph paper and a surplus of pencils, to more easily enable anyone who wishes to draw their own map of the library. The pencils will only be able to write on blank paper given to characters by library activities, and not on any of the books. ⬡ Stationery Next to the graph paper, there will be a stack of blank notebooks and a haphazard pile of pens. The pens will only be able to write in the notebooks, on characters' personal belongings, and on skin. All three of these items are semi-limited; somehow characters will only be able to make one stack of items as tall as they are once they've been removed from the desk. Notebooks and pens will be provided in assorted colors in shades of blue, purple, white (and grey) and teal. Cafe Menu ⬡ Seasonal Menu ⬡ Slow-cooked Mac and Cheese ⬡ Butter Chicken ⬡ Apricot and Brie Stuffed Chicken Breast With Roasted Potatoes ⬡ Rainbow Vegetarian Pad Thai With Peanuts and Basil ⬡ Chocolate Cream Pie ⬡ Classic Cheesecake ⬡ Champagne Cupcakes ⬡ Moscato Cupcakes ⬡ Champagne ⬡ Mulled Wine ⬡ Irish Coffee ⬡ Chestnut Praline Latte ⬡ Usual Menu The Cafe menu will also showcase more typical cafe fare, from teas and coffees, to standard hot chocolates, to pastries, donuts, and sandwiches. The Search Bar will also bring up whatever else characters could possibly want. Sunrise Room ⬡ Seasonal Showings As always, movies playing at any given time are randomized, but this month there is a higher chance of movies playing with themes of new beginnings. First Floor Restrooms ⬡ Seasonal Showers This month, all complimentary toiletries will be either vanilla, blueberry pancake, or cedar scented. Ocean Floor 4 ⬡ Room 4575 Located in room 4575 on Ocean Floor 4 will be a large table with an inordinate amount of self-help books, revolving around themes of "New Year, New You" and "New Year’s Resolution Ideas And How To Achieve Each Of Them." Alongside the books will be a stack of worksheets, asking questions about characters' goals and "resolutions" - all appearing to be photocopied haphazardly from a different book entirely. It would appear as though the intent was for there to be a somewhat therapeutic book club meeting, focused on improving oneself. In practice, the room itself somehow has taken on a somewhat oppressive air, as though there's someone staring at you and judging your life choices, even if you're alone in the room.

Comments

[nocannobb]

Shang Qinghua will admit it without pressure: the second a guy who looks like he might beat you up for lunch money starts to loom over you, you immediately go for your wallet. It's just common sense! Anyone with any notions about standing up to the bully and saving the whole class is a short-sighted idiot with no sense of self-preservation. And this guy could not exude more gangster energy if he tried! Seriously, even the gold chain?! So when Ichiban seems to Loom, Shang Qinghua has a sudden attack of reflexes, but his hands are currently balled up in a pair of sweatpants that have clearly seen better days, so to to anyone else it just looks like the Shang Qinghua does a brief but incredibly animated jerky sweatpants dance in his seat until the big guy actually talks and...oh seems kind of nice actually? The fetal stirrings of terror vanish from his expression and instead he gives a slightly watery smile.

"Yeah, man, it's just..." He looks down at the sweatpants which, while clean, probably should be thrown away. He sniffles a tiny bit. "You get homesick, you know? It's nice to have a little slice of something normal."

Yes. Normal. Sweatpants are definitely normal for the guy dressed to the nines in cultivator robes. Any notions that Shang Qinghua might be some enlightened immortal are immediately banished when he opens his mouth to talk.

[victorytune]

"Oh," he says, surprised. "Yeah, I get how that is."

He's lost his home a few times now. Deaths, betrayals, all that jazz. He's just been determined to rebuild it every chance he can, finding all those little things that make you comfortable and pulling them close. He definitely gets it, although he doesn't get what about this situation is so comforting.

"It's a pretty normal library?"

Look at this confused look on his face, you might begin to suspect this man is a himbo.

[nocannobb]

The himbo is a well appreciated trope, and one Shang Qinghua is familiar with. They're always a nice addition to a cast, generally speaking. Personally, when it comes to big, imposing, well-muscled men, Shang Qinghua really prefers the silent and imperious type, which is why Mobei Jun had been his pet favorite OC -- not that that had worked out great for him when Mobei Jun had become, essentially, his demon gangster boss. Although a little more ragged in appearance, Ichiban seems to have a similar build, actually, and...right, right. Library, normal, sure. Shang Qinghua scrubs his eyes on his delicately embroidered sleeve and shoves the sweatpants back into his bag with an amused snort.

"Yeah, I guess, except for the freaky part where we were all transmigrated here with no explanation and there doesn't seem to be a single person who actually works here?" He's not being (too) sarcastic, it does kind of help with getting his brain around it to say it out loud. Even as an experienced transmigrator (having done it once counts as experience, okay!) this is pretty weird! He pauses for a moment, looking genuinely thoughtful, then flaps his hands out with a shrug and says, "Food's pretty good, though?"

Obviously, given the number of half-eaten snacks scattered around him in an alarming radius.

[victorytune]

"Trans... migrated?" He looks like a confused Labrador. He scratches at his beard, gaze drifting up towards the ceiling. "Kind of sounds like you know what you're talking about."

Transmigrate? What the hell does that even mean? Isn't that Buddhism? His brows furrow with that connection, because it only leads to one place:

"Are you saying you think we died?" He sounds kind of panicked and he starts patting himself down for bullet holes. It wouldn't be the first time he'd woken up in a strange place after being shot...

[nocannobb]

"Yeah, transmigrated, you know -- " Shang Qinghua makes a vague circling gesture with one finger. "Getting zapped from wherever you came from to another world. You know, like isekai?"

Hmmmm maybe he should stop there? He probably shouldn't seem too knowledgeable, his good old buddy Shen Qingqiu seems to think it's important that people don't know their deal. But it would probably be a good idea to get on this guy's good side, and information is pretty much the best currency there is, isn't it? Maybe he'd even feel a little indebted to Shang Qinghua just for giving him the low-down?

"Oh, uh -- I mean, not necessarily," Shang Qinghua says quickly as he registers Ichiban's alarm, waving his hands. "Death is definitely not a prerequisite for isekai! If you don't remember dying or anything like that, then you probably didn't. I mean, I don't! This time, anyway."

[victorytune]

"Oh, geeze..." Ichiban gives an enormous and relieved exhale, sagging visibly. "Last time I got shot I woke up in a trash can."

Last time I got shot sure is a statement to make. And apparently he survived, despite having his body dumped by the yakuza. Maybe he is someone to get in the good graces of? That's some serious plot armor.

"I thought... maybe I'm just bleeding out again and this whole Library thing was a hallucination as my life slipped away."

Wow that's colorful!

[nocannobb]

Yes, colorful is definitely a way to describe it. Shang Qinghua's eyes go wide at that because...that's pretty badass, okay, it really is! Color him impressed. Someone with such powerful plot armor...it just really makes you want to stick by his side, you know? Get to know each other, get to be good pals, so that you have the kind of friend who'll stand up for you when someone else threatens you with a beating, right? That's not totally selfish, there's nothing wrong with that, right?

Right!

"Damn," Shang Qinghua says, blinking, then shakes his head. "Nah, you're probably not dead, but either way, this is definitely not a hallucination. I mean, I'm definitely here. Besides, do I seem like the kind of thing you'd hallucinate?"

[victorytune]

"Yeah, you definitely are," he answers this with stone cold seriousness. "I imagine all kinds of stupid shit. The other guys in my party call it my gamer brain."

So you and your historically inaccurate costume are pretty much exactly up his alley. Also he just called his 'friends' his 'party'.

"But I'll take your word for it. Even if I am bleeding out somewhere, not sure there's a lot I can do about it." He rubs his chin, clearly trying to think what he would do. "Unless this is one of those manga where we're all dead, and this is a test to see what happens to our souls... "

You know the ones! He assumes.

[nocannobb]

Ahaha...testing souls, huh? If there's a judgment aspect to this whole Library deal, Shang Qinghua wants out, he's pretty sure that wouldn't turn out great for him...

Hold up though 'party'? This guy is a gamer?? Shang Qinghua blinks, his eyes still wide and his mouth open in a look of stupid delight. Yes! Not only is this guy the platonic ideal of a himbo, he's also a nerd!!

"Dude, you're a gamer? What do you play?" As for the hallucinations, though...well, yeah, if this guy plays video games, someone dressed like Shang Qinghua might be a perfectly reasonable hallucination. He rubs his chin. "Hm, yeah, I guess someone with cultivator powers probably fits right into your imagination, huh?"

[victorytune]

"Dragon Quest is my favorite franchise," and he is very proud of this fact. His smile is confident and self-assured in his absolute love for his childhood video game. "But I would take on any RPG. Before I went to jail, anyway."

A pained sigh. "I haven't played a video game since 2000...."

He was arrested on his birthday of New Year's Day 2001. Let's not get into it though, he has a burning question:

"What is a 'cult curator'?"

[nocannobb]

Jail?? Well, just a reminder that despite his himbo nature, this guy really is someone you don't want to fuck with. 

"Damn, dude, that sucks," Shang Qinghua says sympathetically. Because it does! He has some dim memories of playing one of the older Dragon Quest titles before the video game ban in China right around the same time, and he never could afford the expensive bootleg imports. It was all knockoffs and clones after that. Plus the decades he'd spent in Proud Immortal Demon Way... Anyway.

"Cultivator," he says, unsuccessfully trying to suppress a grin. He...wasn't going to go into the whole genre thing, but he's kind of already outed himself as a gamer and a second-time transmigrator, so it's a lost cause, right? "It's a xianxia thing, you know, ancient Chinese fantasy? Meditating in seclusion, forming your golden core, becoming an immortal master, flying around on swords, fighting monsters and demons, all that stuff. Check it out."

He holds out one hand and focuses his spiritual energy, forming a little ball of glowing light in his hand. Perfect, a chance to show off in front of Ichiban and show that he was cool and could be useful! "Pretty neat, huh? Spiritual cultivation. I'm kind of like a high-level mage, basically."

[victorytune]

Oh, some of that does sound familiar. Especially considering how much time he's spending in Yokohama with the Chinese population there. His buddy Zhao used to lead their Liumang, but uh... some shit happened. Small coup. No big deal. Ichi doesn't even quite formulate the thought of mentioning Zhao because he is immediately distracted by this 'spiritual cultivation'. He inhales audibly, his face lightning up with delight.

"That's awesome," he agrees enthusiastically. "Man, I knew that something supernatural had to be going on with this weird library, but I still wasn't expecting any of us to be mages."

Sometimes you can't quite get around to believing it until you see it, and he's so used to magic being all in his head. Speaking of,

"I've been imagining our host skills as magic..."

[nocannobb]

Aahh, when was the last time Shang Qinghua impressed someone?? The truth is that while he may have achieved immortal status, compared to his peers he's pretty mediocre...can't fight, cultivation kind of low for someone of his status... Everyone was always disappointed in him or annoyed by him, or even worse, just plain wanted to beat him up! But Ichiban is not only impressed, he's nice to Shang Qinghua, and a guy could get used to this kind of treatment, you know?

Gosh, what would it be like to have friends who didn't insult you or were all hung up over some trivial betrayal. Honestly, some people.

"Pretty awesome, yeah," Shang Qinghua grees, looking immensely pleased. He waves away the little ball of energy with his hand and gives Ichiban a quizzical look. "Host? What, you mean like...MCing, or something?"

[victorytune]

"Kind of a night club entertainer? You're responsible for keeping the table you're assigned full on food and drink, and spending time with them."

He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "It's not really the kind of thing I would have imagined myself doing, but the work agency can send you over when there's a staff shortage. I just think of keeping total strangers feeling like they're your most important friends a kind of magic trick, and you have all these boozy potions and restorative foods to keep them dazzled."

Maybe it makes sense now that he's explained it. What doesn't make sense is what kind of work agency sends over a 40 year old ex-yakuza to do host club work.