Chapter 4: My Room Is...

401. 402. 403.

Ah. Here it is.

Room 404.

After unlocking the door with my Guild Card, I enter the room. Inside, a breathtaking scene bathes my eyes in its warm embrace.

Luxury. Every inch of the room oozes luxury.

The floor is covered in a thick gray carpet. The furniture is carved out of expensive looking hardwood. The walls are furnished with one of a kind art. Hundreds of magic stone lamps cast everything in the glow of a brilliant spring morning.

If I had to describe the room in one word I would say, “25-million-dollar-penthouse-condominium”. In all the languages of every civilization in the universe, there is no other word that can describe the scene better.

Moving on. I’m sure this comes as a surprise to no one, but I’ve never set foot in a multi-million dollar room.

In my previous life, I lived in my family home until I graduated from high school. After that, I moved to a micro studio apartment while I attended university.

My family home was a single story house, located out in the middle of nowhere. And, my micro studio apartment was no bigger than 100 square feet, including the bathroom.

In this life, I wasn’t any better off.

No, I take that back. In this life, I was much worse off.

At the orphanage, I lived in a room that was barely larger than my cramped straw mattress.

When I stood up straight, my head touched the ceiling, and in order to lie down I had to curl up into a ball. But, I shouldn’t complain. After all, I was one of the lucky ones.

Even if my room was a converted closet, I still had a room all to myself. The rest of the orphans were forced to sleep together on the cold stone floor of the cafeteria, where the temperature often fell below freezing during the winter.

Enough reminiscing. I’m going to take this opportunity to pretend I’m filthy rich.

“Ah, you’re here to greet me at the door? You’re so kind. Here’s 10,000 dollars for your trouble.”

“Yes, I would like to take a bath. But, this time make sure the coins are 100 percent gold. Bathing in the ones that are only 99.98 percent pure, makes my skin break out.”

After living out my delusions for half an hour (don’t judge me), I take off my shoes and begin to explore the room.

A short hallway leads from the entryway to the main portion of the room. On the left side of the hallway is a half open door.

Savoring the soft sensation of the carpet between my toes, I pad over to the door and push it open.

Inside is a bathroom, but not just any bathroom. This bathroom is the King… No, Emperor of all bathrooms.

It has a sink with running water, a jet tub big enough to bathe a horse, and a stand up shower. But, the most important fixture in the bathroom, the one that shines with the brilliance of a thousand suns is the toilet. A real, honest to goodness, flush toilet.

Oh, flush toilet, how I’ve missed ye. It’s been a lifetime since last we met.

That’s right. It’s literally been a lifetime since I last saw a flush toilet.

For the last 16 years of my life, I’ve been what’s commonly known as, a pit pooper.

It’s not like I had a choice, okay? At the orphanage, the only toilet we had was a chair with a hole in the seat that was suspended over a pit. Thankfully, the seat was well secured, otherwise more people would have fallen in.

In this world, pit toilets are the norm. In fact, I didn’t know they had flush toilets until I saw this one.

I guess there’s stuff that even I don’t know. Who would have thought.

After admiring the good ol’ porcelain privy, for more time than I’d like to admit, I turn and examine the rest of the room.

Both the jet tub and shower have hot water, courtesy of several Magic Stone Powered Devices or MSPDs embedded within them.

How do I know they contain MSPDs? That would be because of the big ‘M’ badge plastered across their handles.

Branding is universal, regardless of which world you live in.

MSPDs are mechanical devices that are able to execute a set sequence of magic. They can execute this sequence continuously or on demand depending on how they are configured.

An example of a continuously active MSPD is a magic stone lamp, where the magic sequence runs continuously to produce light.

An example of an on demand MSPD is a flush toilet, where the magic sequence is triggered to create water on demand.

As their name suggests, MSPDs run on Magic Stones. The Magic Stones act like batteries, providing magical energy to the devices until they are depleted of magic.

MSPDs can be used for an infinite number of different tasks, which are limited only by the boundaries of magic. However, the MSPDs used in this bathroom are relatively simple, executing sequences that create water, heat it up, and increase its pressure.

While this might seem like basic magic, MSPDs are extremely valuable. Even the cheapest MSPDs costs more than most of the Empire’s citizens make in a year.

In general, only the wealthiest individuals can afford to buy MSPDs. But, even then they usually don’t buy more than a few.

I’ve never heard of a person having more than a couple in a single building, let alone three in a single room. But, this is the Adventurer Guild we are talking about, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

After exploring the entire bathroom, I make my way to the main portion of the room. As soon as I enter, my eyes are immediately drawn to the bed.

I jump up and down (involuntarily mind you), waving my arms around excitedly.

A real bed. An honest to goodness, real bed.

Am I overreacting?

Maybe. But, I spent the last 16 years of my life sleeping on a prickly straw mattress, so I believe a little celebrating is in order.

After several minutes, I tear my eyes away from the bed and glance around the rest of the room.

On the opposite side of the room is a large desk, surrounded on both sides by two large bookcases. The bookcases are filled to bursting with books of all shapes and sizes, some of which appear to be on the verge of toppling over.

Thanks to the power of MSPDs, books aren’t rare in this world. Legend has it that the person who invented the first MSPD that could copy text, created it because hand copying 50,000 word “terms of service” documents was too labor intensive.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful that I wasn’t reincarnated into a world without books. But, after listening to someone read me a “terms of service” document for three hours, I feel slightly conflicted.

In the center of the room is a plush looking ottoman, covered in soft looking fabric the same color as the carpet. Beyond the ottoman is a heavy black curtain which covers the entirety of the far wall.

Curious, I rush over to the curtain and yank it back.

Light floods into the room, and I have to close my eyes while they adjust to the brightness.

When I open my eyes again, I see that the entire wall is a single massive window.

Beyond the window is a grassy field, filled with wildflowers of all colors. A hawk circles lazily overhead in clear blue sky, and in the distance a wall of mountains reach up towards the heavens.

A window? A field? Aren’t I supposed to be deep underground?

Also, wasn’t it evening when I arrived at the Guild? How is it mid day outside?

Wait. Don’t tell me. Is this, a television?

A television? In this world?

I guess after seeing the flush toilet, nothing should surprise me.

A small silver plate, embedded in the wall on the right side of the window, catches my eye.

Above the plate is a small placard with text etched into it.

At the top of the plaque is the ‘M’ badge that every MSPD comes with, and below that is a description of what the device is and how to use it.

The description reads as follows:

Magic Stone Window

This is a prototype Magic Device that can display one of several preset scenes.

In order to change the displayed scene, simply tap your Guild Card on the Magic Plate below. To turn the device off, cover it with the provided curtain.

Warning: This product is a prototype and is still in the testing phase. While the number of fatalities caused by this device has been kept reasonably low, it has not been certified for general use.

In order to avoid serious injury or death, it is advised that you follow the following guidelines while using this product.

Always handle the device with the utmost delicacy.

Never leave the product running unattended.

Only use Premium Magic Stones to power the device.

If the product is damaged, do not turn it on. Instead, contact a certified technician to conduct a repair.

After, hurriedly covering the Magic Window with the “provided curtain” to turn it off, I remove my leather carry bag from my shoulders and dump its contents out onto the desk. The orphanage’s director gave me the leather bag as a gift for my sixteenth birthday, and I’ve been using it to carry around all of my worldly possessions ever since.

Guild Card. Check.

Coin pouch. Check.

Adventure Guild Recruitment Pamphlet. Check.

One worn white tunic. Check.

One pair of dark brown trousers. Check.

Two pairs of undershorts. Check.

Two pairs of socks. Check.

Once I’ve verified that everything is there, I grab a change of clothes and head off to take my first proper bath since I died.

After I finish bathing, I put on my change of clothes and turn towards the bed.

Visuals confirmed. Target acquired. Locked on.

I leap into the air and land on the soft comfortable mattress. Once there, I do what any self respecting adult would do. I jump up and down on the mattress until I collapse from exhaustion.

What about the people on the floor below me?

Who cares.

It’s been 16 years since I last slept in a proper bed. Let me have a little fun.

Once I’m thoroughly exhausted, I pick up my Guild Card from the desk and examine it. This is the first time I’ve taken a good look at it, since I received it from Samantha earlier in the evening.

The card is about the size of a credit card and made out of some sort of metal. Etched into the card is my name, title, date of birth, height, weight and eye color, followed by my rank, which is currently F, and the number of quests I’ve successfully completed, which is 0.

On the back of the card, in the top right hand corner, is the Adventurer Guild’s logo. The logo is made from some other kind of material that changes color depending on which direction the light hits it from. Kind of like one of those security features they put on paper money.

Below the logo is my room number, then the rest of the card is blank.

So, I’m finally an adventurer?

Adventuring and death. Those two things go together like shoyu and rice.

Am I anxious? Definitely. I mean, who wouldn’t be.

But, I’m also excited. Excited to go eat something, because I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.

Wait, what? I mean, I’m excited to get out there and prove to the world, I am more than a little hungry.

I am more than my little hungry.

I am more than my hungry.

I am an Adventurer, and I am more than my title.

There. I said it. Now, I’m going to go get something to eat.

As I prepare myself for the trek back up to the Guild’s canteen, there’s a knock on my door.

“Hey, Sage,” Samantha calls through the door. “Are you in there?”