"Birds fly...because they want to."

The angel-esque young man before me appeared a little stunned by my answer. He froze in mid-air, somehow still levitating even though his wings had stopped flapping. After a while, he finally came back to his senses.

"Birds fly because they want to...what an interesting answer," he remarked. "I expected you to say something about them having wings, or the fact that they needed to search for food, but...looks likes I was right after all. You are indeed special."

"Special? Nah," I scoffed. "I'm just saying whatever fits in line with my own philosophy. Birds fly because they want to - and I am the same. Call it selfish. Call it immature. But in order to achieve the goal that I want, I am willing to do whatever it takes."

"But wouldn't a world where all suffering and pain is gone be the ideal?" the angel continued. "Your philosophy is indeed interesting, but in a perfect world, all sadness will be gone - including the burning hatred I see within your eyes."

I scoffed. "A world where all suffering and pain is removed, huh...but at what cost? Humans are naturally evil creatures, to some degree. In order to completely remove suffering and pain from the world, you must purge all evil thoughts from everyone's minds - essentially brainwashing them. But doing so would also remove other emotions."

I crossed my arms. "So you tell me, Mr. Angel - is a life without suffering and pain worth it, at the cost of choice, hope, and joy?"

Shocked once more by my flawless argument, the angel descended back on the ground. "...You are certainly a pragmatist."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I replied with a smug grin. "No offense, but screw your ideals."

But instead of getting pissed off like I assumed he would, the angelic young man smiled. "I see. You are indeed special, young man."

Then, turning around, he began flapping his wings once more, ascending into the air. And right before he dematerialized in a blinding white light, he murmured a few words.

"Birds fly because they want to...huh."

"Wait! You still haven't told me who you ar-" I began, but it was too late. He was already gone.

And then, a door suddenly appeared in front of me, where the man used to be.

What...?

With nothing better to do, I stepped forward, and pushed open the door. On the other side, was another portal. I frowned, and entered it.

A bright flash ensued, and when it dimmed away, I found myself in a brand new room - much like Floor 1 of the Library of Infinite Beginnings. Bookshelves were neatly stationed everywhere, and the door I just passed through clanked shut gently behind me.

Wait...is this...Floor 2?!

To check, I immediately pulled out my library card. Indeed - magically, the clearance level on it had been somehow changed from 1 to 2.

What the hell happened...? I didn't even fight anything!

I immediately turned around and pulled open the door I had just came through, expecting another portal. but instead, now, it just functioned like a normal door. On the other side were the girls, surprised to suddenly see me pop out there. To them, it must've looked like my head suddenly appearing out of a portal...but since I already 'passed' this level, I couldn't see the portal anymore. I'm guessing it was the same for anyone else who had already passed. Obviously, those who didn't scan the card on the scanner couldn't enter the portal, as only one person could enter at a time.

It was a weird mechanism - but then again, these Gatekeeper tests were never meant to be taken in a large group like ours anyway.

"Wha...Xuan Kai?" Feng Mian murmured hesitantly.

"Uh...hi?" I waved a little, before stepping through and closing the door behind me.

"Wait, did you beat it? The Gatekeeper," Yu An Yan asked.

I scratched my hair. "Er...it's complicated. I'll explain more later, but for now, you all can go ahead and give it a shot."

The girls looked at me curiously, but didn't pry.

"Um...okay," Feng Mian took a deep breath. "I'll go, then."

And with that, she swiped her library card on the device beside the door, and stepped through the portal. Of course, I couldn't see it, so to me, it just seemed like she just phased straight through the door, but...oh well.

I doubted that man was the Gatekeeper. After all, I didn't even have to fight him. He must've let me pass on purpose for some reason, after asking me those weird and random questions.

But if that's the case, then...was he some kind of high-ranking administrator of this library? Who else could just let me freely pass a level like that?

I decided to ask the old lady receptionist later, after all the girls had finished their run.

Good luck, Feng Mian.

*****

- Inside the Portal -

(Feng Mian's Perspective)

After a blinding flash of white light that surrounded me completely, I found myself within a space-themed arena of sorts. The ground below me was transparent, but I could feel I was still standing on solid ground. In front of me was a boar - yes, the animal: a literal boar. Not only that, but it appeared to be sleeping at the moment.

Wait...this thing is the Gatekeeper? That easy? Really?

I raised my hand, and pointed it towards the sleeping boar. "Level One Ice Magic - Skewer of Ice."

A long and sharp ice shard appeared in my hand, and I shot it out at the boar with great force. The ice penetrated the poor animal's 'tough' hide instantly, and the creature spasmed a little before stopping all movements altogether.

Wait...is that it? No way, right? It was that easy?

The answer to my question was revealed as a door suddenly manifested in front of me, where the boar had just been. The dead boar's body was nowhere to be found. I stepped forward into the doorway, and pushed it open.

A familiar white light surrounded me, and when it dimmed away, I found myself on the other side of the door - the 2nd Floor of the Library of Infinite Beginnings.

At least, that's what I thought it was.

To confirm, I pulled out my library card, and saw that the clearance level noted on it had indeed been somehow magically changed from '1' to '2'. I could now officially access the 2nd floor of this place.

I looked around, and saw people reading books here and there, some browsing the shelves. A few of the male guests nearly dropped their jaw after seeing me, and I doubted that had anything to do with me suddenly appearing...but more so just my looks.

In any case, I quickly turned around and pushed open the door. I was met with the rest of the girls along with Xuan Kai. They weren't too surprised to see me, having already been through this once when Xuan Kai suddenly appeared through this door.

"You did it," Yu An Yan mused. "Congrats! How was the Gatekeeper?"

"Well...believe it or not, it was just a boar," I replied truthfully.

"A what?" Xuan Kai raised an eyebrow.

"A...boar," I repeated.

"Are you kidding me? A boar?! That's it?!" Xuan Kai continued, covering his face in shame. "Oh god, now I feel so stupid for worrying that we might die from this..."

"I-It's okay!" Qing Yue quickly said, cheering Xuan Kai up. "This is just the first floor, after all! No doubt, the Gatekeepers later on will be far tougher and more dangerous!"

"Man...I don't want to say 'I hope so', but really..." Xuan Kai muttered.

I giggled. "In any case, I've verified that this test is extremely easy. Who's going next?"

"I'll go next, I suppose," Yu An Yan said with a sigh. "I was kinda looking forward to a good fight, too...oh well, whatever."

*****

(Xuan Kai's Perspective)

After that, we repeated the same process with everyone else, and not even an hour later, all ten of us were finished. During this time, no one else attempted to come up the staircase to access the 2nd floor, surprisingly.

"Whew...all done!" Qing Yue exclaimed, stretching her arms.

"Qing Yue, how did you even beat the boar? You barely have any offensive power," I asked, genuinely curious.

"Heehee, it was easy! I used a speed boost spell on it, then taunted it to make it charge at me...and then finally, leapt out of the way. The boar slammed into some kind of solid surface behind me, and dropped down unconscious," Qing Yue explained.

"Unconscious? So you don't have to kill the Gatekeeper, just render it unable to keep fighting?" Yu An Yan guessed.

"I guess so," Feng Mian added with a shrug. "In any case, now that we're all Clearance Level 2 now...let's explore the 2nd floor. We still have quite a bit of time before lunch."

"Yeah, you guys do that...I have something I need to do real quick," I interrupted, much to the girls' dismay.

"What...? What thing?" Xiang Peng asked. "Oho...a secret date with someone we don't know about?"

I sent her a deadpan look. "Why do you always assume it's something sexual?"

Xiang Peng shrugged. "I don't know, man. You tell me, with all these girls around you."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I'll be done pretty quickly. I'll come find you guys."

With that, I turned around, and headed down the staircase.

Alrighty...let's ask the receptionist about that weird angel-like man and how he knows about my Chaos power...speaking of, did he appear for Mei Gui as well? She's pretty much a Chaos Elemental, no? The energy in her should be even more pure than the Chaos in me.

"Master, I shall accompany you," Mei Gui said, as if reading my mind. Actually, she probably could tell I was thinking about her, thanks to our psychic connection.

I nodded. "Alright."