"So this is the world of the genjutsu game? It truly is marvelous. This overwhelming sense of realism—so different from any illusion I've seen before."
"Though it relies on the power of the Sharingan, Kei-kun, to be able to create such a genjutsu... you really are a genius not inferior to Lord Second Hokage Tobirama."
Gazing at the boundless grasslands before him, Orochimaru marveled at the vividness of this world.
Uchiha Kei stood beside him, smiling without answering.
Because, in truth, they weren't inside the genjutsu game. They were within the illusory domain of the mental network—specifically, in the game development software Kei had constructed there: "My World."
It wasn't that Kei was giving Orochimaru special treatment—he had only just unlocked this new functionality.
How did he acquire it? Remember the mission panel in the game system? After a three-day cooldown, a new mission had been issued.
It wasn't anything complicated: gather 100,000 players, generate a certain amount of emotional value, and earn fifty million ryō in sales.
The sales and emotional value targets were achieved almost immediately. The genjutsu game was expensive, and the shinobi world's emotional output was immense.
The 100,000-player requirement, however, was trickier. The shinobi world's population was limited, and for most civilians, the price of the genjutsu game made it a luxury. Unless offered for free, they would never play it.
To solve that, Kei had advocated for the establishment of arcade centers.
Even so, the genjutsu game's production cost remained high. Sealing scrolls weren't very durable—they wore out after limited use.
Why was playing in arcades so expensive? Because the cost was high.
Still, hourly pricing had drawn many ordinary folks from wealthier towns into the arcades, allowing Kei to reach the 100,000-player milestone.
Once the mission was complete, the system upgraded the mental network based on Kei's chosen tech path. With it came Mental Network Level 3—granting Kei the ability to pull others directly into the mental network world.
And that was just one of its many new functions. Combined with the Sharingan, it opened up countless possibilities.
In fact, Orochimaru wasn't the first person Kei had brought in—Kikyo and Uchiha Naori were. They helped Kei test the effects, and after confirming it worked, he invited Orochimaru.
One doesn't talk to someone like Orochimaru unprepared.
At that moment, Kei opened the admin panel, controlled it with his thoughts, and selected the module list.
This module list was part of the new upgrade—an extensive library of resources injected into the mental network by the system, which Kei integrated into "My World."
Soon, he found a module called "The Great Library" and deployed it.
Before Orochimaru's astonished eyes, a massive and majestic building emerged.
Its architecture was completely alien to the shinobi world—built from unknown, unified stone materials, adorned with fine glass and elegant details. To Orochimaru, it looked more like a work of art—a brilliant testament to wisdom and civilization.
As a seeker of knowledge, Orochimaru was deeply attuned to such things. A brief glance was enough for him to recognize the immense wisdom and value the structure embodied. He was momentarily spellbound.
"A building like this... could only exist in a world of illusion."
He spoke with heartfelt wonder.
Kei shook his head. "No. In fact, this could be built in the real world too. All the necessary techniques exist in the shinobi world. It's just that no one has ever gathered the resources and effort to construct such a monument to knowledge."
Orochimaru blinked, stunned. He looked at Kei with disbelief. After all, no one understood how dysfunctional the shinobi world was better than they did.
Kei didn't explain further. He walked toward the library doors and called back, "Come, Orochimaru-dono. Step inside, and you'll understand what a true ocean of knowledge looks like—what a real temple of truth is."
"Once you witness the wisdom contained within, you'll know whether I was lying."
Orochimaru hesitated briefly, then followed. He glanced up at the localized nameplate on the library's entrance.
"The Great Library... A place for storing books? Interesting. In a genjutsu world like this, even if books exist, how many could there really be? Could they exceed even Kei-kun's own knowledge?"
He muttered to himself. His curiosity was fully ignited—along with an inexplicable excitement.
It was the obsession of a truth-seeker facing the unknown.
Perhaps the real reason he willingly entered Kei's genjutsu without resistance was that, through their exchanges, Orochimaru recognized Kei as a kindred spirit.
To someone like Orochimaru—a mad scientist—finding an intellectual equal was more trustworthy than any bribe or bond. That was why, despite avoiding the genjutsu game entirely before, he accepted Kei's "invitation."
It was the trust born from recognizing a true kindred spirit.
And that trust paid off—when Orochimaru and Kei stepped inside, they saw row upon row of neatly arranged shelves and countless books, all rewritten into the localized script of the shinobi world.
These books were categorized and shelved accordingly, with labeled sections: philosophy, religion, politics, law, military, economics, science, education, literature, arts, and more—volumes beyond what the shinobi world could ever hope to produce.
Even from the perspective of a 21st-century modern human, the library was fully stocked. Except for sensitive political materials filtered by the system, everything found in a modern national library was included in this MOD.
To avoid complications, Kei had preemptively filtered out historical and cultural content—too messy to explain.
Still, the number of books was staggering. Orochimaru's golden snake eyes quaked with disbelief.
"These... these are... Kei-kun, are these books all real?"
His gaze burned with longing, filled with tension and hope. He desperately didn't want them to be fake.
Kei smiled, raised his right hand, and books floated off the shelves, drawn by an invisible force, circling him in the air.
He nodded to Orochimaru, signaling him to help himself.
Orochimaru turned toward the floating books, eyes locking on one titled "High School Physics." He grabbed it and opened it.
In an instant, his attention was fully captured. Though he couldn't understand all of it, as the top scientist of the shinobi world, he had solid foundations. Even what he didn't fully grasp—he recognized as real. All he needed was to learn the basics first.
He set the book down and quickly found one titled "Middle School Physics." That one, he understood.
The books were structured perfectly—starting simple and gradually becoming complex, full of illustrations and examples, as if worried the reader might be too dense. These weren't the intentionally convoluted modern textbooks that made self-study impossible.
For Orochimaru, these books were perfect. Given time, he could digest all of it. Nothing here was beyond his comprehension.
That was exactly why he got hooked.
He dove into the ocean of knowledge, utterly absorbed, forgetting Kei's presence entirely.
Kei, smiling faintly, said nothing. He quietly left, leaving the space to Orochimaru.
The only sounds left were Orochimaru flipping pages and muttering in excitement:
"So that's how it works..."
"I see! I understand now!"
"Amazing! This solution is brilliant!"
Time passed unnoticed. Three hours later, Kei returned. Orochimaru was still engrossed, lost in the knowledge.
Kei simply snapped his fingers. The books in Orochimaru's hands and scattered on the floor all "refreshed," flying back to the shelves.
Orochimaru froze. Then he erupted.
"The books! Where are the books?! Give them back! I still need to read! Return the books to me!"
At that moment, he radiated an ominous aura, his hair disheveled, looking like a man cursed by knowledge—completely unhinged.