Just like that, I was allowed to leave our general history class early. Of course, I could tell that the teacher was keeping her eyes on me as I made my way out of the door... But I still couldn't figure out why she's so keen on "watching" me.
'She's not a part of the Batch Zero Operatives, is she...?'
If she was and has the same meddlesome attribute as Ophelia, then I guess her actions are quite normal...
"Anyway," I shrugged, stretching my arms a bit as I paced down the hallway. "I've suddenly got over an hour of free time... My next subject's still two hours away..."
Of course, now that I got some extra free time, I didn't plan on wasting it idling around. Without a hint of hesitation, I made my way towards the library.
After all, right now, I'm as clueless as an isekai'd protagonist dropped in a mysterious world. Although I did learn a few things thanks to the books that Koori made me read, that's just a small part of the "common sense" that I need to learn first and foremost.
Thus, the trip to the library.
There, I should be able to access public information that's available to everyone.
It took me about a ten-minute walk to reach the library, and to my shock... it wasn't filled with books but rather, completely empty other than a large array of tables and chairs. Not a single paperback book could be seen.
"No, wait..."
Noticing that everyone present had a VR visor covering their eyes, with their hands waving around half-randomly from my perspective... I realized that this library was simply in a "different" phase than physical—everything was virtual!
As soon as I realized this, I hurried to a vacant table, with nobody nearby, and sat down. I then tapped the middle of the table, "waking" it up from sleep. The next moment, the same transition as back in the classroom happened.
Darkness enveloped my vision as the VR visor appeared before slowly changing, revealing the "real" look of the library.
"Woah..."
And to my surprise, the library wasn't as bleak as it looked from the outside.
The "virtual" side of the library was filled with floating books, advertisements, recommendations, and even a specialized corner for students of specific courses. They practically had everything that I'd ever think I'd need in here, all of them a digital copy!
"Let's see..."
Since I wasn't here to read a specific book anyway, I started with whatever was on the recommendations. I checked the first one, skimmed through it... or at least intended to, but my NSC worked so fast I "memorized" it's entire content in that short moment.
What I read was...
"A romance novel? In a fucking school library...?"
And it wasn't the "light" ones either, but full-on smut at that! What the heck are they even recommending within school premises?! And now, I can't even remove it from inside my head!
"Ugh..." I groaned, letting go of that book and carefully choosing the next one.
This time, I chose something that was remotely connected to my course at least. The "500-Year History of Computer Operating Systems." The title itself caught my interest quickly, so I didn't hesitate and read it carefully from start to end.
This one was quite informative... Starting from the decline of the most famous OS, Doors OS, after they tried to add too many restrictions to their latest kernel.
Those who were used to Doors OS had no choice but to use their bloated OS full of "legal" spyware, of course. Some were brave enough to switch to Circlux, while those brain-dead ones stuck to their favorite brand no matter what, the Kachintush.
But then, by the beginning of the 2030s—just as users were getting fed up with Doors OS—a new OS came to life. It was something that replaced most OSes as soon as it got out, able to support apps from other OSes without problems, running them with little to no lags or overheads from virtualization—the TwinOS.
Of course, the main feature of TwinOS wasn't just that it was easy to use and replaced the Door OS's bloatware-filled kernel. Rather, it was because the TwinOS isn't technically an OS but rather a pair of AIs creating a self-evolving OS.
The advent of the first-ever Adversarial, bottom-up, General AI.
More than replacing the OSes around itself and making enemies of large companies, the advent of TwinOS is like a punch to the gut to the entire scientific community. After all, at that time, a true bottom-up AI was still deemed impossible to achieve in the truest sense.
However, the existence of TwinOS itself, where the two AIs exist as desktop sprites, managers, and support, couldn't be denied. Furthermore, the OS's core itself was open-source, so anyone tech-savvy enough could gain access to it.
Thus, the advent of new AI-ruled OSes began to spread... Though, none were as successful as TwinOS in their implementation. Even Doors OS failed to adapt and could only scratch their heads while trying to file lawsuits against the mysterious creator of TwinOS.
"Oh? I see another enthusiast here~!"
"Hmm?"
And just as I was getting into the story of TwinOS, a voice brought me back to reality. I blinked a few times before I realized that across from me sat a man, smiling cockily as if he just found his soulmate.
"Hey, bro. You must be a TwinOS user, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't read that heretical book~!"
"Heretical?"
I raised a brow at the man's words and double-checked the label. It was only then that I noticed several small tags attached to the book—one of which was "heretical," just as he claimed.
"..."
I wasn't sure what was heretical about this book, though...? Maybe it's something I'll read later on in the book...?
"Hehe, it's rare to see other TwinOS users!" The man grinned further, extending a hand over. "I'm Henry Kunnit, a sophomore from the Computer Engineering Department!"
He was so proactive that my hand moved by itself, taking his hand and shaking it. "I'm Neil Chronos... History Department."
"History! Damn, that's sick!" He gasped exaggeratedly. "So that's why you're reading this book then?"
"Well... the title looked interesting, so..."
He suddenly crossed his arm, nodding firmly multiple times. "Yeah... I feel you, man..." He said. "I'm a TwinOS Supremacist myself, and this book is my top recommendation for starting-out users!"
"Uhuh..."
"You don't look convinced, man..." He suddenly stood up, smiling wider than before. "Then, how about coming with me to check out my TwinOS setup~? I bet you'll find it cool!"
Hearing his offer, I paused for a moment.
Although there's a nagging thought in my head about "following strangers," I slowly nodded my head.
"Lead the way then."
In the end... Curiosity won.