Part 33: Our fate is in your hands.
Music: Theme of Highland Village
Daylight has arrived in Highland Village. The Former Vampire Evil King's home is still present, and we can go inside and speak to him, if we wish.
But I'm relieved 'cuz I won't be punished despite losing.
Back outside, for the first time in awhile, the villagers are enjoying their day after a good night's sleep.
I expect everything will be fine from now on.A Little Weary Guy: Huh? Why?
Man Staring at Sky: But it never came, last night. The dream of ecstasy, ah...
I guess all sorts of people exist.
Skinny Young Man: I didn't hear it at all. I wonder what happened?
Permit my hazard into your plight. Once life sucked, now 'tis alright?
At this point, I went back through the world and spoke to every NPC. No dialog has been updated since the last time I did this, before we entered the desert.
While I was at it, I bought the K of Clubs, Epros' best weapon (excepting the A of Spades, Dad's compatibility gift), from the Rashelo store.
In Highland Village, a bridge has appeared beside the broken tower we saw before.
Throwing caution to the wind, we cross the bridge.
Music: Utopia Corridor
At last, we're on the path to the World Library.
This unnamed pathway (I call it the Utopia Corridor, after its BGM) has no ghosts or treasure. It's simply the final piece of the world we must pass before we reach Beiloune.
Along the way we pass a Stone Circle which saw the last of its usefulness many years ago.
As we crest a hill, we can see the World Library in the distance.
At last we arrive at the edge of the world: the World Library.
In Beiloune's domain, we have less to fear. He will be wary lest we harm what he holds dear. With haste! Head below as night the time draws near!
I will give him the punishment that he deserves!
"Friendship Bond" was surrounded by light and upgraded!
Mmm, it's this again! The last time it flashed, the power seemed to increase. Did it happen again? Well, we can always try it out. Let's go slave, to meet Beiloune!
And so... The boy and the king enter the Library.
Music: World Library
At last, we've arrived in Okage: Shadow King's final dungeon: the World Library. This dungeon is an enormous labyrinth, which can easily occupy you for well over an hour, even if you know what you're doing.
A lot of people really hate this dungeon, but it's probably my favorite in the game. I dunno why, maybe because it's so different from all the others.
A man is here to greet us.
Hmm, you're a human. Not a ghost. You can't fight.Man With a Still Gaze: We record the "classification" that influences the world, by listing them in the classification list. This is a library. And we are just clerks. Mere helpless workers.
The classification list! The mechanism for Beiloune's world order is written here!?Man With a Still Gaze: That's right. We know your situation, too. Our fate is in your hands. I know you want to hurry. This place consists of 3 buildings: a center, an east and a west wing. It's pretty big. Some doors require keys to go through. I recommend just proceeding without being in haste. Beiloune won't run away.
As the man said, a slow pace is the best way to tackle the World Library. Slowly exploring the maze of bookshelves and trying to fill in the map is the simplest way to keep yourself making progress. If you don't know where to go, the answer is normally to go to the part of the map that hasn't been explored yet.
As we explore, we're accosted by numerous powerful foes. The Sucky Bats from the Vampire Evil King battle and the Masterless Swords from the Phantom Evil King battle can be encountered here.
There's something worth noting about the Masterless Swords. They have a small chance to drop a Q of Hearts, a weapon for Epros which inreases his attack by 15 points and his luck by 10. Masterless Swords are the only way to get the Q of Hearts, and for awhile people thought it could only be obtained during the Phantom Evil King boss battle. It doesn't increase his attack by as much as the K of Clubs and A of Spades do, but the +10 luck boost can be good if you're trying to find rare drops (such as the Q of Hearts. Ha ha)
We also have to deal with Mortal Moons and Radiant Suns, which can output tons of damage and inflict various curses.
There are also Flaming Rockmen and Cursed Paintings. The Cursed Paintings are normally covered in shadow because of the World Library's weird lighting, but sometimes their horrifying faces show themselves.
And last but not least, we have the extremely dangerous Bad Poetry Golem, who may have the greatest name of all ordinary enemies. As you can see in the above screenshot, he hits hard, as do the Radiant Suns. This is probably the single most dangerous enemy group in the game.
The Bad Poetry Golem can also use Snatch 100,000, which I thankfully did not have an opportunity to grab a screenshot of. Like other Snatch skills, it steals 100,000 sukel from us and flees.
When you're face to face with a Bad Poetry Golem, the best decision is to run away.
Speaking of, I don't believe I ever showed escaping from battle before. Everyone has their own fleeing animation (I really like how Ari comically drags Stan along), though Epros is the only character who shows shame at having to flee.
While we're talking about battles, the Friendship Bond has reached its max level, and Ari can now use Friendly Inferno! Stan fires lasers out of his eyes and ruins the enemy's day.
There are two important things you need to know in order to conquer the World Library
1) Before entering, buy a ton of Wild Strawberries (restores 25 LP) and Guidance Jewels (warp to dungeon entrance)
2) Head east first
And so, we head east.
Along the way, we find a large green door that cannot be opened. As the man at the entrance said, some doors in the Library require keys. There are four types of doors: Red, Green, Blue, and Purple.
Not far from the green door, we find a long hallway to the east and travel down it.
And we arrive in the east wing of the World Library. (Or Floor: East, I guess.)
First we explore the northern end of the east wing, passing a purple door along the way.
We find a treasure chest containing a Defense Candy. All the treasure chests in the World Library are worth getting, and mostly contain candy.
We head south after that, and find a chest containing Lucky Candy
And we return to the north after being lost in the maze of shelves for awhile.
We pass another man along the way.
Vapid Classifying Secretary: I am not allowed to do anything else. Have you ever met people like us? A man who never listens to others and calls others whatever he likes. He was always thinking of a simple way to overthrow Beiloune's rules, but not the torturous way of Pollack. Then he made his decision and ran away from this Library. I wonder how he is doing... I hope he's alive.
I'm not sure, but I think he's talking about the Tiny Gear guy. That guy called us whatever he liked, didn't listen to us, and mentioned the Library in one of his lines of dialog.
In an adjacent room, we come across a red treasure chest containing a Garnet Key.
With the Garnet Key in our inventory, we're now able to unlock red doors.
Using our new Garnet Key, we proceed into the southern side of the east wing.
And we quickly find our way back to the central building.
Shortly after entering, we find a green chest containg an Emerald Key.
Of course, we can now open green doors.
And with that, we find ourselved back in the central building. The east wing is complete aside from one treasure chest we can't get yet. Now it's time for us to tackle the west wing...
Make me laugh, boy! What's the best you can come up with?
What is
Is a fly
Yes... toll, please
without wings
Go on... a walk?
Da ha! That will do nicely! A little childish but great imagery. You'll get better as we go along. Don't worry. Now, let's go! Observe my preemptive assault!
Concept art of the World Library.