Chapter 44

Direct meetings between Constellations and players are restricted.

As the Tower itself prohibits it, it could be said that artificial meetings are completely impossible.

But Constellations are NPCs before they are Constellations.

Since they are already active as NPCs in the Tower, they can naturally meet players.

Just that they can’t reveal their identity.

They can subtly provide help. In ways like revealing important information or giving discounts on product prices.

I too had vaguely imagined that such a moment would come someday.

But I didn’t think that moment would come so quickly.

“Hello?”

“Welcome. Welcome to the used bookstore.”

“Used bookstore?”

Haemi’s eyes widen at the words ‘used bookstore’, and she looks around.

Why do they all have the same reaction when they hear the words ‘used bookstore’?

“It’s like a library.”

Haemi murmured quietly, taking in the books filled around her.

Since she said it’s like a library, it seems she’s speaking quietly because of that.

“You can talk normally. This isn’t a library. As you can see, there are no customers either.”

“A used bookstore in the Tower, it’s kind of fascinating.”

Are the Tower and a used bookstore that incompatible as words?

I don’t understand why everyone’s reaction is so similar.

“What do you sell in a used bookstore?”

“Used books.”

“Eh? No, that’s… ah? That’s right.”

I laugh at the sight of her flailing her arms in confusion.

“I sell used skill books.”

“Aren’t skill books one-time use?”

Haemi asks as carefully as possible. I laugh again at that small consideration.

I grab my beret that’s slipping down and answer.

“I wonder? Skill books are books after all. Books aren’t one-time use, are they? There’s a unique taste to reading them again.”

I put a bookmark in the book I was reading. Then I close the book and say:

“If you look at it solely for the purpose of obtaining skills, this is clearly just disposable.”

A convenient tool that allows you to acquire skills with a simple click.

That’s how it would be defined.

That’s why it’s perceived as a disposable item that serves its purpose once used.

“But if you look at it as a book, it’s different. Books can be savored multiple times.”

It’s enjoyable to read a book without any information.

Reading without prior information and encountering new stories and new characters is exciting and happy.

But that doesn’t mean the joy of repeated reading disappears.

There’s a certain joy in viewing something already knowing the information.

It feels like checking answers with an interpretation guide, figuring out why certain words were said, why certain actions were taken.

The joy felt when the lines become clearer and those lines mesh together to become one is indescribable.

“The subtle difference in taste that changes as you savor it is the charm of multiple readings.”

“But do skill books have content to speak of?”

I stared intently at Haemi who uttered those words.

She then withdraws her neck like a frightened turtle and crouches her body.

I was momentarily heated but managed to hold back. I commended my own patience.

Well, Haemi hasn’t even opened a skill book yet, let alone properly seen one.

I think she can be like that.

“Skill books are books too. Of course they have content.”

“Is it like a workbook concept?”

I gently pressed my index finger against Haemi’s lips, who was asking questions.

I quietly took in Haemi’s face seen up close.

A smile naturally spreads at the face I’m encountering after a long time.

There’s a flower called Coastal Aster. That flower grows on sunny rock faces or sloped areas. It has white or light purple colors.

Looking at Haemi reminds me of that flower.

Getting closer, it felt like the gentle and clean scent of Coastal Aster was spreading.

Like the flower language of Coastal Aster, “waiting,” I’ve waited for so long.

“This seems like it will be a long conversation, why don’t we sit down and talk?”

I guided Haemi to a chair as I spoke.

Haemi nodded blankly with an expression as if she was enchanted by something.

I tilted my head at the incomprehensible response.

Haemi then shook her head from side to side and sat in the chair as if nothing happened.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“Yes, anything is fine with me.”

Haemi’s gaze turns to the coffee machine placed behind.

Then she blurts out hurriedly.

“Oh? Then money… wait a moment.”

“It’s free.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“It’s just instant coffee anyway. If you were to give money, I’d gratefully accept it though.”

“Ah.”

She nods with an understanding expression.

“But don’t worry. I’m confident in making instant coffee.”

“Does it require that much skill to make coffee?”

My movements momentarily stopped at Haemi’s words.

Because a conversation I had with someone came to mind.

“I think the coffee made by Master is the tastiest. Do you have some other technique?”

“Does making coffee require skill? You just make it.”

“Is that so? That’s strange. Why does this coffee taste sweeter to me than other coffees?”

“That’s because I put in a lot of sugar. You like sweet things, don’t you?”

“It must be because Master caters to my taste.”

I smiled faintly and started making coffee again.

The clattering sound echoed briefly in the used bookstore.

I placed the coffee in front of Haemi and said:

“There’s no such thing. It’s just something people say.”

“Ah, thank you.”

After sipping the hot coffee, her eyes widen again.

“It’s delicious. Why does it taste sweeter than other coffees?”

“I put in quite a bit of sugar.”

“I like sweet things. Maybe that’s why it tastes more delicious to me.”

“I’m glad you find it delicious.”

I’m glad you haven’t changed. I’m glad to find parts of you that are similar to back then.

I smile broadly and drink coffee.

The coffee aroma filling my mouth was especially sweet.

“You asked earlier if skill books are like workbooks, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Skill books are closer to literature like novels rather than workbooks.”

Haemi tilts her head as if she doesn’t understand.

“In the world you originally lived in, there probably wasn’t a concept of magic power. Right?”

It’s a fact I already know, but I’m an NPC belonging to the Tower. It’s right to ask as if I didn’t know such things.

“That’s right.”

“It would be more accurate to view skill books as diaries containing the process of how skills were created.”

They’re diaries written by people from another dimension.

In the early days, most skill books in the Tower were skill books made by beings from other dimensions in this way.

As a result, they might have felt like essays to people of that dimension, but to those unfamiliar with such things, they look like novels.

“That’s why I say they’re similar to novels.”

For those who have just entered the Tower, those who have just encountered magic power, they would be no different from fantasy novels.

As time passes and the Tower stabilizes, as it originally was, the Tower will start producing skill books.

Then those skill books would be perceived similar to essays.

“In the end, it’s a difference in perception.”

There may be differences between the two genres, but ultimately, what one feels differs from person to person.

Strictly speaking, it would be like an essay that feels like a novel.

“Can I read one too?”

“Of course.”

Haemi stood up and reached for a book.

However, there was a flash as if static electricity was occurring, and she quickly withdrew her hand.

Shaking her hand as if it stung, Haemi turned to me and said:

“Um, it says I don’t have access permission.”

Ah, right.

Since this is the first customer, I forgot.

Come to think of it, she probably won’t be able to read many of the books here.

“Wait a moment. You might feel dizzy, so would you close your eyes?”

“What? Yes, alright.”

I can see Haemi with her eyes tightly shut. There’s no need to close them that tightly.

Well, it probably doesn’t matter.

Let me focus on what I need to do.

I quietly gathered my breath and slowly opened my eyes.

As I opened my eyes, the structure of the used bookstore came into view at once.

I adjusted the structure by folding it this way and that, as if doing origami.

Finding an ideal form, I fold the space accordingly.

I deeply hide those things that shouldn’t be revealed now. It’s not a simple concept like installing a door.

It’s hiding it in a space one dimension below. This way, space is saved and there’s no chance of accidental exposure.

Origami itself is an art that transcends dimensions.

It expresses a two-dimensional, flat existence by elevating it to three dimensions.

It creates something wider and more diverse with limited space.

I quietly recite a poem and continuously imagine images in my mind.

Like spreading a sheet of paper on the endless ripples of space, I fold the world.

The first crease is the sky, capturing the blue breath and folding up the story of the wind.

The second crease is the earth, folding the solid ground as softly as a feather.

The third crease is the heart, launching emotions buried deep as a paper airplane.

Before I know it, the dimension thins and the paper holds a new world.

Stories where hundreds of universes are born and disappear with each fold.

The paper airplane soars into the sky, and the paper crane lands back on the ground.

The work gradually finishes.

When I opened my eyes again, the used bookstore had transformed into a completely different space.