Ch.136We Will Not Be Defeated (6)

My future self takes something out of their pocket and tosses it with a thud.

A white, elongated rod-shaped object remains on the floor.

It’s a finger. Due to the lack of blood, I didn’t recognize it immediately, but it’s definitely human.

“What the hell.”

As I stand there dumbfounded, a mocking voice returns.

“Can you see it?”

I shook my head.

Now that the flow of the story has stopped, I can’t use the Librarian’s ability.

I have no way of knowing whose finger it is, of course.

But why is my body trembling?

As my future self asks “Huh?” questioningly, I remain frozen in place.

“Ah, I can’t see it.”

When I finally manage to open my mouth to answer, a voice that sounds like it might burst into tears at any moment flows out.

In a situation where I can’t properly obtain information, I have to rely on intuition.

And that intuition is telling me one terrifying fact.

Among the possibilities leading to the future. One of the vague endings I glimpsed.

My future Dabin approaches and lightly pats my shoulder.

“Then I’ll help you.”

Thud.

[S■AR■H ■ES■LT]

A sentence appears before my eyes, and the letters that seemed to be breaking for a moment settle back into place.

[…Displaying search results for this object.]

It’s the Librarian’s ability that I’ve used countless times.

The power to solve mysteries before my eyes, grasp situations, and collect information.

No matter how unbelievable the results might be, there’s no choice but to believe them.

But right now, I don’t want to believe.

There’s no way I could have done that, not me.

[Finger of ■■■]

…

[Choi Serim/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

The Librarian from the future continues to drop fingers onto the floor.

[Yoon Daju/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

[Jung Haewon/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

Pitter-patter.

The bloodless fingers pile up on the floor, creating a small tower.

“…Why?”

There’s no answer.

[Heo Yoon/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

[Seok Hyunmin/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

Thud.

[Riko/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

[Dan/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

Thud.

Despite so many fingers piling up, not a single drop of blood seeps onto the floor.

Perhaps the victims lost all their blood before dying.

And some of it is stained on that body.

[Heo Yoon/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

[Seok Hyunmin/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

[Lim Yebin/Finger]

[Part of a mutilated corpse]

Everyone is dead.

Lim Dabin, wearing a blood-soaked white shirt, is now looking straight at me.

As if all the work is done.

Why?

Again, barely. I ask my future self who has seen the future.

“Why?”

“Huh?”

It’s a reaction as if they don’t understand why I’m asking myself that.

What’s in front of me is clearly myself, but at the same time, I can’t believe I would do such a thing.

“Did I… Did I do this?”

“Do what? This?”

“Please.”

I’m about to collapse.

I stagger and fall onto my future self’s body.

“Why.”

“…”

“Are they all dead? Really?”

No answer comes back.

Only my questions echo back like alarms in the emergency exit.

[Why?]

Only then could I understand.

My future self had asked me the same question.

It was when I found the internet broadcast.

I feel a light push on my shoulder.

The Lim Dabin from another timeline opens the apartment entrance door and disappears like an illusion. Just like the many versions of myself who had descended the stairs and vanished.

The difference this time is that I could feel the wind brushing against my face.

The Lim Dabin from that timeline has stepped into a definite reality, not an empty void.

Only then could I breathe a little.

“Haaah…”

Being able to safely leave this place means I can see the story after escaping the apartment.

It means there’s a possibility of salvation, not being swallowed by Seven and returning to nothingness.

Then what is the price?

“Huff.”

The fingers are still piled on the floor.

What did I do? What will happen to me from now on? I crouched down and buried my face between my arms.

Actions I can take. Choices I can make. Of all the countless possibilities, only two survived.

Either I kill everyone else. Or I pay an equivalent price.

“No.”

I don’t kill. Not Daju, not Serim noona. Not Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin. Not Jung Haewon. Not anyone else.

Then what must I do instead?

I don’t know what that might be.

Even with the Librarian’s authority, I couldn’t know what would happen after this.

Before I knew it, I was biting my fingertips.

Placing my nails between my teeth, I bit them with a click, click.

My jaw trembled.

“…No.”

My future Dabin clearly met the “Professor.”

The timeline hadn’t diverged that far.

What matters is what happens after.

Was I brainwashed by the “Professor”?

Or did I fail to attack the “Professor” and get captured instead? Maybe I was forced to kill the others.

“No.”

It was neither.

I couldn’t find any such traces in my future self.

If I had killed people, I wouldn’t act like that.

But what I saw was clearly my future self. And they were definitely in their right mind.

Ordinary brainwashing doesn’t work on me in the first place. I can easily block it with the Librarian’s ability. This is the same for my future self, so being subjected to ordinary brainwashing doesn’t make sense.

Next is brainwashing using anomalies. This is possible, but if that were the case, I would have noticed it just now. My anomaly observation aptitude is still intact.

I couldn’t sense anything from my future self.

In fact, there was a strong feeling that they had chosen all of this entirely of their own will. And acted without any hesitation.

“Hic!”

A hiccup escaped without warning.

Tears fell.

“Hic. Sob. Ugh…”

I cried endlessly, terrified of everything that would happen in the future.

Until I suddenly realized that time was still stopped.

The fingers had disappeared.

After crying for a while, I looked at the entrance door.

The only exit to leave the apartment.

It’s a deflating method where you just need to go down to the first floor and go outside, but it’s clearly the only escape route from this apartment.

However. There’s nothing outside that door.

If I don’t choose one of the few correct paths, there is no future.

I’ll just be swallowed by “Seven” and disappear. Along with all the stories surrounding me, that is, the world.

But is that a bad thing?

Not a breath of wind comes through the door crack.

I got up and grabbed the door handle.

Click.

There’s only darkness.

If I go out there, I can cut off fate.

I didn’t even want to think about having to save the world. There’s no law saying I must become a Librarian.

I just wanted to live. I wanted to leave the apartment and live normally. I wanted to escape this place with Daju, Serim noona, and the new people I’ve met, and live on.

It’s all over now.

Excitement, fear, and doubt mix together.

I can be free now.

Am I really going to die? Completely disappear? Will I feel pain right before that?

The smooth metal handle was wet with sweat. Cold and slippery, but I held it tight without letting go.

What remains in the end is doubt.

Just stepping outside can’t end all of this.

The story that’s already been determined says I don’t die here.

Then why am I able to stand here now?

It’s time to test fate.

One big step. I lifted it toward the outside.

The abyss opens its mouth wide.

In Greek tragedy, fate appears in the form of prophecy or oracle.

One with outstanding wisdom. One with unparalleled courage. Even the most heroic cannot escape tragic fate.

The struggle to escape predetermined fate only accelerates the predestined downfall.

…

Oedipus will kill his father and sleep with his mother!

I stopped my movement.

The moment the outside air contacts my body, a rippling membrane appears and disappears beneath my feet.

That’s…

A being that no Librarian of the Infinite Library could fail to recognize. But it’s the first time I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

Was it even a concept that could be seen with eyes in the first place?

Thanks to quickly withdrawing my foot, annihilation didn’t occur.

I closed the door again, sat on the floor, and sank into thought.

I was wrong.

The current me and the me from another timeline. The divergence happened before meeting the Professor.

Right now. At this moment.

Turn around, climb the stairs again, to where everyone is waiting.

But there’s one place I need to visit first.

[Floor 0]

[Floor 0.1245]

[Floor 1!@]

[Floor 1]

[Floor 2]

…

The more I climb the emergency stairs, the closer Floor 6 gets.

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■■■■■■■■■■

■■■■■■■■■■

■■■■ 6 ■■■

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“Huff. Huff.”

I continued climbing the stairs, gasping for breath.

Mentally and physically exhausted. As I climbed the last step, the appearance of Floor 7 gradually appeared before my eyes.

The emergency exit door was closed.

After catching my breath for a moment, I pushed the heavy iron door with all my might.

Clank!

“Huh?”

Clank!

No matter how hard I push, the emergency exit door won’t open.

It’s not because I’m tired. I know from experience.

That means something else is blocking the door.

The “story” is still paused. The other people still on the hotel floor remain frozen.

Thanks to that, I can’t use the Librarian’s authority, so I have to get through this with my strength alone.

I lay flat on the floor and quietly put my ear to the door crack.

“…Uuuugh…”

I hear a low sobbing voice.

The high-pitched, fragile voice sounds like it might break at any moment, but I shouldn’t be easily fooled.

Carefully, I reached out and grabbed the fire extinguisher placed in the corner.

What I need is one deep breath.

With my hand firmly gripping the red blunt weapon, I greeted whatever was inside the door.

“Hello?”

“Uuugh. Huuugh. Hic…uuuugh…”

“Is someone there?”

I hope my acting isn’t awkward.

While worrying, I tried my best to draw out an anxious appearance.

“Are you human!? Can you open the door from your side?”

The sobbing sound stopped abruptly.

Soon after, a chillingly calm answer returns.

“Yes.”

“Then please open the door. No matter what I do, the door won’t open from my side…”

“Just a moment. I’m severely injured right now, so it’s a bit difficult. I think you’ll need to push from the outside too.”

An answer saying they’re too injured to move properly.

But it doesn’t sound like an injured person at all.

“Could you help me a little?”

A voice barely suppressing joy, which I pretended not to notice.

“Should we push together when I count to three?”

“Yes. I’ll count,”

“I’ll count.”

I gripped the handle firmly again.

“One.”

Just pushing the door slightly, the door that was firmly closed and wouldn’t open now opens easily.

But an ordinary person would find it difficult to notice something strange.

Finding another survivor in an apartment like this is an incredibly welcome event. The information that the other person is injured also helps put one’s mind at ease.

“Wait a moment. Are you pushing the door now?”

“Yes.”

“Please push a little harder. With all your might. I think that’s the only way we can open the door.”

“Alright.”

To push the door with all your might, you need to press your body close to the door.

If you’re using all your strength and the door suddenly opens, you’ll momentarily fall inside.

Using just one arm to push is enough.

After all, what’s inside isn’t an injured person at all.

“Two.”

“Three!”

Pushing the door hard with one hand, it moves too easily.

The moment the interior of Floor 6 is revealed, I swing the fire extinguisher with all my might.

Whoosh-

Clang!

With a refreshing sound, a woman with sharp teeth tumbles into the corridor of Floor 6.

“Move.”

I don’t have time to waste on something like that.

Right now. There’s something I need to find here.