Ch.58Night at the Library (2)

# Night at the Library

Just before it got completely dark, we all gathered in one place.

“We need to light a fire quickly before it gets dark.”

I gestured toward the mountain of books piled up.

I had gathered them while waiting for Jung Haewon to bring Choi Serim.

“Who has a lighter right now?”

“Here!”

Daju raises her arm while lying collapsed on the ground. In her hand covered with minor wounds is a green lighter.

As expected. I thought Yoon Daju would always carry a lighter in her pocket. That means we don’t have to rummage through bags.

Just as I was about to take the lighter, Daju snatches her hand away.

“You checked they’re useless books, right?”

“Yeah.”

“…That’s good then.”

Daju mutters with her eyes closed.

She’s still as flippant as ever, but she doesn’t look too good. She has many wounds all over, and she might have broken something when she fell earlier. Above all, her forehead is cut and bleeding continuously.

We need to treat her quickly. But first, we need to light a fire.

“I checked earlier. I looked at the titles and flipped through a few pages, so we won’t be burning any important books.”

After answering, I called for Haewon.

“Hey, Haewon.”

“Yes?”

“Try lighting the fire. I’ll look after Daju.”

“Okay.”

I opened the bag I had placed at my feet. As heavy as it is, the bag I brought contains all sorts of things.

First, the water bottle.

I opened the cap and poured water over Daju’s wound.

“Ouch, that hurts!”

“Bear with it.”

The sawdust and dust that had caked onto the wound wash away.

Next, I disinfect with antiseptic and press a bandage to stop the bleeding.

“That’s it. Take care of the rest yourself.”

“You’re so cold, oppa.”

“Come on…”

Normally I wouldn’t care what Daju says, but hearing it in this situation really stings.

Does she know exactly what she’s doing?

Sure enough, Daju, who had looked genuinely hurt, quickly changes her expression and now gives me a sly smile.

“Hee.”

Daju smiling with her bruised face. Looking at her, I feel a mix of emotions.

“Sigh,” I exhale and turn away.

“I should check on Serim noona too.”

Choi Serim is still lying curled up.

Her eyes are closed, so I quickly check her breathing, and it seems she’s just sleeping. When I try to shake her awake, she responds like she’s sleep-talking. Judging by her expression, she seems much better.

But why did she suddenly get such a headache? Is there something in the library?

Breathe in, breathe out.

Serim noona sleeping with soft breaths.

From the first time we came, I couldn’t quite figure out Choi Serim.

No. To be precise, the more I learn about her, the more questions arise.

Beads of cold sweat have formed on Serim’s forehead. The place where she’s lying is also damp with sweat.

I was about to walk over to where my bag was to get a towel when I stopped.

“Dabin…”

I thought she had woken up and was calling me, but it was sleep talk.

“Library… the ending…”

Choi Serim mutters weakly, then tosses and turns as if in pain.

Even with sleep talk, sometimes conversation is possible. Maybe I could find something out?

I crouched in front of her and asked.

“What about the ending?”

“Ending.”

Choi Serim repeats my words in a blank voice.

“There’s only one.”

“By ending, do you mean the end of the world? What does it mean that there’s only one?”

This place. The timeline in the apartment is strangely twisted.

Choi Serim entered the apartment to escape a future disaster, but she’s meeting me in the same timeline.

The future disaster she speaks of is when some unknown entity is released and the world ends.

Perhaps the future is already determined, and we can’t change it no matter what we do?

But Choi Serim shakes her head.

“No.”

She kicks her legs frantically while lying down.

“Nooo.”

Her arms flail in the air.

“NOOOOO!”

Choi Serim opens her eyes and suddenly sits up. She grabs my shoulders with tremendous force and shakes me while screaming.

Her face thrusts forward toward mine. Her eyes are bloodshot with whites showing.

At the same time, something flows into my mind.

The image of a book soaked in black ink.

Letters everywhere around.

Broken information rotating meaninglessly in the void.

At the center,

I see a star.

I returned to reality in an instant.

A star existing at the bottom of an endlessly steep cliff.

An existence no different from what I saw in the vision.

Continuing.

Ongoing.

If souls really exist, there must be a sensation when they leave the body.

All the light around me distorts and goes downward.

The strength of my entire body is being sucked into the abyss.

“Ah…”

When I regained consciousness, Choi Serim was lying quietly in place.

As if everything had been an illusion, Yoon Daju and Jung Haewon nearby show no reaction.

Do I need to take time to figure this out slowly?

I had many questions right away, but I decided to set them aside at least until Choi Serim regained consciousness.

I took out a towel and wiped Serim’s face.

“Oppa.”

Just as I was finishing wiping, Daju called me.

“Yeah?”

“Can I light the fire? He’s really bad at it.”

“What? You still haven’t lit it?”

“No! Not yet…!”

I looked toward where the answer came from.

Click, click.

I only hear the sound of the lighter flicking. The flame that should have been lit long ago is nowhere to be seen, and instead, acrid smoke is rising thickly.

“What are you doing?”

When I went to see what he was doing, Jung Haewon was just holding the lighter against the book cover.

The book touched by the flame is only getting scorched, not catching fire.

“Move aside.”

I nudged Haewon’s side with my hand.

Standing next to him, I realize again how tall he is. No, I’ve probably just gotten too small…

Feeling somewhat wounded in my pride, I snatched the lighter from Jung Haewon.

“You can’t just hold the flame against it like that and expect it to catch.”

I opened a book and tore out pages from inside.

Pieces of paper cut to appropriate sizes pile up on top of the many books.

After stacking a pile of paper, I picked up one sheet and lit it.

I carefully placed this makeshift kindling on top of the paper pile, and that’s it.

Whoosh-

Hot air rushes upward.

“When lighting a fire, surface area is important. Got it?”

Crackle. Crackle.

The flame quickly grows in size, and now even the books stacked below are turning to ashes.

“Yes, noona.”

“Now I’ll watch the fire, so you should rest too. Sorry for making you run around earlier.”

Remarkably, the surroundings become brightly lit.

Conversely, that means this place is that dark. There’s no other lighting in the library.

Thud.

Jung Haewon sits down beside me and starts chattering.

“Do you know ‘The Day After Tomorrow’? They showed it at school.”

“What’s that? A movie?”

An energetic voice responds.

Daju has pulled herself closer to the warm fire while sitting in place.

“Yes. Why doesn’t anyone know it?”

“I know it.”

Daju doesn’t seem to know, but I’ve seen that movie too.

The Day After Tomorrow. A movie about a near-future disaster.

“An ice age comes and everyone’s about to freeze to death, so survivors gather in a library and light fires.”

Crackle, pop.

The books scream in the fire.

“But even then, they set aside the precious books.”

The Gutenberg Bible. Nietzsche’s works. Medical books and so on.

It’s a famous scene showing survivors preserving human civilization and altruism even in disaster, but ultimately the principle of survival of the fittest applies here too.

Marketing. Tax accounting. Statistics.

Books that aren’t immediately important literally become kindling. When disaster strikes, only valuable information survives to be passed down to future generations.

“Yes. That’s right.”

Jung Haewon nods.

“Do you have books set aside too, noona?”

“Yeah.”

I didn’t just decide to burn any book either. I set aside and collected books that seemed even slightly related to the information I’m looking for.

“I’ll check them when I have time. Or we can look at them tomorrow…”

Yaaawn. I can’t help but yawn.

I stretch out and poke the fire idly with a stick.

“It’s like we’re having a campfire.”

Daju lies flat on the smooth bookshelf floor and mutters in a languid voice.

“Oppa, didn’t you bring marshmallows?”

“Who would bring something like that?”

“I brought some.”

Daju is holding a bag of marshmallows.

I told her to leave out unnecessary things, but it seems she secretly packed them in her bag.

“Wow. Noona is so prepared.”

Daju hands out marshmallows to Jung Haewon, who is looking at her with wide eyes, while smiling smugly.

“Aren’t you going to eat, oppa?”

“…”

Daju finds a stick from somewhere and starts roasting marshmallows.

The sweet smell spreads through the night air.

“Just one bite.”

“Here you go!”

“But won’t those monk guys smell this and come?”

“Then we’ll have to fight. We can’t come all this way and not eat marshmallows.”

“That’s true, but…”

Anyway, this is below the cliff, so the monks won’t be able to come down easily.

From what I saw earlier, they didn’t seem to have a particularly good sense of smell either.

Between reason and emotion.

After much internal conflict, I made a decision.

Ah, whatever.

I put a well-roasted marshmallow in my mouth.

Warm marshmallow melting moistly. It’s incredibly delicious.

Actually, this might be worth risking your life for.

Choi Serim is also sleeping comfortably near the fire.

The blazing flames.

Staring at this blankly makes my mind incredibly peaceful.

Just as drowsiness was starting to come over me.

A wind blew.

For a moment, the fire wavered greatly, and darkness briefly descended and disappeared from where we were sitting.

Even with just that, ominous traces remained in the surroundings.

Strange letters engraved in negative relief on the floor.

Symbols seeping into the surrounding paper in red ink.

The wind carried whispers.

It contained information evolved solely for survival. An anomalous meme.

I got up from my seat to protect the fire.

“Let’s be careful. We were too relaxed.”

“…Yes.”

It didn’t take long to build a fireplace by stacking books high around the fire.

After dinner, when everyone had fallen asleep, I continue to supply fuel while watching the fire.

The perfectly dark surroundings and the large, blazing flames often created the illusion that I was completely alone.

At such times, I raised my head from where I sat and looked to the side.

Yoon Daju and Jung Haewon are sound asleep in their respective places.

Being on fire watch is really hard.

The shift change never comes. I’m constantly sleepy, but if I fall asleep, everyone dies.

Nod. Nod.

With overwhelming drowsiness pouring in, I decided to do anything but sleep.

This is a library, so there’s plenty of paper. And there’s a ballpoint pen in my bag. I took out the pen and started drawing.

Hmm.

Is it because I haven’t practiced for a while? The feel of the drawing seems a bit different? But it doesn’t feel like my skills have gotten worse, just different from before.

Looking down at the paper, I see my hand.

Surprisingly small hand. It’s strange enough to make me marvel at how my fingers are gripping the pen.

“Did you draw that?”

I turned around with a gasp.

Choi Serim, who had been sleeping for a long time, had raised her upper body and was looking at me.

“Noona. You’re awake?”

“Yes. I’m glad everyone’s safe.”

“Why did you act like that earlier?”

I added an explanation, saying, “You said your head hurt.”

Choi Serim shakes her head with a smile.

“I don’t know. Just suddenly.”

“Then, what about the talk of ‘the ending’?”

“What?”

“I heard you sleep-talking earlier.”

The smile quickly disappears from Choi Serim’s face. Noticeably tense signs fill its place.

“You said you’re looking for something about ‘the ending’ in this library. But it didn’t seem like you were talking about the end of the world. And those images you showed unconsciously at that time… There’s something else here.”

I paused briefly and glanced to the side.

Yoon Daju and Jung Haewon. The other two are still deeply asleep.

“Noona. Tell me.”

I quietly got up from the fireside and approached Choi Serim.

Step. Step.

Torn pages crunch under my feet.

Approaching beside Choi Serim, this time I looked her straight in the eyes.

“So we can solve this together.”