Ch.62*Pointer (3)

Some information is very dangerous.

> Pink cover: Extremely dangerous information hazard.

> Khaki cover: Information hazard that can be endured if you have adequate anomalous resistance.

> Sky blue cover: Meme that keeps circling in your head. Caution needed if you have no resistance at all or are mentally unstable.

What I picked up had a pink cover.

The book containing the most dangerous information in this library.

Being careful not to let it catch other people’s attention, I opened the book toward Choi Serim.

“Huh?”

Choi Serim froze right where she was.

“Stay still.”

“Uh, okay…”

Choi Serim answered with vacant eyes.

She was still not moving at all.

“What is it? What’s happening?”

“Shh.”

Pushing Jung Haewon back, I waited for a proper reaction to return.

A moment later.

A trickle of nosebleed flowed down from Choi Serim’s face.

“Huh?”

After briefly widening her eyes and looking around, Choi Serim collapsed right there with a thud.

As if the power had gone out.

“That’s it.”

I reached out my arms to catch Choi Serim so she wouldn’t fall.

Now my older sister was leaning against me.

“This should do it.”

Daju, who came running belatedly, tried to grasp the situation.

“Sis!? What did you do?”

“She seemed to be strongly possessed by something, so I made her faint for now.”

I held up the book I had in my hand to show them.

Jung Haewon, who confirmed the color of the cover, shuddered.

“That’s the one! The color they said was the most dangerous and we should absolutely never open!”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“Then what about Serim? Isn’t she going to die?”

“Don’t worry. She won’t die. If it had been that dangerous information to begin with, it wouldn’t have ended with just fainting like this.”

Choi Serim was lying on the floor, breathing roughly.

I added a bit more explanation.

“Earlier, when she was acting strange, she was trying to follow the monks. She also said we had to help prevent the bookshelf from collapsing.”

“Yes.”

“So, she was possessed by the thought that she ‘had to do’ something.”

Daju nodded.

“That could be seen that way.”

“Yeah.”

This time I turned my gaze to the book I had placed at my feet.

It was the pink-covered book I had shown only to Choi Serim earlier.

“And this contains information that makes people powerless.”

“Ah! So what you’re saying is that these cancel each other out?”

Jung Haewon seemed to have already caught on.

“That’s right.”

Hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide are both dangerous substances.

One is a strong acid. The other is a strong base.

Just touching your skin could land you in the hospital for quite a while.

But if you mix them together?

They neutralize and the danger drops significantly.

“It’s roughly this principle.”

“Hmm… I see.”

Daju pretended to understand roughly.

The explanation ends here. I immediately prepared to leave.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

I had subdued Choi Serim, but the situation was still urgent.

Giant bookshelves falling like dominoes.

Monks were gathering from everywhere to stop it.

They were ignoring us now because other matters were urgent.

The monks don’t like intruders. They would try to tear you apart and kill you the moment they spot you.

We had to get out of this place quickly.

“Haewon, help me out.”

I supported Choi Serim and stood up.

Jung Haewon came over and lent his strength.

One, two.

We matched our breathing and lifted Choi Serim’s body.

Meanwhile, Daju was hovering around restlessly.

“Sis… she’s really going to be okay, right…?”

“Yeah.”

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“You stay at the front and be ready to fight. If someone comes running, protect us.”

We didn’t know when a monk might come charging.

At least one person had to be free.

“Here. Take this.”

I handed the book to Daju.

It was the ‘pointer’ indicating the location of [Apocalypse Scenario: 5000].

“If you move in the direction of the arrow, you’ll find a village. Let’s rest there for a bit and then move.”

“How did you know that?”

“I saw it earlier. When I climbed up on the bookshelf with Haewon.”

Once we reached the village, we could hide there.

If we were lucky, we might be able to get help from survivors.

“Let’s go quickly.”

I hurried my steps.

Even now, monks kept gathering.

[Must protect…]

[No…]

More and more monks gathered.

Where they had passed, rotting flesh, sticky blood, and stench remained.

“Ugh…”

Jung Haewon frowned deeply.

He looked like he might throw up, so I patted his back gently.

“Oh. No. I’m fine, sis.”

Daju was in a state of high tension.

Standing at the front, she kept watching to see if we might encounter enemies.

Thump. Thump.

Between bookshelves. Just as we were about to escape the long corridor.

[Stat Rosa.]

I met empty eyes.

No reaction. No voice.

The monk quietly stared at us for a few seconds.

“Brother.”

Daju lowered her voice and turned her head.

I calmly raised my hand to stop Daju.

“Stay still.”

“…”

A tense silence flowed.

The sound of Jung Haewon swallowing dry saliva next to us was loud enough to hear clearly.

A monk trapped in the library.

His eyeballs had long since rotted and flowed out.

However, inside the empty eye sockets, there was definitely a gaze.

A strange sense of awe resided within. It was an emotion like a child who enjoys playing with fire looking at flames.

[You are, our…]

Slowly.

How much time had passed?

He took no action and passed by us. Leaving behind one word that left a strange unpleasant feeling.

“Phew…”

Jung Haewon swayed for a moment, then barely managed to lean against a bookshelf.

Daju also seemed to have relaxed her tension, letting out a deep sigh and asking.

“He just passed by after looking at you earlier, right?”

“Yeah.”

Even after that, we encountered monks several more times, but were never attacked.

We arrived at our destination too easily.

The village I had seen.

In terms of scale and internal structure, it was closer to a city than a village.

The city’s walls and buildings were all made of white bricks, probably made from soaked paper.

Surprisingly, there was a river flowing around it.

I could also see facilities for making bricks.

Molds for shaping paper pulp. Simple lever devices for squeezing out moisture. Drying racks for drying damp bricks, etc.

Traces of a fairly developed civilization remained, but the city inside was completely empty.

We settled in the most intact building we could find and lit a fire.

Choi Serim was still asleep.

Slowly, night was approaching.

“Brother. I found some food over there.”

“Did you check the expiration date?”

“Yes. It seemed fine.”

I checked the food Daju had brought.

Cup noodles, canned goods, etc. The language was written in alphabets, but I couldn’t tell which country they were from.

[Beef Flavored Cup Noodles]

[Tuna Can]

“Huh? The text changed.”

Jung Haewon made a fuss again.

“This seems to be automatically translated too.”

The books in the library were like that too.

Apparently, language barriers didn’t exist in this place.

Then, would this be possible too?

I grabbed Jung Haewon and showed off my English skills.

“Then I’ll speak English, so listen.”

“Yes.”

“I like ice cream… Huh?”

I spoke without much thought, but I seemed to have discovered something incredible.

“What? I definitely spoke in English, didn’t I?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“This is amazing.”

“Right?”

“…”

“Sis?”

“Oh, Haewon.”

I answered, trying to suppress my trembling heart.

“But don’t you have to take care of Daju? You should move luggage together.”

“Ah, yes. I was actually going to stay here for a bit and then go back anyway.”

“Right. Please do.”

Yoon Daju had already left to search other buildings, and Jung Haewon would soon leave this place too.

The ones remaining here were just me and the sleeping Choi Serim.

I took out a book from my bag.

“…”

Since when?

Choi Serim had not been sleeping.

Rustle.

Choi Serim, who opened her eyes and sat up, picked up the book I handed her.

[Jack Usher’s Journal].

To be precise, it was a tool that automatically records by reading the thoughts of its owner.

A moment later.

Choi Serim’s thoughts began to fill the blank pages of the book.

Night had come.

The bookshelves stopped falling. Since the rumbling could no longer be heard, this much was certain.

Then the monks’ attention would turn back to us.

To eliminate the intruders who had entered the library.

[Please leave this place.]

At least hundreds of monks gathered in front of the city walls and sang in chorus.

[The library is not open to the ignorant.]

Every time they spoke, it felt like the ground was shaking.

Crack—

The gathered monks began tearing down the city walls.

“Sis. Aren’t we caught?”

“Seems like it?”

Jung Haewon asked nervously, but Yoon Daju just shrugged her shoulders.

“No, what should we do!”

“I don’t know either.”

“I wasn’t asking you!”

This time Jung Haewon clung to me.

“Shouldn’t we run away quickly now? There are so many of them gathered outside.”

“…”

I organized my thoughts.

My head was already complicated, and a completely unexpected situation had occurred.

I thought we’d be safe hiding in the building.

Had we been discovered?

“Let’s try not to fight as much as possible and cross the city to get out. First, everyone take at least one flashlight, and we’ll move while holding out until dawn as much as possible.”

It’s confusing.

Both the facts I heard from Choi Serim and the situation happening now.

“Dabin. You know, right?”

“Yes, sis.”

“We just need to survive and get out this time.”

I took out a baseball bat from my bag and gripped it.

Jung Haewon held an iron rod, and Choi Serim held a golf club.

“Let’s go.”

Everyone was ready to fight, but it was still Daju who led the way.

A hammer with a long cord connected to the handle so she could swing it with force.

Daju went outside the building, swinging her weapon around.