Ch.63The Librarian of the Infinite Archives

Thud!

Daju swings her hammer, clearing a path.

A one-take battle scene like something from a movie.

The monks with split heads collapsed limply to the ground.

“Hurry and follow me!”

“Wow, Daju is insane….”

Jung Haewon mutters, seemingly deeply impressed.

I couldn’t help but be surprised too.

Now I understand why Daju has survived despite being so reckless.

This is what it takes to survive in the apartment.

A moment later.

A path leading outside the city opened where Yoon Daju passed.

[Those without permission… please leave this place.]

Whoosh!

I swung my bat at a monk rushing toward us.

Crack—

With the sound of something breaking, a neck bone falls and rolls on the floor.

Perhaps because they’re already dead, these monsters approach without any self-preservation, dragging bloody trails behind them.

Daju exhales with a “huff.”

“Seriously, they’re not even zombies….”

Thwack!

Another one falls to the ground, motionless.

Choi Serim and Jung Haewon are also fighting in their assigned areas.

Swoosh!

The hammer cuts through the air, and sticky blood splatters.

Yoon Daju wipes the blood from her face and curses.

“Come at me, you fuckers!!!”

“Yoon Daju, you’re doing great!”

I encourage Daju while continuing to scout the path.

As I saw near the collapsing bookshelves, the number of monks is endless.

We need to find a hiding place before we get tired.

But the surrounding area is flat enough for a city to be built. Nothing but plains.

…Where should we go?

“Dabin.”

A cold hand touches my arm.

Choi Serim, sweating coldly, points to a specific location.

“There’s a cave over there. We should be able to make it if we go there.”

Unlike Yoon Daju who’s bouncing around energetically, Choi Serim looks visibly unwell.

So much so that I need to guide her instead.

“Daju! Let’s escape that way!”

“Yes, oppa!”

Daju immediately changes direction and clears a path.

I grabbed Choi Serim’s arm and started running.

“Noona. Stop using your ability now.”

“…”

“Noona?”

Choi Serim closes her eyes tightly and mutters something.

“Caught, that good thing is the Foundation’s goal disaster Serim smiles and gently touches my head, I the arrow of doubt points toward the professor. A Foundation council member. Robin sits at the office desk”

“Noona!!!”

Incomprehensible information was flowing backward.

Choi Serim, barely regaining her senses, coughs and spits blood.

“I’m fine, over there….”

Breathing heavily, Choi Serim points to the front of our formation.

Daju, who had been fighting hard, was now struggling while both arms were held by two monks.

[You should not be here.]

The monks pull her arms in opposite directions, as if intending to tear Daju apart.

Crack—

The sound of joints dislocating. The sound of bones breaking.

But Daju’s expression remains terrifyingly calm.

“Oppa. I think I need help here quickly.”

Still firmly gripping her weapon, Daju reports the situation calmly without a single scream.

“Yaaaaah!!!”

Jung Haewon strikes the creatures with his bat with all his might, but it was useless.

Crack—

Instead, the wooden bat broke and rolled on the floor.

“Move!”

I pushed Jung Haewon aside and rushed toward Daju.

I swung my bat with all my strength, but the result was the same.

The monk simply caught the end of the bat with one hand.

Crunch—

With just the strength of its grip, the bat turned to powder and scattered on the floor.

“Why did they suddenly get stronger?”

Jung Haewon stared blankly at the worsening situation.

Our weapons had fallen to the ground, and more and more monks were gathering around.

The vibrating stench and smell of blood made it difficult to stay focused.

[We aim to collect all knowledge.]

[At the endless pursuit of learning…]

The prayer chanted by the monks merged into one massive, pulsating sound.

Boom—

Boom—

Darkness spreads.

Though we each had flashlights, the darkness spreading through the library was far too vast for them to illuminate.

And no one knew exactly what happens when surrounded by darkness.

[You must not remain in the darkness for too long.]

The only warning was to avoid it as much as possible.

Even as despair rose to the surface, Daju clenched her teeth and endured.

The pain must be excruciating, yet she didn’t scream.

“Ugh.”

Daju only let out a tiny groan.

Was she worried that making a loud noise would draw attention to us?

In our already surrounded situation, it wouldn’t make much difference.

But the situation was dire enough to cling to even such small hopes.

And just as I was about to rush in to save Daju again.

The prayer stopped.

A few seconds. Perhaps not even a full second, but during that time, perfect silence filled the library.

The Librarian’s authority of the Infinite Archives.

The only symbol of the Wanderer’s Library and the key that controls all information access.

The brilliantly shining Word Key revealed itself.

Some monks tore off their own heads and threw them on the floor in reverence.

The dark red blood that poured out instantly boiled and vanished into thin air, and the headless bodies turned to gray powder and scattered.

The rest froze in place, unable to move.

Just glimpsing the Word Key’s true form had severely weakened the monks.

Thud.

Daju was released and fell to the floor.

“Noona!”

Jung Haewon rushed over and helped Yoon Daju to her feet.

Though I was worried about Daju, there was something more urgent.

“Haa. Haa…”

Choi Serim was lying face down on the floor, breathing heavily.

As if she might die at any moment.

I gritted my teeth and checked Serim’s condition.

“I told you not to use that.”

“I had no *cough!* I had no choice…”

“Is making excuses important right now?”

The Word Key was no longer visible.

But just showing it briefly had caused Choi Serim’s body to start collapsing.

“I’m still okay. I can walk.”

Pretending to be fine, Choi Serim raised herself up.

Blood seeped from between her lips as she smiled weakly.

“Let’s go, Dabin.”

Crackle.

Crackle.

The fire burns fiercely inside the cave.

I threw useless books into the flames.

“About those monks. Were they always that weak?”

Daju asks me while staring at the fire.

“Huh?”

“They were beings who could stop a massive bookshelf from falling with pure strength. But when fighting us, they went down surprisingly easily. Of course, we almost got caught at one point… but it doesn’t make sense that we could sweep through them so one-sidedly.”

Daju made an uncharacteristically sharp observation.

“And I’m concerned about Choi Serim’s condition getting worse at that exact moment. I think she did something. I couldn’t see it clearly, but I’m sure of it.”

This is more than just uncharacteristic.

Her voice, her expression. The whole atmosphere is different.

“Yoon Daju?”

When I called her name, Daju tilted her head.

She doesn’t respond to her name being called. Instead, a detached voice came back.

“Yoon Daju.”

As if it were a word with no connection to herself, Daju repeats her name.

Yoon Daju stares at me blankly and mutters.

“Right. That’s me.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I think I went crazy for a moment.”

Daju smiles playfully like her usual self again.

Something feels off, but I didn’t press further.

“Are you hurt anywhere, oppa?”

“No. You did most of the fighting anyway.”

“Hehe.”

Yoon Daju straightens her shoulders and laughs.

Jung Haewon chimed in.

“I thought noona had gone insane. You looked like a berserker…”

Jung Haewon collapsed on the floor.

Yoon Daju was pressing down on the back of his head.

“What did you say? Huh? What did you say?”

“Argh!”

Leaving the two to their playful banter, I leaned toward Choi Serim.

Serim was silently looking outside the cave.

“Noona. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, Dabin. I’m fine.”

“I won’t forgive you if you leave here.”

I crossed my arms and made a threat.

Choi Serim smiled cutely.

“Forgive me, okay?”

“No.”

“Oh please~”

Choi Serim lightly placed her hand on my shoulder and shook me, putting her weight into it.

“Hmm?”

Shake shake.

Her pure, aegyo-filled gaze pierced my cheek sharply.

I turned my gaze toward the inside of the cave.

“…You have to return safely before I decide whether to forgive you or not.”

My worries had only increased.

But Choi Serim, having confessed everything last night, looked much more at ease than before.

***

The Wanderer’s Library.

It’s the name of the Infinite Archives in the form of a library that stores all information around it.

It’s also a small universe in itself.

The library, which normally wandered between multiverses in isolation, became bound to the real world due to the activities of a certain group.

Their activities were recorded in history as “The Librarians of the Wandering Library.”

Up to that point, there was no problem.

A group with religious beliefs understood some characteristics of the library and built a system.

They faithfully protected the library’s documents from outside intruders. They also preserved important records separately.

The problem was that the library began to be affected by reality.

The moment the reality binding the library faced its end.

Everything began to distort.

[Chains]

[Seven]

[Fifth Apostle]

Extremely dangerous beings existing above reality.

The library documents, the only clues guaranteeing their containment, were damaged.

Not only was the end of reality accelerated, but destruction spread across all dimensions.

The [Librarian] system created by some organization inside the library also became grotesquely distorted.

All librarians became cursed, undying corpses.

The system searched across all dimensions for successors.

A being capable of listening to the voice of truth.

A being whose sense of “self” is faint enough to truly work for the entire universe.

A being with minimal anomalous resistance to withstand dangerous information.

At some point, Choi Serim became the ‘Librarian’ of this place.

She gained the ability to read others’ thoughts regardless of space and time.

At the same time, because of this ability, she found it difficult to maintain her sense of self.

She had a female body that guaranteed some degree of anomalous resistance.

“After becoming a Librarian, I could look into the most dangerous information. That’s why I sealed my memories. Otherwise, I felt like I would die immediately.”

Only then did I understand the contradictions I had felt in Choi Serim’s behavior.

By recalling only minimal fragmented memories, she had tried to protect herself. Yet she still faithfully moved toward her goal.

She let Choi Jun-gi die and couldn’t save Park Sungjin.

And she had to dive into countless crises.

But her purpose was always the same.

To escape from this apartment.

To escape and return to the reality where we originally lived.

Even if we escape from here, there’s no meaning to our escape if there’s nothing but emptiness outside.

The ability of the [Librarian], who theoretically has access to all information in the library, presented Choi Serim with only one method.

How many steps of cause and effect, logic and reasoning did she skip?

Choi Serim held my hand tightly and said:

“That’s why I need you. When the right moment comes, I’ll transfer the Librarian’s authority to you.”

I just listened silently.

“That’s the only way we can reach the [ending] we want.”