bookpower Chapter 124: Utopia (3)
Chapter 124: Utopia (3)
Chapter 124: Utopia (3)
A harsh fate awaited those captivated by stories. It wasn't the fault of the people themselves; rather, the stories seemed to hold some sort of power over them, bewitching them and even driving them to madness. Stories and stories—people fell in love with all of them, ultimately devoting most of their lives to consuming them.
For them, reality was just a world that was incapable of being a narrative. It lacked dramatic twists or a shocking ending. People were just people; they could never be characters.
Disappointment with reality, contempt for humanity, and above all, adoration of stories were the reasons readers enthusiastically cheered when events that seemed taken out of novels took place in reality and real humans acted like fictional characters. Readers weren’t coldhearted. They were simply waiting for something exciting to happen in real life, something seemingly pulled out from a story.
The ultimate reader was now standing before my eyes.
“C-crossover... between you... and Le-Lefanta Aegim?”
The man loved stories so much that he had built his own library.
“That’s certainly an attractive offer.”
The library he had built was as large and magnificent as a world. Moreover, it contained all ideas and principles of life, earning it the name Great Library of All Life.
“But I can only provide you with apocalyptic books. That is the ironclad rule I established. Every story has the right to see its own ending, so I should not hastily intervene...”
The librarian’s lips were trembling now.
He’s wavering.
I observed him quietly. I was sure that the Indoor Librarian was going to take the bait. No realistic logic would be able to persuade him, but his desire for an epic crossover could drag him all the way to hell. It was an offer that he couldn’t refuse.
I shrugged. “Well, we can forget about it if you don’t want to see it. I’m just being generous, trying to give you a chance to see your favorite characters together. If you don’t want that, you don’t have to do it.”
The Indoor Librarian remained quiet.
“But you really want to see it, don’t you?”
His expression drastically changed, revealing his obvious feelings. It agonized him that this crossover would otherwise be impossible, which was what tempted him to indulge in the desire to have this story as a fancy dessert.
The Indoor Librarian finally managed to say, “I... I made a contract with the Tower.”
He breathed raggedly before adding, “Not all Constellations make contracts with the Tower, but only those who do can enter. That makes us tenants, in a way. In return for renting a floor in the Tower, we are given various restrictions.”@@@@
“What are your restrictions?”
“To only provide apocalyptic books to humans.” The Indoor Librarian waved his hand. With each movement, a book hovering around him fell to the floor. “And while an apocalyptic story can have various meanings, the Epic of Lefanta Aegim isn’t one of them.”
Those books were like the Indoor Librarian's guards. When the Hunters decided to attack last time, he had used the books’ power to subdue them.
“A contract is a contract. I cannot violate it at will. The Tower and its owner will be very angry with me, and I’d rather not have that. Well, tenants can’t exactly argue with their landlords, can they...?”
In other words, he was voluntarily disarming himself.
With dozens of his books now on the floor, the Indoor Librarian looked at me. “Well, just so you know, my combat prowess isn’t particularly great.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“This is true for many Constellations. Although we have special abilities, most of us are surprisingly bad at fighting. I’m simply a feeble reader without my books. Um, so... Do you understand what I’m hinting at, Gong-Ja?”
I see. I understand.
“Yes, you can’t break the contract.” I approached the Indoor Librarian with big strides.
The Indoor Librarian meekly held his sleeves in front of his chest, nervously looking up at me.
“Unless you violated the contract due to an unfortunate circumstance.”
I grabbed him by his collar and held him up in the air easily due to how light he was. Even though his sleeves were very long and thick, they hardly posed a problem.
“Ugh...!” he groaned.
“Hand over The Epic of Lefanta Aegim, please.”
“Ah... ” His lips quivered harder.
He was a Constellation, the owner of a world, yet he was being threatened by a single Hunter. Nonetheless, he didn’t fight back at all.
“How rude... After all the goodwill and faith I’ve shown you, I never thought you would betray me like this! Ah, I feel bitter! This is why many stories warn their readers not to trust humans...”
Thinking his acting skills were terrible, I chuckled and tightened my grip on his collar. The Indoor Librarian gasped.
“Give it to me or I’ll kill you, you pervert.”
The Indoor Librarian's face slowly darkened as he looked up at me. We were acting, but he sensed sincerity in my voice. Of course, I was sincere. To deceive the Tower, the threat had to be true to some extent.
“P-pervert? Gong-Ja, you’re too harsh...”
“You collect human hair and fingernails, and your lifelong dream is for Lefanta Aegim to kill you. What else would I call you? Do you really think it’s normal to want your favorite character to kill you?”
“The Constellation Murderer arrived on the twentieth floor, which you now own.”
With no heroes among them, they began to hope for one.
“That’s where his journey to build a nation began.”
They prayed to their god, and their god granted their wish.
The book glowed white like the other apocalyptic books. The Indoor Librarian looked at it with subtle fear.
“And now, the Constellation Murderer has settled on the fiftieth floor.”
That was what the Guardian had said too.
“That is where a problem arises. You haven't cleared the fiftieth floor yet, so you’re still in the beginner area. Moreover, unlike other higher floors, the fiftieth floor is a really special place. Sending beginners there is strictly, and I cannot emphasize this enough, prohibited.”
It surprised even those who were listening with bated breath.
“The floors below the fiftieth are considered the beginner area?”
“We worked so hard to get here...”
I wasn't surprised. I had known for a long time that everything up until the tenth floor was treated as a tutorial. The Guardian had also told me that from the fiftieth floor onward, we would be competing with Hunters from different worlds.
In other words, not competing with Hunters from different worlds until the fiftieth floor is probably a measure to protect beginners.
With this in mind, I asked, “When you say prohibited, does it mean that you can’t send Hunters to the fiftieth floor no matter what happens?”
The Indoor Librarian's face became a mess of emotions once again. “Not exactly... It can be done if a floor manager, the one who sends the Hunter up... pays the price.”
“Then it doesn’t matter. You’re going to pay the price, right?”
“A-At least...” The Indoor Librarian sobbed. “At the very least, please limit the number of people I’m sending to just you...”
Even if the Indoor Librarian didn't plead this desperately, I already planned to face Lefanta Aegim alone.
“Alright. Send me to the fiftieth floor.”
The Indoor Librarian shut his eyes tightly. “I hope you don’t regret this.”
“That is why I’m going,” I replied firmly.
The Indoor Librarian gave up and stroked the cover of The Epic of Lefanta Aegim with trembling hands. Weakly, he whispered, “Death King, I designate you as a character in the Epic of Lefanta Aegim...”
[Warning!]
[An unauthorized access has been detected.]
[A penalty has been given to the Indoor Librarian.]
The Indoor Librarian flinched as fierce warnings echoed in my head. He seemed to have also heard them. Nevertheless, despite his trembling shoulders, he didn’t stop. “The designation has been completed under my authority.”
[Warning!]
[A penalty has been given to the Indoor Librarian.]
The Indoor Librarian breathed raggedly. “This isn’t important. Go, Death King. Let me see you stand together with the Constellation Murderer.”
Whoosh!
White light enveloped me.
[An unauthorized access has been detected.]
As the world around me turned white, more warnings kept popping up.
[Warning!]
[Your God of Beauty’s blessing has been suspended.]
[You can no longer observe other people’s Affection!]
[Your God of Serpent’s blessing has been suspended.]
[You can no longer observe other people’s state of mind!]
[A resident of the Tower who was not given a name has entered the fiftieth floor.][1]
Next thing I knew, I was on the fiftieth floor, where no one from my Tower had stepped foot in before.
1. It looks like Gong-Ja’s title became invalid after the unauthorized access. ☜