Chapter 282: Ch 282: - My goodness, friend, your arm is gone!
I kept worrying.
About what would happen if those two became aware of each other.
"..."
Especially how the Wolf Leader would react the moment he came face to
face with his own future.
"So this is why."
His eyes turned to me.
"You spoke cryptically of a ’Future Daydream’ and asked if I wasn’t curious
about my future."
"...!"
"It didn’t feel like the Whispers of Ghost Stories. As expected, a rather
impressive result of the future has appeared."
"..."
"My future, you say."
But there was no despair in his eyes.
Instead, a dark gaze, as if deeply calculating something, swept past the
Security Chief and me.
Then, he opened his mouth to speak to me in a gentle tone.
"Then..."
A giant black forepaw descended.
"...!"
Before the Wolf Leader could finish his sentence, the claws of a beast that
had rushed in in an instant pinned him down. A sticky, black, tar-like
substance covered him.
The Wolf Leader reacted to the unannounced disaster in a split second,
trying to slide across the floor to escape, but as if even that had been
predicted, another hand blocked his path and seized him.
The Two Claws of Corruption.
They had captured the Wolf Leader.
"..."
It all happened in an instant, without any warning.
No one could react because the sudden movement had no pattern or
precursor.
Why....
"Why, did you do that?"
"Hmm... Because it looked like he was about to pull something...?"
"...!"
"Yes. At this rate... the sound of footsteps... the commotion... it wasn’t
made.... This is fine..."
The Security Chief, his form melting away to reveal an overwhelming and
bizarre Contamination, still held his past self in a tight grip as he looked at
me.
"Hey, quickly... gag his mouth.... You have that thing.... The Badger...
Binding Device...."
"..."
"He’ll try... to do something else...."
I.
Took out the device that had been used to restrain the Sprout Class Teacher
until just a moment ago and began to bind the Wolf Leader.
Our eyes met from under the Wolf Mask, cold.
"...!"
I lowered my gaze.
Sweat formed in my palms.
Is this really the right thing to do? The question and confusion filled my
head... but a stronger premonition washed over me.
The feeling that if I didn’t restrain him now, the Security Chief would take
more drastic measures.
’He might just cut off his limbs.’
It felt like he would make such a merciless choice, without a second
thought, to his own past....
"..."
The Security Chief’s bright yellow pupils were watching me until I finally
gagged the Wolf Leader’s mouth.
"He’ll keep... trying to find out... information... and be a nuisance..."
Just like he did to the Golden Mascot in the brief moment they were left
alone.
His eyes showed he was certain the Wolf Leader had done the same to me
while we were traveling together.
"Should I just... kill him..."
"Please wait a moment."
No!
"This person is your past, Mr. Jay. We don’t know what might happen if you
get rid of him carelessly. It’s too dangerous."
"Hmm...."
I desperately pulled out a reason to persuade him.
"Just now, our state was compared to a book and its pages. If you suddenly
tear out a page, you’ll end up damaging the book. Ourselves."
The Security Chief was about to press down on his hat, then realized both
his hands were gripping his past and stared blankly at me.
"I don’t... remember it well... anyway...."
"Still."
"..."
"You remember what we talked about, don’t you? We said we’d find out
what kind of food you used to like."
The Security Chief lifted his head slightly.
"Let’s save the extreme option of eliminating possibilities for last. And...."
I spoke as calmly as I could.
"And if the library really did summon our past selves to use as ’librarians,’
we don’t know how it might retaliate if we kill one."
"...Hmm."
A gaze.
A gaze....
"Alright...."
The clawed, black hands that had been gripping the Wolf Leader vanished.
The Security Chief’s arms returned to their human form, gaunt and limp,
hanging powerlessly.
’Hoo.’
A cold sweat dripped down my chin.
S O RRY
MY FA ULT
"It’s not."
The Wolf Leader’s ability to discern truth from lies was almost superhuman.
There must have been a limit to what he could get from a mascot costume,
which could only use somewhat exaggerated emotional expressions and
direct words.
Even more so if it wasn’t the Resort, and if he had a genuine desire to
communicate with the Mascot.
But the Golden Mascot, as if it kept weighing on its mind, eventually tried
to lift the Wolf Leader itself.
I W ILL
CARR Y HIM
"No... Give him to me...."
WE
WILL GO DOWN
And the Golden Mascot pointed to the passage with the round paw of its cat
costume.
The place the Security Chief and I had just come from.
The back path of the bookshelf that led to a dark, red, strange road.
"...You’ll go that way?"
It nods.
I WILL BE LIBRARIAN
THAT WAY
YOU GUYS
CAN LEAVE
"..."
A strange guilt and a revulsion toward affirming this choice rose up at the
same time.
’...If this Mascot becomes a librarian of Hanbit Library.’
Will my Contamination disappear?
Will the Resort be subordinated to the library?
’...I don’t know.’
But... is that really okay?
To leave it in a library like this, even if it is an entity personifying a
contaminated part of me.
Is it really right to leave it behind?
"..."
Think.
Not just for emotional reasons, but what is the most logical thing for me to
do right now.
"How about we all go together?"
"Together...."
"Yes. Seeing as the button was found over there, the others are probably
downstairs."
It’s easy to get confused because of the unexpected situation of J3’s past and
future selves recognizing each other, but in truth, nothing about the
information or the environment has changed.
Our goal hasn’t changed either.
-Check on the state of the other team members, and get out safely ourselves.
This.
"Judging by how Deputy Manager Falcon’s recording cut off unnaturally,
something must have happened."
And the method of escape hasn’t changed either.
"We can take the medicine if things get dire, but until then, can’t we
investigate a bit more for traces of our colleagues or their well-being, and
look for other ways out?"
"..."
"..."
"Alright...."
Hoo.
And so it was decided again.
That we would all travel down that bizarre path together, at least until
another path appeared.
"..."
The Security Chief took charge of the bound Wolf Leader.
Casually lifting the adult male from the Elite Team, the Security Chief
started walking.
And so, once again, as if by a repeating fate, we set foot into the passage.
No, I guess I was the only one setting foot in it for the third time.
’Ha.’
...It was a good thing I’d said my goodbyes to Lee Gyeol beforehand.
’Just don’t use Written Conversation.’
I just have to be careful with writing. Right.... Since I’ve already explored
it, this is a choice I can make.
’Hoo.’
And so, I take a step.
Inward.
"..."
"..."
...There was almost no sound of footsteps.
The path of hidden books grew strangely steeper, quiet, and dark. Red light
sources sporadically illuminated the bookshelves and books....
I realize.
That at some point, the material of the bookshelves surrounding the passage
had changed.
’...Bone? Clay?’
What was certain was that it wasn’t a modern material.
Very old bookshelves, a blackish brown, gray, black color that made it
impossible to tell if it was leather, dirt, or decayed human bones....
But the books slotted there were strangely vivid and packed tightly.
"..."
"..."
The wiki updated.
Those who are not satisfied with their curiosity can go deeper. Pass the
place you want to open and come to the shining door to the closed place
Meet the master of Hanbit Library the Mirror Reflecting Truth
Bow down
Bowdownbowdownbowdownbowdownbowdownbowdownbowdownbowdo
wnbowdown
I closed my Smartphone.
My neck drenched in a cold sweat.
"..."
And I lift my head.
After walking about 100 meters... the dark, downward path came to an end.
The end of the passage.
The dead end was completely blocked on five sides—front, right, left, top,
and bottom—by bookshelves.
And there was a sign attached....
· ■■■■rials Room
→ ■ata Dis■■y
← ■■■■■■■
↑ ■■■■■ Room
All jumbled up.
Whether it was because of the darkness, wear and tear, or some other factor,
the letters weren’t even legible.
But I manage to make out one word.
’Materials Room.’
Libraries of a certain size usually divide and store the materials and books
they possess into various sections according to theme.
That structure was finally revealing itself inside here. In a complete mess.
"..."
Just one thing.
↓ Place of Veneration
There were letters there, all too clearly legible....
The path leading down.
"..."
"I think... this opens..."
Thud.
The bookshelf on the floor shook with the Security Chief’s movement.
Like a cellar, or perhaps an attic. That bookshelf was clearly serving as a
door that opened up and down.
I know instinctively.
’It’s down here.’
The place that called for a librarian.
"..."
The Security Chief sets the Wolf Leader he was carrying down on the floor.
"I’ll open it... and put him in...."
"No need."
...!
"Doing it with my tongue and teeth was a bit difficult."
...When I turned my head, I saw the Wolf Leader’s face, his mouth stained
with blood.
The gag around his mouth was slightly loosened, his pronunciation a little
slurred, whatever he had done.
A chill went down my spine.
’That thing restrained even the contaminated Supervisor Park Minseong.’
How on earth did he do it? Don’t tell me he bit off his own tongue... damn
it!
"Calm down. If I were you, I wouldn’t be thinking of causing a scene here."
"..."
The Security Chief, who had been about to pin the Wolf Leader down again,
slowly withdrew his arm.
...Between the black silhouettes, the Wolf Mask looked around at us.
"I don’t want to fight. And I’m not trying to run away."
A relaxed and calm voice.
"Considering the length of the passage and the inability to make footsteps,
I’d be caught again before I could."
"..."
"It’s just that I realized something, and I just had to say it. It’s one of the
library’s rules of use."
"What is it?"
His gaze fixed on me.
"Employee Yong. You remember this rule, don’t you?"
Leave Once You Gain One
"It’s the only conditional rule. What did you think it meant?"
So, if you gain knowledge....
"You probably thought it meant to leave without regret once you’ve gained
one piece of information from the library. Didn’t you?"
"...!"
"Well done. A rational deduction. But... now that I see it, this library seems
to move according to the will of something with a firm ego."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Perhaps that conditional sentence has a different subject?"
A blood-tinged smile spread beneath the Wolf Mask.
"The library’s ego, that is. What if we fill in the missing subject in the
sentence like this. ...’I’."
...!
Leave Once I Gain One
It becomes an arrogant expression written from the perspective of the
library’s master.
And there’s circumstantial evidence that strongly supports this conjecture.
The demand for a librarian.
"The interpretation is that if the library gains one librarian, the other party
can leave as a user."
"..."
"And seeing as it wasn’t specified... it probably doesn’t matter which one it
is."
"So you’re saying, Leader."
I swallowed.
"You’re asking me to let you leave this place instead of Mr. Jay?"
"No."
A clear voice spoke from under the Wolf Mask.
"I’m saying that for the sake of both of us, the past and the future, it’s more
advantageous for me to leave this library."
"...!"
"Clever Employee Yong. Let me go."
From within the mask, clear, deep eyes met mine.
"Now that I know the future, so that I can prepare for it."
What?
"But, the one who said a fixed future cannot be changed was,"
"Yes. That was me."
He declared it with certainty.
And his gaze swept over the Security Chief.
At the contaminated form, its brilliant functions of its prime all used up.
His own declined future.
"I have confirmed what I will look like in several decades, and that may be
unchangeable. ...But you see. The secrets of my future that even you don’t
know yet, Employee Yong, are things I can start creating from now on."
"...!"
"It’s certainly a troublesome and bothersome task. But now that I know, it
means I can use other methods. For example...."
His gaze turned to the Security Chief.
"I can start preparing methods and items to recover for when I become this
form."
"...!"
"Or I could feign Contamination from the start, or find a way in the
Darkness to awaken from the Contamination in a few decades.... There will
be various ways."
"..."
"For my future self who will become a librarian in the library’s Darkness
decades from now, I could even prepare for his escape."
So.
The current Security Chief could become someone who, ’as it turns out, had
unknowingly made complete preparations to recover from this wolf
Contamination and hidden them somewhere...’?
That he could recover.
"So, for a better future. For other possibilities, can you let me go?"
The Wolf Leader stared at me quietly.
I was frozen.
This Elite Team Leader from the past... had just declared he would prepare
uncertain elements that hadn’t been confirmed in his future.
The best ones.
"I can do that."
A voice full of conviction was heard.
The firm confidence of one who knows what abilities he possesses.
...Then.
’Is this also good for the current Mr. Jay?’
In the end, they are one and the same person.
I reflexively looked at the Security Chief. I couldn’t help it.
"..."
The Security Chief stood without a single movement.
Standing atop the bizarre bookshelf in the dark, red passage, gaunt and
powerless, shabby and unkempt.
One so contaminated that even eating Nostalgia Candy couldn’t help him
endure for a moment.
The Wolf Leader’s future lifted his head.
And looking at his own past, he speaks.
"No."
"You can’t do that...."
The Wolf Leader’s mask was hidden by the Security Chief’s long shadow.
"You... have already become me. It’s not a possibility."
....
"I’m the one who saw this library’s window... so you... are my past.... It’s
not that I am your predicted future...."
Ah.
"And what has already happened cannot be changed...."
The Security Chief looked at himself.
At the past he had already lived through.
The persona, the form, the memories that were once him.
"You... were arrogant."
"..."
"That too... is something I cannot change...."
The Security Chief quietly pressed down his hat and stepped back.
The expression under the Wolf Leader’s mask, still hidden by the cast
shadow, was unreadable.
"Anyway... you won’t be able to leave.... Because you’re already... me..."
"..."
After a long silence.
The Wolf Leader’s voice is heard.
"Will you give my regards to the kids on the team? No, you can’t, can you."
I couldn’t breathe.
I turn from the Security Chief to look at myself.
"Let’s put him... below..."
"..."
But I inadvertently recalled something.
’You... are me.’
And if it didn’t matter which of the two it was....
’....’
Wait a minute.
"Please wait a moment...."
I looked back at the Golden Mascot.
WHAT’S WRONG
I had inadvertently thought wrong.
It’s true that this Mascot could be a scene from my past. But to be precise,
’It’s also one of the forms I possess.’
Yes.
And on the wiki I had closed in fright, the expression that was written....
Pass the place you want to open and come to the shining door to the closed
place Meet the master of Hanbit Library the Mirror Reflecting Truth
That very expression.
Mirror Reflecting Truth
’....’
Ah.
"Mr. Jay."
"Why...?"
"We... might have been mistaken."
The analogy of the book and pages was made by the Wolf Leader.
’That’s also a guess.’
But because the Wolf Leader was such an extraordinary person, we had all
been unconsciously treating that analogy as fact in our conversation.
All of us. But....
"What we saw in the window of Hanbit Library was ourselves. Not some
scene from the past."
"...Ah."
So, if we were to use a library-based analogy.
"We are all the same single book."
I pointed at the Golden Mascot.
To be precise, back and forth between myself and the Mascot.
"Aren’t we just in a state where different pages are opened?"
"..."
"..."
"...So."
The Security Chief’s mouth opened.
"We were one from the beginning."
The next moment.
Only the Security Chief and I were standing among the bookshelves of
Hanbit Library.
"..."
The dark, red, strange bookshelf passage was gone.
We were standing in front of the Yarn in the maze of bookshelves.
’Ah.’
And I realized.
I was the Golden Mascot.
It rises in my mind. Exploring Hanbit Library with the Security Chief,
searching for the team members who had vanished in the confusion, and the
Yarn.
And probably, after concluding that I was the fake one, suppressing the
existential terror and saying in agony that I would become the librarian.
All those moments were me.
And.
"Noruya...?"
"Deputy Manager."
I can see the former D-Team members coming around the corner.
And my own form, which was with them, also connects....
I was Grape.
Suddenly, in the form of a naive Rookie Agent from the Disaster
Management Bureau, I had been accompanying the former D-Team
members—who were meeting their past selves like Doppelgangers—and
worriedly searching for the Security Chief’s whereabouts.
And in a strange passageway, after leaving behind a button, we were
seriously discussing what on earth we should do here....
Then I suddenly blinked, and the Security Chief appeared before my eyes.
That was also me.
"You’re back. No, the Chief is here too!"
"..."
And the most shocking thing of all.
-Oh, that’s how my friend looked when he ran that humble and cozy Resort.
-My goodness, friend, your arm is gone!
It was the fact that Bran had been accompanying all three of them.
’Ha....’
This bastard, really.
’Anyway, did I return to normal because I got the answer right?’
What about the librarian? No, more importantly... wait.
’...Then does the Security Chief have the memories of going around as the
Wolf Leader....’
....
I looked back at the Security Chief.