Chapter 151 - Prologue (4)

The library brightened in an instant.

The light was like a white current. It moved as though alive. [■■■■■]. Light poured endlessly from Hamustra’s apocalypse like water. Its waves washed over us and surged between the bookshelves.

The light flooded everything.

[Stage cleared.]

The apocalypse never stopped spewing light.

SPLASH!

WHOOSH!

The rising flood of light swiftly submerged the Great Library’s bookshelves, its bookcases as tall as buildings. Even the deepest recesses of the forbidden books, which could not have seen light once in thousands of years, shone brightly.

A white flood.

A pure-white pond.

[Today.]

We stood in the heart of the flood of light that had swallowed the world.

[The thirtieth-floor stage has been cleared.]

Hunters’ screams reached us from afar.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Had the sudden flood of light startled them? Fortunately, there were dependable companions in the library. Plenty of them. For every hunter crying out in alarm, there was someone soothing them.

Though the bookshelves hid their faces, I recognized every one of their voices.

“Ohhh! I’m dying! My eyesight’s been dim enough lately—now it’ll drop into the negatives! Oh, my aching bones. You little brat! When a youngster sees an old man, you ought to take the hint and make him a tonic as a gift!”

The Medicine King.

“Uh. B-but medicine should go to the people who need it first. I’m sorry, Medicine King, but you don’t really need any... Why don’t you get a new pair of glasses...?”

The Apothecary.

“Ah, this is what they call a stage clear. Just light. You lot probably haven’t experienced much of this, but I’ve already seen it several times. The mysterious... becomes ordinary with familiarity. Don’t act rashly.”

“Whoaaa! Master!”

“I knew we could count on you, damn it...!”

Viper and his lackeys.

“Oh? Oh? Was the thirtieth floor meant to clear itself? Aha. Well, I’m glad we saved some time. All Pantheon guild members, prepare to teleport! As soon as we return to Babylon, we’ll begin working through our backlog!”

The Inquisitor.

“This is troubling. I have no experience working as a librarian.”

“I have some superficial knowledge, Mr. Kim Yul. I’ll help you.”

“... I would appreciate it.”

The Heaven-Slaying Star and the director.

They weren’t the only ones. I could hear the Black Dragon leader, the Count, and the Paladin too. Sometimes far away. Sometimes quite close. Human voices drifted from beyond the shelves lined with heavy hardcovers.

Yes. I could hear every murmur and whisper in the library, as though the currents of light were drawing in the sounds.

Beside me, the little Librarian trembled.

[This is another announcement to everyone.]

[Today, the thirtieth-floor stage has been clear—]

KZZZZT—

Static intruded on the Tower’s voice.

The already trembling Librarian flinched and hunched his shoulders.

[Warning!]

[An abnormal clearing method has been detected.]

[A warning is issued to the ‘Shut-In Librarian.’]

“Ugh.”

The Librarian clutched my sleeve.

“I-it does not matter. ■■■■■ has been designated the thirtieth-floor stage. As the administrator overseeing stages twenty-one through thirty, I guarantee this. And as the constellation ruling ■■■■■, I acknowledge the stage clear...”

[This is a second warning.]

[If the stage clear is declared, the ‘Shut-In Librarian’ will incur a severe penalty.]

[Please confirm whether you wish to proceed with the stage clear nonetheless.]

The grip crumpling my sleeve tightened a little.

“...”

The Librarian’s shoulders were bowed. Usually, his loose clothes made him look larger than he actually was. Not now. He was small. The space he occupied in this world was insignificant.

Leaning against me, the Librarian looked up.

“... It does not matter.”

Those words were addressed to the Tower, and to me as well.

“I...”

Hamustra spoke.

“I shall live in this Tower. I ask you... Acknowledge my fall from heaven, O Master of All Life.”

Silence.

[This is another announcement to everyone.]

The static cleared from the Tower’s voice.

[Today, the thirtieth-floor stage has been cleared.]

Cheers erupted. The library was still submerged in light, but the hunters had heard the stage-clear announcement too. They rejoiced at the thought that they had finally succeeded.

There was also a voice only Hamustra and I could hear.

[The Shut-In Librarian can no longer retain his authority.]

[Commencing grade adjustment.]

I had heard those words once before.

They were exactly what I had heard when Hungry Ghost shed the guise of the Demon King of Autumn Rain.

[The Shut-In Librarian’s epithet is revoked.]

Hungry Ghost had screamed then. [“No!”] Horrified at losing her status as a constellation, she had desperately fought to keep from falling from heaven.

Hamustra’s response now was different.

Without a word, he squeezed his eyes shut.

[This is a repeated announcement.]

[The Shut-In Librarian’s epithet is revoked.]

[The Shut-In Librarian’s authority is revoked.]

The apocalypse in our hands began to run away. Perhaps “melt away” would be more accurate. Drop by drop, its cover turned into soft slime and flowed away, while its pages fell one by one like melted candle wax.

[May fortune be with you.]

Then the apocalypse became light and vanished.

“...”

For a while, Hamustra said nothing. He merely breathed out quietly, calmly releasing his breath. His little torso rose and fell again and again, and slowly, the fear that had made him tremble subsided.

“Aha...”

Hamustra hopped in place.

“Look at this, Death King.”

His long sleeves fluttered. They were so long they could not leave the floor. Whenever Hamustra hopped up and down, they lifted ever so slightly before flopping back down.

“I cannot... fly.”

Hamustra turned to me with a smile.

“I can no longer fly through the air. My hobby was looking down upon worlds from on high. Watching them all day. Sometimes gazing at the horizon without moving for dozens of days. My hobby is gone...”

“Yes.”

“So many things are gone.”

“Yes.”

“My dream has come true. My dream of appearing in a story myself has come true, and I am happy, but happiness is not all I feel. I am afraid. Frightened. I love you all. I cherish you. I am afraid you might not like me. I want everyone to love me...”

“Hamustra.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s impossible, so let’s forget that pipe dream.”

“...”

“Let’s take this one step at a time. Your hobby’s gone, so let’s start by finding a new one. What do you think? Is there anything you want to do to commemorate your fall from constellationhood?”

“Actually, I have two wishes.”

“Please tell me. If I can grant them, I will.”

“First, please stop speaking so formally to me...”

Hmm.

That was a wish I could grant.

“Okay. I will. What’s the other one?”

“My second wish is rather expensive... Such an extraordinary luxury that, Death King, you will surely shudder in utter shock when you hear it...”

“What is it?”

Hamustra wiped his eyes with his sleeve. A sniffle escaped him. When he finally lowered the sleeve, he was smiling.

“I would like to try a venti White Mocha Frappuccino with four shots, Java chips half blended and half on top, and extra chocolate drizzle...”

It truly was a tremendous luxury.

Fortunately, it was also a wish I could grant.

6

There is an epilogue to tell.

“I see. So that is why you died, wife.”

Raviel said this while wearing a school uniform and drinking lemon-lime soda.

Now.

Those who understand will know just how miraculous a collaboration took place in that single sentence.

Look. Raviel [in a school uniform] drank [lemon-lime soda].

Even an epic about the birth and destruction of the universe could not rival the sublimity of this one sentence. Like a believer who has witnessed Creation with his own eyes, I wish to share this profound emotion with you—

“Gongja, you are trembling.”

“I-I’m not trembling.”

“Are you not?”

Raviel tilted her head, cradled in my arms like a princess. For the record, I had been holding this pose for over three hours now. No aura. No skills. I had to endure using nothing but muscle strength and posture.

“You certainly look as though you are.”

The corners of Raviel’s mouth rose.

“Ah, am I heavy, perhaps?”

“Not at all. You’re as light as a feather!”

“Which feather? A dinosaur’s? An archaeopteryx’s?”

“You’re lighter than the feather of a chick just hatched from its egg!”

“What a relief. I nearly felt guilty enough to climb down from my love’s arms. Since you assure me there is no problem, I shall continue to enjoy this wonderfully comfortable ride without a care.”

Raviel put the soda can to her lips. A drop of clear soda clung to them. Ah, how I hated that drop. Evaporate. Hurry up and evaporate, return to nature’s embrace...

Let me explain the situation. We were on the twenty-ninth floor, in the world of [City of Heavenly Ascent—Side Story].

As Hamustra had warned, the [side story] had not changed the actual history of the outside world. It had not been incorporated into the main history. Only this city, centered on Sinseo Middle and High School, had broken away to become a stage like an isolated island.

‘Strangely, the inhabitants of this world don’t notice anything wrong.’

When hunters like us entered the twenty-ninth floor, we were automatically enrolled as middle or high school students. We lived out our school days as if we had been students in this world all along. There were universities too, but that was all.

Quite literally, an academic city.

In short, it was a completely useless stage except for the fact that we could attend school, but...

“Public education is beautiful.”

Apparently, it was unexpectedly useful.

“A place where even those of little wealth can learn to their hearts’ content. Is that not a dreamlike institution? I plan to select talented people from our empire and send them here to study. Truly, my love is more than qualified to call himself the moon of House Ivansia.”

“Uh, I don’t think they’ll learn anything all that great...?”

“It does not matter. The purpose of education is to share a common understanding. A nation is an abstraction that can descend into delusion with a single misstep. We must ensure its citizens always dream the same dream.”

“The same dream...”

“Yes. I have been considering how to naturally integrate the people of the Tower with the people of the empire. Imperial citizens educated here will eventually bridge the two groups.”

Sometimes Raviel said complicated things. So cool.

As for why I had been carrying her for over three hours...

“Well, let us put politics aside for later. Right now, I wish to savor the sight of you being punished.”

That was right. I was being punished...

The reason was obvious.

“You truly startled me, Gongja. I was working in my office when suddenly I regressed twenty-four hours. I paused for a moment, then immediately understood what had happened. Ah, of course. My wife has gone and died somewhere again.”

Raviel took out a golden card.

+

[A Regressor’s Love]

Rank: EX

Effect: To a regressor, love is like poison. No matter how desperately they struggle, they cannot share time with the one they love. And so, one regressor wished: ‘Please preserve my lover’s memories.’ That wish reached the Tower and was granted.

You share a timeline with your beloved. If your beloved goes back one day, you go back one day as well. If you go back one day, your beloved goes back one day as well. This is the covenant of rings. This is a marriage of time.

May fortune be with you both.

※However, this activates only when you and your beloved love each other.

+

Yes.

Because of [A Regressor’s Love], when I died, Raviel also returned twenty-four hours into the past. When the Heaven-Slaying Star had killed me, Raviel had experienced regression too.

Naturally, she could not help knowing that I had died.

According to Golden Silk Blossom, who worked as an attendant for House Ivansia, the moment Raviel regressed, she quietly murmured, [“Some fucking bastard, wherever he may live, has laid hands on my wife.”]

Expressionless. Completely expressionless.

It is said that Golden Silk Blossom experienced cosmic horror that day.

“I’m sorry...”

“No, there is no need to apologize.”

Raviel spoke calmly.

“From what you have told me, did you not make every effort? Did you not struggle desperately to avoid dying? If you died despite that, it could not be helped.”

“R-right?”

“Ah, even if you recklessly skipped ahead to the fiftieth floor while you were still only clearing the twenty-ninth, picked a fight with one of the strongest people even on the fiftieth floor, and finally drew the aggro of an entire floor, it could not be helped. My love, everything you did was perfectly rational. I can find no trace of foolhardiness anywhere. I understand.”

“I’m really sorry...”

“Do you sincerely repent? Do you understand what you did wrong?”

Raviel pinched my cheek and pulled. It stretched like a freshly made sticky rice cake.

I was moved.

‘Ah, Raviel is pinching my cheek.’

Right before my eyes, Raviel was wearing a school uniform. Raviel in a school uniform was nestled in my arms. Was this really punishment? Wasn’t it a reward instead? Was Raviel, my goddess, using punishment as an excuse to praise me for doing well...?

“This man is hopeless...”

Raviel sighed.

“His eyes have gone mad. Those slightly unhinged eyes were always part of his charm, but this is excessive.”

“I love you, Raviel.”

“I love you, Gongja.”

Ah, the scent of soda.

So lovely...

So happy...

“Fuck.”

An uninvited guest yammered behind us.

“Don’t tell me I have to watch this shit every time these two meet. Huh? No, right? This is a bit much, isn’t it? They say love is hormonal, but are these two fucked in the head right down to their hormone levels? What did I do wrong in a past life to deserve this hell?!”

[Sparkle points out that you probably committed a great many sins in your past life.]

“Fuuuck...”

A true hero knows to ignore background chatter.

Raviel toured Sinseo Middle and High School while listening to my story. Who had killed me, and what past that person had kept, lost, and recovered. With me as her guide, she took in the classrooms and rooftop one by one.

“Hmm.”

Raviel nodded.

“Well done, Gongja. It was worth devoting your time to accomplish this.”

She had accepted it. I had to endure hell for my arms and heaven for my brain for three whole hours, but weighing which was more important, my arms or my brain, I had to call this a win. A fucking huge win.

“Now, I must personally inspect the ugly mug of the bastard who killed you.”

“Raviel, as I mentioned earlier, that person is probably your ancestor too...”

“All the more outrageous. An ancestor ought to graciously leave matters to his descendants. How dare he lay hands on the moon of our house? Ivansia belongs to me now. I shall deal with him according to the laws of the house.”

Sorry, Heaven-Slaying Star.

I’m sorry, Kim Yul.

You’re fucking dead now.

“And...”

Raviel smiled. On the rooftop of Sinseo Middle and High School, the sunset cast a red glow over her lips.

“I would also like to greet the person who raised you.”

“...”

“Will you take me there, Gongja?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

Then, still holding Raviel in my arms, I whispered.

“Teleport.”

Light enveloped us.

The next moment, we stood in the thirtieth-floor library.

In just a few days, its appearance had changed somewhat. First, the accessible and restricted areas had been strictly separated. In the accessible area, ordinary books adorned the shelves, and hunters sat at tables enjoying a leisurely read.

A peaceful scene.

Coffee cups and glasses of other drinks sat on the hunters’ tables.

“Ah.”

Hamustra, who had been walking between the tables, spotted us and hurried over. Instead of his loose clothes, he wore a neat server’s uniform.

“Welcome, Death King. Oh? The Silver-Plated Heart has come with you as well. Such distinguished guests, all at once!”

A library café.

For the time being, Hamustra had decided to work here. He was not yet confident enough to go down and live in the First-Floor City, but he had resolved to interact with hunters little by little and grow accustomed to life as a human.

“Um, is Kim Yul here? Raviel wants to see his face...”

“His ugly mug, wife.”

“... Raviel said she wants to see Kim Yul’s ugly mug.”

Hamustra beamed.

“Kim Yul’s face is certainly worth traveling far to see. Very well. He should be sorting the children’s books at the moment, but I shall fetch him.”

There was still much to tell.

Who had taken charge of the Great Library after Hamustra’s fall. Why the Medicine King had wound up covering practically the entire cost of establishing the café. And how, even now, he was over at the café counter brewing coffee in a bartender’s outfit.

There was much to tell.

But there would always be another chance to tell it.

“Now, allow me to show you both to your seats!”

As it always had,

that story would continue on a stage a little higher than this one.