A city at night, darkness lying thick over it.
A group of people was moving swiftly through the alleyways.
Hahh… hahh…
The three men and women in suits could hardly be said to be in good shape.
Their dress shirts, which should have looked neat above all else, were stained with blood, and torn here and there.
One man’s leg was injured so badly that he had to be supported by another.
“Chief, please hang in there a little longer.”
“Haa, haa… Yuna. Any word from the Bureau?”
“I sent a request for support, but they say it’ll take over ten minutes…!”
“Fuck… In ten minutes we’ll all be dead.”
The section chief being supported began thinking rapidly.
Because of the blood he had lost, unlike usual, not much came to mind—but this was still an emergency.
He had to pull off whatever he could think of.
“Assistant Manager Gyeongseong.”
“Yes, Chief.”
The man supporting him answered the chief’s call.
“If that thing gets close before support arrives from headquarters…”
“Don’t tell me to abandon you, Chief. I’d rather die with you.”
“Good grief, my subordinate won’t listen to a word I say.”
“I’m having a hard time too because my superior keeps being stubborn.”
“You wanna die, you bastard?”
“Maybe it’d be better to die by human hands. Better than being killed by an Anomaly.”
“You never let me have the last word… Cough. Cough.”
“Waaah! Chief! Don’t die!”
“I’m not dead yet, Yuna. Don’t turn me into a walking corpse already.”
Cracking jokes in a grave situation was the chief’s habit.
If he did not do even this much, there would be no path left but to be swallowed by the fear the anomalous entity radiated and go mad.
And… the two people with far fewer years of experience than him were keeping up well.
That was all the more reason he had to search for a way to survive.
“Yuna, search up all the information on this area. Let’s see if there’s anything useful.”
“Yes, yes!”
At his words, the brown-haired woman quickly pulled out her terminal and began searching for something.
In their current situation, pursued by an anomalous entity, escaping at this speed was impossible.
‘That kind of insane speed… only the Director of Anomaly Exploration Headquarters could manage it.’
Unfortunately, he was merely a section chief, so he had no such ability.
In the end, if they wanted to survive, they had to wring out whatever they could.
But.
“U-um… There aren’t any safe houses or anything like that…!”
“Damn it, I told them to develop these areas more densely. There’s nothing at all?”
“No…”
Seo Yuna, the youngest member of the team, answered with a tearful face.
Then what should they do? Just as the chief continued thinking through his blurred vision—
Krrrk. Krrk.
“Stop.”
Tak!
At the chief’s words, the three of them instantly halted.
At the same time, from a nearby alley came the sound of gears failing to mesh properly.
Krrrrk. Tak. Drdrdrk.
Kkiik. Kkikikik.
Soon, the sound of rusted iron being forcibly rubbed against rusted iron rang out, like metal being scraped.
Though the sound was powerful enough that they should have covered their ears, the three did not move a muscle.
In the end, just as their eardrums were damaged and blood began to flow, the sound stopped again.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Rattle… krrrk…
Soon the sound faded, and only then did the three barely let out the breaths they had been holding.
“Kuhuk. Cough…”
“Everyone, get a grip. Was the ‘Rusty Robot’ here too? Fuck…”
It was not a high-grade anomalous entity. But when encountered so suddenly like this, it was bound to cause serious damage.
“Chief, I can’t hear…”
The chief tapped Seo Yuna’s shoulder as she flailed at the air, bringing her back to her senses, then let out a sigh.
Because they had stopped for a moment, the anomalous entity trying to kill them had drawn even closer.
At this rate, death was certain.
He might be one thing, but these two needed to live longer.
They were talented members of Team 3, after all.
But… at this rate, they would die before support arrived from the Bureau.
Just as despair was gradually closing in—
“Chief, but… I don’t think we’re the only ones here…”
“What?”
At Seo Yuna’s words, the chief asked in surprise.
This area should have been sealed off by the Bureau due to the appearance of an anomalous entity. And yet there was a civilian here?
Seo Yuna pointed to one side and said,
“Over there, the bookshop… The lights are on…”
Could some hard-of-hearing old person have been left behind?
But that was strange. A “lockdown order” issued by the Bureau did not operate like a disaster text alert.
In that case…
The chief stared hard at the signboard of the bookshop.
His instincts, honed over many long years working at the Bureau, were telling him something.
[Goru Bookshop]
[Goru Bookshop]
[Goru Bookshop]
[Mystic Bookshop]
[Mystic Bookshop]
[0͙͔͍̬̗͕̩̠̭̜͓̈́̂̓̐͐͗͛͆̓̿0̥͇͍̞͖͎̟̅͗͛̊̈́ͅ0̭̭̪̜͓̀͆͐̓̇ͅ0̘̰̞͓̜̲̟̍̆̎̌̈̃̀͗͊̚ͅͅ0̣̤͈̲̤͙̜͕̘̎̈́͆͋̏͑̂͑̍̎͒̇ͅ]
[Mystic Library]
The name on the sign had changed.
Into the word “library,” a name that did not fit the scale of the tiny bookshop.
That meant only one thing.
That bookshop was an “anomalous space.”
The chief hesitated.
An anomalous space referred, quite literally, to a space where something beyond the laws of reality could exist.
There could be another anomalous entity within an anomalous space, or the anomalous space itself could possess power.
But there was no other option.
Should they enter an unknown anomalous space and wager all their lives on it?
Or should they die here to the anomalous entity?
His hesitation was brief.
“We’re going into that bookshop.”
“What? Chief?”
“It’s an anomalous space.”
“…!”
“…Chief.”
“Assistant Manager Gyeongseong. Rather than die like dogs here, wouldn’t leaving behind information on an unknown anomalous space be the more honorable and constructive choice?”
“…I will follow your will, Chief.”
“Uuu…! I-I’ll follow you too…!”
And so, the three of them fled the approaching anomalous entity and climbed the narrow stairs leading to the second-floor bookshop.
The stairs were so narrow that a single adult could barely fit across them, so the chief had to stand at the very back and climb on his own.
Creeeak… rattle.
Assistant Manager Gyeongseong, at the front, entered first, followed by Seo Yuna, whose nervousness was plain to see.
And finally, himself.
They opened a massive brown door, exceedingly antique and luxurious, utterly unlike the old and cramped staircase.
Creeeak… click.
And the scene that appeared before them was… the lobby of a vast library.
“Yuna… start recording.”
“Yes, yes.”
Seo Yuna pulled out her terminal and began writing something according to a certain format.
[Anomaly Name: Mystic Library]
[Form: Space]
[Threat Grade: Undetermined]
[Management Grade: Undetermined]
[Details: Entered through an external entrance called Goru Bookshop. The interior scenery overall resembles a grand antique and classical Western library, and…]
[Record: Recording begins on XX/XX/20XX.
“Assistant Manager Gyeongseong, we proceed according to basic protocol.”
“Understood.”
At those words, Lee Gyeongseong relaxed his body as much as possible and began acting with a natural expression.
As if he had come here to use the library.
An unknown anomalous space was, quite literally, filled with the unknown.
But that did not mean information about an anomalous space could not be obtained.
They inferred from the name of the place.
And through that, they had to carry out basic protocol.
If the space was an apartment, they acted like residents.
If it was a hospital, like patients or doctors.
In that way, like actors performing a kind of role-play, they must not show any sign that they had come from outside the anomalous space.
That was basic protocol.
The three slowly moved forward.
Fortunately, it did not seem to be a space that became hostile from the entrance.
If the space had intended to be openly hostile, then the moment they entered, it would have tried to kill them for some absurd reason.
In that sense, it could be considered a rather gentle space.
Soon, when the three reached the center of the lobby, they were able to obtain important information.
“Yuna, over there.”
“Rules…!”
“This will make things much easier.”
Rules.
A unique law that, the moment it was discovered inside an anomalous space, sharply increased the chances of survival.
As the word “rules” implied, there were things one had to follow within the anomalous space, and as long as one followed them, the possibility of surviving relatively normally became high.
“Record.”
“Understood…!”
At the chief’s words, Seo Yuna began writing the rules down on her terminal.
[Welcome to the Mystic Library.]
[Please strictly observe the rules and etiquette within the library.]
-1. Please remain quiet in the library.
-2. Consumption of food or beverages is prohibited inside the library. (This includes souls, dimensions, will, and the like; the concept of consumption is absolutely forbidden.)
-3. Damaging or soiling books is prohibited.
-4. Within the library, obey the librarian’s words absolutely.
-5. Do not attempt to harm the librarian or attempt abnormal interactions.
-6. Only books recommended by the librarian may be read. We are not responsible for any mental damage incurred by reading other unauthorized books.
-7. Do not disturb other patrons who are reading books.
-8. Taking books outside the library is prohibited.
The rules were far more ordinary than he had expected. There were no absurd rules.
The chief muttered about one being frequently mentioned within the rules.
“A librarian…”
It was now confirmed that an anomalous entity existed here as well.
If so, then the one who could effectively decide whether they lived or died was that being called the librarian…
Just then, the door to the stacks abruptly opened.
While the three of them stared at the door, frozen in place, someone appeared.
“Hello, dear patrons.”
Black bobbed hair that fell to her shoulders.
A small height and build, making her look like a middle schooler—or perhaps a high schooler.
And a girl wearing a beige cardigan, holding a book written in an incomprehensible language.
“Welcome to the Mystic Library.”
The librarian, absolute ruler of this anomalous space, looked like an exceedingly ordinary human.