Ian purchased the signature item from a nearby sandwich shop and ate it as he walked.
The abandoned library was located in a residential complex. However, it wasn’t a place where many people lived. Most of the residents had fled due to a massive fire in the past.
He had heard that the flames had suddenly erupted from some household, but he couldn’t be sure if that was the truth.
Not that it mattered now. Whether some crazy mage had set the fire or a Mystery had caused a terror incident, it was all in the past.
Ian finished his sandwich neatly and strolled through the silent residential complex.
There were barely any signs of people. Almost no houses had lights on, and even then, no human figures could be seen. Only cats roamed the streets. He spotted a few lesser ghosts as well.
Ian approached a ghost staring blankly at him, converted it into materials, and thought:
*Rather than an officetel, maybe this place would be better.*
Due to the nature of houses, the price wouldn’t be cheap, and the structure made it easy for outsiders to look inside, so he hadn’t considered it seriously. But like this, it wouldn’t be bad to consider moving here once he’d saved up some money. It would be more than adequate to use as a home rather than a workshop.
Of course, he didn’t have the money to move right now. No matter how cheap the mansion was, it would easily cost several hundred million won at minimum… He figured it would be best to finish this commission first, then decide whether to move.
"……."
After walking for a while lost in useless thoughts, he arrived at his destination.
A tall building that looked more like a bookstore than a library.
The giant library sitting awkwardly in the middle of the residential complex was quite alien, but precisely because of that, he could be certain it was a Mystery. Ian briefly checked the rounds in the revolver tucked in his chest and peered at the building through the window.
As expected, nothing could be seen through the window. Only Ian’s face reflected clearly.
An unknown space that even the Cartel hadn’t been able to properly verify.
It was a similar situation to just before entering the theme park.
However, back then, he hadn’t known how horrific a space the theme park was, so he could move a bit boldly. Now, he knew that the Mystery encroaching upon the space was not very friendly to humans. Anyone with a head on their shoulders could judge that it wasn’t wise to charge in blindly.
Moreover, unlike back then, there was no one by his side now. All he could rely on were his own judgment and ability to improvise.
"Hoo……."
Feeling the mounting tension, Ian put a cigarette in his mouth and slowly lit it. As the acrid smoke seeped into his lungs, some of the tension seemed to ease.
He rummaged through his backpack and stuffed the various items he had packed into his coat pockets and pants pockets, preparing to enter.
He had also sewn a new pocket inside his coat for the grimoire, so he no longer needed to hide the book somewhere. Ian placed the snow-white grimoire into the large pocket and tapped it twice with his fist.
"Shall we go."
He stood up. In preparation for any unforeseen circumstances, he lightly loosened his joints, then holding the mostly spent cigarette in his hand, he slowly opened the library’s main door.
What met his eyes was… a gloomy corridor. The sunlight pouring in from outside didn’t seep inside even a sliver. Instead, it glittered with a pale gray hue.
There were no people. Just a long, straight corridor and a single door hanging solitarily at the end.
Ian flicked the cigarette butt in his hand onto the floor and fully stepped into the corridor.
Creak, bang.
At the same time, the main door closed and locked on its own. He tried pushing it just in case, but it didn’t budge.
"Does this mean it’s impossible to leave without doing anything?"
He said so and raised his head. Then his body flinched.
Above the main door was a large window. Beyond it, a gigantic creature with a grotesque form was looking down into the library corridor.
Its face consisted of nothing but countless eyeballs. Sharp teeth hung within those pupils like eels. Its head was as large as a decent-sized bus, and its crooked torso was comparable to a small building.
It wasn’t the only thing reflected in the window. Beyond the window that had originally glittered with a gray hue, grotesque creatures were plastered against the glass, glaring holes into Ian.
It was different from the theme park. The monstrosities there hadn’t openly revealed their hostility. They only rushed to kill when specific triggers were activated.
These things, on the other hand, looked desperate to tear off flesh at any moment. Drool dripped from their gaping mouths, and Ian’s figure was reflected clearly in their bloodshot eyes.
"……."
Fortunately, as long as the door didn’t open or the window didn’t break, it seemed there would be no danger. Still, it was as unpleasant as ever. Ian fixed the monstrosity clinging above the main door in his dying eye and then crushed it.
At that moment, all of the creature’s pupils burst simultaneously. Whether that was the method of disposal, the monstrosity collapsed to the floor and didn’t move.
[……?]
[……! ……?!]
When the largest one died, the monstrosities plastered to the window tilted their heads in surprise before immediately turning around and fleeing. Ian looked at the bloodstains left where they had been and let out a long breath.
He didn’t have time to worry about them.
He immediately turned and walked toward the library door at the end of the corridor.
With a creak, he opened the door, and a dense smell of books wafted out. It wasn’t an unpleasant scent. Rather, it was a comfortable fragrance.
The library was more ordinary than he had expected. There were no windows, but curtains covered the entire wall. Bookshelves rose high, packed tightly with books, and thin, neatly arranged books were lined up on the tables.
It seemed to carry a subtle scent of human habitation. A comfortable and quiet scene, the exact opposite of the horrific theme park.
Ian closed the library door, entered inside, and cautiously examined the titles of the books.
[Cannibal Cuisine]
[Human Body Assembly]
[52 Ways to Deliciously Season a Dying Human]
"……."
Ian’s words caught in his throat after confirming the titles. Even if the scenery was like this, it seemed the contents weren’t ordinary either. He clicked his tongue and began to walk around the library in earnest. He took out his notebook and recorded the library’s structure and atmosphere.
"Welcome."
After a moment, the librarian sitting at the library’s reception desk greeted him. Ian checked its appearance and silently moved his pen.
A head was attached normally. However, there were no facial features. Literally, only a head was attached. Its limbs were long, and a giant eyeball wriggled at its pelvis. Its wide-open chest seemed to be a place for storing books, with thick tomes resembling law books embedded in a row.
[Library Rule 1]
[Library Rule 2]
[Library Rule 3]
Books consisting of three volumes. They were books that informed one of this library’s rules. While the volume of a single book was enormous, the fact that they were laid out in the open was a piece of good fortune.
Ian finished writing his description of the librarian’s appearance and cautiously asked it:
"Could I learn the library’s rul—"
"Silence!!!!!!"
Before Ian could finish, the librarian’s head split vertically and let out a monstrous shriek. At the deafening noise that felt like it would make his head spin, Ian clenched his teeth and steadied himself against the wall.
"In the library!!!!!! Be!!!!!! Silent!!!!!!!"
"Kgh!"
"Aaaaaack!!!!!!"
The booming voice felt like it would rupture his eardrums. Ian somehow covered both ears with his hands and gritted his teeth so his head wouldn’t be crushed.
After some time passed. When Ian didn’t utter a word, the librarian cut off its shriek abruptly and returned to its neat appearance. Ian sat on the floor, gasping roughly.
*This is insane.*
A sharp ringing buzzed in both ears. Perhaps his brain had been shaken—his vision swam and he felt nauseous. He couldn’t keep his balance. His fingers trembled.
"……Ghh."
He somehow raised his body again, took out his lighter, and lit it. Then the surrounding noise vanished completely.
The librarian didn’t budge even though the lighter was lit right in front of it.
It was absurd that it would have a seizure at the sound of a voice but didn’t react to a lighter that could start a fire. Truly, its standards were as arbitrary as one would expect from a monstrosity.
Ian swept back his sweat-soaked hair in the silence and tried to act calmly. His head ached from the sudden commotion, but at least it wasn’t a life-threatening danger. For now, he was fine.
However, if merely making a sound caused such a seizure, there was an extremely high possibility that other actions would yield similar results.
"……."
In a way, it was a place even more difficult than the theme park. Ian let out a deep sigh in the silence and took out the red paper he had kept in his pocket.
Paper that gradually deteriorated intelligence and ultimately killed by turning one into an imbecile.
He had planned to assess the situation before deciding whether to use it, but he had no choice now. It seemed best to accomplish his objective and escape as quickly as possible.
Thinking so, he carefully slapped the paper onto the librarian’s back. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to react to touch, as the librarian still stood there blankly.
After enough time had passed, Ian extinguished the nearly spent lighter and cautiously cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
"Si!!!!"
At his coughing sound, the librarian immediately split its head open. But the syllable "-lence" didn’t follow. Instead, it stood still, stared at Ian with the eye attached to its pelvis, and scratched its head with its long hand.
"Customer, isn’t it proper to be silent in the library? My memory is quite hazy. Ah, I want to eat sandfish."
Ian laughed at the absurd nonsense.