Ian sat beside the librarian, who was growing stupider by the minute, and drank coffee with him.
Maybe it was because he was the person in charge of a library, but the coffee the librarian made was quite good. He was clearly using the same instant powder, so Ian had no idea how the taste could be this different.
Wasn’t this a kind of anomalous phenomenon too?
“Mm.”
After writing down on the paper the rule that coffee made by the librarian was safe to drink, Ian looked back at him.
“First of all, you mustn’t run in the library. No jumping either. Ah, and you can’t crawl around, or climb up the bookshelves. If you do, I’ll scurry over and pop your head right off.”
“I see. The next rule?”
Sipping his coffee, Ian engraved each of the rules the librarian told him onto the paper.
He summarized the absurdly extensive rules as much as possible. For example, a rule like, If you lick or tear the books in the library, your mouth will split wide open and your body will be divided in two, was shortened to “Do not damage the books.” The rest of the rules were reduced in a similar manner.
If someone failed to understand that and insisted on doing something that diminished the value of the books, then that was death by natural causes. They would have been destined to die somewhere even if it wasn’t here.
Tap, tap.
Ian rolled the ballpoint pen between his fingers, put a cigarette in his mouth, and continued listening attentively to the librarian’s rules.
“Ah, smoking is prohibited in the library. If you smoke, I have to burn you to death slowly from the tips of your toes!”
“I’m fine.”
“Ah. Are you? All right……”
“More importantly, keep telling me the next rules. How many are left?”
“Um…… 136 in total!”
“……And if you summarize them?”
“Then seven!”
“Then explain them in summary.”
“Yes!”
Time continued to pass. Ian quickly wrote down the rules the librarian told him, and the librarian, somehow turning a brain that was growing stupider by the moment, explained every rule.
At last, the rulebook was complete.
Rules no different from a Napolitan ghost story. Perhaps because he had condensed and condensed them again, there wasn’t as much content as he had expected. It didn’t seem difficult to memorize.
But at the very least, carrying a copy would further increase one’s survival rate.
‘It wouldn’t be bad to leave one here just in case.’
Anomalous phenomena basically did not distinguish between Mysteries and humans. Ian had come to the library of his own accord, but there was no guarantee ordinary people would do the same. Regardless of conditions like being a mage or a psychic, there would surely be people dragged in.
To raise their survival rate, it seemed best to leave a few copies in the library. He held out the rulebook he had written himself to the librarian and said,
“Can you make about five copies of this and place them around the library? Give the original back to me.”
“Uh, why?”
“Everyone should know the rules. That way you can rest more comfortably too.”
“That’s true! I’ll copy it!”
“Good. Make a notice telling people where each rulebook is placed. And from now on, don’t mind whatever I do here.”
“Understood!”
Leaving behind the fellow who answered energetically, Ian walked into the vast graveyard of books.
Bookshelves rose high enough to touch the ceiling. He peered into one of them and looked for any decent books.
Most of them were malicious. The complete collection of methods to harm humans amounted to a full two thousand pages. He had no particular desire to read it.
However, it wasn’t as though there were only things like that. Ordinary novels like Don Quixote and the legends of King Arthur—he could see a few famous stories from reality as well. Knowing there was no penalty for reading books, he opened them and read, but as expected, there was nothing special about them. They were just novels.
‘So this is a place that gathers books from this world and that world. Then would there be grimoires too?’
He slid the book he was holding back onto the shelf, then grasped his own grimoire and tapped it against his shoulder.
The grimoire Ian possessed was in a different league from ordinary grimoires. Unlike ordinary grimoires, which were basically written by fellow humans, the author of the Hand of Re-Creation was an Outer God.
He did not know exactly what kind of existence an Outer God was, or whether they could swallow Earth whole like in works of fiction. But at the very least, it was certain they were beings counted among the strong even in the universe. Even the mages who strutted around on Earth would be no more than insects before them.
That was why he wanted to check. What the difference was between a grimoire written by a mage and a grimoire written by an Outer God. How great the gap in level was, and so on. If he knew in advance, he might gain an advantage in future clashes with them.
“Hmm.”
Leaving the copier whirring behind him, Ian roamed the library on his own two feet, searching for grimoires.
After quite some time, he discovered an antique book that, unlike the others, gave off a rather mysterious atmosphere.
A thick book with a blue cover engraved with golden letters. Ian checked the title and smiled broadly.
[The Eighth Book of Moses]
Jackpot. Ian placed the Hand of Re-Creation on the table, sat in a chair, and examined the newly found grimoire.
The Eighth Book of Moses was a grimoire Ian knew as well.
Lemegeton, The Key of Solomon, the Necronomicon, the Almadel, The Book of the Office of Spirits, and the like. It was a book of the same grade as those renowned, high-level grimoires. The grimoire guide Lee Seo-a had carried had contained information about this grimoire too.
A grimoire in which destructive magic was mainly recorded, such as bringing rain through prayer or causing floods.
Although the magic could be nullified if one repented of their sins and prayed to God with all their heart, it was certainly an impressive grimoire. Ian pestered the librarian into bringing him another cup of coffee, sipped it, and turned the grimoire’s cover.
“……?”
He tried to turn it. But as if it had been glued shut, the cover would not turn.
“No, what’s wrong with this?”
Unlike the other books in the library, the grimoire wouldn’t budge.
No, looking closely, the cover was trembling. It looked as if it were desperately tensing itself to keep from opening.
“……Well, look at this?”
It had shown itself because it liked him, and now it was suddenly playing hard to get? What was this, managing a fishery? Did that make any sense?
……His stubbornness flared. Ian grabbed the book, sprang up from his seat, and pulled at the cover with all his might.
[……Ughhh!]
The Eighth Book of Moses trembled with all its might, struggling not to be opened. The thick cover only shifted a few millimeters and did not fully open.
“You come help too!”
In the end, Ian called the Hand of Re-Creation while panting for breath. The Outer God’s grimoire fluttered once as if letting out an elegant sigh, then slowly crawled over and tapped the cover of the Eighth Book of Moses.
And then.
Baaaaang!!!!
With a tremendous roar, the Eighth Book of Moses exploded.
“……!”
The torn and shattered grimoire pattered down onto the floor. In an instant, it had turned into something like a corpse; it trembled intermittently, then finally went limp.
It was dead. A grimoire that had existed in this world had just vanished as it was.
“…….”
Ian was unable to say anything and blankly looked down at what had once been a grimoire on the floor. The grimoire that had been capable of submerging an entire village and bringing disaster through a great flood met its end today.
The traces left behind by Moses, a great figure who had existed since ancient times, disappeared just like that. Ian let out a hollow laugh and collapsed into the chair.
[A grimoire written by an Outer God also affects its owner.]
As he stared at the remnants of the grimoire with an absurd expression, the Hand of Re-Creation climbed into his grasp and opened its pages on its own.
[The owner of the grimoire is regarded as one chosen by an Outer God. A mage in this state becomes an object of avoidance for other grimoires. The moment they are read, their ego collapses and they die. However, high-rank grimoires can withstand this.]
[However, a subject with 100 percent compatibility is no longer regarded as a chosen pet, but as the companion of an Outer God, and is effectively treated by other grimoires the same as an Outer God. And unless it is a grimoire of another Outer God, every grimoire is unable to withstand the aura of an Outer God and is annihilated.]
“……Ah.”
So, to summarize, from the moment he picked up a grimoire written by an Outer God and became its owner, it became impossible to use or even look into any other grimoire. Ian scratched his head and stared at the thick, pure-white book in his hand.
The grimoire, which did not move in the slightest, seemed to be telling him not to even dream of another grimoire besides itself.
What was it, some clingy girlfriend? It was absurd.
Ian heaved a deep sigh and set the grimoire down on the table.
“In the end, I can only look into grimoires written by another Outer God.”
It was a shame that he would never be able to see a grimoire written by a mage for the rest of his life, but that did not mean he wanted to go searching for grimoires by other Outer Gods. One clingy grimoire was more than enough.
Thinking that, he reached to the side to pick up his coffee.
But what his hand grasped was not the paper cup containing coffee.
It was hard and rough, the texture of leather.
“……?”
He was certain he hadn’t placed any other book on the table, so what on earth was this that he had suddenly grabbed?
Feeling an inexplicable unease, Ian slowly turned his head. And he checked what he had in his hand.
It was a pitch-black book. With no explanation, no illustration. Only red letters were engraved on a cover painted black.
[Records of the Deep Sea]
A book with an ominous title had appeared. Ian immediately tried to let go, but his hand moved on its own and rustled the cover open. Dense letters packed across the pure-white page reflected in his eyes.
[Records of the Deep Sea]
[Author: Lord of the Outer Sea]
[This grimoire was written by the Outer God, the Lord of the Outer Sea, hereafter ■■■, and primarily records methods for summoning creatures personally created by ■■■—]
Bam!
The moment Ian unknowingly read through the familiar introduction, the Hand of Re-Creation abruptly slammed the cover of the Records of the Deep Sea shut and pressed down hard from above.
“Gaaah!”
Ian screamed at the pain that felt as if the back of his hand were being crushed.
[Woooong!]
[Woooong!]
The two grimoires, with Ian’s hand caught between them, struggled desperately to push each other away. Ian’s face twisted at the pain that felt as if his hand were being crushed in a press.
“Ah, ah! Hey, that hurts! Aaaah!”