SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 149: The Prologue (2)

It was now time to talk about someone else’s prologue. The other Hunters left the forbidden books section of the Great Library, leaving only me and the Indoor Librarian, who seemed to want to say goodbye to me in private. He couldn’t have looked smaller with bookshelves of old hardcovers resembling brick walls towering behind him.

“That was a lot of fun! You know what, Death King?”

“What?”

He smiled. “Happiness evaporates quickly. It’s all about enjoying a moment so much that you can’t help yourself. Moments are like a stream that continuously flows, so if I let my happiness float like a single maple leaf on that stream, I will always be happy.”

Several apocalyptic books, including the ones I had cleared, flew toward the Indoor Librarian when he waved a hand. The apocalyptic books that the other Hunters had conquered were also there.

Twenty-First Floor: Great Library of All Life

Twenty-Second Floor: Heavenly Demon Chronicle (Genres: Murim, Fusion)

Twenty-Third Floor: The Space Iron Knight’s Epic (Genre: Sci-Fi)

Twenty-Fourth Floor: Diary from the Dawn Mountain Lodge (Genres: Mystery, History)

Twenty-Fifth Floor: Story of Sormwin Academy (Genre: Romance)

Twenty-Sixth Floor: Festival City apocalyptic book (Genre: Sports)

Twenty-Seventh Floor: Epic in Bakery Street (Genres: Cooking, business fiction)

Twenty-Eighth Floor: Our Victim (Genre: Fairy Tale)

Twenty-Ninth floor: The Story of the City of Ascension: Side Story (Genre: School life)

The Indoor Librarian’s eyes sparkled like a child’s. “It’s beautiful! The book list isn’t bad. Though it’s not flawless, it’s incomparably better than the book lists the warriors from other worlds have compiled. I almost feel like I don’t want to give these books to you.”

Everyone searched for their own treasure in childhood—fake jewelry made of clear plastic, a couple of red and black BB bullets mixed in with the white ones, or crude dolls with pretty hands. As children, we always felt the need to have a secret treasure of our own.

This was how the Indoor Librarian looked when admiring his own treasure.

“How did Hunters in other worlds do it?”

“Well, they either chose only the apocalyptic books with low difficulty levels or only the ones helpful to their Tower.”

“The Hunters of this Tower technically chose the latter approach.”

The Indoor Librarian covered his mouth with his sleeve. “Haha, you’re too humble. If you were simply aiming to clear the books, you had no reason to relieve the Heavenly Demon’s sorrow. Do you know what the simplest strategy to clear the book is?”

“What is it?”

“It’s to hide in a secluded cave.”

The world around us changed when the Indoor Librarian touched the Heavenly Demon Chronicle.

Whoooosh!

Light enveloped me. When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the library. Instead, we were floating above a snowy mountain with snowflakes blowing in the wind.

“Hey. From what I see, we just have to wait until they die...”

Hunters I had never seen before were hiding in the mountain’s cave. Their clothes were completely different from the ones I was used to, so I realized that they were from another world.

“It’s not that difficult. Just be careful of the zombies walking around.”

“Great! Let’s cheer up and hold out until it’s over!”

The Indoor Librarian looked down at them and said, “This is a record from the distant past. These Hunters are from a different Tower. They took on the challenge of the Heavenly Demon Chronicle and chose to remain hidden until the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader died.”

I stared at them.

“Ten days after the challengers arrive in this world, the Murim Alliance's leader dies, and the Heavenly Demon loses her mind. In her madness, she vehemently disperses her vital force, then dies. Ta-da! Book cleared!”

The Indoor Librarian waved his hands around in a playful manner.

“Well, they chose a bad spot to hide and were killed by zombies. But the strategy itself isn’t bad. If you just wait, the Heavenly Demon Chronicle will be cleared no matter what. You just need to come prepared for the cold, stacked with supplies, and you better be good at stealth to avoid the zombies and the Heavenly Demon. Isn’t the difficulty level of B very appropriate?”

I didn’t reply.

“But, Death King, you didn’t do that.” The Indoor Librarian looked at me. Behind him, a snowstorm from very long ago was projected as a hologram. “You always treated the characters as human beings and tried your best. You experienced anger and sadness as well, and embraced an apocalyptic book as if it were your world.”

He touched the Story of Sormwin Academy with his left hand.

Whoooosh!

The snowy mountain disappeared completely. We were now in the basement of the villa where Raviel used to stay. She was standing in front of a chained up man, who was kneeling on the floor, covered in blood. It looked as if he had been tortured.

“Hey, I’ve been tricked! Tricked! According to the strategy guide, you like white flowers! Why doesn’t your Affection increase even though I give you flowers, cook you the dishes you like, and have pleasant conversations with you? I’ve been tricked! This ending makes no sense!”

Raviel clicked her tongue, disgust sewn in her features. “You’re pathetic. Are all Constellations’ apostles like this?”

“F-fall for me, you half-wit Constellation! Hurry up and fall in love with me!”

“Do Constellations perhaps regard my world as the trashcan of the universe? Is that why they’re throwing apostles here one by one? My, my. My hands are already full with taking care of the empire’s citizens. Life becomes more difficult as the days go by.”

Raviel poured poison on the man’s head, melting his scalp.

“Ugh!!! Aaaaaah!!!! Aaaaaaaaah!!!”

The man writhed under the lethal poison. With a long sigh, Raviel left the basement.

Thump.

The basement door closed, cutting off the scream.

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The Indoor Librarian shrugged. “This is also from the past. It’s difficult for humans to treat others with compassion. I commend you for accomplishing this difficult task. Although we will never meet again, please remember that I’ll always root for you.”

“Will we really never meet again?”

The Indoor Librarian chuckled. “Now I have to invite and welcome warriors from other worlds. I can’t just take care of you guys forever. There are infinite worlds out there, so that means there are also countless Towers. An endless number of warriors are also climbing their Towers as we speak! I made an agreement with the Master of All Life to greet them. Ah, I’m sorry. I can’t tell you any more than this.”

He held out his right hand with a soft smile.

“Well done, Death King. Now the Great Library of All Life will disappear from the twenty-first floor. Instead, a small shelter will be created. I’ll be generous and make it paradise-like as a gift.”

I shook hands with him. “Thank you.”

“We really don’t know what life holds in store for us, do we? I never knew the day would come when I would shake hands with my bias and make my other bias my librarian... Huh?”

There was a reason the Indoor Librarian made that sound. He tried to break free from the handshake, but I wouldn’t let go of his hand.

“Death King?” He tilted his head. “Are you sad to say goodbye? I appreciate that, but you have now cleared the twenty-first to thirtieth floors. Oh, there will also be a shelter on the thirtieth floor. There is an apocalypse book called Story of a Resort City. Its recreational facilities are truly paradise-like. As a bonus, I’ll give you...”

I looked down at the Constellation expressionlessly.

“Death King? What’s wrong? You’re scaring me a little...”

According to the Indoor Librarian’s terms, today was the day when Kim Yul and the director finished the long prologue and finally entered the main story. But that wasn’t all.

“Mr. Librarian, before we part ways, I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“You don’t have any reason to keep living anymore, do you?”

Ever since I cleared the Heavenly Demon Chronicle, I had been looking forward to this moment.

***

“You have the Constellation Murderer as your liked character. Why do you like him? Lefanta Aegim goes around and kills Constellations. I would have understood if you didn’t like him, but I’m not sure why you’d have any reason to like him.”

On the day I finished clearing the Heavenly Demon Chronicle, the Indoor Librarian and I landed on a snowy mountain. For the very first time, we had an honest conversation, with the dead, blackened corpse of a dragon in front of us serving as our witness.

“Since you’re the one asking, I’ll tell you. There’s this dream I’ve had for a long time.”

“A dream?”

“Yes! It’s to appear in the novel I like!” the Constellation said, his eyes sparkling innocently.

The Indoor Librarian explained that there was a difference between intervening and appearing in a novel. His wish was to become a character who had been living in that world with the other characters from the very beginning.

“I refuse to intervene in a story, so that leaves me only one way to become a character.”

“What would that be?” I asked.

“It’s simple if you think about it the other way around: instead of searching for a character in a novel, the character can come look for me.

“Lefanta Aegim, the Constellation Murderer, constantly travels from world to world to kill Constellations,” he whispered with a smile. “He’s bound to visit my Great Library of All Life one day to kill me.

“He’ll continue his story and stand before me someday of his own volition. On that day, I’ll finally appear in the story of The Epic of Lefanta Aegim. That is the day I’m waiting for.”

The Indoor Librarian looked down at the now snow-free ground and smiled widely.

“Isn’t that the best epilogue I can ask for?”

The Indoor Librarian loved the Constellation Murderer because he was the only way for the Constellation to become a character in a story.

“You don’t have any reason to keep living anymore, do you?” I asked again, more adamantly this time.

The Indoor Librarian’s expression turned serious. “What are you talking about?”

“You said that your dream is to one day become a character in a story without having to personally intervene. The Constellation Murderer is the only protagonist who will make that dream come true,” I said with a smile. “Are you still waiting for the Constellation Murderer to kill you?”

He said nothing.

“Do you think the Constellation Murderer will kill you after meeting you, Mr. Librarian?”

The Indoor Librarian glanced around. “I... don't understand what you’re talking about. The Constellation Murderer who met your nurturer is simply someone under your monster legion. The real Constellation Murderer is still alive and well on the fiftieth floor. He’ll come to my library someday and kill me...”

I held the Indoor Librarian’s right hand a little tighter. “That’s true. But that Constellation Murderer isn’t from the route you chose when I asked you earlier.”

Route 1: The Constellation Murderer on the fiftieth floor never met me or forgave the orphanage director.

Route 2: The Constellation Murderer met me and finally forgave the director.

I had asked him which of the two he would recognize as the Constellation Murderer’s story.

“You chose the second route.”

That was what he chose to be the official story. The Constellation Murderer possessing Kim Yul and then accepting the director’s apology was what the Indoor Librarian had accepted to be the Constellation Murderer’s life. In other words...

“Suppose the Constellation Murderer from the fiftieth floor pays you a visit one day, are you sure you can purely enjoy the moment? He didn’t even meet the director. Can you truly accept him as the real Constellation Murderer when he has never experienced anger, sadness, or the desire to get revenge and forgive? Will you really be able to accept the ending where the Constellation Murderer kills you?”

The Indoor Librarian may not have thought about this, but he had practically shattered his own dream.

“You’ll never be able to accept it because you love stories more than anyone else. There’s no way you would want to be killed by someone you don’t accept as a protagonist, someone who’s just an extra.”

The Indoor Librarian was still silent.

“For your information, there is no use in denying it.”

I could read him like an open book and knew who he loved.

Show me the character window.

Name: Indoor Librarian

Affection: 99

Liked genres: Fusion fantasy, romance, mystery, adventure, horror, history, war, sports, SF, mythology, fairy tale...

Disliked genres: None

Liked characters: Characters, the Death King, Kim Yul

Disliked characters: None

Liked plot: Completed stories

Disliked plot: Discontinued serializations

The Constellation Murderer’s name had changed to Kim Yul, and the order of liked characters had also changed. My name used to be behind the Constellation Murderer, but now it was before him.

When the story of the Constellation Murderer came to an end, he had begun to love my story even more.

The Indoor Librarian looked at me in disbelief. “Death King, what have you... No, for how long have you been planning this...?”

“Since I learnt what your dream is when we were on that snowy mountain. Of course, I hadn’t planned out all the details back then.”

But I had already finished drawing the big picture. My plan was to make him like me more than the Constellation Murderer. That was why I had persistently tracked down the Constellation Murderer almost to the point of obsession, even though I had gone out of my way to do so. It was all to hunt down one Constellation, the one standing before me right now.

“Hamustra.”

The Indoor Librarian flinched due to being called by his real name again.

“Now you have two paths ahead of you,” I said.

“Two paths...?”

“Keep on living without ever being able to fulfill your dream. We’ll go our separate ways. Give up the hope that the Constellation Murderer will grant your dream one day. Stay confined to the library like you have been doing up until now, only serving and entertaining warriors who treat the characters as trash.”

The Indoor Librarian trembled slightly, instinctively trying to break free from my handshake. However, his physical strength was insignificant, while my right hand’s grip was strong.

“If you don’t want to choose that path, hand it over.”

“Hand what over?”

“A book that holds your story. Give me the book that records your life.”

The prey I had been targeting for a long time wasn’t another apocalyptic book or books of other worlds. It was the book that had the story of the Indoor Librarian of the Great Library of All Life.

“I’m going to make that book the thirtieth floor of this Tower. That way, you will naturally become a member of this Tower. Do you understand? You’ll also become a character in a story.”

The Indoor Librarian’s jaw dropped.

“Become my colleague and climb the Tower with me, Hamustra.”