Chapter 10
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T-T
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“..What is this?”
The morning of my seventh day as a librarian at Belliard Library.
On my sixth day, nothing had happened, and I had spent the day peacefully.
Since today, my seventh day, was my final shift as a librarian, I opened the lunchbox with a slightly happy feeling, but..
“Is that a crying face?”
A small laugh escaped me when I saw the little note attached to the lunchbox lid.
Since I had written a post praising Belliard Library two days ago, the anomaly seemed to have developed slightly richer ways of expressing emotion.
I did feel a little familiar with that anomaly, but..
‘Is this that.. Stockholm syndrome thing..? Why the hell do I feel affection for the thing that kidnapped me..?’
I could only sigh at the thought that I was feeling affection for the things that had kidnapped me..
‘Well, whatever.. I only have to hold out one more day..’
It was fortunate, in its own way.
Judging by the emoticon the lunchbox anomaly had sent, it seemed sad about parting with me.
That surely meant today really was my last day working here.
‘Just one more day! Let’s hang in there!’
On my seventh day, I inwardly prayed for another easy day like the sixth, and as soon as I confirmed that one minute remained before the morning shift began, I opened the door, only to see..
‘Waaah...’
Dozens of anomalies were already present in the library so early in the morning.
‘I’m fucked..‘
…
An anomaly that resembled a human, except that it had ears where its eyes should have been.
‘How the hell does it read a book..?’
An anomaly that stood about four meters tall and was incredibly large, yet had an extremely thin body.
‘How is its body thinner than a book..’
An anomaly that had two more identical bodies attached to either side of its own, traveling around as one.
‘It’s reading three books at once.’
An anomaly consisting of a giant eyeball with several tentacles, floating around while returning a book with a torn cover.
‘This isn’t a Belliard Library book..’
I had to watch the visitors, shelve the returned books, and desperately ignore the strange phenomena.
At first, even seeing an anomaly had been terrifying, but after seeing so many of them, I seemed to have adapted a little, and found it somewhat ridiculous when I realized that.
‘Let’s see.. This book goes in 22.’
By then, only about three minutes remained before the morning shift ended.
As the final task of the morning shift, I had come to put the returned book on bookshelf 22, but..
‘Where’s an empty spot here.. ..I’m seriously fucked.’
Where bookshelf 22 had definitely stood, bookshelf 52 now occupied the spot.
Yes, that was right.
That meant I was now standing.. in front of bookshelf 52.
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4 ) If you find bookshelf 52, do not approach it. Please remember that this library's bookshelves go only up to number 51.
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I wasn’t supposed to approach bookshelf 52.. but this was where bookshelf 22 had originally stood..
‘Calm down.. Phew.. Calm down.. Nothing has happened yet..’
Whether by misfortune or good fortune.
Nothing had happened yet.
To avoid showing any sign of panic, I tried to turn around as naturally as possible and return to the librarian’s desk, but..
“...”
The moment I turned around, the scene before me made me freeze.
Because.. right in front of me..
There were bookshelves stretching on without end.
And that too..
‘Of all places.. Of all places..’
53 54
55 56
57 58
59 60…
They were lined with bookshelves that Belliard Library did not possess.
‘Status window.’
I immediately opened the status window.
If I had even one available return, I planned to use it to escape this place, but..
‘..Why won’t it open?’
Since the status window would not open, it seemed that I had run into a serious problem.
For example.. perhaps this was a space where the status window could not be used.
If not, perhaps my Mentality had reached 0, making it impossible to open the status window.
‘..How do I get out?’
Regardless of what had happened.
It was clear that I had to find a way to leave this place.
I stood there for about five minutes without doing anything..
‘..I guess I should move.’
Eventually, I realized that nothing was going to change, so I cautiously began walking along the bookshelves, where the path extended in only one direction.
‘70.. 80.. 90..’
This place, too, was covered in a horrifyingly quiet silence like Belliard Library, so the only sound echoing through the space was that of my footsteps.
Surely, if there were an anomaly here, it would have heard the sound and come looking for me.
But since there had been no reaction at all, I decided that there probably wasn’t an anomaly here.
‘..Whoa, shit.’
After walking for a long time, I reached the space between bookshelves 151 and 152.
A door had been placed squarely in front of me, as if telling me to open it.
‘That door looks like it’d be a great way to get killed..’
It would have been a lie to say I didn’t hesitate.
I was the person who wanted to survive more than anyone.
I had to survive somehow, if only because it would be a waste to die after struggling so desperately to stay alive until now.
“...”
However, endlessly agonizing over it wasn’t going to solve the situation.
I tightly gripped one of Anonymous 10’s teeth, which I had kept in my pocket.
Then I cautiously reached for the handle of the closed door..
Whack!
I began smashing it down.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!
I brought it down again and again.
The extraordinarily sturdy tooth of Anonymous 10 once again proved its worth.
It began gradually breaking apart the sturdy-looking doorknob.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!
Determined not to be victimized so easily, I continued smashing the doorknob.
Tap.. Tap.. Tap..
I sensed an anomaly behind me as books began falling from the shelves one by one, but.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!
Even as I continued smashing the doorknob without hesitation..
Creeeak..
“..?”
I realized that a familiar creaking sound I had heard somewhere before was coming from beyond the door.
Creeeak.. Creeeak.. Creeeak.. Creeeak..
The creaking sound coming from the other side of the closed door gradually drew closer.
I remembered that the sound was made by the mannequin-like anomaly I had encountered in Belliard Library, but..
Strangely, my instincts were screaming that I had to escape this place somehow.
Whack! Tap!
I brought the doorknob down with all my strength one last time, and it finally fell to the floor.
Drip.. Drip-drip.. Stream..
‘Fuck, I knew this would happen.’
Red blood began pouring from the doorknob.
If I had opened the door and gone inside as I would an ordinary door, that blood-covered thing surely would have eaten me.
Bang!
As if taking my anger out on the door, I kicked it hard and ran in the opposite direction.
I knew there was no room to escape behind me, but I thought it was a choice I had no choice but to make if I wanted to live even a little longer.
When I began sprinting in the opposite direction at full speed.
Rattle..
…
Bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang!
The mannequin anomaly began pounding madly on the other side of the bloodied door.
At first, I had clearly heard the sound of the doorknob turning, but for some reason, the door would not open, and the anomaly seemed to grow flustered as it began pounding on the door.
‘Serves you right!’
Apparently, breaking the doorknob had been the right answer.
Unlike an ordinary door, that one was a bizarre door that bled.
Breaking the doorknob on the other side had kept the door from opening.
Tap.. Tap-tap.. Tap..
As I watched books continue falling from the shelves one by one, I ran toward the place where bookshelf 52 stood.
I ran with all my strength, and the distance that had taken about twenty minutes to cross the first time was covered in less than two.
And there, bookshelf 52 once again stood in front of me, blocking my escape route.
“Move!!!!!”
Without slowing down, I threw my body at bookshelf 52 with all my strength.
I had no intention of dying obediently.
I would thrash around as much as I could.
I would destroy this place as much as I could, with the mindset that my death would inflict tremendous damage on this mysterious, unknown library.
I threw myself at the bookshelf, thinking that I would break bookshelf 52, but..
Screeeech-
“!”
The bookshelf 52 I collided with began toppling backward..
Thud..
“..!”
When bookshelf 52 fell to the floor, I found myself.. collapsed on the floor in front of bookshelf 22 at Belliard Library.
‘Did I.. come back?’
Whether or not this was really Belliard Library was beside the point.
There was nothing good about lying on the floor, so I immediately got up and began walking, only to..
‘I’m back!!!’
Seeing the anomaly visitors reading all kinds of books, I knew that I had truly returned to Belliard Library.
‘Haaah..!’
Overwhelmed with emotion, I stood there blankly for about ten seconds.
Then I pulled myself together and hurried back to the librarian’s private room to conserve my strength for the afternoon shift.
‘Status window. ..It still won’t open.’
Even after returning from the world beyond bookshelf 52, the status window still would not open.
It must have been because my Mentality had truly reached 0, preventing the status window from opening.
‘I’d better eat quickly and raise my Mentality.’
Since eating would raise my Mentality again, I decided to eat quickly.
I went straight back to the librarian’s room and opened the lunchbox.
‘At least I can rest for an hour.’
Eat well, sleep well, and rest well.
Since these three actions raised my Mentality, I decided to rest deeply for about an hour after eating.
“Wow.. They really packed an enormous meal for me since it’s the last day.”
Rice, side dishes, soup, and dessert.
The contents of today’s luxurious lunchbox were just as extravagant, and I quickly reached for my spoon to-
Creeeak.. Creeeak..
“...”
Creeeak.. Creeeak..
A sound that shouldn’t have been heard.
Why was it coming from beyond the door..