No matter what field, latecomers are always at a disadvantage.
It was already a Red Ocean that was filled with the dead.
Latecomers wouldâve had to jump in and prove their worth. Just like the soldiers that were struggling to climb the walls occupied by the enemy.
In this regard, the tower was no different.
ââWelcome!â
As the white rays of light faded, I opened my eyes again.
It wasnât the Goddessâ voice that greeted us.
âWarriors that came from the Tower!â
It was a child who I couldnât discern as a boy or a girl.
The kid was wearing loose clothes.
At first glance, the clothes resembled traditional oriental clothes.
âI have been waiting patiently for a day that felt like three autumns (äžæ„ćŠäžç§)!â
[T/N: itâs an idiom that means one day apart seems like three years.]
But once I looked closely⊠It was completely different.
Except for the long sleeves, there was nothing else that resembled an oriental attire. No, in fact, it was exceptional, starting from the sleeves. The cuffs were not long enough to be stretched more than 5m.
âBut itâs okay! Life begins with encounters and ends with encounters. In the end, once you look back, the meaning of life isnât all about encountering people. Waiting is like a seasoning that deeply sweetens life!â
There is a saying that the face completes fashion. No matter how special the clothes someone wore was, in the end, it depends greatly on who wears them.
In that sense, the kid that was flapping his 5m long sleeves was definitely unique.
âOnce again, Iâd like to sincerely express my respect!â
Air.
âWelcome to the Great Library of all things!â
The little kid was floating high up in the air.
He looked down on us who had been summoned out of nowhere.
[Librarian Bang Gu-seok welcomes you all!]
A Constellation, Librarian(ćæžé€šé·) Bang Gu-seok.
Those who manage the 21st floor up to the 30th floor.
The representative of this world spread his arms wide and smiled.
Unfortunately, no one accepted his greeting. Chattering chattering. The Hunters had yet to figure out what was going on and looked around in confusion.
âUhhh uhh, uhhhhhâŠâ
âWhatâs this? Why did we get transferred automatically all of a sudden?â
âWhere is this?â
At a glance, there were hundreds of people.
The Hunters whispered around as they were confused. Most of them had just gathered in the plaza to do the countdown together.
But, there were also people who were spending âpersonal timeâ in places other than the plaza.
âKyaaaaaaaa!?â
âHe-, donât look here!â
Embarrassed screams came from here and there.
A Hunter summoned during a shower. Lovers transferred here naked. Whether they were summoned while asleep, or even a person looking around with sleepy eyes. The unfortunate Hunters who had to face this unexpected situation popped out one after another.
âOh my.â
The librarian, a Constellation, giggled.
âIt seems I have been a little lacking in consideration.â
Amid Hunters who were floundering around without knowing what to do, Thuckkk! The librarian flicked his finger. Then large bookcases flew around. Those bookcases that had holes for the head, arms, and legs, just like an outfit, went to the naked Hunters and suited up on its own.
âAh⊠.â
âThank, thank god.â
The Hunters who were watching sighed with relief. I was relieved too, as I was pretty flustered.
âWha-, what the hell is this shitâŠâ
Actually, the people involved were fussing over the cardboard-made Gundam suit that looked as if it were worn inside out, but that was only a minority. A wave of embarrassment gushed over them just like that. The people barely regained their composure. One by one, they began to look up in the air.
ââŠWho are you?â
On behalf of the Hunters, the Witch opened her mouth.
âAnd this place isâŠâ
âAh. Iâm just a small character who manages this slightly larger than normal library. Black Dragon Witch. Compared to you, Iâm just an existence close to an extra. Just treat me as a unimportant person.â
ââŠâŠ..â
The Witch frowned.
How did he who she didnât even know, find out about her identity? It was suspicious to the point that she got an ominous feeling.
It couldnât be helped.
I had already gotten used to the Constellation to some extent, as I was able to put [Devil King of Fall Rain] and [Goddess of Protection] under my control. However, to the other Hunters, the Constellation was still an unknown existence.
â- Just a library thatâs a little bigger.â
Waiting for the timing when the Witch closed her mouth, I spoke out this time.
âIâm not too sure about that. I donât think itâs just at the level of âa little bigâ though?â
The 21st floor Stage.
There was a Great Library here. Maybe, it wasnât enough to simply just call it huge. From the surrounding vicinity to the far horizon, from the floor we stepped on to the ceiling above, there were countless bookshelves filled with books.
It would be better to call it âA world made of librariesâ.
âHooooo.â
The owner of this world stared at me.
An innocent and simple gaze.
Eyes as pure as an innocent child glistened.
âI see. Youâre the Death King.â
Yes.
âAhhh, donât be so vigilant. Gentlemen. I donât mean any harm. I just want to welcome all of you. For me, the lot of you are no different from heroes of an epic story.â
Heroes in an epic story.
The meaning of that word, after regressing 4,000 days, I knew what it was. Because this place wasnât an ordinary library. But I pretended not to know deliberately.
âWhat do you mean by heroes in an epic story?â
âItâs like this.â
Thuckkk!
The librarian flicked his finger. Then, two hardcover books were picked out from countless bookshelves. The hardcover books flopped as they flew and hovered around the librarian.
âReading books is my hobby. However, the books that are gathered in my library are by no means ordinary archives. The history of the lot of you. These are books that talk about the world where the tower is built.â
The librarian touched the back of the book with his sturdy fingers.
âI know you all must be wondering why you were summoned among so many warriors. The reason is simple! Because in your world, only you all are a âcharacterâ who have a name.â
ââŠA characterâs name?â
âI suppose you all call it a Title (ç°ć).â
The librarian gently grinned and looked down towards us.
âThe 302 people gathered here. You are all warriors who carry a Title.â
The Hunters were buzzing.
âOnly Hunters with Titles will be summoned?â
âOth-, what about other peopleâŠâ
âWait a minute. Donât tell me weâre going to be the only one raiding the tower!?â
That was right.
Not the real name used in the outside world, but the name given by the Tower to the Hunters. Title. That was the entrance ticket needed from the 21st floor onwards.
ââŠSo that was why before I regressed in time, I couldnât even step in after the 20th floor.â
Front-runners with Titles.
Latecomers who didnât receive a Title.
âThe gap between the two groups will widen more and more.â
I fiddled with the hilt of the sword on my waist. It was something I relied on to calm downâŠIt was my own little ritual.
âThe me now is different from who I was before.â
The failure that didnât have skills or a Title who couldnât even step in after the 20th floor, was no longer here. There was only the Hunter who held the 3rd rank in the newly updated rankings.
âI wouldnât have been able to participate, and wouldâve fallen behind.â
However, other than me, there were only a few Hunters who remained calm.
The Witch was like that.
Unable to hide her confusion, she muttered.
âWhat a load of nonsense. What do you mean by 300 people, raiding the tower with such a small numberâŠâ
âFret not!â
The librarian grabbed the [Chronicles of the Aegim Empire] and chuckled.
âYou all protected the Aegim Empire with just three people. 300 people is a whopping 100 times that! Youâll clear the stage I prepared without much difficulty. Have some confidence!â
ââŠâŠ.â
Most of the Hunters looked at each other with anxious faces. In the middle of the Great Library that extended endlessly even beyond the horizon. There were over 300 Hunters present who looked like a handful of sand.
I took the initiative before the restlessness spread any further.
âProceed quickly, sir librarian.â
âOhhhooo?â
âI know you are excited to meet someone that is alive, but weâd like to climb the tower quickly. You havenât even given us a quest yet. Iâd like to request you to proceed quickly.â
âOhhhooo, huhuhuh.â
The librarian chuckled lightly.
âI see! I was too happy that I didnât even issue the quest. Mmm. However, itâs not in my nature to explain things in great detailâŠâ
Thud!
Hundreds of books flew around.
The hardcover books hovered around, with the librarian as the axis.
âLetâs see. Which kind of project would most definitely be within your reachâŠ? This Apocalypse is too boring, and this is also too peaceful in terms of destructionâŠ.. Oh. Thatâs right! This is the best.â
The librarian grabbed a book.
âI warn you in advance.â
And the book flipped open.
A white ray of light exuded from the open book.
âItâs just to give you a taste of whatâs coming, so donât be too surprised.â
Shiiiinggggg!
Waves of light gushed at us.
5.
All the Hunters were transferred somewhere.
We didnât know where it was, but it was clear that it wasnât our world. It had an architecture style that was never before seen in our world. Buildings, as if they were a termitesâ nest that was enlarged hundreds of times, formed a forest of buildings.
The Hunters, including me, were floating in the sky. We were high up, and on the dark ground below our feet, buildings that we had never seen or heard of before were lined up.
âEee, Eeeeekkkkkk!â
Someone screamed. Was it someone who had acrophobia? Despite not plunging at all, the Hunters instinctively grabbed each otherâs sleeves.
The librarian laughed as he looked at us.
âI am a librarian. But, as I said, the archives gathered in my library are not just ordinary history books or novels. Theyâre a little more, no, it can be said that they are of a higher standard!â
The Great Library of all things.
A library where records of various worlds gathered.
There, the worlds were kept in the form of books.
âThis is the world the lot of you will be raiding.â
The librarian touched the hardcover book with the title of [The Chronicles of the Aegim Empire] written on it.
âAnd this is the world you will all be in!â
There was also a book titled [The Tale of Deungcheon City].
Besides those two, hundreds of books hovered around the librarian. The Constellation with the appearance of a young child, looked at the books in his possession, as if he couldnât hold in any more of his love for them.
âThese books are called many things. Some call it an epic story. Some call it a novel or a chronicle. Annals (毊é). Some even call it a Saga. Still, there is another expression that I prefer.â
The librarian looked back at us.
âApocalypse.â
The Constellation laughed.
A bizarre sound of laughter resonated in the sky.
âYour apocalypse⊠Yes. According to the terminology I like to use, itâs still in [Serialization]. After a long prologue, you are finally starting to climb the tower. It can be said that this is the section where the flavor of reading can be felt.â
It was then.
âBut, not all Apocalypse are in [Serialization] as smoothly as your world.â
Keuuurururu-
[T/N: a sound of something falling down.]
Something started descending from the sky. No. The word descending was too gentle. That something was tearing through the sky.
âAlthough it is a pity.â
Meteor.
âThere was also an apocalypse that was [discontinued].â
Covered in flames, huge blocks of stones came falling down.
A meteorite crashed on the buildings that looked like a termitesâ nest. Kaboooom! A deafening boom shook the world. Even the earth split under the torn sky. Even the city where an intelligent race different from ours lived was destroyed without a trace.
The Hunters screamed.
As the meteorite crash-landed, a cloud of dust rose up and covered us in an instant.
âThis is not the only one.â
In the darkness where nothing could be seen, only the voice of the Constellation resonated.
âThere are many others.â
Thud!
I could hear the sound of a book flipping open somewhere. At the same time, the cloud of dust disappeared. The destroyed city disappeared. The split earth disappeared, and the torn sky disappeared.
Instead, a new world unfolded underneath our feet.
âIf the Apocalypseâs [Reason of Discontinuation] just now was stone-.â
Tsunami.
âThe Reason of Discontinuation of this Apocalypse is water!â
The tsunami, which filled up to the base of the sky, swallowed the city whole.
It was too huge to call it a wave, and too overboard to say it was a tsunami. It was a disaster. As they watched the tsunami that came up all the way to the front of their nose, the Hunters screamed again.
âAhhhhhhh.â
The Constellation sighed sadly.
âHow sad of a tragedy is this?â
A world in which all of mankind died of illness.
A world where sand had covered the ground and was dried down to the last drops.
A world where volcanoes erupted and smoke clouds covered the sky.
Even a world where zombie viruses were rampant.
âThose people are humans just like you. They were alive, just like you. They were creating their own legacy the same way. But before it reached a proper ending, before it had an epic ending, it all ended due to unjust reasons.â
The librarian covered the book.
âThough I call this discontinued serializationâŠâ
Hundreds of books still circled around the Constellation.
To you, it would simply be called âDestructionâ.
Suddenly.
We were all back at the Great Library.
âUrgh, ughhhhhhâŠâ
âUuuuweeeeckk!â
[T/N: Sound of vomiting.]
Sounds of vomiting could be heard everywhere. We witnessed the destruction of dozens of worlds. Although there was no damage to the physical body, there were many Hunters who were mentally scarred.
âThe quest I will be giving to you gentlemen is simple.â
The Constellation looked at us that were behaving like that from above.
âChoose eight series from the discontinued Apocalypse.â
Choose eight series out of the worlds that were destroyed.
âI want to finish reading the Apocalypse which was discontinued!â
Wanting to continue reading the tales of the destroyed world.
âYou will all personally enter the eight books of Apocalypse,â
Entering directly into the eight worlds.
âSave the Apocalypses from the crisis of discontinuation!â
Prevent the destruction.
âThatâs the quest that I will give to you all.â
That was the quest given from the 22nd floor to the 29th floor.
While the vomiting in the library didnât stop, a single voice rang in the heads of the Hunters.
[The quest for the 22nd floor has been given.]
Messages appeared in front of my eyes.
+
[Remake The World. Volume 1.]
Difficulty: To be determined (æȘćź)
Mission Objective: As there are countless worlds, there are also countless destructions. The Constellation âLibrarian Bang Gu-seokâ describes this as a Discontinued Serialization. Librarian Bang Gu-seok wants the world that was discontinued for unjust reasons to continue their stories again.
First, choose one of the discontinued Apocalypse!
If you succeed in saving the world, that world will be registered as your 22nd floor.
â»However, if the mission fails, the 22nd floor will not be opened.
+
Thatâs right.
That Constellation was nothing else but a book fanatic (èźæžç) who was obsessed with the worlds.
âSoâŠâ
I slowly opened my mouth.
âYou didnât like the ending, so instead, you want us to re-write that book?â
âThatâs exactly right!â
The librarian smiled brightly.
âI hope that you will satisfy my reading preferences!â
We had to [Remake] the endings of the world for this book fanatic.