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Chapter 87. <A Reader’s Mind. (3) >
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Translator: thursdays Editor: Sasha PR: LightBrin
A light flowed from my sword and covered the black dragon.
[The Compassion Sword resists the absorption!]
However, there was a substantial amount of rebellious energy working against me. Srrung! A dark malice inundated me like a summer monsoon of sewage. It was like a black panther who had been sleeping quietly and had been startled awake by a touch.
[The Compassion Sword is baffled.]
[She censures her sister and asks if she betrayed Lefanta Aegim.]
[The Guardian Goddess is comforting her sister.]
The light of the Holy Sword and the shadow of the black dragon fused together messily.
[The Compassion Sword demands the new owner to prove himself.]
White and black.
Neither side would simply back off.
[The Constellation’s power is great. It should never be given to an unqualified person. The Compassion Sword does not yet recognize you as a new lord.]
“All right.”
I looked calmly at the sword embedded in the black dragon’s chest.
“You have a point. But how should I prove my worth?”
Takgi continued to leak from the black dragon’s body. It was throbbing… The malice was incomparable to what was there before. And that malice took on a shape.
A dark angel.
It was an angel made up of sooty water from toe to head.
[I am a fragment made out of the goddess’s compassion.]
[If you want to prove that you can be someone’s idol—] [1]
[You must prove that you can be compassionate.]
The expressionless angel spread its wings.
Even those wings looked murky.
Black spittle dripped from the two open wings.
[I ask you to leave your mind and body to me for a little while.]
“Why should I?”
[To peek into your memories.]
The light emitted by the Holy Sword became a little brighter.
[The Guardian Goddess cannot agree to this. If you travel together, you will end up seeing warrior-nim’s qualifications to be the new owner. There is no reason to take unnecessary risks.]
“No. It’s fine.”
I sheathed the sword.
“I can’t carry a sword around my waist that doesn’t believe in me. Even if it’s the greatest sword in the world, I wouldn’t be able to stand the uneasiness. Come! Come and look at my memories or whatever until you’re satisfied.”
It was the moment I opened my arms wide.
[The Compassion Sword is testing your compassion.]
The angel’s two wings covered my sight. Like a mother bird wrapped around its chick, huge black wings surrounded my body.
It was dark everywhere.
Then, a dreamlike scene appeared in front of me.
「Kind man.」
A garden on fire.
「Hang in there…」
「You poor things.」
A paradise engulfed in smoke.
「The whole world has become empty.」
A snowfield in which peonies bloomed red.
「You are my disciple.」
The garden, the paradise, and the snowfield passed through quickly in turns.
Suddenly, my darkened vision became bright.
The angel’s wings that covered my eyes had gone away.
[…….]
The black angel hurriedly gathered his wings and looked at me. The fragment of the Constellation was still expressionless. However, the black eyes under his dark brows could not hide his bewilderment.
[You are…….]
“I’m not perfect.”
I spoke first.
“I’m weak for other’s goodwill. I want to gain their favor. I can be a little unreasonable because of that. I really love being praised, and I struggle because I want others to see me as a ‘good person.’ Maybe that’s my weakness.”
The Constellation fragment closed its mouth.
“And your former owner wasn’t perfect, either.”
[…….]
“I don’t know what sort of magnificent vision Lefanta Aegim had to kill the Constellations. Not yet, at least. Maybe he’s doing it for noble reasons. But even if he has a good reason, I’m still going to say that he did something wrong.”
I lifted my sword and pointed it at the black angel.
“If you think your old owner was perfect and never did anything wrong, don’t follow me. I don’t need such a sword.”
The black angel slowly opened her mouth.
[Do you intend to kill Lefanta Aegim?]
“If he deserves to be killed.”
[Can you promise me that your personal feelings will not affect your judgment of him?]
“I don’t know.”
I was speaking honestly.
“My master died. The world is ruined. Too many people were hurt and killed, so I don’t know. But I promise that I’ll do my best.”
[…….]
“So if you think I’ll stray from the right path, do your best to correct me. I’ll do my best. And you can do yours. That’s what it means to work together.”
The black angel’s wings were crumbled.
[My ability is pain.]
[The one who is cut by me feels pain, but I do not leave a scar on their body nor kill them.]
[Suffering without injury is my ability.]
The angel’s form collapsed.
It collapsed and became black water.
[New master.]
[I swear to serve you as best as I can.]
Chwaaaak!
The black liquid swirled and flowed into the Holy Sword I was holding. It was like a violent flood. The Holy Sword drank in all the water like a thirsty fox in the desert.
[The existence of the Guardian Goddess has become more pronounced.]
The changes didn’t stop there.
-Oh, oh……..
It was the mythical beast that had been the Constellation of this world.
The black dragon groaned as the blade stuck in its chest was absorbed into my sword.
-Oohhh…….
The black dragon had been killed a long time ago. It was like it didn’t have enough of a mind to express anything in words anymore. The black dragon just murmured as if it were an old woman, tired of life.
-Ohhhh, oh…….
Finally, the corpse of the Black Dragon turned into essence and flowed away.
Its horn crumbled and shattered. Its scales melted like a candle. The beast that reigned over a world met its end.
And the winter gave way.
The permanent snow cap on the mountain crumbled apart. It was an avalanche.
From the top of the mountain, I could look down at the snow that broke under my feet and poured over into the world.
“Winter is the season of death.”
Next to me, the Librarian also looked down at the landscape.
“You’ve ended this lonely season.”
A white avalanche swept over the white world. But what was left behind after the avalanche had passed was no longer white.
The brown dirt of the ground could be seen.
Brown was the color of this world’s flesh. The long winter finally came to an end, and the ground began to bare its skin.
“…….”
How was it that the spring breeze was so different from the gusts of winter?
Would Master know where the scent of spring came from?
“…Library director-nim.”
“You can speak.”
“I have a benefit from clearing the previous stage, so I can see people’s natures. I can see the person’s favorite plots and character type.”
“I know.”
The Librarian exhaled.
The breaths that we let out were no longer frozen white.
“I am the one in charge from the 21st to the 30th floor. The perks that you received were also prepared by me. Mm. Since I was the one who gave it to you, of course I know.”
“Your preferred character is [the Constellation Killer].”
“It is.”
“Why do you like the Constellation Killer? Lefanta Aegim is a human who kills Constellations. I could understand why you would hate him, but I don’t see a reason to like him.”
“Ahem.”
The Librarian closed his right eye.
“Since you asked, I’ll give you a special answer. For a long time, I have had a dream.”
“A dream, you say?”
“Exactly. It is to make an appearance in a novel that I enjoy!”
The eyes of the Constellation shone innocently.
I was puzzled.
“If it’s appearing in a novel… Can’t you do that right now? You can freely travel through the Apocalypses.”
“Huhu. You don’t understand the reader’s mind, I see. [Appearing] in a novel is a bit different from [intervening] with the novel. No, it’s very different.”
The Librarian laughed, covering his mouth with his sleeves.
“From the Apocalypses’ perspective, I am no different than an alien matter. An alien matter, an invasive species… An existence that should not naturally occur in that world. The Constellation Killer, who killed the dragon in the Murim world, is on the same level as I am in terms of being a foreign body.”
“…….”
“But I do not want to intervene in a novel as an outsider! Nope. That’s not allowed. I want to appear as a respectable character who has been in the world from the beginning, just like the other characters! This is my dream as a reader of the world!”
I still didn’t understand.
The Librarian looked at my face and laughed.
“Then, this time, I’ll ask. Gongja. Why didn’t you kill the Heavenly Demon?”
“…….”
“The Heavenly Demon mastered how to kill with her mind in her final moments. Even though she was no longer as strong as she was in her prime, you could have used the Hundred Ghost skill on her and make use of her memories. The Heavenly Demon thought well of you, so she would have been a strong ally and an excellent master. So why didn’t you kill the Heavenly Demon?”
“……That’s.”
“Shh.”
The librarian raised his index finger and blocked my lips.
“It’s all right. You don’t have to say it. I already understand.”
Softly.
His fingers pressed against my lips.
“You did not want to interfere with the last moments that your Master achieved. It’s the same for me. I don’t want to directly intervene with the end of the world. Your heart and mine are not so different….”
Suddenly, the scenery over the horizon melted.
The sun shone over the lake where the ice road had collapsed and exposed the surface of the water.
“I refuse to intervene. That means that there is only one way I can become a character in a story.”
“…What is it?”
“It’s simple if you think about it from the other point of view. I don’t go up to the protagonist of the novel; the protagonist comes to find me.”
The Librarian whispered.
“Lefanta Aegim. The Constellation Killer tirelessly murders Constellations and moves back and forth between different worlds. One day, he’ll come to visit my world, the greatest library of all time.”
The Librarian smiled.
“To kill me.”
The Constellation pulled something out of his sleeves. It was a book that looked no different from the other Apocalypses. But it looked more worn out than the rest. Did he take it out and read it dozens, maybe hundreds of times? Like an old writer’s notebook, the book’s leather binding was weathered.
[The Epic of Lefanta Aegim]
The title was engraved with gold thread on the leather.
“…….”
“I am waiting. For the day that the Constellation Killer will visit the Grand Library. I look forward to seeing him stand in front of me one day, following his own story and his own will. That day. I will finally appear in the story of Lefanta Aegim.”
“Even if the conclusion of that story is your own death?”
“Of course.”
The Librarian smiled.
The Constellation looked over the landscape of melting snow.
His sleeves fluttered like a dancing crane.
“Isn’t dying at the hands of the protagonist the greatest epilogue?”
4.
I had wanted to give a eulogy.
“Oh, Young Master.”
Before returning to the library, I stopped by the cult members. I wanted to make sure that Master’s funeral was being taken care of properly.
“Welcome back!”
“Welcome, Young Master.”
As soon as the members of the cult saw me, they bowed and greeted me. However, I felt that they were flustered for some reason. It wasn’t just one or two people, but all of them who were rushing away.
I tilted my head.
“Is the funeral over already?”
“N, no. Young Master.” Well, the funeral is still….”
“Did something happen?”
The cult members exchanged looks.
“That’s……”
“The body of Heavenly Demon-nim has disappeared.”
The Bloody Demon, one of the Four Demon Lords, said. He was the cultist that Master often called the leader of the Blood Guard.
“What?”
“You’ll understand more quickly if you see it. Young Master.”
I hurriedly walked where the Bloody Demon led me.
Shortly thereafter, I arrived at the place where I had let down Master’s body.
Then, I was at a loss for words.
“Suddenly, the snow all over the world began to melt. Heavenly Demon-nim’s body also disappeared…. I apologize. It was so sudden, in the blink of an eye, that we had no time to react.”
Where the snow melted.
Master’s body was not there.
I couldn’t see it no matter where I looked.
“We think that Heavenly Demon-nim’s internal energy was so pure that as time passed, her body naturally melted and disappeared…”
However, a red flower was blooming there.
“…….”
In the last place Master had laid. Where her arm touched the ground. Where she planted her feet. Where her hair flowed. There, reddish peony flowers were in full bloom.
-Amazing.
Bae Hu-ryeong, who had been silent until now, muttered.
-The Constellation of this world died and left only a curse, but your master died and left behind a flower. Your master is better than that empty Constellation.
I approached the flower bed and bent down. I touched the peony petal with the tip of my finger. The petal trembled a little, staining my index finger red as I rubbed it.
It was the first spring in this world.
“Of course, we’re still preparing the funeral,” the Bloody Demon said from behind me.
“We had hoped that Young Master would be able to attend….”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“It’s all right. Don’t carry out the funeral.”
“What?”
“This is enough.”
I stood up.
I turned my head to look back at the cult members.
“Although I received the mantle and became the young master, I’m sure there are those of you who cannot accept it yet. We live by strength. It is customary for the strongest warrior to arise to the highest position of a sect.”
“Instead of a trivial funeral, let’s substitute it with a sword match. It’s also probably customary to offer what is the most valuable object at a funeral. And do we not value our swords the most? So, let us offer our swords to Master.”
I laughed.
“Come at me.”
Spring was coming.
Like all living people do.
My next story would begin on a stage a little higher than the last.
~~~
[1] Idol in the religious aspect, as in a representation or symbol of an object of worship (definition courtesy of Merriam-Webster)