SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 150: The Prologue (3)

“Hey, cool library.”

In ancient times, there was a being with a name that humans couldn’t pronounce properly. Therefore, they named this being Pond of Memories.

The actual pronunciation was ■■■■■. Just as humans didn’t consider the crickets’ inability to pronounce human names, ■■■■■ was also indifferent to humans calling him by his name since he hadn’t sat down to consider whether humans could pronounce it or not when he named himself. If he refined his name as much as possible, the pronunciation would be closer to Hamustra. That was what humans called the Pond of Memories.

“Love the ambiance. Great book collection, too.”

The person in front of him was different.

“■■■■■, I’m happy to say that this is by far the best of all the libraries I have ever visited.”

This person freely used Draconic, the language of dragons. That alone was already amazing. No one had ever set foot in this library before this person either. Besides, the pond had always been a being of curiosity. He had a good reason to show some mercy and try to satisfy his small curiosity about the person before him.

“Who are you?” the pond asked.

The person before him had a variety of smells. It was bizarre. They smelled like a dragon, but weren’t one. Hamustra could feel a tinge of a god’s presence in this person, but he was sure they weren’t a god either. The pond had never seen a person like the one before his eyes. Naturally, he was on guard.

“How did you get here? I never gave you permission to enter my world. State your reason for visitation, stranger.”

The person giggled. “I’m not a book thief. Please, you don’t need to be so vigilant. I’m a sort of insurance salesman, visiting and persuading each and every being like you.”

“I asked why you’re here.”

“I’m building a house. Well, perhaps it’s more accurate to call it a summer house. I’m its owner, and I’m trying to persuade you to be my tenant,” the person said with a chuckle.

The pond was annoyed now. Maybe it was the first time in more than two millennia since he felt irritated. He loved fictional characters, regardless of whether they were villains or heroes, and he also equally cared for both arrogant and humble characters. However, that was not the case for real people.

He was a great being. Greatness could be defined in many ways, but as the pond interpreted it, true greatness depended on whether or not one could freely eliminate those he found irritating.

“You’re annoying. Get lost.”

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

The pond snapped his fingers, deciding to show his greatness again today by lightly exercising his power. Within the library, his power was absolute. Not just ordinary humans, but even those scums who became Transcendentals would be reduced to dust before his power.

He was confident about his power. A long time ago, before he became as great as he was now, he had turned quite a lot of beings into dust.

“Oh. sorry. I got carried away. Still, can you be patient for a little while longer? I had a hard time getting here. Ugh, the roads were blocked, and they weren’t in good condition to begin with...” the person said, shaking their head.

The person in front of him was unscathed. They didn’t turn into dust, like they were supposed to. The pond was extremely shocked that his powers didn’t work at all. He couldn’t believe it. Maybe he didn’t use his full power when he struck, so this poor attempt didn’t count. After deluding himself that this was what happened, he attacked the person again.

His visitor was still fine.

“While I’m at it, I should ask you this: why are there no doors or windows in this library? It feels more like a tomb. Get some windows, at least. The air feels suffocating in here. Shall I drill some holes for you?” With a wide smile, they even made holes in the library walls. “Ah, there you go. The library is finally getting some ventilation.”

The pond was stunned. “What the hell?”

It was the first curse he had uttered in millions of years. This library wasn’t just a place, it was his body and soul. Therefore, being able to drill a hole in a library wall meant being able to stab the pond in the stomach. He was competent enough to infer that, and also smart enough to hate being stabbed.

“Okay, fine! I surrender! What do you want from me?” the pond shouted.

The person smiled sheepishly. “Everything.”

“You better kill me then!”

“Oh, really? Can I kill you?”

The pond was quite smart, enough to realize that the person in front of him was one hell of a lunatic.

“You don’t want to die, do you? Of course you don’t. Life is precious. I want to help you protect it too. Please sign here to protect your precious life.”

It was bad luck for the pond that the lunatic had unimaginable power.

“What is this...?”

“It’s a contract.”

The pond asked, “May I ask what this contract implies?”

“Oh, of course you may ask about it. I’m not going to make you sign it without explaining. I’m not some thug, you know?”

Even if the lunatic wasn’t a thug, they were quite similar to one. However, the pond didn’t point that out. In other words, he was smart enough to distinguish between what was and wasn’t okay to say.

“I’m building a tower. My plan is to invite beings like you. Those you call minikins will also be allowed to enter.”

The pond read the contract carefully, and the more he read, the more intrigued he became. Initially, he had thought the person in front of him was a thug who was here to take the library from him. The first part was true, but the person wasn’t going to take the library away. The contract was full of tempting offers.

“You’re giving me the right to watch all the worlds out there? Really?” the pond asked in disbelief.

The person laughed gently. “All worlds would be an exaggeration. I would say it’s limited to worlds I can intervene in.”

“And these confidentiality provisions are...”

“I’m afraid we cannot negotiate those.”

It didn’t take long for the pond to decide, but his curiosity deepened. “Why are you trying to start this business? For what reason? How does this benefit you?”

The person smiled. “No one is born because they want to. Everyone should get a second chance at life. Even though they may not be able to live the way they want, they should be able to live just because they want to.”

The pond couldn’t easily understand the nuances behind the person’s smile.

“You’ll also live again someday, Mr. Indoor Librarian.”

He didn’t understand that either.

***

The Indoor Librarian looked up at me in confusion. Did he not understand what I said? Or did he understand, but his brain short-circuited? Either reason was fine, so I waited for a response without urging him.

“Climb the Tower together with you all...?” the Indoor Librarian muttered after a while. “I-I’m no ordinary Constellation. Unlike the ghost possessing you or your holy sword, I’m a Constellation that is in charge of stages. Though I may not look like it, my ranking is quite high... Affiliating myself to a specific Tower is... That’s...”

“What happens if you do that?”

The Indoor Librarian trembled. “I don’t know. I have no idea. It’s unprecedented in all Towers’ history. There was a case when a Constellation became enamored with a warrior and volunteered to be his servant. There are quite a number of them, actually. The number of cases where a warrior takes in a Constellation is quite high too, much like how you devoured the Demon King of Autumn Rain with Monster Legion Reincarnation. But... but I’ve never heard of a Constellation turning into a Hunter...”

“There is always a first.”

The Indoor Librarian hesitated.

“Hamustra, stop living in a place like this.”

I looked around. The library was a graveyard of books, filled with leftover traces of crumbled worlds. That was it. Time didn’t pass here. Every breath the people took in these stories remained sealed in their worlds. This was the place where one simply admired or envied the worlds of others.

I’m used to this kind of place.

It reminded me of the studio I had lived in before my regression. The walls of my apartment were covered in photos and interview clippings of the Fire Emperor. But the library’s scale was on a whole other level from my studio, so it almost felt like an insult.

They’re the same thing.

That was why I could say, “It’s time for you to come up to the stage.”

He had to get out of here.

“Confining yourself to this kind of place is messing with your brain...”

“T-That’s harsh...”

“An apocalyptic book records people’s lives. It makes you feel like you know all about the characters, but you don’t. Hamustra, do you know the meaning of the world’s destruction in Heavenly Demon Chronicle says about the world’s destruction?”

The apocalyptic book described Teacher’s death like this: A mysterious plague breaks out, killing the Heavenly Demon and wiping out the Heavenly Demon Cult and the other factions.

“Do you?”

The Indoor Librarian didn’t have an answer to my question.

“The ending of the story has no meaning,” I concluded.

The readers of the chronicle would never know what kind of expression Teacher made at the end, how the cultists cried, or how hard the children by the river worked to dig out soft mud.

The Indoor Librarian countered, “B-but! I can watch it!”

I had my response prepared. “You’re right. You can go into the world and observe it yourself. When Teacher passed away, I’m sure you felt sad, just as I did. I don’t doubt that.”

“I-If so, then there is no problem...!”

“But you probably weren’t sadder than me.”

The Indoor Librarian closed his mouth.

“The moment Teacher performed the last form of the Demonic Heaven Arts must have been breathtaking for you too. When the Sword Emperor struck back and put an end to it, you must have found that awe-inspiring, too. But what you felt was just a trace of the real deal.” I grabbed the Indoor Librarian’s hand tighter and pulled him a little closer. “You love Raviel too. I’m sure you do. But you know that you can never love her as much as I do.”

He said nothing.

“You can have a taste of stories as you sit down in this world of books, but you’re just a spectator who never walks on stage. You clap when you see a performance you like, and yawn when you don’t. That’s it.”

“I...”

“Live with me and those in this Tower.”

The Indoor Librarian flinched. “I-I’m bound to a strict contract. Affiliating myself to a certain Tower is a violation of the regulations. The High Tower will definitely impose sanctions. I’ll probably lose all my power as a Constellation. If that happens, I will be useless to you.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know that.”

Silence.

I looked straight into his eyes and said, “Hamustra, it’s your dream to be killed by the Constellation Murderer one day. Give up on that dream. I’ll give you a new one. It’ll not always be pleasant. To be honest, it’ll often be a nightmare. You will want to give up on it many times. But if you wish, I’ll share your dream with you. Live. Let’s do it together.”

The Indoor Librarian still hesitated.

“If you appear in my story, I’ll show up in yours, so that our lives will be intertwined.”

His bottom lip trembled. He shoved his left hand, which was shaking even more than his lip, into his inner pocket to take out a book older than the Epic of Lefanta Aegim.

■■■■■

The title was unreadable. It was in a language from another world that I couldn’t understand. The Indoor Librarian, or Hamustra, I should say, slowly handed over the book containing his life story. “Death King...”

“Yes.”

“I’ll give you my final advice as a reader. I am your biggest fan. No reader loves or will love you as much as I do. So make sure you listen carefully.”

“I’m listening.”

“If you flirt like that with anyone else, the listener may misunderstand, so please use your eloquence only for the Duke of Ivansia. Otherwise, Death King, she’ll pierce your heart someday...”

“I’ve already died like that before. Well, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Death King....”

“Yes.”

“Is it fun to live as a human?”

The Indoor Librarian was clearly afraid.

I smiled.

“It sucks.” I gripped ■■■■■ in my hands. “The shitty stuff will cling to you like taffy, and it’ll cost your teeth from time to time. Still, taffy is delicious, and I’ll help you.[1]”

“Damn...” The Indoor Librarian teared up. “I can’t believe this is the last line of my apocalyptic book...”

He grabbed the spine of the book, and I held the cover.

I chuckled. “It isn’t easy for life to imitate art. Endure it.”

We opened the last apocalyptic book.

Even though fear was evident in his sobs, the Indoor Librarian steadfastly said, “Death King and the Indoor Librarian have been designated as characters in ■■■■■. The difficulty level of this apocalyptic book is undetermined. When we open our eyes...”

“...we’ll be right here.”

“Exactly.” The Indoor Librarian looked up at me. “I hereby declare that the stage has been cleared.”

Whooosh!

White light enveloped us.

1. The raw is “엿 같죠.” 나는 ■■■■■를 잡았다. “하지만 엿도 씹으면 맛있어요. 가끔 이빨이 부러지긴 한데, 도와드릴게요. This is a Korean wordplay using how an expression 엿 같다(it’s shitty/ sucks) sounds similar to Korean taffy(엿/yeot). It’s notorious for taking away children’s loose teeth. ☜