Translator: WH Editor: Sasha
No matter what field, latecomers are always at a disadvantage.
It was already a Red Ocean that was filled with the dead.
Latecomers would’ve 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.
“—Welcome!”
As the white rays of light faded, I opened my eyes again.
It wasn’t the Goddess’ voice that greeted us.
“Warriors that came from the Tower!”
It was a child who I couldn’t discern as a boy or a girl.
The kid was wearing loose clothes.
At first glance, the clothes resembled traditional oriental clothes.
“I have been waiting patiently for a day that felt like three autumns (一日如三秋)!”
[T/N: it’s 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.
“But it’s okay! Life begins with encounters and ends with encounters. In the end, once you look back, the meaning of life isn’t all about encountering people. Waiting is like a seasoning that deeply sweetens life!”
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.
“Once again, I’d like to sincerely express my respect!”
Air.
“Welcome to the Great Library of all things!”
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(圖書館長) 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.
“Uhhh uhh, uhhhhh…”
“What’s this? Why did we get transferred automatically all of a sudden?”
“Where is this?”
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 ‘personal time’ in places other than the plaza.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!?”
“He-, don’t look here!”
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.
“Oh my.”
The librarian, a Constellation, giggled.
“It seems I have been a little lacking in consideration.”
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.
“Ah… .”
“Thank, thank god.”
The Hunters who were watching sighed with relief. I was relieved too, as I was pretty flustered.
“Wha-, what the hell is this shit…”
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.
“…Who are you?”
On behalf of the Hunters, the Witch opened her mouth.
“And this place is…”
“Ah. I’m just a small character who manages this slightly larger than normal library. Black Dragon Witch. Compared to you, I’m just an existence close to an extra. Just treat me as a unimportant person.”
“……..”
The Witch frowned.
How did he who she didn’t even know, find out about her identity? It was suspicious to the point that she got an ominous feeling.
It couldn’t 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.
“- Just a library that’s a little bigger.”
Waiting for the timing when the Witch closed her mouth, I spoke out this time.
“I’m not too sure about that. I don’t think it’s just at the level of ‘a little big’ though?”
The 21st floor Stage.
There was a Great Library here. Maybe, it wasn’t 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 ‘A world made of libraries”.
“Hooooo.”
The owner of this world stared at me.
An innocent and simple gaze.
Eyes as pure as an innocent child glistened.
“I see. You’re the Death King.”
Yes.
“Ahhh, don’t be so vigilant. Gentlemen. I don’t 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.”
Heroes in an epic story.
The meaning of that word, after regressing 4,000 days, I knew what it was. Because this place wasn’t an ordinary library. But I pretended not to know deliberately.
“What do you mean by heroes in an epic story?”
“It’s like this.”
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.
A title was written on the cover respectively.
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[The Chronicles of the Aegim Empire]
[The Tale of Deungcheon City (登天都市).] [T/N: 登天 means ascending to the heavens.]
+
The librarian smiled gently.
“Reading 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.”
The librarian touched the back of the book with his sturdy fingers.
“I 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 “character” who have a name.”
“…A character’s name?”
“I suppose you all call it a Title (異名).”
The librarian gently grinned and looked down towards us.
“The 302 people gathered here. You are all warriors who carry a Title.”
The Hunters were buzzing.
“Only Hunters with Titles will be summoned?”
“Oth-, what about other people…”
“Wait a minute. Don’t tell me we’re going to be the only one raiding the tower!?”
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.
‘…So that was why before I regressed in time, I couldn’t even step in after the 20th floor.’
Front-runners with Titles.
Latecomers who didn’t receive a Title.
‘The gap between the two groups will widen more and more.’
I fiddled with the hilt of the sword on my waist. It was something I relied on to calm down…It was my own little ritual.
‘The me now is different from who I was before.’
The failure that didn’t have skills or a Title who couldn’t 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.
‘I wouldn’t have been able to participate, and would’ve fallen behind.’
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.
“What a load of nonsense. What do you mean by 300 people, raiding the tower with such a small number…”
“Fret not!”
The librarian grabbed the [Chronicles of the Aegim Empire] and chuckled.
“You all protected the Aegim Empire with just three people. 300 people is a whopping 100 times that! You’ll clear the stage I prepared without much difficulty. Have some confidence!”
“…….”
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.
“Proceed quickly, sir librarian.”
“Ohhhooo?”
“I know you are excited to meet someone that is alive, but we’d like to climb the tower quickly. You haven’t even given us a quest yet. I’d like to request you to proceed quickly.”
“Ohhhooo, huhuhuh.”
The librarian chuckled lightly.
“I see! I was too happy that I didn’t even issue the quest. Mmm. However, it’s not in my nature to explain things in great detail…”
Thud!
Hundreds of books flew around.
The hardcover books hovered around, with the librarian as the axis.
“Let’s see. Which kind of project would most definitely be within your reach…? This Apocalypse is too boring, and this is also too peaceful in terms of destruction….. Oh. That’s right! This is the best.”
The librarian grabbed a book.
“I warn you in advance.”
And the book flipped open.
A white ray of light exuded from the open book.
“It’s just to give you a taste of what’s coming, so don’t be too surprised.”
Shiiiinggggg!
Waves of light gushed at us.
5.
All the Hunters were transferred somewhere.
We didn’t know where it was, but it was clear that it wasn’t our world. It had an architecture style that was never before seen in our world. Buildings, as if they were a termites’ 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.
“Eee, Eeeeekkkkkk!”
Someone screamed. Was it someone who had acrophobia? Despite not plunging at all, the Hunters instinctively grabbed each other’s sleeves.
The librarian laughed as he looked at us.
“I am a librarian. But, as I said, the archives gathered in my library are not just ordinary history books or novels. They’re a little more, no, it can be said that they are of a higher standard!”
The Great Library of all things.
A library where records of various worlds gathered.
There, the worlds were kept in the form of books.
“This is the world the lot of you will be raiding.”
The librarian touched the hardcover book with the title of [The Chronicles of the Aegim Empire] written on it.
“And this is the world you will all be in!”
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 couldn’t hold in any more of his love for them.
“These books are called many things. Some call it an epic story. Some call it a novel or a chronicle. Annals (實錄). Some even call it a Saga. Still, there is another expression that I prefer.”
The librarian looked back at us.
“Apocalypse.”
The Constellation laughed.
A bizarre sound of laughter resonated in the sky.
“Your apocalypse… Yes. According to the terminology I like to use, it’s 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.”
It was then.
“But, not all Apocalypse are in [Serialization] as smoothly as your world.”
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.
“Although it is a pity.”
Meteor.
“There was also an apocalypse that was [discontinued].”
Covered in flames, huge blocks of stones came falling down.
A meteorite crashed on the buildings that looked like a termites’ 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.
“This is not the only one.”
In the darkness where nothing could be seen, only the voice of the Constellation resonated.
“There are many others.”
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.
“If the Apocalypse’s [Reason of Discontinuation] just now was stone-.”
Tsunami.
“The Reason of Discontinuation of this Apocalypse is water!”
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.
“Ahhhhhhh.”
The Constellation sighed sadly.
“How sad of a tragedy is this?”
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.
“Those 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.”
The librarian covered the book.
“Though I call this discontinued serialization…”
Hundreds of books still circled around the Constellation.
To you, it would simply be called ‘Destruction’.
Suddenly.
We were all back at the Great Library.
“Urgh, ughhhhhh…”
“Uuuuweeeeckk!”
[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.
“The quest I will be giving to you gentlemen is simple.”
The Constellation looked at us that were behaving like that from above.
“Choose eight series from the discontinued Apocalypse.”
Choose eight series out of the worlds that were destroyed.
“I want to finish reading the Apocalypse which was discontinued!”
Wanting to continue reading the tales of the destroyed world.
“You will all personally enter the eight books of Apocalypse,”
Entering directly into the eight worlds.
“Save the Apocalypses from the crisis of discontinuation!”
Prevent the destruction.
“That’s the quest that I will give to you all.”
That was the quest given from the 22nd floor to the 29th floor.
While the vomiting in the library didn’t 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.
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[Remake The World. Volume 1.]
Difficulty: To be determined (未定)
Mission Objective: As there are countless worlds, there are also countless destructions. The Constellation ‘Librarian Bang Gu-seok’ 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.
※However, if the mission fails, the 22nd floor will not be opened.
+
That’s right.
That Constellation was nothing else but a book fanatic (讀書狂) who was obsessed with the worlds.
“So…”
I slowly opened my mouth.
“You didn’t like the ending, so instead, you want us to re-write that book?”
“That’s exactly right!”
The librarian smiled brightly.
“I hope that you will satisfy my reading preferences!”
We had to [Remake] the endings of the world for this book fanatic.
That was our mission.