Chapter 58: D-Rank Labyrinth — Library of Sin (1)
Chapter 58: D-Rank Labyrinth — Library of Sin (1)
The Library of Sin contained an absurd number of books.
Even just the volumes visible at a glance numbered well over ten thousand, and that was only a tiny fraction of the total.
A space composed of nothing but endless shelves and books.
It was a place that would inevitably excite the One who loved new stimuli and experiences.
{The Wise One commands that you immediately take out any book and read it. They seem extremely excited!}
As expected, Lidni was delighted.
Considering that they had enjoyed even the shabby library in District Six, arriving at such a vast hell of knowledge made it inevitable that they would lose their composure.
{Books, books, books!}
Truth kept displaying messages in front of my eyes and urging me on, but reading for the sake of worship could not begin so easily.
“Lidni, if I read something randomly, I might learn a Mystery that causes serious problems in daily life. Please restrain yourself for a moment.”
I walked forward with the children while examining the shelves.
Fortunately, Eye That Perceives Truth, which possessed learning capability, did not make the mistake of displaying information about every single book.
{The Wise One urges you to read. In the last hundred years, it is the first time such joyful emotion has been transmitted!}
“Please calm down. I did not enter this labyrinth to read books.”
Zzt!
“No, Sue’je. You want me to burn all the books simply because you dislike seeing Lidni happy? Would you enjoy it if Lidni commanded that every handsome young man be killed?”
Zzt?
“You say that might actually be pleasant to watch? Now that I think about it, perhaps so. But please do not send me such revelations. I might become a target of heresy judgment.”
{The Wise One angrily declares that the filthy Evil God should disappear for the good of the world!}
Why were the two of them acting like this today?
Because of these Evil Gods, someone like me who just wanted to live sensibly was suffering in the middle.
Squirm.
Meanwhile, the snake tattoo that had climbed onto the back of my hand was looking around the library.
The Silent One conveyed the intention: This place is so cozy and pleasant.
In other words, the atmosphere was dark and gloomy.
“Please calm yourselves while admiring my refreshing smile. It’s becoming quite distracting.”
First, as part of my worship for Lidni, I pulled out several books and neatly placed them back on the shelf.
Creeeak.
With a strange sound, a hole suddenly opened in the air and a sheet of paper fluttered down.
Marlin caught the paper and tilted her head.
[Warning 1]
“What is this?”
“If you behave properly in this library, you receive a warning.”
A unique gimmick of the Library of Sin.
Ignorant and uncivilized behavior was considered proper etiquette.
Holding the warning slip, Abel asked seriously,
“What happens if we are expelled?”
“You fall into a dark abyss. After that, you must struggle in the darkness until someone rescues you.”
“…What? Didn’t the demon earlier say that was a joke?”
“The part about thieves being thrown into the abyss immediately upon entry was the joke. I never said the abyss itself didn’t exist.”
“……”
The siblings’ faces stiffened, so I patted their heads reassuringly.
“It’s fine. As long as you behave improperly, you will never be expelled. Though that may be difficult for a well-mannered cultist like me.”
“…I think it would be easiest for you.”
“Are you saying I’m rude?”
I pressed down on Marlin’s head to scold her.
At that moment—
“Patron.”
Abel tugged at my clothes and looked straight ahead.
An expedition of five explorers was approaching.
The leader, a large human warrior carrying a greatsword on his back, exchanged a glance with me before shouting.
“Why are you blocking the way?! Move aside!”
Bang!
An orc member smashed a shelf with his fist, sending books scattering everywhere.
The siblings tensed and prepared for battle, but I raised a hand to stop them.
“Did you just dare tell me to move aside? Me, who is beloved by the Forerunner of the Twisted Truth who possesses every wicked knowledge and grotesque sorcery in existence?”
I slowly shook my head as if the situation were ridiculous and forced my right eye to pop out.
—Caw!
My eyeball transformed into a blind crow.
The entire opposing expedition recoiled in shock.
“Perfect timing. Lidni was just looking for a new offering.”
Sweat began pouring down the expedition leader’s forehead.
Soon he cursed and slashed a shelf apart with his greatsword.
“Damn it… of all people we had to run into a cultist. Today’s luck is terrible. Let’s go around!”
The explorers hurried away through the path created by the split shelf.
Only then did I calmly turn toward the siblings.
“That’s done. Let’s go.”
“…Kar, what was that just now?”
“I told you earlier. In the Library of Sin, you must not behave politely. So we agreed to pretend to be hostile.”
If we had politely yielded the path or whispered quietly, we would have received a warning.
A strange situation impossible in ordinary life.
This was one of the charms of labyrinths.
“…Abel, wasn’t that reaction a bit too realistic for acting?”
“…It was.”
“What are you two talking about? There’s no reason five explorers would fear a single cultist. Experienced explorers are naturally good actors.”
A famous explorer had to become a jack-of-all-trades.
Otherwise, they would eventually fail to adapt to the countless gimmicks in labyrinths.
“Let’s move quickly. We should gain as much advantage as possible before Bartimir’s expedition catches up.”
Bartimir’s expedition would enter three hours later.
In the Library of Sin, that was quite a meaningful difference.
—Caw.
After the blind crow returned to my eye socket, we resumed exploration.
After wandering through the labyrinth of bookshelves for quite some time—
{Warning: Hide behind that shelf immediately.}
As soon as Eye That Perceives Truth displayed the message, I quickly pulled the siblings behind a large shelf.
I shielded them and extended a sharp thread from my index finger.
—Shrrrk.
Moments later—
A massive floating book drifted slowly past.
Its cover depicted a lion-like creature, smeared with blood and flesh.
{Large Magic Book (Level 7)}
{You can tell just by looking. Avoid combat at all costs.}
As it passed, the creature suddenly turned toward us.
—Rattle!
It charged forward violently.
Its pages opened wide, revealing bones, flesh, and blood.
Slash!
The spider-thread trap halted the charge for only a moment.
But that moment was enough.
Whoosh!
A violent flame burst from my left hand.
The basic Mystery of the Cult of Lonely Silence—
Sa · Yeom · Hwa.
If used normally, Leria’s power was too weak to produce proper firepower, so I borrowed outside assistance.
The helper was the flame-producing artifact Spark of Glory.
A kind of synchronization.
{The Wise One applauds you for cleverly amplifying Sa · Yeom · Hwa by linking it with an artifact that emits the same flame!}
At the moment, the snake tattoo was biting the Spark of Glory ring on my left hand.
In this state, the rank of Sa · Yeom · Hwa increased by one tier.
—Rattle!
Unable to evolve into an electronic book, the magic book was consumed by flames and began thrashing wildly.
Taking advantage of the chaos, we ran like mad.
“…Ugh.”
Perhaps from running too hard, my stomach almost turned.
After we reached a point far from the magic book, Marlin caught her breath and spoke quietly.
“What was that…?”
“What else? A book.”
“…Can you read it?”
“We don’t read the book. The book reads us.”
Not a metaphor.
It literally opened a person’s body and performed “reading.”
Its level was seven.
It was an unavoidable hazard that D-Rank explorers could never defeat.
“Besides the Large Magic Book, there are other monsters too. We must avoid their pursuit while exploring.”
“Kar… I hate this library.”
“Don’t dislike it so much. It’s a unique experience you can’t have normally.”
“Not at all!”
“Your perspective is still narrow.”
Regardless of Marlin’s complaints, exploration had to continue.
I pushed the siblings forward and continued observing the shelves.
The exploration route of the Library of Sin refreshed my previously dry mind quite well.
“Are you insane, blocking the path of a cultist?!”
“Come at me. I will offer all of you as living sacrifices to Lidni.”
“…Let’s go. Running into a filthy cultist today means terrible luck.”
Occasional theatrical encounters with other expeditions.
—Rattle!
Dangerous hide-and-seek with Large Magic Books that read people.
—Grrroooar!
And constant pursuit by the pack-living monsters known as Library Watchdogs.
“Ugh, Kar!”
“Haha. Right, Marlin. You’re enjoying it too, aren’t you?”
This place was practically a theme park.
Perhaps it should be called the Sin Amusement Park.
“…Running around like this does feel refreshing.”
“I feel the same.”
Beastmen were a race that benefited from intense physical activity, so neither sibling showed signs of exhaustion.
While enjoying the exploration with my wards, I carefully examined every message occasionally displayed by Eye That Perceives Truth.
{Tier-1 Mystery Tome — Indifferent Calves}
{Slightly strengthens leg muscles but makes the calves thinner.}
{Tier-3 Mystery Tome — Suspicious Skin}
{Hardens the skin but darkens its color slightly.}
{Tier-6 Mystery Tome — Fierce Gaze}
{Turns the eyes red and allows the projection of manifested killing intent.}
We discovered several Mystery Tomes with relatively minor flaws.
All of them appealed to me.
After repeatedly collecting them and storing them in Radiant Faith’s subspace, we finally discovered the book we had been searching for.
{?-Tier Mystery Tome — Demon King’s Left Leg}
{Unknown Mystery. Even I cannot determine what it is….}
Even Eye That Perceives Truth, which read the information of all things, could not identify the effect.
Naturally, it was one of the Hidden Pieces.
Its location was completely random.
Since the books were mixed every day, the only way was to search the entire library.
“Truth.”
{Are you referring to me?}
“Who else would I mean? There are four more tomes like this one. Let’s find them all. If we collect them together, something will happen that Lidni will surely enjoy.”
And it would also bring us closer to victory in the expedition duel.
“Children, do you need a rest?”
“We can still move.”
“I’m fine as well.”
“Then let’s keep moving.”
Avoiding the paths of Large Magic Books and Library Watchdogs as much as possible, we continued exploring without rest.
By the time nearly three hours had passed, we had found more tomes from the same set.
{?-Tier Mystery Tome — Demon King’s Right Arm}
{?-Tier Mystery Tome — Demon King’s Right Leg}
“Only two more remain.”
Marlin, who had been quietly following me, suddenly tapped my back.
“Kar, collecting all those tomes is the Hidden Piece of this labyrinth, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then we’ve basically already won!”
“It’s still too early to say we’ve won.”
“Why?”
“Because even if we collect the full set first, a draw is still possible.”
I patted the siblings’ shoulders as they focused on me.
“There are actually two types of Hidden Pieces hidden within the Library of Sin.”