Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Bellierd Library (1)
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We sincerely welcome you to the Bellierd Library.
This library changes its librarians once a week.
This is a guide provided to you upon becoming a librarian of the Bellierd Library.
Please read it carefully and be sure to follow the rules below without fail.
We, the Bellierd Library, take no responsibility for any incidents resulting from breaking these rules.
1) Before starting work, please make sure to wear the Librarian Uniform we have provided. We take no responsibility whatsoever for any friction with patrons if you do not wear it.
2) Please neatly return returned books to their proper places before the day ends. The back of each book indicates which shelf it belongs to.
3) If you find a book with a damaged cover, you do not need to sort it separately. Our library does not put covers on books.
4) If you discover Shelf 52, do not approach it. Remember that this library has shelves numbered only up to 51.
5) The library must always remain quiet. If someone is talking loudly, stop them. However, you may ignore any screams.
6) This library provides a break time from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM every day. Do not work during break time under any circumstances.
7) If the Red Ribbon Child asks you to retrieve a book from Shelf 52 because they cannot reach it, ignore them. Let me remind you once again: this library has only 51 shelves.
8) This library does not have a book called Lost Children. If someone asks for it, hand them a Torn-Cover Book.
If there is no Torn-Cover Book, recommend they check Shelf 52.
9) If you find a woman crying face-down at a desk, approach her and comfort her. She has simply lost her favorite book and is waiting for someone to console her.
10) Rule 9 is blank. Even if anything is written in Rule 9, ignore it completely.
11) You may visit the bathroom during work as needed. However, do not leave your post for more than 5 minutes.
12) Working hours are 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and 2:30 PM to 8:00 PM. After work, rest comfortably in the accommodations we provide.
13) When you quit working at the library, simply leave this guide on the librarian's desk as is.
We welcome you once again as a librarian of the Bellierd Library.
Finally, please keep in mind that this library takes no responsibility for any consequences from breaking the above rules.
"..."
Goosebumps erupted across my entire body.
Waking up in some unknown space was already chilling enough.
But reading the paper sitting on the desk right in front of me? That cranked the terror up even higher.
'Phone... phone...'
I immediately shoved my hand into my pocket to search for my phone, but...
Who the hell falls asleep with their phone stuffed uncomfortably in their pocket?
'...'
Waking up in an unknown space with no way to contact the outside world?
The simplest method of calling the police or rescuers was gone, and my mind went blank.
'No windows here either. What the...'
The room I was in didn't even have a single window to see outside.
To ask for help from the outside, I had no choice but to open that door and step out.
'Yeah, the kidnapper didn't tie me up... maybe that means I can move around freely?..'
I had no idea why my kidnapper hadn't restrained me, but the fact that my limbs were free...
Couldn't that be interpreted as permission to move about as I pleased in this place?
With that in mind, I cautiously opened the firmly shut door.
Screeech...
"...What the hell is this?"
An unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes.
'...A library?'
Countless books filled endless shelves.
I'd expected a living room or something, so the sudden appearance of a library left me stunned for a moment.
'Come to think of it, earlier...'
The rulebook I'd seen the moment I woke up flashed in my mind.
I hurried back into the room and started reading it over again.
Only after rereading the entire thing did I start to grasp—sort of—my situation.
'So... I've been kidnapped to this place straight out of one of those internet horror stories?..'
Kidnapped into an internet horror tale.
Ha...
'A dream...? Am I dreaming...?'
Faced with an absurd situation, I pinched my cheek hard.
It hurt like hell, but nothing happened—no waking up.
'Does pinching even wake you from a dream in the first place?'
I was a bit doubtful if something as simple as pinching would snap me out of it.
But the vivid sensations I was feeling right now proved beyond doubt that this wasn't a dream...
'For now... I guess I should just follow what it says...'
To survive.
Or to escape this place.
I decided to act according to the rulebook left by whoever—or whatever—this was.
Tick-tock... Tick-tock...
I looked up at the clock ticking away.
It showed 9:52 AM.
Recalling the sunny scene outside when I'd peeked out earlier...
'Work starts in 8 minutes.'
Realizing work began in about 10 minutes, I hurriedly changed into the clothes hanging in the room as if waiting for me to wear them.
'3 minutes left... Huff... I can do this. I can do it... Let's go... Huff...'
By the time I'd finished changing, only about 3 minutes remained until the start of work.
I carefully opened the door and stepped out again.
The library interior greeted me with an eerily still silence.
'Libraries have to be quiet, right? Huff... Gotta stay silent for now.'
The rulebook had said they changed librarians once a week.
If that was true, all I had to do was survive one week here.
Vowing not to break the rules no matter what, I awaited 10:00 AM.
'...So quiet.'
Was this a blessing...?
Fortunately, the moment the library "opened," no horde of mysterious patrons came rushing in.
In the spine-chilling quiet, I began my first shift as a librarian.
...
Ding~ Ding~ Ding~
"...!!"
The sudden blaring of a massive alarm clock made my shoulders flinch.
Realizing it was the Alarm Clock mounted on the librarian's desk, I quickly checked the time.
'Already 1:00 PM.'
The clock confirmed it was 1:00 PM, so I headed straight back to the room with the bed.
"Haaahhh... Thank goodness nothing happened..."
What a relief.
Truly a relief.
If a place like this had been swarming with monstrous patrons, every moment would have been agony.
Fortunately, there were no patrons returning books.
No patrons coming to read.
No patrons at all to borrow books.
My first shift as a library librarian passed without a single issue.
'...I'm hungry.'
With the tension easing, hunger set in, so I glanced around.
There, on the desk with the rulebook, sat a Bento Box.
'...This is for me, right? I can eat this, yeah?'
As if asking someone who might be listening for permission.
After that question-to-no-one, I carefully sat at the desk and unwrapped the plastic around the bento.
'Smells... not bad, not inedible...'
I wouldn't say there was no hesitation.
But recalling there was no rule like "Do not eat the bento," I tentatively put a piece of the mystery meat in my mouth.
'This is disgustingly bad...'
I immediately realized this meat was nothing like what I knew.
Brpp... Ptui...
I spat the meat onto the bento lid.
Then, I carefully scooped up some of the plain white rice and ate it.
Thankfully, whoever set up this internet horror story hadn't tampered with the rice, so at least I could eat that.
'Yeah... Koreans thrive on rice power. Better than nothing...'