Chapter 3

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 3

Chapter Title: Bellierd Library (3)

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The status window floating in front of me wasn't a blue hologram.

It was just a translucent panel hovering in the air, and unlike the typical ones we imagine—with stats like strength, stamina, intelligence, and so on—it simply displayed a single value: 'Sanity.'

And on top of that...

'Return Uses?'

It indicated that I had one use left of some mysterious 'Return' function, plus this 'Input' field that I had no idea how to work.

The status window's features were three complete unknowns as far as I was concerned.

However...

'If it's Return... does that mean it sends me home?'

No matter where it took me, anywhere had to be safer than this world crawling with monsters posing as patrons.

"How do I even use this thing?"

I immediately tried to activate that 'Return' function.

"Return."

I spoke the word aloud, but nothing happened.

"...Not like that?"

Even though it said it was usable, apparently saying it out loud wasn't the way.

There was no change whatsoever in my surroundings as I sat there, so I pondered slowly on how to use it...

And then it hit me.

"It looks kind of like a button."

I realized that the 'Return Uses' line resembled a button.

I reached out and touched the status window hovering in the air with my finger.

"...Huh?"

My vision gradually started to blur.

"No...! You said Return...! Return, right...! This is...!"

This was so unfair.

I'd only pressed the Return button because I wanted to go back.

I had no idea it would blind me...!

If it had a feature like that, they should've at least added a line in the rulebook like 'Do not press the Return button'...!

"...?"

Just when I thought I'd unjustly lost my sight forever,

my blurred vision began to clear up and return to normal...

"...What is this place?"

I opened my eyes in what looked like a very dark, damp warehouse.

'...Paper?'

I felt a bit disoriented from the sudden change in location, but only for a moment.

Right in front of me, where I'd opened my eyes, was a stack of paper.

'Is this another rulebook or something...?'

Thinking it might be like the library's rulebook—with rules I needed to follow here too—I checked the paper first.

It was a sheet of paper written in Korean.

'There are other people here besides me!'

I cheered inwardly.

The fact that there were others here with me...

And they'd even prepared a guide like this, which meant they knew a ton about this place, right?

Strange rulebooks, non-human entities, that creepy library...

I felt a surge of joy at the thought that I could get info on all those bizarre things.

'Status Window.'

I quickly opened the status window again to try inputting the 'GY' code from the note...

'...But how do I input it?'

There was no keyboard or anything visible, so I tapped the input field.

The Return Uses line still showed the button as active, even at 0.

'Come to think of it, Return means sending me back to where I was, right?'

Remembering that Return took me back to my original spot,

I pressed the button again, harboring a faint ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hope that maybe—just maybe—it would send me home this time.

'Oh! Oh yeah!'

My guess was right, apparently.

Pressing the button at 0 uses made my vision blur once more.

'It works!'

When my vision cleared...

"Ah."

I was back in that damn library.

"...Why did I do that? Why did I press it? What... what have I done...?"

I collapsed limply onto the spot.

"This feels kinda unfair...?"

No, this wasn't right.

If Return Uses was at 0 and couldn't be used anymore, why didn't it just do nothing?

Why did pressing an exhausted Return button bring me back here?

What the hell had I done to deserve being kidnapped into this shitty world?

"..."

I wanted to scream at this unfair situation, tell it all to get lost.

But the library—where silence was mandatory—was right beyond the door in front of me.

"Haa..."

With a deep sigh, all I could do was poke at the now-unpressable Return button.

"...Guess I just have to tough out the week..."

The silver lining, at least, was that surviving a week here seemed to mean escaping to the world where those other people existed.

So all I had to do was endure the remaining six days in the library somehow...

"...Oh, right. It said to input some kind of code."

I suddenly remembered the guide written in Korean telling me to enter a code.

"GY-82, was it."

I tapped the 'Input' field below, and a familiar keyboard slid up from the bottom.

"What... it's not even a phone."

It was a bit ridiculous, but

following the instructions on the note, I entered the code into the input field.

Right after typing GY-82 and hitting enter,

"...This is?"

A screen popped up that looked just like those community sites I'd seen online sometimes.

"Blockade? Exchange? ...What the hell is all this?"

I manipulated the familiar interface and tapped the first post at the top.

"...What? Some kinda nutjob?"

It was the kind of content you'd see all the time on a peaceful Earth community site.

"Can I post something too?"

This familiar scene was so welcoming that I suddenly wanted to post myself.

Thanks to the intuitive UI, my first post here was:

A plea for help.

"...This ain't gonna get me any help."

No good.

I needed to use the winning strategy for getting help on communities.