Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Library Committee President (3)
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Today too, I dreamed ceaselessly.
A hallway shrouded entirely in pitch blackness.
Darkness rippling like mist.
And, me.
'......'
The hallway with lights out.
I walked alone through the corridor that had fallen into silence with the arrival of night.
Like a child who had done something wrong and held their breath, the me from back then reduced even my breathing, fearing discovery of being awake at this hour.
Yet I couldn't hide the laughter bubbling up from within.
The corners of my mouth curved up mischievously.
I explored every nook and cranny of the house as if on a treasure hunt.
From the ornaments Mother had scolded me not to touch, to the difficult books Father had collected.
And,
'A bat?'
To the mysterious statue abandoned in the corner of the garden.
'It's a bat, but why does it have a human body?'
And why is it naked?
I didn't know the reason.
But there was something I could do even without knowing.
I gathered leaves from around and warmly covered the statue so it wouldn't be cold.
Only then, nodding in satisfaction, did I return to my room.
It would be good to bring my little sibling here once day broke.
With that thought, I fell asleep, and the next day...
The day...
...
.
.
.
"Gasp!"
A woman bolted upright in bed with ragged breaths.
Cold sweat streamed down her face.
The surroundings were dim, silence alone flowing through.
In that quiet, she clutched her own arm, trembling without realizing it.
"...That dream again."
From some point on, she kept having the exact same dream.
But upon waking, the memory grew hazy.
Something that happened at an age too young to comprehend.
That kept sending chills down her spine.
'Ha, hahaha...'
A hollow laugh escaped her lips.
She'd told her friends, and they said dreams were usually forgotten right upon waking. That's what they'd said.
They probably couldn't empathize.
Not now, nor in the future.
How unsettling it felt to have it 'forgotten'.
Just then, she frowned at the heat rising from her lower abdomen.
She looked up at the full-length mirror beside the bed.
Black hair matted with cold sweat.
Her pitch-dark eyes, as if melting the night around them, flickered ominously.
The Library Committee President and Public Morals Committee President.
"......"
Unlike her usual relaxed smile,
the figure in the mirror looked endlessly cold.
"...I've slept enough."
With a bitter smile, she rose from her seat.
It was just a few hours before Wednesday morning.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Wednesday. Late afternoon.
"Alright, alright. Don't forget to review. That's it for today's class."
With the professor's words, the day's lesson ended.
Most cadets filed out of the indoor training hall, complaining about the day's fatigue.
Amid that, only Shin Bi-hyung remained, staring fixedly at the professor.
The reason was nothing special.
He'd simply been told to stay.
'Still some time until the appointed meeting... should be fine.'
He had things to say to the professor anyway, so a little time like this was okay.
As Shin Bi-hyung watched the professor with such thoughts, the man grinned.
"Looks like you've mastered sensory perception. Right?"
"...!"
"Why the surprised face? Hmm, and your technique looks pretty refined too. Nice."
"How did you know?"
"What, you think I couldn't be a professor if I didn't notice? ...Though I'd love to say that, truth is, I've mastered one myself. It told me."
He spoke playfully, but his expression soon turned serious.
"On that note, something's been bugging me since yesterday. So I looked into it, and get this? He's vanished."
Just then.
"I saw you, and my sensory perception's intuition started pointing at you."
Straight to the point.
"Cadet Yu Kyung-su. How'd you do it?"
Shin Bi-hyung felt his heart sink at the question.
'What kind of intuition is that?'
Yu Kyung-su cadet, missing since the weekend.
And himself, internally injured from that time.
Circumstances were plenty, but no one would think he'd been involved.
Why? His rank back then was merely 3rd rank.
Compared to Yu Kyung-su's 6th rank.
Even one rank difference was heaven and earth, let alone double, yet the professor was convinced it was him based on pure intuition.
The professor's eyes bored into him.
For some reason, it felt like being stark naked before him.
As if any lie would be instantly seen through.
'......'
Shin Bi-hyung met the professor's unwavering gaze and nodded.
He'd planned to tell him anyway.
Shin Bi-hyung pulled out the data and research logs on Yu Kyung-su stored in his club and handed them to the professor.
Flip, flip.
With each page turned, the professor's expression grew colder.
Then, at Shin Bi-hyung's following words, his eyes widened in shock.
"Yu Kyung-su died by my hand."
"...!!"
The professor, staring at Shin Bi-hyung with bulging eyes, suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
"...Hah. Won't tell me how, even if I ask?"
"Trade secret."
"Tch, you mysterious bastard. Living up to your reputation."
The professor shook his head, but his expression hardened in an instant.
"Yu Kyung-su's deeds qualify him as a villain—nay, an evil breed. Killing scum like that is no issue."
However,
"If something like that happened, you should've told me. What if you'd gone alone and gotten yourself killed?"
The professor's scolding was really saying to value his own life.
With no excuse, Shin Bi-hyung bowed his head in apology.
Only then did the professor soften, flipping through the documents as he spoke to Shin Bi-hyung.
"The Gui-ryeong Yu Clan. I'll make sure those bastards can't touch the victims again."
"Thank you."
"...Enough. I should be thanking you. Tch. For this to happen 'again'."
"'Again'? So... it's happened before?"
"Huh? You didn't know? It happens now and then. About 10 years ago? There were guys experimenting on kids as sacrifices, and the Association got pissed and razed their place clean—no blade of grass left."
"......"
"...Oh, right, come to think of it—someone right around you was caught up in that incident."
"Pardon?"
"The Committee President."
"...!"
"A few kids survived back then, and one was the Library Committee President. So don't bring it up around her. It'll be a deep scar."
"...Understood."
"Good. Then I'll get to work. Ugh. Overtime confirmed for tonight."
As he scratched the back of his head and headed out of the training hall,
the professor suddenly turned and said to Shin Bi-hyung,
"Felt a nice breeze, huh?"
"......"
Shin Bi-hyung gave a meaningful smile at the words.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ He headed to the meeting spot with the Committee President.
Yeongwol Academy's central plaza.
In the heart of the vast academy grounds stood a grand fountain.
A woman sat there, lost in thought while reading a book.
The Library Committee President and Public Morals Committee President.
Seeing her already waiting at the rendezvous, the professor's words came to mind.
'The President went through something like that too.'
Her past, unrecorded in Solitary Chronicle's official history, unspoken even in the settings.
'Is that curse from it?'
...No. Probably not.
'Time gap's too big.'
The incident the President suffered was 10 years ago.
But the curse emerged not long ago.
Lost in those thoughts, he came to his senses.
Snap!
A woman closed her book and stood.
Black hair and black eyes.
As her signature sharp gaze curved, a decadent aura emanated.
"Junior, you're here?"
"Yes. The professor wanted a word, so I was late."
"Mm. It's fine. That happens."
She took a step closer and spoke to Shin Bi-hyung.
"Junior, remember our promise?"
"Yes."
"Then you'll help with sorting the forbidden books from now on. And if possible..."
"Yes. Find a way to lift 'that', right?"
"Yeah. Exactly."
Shin Bi-hyung didn't believe there'd be a way to lift her curse among the forbidden books.
'Even in the game, no solution was found. If there was one in the forbidden section, the veterans would've lifted it...'
Just then, a small doubt arose.
'Come to think of it, she said the pain vanished.'
Originally, using energy tore at the dantian, accompanied by pain like countless needles pricking the meridians.
By comparison, the body heating up and feeling warmth was minor.
That pain had disappeared.
Right at the moment she confronted his 'presence'.
'And... ten years ago.'
She'd been kidnapped for human sacrifice, just like with Yu Kyung-su.
Here, he shifted his thinking.
'Would someone really never have had the same idea as Yu Kyung-su all this time?'
No. There must have been.
Per the professor, these incidents happened fairly often.
Then, the reason her pain vanished was...
Shin Bi-hyung's eyes gleamed coldly.
'Time to make use of the library monstrosity.'
First, look into her past.
And whether that was truly a 'curse'.
With that in mind, as they walked a bit, the library came into view.
"...Feels a bit awkward going in so openly."
"Hehe. True. Our first meeting was during something like that."
Chatting idly like that, the two ascended to the second floor where the forbidden books were kept.
"Then, Senior, could you set up a barrier around us?"
"What kind?"
"Erase our presence from people, convert surrounding energy to yin, and block outsiders from entering."
"Got it."
She nodded calmly and flicked her hand.
With that alone, sparks of spiritual power seeped into the bookshelves everywhere, drawing a massive ritual.
Her specialty, barrier arts, had been deployed.
'Impressive as always.'
Thus, the surroundings were enveloped in darkness.
Like nightfall, eerie yin energy rippled.
As if recreating the library at midnight he'd entered with Mi-na before.
Feeling a cozy comfort, Shin Bi-hyung called to the President.
"Senior. Could you pull that forbidden book halfway?"
"Sure."
"Only halfway. Full pull will drag us in."
"Okay."
As he spoke, the President half-pulled the forbidden book Shin Bi-hyung indicated, leaving it ajar on the shelf.
'Know thyself? Philosophical title.'
As the President thought that,
Shin Bi-hyung pulled several other books halfway too.
Lucid dreaming, on dreams, the nexus of past present future... and so on.
Once the books were half-pulled and they'd waited, the library interior began to tremble, centered on the barrier.
And.
"...It's done."
Before he knew it, Shin Bi-hyung stood in one corner of a dim hallway.
This was a moment from the past.
The instant he'd entered a fragment of the President's memory.