Those Who Wait
It was said that following the song echoing through the Garden of Fresh Greenery would lead to disappearance. And I had just uncovered the cause. Simply moving while aware of the sound seemed to trigger something. The song originated from the golden fountain right before my eyes. Waiting at its end was a former user. Just as in the 5th stage, there were those who had fled and hidden away in the 6th stage as well.
Analyzing Owl’s behavior under the assumption that he was a former user revealed a few oddities. He had been clever enough to craft lines meant to probe whether I was the next rider, but something about it felt awkwardly clumsy. It was as if he were reading from a script someone else had written. His position was strange too. Playing a song and waiting for anyone to arrive was hardly the right way to wait for a specific person.
This guy… reeks of stupidity.
My idiot radar, honed by years of expertise, activated. There was a high probability this guy was an idiot.
Should I try fishing him out?
I raised one hand and spoke. “Hold on. I think there’s a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“It’s true that a new rider has begun, but I’m a summon. My master left this place long ago to search for the Sky Gate. You’re a user from the previous generation, aren’t you?”
Owl looked flustered at my words. “Uh… uh? Then this is bad.”
His head spun wildly, as if he were trying to wring something out of his brain. He clearly hadn’t been given a manual for this situation. Lacking information, he fell straight into the lie I had spun.
From the moment he went “Bwoo-oo-owl,” I knew.
Now that I had confirmed he was somewhat dim-witted, it was time to coax him into withdrawing his Domain. Fighting inside his Domain would be disadvantageous.
“Hey. Do we have time to stand around like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were acting like you knew everything, but it turns out you don’t know a thing! Shouldn’t we leave before the Sky Gate opens? Are you planning to live here forever?!”
“Th-that’s…”
I folded my arms and sighed. “The Golden Lord, the Lobster General, the Squid Princess. You’ve heard those names before, haven’t you? They’re the ones my master helped escape this world by opening the gate beneath the sea.”
Technically, it had been an escape by death, but they had still left the 5th stage’s ocean, so it wasn’t a lie. My confident tone threw him into confusion.
“B-but the notice clearly said we had to steal the new rider’s power… What’s going on?”
A notice…?
No wonder there were so many traitors. There had been an organized force encouraging betrayal. It was probably connected to what the Squid Princess had mentioned.
Hmm…
I adjusted my plan. Originally, I had intended to eliminate Owl the moment he withdrew his Domain and absorb his power. But that could be done anytime. If keeping him alive a little longer let me extract information, that would be better. As someone who had received great support from the Goddess, it was my duty to deal with the traitors of the previous world.
Having made my decision, I barked at him. “Stop making such a fuss! So where are the others? We need to gather everyone, so move quickly! If the gate closes because of you, are you going to take responsibility?!”
Owl shrank back at my shout. He was completely cowed by my presence. I clicked my tongue, folded my arms, and glared at him.
“We’re leaving right now, so pack only the essentials. If you keep saying unnecessary things, I’ll leave you behind!”
“Ugh… A-all right…”
Owl scratched his head and approached the fountain. As he flapped his wings, the fountain rose into the sky and shrank to the size of a keyring. At the same time, the song stopped.
So the fountain was the item causing the phenomenon.
Before withdrawing his Domain, Owl summoned small brown larvae around him. He must have been a larva summoner. Thousands of fingernail-sized insects appeared and quickly scattered in all directions.
“Why summon the bugs? We’re about to move.”
“Ah? You don’t know? There are Librarians in this space. The fountain was also keeping them away. I sent out scouts in case we run into them.”
Owl, having lived here for a long time, possessed considerable knowledge about the place. Once preparations were complete, he stared at me blankly.
“So… where’s the Sky Gate? Ah, you said you’d take the others too. Where to next?”
“How many are here?”
“If we’re counting those who wait, including me, there are three. I’m not sure if there are more…”
“You were the first one I found. Only three is fortunate. Guide me to the nearest one.”
His head spun. “Understood. Let’s go. We’re finally escaping this place!”
Owl moved swiftly through the complex paths. He used the small trails in the garden and occasionally flew low to cross over statues. When we finally reached a door, he spoke.
“By the way, about your master… What exactly did he do to bring so many Librarians here? This is worse than when the inspectors came… It’s at the level of an emergency alarm.”
“Can you locate the Librarians?”
“Most of the signals from the bugs I scattered around the nearby libraries have been completely cut off. That means they encountered Librarians.”
I answered his question honestly. “I raised the difficulty to the maximum to open the Sky Gate, and the number of Librarians became unreadable.”
“Unreadable…? Then…”
Owl muttered as he opened the door leading to the next library. “That means it’s not about numbers…”
Click— The space beyond the door was a garbage dump. Books of all kinds were carelessly discarded atop a massive pile of trash. Just as Owl was about to step through, he froze.
“Huh…?”
Click— He hurriedly turned and shut the door. With a very serious expression, he said, “You can’t feel it because you’re a summon, can you? The one in there is under attack right now…”
“What do you mean? Explain properly.”
“That place is the domain of someone called the Heavy Hermit. And he was being attacked by Librarians.”
“What are his chances of winning?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! They’re absolute in this world. First, let’s… let’s go to the other one. If he’s surrounded like that, he’s done for.”
“Understood. We’ll abandon the Hermit.”
We crossed the Garden of Fresh Greenery at a brisk pace, heading toward the “Grand Library” where the next one resided.
So the Librarians really do exist.
I had already guessed why the former users were suddenly being hunted. They were a kind of bug—remnants left over from the previous generation. The system had tolerated them as long as they worked against the users, but the moment I tried to absorb them and grow excessively, it had begun eliminating them on its own. It was probably a small revenge for absorbing the dark elves.
And sure enough, the next former user was in the same situation. The moment we opened the door to the refined and majestic library, the metallic scent of blood filled the air. Owl immediately panicked.
“H-hurry and guide us to the Sky Gate! They’re clearly hunting us! At this rate, you, me, and your master will all be lost! Quickly, to the Sky Gate!”
I closed the door leading to the Grand Library. Placing a hand on Owl’s shoulder, I said, “Since it’s come to this, there’s something I need to tell you honestly.”
Owl looked at me with anxious eyes. His expression begged me not to lie.
“Wh-what is it? You couldn’t find the Sky Gate?”
“No. The fact that I’m not a summon.”
“Huh…? Then the Sky Gate…?”
“But don’t worry. I have a rough idea of how to open the Sky Gate. However, there’s something I need to do first, so I can’t do it right away.”
“Eek! What are you saying?! The Librarians will come! And how am I supposed to trust you, you fraud!”
I snapped at him. “Stop whining! We have to do what needs to be done before we can leave, don’t we? If you help me, I’ll open the Sky Gate for you!”
Owl’s face completely fell apart. He couldn’t answer and just spun his head around. But no matter how hard he wracked his brain, there would be no other options. He was both the desperate one and the one in a hurry. And in any deal, the weaker party always loses.
“Ugh… ugh…”
“Your spinning head is distracting. Stop it. And guide me to the golden story. Once I’m done, I’ll open the Sky Gate right away. Be my guide.”
After desperately thinking, Owl finally resigned himself. “Aaaagh! Of all people, I had to get caught by a weirdo! Follow me… Let’s go somewhere the Librarians don’t usually pass through… But promise me—once this is over, we’re going to the Sky Gate!”
“Fine.”
The place Owl chose was a space the community called the “Underground Sewer,” one of the few restricted-access areas in the 6th stage. It was one of the generally avoided, horrific libraries.
Creak— “Ah… I really didn’t want to come here…”
A pitch-black passage greeted us beyond the door. Lights flickered on and off at intervals. Flicker— Flicker—
Despite its name, the “Underground Sewer” library contained no water. Only a long, dark corridor stretched ahead. Yet it was called a sewer because the sound of water could be heard from somewhere.
Drip— Drip— Drip— The sound of falling water droplets. Whoosh— The sound of rushing currents. Waaah— Waaah— The cry of a baby abandoned in a sewer pipe.
Forget that last one. This was why the “Underground Sewer” was avoided. The place had the property of forcibly injecting stories into explorers. It didn’t only lure through sound. Vision, too, could not be trusted.
“Right side, two red. Ceiling, one blue.”
Following Owl’s briefing, I turned my head in the opposite direction. The places he listed had short phrases written on them—scribbles in red or blue. If you read them to the end, the story within the phrase would begin on its own. Reaching the ending wasn’t difficult. But repeatedly entering such bizarre stories would gradually tilt your sense of direction toward them. Even after leaving the “Underground Sewer,” you would keep searching for similar content.
The reason we came to this library despite the danger was the existence of the “secret passage”—an object that transported you to a random location within the “Underground Sewer.” While the structure made it easy to get lost, it was also a useful escape route when encountering Librarians.
As we wandered through the “Underground Sewer,” a stone tablet appeared. It bore an inscription written in gold.
“Owl, come closer. We’re going in.”
“No, I’ll wait outside.”
I grabbed him firmly. Then I began reading the inscription on the tablet.
Drip. Drip.
Is someone there?
Here, there’s someone.
We were sucked into the golden story.