Rulebook Writing Practice (2)
The Rituals Department's Preservation Library was difficult to find the way even after searching several times. It was because the bookshelves looked almost identical.
After wandering for a bit, I found the bookshelf leading to the Management Records Bureau. I quietly calmed my mind and waited a few breaths, and a low sound came.
Actually, there was some discrepancy in expressing 'heard it'. The intention to 'lift a certain book' was clearly conveyed, but the pitch or tone of the voice couldn't be recognized.
'Lift the second bookshelf from the top. Push back the third from the bottom...'
Following the instructions, I moved the positions of the five books. The bookshelf slowly slid to the side. The cool air unique to underground filled my body.
It was good to be able to work cool even on a summer day.
As I descended the stairs, the sound became clearer. In front of the bookshelf, the sound that had been vaguely rumbling turned out to be the sound of brushes brushing against the pages.
Squeak-squeak-squeak—
Just like when I first came down to the Management Records Bureau, under the will of some unknown powerhouse, the fine brushes moved in unison.
But even this overwhelming sight would lose its weight the more you see it every day.
Still, just in case, I bowed my head and greeted them.
Whether someone spreading qi in the air could see me or not was unknown.
But having a powerhouse with such immense inner energy and martial prowess say 'Oh, this friend is quite talkative' is better than 'This kid doesn't greet seniors at all.'
Upon descending the stairs to the Management Records Bureau, I immediately faced the room for brush writing—what everyone called the Records Room—connected by four passages.
And again, one descending staircase.
Upward and downward, and passages in the center of the wall of the Records Room. In total, six paths.
Ok Rin was residing at the end of the passage facing north among them.
I lightly knocked on the black door.
Thud—
A rather heavy sound echoed. I thought the door was painted black and looked black in the dark, but it seemed to be made entirely of black metal.
'Could this be... Xuan Iron? No way.'
They wouldn't have used that precious Xuan Iron to make the door. Probably.
“Are you there?”
“Ah. A new recruit? Come in.”
Without a sound of scraping hinges, the black iron door opened wide.
A pungent smell wafted. Anyone who was a martial artist would recognize this scent as the smell of blood.
I looked beyond the door. The surroundings were all dark, with only a faint lantern lit on the table where Ok Rin was seated.
It was very uncomfortable, but I couldn't not enter. I took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.
“Ah, don't move your feet carelessly until the door is completely closed. If your obedience isn't enough, you'll fall easily.”
The moment my body completely crossed the threshold, the door slowly closed.
This time there was no sound, but I knew the door had closed without turning back. The light coming from behind me gradually dimmed, and when the backlighting disappeared and the shadows were about to sink into darkness, Ok Rin threw out the next words.
“Well, walk slowly. If you haven't adapted to the shadows yet, you can wait a bit longer and then move.”
“Mm.”
I looked around. It was dark, so I could only see the outlines of objects, but...
From the blood scent, I could somewhat grasp the layout of the room. By the strength of the blood scent, I could tell the positions of the furniture and moved my feet cautiously.
“Oh ho. You adapted quite quickly. Have you mastered the martial arts?”
“No. It's not just about using the eyes.”
Ok Rin paused for a moment, then let out an 'Ah' exclamation.
“Indeed. I read the report from yesterday. It said you had a good nose.”
Ok Rin tapped her desk twice. The desk was quite wide, enough space for two people to sit in front and behind.
Sitting on the chair naturally faced Ok Rin. Somehow, it reminded me of a scene from a detective drama.
The suspect and the detective facing each other with one dim light in the dark room. It would be a scene from the interrogation room...
'Could she not be interrogating me?'
Pushing away the ominous thoughts, I opened my mouth.
“Record Keeper Ok. Why is the blood scent so thick in this place?”
It was a very suspicious place. A place where you'd hear the sound of evil arts a hundred times. A place full of blood scent in the Murim Alliance's underground, which claims to follow the righteous path of the Murim.
If someone from the Demonic Cult saw it, they would say that the hypocritical righteous faction is preparing some special law.
“Mm, simple reason. Rulebooks are made with blood.”
“...Eh. Does that mean the record keepers shed a lot of blood until we get accurate information?”
“No. It means we use blood when making the rulebook copies.”
Why?
Questions arose in my mind. How to get such a large amount of blood? Since this is Murim, maybe possible.
If not, from those who have lifetime residence rights in the Murim Alliance's underground prison, we can receive donations too.
The truly puzzling part was why use blood in the first place.
Beyond the flickering of the candle, Ok Rin's expression flickered. She read my curiosity and casually threw out a line.
“For the same reason as talismans.”
“Talismans?”
The talisman signed by the record keeper upon becoming one. A tool that uses the distorted perception of anomalies to make places with talismans seem like vital points for people.
Thinking about it, that talisman also had to be completed by the record keeper's blood.
“I heard you saw the rulebook at Manghon Villa.”
“Yes.”
“Then, haven't you thought it strange? Manghon Villa is a moving anomaly. How can a rulebook without legs remain there?”
It was easy to infer the situation. The seniors of the Management Records Bureau were all kind, and they didn't hesitate to give clues for new recruits.
“Does it mean the rulebook is recognized as a person?”
“Yes. Not exactly a person, but it feels like a kind of 'prey'. They don't eat if they have no prey, so they don't want to miss the prey that comes into their hands.”
“Eat to death?”
“There's the term 'Heavenly Mechanism' for a reason, and there's another reason why the demonic path hasn't spread widely. Virtue and vice are already mixed in our world's framework, but the demonic path is different.”
Ok Rin slowly explained the existence of anomalies.
Because they are outside the framework of the world, the demonic path is destined to be rejected as an existence itself. Therefore, anomalies can't easily reveal their true form.
They only nourish their bodies with human essence and qi and quietly grow their influence. Then, there comes a moment when the anomaly reveals its true nature.
“The moment when the influence of the demonic path covers the mortal world. Sometimes it manifests specifically like Manghon Villa, but in many cases, it just ends up with a feeling of being creepy.”
The range of influence that the anomaly spreads to eat people is simply called 'Mixed World Domain' in the Management Records Bureau.
A space filled with heterogeneity where the anomaly can fully unfold its martial power. But the longer they maintain the domain, the more their accumulated achievements are consumed.
Because humans don't tolerate the demonic path.
However, the anomaly is an existence that can devour cut-off lives. Therefore, the Mixed World Domain is a place full of gravitational force that pulls human essence and qi.
The explanation was that the process of burying the human scent to make the rulebook be swept by the gravitational force is the final step of making the copies.
“Mixed World Domain... What happens if the anomaly that opened the domain hides itself again?”
“Normally, it returns to reality as is. People are originally beings belonging to the human way, so they naturally head to a more familiar world. The rulebook, which has human scent, is not belonging to the human way and is buried in the Mixed World Domain as is.”
The condition 'normally' is worrying. There are exceptional cases like Manghon Villa where they always open the domain and cause people to disappear, so that's why.
I nodded. I understood all the immediate questions. However.
“Ah. Lord Byeolnim sent me to learn how to write rulebooks. Is it not to fill in the content, but to learn the method of making copies first?”
According to the story I heard yesterday, I thought I would learn the method to establish rulebooks from recorded information.
“Ah. So you were the one.”
“Huh?”
Another ominous clue passed by. 'The one'? Is the copy-making responsible separate?
“But well, if you're a talent like you, it seems you'll be responsible for copying too. It's not a bad story to hear.”
“What talent like me?”
“I said the rulebook isn't exactly recognized as a person, right? For convenience, I explained that the anomaly eats people in a lump, but things with abundant qi like spirits are also their sustenance.”
I suddenly recalled that the blood scent in this room had unity. Even if it was the same blood from different people, the scent would be different.
But if there's no sense of heterogeneity, it means blood was drawn from one person.
“In that sense that it's not completely a person, the probability of sticking to the domain without being bounced back to the mortal world is higher.”
Previously heard, Ok Rin was a person who had eaten a fish by mistake and her constitution was changed to be close to a spirit, whether mermaid or something.
I was a person whose constitution was changed close to an anomaly by wrongly killing it.
“...Does that mean you draw my blood too?”
“Mm. Those below first class die if a lot is drawn. From first class to early peak, we'll start the bloodletting operation in earnest?”
Ah, damn.
'The Murim Alliance is not some blood cult.'
I didn't know we'd be doing blood sales in the Management Records Bureau.