Episode 148 < Prologue. (1) >
The great library of all things.
The shadows cast by the bookshelves overlapped and diagonally formed a complex network.
“I do not know.”
The Constellation Killer’s voice wandered inside.
“difficult. It’s hard to fathom. Have I killed so many lives? Are you saying that so many lives have been lost because of me? It is impossible to take responsibility for the death of just one person, for people living in so many different worlds… … .”
The Constellation Killer took out an old diary with fumbling hands.
Just as Kim Yul left traces of the Constellation Killer, the Constellation Killer also left a diary in his life as his memories were being erased.
“A guardian goddess, an old man in deep darkness, a blind-eyed follower.”
Those were the constellations that the Constellation Killer had been killing.
The Constellation Killer quietly recited the names, which were drawn in straight horizontal lines and turned red.
“The great snake that sprouted in the seven noises, the stork that mesmerizes the universe, the witch who died at dawn of frost, the lion who dreams of immortality, the poisonous flower, the moon that swallowed the old moon, the yellow dragon that stays in the Great Lake… … .”
The names flowed out. The shouting showed no sign of stopping.
After calling out to the hundreds of constellations one by one, the Constellation Killer slowly looked at my face.
“… … I do not know. I can not know. However, when I entered Kim Yul’s body and he felt angry at the world and cursed, I also sympathized with Kim Yul. It was agreed. Kim Yul wanted revenge on those who pushed him this far.”
The Constellation Killer was silent for a moment.
“is it.”
he muttered.
“I too deserve the revenge of the worlds.”
widely.
The Constellation Killer closed the diary.
“Even if I end my life, that won’t be a sufficient apology. Eternal pain. Those worlds only want me to suffer forever. But simply suffering doesn’t mean anything… . “How can I endure pain to apologize to the lives that have already died?”
I nodded.
“Library director.”
As if waiting for me to call, the librarian in the corner of the room peeked out from the bookshelf. The Librarian’s cheeks were flushed red.
“Welcome! Unlike the previous apocalypses, this time I was unable to observe you directly. I’ve just finished reading the newly added side story in [Story of the Rising City]. Uh-huh, indeed… … .”
“That’s it. “Please come here.”
“Death King is becoming stricter towards me as the days go by… .”
The library director came flying in vain.
“ruler. I came. What do you want this committee to do? “If you want, I will.”
“Please hand me [Lefanta Aegim Epic].”
“iced coffee… … . If you want, I said, you know? All the books in my possession are my sacred relics. In this lifetime, only I can create it. It would be difficult to treat precious books like this by saying, “Give me your stomach!” … .”
“Of course I will give it to you,” the library director said, handing me the book.
“The Constellation Killer.”
“hmm.”
“This book tells your story. When you first fell into this world, met the [Guardian Goddess], became Lefanta Aegim, and became the Constellation Killer. “My entire life is recorded.”
“…….”
“You’ve lost your memory, but it’s not lost forever. Get it back.”
Silence fell in the library. The Constellation Killer watched [Lefanta Aegim Epic] in silence. The Librarian looked at the two of us with a small exhalation, saying, ‘Ah.’
That constellation immediately understood the meaning of what I said.
The Constellation Killer did not understand right away.
“Ramen [again].”
“yes. “It’s like I just got a glimpse into Kim Yul’s past.”
“… … “From the beginning?”
“From the beginning.”
“Do you mean to take a peek at my life, hundreds of years of life, from the beginning?”
“What you did, what you thought, what world you trampled on, and what lives lived in that world.”
“…….”
“Remembering is the first step in everything. ‘Don’t forget.’ These are the words that Kim Yul risked his life to say. “You too will have to risk your whole life.”
silence.
“understood.”
silence.
“That is correct, I judge.”
And silence.
“…….”
The Constellation Killer received the [Lefanta Aegim Epic] from me. In order to hand it over, Sal Cheonseong had to put his diary back. Instead of a diary filled with page after page of pages, he held in his hands a life described from beginning to end.
“indeed.”
The Constellation Killer muttered while holding the book.
“Just by repeating your life, the world simply becomes hell. “Does each person carry their own hell?”
The Constellation Killer turned his head. The director was sitting there.
“Class monitor.”
The director, who was called the class president, could not answer right away. He couldn’t answer. That silence contained a gap of decades.
“… … yes. Mr. Yul Kim.”
The Constellation Killer, called Kim Yul, also could not answer right away. He couldn’t answer. There was a gap of hundreds of years in that silence.
The decades that one person endured and the hundreds of years that the other person abandoned settled down in the quiet air of the library.
“Kim Yul thought he wanted to forgive you.”
The Constellation Killer said.
“And, I also have the same thoughts as Kim Yul.”
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“I want you to be forgiven.”
The director closed his lips.
The director closed his eyes. But can we say, ‘The director closed his eyes’? Probably not. He was already losing control of his body to the director. He did not close his lips, but his lips were closed, and he did not close his eyes, but his eyes were closed.
“……, …….”
A moan that was almost like a breath escaped the director’s lips. ‘thank you.’ The director could say that. ‘sorry.’ The director must have wanted to say that. But the director endured everything he said. What I couldn’t hold back became moans and flowed out.
“… … I… … .”
The moans were not words but fragments.
But somehow, I was able to figure out the picture the fragment wanted to draw.
“I, just a little… more… … .”
If only I lived a little better.
If only I had a little more power.
If only I had been a little smarter as a child.
“…….”
That moment.
I realized. A vibration like a thunderbolt pierced my entire body. The director’s pursed lips, closed eyes, and the backs of both hands on the floor. Old skin. Tremors in the arms. When I saw the bent body, I realized something.
‘ah.’
The director was screaming in pain.
‘Something I have to prove.’
There are people in this world who scream.
‘What I want to prove.’
The world is filled with beasts and humans, and among them, there are isolated people who scream like islands, and sometimes they reach my ears and sometimes they catch my eyes.
I just want to prove the screams.
‘There are people here.’
My devil heaven.
‘There are people living here.’
Someone who was the first to sew the grain of the Demon Heavenly God’s Art, and certainly not a church member who first preached the doctrine of shadows. I’m sure you’ve felt what I’m feeling right now.
He was angry. He was sad. He saw those who were starving, he saw those who were thirsty, he saw the nine paths of life and the nine paths of death, and he felt that this [must be proven].
“…….”
I want to prove it.
I want to let everyone know.
I want to engrave the fact that there are people here, that they exist, as an indelible scar on this world.
‘Don’t forget.’
I want to capture that image of the director in my macheon.
That’s not all.
The children’s dance that made them laugh at me in the Inferno Mansion. The voice of a hungry ghost crying to the sky while holding the bodies of its mother and baby in the middle of the village. The image of the teacher dancing with a sword in a snowy field whose place name has been erased. Raviel. Raviel.
‘We must not forget.’
The first meal of the Demon Heavenly God’s Skill contains hunger.
‘Now I have to pack my horse cloth.’
Children’s dance at the first ceremony.
The scream of the hungry ghost in the second meal.
Master’s sword in the third ceremony.
Raviel’s sacrifice in the fourth ceremony.
The director’s silence during the 5th ceremony.
‘I want to contain it.’
Can I contain it? I?
It is so difficult to capture even one hunger, but one person’s life. no. Is it really possible to capture the lives of many people?
‘Even if it means sacrificing your life.’
Location.
A purpose has been established in my life.
‘Let’s prove that people lived here. Let’s prove that someone died here. Let us prove how we lived and how we died. Let’s capture the noise of animals and the screams of people. If he laughed, even the vibrations of that laughter.’
but.
‘Not yet.’
I still have work to finish here. many. Recreating the Demon Heavenly Art form from scratch would not only be unsuitable for my level, but would also require an enormous amount of willpower and effort, making me wonder whether it would be possible or not.
‘… … okay. Let’s not rush. ‘For now, let’s do what I can.’
I turned my head.
And then we looked at our voyeurs.
“Library director. No, Hamustra.”
The Librarian trembled his shoulders. The Librarian, who was looking at the Constellation Killer and the director while shaking and shaking, flinched.
“Ji, Jinmyeong. Shame on you! Please call me by my second name.”
“Please allow the Constellation Killer to read [The Epic of Lefanta Aegim] whenever he wants. There is no need to take the form of a stage strategy. Just as you are voyeurizing the world, please allow the Constellation Killer to do the same.”
“ah. Hmm. hmm.”
The Librarian was deep in thought, breathing heavily.
“In order to do that, I must share the authority of this throne… . I think I should make him an apostle. Hmm. There are some constellations that produce apostles without hesitation, but the main throne is… Apostle might say it’s awkward… Maybe it’s not your taste… .”
That’s right, there’s no way a man who is known as the “corner library leader” would have subordinates or friends. They have strange servants like bookmark maids.
“no, I do not want?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it… … .”
“They say they got it through the reincarnation of a hundred ghosts, but the other Constellation Killers are also dolls that were copied through [Puppetmaster’s Parade]. Is there any difference?”
“Hmm, um. It’s no different… … .”
“You choose.”
“If you say it’s a choice… … ?”
“So far, you’ve loved the story of the Constellation Killer. But to use your phrasing, there has now been a turning point for the Constellation Killer. “There are two routes that occurred.”
“bifurcation.”
“yes.”
I made eye contact with the library director.
“Route 1. The Constellation Killer did not meet me on this route. I don’t remember meeting you. Stay on the 50th floor as usual. “Once we have accumulated a week’s worth of memories, we go out to hunt constellations.”
Doll route.
This is the route where the Constellation Killer holds the [Puppetist’s Parade] forever.
“Route 2.”
And the Constellation Killer I met is here.
“The Constellation Killer now knows Kim Yul. I remembered. And I will live by slowly retracing Lefanta Aegim’s life, starting with Kim Yul.”
It must be difficult.
“Possessed in a book, I will walk again the same path I have walked for hundreds of years.”
It will be painful.
“There will be me and the director on that route. You don’t have to swallow your whole life from the beginning. slowly. Just swallow as much as you can digest, one bite at a time. “It’s okay to take a break along the way.”
But that is the life of the Constellation Killer.
One day, eventually, this is something that will become Kim Yul’s life.
“Choose the Constellation Killer route you desire.”
“…….”
The Librarian looked at the Constellation Killer.
The constellation’s silence did not last long.
“The Constellation Killer. And the nurturer of the Death King.”
The library director smiled and opened his arms towards the Constellation Killer and the director.
On this day, someone’s epilogue would have ended.
“Are you interested in getting a job as a librarian?”
Someone’s prologue has begun.
etc,
