Chapter 303

2.

There were more users in Septia's library than one might think.

The Rare-rank section of the library was where most people gathered.

The Epic-rank books were considerably difficult, so the majority of players aimed to clear the Rare-rank books.

The Rare rank was also the most efficient, which was another reason it was the most crowded.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Books that were Rare rank but, from experience, were as difficult as Epic books, or even harder than most.

The horror-themed ones were often like that.

They also gave a lot of experience points, so quite a few people used to challenge them in the beginning.

But that didn't last long.

"Ugh, I really can't do the horror themes."

"Forget about it being difficult, it's just genuinely creepy and scary, you know?"

"It appeared in my dream......"

Since it was a virtual reality game.

It felt too real.

It felt like directly experiencing a real horror movie.

To the point where even die-hard horror movie fanatics were left speechless.

You could say that most people didn't attempt them.

Above all, the difficulty was high, and if you died inside a book, you would actually receive a death penalty.

So, it couldn't be challenged lightly.

Of course, occasionally, people with a true challenging spirit would appear.

Even so, failures far outnumbered successes.

However, a few people who saw that book floating in the Rare-rank library muttered in horrified surprise.

"Heek!? S-someone went in there?"

"C-crazy, they're going in there......"

"Wow, I get scared just hearing stories about it?"

"They must not have seen the warnings other users wrote."

The people muttered as they watched the floating book.

In the library, when someone enters a book, the book floats and becomes activated to prevent anyone else from entering.

Thanks to this, you could see which book someone was challenging, and lines would even form.

But now, everyone was staring at the currently floating book in horror.

The title of the book was as follows.

[The Me in the Mirror Beyond the Window]

A book with an ominous title from the get-go.

The users chattered as they looked at it.

"Isn't that one of the forbidden books?"

"Yeah, it's probably the pinnacle of the Rare-rank forbidden books, right?"

"Uh-huh, doesn't everyone who tries that one die?"

"Has anyone ever cleared it?"

"I heard a few people did, but they stopped playing horror themes afterward."

"Wow, and yet there's a user doing it?"

People shook their heads, speechless.

If you retired from inside the book, the book would close and be placed back on the bookshelf.

Everyone predicted that the same would happen to this one soon enough.

Thinking that there was an unfortunate user who had challenged it without knowing any better.

Just as everyone was going about their own business.

"Uh, uh uh?! Is that what I think it is?"

As one user made a fuss.

Several people looked over, as if to ask what the commotion was about.

And they all had to react similarly to that user.

"W-what is that!?"

"They cleared that!?"

It was because none other than 'The Me in the Mirror Beyond the Window', the pinnacle of the forbidden books, was shaking and emitting light.

They couldn't hide their astonishment.

To think they would see someone clear that in person.

They swallowed hard and waited, as if they had never imagined they would see the person who was only rumored to have cleared it.

A user wearing a black robe emerged from it, and the book in the air floated gently and landed in the user's hands.

Tuk.

"Hmm."

As if it were nothing, the user casually grabbed the book and put it back on the shelf.

As if it were truly nothing.

Their hands weren't even shaking, and they looked completely fine.

There were rumors that even if you cleared it, you would really lose your mind.

The people who saw it were truly gulping.

Their reactions were as if they had seen a ghost story in real life.

Among those people, one user couldn't contain their curiosity and, startled, approached the user who had just shelved the book.

"E-excuse me. Sir?"

"Yes?"

"You just cleared 'The Me in the Mirror Beyond the Window', right?"

It was a question asked just in case.

And the user answered briefly.

"Yes. I cleared it. Are you planning to do it too?"

"Huh??? Ah!? N-no!? I-I was just curious if you did it, so I asked."

"Ah, I see. Have fun."

Watching the user in the black robe who answered so nonchalantly and walked away.

The people stared blankly at that user.

They thought it was impossible, but they had really cleared it and were completely fine.

"N-no way, maybe the rumors are just rumors and it's not a big deal?"

"M-maybe?"

"I-I'll have to try it myself."

"M-me too."

"Let's go in as a party."

As a few people chattered, they lifted [The Me in the Mirror Beyond the Window].

And not long after they entered, the book closed by itself and was placed back on the shelf, as if nothing had happened.

It meant that those who had entered were all wiped out.

The users who had been watching until the end clicked their tongues.

As expected of the pinnacle of the forbidden books.

How long had it been since they went in, and they were already wiped out?

However…

"Then that user really cleared it without any trouble?"

Rather, they muttered in disbelief and swallowed hard.

How skilled must they be?

No, could that horror theme be cleared just by being skilled?

Just how much nerve did they have.......

As such thoughts and rumors began to spread.

The user in the black robe came out of the library and muttered.

‘The horror theme isn't that much fun.’

The identity of the user grumbling that it wasn't fun was none other than Seonghyun.

He had tried it because he was quite far removed from fear.

The difficulty was indeed higher than the others, but it wasn't impossible to clear, and it wasn't particularly scary, so he didn't find it very enjoyable.

To others, it was a book that became an object of fear.

Was he a true Lord of Terror?

It didn't affect Seonghyun in the slightest.

‘Still, it’s good that it gives a lot of experience points.’

Thanks to the horror theme, he was able to gain a whopping three more levels.

If he had chosen a normal Rare, he would have been lucky to gain one.

In this regard, he was fortunate.

The next rank was Epic rank.

‘Let's look at the list of forbidden books at the entrance again and go in.’

As Seonghyun thought this and repeated it to himself.

Helena shook her head from the netherworld and spoke.

-Seonghyun, you're something else.

-Why?

-Never mind. Well, it is efficient.

-Right?

Helena was about to say something but shook her head.

Thus, a rumor about a user nicknamed the 'Forbidden Book Hunter' began to spread in Septia.

3.

Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong was still busy, checking various things on his monitor.

There hadn't been any major incidents after giving Seonghyun the Galactic Sword Dance last time.

But there were quite a few minor things.

First, there was a change in the Single Rankings.

Next, there was news that one of the users he had been watching closely for a while was now running wild like a fish in water.

The Single Rankings were not under Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong's jurisdiction.

So he could let that slide.

But this user, like a fish in water, was his responsibility, so he scratched his head as if he was in a bit of a bind.

"Ssssup, what should I do about this."

The user that had Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong scratching his head in a bind was none other than Barbaros.

He was the user who had previously encountered Seonghyun at the Overpalace branch in the fifth city, Pentagrid.

He knew it would eventually come to this.

The problem was Barbaros's profession.

At first, he was just a warlock.

But now, he was different.

He was none other than the Knowledge Lord.

A Lord with a strange structure whose stats increased each time he acquired knowledge.

When he had encountered Seonghyun before, he had not yet acquired the Knowledge Lord.

But after clearing the difficult conditions, he obtained the Knowledge Lord in the sixth city.

He increased his stats daily by reading books.

And the rate of increase was surprisingly high.

"This is crazy."

His Intelligence and Wisdom stats were already approaching 700 each.

Well, of course, it was better than Seonghyun, who was Lee Wonsong's responsibility.

But this was still undoubtedly an enormous figure.

The only saving grace was.

‘He’s not interested in anything other than reading books.’

Fortunately, Barbaros wasn't like Seonghyun, who went around everywhere and clearly showed how the balance was collapsing.

He just quietly read books alone, and when he finished, he would hunt, move to the next area, and read more books.

The problem was that even that alone was quite troublesome.

But there was nothing Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong could do.

It was a profession designed by Park Won in the first place.

All he could do was prevent errors related to that profession or fix them if they occurred.

‘There haven't been any errors so far.’

There was no reason to fix it.

If Seonghyun hadn't existed, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong would have been under considerable stress even from this.

But after already encountering the disaster that was Seonghyun, Barbaros was just at a cute level.

It was then.

"Oh? Sunbae-nim? The two of them have met."

"......Hmm."

Barbaros and Seonghyun had finally met.

Surely no problems would arise, right?

4.

On the fourth day since arriving in the city of books, Septia.

As Seonghyun's level rose, he could see a message before his eyes.

[Level Up!]

[You have reached Level 237.]

[You have met the recommended reading amount for the Epic rank library.]

[You meet the conditions for the Unique rank library.]

[You can now enter the Unique rank library.]

‘This is fun.’

The leveling was fast.

And in most cases, the stories were also interesting.

The stories progressed by concept, so he would look at the titles and choose what seemed fun.

The past few days, he had really enjoyed playing the game.

That's how he managed to break through to Unique rank in just a few days.

He had finished the Epic rank.

Normally, it was enough time to take a break.

However.

‘There's some time left.’

He still had playtime left before he had to log off.

It was a bit ambiguous, but.

‘Should I go to the Unique rank library?’

The time was a bit ambiguous, but.

If he looked around in advance, couldn't he make a list of things to do tomorrow?

Seonghyun thought so and immediately moved his feet.

The Unique rank library he arrived at was not as large as the other libraries he had been to.

Well, it was only natural that the number of books would decrease as the rank got higher.

‘Hmm, so there’s no list of forbidden books anymore.’

Doesn't that mean that very few users have made it this far?

With that thought, Seonghyun stepped into the Unique rank library.

The users that were still here and there up to the Epic rank were completely gone.

Well, some of the Epic books had quite tricky difficulties.

He figured there must be many who couldn't pass through to here.

Just as he was about to look around.

A message appeared before Seonghyun's eyes.

[Traces of the 『Necromancer Lord』 remain.]

A message saying that traces of the Necromancer Lord remained.

He couldn't feel anything just by looking.

So why did the message appear?

It's simple.

‘It’s a hint.’

Isn't this a hint that he can see the biography of the Necromancer Lord from here?

As Seonghyun sensed this, he wondered if he had to search this entire library.

Fortunately, the system didn't seem to be that strict.

[Find the Unique rank story, 『The Village Boy's Resourcefulness』.]

To even give him the book's name outright.

It would be strange if he couldn't find it now.

Well.

‘Even if it tells me the name, it's still hard to find in a place this wide.’

Just as he thought that and was about to search for the book.

He saw a user stealthily emerging from between the bookshelves.

Wasn't he alone?

As he thought that and looked at the user.

They looked at each other as if they recognized each other and reacted.

"Oh?"

"Hm?"

It was the meeting of Barbaros and Seonghyun.