Chapter 162

Chapter 162. Infinite Library (1)

Ah, I’m dying.

Advisor An came to work with a haggard face.

He worked overtime last night to control information. Well, someone was fighting monsters in the city center. There’s also the issue of suspicious people on motorcycles.

Couldn’t they have handled it more quietly? Recovery Team 3, the motorcycle unit, helicopters, Nanami, the Director. Isn’t this overkill for something that’s not even a national threat?

Still, they managed to recover two humanoid supernatural entities. The operation itself was a success.

They captured the Returnee and also caught a Librarian from the Infinite Library.

One is still in human form. The other seems to have died and turned into a Librarian.

Meaning, it transformed into some weird monster that looks like a spider or an octopus.

Advisor An looked around the Director’s Office.

Basement level 8, the Director’s Office in the center. The workspace for four support staff, a break room, storage, and a small lab.

There’s a lot of work today, but where’s Dr. Kim? There are things to confirm and opinions to gather because of yesterday’s events.

It’s been quiet for a while, maybe it’s just quiet. Advisor An knocked on the Director’s Office door.

“Come in.”

Advisor An entered the Director’s Office.

****

I looked at the door.

“Come in.”

Advisor An looked exhausted.

He looked half-dead. Probably worked overtime because of yesterday’s events. Well, even without special incidents, there’s always overtime at the Foundation.

No.

Having no issues is the special thing.

“Did you see the results of yesterday’s operation?”

“No. I just came in and dozed off.”

“There’s a lot.”

I rubbed my eyes.

“Give me a briefing.”

“Yes.”

“Yesterday, three humanoid supernatural entities were detected. White-2 is dead. White-1 was captured but hasn’t been interrogated yet. The Returnee was also captured.”

“Do you have proof that White-2 is dead?”

“It was shot and collapsed. After that, it transformed into a monster-like Librarian and disappeared.”

I thought about it, but that’s not proof of death, is it? There’s no guarantee that a ‘Librarian’ can’t return to human form.

“Where’s the Returnee?”

“In the Humanoid Containment Room.”

“Huh. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“He’s been under general anesthesia for 7 hours now.”

That’s inhumane.

“Are you going to kill him like that?”

“I don’t know. They say he can be safely kept under general anesthesia for about three days.”

“That doesn’t sound very safe. Anyway, continue.”

“Yes.”

Advisor An pondered a bit more.

“To control information, we used the following methods. We paralyzed major SNS networks for a few hours and sent out safety alerts about a bear roaming Seoul.”

“Right. I heard about that this morning. You really worked hard. For months with events like this, we should give out bonuses…”

“Thank you.”

Cough.

“As a notable point, the Returnee and the Librarian claimed at the time of capture that ‘there’s another humanoid supernatural entity nearby.’”

“Was there?”

“Nothing was caught. It wasn’t detected on the surveillance either. We’re investigating, but it doesn’t seem like anything will come of it.”

****

The supernatural space ‘Infinite Library.’ The Mahogany Door is a supernatural phenomenon related to this.

The Infinite Library is a space mentioned in legends, visited by emperors, heroes, and great scholars throughout history.

We don’t know exactly what it is. Well, it’s probably some kind of library. Full of books, right? The simplest solution is usually the correct one.

Anyway. The Infinite Library is such a place, and the hostile groups related to this space are called ‘Librarians.’ There are two main types of Librarians.

First, there are human-shaped Librarians. Sometimes they’re called travelers, but they’re all humanoid supernatural entities.

They almost always move in pairs, and their main job is to abduct humanoid supernatural entities.

The stronger the humanoid supernatural entity, the more they like it, and this is also the most disruptive to the Foundation’s activities.

We don’t know what they do after taking them.

This hostile group once tried to abduct the Hero, Miss Ahn Yuri. They failed and even got Cosmos and Kairos captured.

The second type of Librarian is simpler.

These are just tentacle-like monsters about human size. Familiar taste. It’s presumed that when a humanoid Librarian dies, it turns into this monster, but it’s not 100% certain.

Just hearing this, they seem mostly harmless. But we can’t just leave them be. They have no interest in maintaining the veil of ignorance.

They also don’t care about the safety of ordinary people.

And it’s questionable what they do with the abducted humanoid supernatural entities. They claim to be liberating them from the Foundation’s hands…

Twisting it a bit.

For those abducted to the Infinite Library, even death isn’t liberation. After death, they transform into Librarians and are forced to work for the library forever.

All hostile groups are enemies of humanity.

No exceptions.

“Have you arrived, Director?”

I opened the door and entered the Humanoid Containment Wing. Dr. Chae was waiting in front of the wing. It’s been a while since a new recruit came in.

“Dr. Chae, why are you here?”

“Magic. I wanted to see what kind of magic the captured Librarian uses.”

“Did you find out?”

“They’re uncooperative. Well… it’s complicated. What we usually call magic, especially the magic used by the Foundation, is ‘Modern General Magic,’ which is British. It traces its lineage from Camelot to the East India Company…”

What the hell did I just hear?

“What the f*** are you talking about?”

Dr. Chae pondered a bit.

“Isn’t magic about gathering symbolism and ideological power? As a discipline separate from religion, magic has many branches.”

“Explain it in more detail later.”

If we keep talking about this, it’ll never end. Let’s just get to work.

“Let’s see the Librarian first, and we’ll wake up the Returnee later. He’s still under general anesthesia.”

Right. Let’s see the Librarian first.

****

We faced the Librarian locked in the containment room. The Librarian was still wearing a mask.

The captured Librarian was wearing a tracksuit. It was something like a prisoner’s uniform. A set of workout clothes with the Foundation’s emblem.

On the back, the words ‘Containment Subject’ were boldly printed, but otherwise, it was pretty normal workout clothes. Except for the mask still being worn.

Why wasn’t the mask confiscated?

It looks a bit dangerous. A mask with two black circles instead of a face. No eye holes, no breathing holes. Isn’t it uncomfortable?

Dr. Chae was holding a tablet behind me. Let’s try talking to them.

“Do you need anything?”

There was a reaction, but no answer. The mask was facing me through the glass.

“Uh. You can speak into the microphone.”

The Librarian grabbed the microphone.

[Can you hear me?]

“Yes.”

[Where is the Returnee?]

“He’s just sleeping.”

[Are you researchers from the Foundation?]

“Yes.”

[I haven’t done anything wrong. If you’re not evil, let me go.]

“No.”

You think we’ll let you go?

[Fascist bastards.]

The Librarian grumbled.

“You abducted people. Logically, we can’t just release a criminal with supernatural abilities into society, right?”

Knock knock knock.

The Librarian tapped on the glass of the containment room like knocking. The Librarian’s expression wasn’t visible.

Probably a bit angry?

“What’s your name?”

[Would you tell me if you were me?]

“If it’s uncomfortable, you can use a pseudonym.”

[Uh…]

The Librarian thought for a moment beyond the containment room.

[Persona.]

“Nice to meet you, Persona.”

It means ‘mask’ in Greek. Even Librarians aren’t very creative.

[Who are you?]

“Call me Dr. Kim.”

Persona pressed both hands against the glass.

[Well, Dr. Kim. You know I can leave this containment room anytime, right? You can’t keep me in such a flimsy containment room.]

“We put you in a low-level containment room because of your low threat level. If you want, we can move you.”

The Humanoid Containment Room has multiple safety measures. Magical barriers, reinforced concrete walls, various sleep gases, bulletproof glass.

I don’t know if the Librarian’s words are a bluff. Ahn Yuri once broke out of a containment room when she was first captured.

When asked what she could do after escaping, she just went back in with a gloomy expression.

Honestly, the physical strength of a Librarian is nothing. Compared to the Hero, Hasti, Dr. Chae, or Nanami, it’s child’s play.

[You’re peculiar. Have you studied magic?]

“No?”

[I can smell it even here. The smell of a Librarian’s book, the stench of the sea, the smell of something earthy, the smell of oil and brass from cans. I don’t know why.]

“Oh?”

[The containment room suits you more than me. It’s like creating a shark and then just catching minnows.]

The Librarian’s mask looked at me.

Should I provoke them? If they use magic, maybe Dr. Chae can figure out what kind of magic it is.

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