The Omniscient Tome

"What the fuck..."

Those were the only words I could mutter as I looked at the sight before me. Strung from the support pillar on the ceiling were three bodies, each of them being children.

The oldest body had their stomach cut open, her intestines hanging out in a terrible display of cruelty. The second body, a young boy was hung by his feet, a rope tying them to the ceiling as his neck was cut open.

The third body was that of another young boy. He couldn't have been older than five. Unlike the previous two bodies, this one had been mutilated in a way I never thought someone would be capable of doing. His hands were spread out in a T pose, each hand having a nail driven into a wooden cross as his legs were nail into the bottom board.

His eyes were out of his sockets still attached by whatever the hell the string for them was called. I hoped to God that these wounds hadn't been done to any of the kids while they were still alive. I looked to the right, seeing old brown blood that spelled out "Gott ist nicht hier."

German in Siberia. An odd combination to be sure, but a clue as to what fucked up mind would do such a thing.

"I said you may be the only one in Siberia, not that you are the only person," the sudden words of Azazel said. I turned around, just to see no one. "Did they suffer?" I asked the Angel, knowing that she was listening.

"Is there twenty four hours in a day?" She responded, confirming my worst thoughts. "If this is the way humanity has become, I'm not sure I want to meet any survivors."

There was a long silence as I began to look through the house. Unfortunately, outside of the Makarov, some knives, and trash bags, there wasn't anything really worth while. I looked at the strung up corpses, and decided that I couldn't leave them as they were. They, along with their mother, needed a proper burial.

I unlocked the door to the house, opening it as I took a step outside. The house had a shed not far from here. Hoping there was a shovel, or spade, I made my way over to it, my knife in my left hand as I kept on the alert for any undead.

The door for the shed opened without any issue, showing rusted tools, and materials. Nails, shovels, axes, rakes, essential things like that we're all present inside the shed, and while not in the best condition, could be fixed up with some sandpaper, and WD-40.

Ah, WD-40, the nectar of the gods in the metalworking industry. I packed the items in my inventory, leaving nothing behind besides a shovel, which I grabbed, storing away my Makarov in order to hold it.

I would be able to get one home dug before the sun started to go down. I wasn't foolish enough to stay out during the night, only fools would do such a thing. With a time limit in mind, I began to dig through the dry dirt with my rusty shovel.

...

The first hole was dug, the sun beginning to set as I finished. I began to make my way back to my current safe house, making it there in about 30 minutes.

Entering through the first door, I made sure to lock it behind me, before going up the stairs, and doing the same for the second. I checked out my windows, before pulling the curtains over them, blocking out all the light I could.

I took off my boots, before removing my pants and flannel shirt. I had been careful enough to not get the dead's blood on them, but I knew it was inevitable that it would happen eventually.

Settling myself on the couch, I pulled up the system once more. "Continue with the Functions demonstration," I quietly said, watching the system come back to life.

[Companions is a tab in the main menu that displays information regarding those the user meets. Depending on the person, they will be categorized as either Friend or foe, with more information about their thoughts about the user, current affection level, and likes/dislikes being stored.]

I opened the tab, the only name popping up in the Tab being Azazel.

[Name: Azazel]

[Age: Incalculable]

[Height: 5'5]

[Weight: 102]

[Race: Archangel]

[Likes: Learning, eating, singing, studying, mathematics, reading, dancing, exploring the unknown.]

[Dislikes: Racism, anomalies, betrayal, murder, senseless violence, impossible problems, visiting the mortal world]

[Current Opinion on User: Neutral]

[Friendship percentage: 0%]

[Romance percentage: 0%]

I was happy that her opinion of me wasn't bad. Truth be told, I expected it to lean toward slight dislike simply because of the sarcasm I displayed toward God earlier. I closed out the tab before moving onto the next one.

[The Shop tab is a multiversal catalog that provides the user with all sorts of things, ranging from normal weapons, enchanted ones, skills, bloodlines, magics, racial classes, clothing, materials, and a lot more. In this tab, all the gold the user collects from their journey can be used to buy items from the store. (NOTE: Higher end items are locked behind level caps, meaning the user will have to reach a certain level before they can even opt to buy said items.]

I put browsing the shop on hold as I moved into the final tab.

[Quests are missions/goals given to the user based on what predicament they happen to be in. Quests can range from the simplest of things, such as tying one's shoes, all the way to initiating nuclear warfare. The morality, and decisions of the user influences what quests are available.]

[Current Quest: Honoring the Dead.]

[Description: Bury the tortured family's remains.]

After reading my current quest, I dismissed the tab, before withdrawing my trust Sig, pulling out the silencer as well.

I screwed on the silencer to the pistol, via the threaded barrel. After doing so, I cocked the slide, chambering a round. Having equipment I knew was reliable alongside a substantial amount of ammo was a good feeling. I felt secure, which was a feeling that had been absent since I'd gotten here.

Like I'd done for the past couple of days, I sat on the couch, doing nothing but listen to the sounds of cicadas, and the wind. With my status effect, I did not require sleep, although I was fully capable of doing so, if I wished.

With nothing to really do, I grabbed the book that Azazel had given me, keeping my pistol and knife close by as I analyzed the book.

[Name: The Omniscient Tome.]

[Item Ranking: Mythical]

[Item Description: A time containing the knowledge of the universe. All knowledge from humanity, to the gods is contained inside this tome]

[Special Effects: Ever-expanding]

[Ever-expanding: As a tome containing all the knowledge of the universe, any and all things that happen at any given moment are added to the tome, keeping it up to date.]

An infinite source of knowledge. I had no idea how a god could ever let a person such as I have this, but I sure as hell wasn't complaining. As I flipped open to the front page, all I saw was a clear white page.

"What?" I said out loud, trying to figure out the book. The more I flipped, the more confused I became, as all the pages were the same blank white page as the first. "Why are you blank?" I asked, before the book flipped to the front page on its own. "To read this book, you must first figure out what knowledge you seek." I read.

What knowledge did I seek? There were so many things I wished to know about regarding this world, however, there was one thing that lingered on my mind.

"What is the name of the one who killed the family I encountered earlier?" I asked the book.

The book once again flipped its own pages, reaching the answer I desired.

"Klaus Schattenmacher."