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A man with long hair was seen sitting behind a square-shaped desk, reading a thick book. The book's cover was black, and it was undoubtedly 360 pages thick. That was an undeniable fact because I was the one reading the book!

Taking a deep breath, I closed the book and started to look around. Inside this spacious room, there were only a desk, a chair, and bookshelves filled to the brim. Of course! This was a library. However, since it was located underground, not many people visited here. But to make a living, I had to work here alone.

Lying down on the desk, I murmured softly, "I hope no ghosts suddenly emerge from the lantern to scare me. Haah ...."

Suddenly, breaking the silence in this vast room, the sound of a door opening could be heard. Then, a man with short hair, almost entirely white, walked in while stroking his long beard. I regretted peeking at him earlier.

"Ars, once again you're slacking off! Do you have no intention of working?!" the old man scolded as his right eye emitted a blue light. "If it weren't for my respect for your late father, you wouldn't be able to work here!"

I didn't really want to answer, but seeing his right eye's pupil, adorned with triangular patterns, I reluctantly straightened my body and said, "Old Man Joe, every time you come, that sentence always comes out of your mouth, and my answer will never change!"

"Haah ... you!" Old Man Joe then sat on a chair, facing me. His right eye no longer emitted light. "Look around you, Fool. I let you take care of this place, which certainly doesn't forbid you from absorbing all the knowledge from every book here."

"There's no point in knowledge if I never leave the library to use it. Besides, those books are old, who knows if they're still relevant to the world today or not."

"That is true, but it doesn't mean you don't need to read them at all." Without saying anything else, Old Man Joe immediately left the library.

"Although I'm fed up with his advice, for some reason, I always follow it. But enough of that, today is over. I guess..." I quickly got up and hurriedly returned the book I had read to the shelf. However, as soon as I returned the book, I felt like I saw something black passing by in the corner of the bookshelf. What was that? A mouse? A bat? A spider? It couldn't be! This place is too clean for them to linger!

With a lantern in hand, I slowly walked towards the end of the bookshelf. Here, there was a corridor bounded by walls and rows of shelves. Then, I saw the black creature again, its form indistinct, like a black ball enveloped in smoke. The creature flew quite fast as I started to chase it.

"Stop!" Now I realized it wasn't a normal creature. I wondered if it was some kind of ancient magic. Whatever it was, I had to catch it before it caused a problem that I might not be aware of. "Don't think you can escape from me!"

Continuing to chase the strange creature, I now had no idea where I was. This place was dim, filled with smoke that somehow didn't make me suffocate. However, I never remembered such a place existing in Old Man Joe's library.

What kind of strange place is this? I glanced around and then saw the round-shaped black creature. "This time, I'll definitely catch you!" Unfortunately, before I could catch it, the creature vanished. "Damn it, you're toying with me!"

Just as I was about to turn around, I realized something was missing. Where was my lantern from earlier? I searched around but couldn't find it. Instead, a black book that I had placed on the shelf, which was near my feet now, caught my attention. Upon closer inspection, the title in white letters on its cover read, "Beast and the Cursed Human? Is this an ancient novel?" I skimmed through the book and muttered, "People from the past apparently had quite an imagination."

For a moment, I fell silent, reading the book more carefully. If this book was indeed real, could I change the system of this world so that no one would experience the pain I felt five years ago? But what evidence is there that the writings in this book are more than just someone's wild imagination? There's also a possibility that the author of this book was insane and had lost their sanity.

Although I didn't fully believe in the contents of the book, it didn't stop me from reading it. Slowly, I felt myself becoming just as crazy for believing in what was written here. "But that doesn't mean you don't need to read it." Unbeknownst to me, the words of Old Man Joe slipped from my mouth. "Haah ... I think I'm starting to think like that old man."

Despite my inner grumbling, my eyes couldn't divert their focus from anything other than the book I was now engrossed in. It was strange but undeniably real. I felt a glimmer of hope, a hope that could very well be an illusion. I didn't care if reading all of this would turn out to be in vain; one thing was certain, the contents of this book had me hooked like an addiction.

Perhaps six or eight hours had passed since I began reading this thick book, and finally, I finished it. Everything written in the book, unlike usual, was absorbed directly into my mind. I could remember it all, even down to the punctuation marks. Was this a miracle, or perhaps I still hadn't woken up and everything I experienced was merely a dream? But I believed it was all real! I was convinced of that!

Not long after, the book I had read vanished, merging with the surrounding smoke. However, what remained stored in my mind didn't disappear. "What kind of place am I really in?"

My mind struggled to process what was happening here. The smoke that had filled the room began to gather and form something resembling dark, swirling clouds. I couldn't help but wonder who was capable of performing such magic. Could there truly be someone so powerful in this world? I felt insignificant in comparison.

Only a moment after closing my eyes, I no longer felt my body. I felt as if I, too, merged with the smoke, like the book I had just read. However, there was no pain enveloping me; instead, I felt warmth.