24 Author's Eyes(1)

Darkness surrounded my vision. I felt my body endlessly floating through a void without any purpose. All I knew was the fact that I was conscious.

'Blue?'

I tried contacting Blue since it made the most sense. Not to mention that having Blue with me made me feel a bit safe. Blue was like a second pair of eyes watching over me.

< I am here. >

Blue's mechanical voice didn't echo inside my mind. Instead, his normal voice from before entered my mind.

'Where am I?'

< I am not sure… I can use my original voice which means we are in a place where no restrictions are imposed. It could be good or bad depending on our surroundings. >

'We have to be careful here.'

I tried extending my hands to touch something but nothing came in contact with my hands. I tried moving my body but I remained fixed on my spot. This was problematic.

< Michael, I think I know where we are… > Blue suddenly spoke. < It took me some time but I can see things now.

'Tell me what you see.'

< You can see it too. You just need to look in front of you. >

'I can't exactly see anything.'

< You are not seeing it clearly. >

'…'

I was damn sure my eyes were open. I even tried closing my eyelids and opening them again. It didn't affect the darkness in my vision. 

Either Blue was making fun of me or I was blind.

< Sorry, let me rephrase. You know about the 'Heavenly Eyes', right? >

'Yup, I do. I gave Ray that ability. It infuses mana with his eyes, creating a pair of eyes that can literally pierce through any illusion and sense mana. Ray should receive it during the second scenario.'

I knew that it was an overpowered ability but I was trying to create an overpowered main character back then. I wanted to give him a system in the beginning but systems weren't my specialty.

Maintaining the system stats and the apocalypse stats together was not an easy task. I ended up giving Ray huge buffs and items to make sure that he got strong.

I didn't do it randomly. Ray's supporter was with him since the beginning and provided him with numerous abilities like the [Heavenly Eyes] for example.

< Yeah. Similar to that, you have something called Author's Eyes. It is a part of your Author's Skill. The skill should get updated soon and you can see more of its features. For the time being, just try directing some mana towards your eyes. >

So I had something mirroring Ray's ability. It truly felt like I was copying my MC in a way. Both of us possessed overpowered skills and were good looking. Maybe the last part was a bit of a stretch…

Sighing, I reached out for the mana inside my body. 

Mana continuously flowed inside a living creature similar to how blood flowed inside humans. The supply might increase or decrease depending on the usage but mana was present inside your body.

Reaching out for mana was as simple as touching anything with your fingers. Generally skills or items were needed to make use of mana.

However, those with high levels of magic power managed to redirect the flow of mana inside their body. This allowed them to concentrate more mana inside their attacks.

Considering my level of magic power, this was an easy task to do. I simply felt its presence inside my body.

Slowly, I focused my mind on my eyes, redirecting mana in the region and concentrating it around my eyes.

*Click!*

After doing this process for a few seconds, a clicking sound echoed inside my head. Darkness vanished from my vision, hitting me in the face with blinding light. It took me a few seconds to get used to the light before I was able to see my surroundings.

"This…"

Astonishing and intimidating. That's the first thing that came to my mind when I looked around.

All around me, countless wooden shelves were stacked on each other. Each shelf contained differently colored books with some words written on its spine. The books were in good condition and maintained properly.

No matter where I looked, I only saw these shelves. The floor below me was the only place without any shelves.

My body descended onto the wooden floor. I caught sight of one book with the words 'Three Ways To Survive The Apocalypse' written on it.

I wanted to pick this book up but decided against it. If you ever find yourself in an unfamiliar magical location, never touch the thing that you want to touch.

Sometimes, the consequences could be unbearable. I knew this firsthand since I created many traps like this. Just like they say, not every shining thing is gold.

"Where am I?" I murmured.

< A library. > Blue replied seriously.

"I can't tell if you are being sarcastic."

< I am not. >

"You said you know where we are."

< I do. I told you that we are in a library. That's all I know about this location. I am seeing this for the first time as well. >

I facepalmed after hearing his words. It was pretty clear that Blue lacked human interactions. He said the obvious things in a normal voice without any hint of sarcasm present in it.

"Hmm…"

With curiosity visible on my face, I started looking at the titles of the books around me. Some were written in languages I didn't understand. I recognized Latin, Greek, and Japanese words since I often used them in my novels to write chants, name monsters, etc.

Sadly, my proficiency in those languages is not high enough for me to understand these words.

As my eyes stared at the shelves stacked on top of each other, I wondered how someone navigated through these.

The books kept on the higher shelves couldn't be accessed without the proper ability. Being a librarian in such a place must be a tough job.

I wanted to pick any of the books and read their contents. I was even tempted to do it considering how nothing seemed to be happening around me.

< Michael, I think you should look towards the right. > Blue interrupted

The moment I turned towards the right, my jaw opened slightly. 

A blue hologram hovered in the middle of two shelves. The hologram definitely looked high resolution, ranging around 4k. It was playing something from real life.

My eyes shone brightly after I realized what was playing on the hologram. I didn't recognize it immediately but close observation allowed me to identify it.

A man with long jet black hair was panting on the screen. Bags were present under his eyes. Beads of sweat lined the forehead of his white face.

His eyes, a blood shade of red, analyzed his surroundings. Just by looking at the man's face, I knew who he was.

"Ray Herondale…" 

I murmured the name of the main character of my novel as well as the man destined to become the strongest in this universe.

---

Raising his right hand, Ray chanted something under his breath. A ball made from shadows appeared in his hands.

"Shadow walk," Ray murmured.

---

Hearing his voice startled me. I never really imagined or described his voice considering how I was writing a novel from his point of view.

Ray was the same age as me except I was a couple of months older than him. His physique was at least two times better than me and his face was definitely more handsome than me.

I designed Ray's character based on an average university student who played video games in his free time. Since he was the main character, I made sure to make him handsome. 

I had to admit that being on the screen perfectly represented the image of Ray inside my mind. 

His long jet black hair perfectly matched his jawline. Though this was a cliché, his white skin looked flawless. His lean physique and blood red eyes shocked anyone who might look at them.

His abilities...

"Huh?"

I paused and rubbed my eyes multiple times before staring at the screen again, particularly at Ray's eyes.

Blood red eyes shining due to the presence of mana. They took a quick glance of the surroundings before Ray summoned another shadow ball.

The red eyes, called the [Heavenly Eyes] should not have appeared until the second scenario.

I noticed another odd thing. Ray was present in an unfamiliar surroundings and seemed to be fighting someone.

If I remembered correctly, I read about Ray entering the safe zone back. This took place in the beautiful place where I met Blue.

Ray was supposed to stay at the edge of the university, occasionally stepping outside for a few minutes to use his powers. He simply killed a few beasts at the edge of the barrier to save the people being chased by beasts.

Yes, Ray was a nice person in the beginning but he changed later on. This didn't matter for the time being.

Ray should not be fighting in an unknown area

This meant only one thing.

Somehow, the novel had shifted from its original storyline…