Bookmaster

In 2030, a scientist named Hamish Adofo stated that a world without superheroes would be unattractive. Therefore, he researched ways for humans to become heroes, as he always sees in movies and anime. Hamish said that he would definitely make the world filled with heroes, and make the world much more interesting and thrilling.

The public regarded Hamish's statement at the time as mere nonsense. In their minds, every genius has his own madness, and his obsession with superheroes is just Hamish Adofo's childish nature.

If people ask, who is Hamish? Many of them will say that he is a genius inventor, who made the world much better from his inventions. From transportation to household appliances, he makes human life much easier.

But in 2037, Hamish Adofo, managed to find a way for humans to become superheroes as he always dreamed. That year, Hamish published his findings stating that there are artifacts from the past that can make the wearer unimaginable powers.

In his publicity video, Hamish shows the stick in his hand is a staff that was once used by a prophet against the ancient Egyptian empire. He proudly showed the staff he was holding instantly turned into a snake. Suddenly this incident took people by surprise, and from this incident, a major change in the world occurred.

Heroes and vigilantes began to emerge from all over the world. Unfortunately, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. The emergence of superheroes, makes the villains with magical abilities appear. The world has become chaotic.

In chaos, three years after Hamish Adofo's video, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean appeared a large landmass, which later became an island now known as Mu Continent.

The emergence of Mu Continent, triggered creatures that have been considered fantasy to become reality or perhaps more precisely they awaken from their sleep. Monsters, ghosts, demons and other creatures appear instantly. Apocalypse. That was the only thing that existed in the minds of the people at that time.

More than a hundred years have passed since then, now in 2154, the world has changed a lot, Monsters are still roaming. Humans now live in cities surrounded by high and sturdy walls.

***

Kembang City, in Nusa State, in an apartment, a man in his early twenties watching television while holding a cellphone in his hand. The cellphone projected light into the air, in the projection was a middle-aged woman with a slightly worried expression. "Bay, Bayu! You hear Mama, don't you?"

The man, Bayu, turned from the television screen on the wall to the light projection next to him, "Yes Ma, I'm listening,"

"You're seriously not going home? What else is there? You've taken care of all the graduation documents, right?"

"Already, Ma. It's all done, but Bayu wants to try to find a job here instead of going back to Sentral. It's too crowded there."

"But Bay, what's your condition? Mama's getting worried, you know! What if some bad things happen? Not to mention, Mama heard from the news that a criminal had entered Kembang, shouldn't you just go home?"

Hearing his mother's words, Bayu's flat face with the dreamy eyes raised a thin smile. Bayu's gaze instantly shifted to the television screen, which was reporting the entry of a killer dubbed the Virgin Killer into Kembang City, while reminding the public to be vigilant.

"Ma, calm down, Bayu will find a job that can be done at home. If it's about the criminal, the target is a woman, the gender is different, so Mama doesn't have to worry."

Even though Bayu had told his mother not to worry, his mother kept asking about Bayu's condition, who had suffered from narcolepsy since he was ten years old. The call with his mother continued for up to an hour before his mother was finally convinced that Bayu could stay in Kembang City.

After hanging up the call, Bayu saw the news on television had turned to the news that one of the silver guild named Macan Jaya, managed to survive the skeleton attack outside Atlas City.

The Ministry of Defense believed that the skeletons they faced were gold rank creatures. They also gave orders to the gold guilds to eliminate these dangerous creatures.

Watching the news that's still being aired, sometimes appears in Bayu's mind. What would happen if Hamish did not find a way to awaken the power of artifacts? Could it be that the world wouldn't be as dangerous as it is now? Then Bayu also imagined human life when there are no monsters outside the city walls. It may be peaceful and quiet, unlike now where death is always present outside the walls.

"Hamish, what were you thinking back then?" murmured Bayu as he moved from the chair to the kitchen.

<Master Bayu, if you want to know about Hamish, there's a book about him in the library.>

Suddenly there was a melodious voice in his mind, the voice of a woman who suddenly appeared a week ago. At that time, when Bayu fell asleep due to narcolepsy, he surprisingly appeared in the middle of the library.

The library is inhabited only by a red-haired woman. The woman did not have a name, she said that her name would be given by the owner of the library, which was none other than Bayu himself. Therefore, Bayu named the woman Ayu. Because Ayu was the most beautiful woman he had ever met at that time.

"Hmm… I'll read it later," replied Bayu, while thinking about the library that suddenly existed in him.

The library was in his subconscious. The library does not have a name or rather, Ayu does not know the name. Ayu said that she herself was created by the fourth owner of the library, who was an alchemist.

Ayu never questioned anything about the library at the time. Even until the death of the fourth owner and then continued to the next owner. The fourth owner once told Ayu that the name of this library might only be known by the first owner.

The function of the library itself is actually simple but terrifying. The ability of this library is to store the history of people in the form of a book. Each book is an individual's history from birth to death, with this the librarian can read and know a person's entire life. Even now Bayu knows that his mother was preparing to go shopping at the market from the books about her.

Ayu said that some people call that place as Library of Lifes. But for Bayu, this library is a stalker library. Imagine how happy a stalker would be to have this library. Maybe he'll level up to be a blackmailer. Heh. Instantly a flash of light appeared in Bayu's eyes.

Due to the function of this library, people who know the owner of the library do not refer to him as a librarian, but by another nickname, namely Bookmaster. Someone they consider as a reader of lifes.

Bayu as heir to this library also became the Sixth Bookmaster. Yup, he's the sixth stalker, thought Bayu, smiling faintly.

In the kitchen Bayu makes a cup of cold coffee. Then, he took the coffee to the reading room in his apartment. The apartment has two bedrooms, one living room plus one kitchen and one bathroom. One of the bedrooms, he made as his personal library. His hobby of reading books became a strange coincidence when Bayu inherited the library within him.

Bayu's love of reading is more because of his illness since childhood, so he rarely leaves the house. Therefore, after he attended Sunda University in Kembang, he accidentally turned one room in his apartment into a library, due to the accumulation of books he had read for four years.

Sitting on the sofa in his reading room, Bayu placed a cup of cold coffee on the small round table beside the sofa. After he sat down quite comfortably he said "[Kitab]!"

Suddenly a book appeared in the air. The book has a white cover with no pictures or text. Bayu held the book, then said again, "[Fath]! Hamish Adofo!"

Then the cover of the book turned gray, with the title 'Hamish Adofo'. Bayu opens the book, preparing to read the life story of an inventor who is considered the bringer of the apocalypse in the world.