I stood there for a moment, staring at the golden railing that had just turned into a one-way door.
"...Hah."
A dry laugh escaped my lips. It wasn't because I was scared. It was just that the situation was so absurdly efficient. No warnings, no safety manual—just a "figure it out or don't" kind of vibe. It reminded me of a boss I once had back at the city library. The kind of guy who'd throw a massive box of unsorted manuscripts at you and tell you they were due by morning.
"Fine. At least this place is quiet," I muttered, leaning against the cold wood of the nearest shelf.
I felt a slight pulse in my hand. The same voice from before—the one that had welcomed me as "Keeper"—didn't wait for me to go looking for it. It seemed to know that I was finally done testing the floor with my shoe.
"As the Keeper, you may access what is permitted."
"Permitted by what?" I asked, my voice flat.
"Access depends on your state. Your capacity defines your reach."
"So, it's a limitation, not a rule. I like that better."
It was a very logical system. If you try to read a book on nuclear physics without knowing basic math, you aren't 'forbidden' from reading it—you're just physically incapable of processing it. My current 'state' was probably the equivalent of a blank notebook.
"Explain the layout," I commanded. I figured if I was the 'Keeper,' I might as well act like the one in charge.
"Levels. Fifty-one in total. You stand at Zero."
The voice continued, laying out the vertical map of my new home. I was at the dead center. Twenty-five floors above me, twenty-five floors below.
"Direction indicates the nature of power. Elevation indicates intensity. The further away you move from level Zero, the greater the power—whether you ascend or descend."
I looked up at the supposedly glowing heights and then down into the supposedly empty abyss That appeared to me as only an empty space or empty void for now. like floating between two layers of abyss sandwiched on both directions with me and the library shelfs as a filling as i wondered what they would be like if this library in the shape vertical tunnel were to be complete. would it be like a circular city hall with 5 floors back home? with added no of floors of course.
"So, up isn't necessarily 'better' than down?" I asked.
"The Library sorts books in different directions from floor zero by the type of power—Holy or Unholy. It cannot account for the intentions of those who wield it. Good and Evil are defined by the user, not the record." "The Library only sorts the books on different levels by the type of power and its intensity itself."
I nodded. That was a relief. It meant I didn't have to worry about my soul being sold just because I picked up a book from a lower floor. It was just energy. The "Holy" energy at the top and the "Unholy" energy at the bottom were just different types of powers.
"And I'm at Level Zero," I said, looking at my hands. "Because I'm a human. A powerless one."
"Level Zero is the foundation. Humans are unique. They are Unfinished."
"Unfinished, huh?"
I rolled the word around in my head. It sounded better than 'weak.'
"Yes. Higher beings are born with specialization. Their path is fixed. A human possesses zero specialization at birth. Because you are unfinished, you can go either way. You can grow toward the light of the upper floors or the darkness of the lower ones. You are the only species that can choose its ending."
"A blank draft," I whispered, a small, cunning smile pulling at the corner of my mouth.
I liked that. It meant I wasn't stuck in a box. In the city library, I was just a guy who filed papers. Here, I was a project that hadn't been edited yet. And as a librarian, I knew exactly what to do with a rough draft. You research, you revise, and you make it something legendary.
"Well," I sighed, reaching for a book on the nearest shelf. "It's a good thing I've always been a fast reader."
I sat down on the invisible floor, leaning my back against the shelf, and opened the first page. but then I stopped. Something crossed my mind. A very basic, very necessary thought for someone who had just been dropped into a void. I lowered the book a little, looking past the golden railing at the void where I had first woken up.
"…Is there a way out of this place?"
"Yes."
The response was instantaneous. I nodded once. "…Where?"
"There are exits on each level that open to whichever world the keeper wants excess to."
I waited for more. Nothing came. "That's helpful," I muttered. "Like telling a man in the middle of the ocean that there's land 'somewhere.' Let's try again. Can I use them? Right now?"
A short pause. The voice seemed to hesitate for the first time. "Yes."
I frowned slightly. "…You're hesitating."
Silence. Then: "You will not survive most of the worlds."
I blinked. "…That direct, huh?"
"The probability is extremely low. You are an ordinary human. You possess no specialized armor, no mana circuits, and no combat experience. Outside, you are prey."
I looked at the book in my hand, then at the endless, dark circles of the library. It was a cage, but it was a cage filled with every answer in the universe. silently shaken that there was magic in this world. I know kind of too late to realize and be shaken. After all I have seen and experienced by now. First the death by being crushed by library shelf and then coming here unscathed And then seeing this library and the standing on air.
"So, I'm the baseline," I sighed, trying to calm myself and not show my emotions out. running my thumb along the edge of the cover. "No strength, no skills, and no chance of surviving outside. Leaving is basically suicide."
"Yes."
"Figures." I leaned back against the shelf, a small, cunning smile pulling at the corner of my mouth. "Well, it's a good thing I've always been a fast reader. If I have no fixed path, I'll just have to build one that doesn't get me killed." Relief flooded through me as I realized that I could at least survive with all the knowledge in this library.
I looked back down at the open book on my lap
"Let's see if I can't edit this 'unfinished' draft into something a bit more durable."