Beyond the Eternity

We moved towards the entrance of the Gyujanggak Library positioned at the Gwanak campus. In the meantime, pages were turning inside my head.

[Exclusive skill, Omniscient Wall stage 1 has activated.]

[A single page will be chosen from the memory archive.]

「 The Library Dungeon. It's a hidden dungeon guarded by the Keeper of Secrets, who keeps all completed 'Stories' within his archive.

The Keeper of Secrets was not a particularly strong foe but the reincarnator Soo Jinyoung made the mistake of underestimating him.

That was how Soo Jinyoung's third life reached its conclusion 」

Hopefully, this hasn't happened yet. It has just been ten minutes since the 3rd nightmare ended so there was a possibility that she was still alive.

Damnit, that idiot protagonist really moves quickly. She must have used the 'Eye of the Demon Dragon' to locate the hidden dungeon. Without a doubt, she was after the clearance reward of the hidden dungeon but things will be difficult if that woman was to die now.

"Hey, why do you think Soo Jinyoung would go to the public library? She doesn't look like the kind of person that read books. And why would she be in danger in such a place?"

It was Lee Su-hye. I opened my mouth and answered.

"Well, it's not a normal library anymore. It's a hidden dungeon."

"Hidden dungeons? You mean like those ones in a manhwa?"

This time, it was Angelica that opened her mouth.

"Yeah, it's something similar."

"I don't get it. Why would a library be a hidden dungeon?"

"A hidden dungeon can appear anywhere. The subway, the train, the bathroom. The public library just happened to be one of those places."

"Wait, what's this about dungeons? Are we living in a fictional world right now?"

"Who knows? In any case, we have to save Soo Jinyoung."

"I don't get it. Why would the boss be in danger? Isn't she ridiculously strong?"

"Yes, she is. But strength is not everything."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a complicated story."

Soo Jinyoung did not lose against the hidden boss because she was weak. In fact, she lost because she was too strong. The library dungeon was different from other hidden dungeons.

"By the way, why are you rescuing Soo Jinyoung?"

"She's my companion."

"Don't talk nonsense. You haven't known her for long."

"She still acknowledged me as her companion, isn't that right?"

Lee Su-hye closed her mouth. She wore a expression that screamed 'she was wronged'. I already knew the kind of feelings she had for Soo Jinyoung.

[A few constellations are wondering about your true motives.]

Now that I think about it, wouldn't the constellations be more interested than my actions than Lee Su-hye. Soo Jinyoung was a person that would kill me if I was deemed dangerous. And yet I was going to save such a person.

My reasons for saving Soo Jinyoung were more deeper than just personal. There was a certain topic that was trending on social media before the apocalypse.

'What happens when the protagonist of the story dies?'

There were many answers to this question. Of course, the normal answer would be that the world would flow normally and a new character will become the protagonist. But it was a special case in the Songs of Nightmare.

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Reincarnation after death.

The protagonist does not die upon death and instead, transfers to a new world as another person. Readers of the Isekai genre would think it's a good ability but in truth, it was a very fraudulent ability.

What was the fate of the abandoned world? What happened to the people that would especially forget you? What are the mental effects it would have on the main actor? More importantly, when does it stop?

If Soo Jinyoung were to die and reincarnate I to another world, I wouldn't be able to find her. And if she was not around, I might not be able to win against that troublesome fellow or reach the end of the Nightmares.

In the end, my fate is closely tied to the protagonist.

Once we crossed a certain distance, a huge magic circle suddenly formed underneath the soles of our feet.

Shit, how could I forget about this?

"This is..."

"Damnit! Everyone, back away right now!"

It was too late. We were already caught by the trap.

[A new sub scenario has arrived!]

+

[Sub Scenario – Illusion Dome]

Category: Sub

Difficulty: D~F

Clear Conditions: Conquer your painful memory and escape the Illusion Dome

Compensation: 500 coins

Failure: ???

+

Come to think of it, if Soo Jinyoung really passed this, then she must have had a hard time.

"What's happening?"

"Illusion dome? What's that?"

"There's no time to explain. Everything, prepare your mind quickly..."

I was not sure if my words reached them but my entire field of vision became dark as a dome engulfed me. The rest of the party could not be seen no matter how I looked around.

I could not hear anything neither could I see. There was only the eerie darkness that surrounded me.

[The memory trial will begin.]

Illusion Dome. A sadistic trial that drove people to insanity by bringing out their most traumatic memory.

Everyone must be already facing their worst nightmare. Perhaps they were seeing a completely different sight than me.

"Now, isn't this sad?"

"Indeed. To think two famous actors will die so soon."

"What about their child? Will he be alright?"

"I don't know but I heard he was the only child."

"What about his family relatives?"

The drug-like landscape disappeared and before I noticed, I was standing infront of a crowd. The surrounding people were dressed in all black as if attending a funeral.

Wait, don't tell me...

Sob— Sob—

Once I heard the familiar sound of sobbing, I turned my head swiftly. There was a boy kneeing on the floor while holding an urn. Certainly, he was the main character of this story.

I knew who he was but that didn't make me happy. I looked up at the sky as if to deny reality. Why does it have to be this memory?

[Exclusive skill 'Zero One' has automatically activated.]

[The command sequence '0' has activated.]

[The exclusive skill has destoryed the Illusion dome.]

My mind relaxed and the uncomfortable feeling disappeared.

Rumble! Rumble!

The illusion dome also began breaking down and the surrounding space distorted with the memory fading away.

[The constellations complain as they can't view your memory.]

[The constellation 'Chaos Architect' is curious about your story.]

Too bad you won't be able to satisfy your curiosity.

"Jakga! Jakga! Wake up!"

As the surroundings became clear, the first thing I saw was Angell shaking me and shouting my name.

"Angell?"

"Yes, it's me. Thank goodness, you're finally awake. The others are acting crazy."

(T/N: Angell is a short form/nickname for Angelica in this novel.)

How was she unaffected by the illusion dome?

Perhaps she received a divine authority from her star constellation that allowed her to nullify the illusion. But that was not important at the moment.

I looked around and noticed the situation. To be specific, the problem was Jung Yunhee and Lee Su-hye.

"This bastard! I'll kill you!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Unlike Angell and me, they didn't have any protective skills or items and fell victim to the terror of the Illusion dome.

The trauma could be seen with single glance. Lee Su-hye was moving the gun around in a dangerous manner and Jung Yunhee was coiled up on the floor, muttering the same words over and over.

The most thing about the Illusion dome was not the illusion itself but the companions that had fallen into madness under its effects. Perhaps this was why Soo Jinyoung always moved alone.

"What should we do? We can't leave them like this."

"Yes, there's a way to help them. Those magic circles under their feet. We have to destory them."

"How?"

"We will destory them by hitting them. Quick, try to calm dowm Lee Su-hye. I'll handle Jung Yunhee."

Angell nodded with a nervous expression and approached Lee Su-hye. Meanwhile, I approached Jung Yunhee.

"I'm sorry, Hwa Soo! I never should have..."

"Hey! Snap out of it! It's not real."

As if she didn't hear me, Jung Yunhee continued muttering the same thing, saying she was sorry. I already aware of her story so I knew it was difficult.

I raised the sword and swung it with all my might.

Crack, Scatter—

With a loud sound, the magic circle along with the ground scattered.

After the barrier was destoryed, Jung Yunhee's mood improved. It was good but another problem emerged.

Bwoom! Bwoom!

There was the sound of rapid gunshots of the gun and Angell screamed. Fortunately, the bullets only hit the ground.

"... I'll kill each and every one of you bastards!"

Lee Su-hye, another person with immense trauma, was waving the SMG like a madman. Not good. If this continued, someone could really get hurt.

Peok!

With a powerful blow to the back of the head, Lee Su-hye stopped moving. Her trauma was deeper than I expected.

"Angell, look after those two until they gain consciousness."

"Ah! Yes!"

I gripped the sword and turned around. Just because we successfully escaped the illusion dome, didn't mean it was over.

[You have successfully escaped the Illusion dome.]

[500 coins will be given as compensation.]

As soon as the clear message showed up, dark figures wielding scythes appeared. Nightmare weavers that resembled a god of death.

The 8 grade dark reapers.

They were the creators of the Illusion dome but they were not the true mastermind. These guy were just puppets created by the Librarian to block walkers from reaching the library dungeon.

"Jakga, that's..."

"It's okay."

Although the creatures have an intimidating presence, they were not necessarily difficult to kill. For example...

[Exclusive skill 'Soul Chasing Yang Energy' has activated.]

Frr—

Once hit with the soul chasing sword, the dark reapers screamed and got engulfed into blue flames. Not even their ashes remained.

Keeper of secrets, that bastard. In any case, the others were slowly waking up.

"W-What happened?"

The first to wake up was Lee Su-hye. Angell began to explain the story.

"We got attacked but Kim Jakga took care of it."

"I see. Thank you for that."

"It's nothing."

"Ugh... My head hurts."

Jung Yunhee woke up and rubbed her temple as if having a massive headache.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. It's nothing serious. I just... had a bad dream."

"Is that so? Let's rest for a while."

My worries increased. The main attack dealers were already shaken up badly and we haven't even arrived at the library dungeon.

Would it be okay to continue like this?