Chapter 16: Let’s read, read, read books
DSFVA chill ran down my spine.ExyPX
YqUWHuJung Jiho.Kyys
yrDiWhy didn’t I take that child out? Why did I leave him there? I knew perfectly well he was there. How could I do that? Me. How the hell? No matter how much trash I am, since when have I become capable of going this far.uMQduE
YZKVMe.0RapoC
hWTI am…4luzhKC
FgOGjl“Seon Yuhan? Why are you breathing like that all of a sudden…?”UvXY
5H7qI promised. I promised that at the very least I wouldn’t become that kind of adult. I swore I wouldn’t become someone who ignores a child that needs help.bwJF
KYzP“Seon Yuhan?”NgZxvS
WZYzURCYes, Seon Yuhan.pnmxWc
evRI swore it in the name of my own name.0rwGW
RgPb8Only then did I finally regain my senses and speak.GDUytB
KwFiYa“Hwang Juyeon.”gHQ
x9kUah7I.NQWVd
ANKz4lI really…nX8
EUJ“Didn’t we go to the daycare first?”ZjC5
S7rhht“Huh? No? But… why are you suddenly asking that—”l8Q
EVS6“—Reading club participants read their respective books.”yOxWs
SwSH“Huff, they won’t even let us talk for a moment. How strict.”tSkP
2RyWith a confused expression, Hwang Juyeon grumbled and lowered her gaze back to the book.StmdSM
IR6Yes. Like she said, we, I, did not go to the daycare. This time.sUA
2qZNo matter how much I go over it, I don’t have that memory.B53fBE3
aCy4BBut that makes no sense.k07O
OXvMe.KBua
38uDvxMe, who knows that in that daycare there is a child being punished like a giant music box figurine.MJXej
jhspYmIt makes no sense that I would go straight to the library while ignoring that.iC8BR
aNI“Damn…”MIEJEm
EnPuNCtI swallowed the rest of the word.pCc8a
qkZThis is it.Salp
mjeThey erased my memory. Definitely.ZXvmi
WnpcdI don’t know exactly why.k86G
KgHRpMBut if I had to guess, I’d say it’s a penalty for not following the library’s instructions.DfbgOV
yeo29X“Hwang Juyeon, do you remember a child named Jung Jiho in the daycare?”Tgcu4
vMQKd“Uh… I’m not sure. I don’t remember every child one by one… why? Was there someone you knew? Once we get out, let’s go check immediately…!”zNN
eH5jvQYes. We have to finish this damn reading club quickly and go check.BzsTM35
L2odUAnd to finish it, there’s no choice but to read.gukcQX
UH8c[Kim Gilyeong stared absentmindedly out the window. White snow fell like flower petals. As if celebrating her birthday. But that only made her feel lonelier. Just because something is familiar doesn’t mean it’s okay.]1qJVl
w28uVReading another person’s life like this feels uncomfortable.Fb66oL
DGlOOAnd having someone read mine too.DhBq
9MMa“Reading club participants read their respective books.”2nK
zMDEbwiI glanced at the freelance magician on my right.y5vXR0
AqsTPQwHow far has she read?zVBLOgm
ztZAqEIWhat part of my life is she at now?60oY
VSSDReading me does not mean understanding me.WIuB
LftbzWWithout becoming me, she cannot accept it.67O7X
RZP9N9She can know me, but she cannot trust me.b8rDK
5tRUUnderstanding is an illusion, acceptance is a deception, and faith is nothing more than a mistake.9uIB0xD
ipoIt’s not a mistake it’s an ellipsis it’s a mistake it’s a period that is a period that sensation is an exclamation mark it’s a mistake it’s a period that sensation is an exclamation mark that finger is a comma that gaze is a comma it must be purified period the tool for that is a comma the body is a period I am a period please could you just let me—SHJb
LXorZ“Reading club participants read their respective books.”UbG
7ja“Seon Yuhan.”cgzf
wkuBkEverything is spinning the black letters in the book twist around. I should have killed them. Like leeches. They crawl all over my body from the fingers holding the pages. Sticky. I want to tear them off. Disgusting. Even if I have to peel off my skin. I want to wash my hands. I should have died. Please, just today—9S12
3I4iSk“Reading club participants read their respective books.”Xtz
rKdF“Seon Yuhan…!”2ZdNggI
Cc5“Huh?”R8cjBD
MR7ESuddenly, Kim Gilyeong called out to me urgently, and I raised my head.mjA
LJGS“Are you okay? It looks like you can’t read…”mPlR
APCl1“Ah.”ojj
MWII looked down. The paper in my hands seemed to be crying, completely crumpled.qQSegVJ
SCn9aFor some reason, I thought it looked like the librarian.VoDWE
g90That scrunched-up face, on the verge of tears.UJ4
A1tfw“I’m sorry. It’s just that… I got nervous too late. I couldn’t focus. Thanks for telling me.”jmE
6m6hhWould I have died again if I had torn the book completely apart?dRl9o
PRESpThinking that, I looked back at the book.fRfBYw
HHn[During the last vacation of middle school, Kim Gilyeong suddenly missed her school friends. She searched for the old online class café created by her teacher. She no longer remembered the portal password after so much time.R5z3t3L
pr0“What is the name of your best friend from elementary school?”Cv3G9y3
rWwWPShe remembered clearly. A pale-skinned friend with dimples when she smiled. Hong Donghui. She answered without hesitation.SrG
xpw5vWhen she logged in, she saw the class group photo. The latest post was from two years ago. Everyone was promising to meet again.]BO8ftl
JVnPTOcEven if it’s difficult, I have to read.Qakr3za
wpgb4loBecause it’s the rule.aGLoaT3
to9PbAnd rules must be followed.JvxI7H
eU7YU8If you don’t follow them, you’re a bad child.oV139i9
mpY[Kim Gilyeong walked slowly between the empty bookshelves. Touching the spines of books like Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Timequake, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, In Search of Lost Time, Mist… She stopped before an empty space and placed a C. S. Lewis novel there. Secretly reading books with no demand was a privilege of the librarian.]z1K
Z4H2The words enter my eyes, but bounce away.ysK
Wu9I can’t focus.RIA1A
uxd[The lights of Bookbangollae went out.]o2DVua
J8AI read as best as I could until stopping there.UoWp
1MEsM9IThat seemed to be the moment when the building turned into a labyrinth.mflNP
eZ5KUThe next line said.OZj9hcE
uMZ6bbp[※The complete story reaches this point. What follows is still in progress and is not recommended to read.※]QjQDm
iQOIlxI stared at that sentence for a long while, then closed the book and raised my head.f5Qi
bKM7RUKim Gilyeong had already finished reading Hwang Juyeon’s story.Wuf
oAjb2CCHwang Juyeon still had a few pages left.B509h
hXuIf nothing can be read after the start of the labyrinth, then at least she won’t know that I’m trapped in a loop.mG2e
zN5naTYThough it probably doesn’t matter much anymore.6OsvYjY
mk0om4“All participants have finished reading their books.”JnXipC
DEBShortly afterward, when Hwang Juyeon also closed her book, the library’s ghostly voice was heard again.BdYW
FTEU“From this point on, the participants will freely share their impressions of the book and present the work they read. However, spoilers that interfere with the experience will be censored.”yEW
xxk“Censored?”UJYT
wbAFomAn unsettling expression.otgDL
L7LKQmDoes it mean spoilers cannot be said, or that they can be said but will be blocked halfway through?jgZ
z09q“Since we don’t know what kind of disadvantage there will be, it’s probably best to speak carefully for now.”SjIcrk
BhewhXnThe three of us remained silent for a moment, watching one another.
It was natural to hesitate to open our mouths when a single wrong word could mean death.i8xt
JiviV“I…”EOqnm
aWlvUE7But.rnRbj0
5DHO“After reading Kim Gilyeong’s story…”v2z
d3BHYou can’t move forward if you don’t take the first step.WFgz3jM
ZfC***w1J
gEb“There was something that made me curious while reading. Kim Gilyeong’s favorite book during her childhood, was it Alice in Wonderland or The Chronicles of Narnia—”vNeY3pQ
o0CX“—Seon Yuhan, that seems to be a spoiler. I can’t understand what you’re saying. I think it’s better not to talk about that part.”8lud
7apwVI stopped at Hwang Juyeon’s observation and cleared my throat in the process.Xky1
oTQcJxRThe fact that spoilers are censored means spoiler content is automatically filtered and cannot be heard.FimoMW
pshNJThank goodness they don’t make you pay with your life for saying them.BEaUEQ
09BvSVdBut how is what her favorite childhood book was considered a spoiler?W9rHA5j
vfAFirst it says she read Alice in Wonderland and opened a wardrobe, then that her favorite was a C. S. Lewis novel.7fl
xUviu4If it’s C. S. Lewis, then it would be The Chronicles of Narnia. Alice is by Lewis Carroll.hsG4Yz
tqCLJ5It could be that she got confused as a child or later changed her tastes, but even so it doesn’t seem like something worthy of censorship.uN6mcPH
WZk2I don’t understand the criteria for spoilers.SfxGNor
wx4“Seon Yuhan?”f9Si
5EHliiF“Ah, yes. Anyway, personally, I think Kim Gilyeong…”QQoc
mclMThe book narrating Kim Gilyeong’s life was difficult to comment on deeply.zv5ZmA
i9GctGMPartly because I couldn’t focus properly, but mostly because, to be honest, her life didn’t have particularly memorable or interesting events.YbdWZc
6W3tRx“I envy you.”pWKY8k
784I know it’s ridiculous to envy someone by seeing only fragments of their life.qpzW
smbVfBut actually, that’s the only thing I envy. I don’t want her whole life, just those pieces.x9ueMt
CYZjG“Uh… th-thank you… I guess…”q3fZny
BdEAThe librarian responded uncertainly, averting her gaze.7zGy
RGHw5“Since Seon Yuhan presented my story… I guess it’s my turn now… I read Hwang Juyeon’s book…”RVA7TB
hnNKim Gilyeong began speaking cautiously, stammering, but little by little she became immersed in her impressions until they poured out all at once.tgxXp9
SKGpU“So… you don’t really like piano anymore?”HfI2
7MUMA“It’s not that I don’t like it. I just don’t have the same passion for it as before.”Vc6Qzbr
U9nFrom what I heard, Hwang Juyeon liked her side as a freelance magician more than her role as a piano teacher.B1KRKUe
5TmWhen mentioning her main job as a teacher, she seemed to feel as if she were making excuses.HfpLqsI
l5wRkI“It also hurt reading why you became such a distant person… a girl from your church disappeared, and even then they said those things…?”hVgheg
AU1“Well, it wasn’t just because of that. Those are things that build up over time. Besides, I’m no saint either. I don’t even remember her name very well.”xH9
xMYIn any case, Hwang Juyeon was a normal person.Y68A
AltpSbFar too normal to be a suspect in an attempted murder.TGS
buhAz“¡¡#@%&—!!”bYBlak
TsXwgdsThe spoiler-censored voice sounded like distorted audio, impossible to understand.FYMa3M
hLabNTBCould the motive for the crime be hidden there?v0G
d8NjgBut I’m not a detective, and if nobody died, there’s no need to solve anything.wX5f
ecIaAnd besides.HXSUX
lQlI looked at Hwang Juyeon silently.Hy10jWi
ViKyCWhen our eyes met, she naturally looked away.UlOVI5
viTcSiLike someone who knows something.Okjzuua
d3sur0SNot like someone who knows it far too well.L7q0v
jn45rThere are stories better left unknown.qtWZxi
yz5***zLP
Rfd3“The reading club has ended.”iq4nB2m
sCYThe three of us held our breath, waiting for the next instruction.eVqn7
sffJBut nothing else was heard.Kpq0
Aln27“What? It really ended? Already? Seriously?”Lda4c8
RaWywIX“I-it seems so…”l8go9yl
25q“Wow…”1ov
9VWEtlIHwang Juyeon dropped onto the sofa with a long sigh, then immediately jumped back to her feet.hkIDC9A
aaNO7Kj“Then let’s go, quickly!”R2bgsv
pNP6mWithout needing to say it, I was already at the door.af8A
ciD“Please…”bsH
p5LympI clasped my hands together as if praying, grabbed the doorknob, and pushed hard.tmL
aYqxSsshh—un6x
bsIze“Ah.”El6L09x
FFR8yThe door opened smoothly, without any resistance.1zxb
tNN“It opened! It opened!”qZisJC
4GfaWVHwang Juyeon hugged Kim Gilyeong, jumping with joy.v7dsEw
Wr7jWjI stepped forward, holding the door just in case it closed again.wss4L
gZUBTFor the first time, that second-floor hallway felt pleasant to me.dmUNiz
dmiZ“Ah… ah…”sGcsvd
G5eQyn5Hwang Juyeon came out behind me, smiling with a strange expression, until the librarian’s voice made her turn around.dXxVv
rER“Miss Kim, what are you doing? Aren’t you coming out?”0g94
u9SZ“Kim Gilyeong…?”tDvHMU
ebTThe librarian was still standing inside the library, right behind the open threshold.4pEP2
d2Nzk9As if there were an invisible wall there, striking the air with both hands.oi9
KjBuYw“I-I can’t get out…!”zI2fS
TrXSomething was wrong.Qm6AJK8
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