Eldritch Horror? No, I'm A Doctor
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Ren felt a strange force pulling him toward the book in Levi's hands, as if invisible threads were wrapped around his consciousness and gently tugging him forward. The sensation was both compelling and unsettling, like being drawn toward the edge of a cliff by curiosity even while knowing the danger.
The book itself seemed to pulse with anticipation, its iridescent cover shifting colors in patterns that suggested meaning just beyond his comprehension. The title "Origin" remained constant, but the letters seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting slightly as if the word itself was alive.
Ren reached out and took the book from Levi's hands. The moment his fingers made contact with the cover, he felt a jolt of energy travel up his arms and settle in his chest. The leather binding was warm to the touch, like something that had been sitting in sunlight, and it seemed to conform to his grip as if it had been made specifically for his hands.
Without conscious thought, he found himself moving to open the cover, his fingers already finding the edge of the front binding. The compulsion was overwhelming, like an itch that demanded to be scratched or hunger that demanded to be fed.
"It would be wise to stop that action, Ren."
Levi's voice cut through the strange compulsion like a bucket of cold water, snapping Ren back to awareness of where he was and what he was doing. He blinked several times, realizing that he had been about to open a book containing cosmic knowledge without any preparation or understanding of the consequences.
"Let's head down to the reading alcove first" Levi continued
"You can only read this book once, and the circumstances of that reading matter more than you might think."
"Why is that, Levi?" Ren asked, carefully closing the book and holding it against his chest. Even through the leather binding, he could feel energy pulsing against his ribs like a second heartbeat.
"Well, let me give you a hint" Levi said, his expression taking on the knowing look of someone about to reveal a crucial piece of information.
"You know your system is broken right now, right?"
Ren nodded slowly. "Yes, it's been glitching ever since my transformation ended."
"Then check your system interface. I think you'll find the situation is more complicated than simple glitching."
Ren opened his system interface, the familiar blue screens appearing in his vision in a way that was unique to him alone. Other people couldn't see these displays, they were a private communication between him and whatever cosmic force had granted him his abilities.
But what he saw made his heart sink.
Quest: Protect Your Comrades
Complete Reward: !@#$%^&((&^##$%^&*#$%^
You cannot claim the reward yet
The reward text was completely scrambled, appearing as nothing but random symbols and characters that hurt to look at directly. It was as if the system was trying to display information that was too complex or dangerous for his current level of understanding.
"Haaa, I can't even begin to describe how worried I am," Ren complained, staring at the corrupted display with growing frustration.
"It's like my entire support system decided to have a nervous breakdown."
"Wow, this is more broken than I thought" Levi said, moving to stand beside Ren with casual ease.
The librarian's proximity should have been impossible to achieve without Ren noticing, but somehow Levi had covered the distance between them without making a sound or drawing attention to his movement. More disturbing than his stealth, however, was what he said next.
"Let me take a look at that system interface."
"What the fuck!" Ren startled and jumped backward, nearly dropping the Origin book in his surprise. "You can see my system, Levi?"
His tone suddenly became more respectful out of pure instinct. Anyone who could see his private system interface was operating on a level of power that demanded respect, regardless of how friendly they appeared to be.
"Pfft, sorry to startle you, Ren," Levi said, covering his mouth with his hand as he tried to suppress laughter at Ren's reaction.
"I should have warned you."
The amusement in Levi's voice was genuine, carrying the warmth of someone who found honest reactions refreshing rather than offensive.
"In the bookstore, I'm invincible," Levi explained, his tone taking on the matter of fact
"And here in the library, I'm equal to the original creator of this entire dimensional space. I can see everything that happens here, including private interfaces that are normally invisible to others."
Ren felt his stomach drop as the implications of that statement sank in.
"You mean you can even read my thoughts?"
"I can," Levi confirmed with a cheerful nod.
What? No, no, stop thinking! Ren panicked, trying to force his mind to go blank.
Think of a cat! Cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten, cute kitten!
"Hahahaha, you're a funny one, Ren," Levi laughed, clearly enjoying Ren's mental struggle. "Yeah, cute kittens indeed. Good choice to use as a distraction technique."
But then Levi's expression became more mischievous, and Ren knew he was about to be embarrassed.
"But I still remember what you were thinking when we were walking up here," Levi said with obvious amusement.
"Something along the lines of 'what the fuck is up with the stamina of this handsome looking monster' right?"
"Nooo! I'm sooorryyyyyyyy!" Ren wailed, his face burning red with embarrassment. The fact that his casual thoughts about Levi's supernatural endurance had been overheard made him want to crawl under a rock and hide for several decades.
Levi's laughter echoed through the cosmic library, a sound that somehow managed to be both cosmic and deeply human at the same time.
.
.
.
Some time later, they found themselves on the first floor of the library in a private reading alcove that felt more intimate than the vast spaces they had been traversing. The area was designed for serious study, with comfortable leather sofas arranged around low tables and soft lighting that was easy on the eyes during long reading sessions.
Ren sat in one of the leather sofas, holding the Origin book in his lap like it was a live explosive. The weight of it seemed to have increased since they left the cosmic level, or perhaps he was simply more aware of its significance now that he understood what reading it would mean.
Levi sat on the opposite sofa, his posture relaxed but his attention completely focused on Ren. Despite his casual manner, there was something in his eyes that suggested this moment was more important than their previous conversations.
"Are you ready?" Levi asked, his voice carrying the gravity of someone asking about a life changing decision.
"When you open that book, there's no going back. The knowledge it contains will change you permanently."
"What do I need to expect from this?" Ren asked, his voice steady despite the nervousness he felt building in his chest.
"First," Levi said, counting off on his fingers, "you will meet a great being. This is something you need to experience yourself. I can't prepare you for it because the encounter is different for each person."
Ren nodded, trying to mentally prepare himself for another cosmic entity that would probably challenge his understanding of reality.
"Second," Levi continued
"Your system will be fixed. You will be whole for the first time since arriving in this world. The glitches, the corrupted rewards, the fragmented interface, all of it will be repaired."
That sounded like good news, but Ren had learned to be suspicious of anything that sounded too beneficial without cost.
"But there's a catch, isn't there?" he asked.
"There's always a catch," Levi confirmed with a sad smile.
"You will need to accept who you are. This is a point of no return, Ren. Once you read this book, you can't go back to the comfortable lies your mind has been telling you."
Levi's expression grew more serious, his voice taking on the weight of prophecy.
"You will become what you fear, what you hate, because that is who you are. The mental barriers that have been protecting you from your own nature will be stripped away. You'll have to confront the truth about yourself without the safety net of selective memory or emotional editing."
He paused, letting the words sink in before delivering the final explanation.
"This is the meaning of 'Origin,' Ren. The beginning and the truth, whether you like it or not. It will show you not just where you came from, but what you were always meant to become."
Levi leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes reflecting depths that seemed older than the cosmos itself.
"So the question is: will you open Pandora's box?"
Ren sat in silence for several long moments, feeling the weight of the decision pressing down on him like a physical force. The book in his lap seemed to pulse with his heartbeat, as if it was connected to his life force and eager to fulfill its purpose.
He thought about everything he had learned during his time in Levi's library. His forgotten memories, his manipulated emotions, his mysterious past that included crimes he couldn't remember. All of it had been leading to this moment, this choice between comfortable ignorance and potentially devastating truth.
But he had already decided, really. The moment he had admitted to himself that he needed to grow stronger, the moment he had chosen to face his responsibilities rather than run from them, he had committed to this path.
Ren swallowed nervously, his throat suddenly dry. But when he looked up at Levi, his eyes carried the determination of someone who had made peace with a difficult choice.
His hands moved to the cover of the book, fingers finding the edge of the binding. The leather felt warm under his touch, almost eager to be opened.
"I'm ready," he said quietly.
And then he opened the book.
The moment the cover lifted, reality around him began to dissolve. The comfortable reading alcove faded away like mist, the leather sofas becoming insubstantial shadows. Levi's concerned face was the last thing he saw before everything disappeared.
The world turned black.
Not the ordinary darkness of a room with the lights turned off, but the profound absence of light that existed in the spaces between stars. Ren felt himself falling upward, downward, in all directions at once, tumbling through a void that had no reference points or boundaries.
The Origin book was still in his hands, but now it was the only source of light in the infinite darkness, its pages glowing with words that wrote themselves as he watched.
And in that cosmic darkness, something vast and ancient began to stir, awakening to acknowledge the presence of someone brave or foolish enough to seek the truth about their own beginning.