There, Wendy stood before a large pile of books stacked high enough to block the path. In her hands were two books Yul had never seen her carry before.
She turned quickly when she heard him call her name, greeting him with a gentle smile.
"You're back sooner than I expected. Are you sure you didn't just grab a book at random?"
As she spoke, the strands of hair covering her right eye had turned red, matted with blood. Crimson streaks trickled down her cheek. Her strange sunglasses lay broken at her feet, and her elegant hat was nowhere in sight.
Yul's heart filled with dread at the sight of her battered state. But the unsettling calm in her expression—the eerie smile—made him hesitate. He stood silent for several moments, uncertain.
Wendy watched him quietly, still smiling. After a few more moments of stillness, she tilted her gaze to the sky and spoke.
"Have you ever heard the rumor? They say there was once a powerless boy who wished he could change the world. But since his powerlessness wouldn't go away, he decided to build a dream world where he was the main character. Some even say he's still asleep… even now."
The worry vanished from Yul's face, replaced by his usual cold stare.
Wendy turned her eyes back to him, still smiling as she continued in a slow, steady voice.
"Tell me, Yul… can you believe that this world is just a dream? That we're nothing more than fragments of memories, jumbled together in the mind of someone who's not even conscious?"
Yul cut her off sharply.
"Wendy… Can I ask who you really are? Is Wendy even your real name?"
"What kind of question is that? Why would you think I'm lying about my name?"
"I remembered something you said this morning—when I asked where you were from. You told me you were from the village of Gua. But everyone knows that place was burned to the ground about a month ago. The news spread across the entire kingdom. At first, I thought you might be hiding something related to the fae, since I used to be a captain in the king's army. That's why I didn't press. But then I thought… no, this lie is too obvious. It's almost like you wanted me to notice."
"It took you seven hours to catch on, but that was within my expectations. You're not wrong. But I still don't see why that makes you think I lied about my name."
As she spoke, Wendy wiped the blood from her face. Her smile remained, unnervingly calm.
"Your expressions were always pure—when you talked about anything, you looked completely genuine. Your tone, your emotions... everything felt real. That's what made it even more suspicious. It was like you were someone entirely different. So I have to ask… who are you really? Or maybe I should ask: when exactly did you start playing with me?"
"About a month ago, the third division received a distress signal from Gua. But what was strange was that the signal arrived one day before the disaster actually happened. Do you remember that, Commander Yul?"
Wendy raised her left hand. Her eye turned yellow, the sclera becoming pitch-black. Geometric symbols—triangular patterns—began forming beneath her lid.
Then, in her open palm, a red, translucent substance began to gather and grow. It thickened like a gel until it formed a small, hard sphere—shaped like a domed barrier.
As soon as Yul saw that orb, he remembered the stone sword barrier that had saved him during the explosion in Gua—the same one that had wiped out his entire squad.
It was identical.
His expression darkened with rage.
"So you were the one who sent the distress call that day. I don't care what happened there—but can you tell me how you survived? Depending on your answer, I might have to kill you here and now."
There was no sign of calm or reason left on Yul's face. But Wendy, still smiling eerily, showed no fear.
"Don't forget, I saved your life there. I was fighting to survive too."
"Let's not forget you're the one who led us to that place in the first place. Maybe you did save me, but you got an entire squad killed. Do you have a good explanation for that?"
"Explaining everything from the start would take days, so let me simplify it. Everything I did—every action I took—was for the sake of these three books right here."
"Wait a minute—this morning's murder. Was that you?"
Wendy's eyes widened slightly—surprised by how far his suspicion had spread.
"As expected from the former third division captain. That's what they call intuition. And yes, you're right. I killed him."
She paused.
"You seem confused. Do you want to know how I did it?"
The red material in her hand began to morph again. In just seconds, it transformed into a thin blade about seventy centimeters long.
With a swift flick, she launched the blade at a metal pipe on the side of a nearby building. It sliced clean through.
She closed her eye and pointed toward the blade.
"Just like that. It was simpler than you'd think."
"What about the evidence I found? And the old man from the junk shop?"
"All part of the setup to make the crime believable. As for that man... let's just say he had it coming for a completely different reason."
"And your dream? The one you wrote about? I read it. I know you were serious. Was that a lie too? Even the tears…"
"Wait. Just wait a second. If you keep throwing questions like that, we'll be here forever."
She raised a finger.
"You need to know which kinds of questions to ask in this situation. It's simple—just three words:
What? How? Why?
Got it? Or should I break it down even more?"
As she spoke with eerie calm, Yul fell silent again—lost in thought.
"And your dream—the one you worked so hard for. I read what you wrote, so I know you were serious about it. Was that a lie too? Even those tears..."
"Wait... wait a second.
If you keep asking aimless questions, there will be no end to this.
First, you need to understand what questions you should be asking in this situation.
It's easy—you can summarize your questions in just three words:
What?
How?
And Why?
Got it, or should I explain more?"
As Wendy spoke calmly, Yul sank deeper into his thoughts.
(Due to the nature of my job, I meet a lot of people on a regular basis. I've seen all kinds of liars in my life.
There were only a few I couldn't figure out.
But this girl is completely different. For some reason, my entire body feels cautious around her.
And this isn't fear.
It's just... somehow, I feel this girl in front of me is dangerous.)
"I get what you're trying to say. Honestly, I don't even know what I'm doing in this situation. So, let's begin.
First: [What] exactly did you do during the time you were in the library?
What happened to you while you were waiting?"
"I'm glad you're being a little understanding.
I'll try to answer in the simplest way possible so you can grasp what I did.
Let's see then.
What did I do...?
Let's say I hacked into the system and protective mechanisms of the World Tree—by sending you into the library.
And with the book you brought me, I managed to obtain these two books thanks to that pile over there."
Wendy held the two books in her hand and pointed to a stacked pile of books behind her.
Yul felt a wave of disappointment wash over him upon hearing her answer.
(Is that what she calls an answer? Most of what she said is vague and incomprehensible. But—)
"Anyway... let's leave the first question for now.
Second—you said you hacked the system through me?
[How] exactly did you do that?
And what does my involvement have to do with your plan?"
"It's quite simple.
All I had to do was become the owner of the library!"
Yul didn't react much to that statement.
After all, he didn't understand anything about the World Tree or the library.
"What do you mean?
Can it really be that easy?"
"Not really, but it's not impossible either.
First, let me explain how I got these two books.
The World Tree's system assigns a book to anyone who holds a valid invitation upon entry.
And of course, you can't enter without an invitation.
But what happens if the invitation goes in without its owner?
What happens if the system finds someone inside the library who doesn't have an invitation?"
"Wait a minute.
If someone doesn't have an invitation, they wouldn't even be able to find the entrance to the World Tree in the first place.
How would they even get in?"
Wendy smiled slightly and said:
"It's simple.
All you have to do... is fool the system."
"You make it sound so easy."
"It is.
The identity verification system at the entrance isn't magical or supernatural.
It's more like a giant computer with vast amounts of data.
It simply reads the information inscribed on the invitation and matches it with the person holding it before granting access.
So all you have to do is create a fake invitation with identical data—and you can trick the system, if only for a few seconds."
Yul sighed and replied:
"You say that like it's no big deal, but you of all people know that forging an exact replica of the invitation is nearly impossible.
Aside from being made of one of the rarest types of gold, the amount of data inscribed on it is enormous—it's practically a complete life profile.
It would've been easy if the data were written in normal letters.
But no—they're microscopic symbols etched across the entire surface.
That's one of the things I learned inside the library and never forgot after I left.
And you're saying you managed to copy that?"
"I never said it was easy, but yes—it's that simple.
Collecting the gold was the hardest part... but unexpectedly fun."
Yul doubted her honesty.
But when he saw her smile and how casually she spoke, he began to understand why his instincts warned him about this girl the first time they met.
"Don't mess with me!!
Even if you had the right tools, are you telling me you could transcribe all that life data in those weird symbols?
We just met today. No matter how I look at it, it's impossible."
"You're absolutely right. That would be impossible—normally.
But I didn't have to do all that.
I just copied everything from your original invitation."
Then Wendy pulled a golden invitation from her pocket—identical to the one Yul had carried.
With a mischievous look in her eyes, she smiled and said:
"But that doesn't mean I don't know anything about you or your life... Mr. Haizuki!"
Yul stepped back in shock.
Worry quickly turned to fear.
"You—how do you know that name?
No—how much do you really know about me?"
Wendy giggled lightly and replied with a gentle, composed smile.
"No need to be so scared.
I was just teasing you a little.
I may not look like it, but I am the smartest person in this world.
Sure, I know a lot about you—but such information doesn't matter to me, so I'll forget it soon.
Anyway, back to our topic..."
"As I mentioned earlier, the library's system is like a gigantic computer with enormous processing power.
What do you think is the best way to hack such a system...?"
"Wait—if you just stand there silent, I'll get bored talking alone."
Despite everything happening, Yul still found her somewhat annoying.
"By using a virus, I suppose!
But I don't have that kind of computer knowledge."
"Exactly.
All you need is a strong virus to disable the system.
And since this library overflows with information, the perfect virus was information itself.
To preserve the books reliably and prevent forgery, the author's name was the most important element in the library's system.
Through the author's name, the system saves their works and clears their name of rumors or writings attributed to them posthumously without their knowledge.
Since this method is flawless and prevents data confusion, it ironically left a huge loophole to hack the system."
"I don't think I fully understood what you're trying to explain."
"Let me simplify it.
Imagine you hired an engineer to design your house's blueprint—an engineer renowned as the best in your city.
But suddenly, another engineer comes and tells you the first engineer never went to university and has no degree.
You'd probably be suspicious, right? You'd want to verify this.
Do you get what I mean now?"
"No, not really.
What does that have to do with what we're talking about?"
Wendy's gaze froze for a moment, thinking that if she simplified it more, it might sound foolish, so she decided to continue explaining.
"What I'm trying to say is, see these books behind me?
There are about a thousand books here.
Half of them contain information that questions the credibility of thousands of authors throughout history.
When such a large amount of contradictory information is processed simultaneously, what do you think happens to the library's information system?"
"Wait... hold on a second.
You said earlier the library saves the book immediately when it is written, meaning any information in these books has already been processed and corrected.
Unless..."
Yul paused, anxiety showing on his face as he thought deeply. Wendy continued for him:
"Unless these books were written simultaneously.
And of course, writing them takes time no matter how fast you write.
To make a huge system like this get confused even for a little bit, you need such a large volume of data to appear at the same second.
In other words, these books must have come out of nowhere.
But that's not exactly what happened.
All these books here—I wrote them myself the moment I passed through the library gate."
At this point, Yul had reached his limit and started shouting angrily:
"Would you stop messing with me for a moment?
By the way you speak, it sounds like every book contains different information about different people.
I won't ask how someone could write all this in just three seconds.
But do you realize how much focus the human mind can reach to write all this without mistakes in those few seconds?
Do I look like an idiot to believe this?"
Before he could finish, Wendy burst out laughing loudly and stepped forward to stand right in front of him, saying:
"But I did do it.
It sounds impossible, doesn't it?
But I did it just that simply.
Isn't that funny? Haha."
She smiled in front of Yul like a crazy person excited about something nobody else understood.
Seeing Yul's confused look, Wendy stepped back a little and continued.
"But it wasn't that easy, I guess.
And the cost wasn't cheap, after all."
"What do you mean?"
"All I did was use my power.
But let me explain first what my power is."
A black substance appeared from her hand, forming a floating cube over her palm.
"I call it the Black Box.
This ability can transform into any shape I imagine.
And it's not limited to shape or size—I can change its mass and temperature too.
So simply put, I can do this."
The substance suddenly turned into a black crown floating above her head.
"Or something like this."
The substance moved in the air, splitting into five parts.
Each part became a huge sword surrounding Yul.
"Or even something like this."
The substance transformed into a wide board, resembling a slightly thick wooden plank.
Protrusions appeared on it, shaped like letters covering the board.
"Do you get the idea now of how I managed to write all this here?"
At that moment, Wendy felt intense pain in her head.
Her power disappeared as she put her hand on her right eye, on the verge of collapse, gasping heavily.
Yul felt some concern but said nothing.
"If you can create hundreds of these instant printers at once, then I suppose it really is possible.
But what about paper and ink?"
Wendy's condition stabilized, and she looked at her hand stained with blood that had dripped onto her cheek and covered her eye with hair.
She smiled and said:
"Well, it wasn't that difficult after all.
After all, that's one of the advantages of my ability.
And that's what made using it more dangerous for me."
"What do you mean?
Are there risks in using this ability?"
"Of course there are.
Nothing that powerful comes without limits.
Well, that's because I haven't reached the second level yet.
The kind of power known as Yin and Yang among some humans can be deadly to its owner at level one.
Reaching level two puts a restriction on you that prevents you from using your power if you break it.
It's like partially sealing your ability—you can't use it fully, but it also regulates energy gates usually located in the eyes to prevent them from exploding due to energy leaks.
At level one, the power is wild and unlimited but can kill you at any moment if you misuse it.
If I were at level two, I wouldn't have been able to carry out my plan because my creative ability would be restricted.
That's why I paid a high price this time."
Yul had only superficial knowledge of supernatural powers, so he didn't fully grasp what she was trying to say.
Wendy pushed back the hair covering her right eye.
When Yul saw her right eye, fear took hold of him instantly.
Her eyeball was missing from its place, and the flesh around it had turned black, as if an explosion had occurred inside her eye.
Seeing this grotesque sight, Yul still didn't realize the gravity of this for Wendy.
He said, confused:
"[Why] would you go to such lengths just for two books?"
Wendy smiled as usual and said:
"Wait a moment.
We haven't reached that question yet.
Let's continue."
"I was saying that disabling the processing system required that huge amount of data, but honestly, it wasn't enough.
After all, the system stores all the books in this world.
Something like this would slow it down, but it wouldn't be enough to disable it for three seconds.
I said half of these books contain information about thousands of authors.
The other half are novels I wrote a while ago to pressure the system with the volume of information.
But that was my limit, so I bought another thousand books from real authors to write them with me at this moment.
And that's how I managed to slow it down a little.
And here comes the role of the library owner.
At the moment of the malfunction, I wrote this text."
Wendy took a book from the pile and raised it for Yul to see.
The book looked suspiciously different from the others, titled: The Law.
"The way the library owner controls the system is very simple.
His power works by tracking the commands written in the special Book of Commands, and these are recognized by the processing system itself.
So all I did was copy this book and add a new command to solve the problem I caused."
"Wait a moment.
What's the point of that?
What's the meaning of everything you did then?"
Wendy laughed a little and said while tossing the book behind her:
"You really don't understand.
Everything I did here was so you could safely enter the library for three seconds without the processing system noticing you.
But that was only the first step in this plan.
By issuing a new command that solved the problem, if the system accepted it, that meant it recognized me as the library owner authorized to issue commands and solve problems.
I told you it's like a very big computer—information determines who the owner is, not the face or voice or anything else, even if I'm not the one supplying the energy for it to manifest.
At this stage, any order I write in the Book of Law would be executed during that malfunction period, unless the order violated the library's principles.
This made it possible for me to create the hypothesis of a person without an invitation inside the library.
I wrote this command:
[If there is a lost person inside the library, their presence means they deserve to receive a book.
If there is an invitation without its owner inside the library, it will be considered an independent person, and upon exiting the library, the books they deserve will be selected and sent to them]."
"You forgot to tell me—the invitation you had wasn't just a fake copy.
It was actually my invitation."
Yul was stunned by the amount of information she was saying and couldn't fully understand it all, but he was drawn to what she said at the end.
"Wait a moment.
Are you saying you received an invitation?"
"Yes, of course, I got an invitation.
But I didn't want to use it in the usual way, so I wrapped it in gold and engraved your personal information on it.
When you entered the library and during those few seconds, I unleashed my power that was around the invitation to remove the gold I had put on it and restore my personal information on the invitation.
Then, I had already issued the new command inside the library, so my invitation became an independent person.
And the moment you left the library, I received a direct message in my mind asking what kind of book I wanted."
"I get that, but according to this hypothesis, each of us should have gotten a special book.
So why do you have two?
Did you add a new command?"
"It's very simple.
Usually, the library gives you a book equal to the value of your invitation.
But since this was an unprecedented case, I chose the lowest value book among the books.
You could say it's a bad book.
In this case, the equality condition was not fulfilled, so the library chose a second book by the same author to give me.
But that author had only written two books during his lifetime.
The second book was definitely worth twice my invitation's value or maybe more.
That's how I defeated the library's system for the third time in this period.
What do you think? Amazing, isn't it?"
She said this while raising her fingers in a victory sign, smiling innocently like any normal girl.
"Still, something puzzles me.
How did you manage to copy my invitation?
No, how did you get it in the first place?
I don't remember giving it to you."
"That's because you don't realize yet who gave you the invitation.
This morning."
Wendy used her power to transform into a mailman's hat and sunglasses.
Seeing Wendy like that, Yul remembered the person who delivered the invitation to him that day when he was injured.
"I don't believe it.
You were in the king's army and worked as the person responsible for the messages?
You've been planning this since then?"
"I'm glad you finally noticed me.
But you're wrong about one thing.
That wasn't the beginning.
You're terrible at perceiving what's happening around you.
It all started exactly two years ago."
"Two years? That's impossible.
How could you know that I would get an invitation two years ago?
Getting an invitation from the tree is a rare thing.
How probable do you think it is?"
Wendy laughed loudly, suddenly her gentle look turned into cold, sharp eyes with a broad smile.
"You really don't get it, do you, Haizaki?
You still see me as the strange cheerful girl I was a moment ago.
You still think I'm lying somewhere, don't you?
Unfortunately, everything that happened to you in these two years was actually under my control.
Everything I did led to this point.
Being the third commander of the king's army, surviving every battle somehow, your relationships with people, your losses—
You were part of the cause.
The death of your comrades near the Pine Forest Village was unexpected.
Who would have thought we'd meet someone like the war king on our way?
But luckily, I managed to protect you from that explosion because I was prepared for the worst.
Thanks to that, I almost died in that battle because I was injured protecting you.
In other words, I saved your life."
Yul clenched his fist, restraining his anger at her tone.
"So what?
Does that mean everything you did during these two years was meaningless?
All those who died because of you and your plan had no meaning?"
Wendy's tone changed sharply to anger.
"Nothing is meaningless.
Your deception, killing that man this morning, accusing someone else of the crime, my trickery of the library system, even explaining all this to you—none of it is meaningless.
It's just that your mind can't comprehend all this.
Everything that happened and everything that will happen, you probably won't understand it because your mind isn't that intelligent yet."
"So finally, [why] did you do all this?
What's your goal?
Don't tell me it's just for those books."
"No, you're right there.
Everything I did was to get three books instead of one in exchange for my invitation.
I bet you think what I did was evil and I deserve to be punished for it, so let me prove to you otherwise.
All evil in this world comes from a person's selfish desires.
They're trivial and worthless.
But once you realize you can do whatever you want, you can't stop yourself.
Isn't that utterly foolish?"
Yul's eyes stopped looking at her.
Maybe if he kept looking, he would realize she was lying again.
But despite all that, he overcame his anger toward her.
He raised his head again, with no signs of annoyance or even hatred, as if he forgot everything she said and was back to talking to the girl named Wendy.
"You said a while ago that even your explanation to me has meaning.
Can you tell me what that meaning is?"
"Since you have this book that I want, I needed something to do to make you give me the book yourself.
After all, I can't just take it from you easily."
Hearing those words, Yul realized something that hadn't crossed Wendy's brilliant mind.
He suddenly burst out laughing in front of her, while Wendy looked a little embarrassed.
"What's so funny?
After seeing how smart I am, you definitely think I deserve the book to complete my achievement.
You're kind enough not to think much about it."
Yul wiped tears from his laughter and replied:
"You're absolutely right.
I was thinking about giving you the book from the start.
But I can't believe you're stupid enough for all this.
No, maybe you just don't trust anyone at all.
Probably you don't have any friends you can rely on in your life, or maybe your situation was thousands of times worse.
That's why, even though you know full well I'm this kind, you couldn't just ask me for help straightforwardly."
Wendy looked down, clenching the books tightly in her hand, blushing lightly.
"That's not true."
"I believe you.
I know I still see what you did as very wrong, and I can't think of a reason that would make you do such things just for some books.
Maybe you're right.
It's just that I can't understand things so simply, and I'm not smart enough to grasp what you did.
But I choose to believe you're not that bad."
"You believe someone who lied even about his name.
Maybe that's why you'll never find salvation.
If you believe lies so easily, you'll never reach the truth."
"Maybe you're right about that too."
Wendy turned back to the pile of books, took a match, and lit it.
She threw it toward the pile of books, which started burning.
"What are you doing?"
"I told you earlier that the reason I explained all this to you was to make you give me the book.
But that was a lie.
I explained it to say these words and make you believe them.
You're searching for the meaning of your life, aren't you?
If so, you should leave the king's army immediately."
"Wait a minute.
What are you trying to say?"
"If you want to know the meaning of your life, join me on my journey.
I'll search with you, and I promise you'll find it in the end.
You live in a very small world.
So let me show you the world you want."
Yul stepped forward and stood before the fire.
He saw a book beside the fire; the flames had begun to burn its edge.
He picked it up and extinguished the fire from its side.
"If I give you the book I brought from the library, will you allow me to take this book?"
"I don't see a problem with that, but this novel is a bit bad."
"No problem, I don't mind."
Yul gave her the book he had brought.
"About what you told me earlier, I agree to go with you.
But on one condition."
"What is it?"
"I want you to tell me your real name."
"Oh, of course!
My name is Cleopatra."
"I said your real name.
Why is this so important?"
"If you're so interested, why don't you investigate?"
"No, why would I?
That sounds really annoying."
"Then how about a prize?
If you manage to find out my name, I'll answer any question you want."
"Oh, okay, I don't mind.
Meanwhile, I'll call you Mr. Holmes."
When Wendy heard this name, she showed a disgusted look as a reaction to his poor taste in names.
"I bet you thought Sherlock Holmes is known for being very smart, so you gave me this name, right?"
"How did you know?
You're really scary."
"Fool, don't compare me to a boy with a good deduction mind.
That's an insult to me.
The one standing in front of you is the smartest creature on this earth.
And it's not like I'm trying to praise myself; I'm just stating the truth."
"Yes, I know, so you have to tell me your name, or else you'll become just an old man having communication problems."
"That's fine.
My name is Reem.
Are you happy now?"
"Another lie.
Actually, I feel that calling you Holmes among a crowd will be fun, so I'll stick to it."
Sparks flew between their eyes in that conversation, while the book fire near them lit the darkness of that sunset.
"You're such an annoying lunatic.
In that case, you have no problem if I call you Watson."
"Wait, who would follow someone arrogant like you?
And I already have a name, and you know it."
With a sarcastic look, she replied:
"You're right.
Maybe I should just call you by your name, Haizaki."
This made Yul even angrier.
"Wrong!
My name is Yul.
Stop using that name."
A guard saw the big fire in that alley.
He saw both the girl and Yul around it and blew the alarm whistle about a fire.
Hearing this, the girl quickly grabbed her books and started running out of the city.
Before Yul realized what was happening, he ran after her, with soldiers chasing them from all directions.
At that moment, he saw the face of the injured girl as she ran desperately.
When he saw how she laughed uncontrollably, he couldn't help but burst out laughing himself.
And somewhere deep in his heart, he felt that for the first time in his life, something was finally starting to move.