My eyes snapped open.
…darkness.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Not the suffocating kind from before—not the kind that crushed the air out of my lungs.
This darkness felt… different.
Quiet.
Endless.
—
A faint flicker of light caught my attention.
Torches.
Flames burned steadily in the distance, their glow soft and golden, pushing back just enough of the darkness to reveal—
bookshelves.
Rows of them.
Tall. Ancient.
Endless.
They curved around me in a perfect circle, stretching far beyond what the light could fully reveal.
I turned slowly.
No matter where I looked… it was the same.
Shelves.
Books.
Darkness.
—
I glanced down.
…and froze.
There was no floor.
Or rather—
there was nothing I could see.
Beneath my feet, it looked like empty space, like I was standing in the middle of a void.
Yet somehow…
I wasn't falling.
I shifted my weight slightly.
Solid.
Something was there.
Just… not visible.
"…That's new."
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
—
I looked up.
No ceiling either.
Only more darkness, stretching endlessly above me.
—
No floor.
No ceiling.
No end.
Just darkness… and books.
—
I stood at the center.
—
Between me and the shelves was another ring.
A smaller circle.
At first glance, it looked like a railing—golden, faintly glowing, forming a boundary around me.
But the more I stared at it…
the more something felt off.
It looked like part of a structure.
Incomplete.
Like something was missing.
Steps.
Yes… that was it.
This looked like the center of a circular building—the kind with stairs spiraling upward and downward.
Except…
there were no stairs.
Only the railing remained.
"…Weird."
—
I slowly pushed myself up to my feet.
No pain.
No stiffness.
No lingering ache from what should have been—
fatal.
I paused.
"…I'm alive?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
—
I looked down at my hands.
Normal.
No blood.
No injuries.
No sign that a bookshelf had just crushed me.
I flexed my fingers once.
Twice.
Nothing.
—
A faint chill crept up my spine.
This isn't a hospital.
In fact…
this wasn't anywhere I had ever been before.
—
I turned again, scanning the endless shelves.
No doors.
No windows.
No people.
Just me…
and the books.
—
Then—
I remembered.
The voice.
"Welcome… Keeper."
—
My brows furrowed slightly.
"…Keeper?"
The word felt strange.
Unfamiliar.
Yet…
for some reason—
it didn't feel wrong.
—
"…Who said that?"
My voice echoed softly, swallowed almost instantly by the vast space.
No answer.
No movement.
Nothing.
—
I was alone.
—
…at least, that's what it felt like.
—
I took a cautious step forward.
The invisible ground held firm beneath my feet.
Slowly… carefully…
I approached the golden boundary.
It glowed faintly, almost breathing, like it was alive in some subtle, quiet way.
I hesitated for a brief moment.
Then—
I reached out.
The moment my fingers touched the golden light—