Chapter Text
There was chaos everywhere; some people were celebrating, some crying, some laughing, some yet to process what had occurred. Two certain great masters however, were running to their friend whose eyes did not look in the best of shape.
“Chu Yue!” You Huo shouted as he knelt next to the redheaded woman with Qin Jiu and 154 nearby.
“Don’t bother reprimanding me You Huo, you would’ve done the same” Chu Yue said with a sardonic smile. She couldn’t really see her friend’s face at the moment, but they had known each other for so long that she could imagine it quite clearly, his conflicted expression as he internally agreed with her statement but also wanting to scold her.
At that moment, there was a shout from one of the examinees, which was quickly followed by several more. You Huo, Qin Jiu and 154 swiftly turned around, on guard for any attacks, but felt a sudden tugging sensation. It was as if there was a force, not tugging their bodies, but their very souls. The sensation was evidently what was felt by all the rest as many were hugging themselves, as if trying to stop their souls from escaping as though such a thing were possible.
One by one, people started dropping like flies, the examinees first and invigilators soon following suit, Chu Yue and 154 included. No matter how much the great masters tried to keep their eyes open, the effect was like the sleep effect at the Shirly siblings’ house times a hundred. They too inevitably succumbed to slumber.
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The first thing You Huo saw when he opened his eyes was an ornate towering shelf with thick tomes and nondescript scrolls that looked like it belonged in an ancient castle library rather than anything remotely modern. The next thing he noticed was that he was no longer wearing the dirty and torn clothes he should be wearing, which meant that either a) somebody changed his clothes while he was out cold and somehow managed to transport him here, or b) the entire mission was a dream, and he was stuck in some exam centre with an ancient library.
He knew that what all happened in the mission was too complex and the injuries and conversations too real, to have been made up by his mind. Which meant that the first option was likely to be correct. That didn’t really help much in the grand scheme of things, but at least he had a general feel for the situation.
He slowly got up and looked around. He really was in an ancient library, and there were several other unconscious people, including all the examinees, invigilators and, of course, GIN, who was lying next to him. It seemed he was the first one up, which was weird in and of itself. But he was unfortunately used to weird situations due to a certain homicidal system, so he composed himself fairly quickly.
Just as he was contemplating whether to leave the people here (where it appeared relatively safe if his instincts were to be trusted) and go look for an exit or clue or wake the people and have them alert but possibly panic and hinder him, there was a movement beside him. It seemed the other great master was waking too.
Qin Jiu groaned and sat up, stretching his arms and looking around. You Huo could tell the exact moment their surroundings registered in his partner’s mind and his assessment of the situation formulating in his head.
Qin Jiu turned to him and asked in a nonchalant tone, “Good morning darling, do you happen to know where we are? I know it’s been a while for me but even I know the real world does not look like this.”
Qin Jiu got up and stood next to You Huo, and seemingly waiting for this, all the people who were lying unconscious started waking up simultaneously. There were confused glances and whispers abound. People started huddling together in groups while the invigilators and some braver examinees took it upon themselves to calm down and take account of the others and their surroundings. Very soon, the invigilators organised themselves and turned to the great masters for commands.
Amidst all this, Qin Jiu noticed that 154 was here with 922 (Wen Yuan). Next to them, Chu Yue was completely healed and seemed to be able to see fine again. This further proved his belief that this was not the real world, as there was no way 154 could’ve been there had it been so, and seeing Chu Yue healed, he noticed that his ears too were not ringing due to the explosions and gunfire as they should’ve been.
During all the commotion, there was a voice from the lectern in the middle of the bookshelves. Actually, to call it a ‘voice’ would not be quite right. It was more like a sound that was trying to imitate a voice, like a sound made by an animal where a few notes seemed to mimic human words, or the sounds of the wind between trees that seemed like human whispers. All in all, it was something that sent a shiver down the backs of all who were present. People shuffled away from the lectern as if burnt and in just a moment, the clearing between the bookshelves became as quiet as a real library, not a squeak to be heard.
In that tense silence, that sound came again and the lectern glowed an eerie but enchanting silver-white. The glowing light seemed almost tangible as if one could touch it if they tried.
That light shifted and gathered into a ball and then flattened out into a humanoid shape. The light cleared and a black-robed figure, about the height of a 7-8 year old child with skin that looked like pearlescent opal and large eyes that resembled the galaxy, short hair that also looked covered in stars if the lock sticking out of the hood of the robe was anything to go by, and an overall androgynous appearance; materialized.
“*@^#&!” said the creature, and, looking at the confused faces around, realised that their audience could not understand them. They cleared their throat and began again, this time in a language the others could understand, “Hello, greetings to the humans.”
Of course, Qin Jiu was the first to speak up and communicate with the (definitely not human) creature, “Hello to you too! Do you mind explaining what we are doing here?”
The creature looked seemingly delighted by Qin Jiu’s response, and started muttering something along the lines of talking to actual human beings and whatnot. Upon closer inspection, it seemed their skin and eyes were constantly shifting in their patterns, making them appear like flowing glittery milk and dancing stars.
The entity then suddenly projected their voice across the library for all to hear and said, “ Please do not panic. I mean no harm to you, people of world 1000520. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but you will have to stay here for a while due to the instability of your worldline.”
Even though all the words that they said made sense individually, but strung together, they sounded completely illogical. What was all this about ‘worldlines’ and ‘instability’? What even was this creature?
Qin Jiu and You Huo glanced at each other seeing that the rest were just as confused. In the end, Qin Jiu decided to ask the being to elaborate, taking on the role of spokesperson from their side considering You Huo was not one to talk much and Chu Yue still seemed to be reeling with her regained vision.
Hearing the question, the being said, “well, it is hard to explain but you all destroying the system caused a sudden instability in your world because the magnetic waves and energies keeping the system stable suddenly stopped, creating a dimensional rift, which is basically a tear in ‘space-time’ as you guys call it. It would cause too many people to die and create a lot of imbalance in your world, so, to prevent that I transported you all here.”
That answer seemed to tick off You Huo, who asked, “If peoples’ deaths were that much of an issue, you could've done this when the system started indiscriminately killing people instead of waiting until the system was dismantled to act.”
If whatever this was had been done before, so many more lives could’ve been saved. He could've been with his boyfriend way earlier. They wouldn't have to have been separated; Qin Jiu wouldn't have had to almost die and he wouldn't have had to be blind. All the memory loss and deaths wouldn't have happened. Suffice to say, he was frustrated.
A lot of the other examinees too started protesting. They didn't know where they were or who the creature was but all those deaths of people they knew, all those friends made along the way didn't have to die if they were just transported here earlier?! Heck, most of them wouldn't even be sucked into the system in the first place if this had been done early enough.
All the voices created a cacophony of noise, further amplified by the structure of the room (library?) they were in.
The creature looked around, seeming a bit panicked and tried to calm down the rowdy people. Once it was quiet again, they spoke in a placating tone.
“I couldn't interfere earlier because the forces that kept the system stable prevented me from doing so. In destroying the system, you allowed me to be able to help.”
That… made sense, maybe? None of them were sure how this thing worked really.
Seeing that there probably wouldn't be another outburst soon, the being spoke again.
“This is the Library of Worlds, or L.O.W. for short. All the books around you have stories from other worldlines and universes. I request that you do not try to read any of them as they will be incomprehensible to you and you could damage the structure of the world should something happen to its book.”
Some of the examinees in the back who were reaching out to the books sheepishly drew their hands back.
“Oh right! I should probably give you guys a… what do you call it?... a name? Well, I do not possess one, but you may call me Guardian, as I am the guardian of this library.”
Qin Jiu, “ How long are we staying here? Oh also, thank you for the new clothes and healing us.”
Guardian said while shaking their hands in front of them “Oh no need for thanks, it was the least I could do. And… about how long… umm, since you guys destabilized your world quite a bit, I cannot give you an exact time but it could take anywhere between 2 days to 2 weeks.”
Chu Yue finally decided to speak up, “What about food, water, washrooms and such?”
“Oh don't worry about those, in here you will not feel the need to have food, water, sleep or even go to the washrooms. If you need some privacy however, I suppose I could rearrange some of the bookshelves to create another alcove or something?” Guardian said while tilting their head.
“What about entertainment then? If we are to be stuck here for like 2 weeks and can't even touch the books, which are supposedly other universes or something, are we just supposed to die of boredom?” said 922, oh sorry, Wen Yuan.
“Worry not, dear human, for I do have something you could, no, have to do. Actually, I should have said this earlier but there is a price to be paid for transporting you all here. The last person to be transported will be the person whose next life will be viewed. This can be either a blessing or a curse as the next life can go terribly or amazingly but there would be nothing to change it, hence it would balance out the power required to bring you here.”
“Isn't this… a breach of privacy?” One of the braver examinees asked.
Guardian blinked then responded, “I figured it would be fine since the next life technically will not be this life. They would be a whole new person so it would be like watching a movie or series, I think that's what they call it?, of that sort.”
“Well… Who was the last person to be transported?” Old Yu asked.
“Your nephew, You Huo. Also known as invigilator A.”
All eyes turned to the person in question, silently asking a question.
Gao Qi, “You don't have to accept A. It would still be a breach of privacy.”
You Huo thought about it for a moment but then shrugged. “Sure.” Not that there was much choice anyway. And privacy? What privacy? There was no such thing with the system breathing down his neck for so long. At least this time it would be something technically not related to him in the sense that it was a whole other life.
Honestly, this entire thing felt like a fever dream, ‘next life’, ‘other universes’ and whatnot. He wasn’t really sure how much to trust this ‘Guardian’ but so far they all were unharmed and considering how non-human the Guardian looked, he was surprisingly inclined to believe that this was true. And if this was some kind of afterlife… well… at least they brought the system down with them and Qin Jiu was with him. He really couldn’t ask for much more.
As soon as he gave his affirmation, the lectern started to glow again and more balls of light emerged from it, floating to different parts of the alcove and solidifying into cloud-like shapes. There were enough of the ‘clouds’ for everyone to sit comfortably, which was a feat in and of itself considering there were over a thousand people there. Then, the lectern itself grew in size and flattened out until it resembled a giant screen.
Guardian, “Please, have a seat everybody.” Then, they started fiddling with the screen.
As everybody settled down, the Guardian let out an “Oh!”
“What happened? Is something wrong?” asked 154. “If it’s something tech related maybe I can help.” chimed in Wen Yuan.
“Oh no, it’s not a problem but I just found out that the world we are watching also has the next life of another person present here.”
“Who is it? Oh! Is it Qin ge? It’s Qin ge isn’t it?” Di Li popped up from behind Yu Wen, giving him a scare. “Where did you come from?!”
Guardian chuckled while replying, “Yes, it is in fact him. Are you okay with that?” they asked while turning towards said great master.
“Eh sure, why not. It means I’ll see my next life with the big invigilator so I’d be more than happy to.” Qin Jiu said from his place next to You Huo, having sat beside him on the same cloud.
While Guardian went back to fiddling with the screen, Qin Jiu whispered to You Huo, “Do you think we’ll be together in that universe as well?”
You Huo scoffed, “If you don’t annoy me to death first then maybe.”
That seemed to be enough for Qin Jiu though as he just grinned and relaxed against the cloud. Internally, You Huo was hoping they really would be together because he couldn’t imagine himself being with anyone else. And if Qin Jiu had another partner in that life… he really didn’t want to think about it.
“Alright done! It will start in 2 minutes.” Guardian turned around and noticed that everybody had seated themselves. The two great masters had been dragged to sit in the middle. On You Huo’s right, Old Yu was sharing a cloud with Yu Wen and Di Li. Behind the Yu family was a cloud with 154 and Wen Yuan huddled together, with another cloud next to them seating Shu Xue, Wu Li and Yang Shu.
To Qin Jiu’s left, Chu Yue, Zhao Jiatong and 021 were seated together, behind them Gao Qi was seated with 078, who looked like he very much didn’t want to be there. In a semicircle around them were the rest of the invigilators and support staff of the system (there was no Du Deng Liu).
Then there was a noticeable gap after which the examinees were seated. It seemed that even after taking down the system together, there was still some latent fear towards the invigilators.
Having observed thus far, Guardian went and took a seat in a corner of the room and made themself comfortable. Just on time, there was a beep noise from the screen after which it turned on.
It was time for the show to begin.