#184

I didn’t name it.

More importantly, how do I cancel making something a Vassal?

‘I have no idea.’

“…Codex. Do you know what happened to Record?”

[I don’t know. I’m Codex! Not Record! Record is dead!]

‘This is getting a bit annoying.’

[Fabio, more importantly, this! The guy inside here is irritating! He’s trembling so much! Can I let him out?]

[Do not call me Tremble Tremble!]

[Got it. I’ll come out. You keep living in there. You who hates being called Tremble Tremble. Fabio, bring me that book over there!]

[How dare you….]

“Hyung, why do you keep making weird things into Vassals?”

“…I don’t know.”

I pulled out any random book.

As the paper crane landed on it, the title of the booklet changed to [Codex].

The book opened on its own, the pages fluttering, and a clear voice flowed out.

[Codex! Codex means book! Therefore, all books belong to Codex! So cool! Such a great name!]

‘This thing can actually talk?’

Record only answered in text.

Is it because it received the Authority of the Three-Inch Tongue?

‘A notebook with a scrap function… well, it’ll be useful.’

I asked another question.

“Codex. Do you remember what happened below? Why did you say not to go?”

[Huh? Codex never said such a thing! Codex was just born. Please don’t get me confused. I’m a bit hurt.]

‘Shit.’

I took a deep breath and continued.

“…Codex. Is there any memo left by Record on the 4th basement floor?”

[Nope! Because Codex was newly born! Codex is Fabio’s Scripture! I deleted all that unnecessary content! From now on, Codex intends to write down everything Fabio says.]

‘I should have called it Record instead of Codex.’

“This is fucking absurd. Hyung, are you really going to keep this thing around?”

“…I don’t know.”

[‘I don’t know.’ Thus spoke Fabio.]

“Hey, why aren’t you writing down what I said?”

[Why should I write that? It’s a waste of pages.]

“…I need context. That’s the only way to know what my words mean.”

[Is that so? I see! Got it! If Fabio says so. ‘Hey, why aren’t you writing down what I said?’ said the smelly and stupid one. Then, the very wise Fabio spoke these magnificent words….]

“Codex. The information Record left behind is also very important to me. Without it, Fabio’s Scripture will be called an incomplete, defective copy in the future.”

[What? Really? I’d hate that.]

“Right. So, can you find out? You have to write my Scripture perfectly, after all.”

[That’s true. Because I am Codex….]

Codex scratched its head vigorously with its bookmark.

[Ummm…. There is a way! I, Codex, just need to go down there!]

“Down there?”

[Yes! Down!]

‘You’re the one who told me not to go….’

Telling me to go down to find out why I shouldn’t go down.

What kind of idiot logic is this?

“What’s down there?”

[Record’s corpse!]

“…A corpse?”

[Record’s blood tastes like ink. Do you want some too, Fabio? You can learn a lot! Though it won’t quench your thirst.]

“No, I’m good.”

My mind became cluttered.

‘Record’s corpse?’

When it said Record died, did it mean the entirety of Record died?

I had guessed that the state of the 4th basement floor was poor seeing how the vocabulary was gradually diminishing….

“…Who killed Record?”

[Huh? Isn’t that what we’re going to find out now? Fabio, do you have amnesia by any chance?]

“…….”

[Hmm. Even better! Codex will write down everything Fabio forgets. Then Fabio will always need Codex, right?]

I sank into thought.

‘Should I go? Or should I not?’

As long as the Emergency Rescue Device is working, I should be able to escape even if I encounter the ‘culprit’ below.

But there are system out-of-bounds areas down there.

What if the connection to the System suddenly weakens while I’m descending and the rescue device shuts off?

“Hyung, should I go alone? I’ll just throw this into the 4th basement and come back.”

[Thus chattered the insolent and wicked one. Filthy desires to monopolize Fabio leaked out in droves. Unaware that every time it opened its mouth, the stench of rotting blood spread everywhere….]

“What are you talking about? I don’t smell.”

“…It’s dangerous. We don’t know what’s down there.”

“How dangerous can it be? Well, in the worst-case scenario, if I end my life, wouldn’t my soul return to your side, Hyung? Then at least I can tell you why I died.”

[And now, it does not even hide its hideous and disgusting heart….]

“…Hyung, let’s just burn this thing. That would be better.”

I hugged Codex and stepped onto the stairs leading underground.

“Hyung!”

Why am I going down?

I don’t know.

“Hyung, wait a second!”

Why isn’t Pandemonium stopping me?

If he used Telekinesis, he could make me unable to budge.

“Fabio….”

I don’t want to go down.

And yet, I am going down.

Why?

‘Down there.’

It is.

It remains.

The thing that must not be lost.

My pace gradually quickens.

Down, further down.

Codex swallows ink.

Ink splatters everywhere.

It feels like a video playing in reverse.

I step on ink that wasn’t swallowed in time.

Splat, the ink splashes.

It feels as if I’m stepping into a pool of blood.

‘How many floors have I descended?’

[Fabio. You may stop now. I’ve read enough! I’ve found out who killed Record!]

“…Now I know too.”

I can naturally recall what was recorded in Codex.

Record felt despair while dying.

Letters, words, were flowing out of him.

Record struggled to hold onto the ink however he could.

With that, he records his end.

About the one who killed him and is swallowing his blood.

Wings, hair—everything is stained pitch black with ink.

Only the eyes still shine white.

‘Beautiful.’

So incredibly beautiful.

The thought that this beauty must be recorded filled the heart of the God of Records, ‘Alkaten.’

Alkaten was in agony.

It wasn’t because of the pain of his body being torn to shreds.

He lacked the words to describe that beauty!

Ah, I have read so many books, so why is my vocabulary so lacking!

Even if he gathered every passage describing beauty from tens of thousands of books, it was woefully insufficient to describe that appearance.

After agonizing for a long time, Alkaten found the best expression.

That being resembled Order.

Order.

That was the most beautiful thing Alkaten knew.

Alkaten sincerely adored beauty.

Therefore, he even felt happiness when the thing that resembled Order chewed and swallowed his heart.

But it was so despairing that no one would be able to read this record….

‘…What is this pervert.’

Was Record this kind of guy?

And shit, the name was fucking weird.

How was I supposed to guess that?

Alkaten?

Who the fuck is Alkaten.

‘Anyway.’

Long white hair.

White eyes.

Above all, a face that is fucking beautiful.

At that point, I already realized who it was.

‘The Saintess.’

The Saintess came to kill Record.

Why?

Leaving everything else behind?

‘Did Order give such a Revelation?’

No.

Record continues to write.

Because while being swallowed by the Saintess, he was able to ‘read’ her inside.

Pell moved according to her own heart.

Since her heart was shaped as the Lord fashioned it, this was the same as following the Lord’s Will.

Pell ordered the other apostles to do nothing and headed for the Main Hall.

‘Why?’

The thing Order desired most.

It was to recover lost memories.

‘Memories?’

Order does not know the true name of Oblivion.

What Loclem is currently wielding is merely a part of Oblivion, a small clone.

With that clone, one cannot restore what the true Oblivion has erased.

Loclem cannot even recall what this land was originally called.

‘So it wasn’t originally the Dark Realm.’

I mean, it is a bit strange to call the continent you live on a dark land.

It’s not as if there’s a separate bright land.

The reason Loclem made Alkaten the God of Records to dominate all records was also to find even a single clue to what had vanished beyond ‘Oblivion.’

He wanted to know, if nothing else, what he had forgotten.

But….

‘Record hid himself here.’

The reason he couldn’t find the insolent fellow who hid deep within the entrails of Oblivion without revealing what he sought was also because Loclem did not know the true name of Oblivion.

Even the Saintess could never return if she descended down there.

However, the Saintess, Pell, found a Sacred Relic that could evade Oblivion.

Beloved Perpetua.

Was this a gift you gave me?

‘Shit.’

No wonder she wouldn’t give it back.

I definitely heard that she treated the lab director like a rat in a trap.

Every time I asked how it went, that Adna avoided my gaze.

I just thought it was because she couldn’t find it….

‘That wasn’t a gift from Pepe.’

It’s my arm.

You piece of shit.