They say knowledge is power.But what if the knowledge was alive——and it hated you?
Location: The Shelf That Shouldn't Exist – 10:44 PM
Deep beneath Velvora City, past the smell of moldy concrete and forgotten bribes, was a place Asher wasn't supposed to find.
The Stygian Archive.
The entrance wasn't exactly marked. It was wedged between a noodle stall and an adult toy shop, hidden behind a flickering neon sign that read:
"Used Souls – Buy 1, Get Nightmares Free"
He held the paper bird the Archivist had given him. It fluttered slightly in his hand, like it had a heartbeat.
"You're sure about this?" Rachel's voice buzzed through his comm.
"Define sure," Asher replied, pulling open a rusted gate. "I just walked into a magical death library guided by origami. How's your night going?"
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Inside the Archive
It was silent. Too silent.
Not peaceful—predatory.
Rows upon rows of bookshelves stretched into darkness. The air was thick, like breathing through old secrets. Every book had a lock. Every lock had a warning.
A candle floated beside him, no string, no logic. Just...vibes.
It led him to a desk with a plaque.
Librarian on Leave. Don't Scream.
Asher's internal monologue went something like:
"Cool, cool. No librarian. No rules. Definitely not gonna touch cursed stuff."
Five minutes later—
He was touching cursed stuff.
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The Book with His Name
The candle stopped at a shelf labeled:
"Subjects Destined to Die Twice"
Among the tomes, there it was:
"Asher Blackwood: Vol. 1 – The One Who Shouldn't Be Awake"
He opened it.
And the book wrote back.
"Hello, Asher. We've missed you."
The text changed, shifting like ink floating in water.
"You were meant to die in the fire. But someone rewrote that page."
"You should not exist in this timeline."
He slammed it shut.
"I hate libraries."
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Creepy Event #4: The Whispering Spine
The shelves groaned.
And behind him, the books started whispering. Not pages. Spines.
Words stitched into leather covers… moving like mouths.
"He's not the real one."
"She's coming to unwrite him."
"The ink remembers pain."
Asher spun.
The floating candle was gone.
A cold breeze blew through the aisle.
He turned—and there she was again.
Not the Archivist.
The Girl from the Morgue.
She stood barefoot on the stone floor, dress soaked, hair clinging like vines.
She didn't blink.
Just whispered:
"I read your ending."
"It wasn't happy."
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Flashback Fragment: The Second Death
Suddenly—
Flames.
Screams.
Asher saw himself, older, bleeding, holding someone—Rachel? Maybe?
And laughing.
Laughing as everything burned.
Then—
Nothing.
Back in the archive. He gasped, sweat drenching his collar.
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Rachel's Remote Panic
"Asher! You disappeared from every street cam. What's happening?"
"I think I broke reality's NDA," he coughed.
"Did you touch anything cursed?"
"…Define 'touch'."
"I'm calling backup."
"No! I need more time. Something in this place knows what they did to me. I need to find the Librarian."
"The one who's on leave?"
"I'm hoping it was a sabbatical, not a summoning."
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The Red Mark
Asher turned the book again.
A final page had appeared.
Drawn in blood—his own handwriting.
"If you read this far… don't trust the memory with the black key."
Before he could blink, a loud thud echoed through the library.
And from between the shelves…
Something crawled out.
Tall. Twisted. Wearing an oversized trench coat made of stitched book covers. Its head… was a bundle of bookmarks, eyes blinking through paper.
The Librarian had returned.
"Late return," it hissed. "Penalty: Erasure."
Asher ran.
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Meanwhile: Creepy Event #5 – The Girl With The Unblinking Smile
Far away, in a quiet school library, a child stared at a picture book.
It didn't belong there.
Every page was blank except one:
A drawing of Asher—on fire, screaming, smiling.
The child laughed.
The librarian didn't.
She'd been dead for an hour.
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Back to the Chase
Asher dodged between shelves. The Librarian's voice followed like broken printers and chalkboard screams.
"All versions must converge."
He hurled the paper bird into the air.
It exploded into glowing glyphs—and opened a door.
He dove through.
Everything went white.
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Location Shift: Somewhere… Remembered
He stood in an apartment.
Clean. Modern. Familiar.
A woman stepped into view.
Late 20s, dark hair, wearing his hoodie.
She smiled. "You're home early."
He blinked.
His heart hurt.
He didn't know who she was.
But something deep inside whispered:
"This… was supposed to be real."
And then the room melted.
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Back in the Alleyway – Reality Reloaded
Asher woke up in an alley.
Coughing. Bleeding.
Holding the book.
Only this time—it was blank.
No name. No ink. Just one sentence on the last page:
"You are not the original. But you are the last."
[End of Chapter 5]
Preview for Chapter 6 – The Man Who Wrote Tuesday
Asher hunts for the mythical ghost-writer of time itself: a man who lives in reverse and edits days like blog posts. But if he finds him, he may learn the truth behind the "version paradox"—and why he keeps dying in memories that were never his.