The Chronicle of the Beginning and Climax

Chapter 4: A Reader's Burden

The world did not move.

Or rather, it did—but so slowly that Jihwan felt like he was standing outside of time itself.

The floating book before him glowed faintly, its title burning into his mind like an undeniable truth.

> [The Story of Yoo Jihwan.]

Jihwan swallowed.

For a moment, he entertained the thought that he had misread it. That maybe the words would shift if he blinked.

But they didn't.

His name was still there. His story.

His fate.

A heavy silence filled the room.

No one else reacted. No one else even glanced in his direction.

Because to them, this was just another nameless book.

Slowly, Jihwan exhaled.

If he panicked now, he wouldn't survive this world.

> Calm down. Think.

This wasn't a coincidence.

There was a reason this book had appeared before him. A reason it held his name when the others had nothing.

The cloaked figure loomed above them, watching. Waiting.

Jihwan clenched his fists.

If his name was in this book—then it meant someone had already written his fate.

And that meant there was something he needed to confirm.

Without hesitation, he reached out and touched the book.

A sharp pulse ran through his fingers, like static electricity meeting flesh. The moment his fingertips grazed the cover, the world around him distorted.

The stone floor vanished. The shelves disintegrated into nothing.

And suddenly—

He was no longer in the hall.

He was somewhere else entirely.

---

A Library Without End.

Jihwan's eyes widened.

He was standing inside a vast space that stretched infinitely in all directions. Towering bookshelves spiraled into the sky, their spines stacked so high that the tops disappeared into darkness. The floor beneath him was polished obsidian, reflecting the endless rows of books above like a mirror.

The air was thick with the scent of ink and paper.

He took a step forward—and something shifted.

A book from the nearest shelf suddenly flew open, its pages turning at an unnatural speed.

Jihwan flinched as words formed midair, glowing faintly like embers in the dark.

> [The Reader of the Beginning has been chosen.]

[The path has been set. The pages will turn. The story will unfold.]

Jihwan's heart pounded.

This wasn't just a book.

It was a prophecy.

His prophecy.

> "You already knew, didn't you?"

A voice rang out behind him.

Jihwan spun around—

And froze.

Standing there, in the dim glow of the library, was a man dressed exactly like him.

Same height. Same build.

Same face.

But his eyes—his eyes were different.

Because unlike Jihwan's own confused gaze, this man looked at him with undeniable certainty.

As if he had already seen this moment before.

As if this was his story, not Jihwan's.

> [Welcome to the beginning, Yoo Jihwan.]

> [You are now the protagonist of this tale.]

And with that, the world shattered.

---

End of Chapter 4