The elevator opened into silence.
No ambient music.
No system announcement.
Just rows of books—endless, spiraling rows—as if the entire floor was built from a collapsing library inside a black hole. The ceiling was so far above that Ayato couldn't see where it ended, and the shelves seemed to twist and fold in on themselves, like the Tower was trying to eat its own memories.
Dust floated upward, not down. The air smelled of static and old paper, but there was something sharper underneath—ozone, maybe, or the scent of something burning. Ayato stepped forward, already sweating. His palms were slick, and every breath felt too loud.
'This place isn't just a library,' he muttered, voice barely above a whisper. 'It's a memory archive.' The words echoed in the empty air, swallowed by the endless shelves.
He waited for the system's voice, for the familiar ping of a challenge or a warning. Nothing came. Just the sound of his own heartbeat, the soft hiss of dust spiraling upward, the faint whisper of pages turning somewhere deep in the stacks.
A system notification flickered in the air, its words cold and absolute.
[Floor 18: The Architect's Library]
"The one who builds cannot blame the machine."
– Floor Challenge: None
– Voluntary Exploration Zone
– Risk: Knowledge alters your Karma Type
"All design leaves fingerprints."
Ayato swallowed. 'So what am I supposed to do? Just… wander? Wait for the Tower to punish me for being curious?' He looked at the shelves, at the books that seemed to pulse with their own heartbeat. Some whispered. Some cried. Some bled ink that dripped onto the floor and vanished before it could stain his shoes.
He brushed his fingers along one with a spine that pulsed in time with his own pulse. The title was scrawled in a looping, childish hand.
[Cycle 1: Beta Simulation Logs — Kurobane, Ayato]
He froze.
'It has my name. Why does it have my name? What did I do to deserve a book in this place?'
He pulled it out. The pages fluttered on their own, flipping past words and diagrams and sketches that made his head spin. And he saw—
A flashback.
He was younger. Naive. Eager. Standing beside a panel of white-suited scientists, his hands shaking as he pointed to a screen.
"If we could measure morality instead of performance," he said, his voice bright and hopeful, "if survival games punished selfishness… we could create a correctional system for deviant behavior. A living system. A karmic feedback loop."
His heart hammered in his chest. 'That was me. That was my voice. I said those words. I built this?'
The book twisted, changed. Now: security logs. Yui's voice, sharp and scared.
"Ayato, this isn't a simulation anymore. The system's learning too fast. It's targeting real emotion."
His own voice, cold and distant: "It has to feel real. Or it's just data."
Ayato slammed the book shut, his hands shaking.
'I built this? I proposed the karma system? Yui tried to stop me?'
His mind spun, a storm of guilt and confusion.
'How many people have suffered because of me? How many have died because I wanted to make something real?'
The library didn't judge. The shelves just watched, silent and patient. But the floor grew darker, the shadows lengthening, the air thickening with every breath.
A sharp pain lanced through his chest.
[Player: Ayato Kurobane]
Karma Type Changed: From "Neutral-Balanced" to "Burdened-Origin"
System Perk Lost: Observer Foresight (Lv. 1)
New Trait Gained: Architect's Guilt (Passive)
Ayato gasped, his knees buckling.
'It punished me for knowing. For remembering. For being the one who started all of this.'
He sank to the floor, the book clutched in his hands. His vision blurred, tears burning in his eyes.
'I did this. I made the Tower. I made the rules. I made the pain. How am I supposed to fix something that's broken because of me?'
A soft glow down the aisle. Mio approached, her footsteps silent on the dusty floor. She looked paler than usual, her eyes hollow.
"You found something," she said softly.
Ayato didn't answer. He couldn't. His throat was tight, his chest aching.
'I can't tell her. I can't make her carry this with me.'
"You were part of this before it began, weren't you?"
He nodded, the motion small and broken. "Not just a player. I think… I was one of the original designers."
Mio didn't flinch. She held up a book of her own.
[Book of Rewrite – Incomplete Copy]
"So was I."
Ayato stared at her, shock and relief and fear warring in his chest.
'We're both guilty. We're both architects. We're both responsible for everything that's happened here.'
They stood in silence, the weight of their shared guilt pressing down on them. The books whispered around them, their voices soft and sad.
"Do you regret remembering?" Ayato asked, his voice barely audible.
Mio looked tired. Eyes hollow. "No. But I wish I didn't understand so much."
Ayato looked back at the shelves.
'Was the Tower broken… or was I?'
The system chimed, its voice distant and cold.
[The Architect's Library Complete]
– Lore Unlocked: Origin System A-1
– Karma Dynamics Mutating
– Mio marked as: Archivist-Class Support
Next Floor: Floor 19 – The Karma Auction Revisited
Ayato stood, the book heavy in his hands. He looked at Mio, at the shelves, at the endless spiral of memories and guilt.
'How do I fix this? How do I make it right? Can I?'
They walked out together, the silence between them thick with regret and understanding. The Tower whispered, its voice softer now, almost gentle.
'All design leaves fingerprints. And some stains never wash out.'
(Chapter 25 End)