That cursed book…why of course it's the damn clue she left behind!

The way that Syuna desperately wanted him to read the book called Havory was an obvious tell that it held more meaning than it let on. Now he just had to find it once again.

Gus proceeded to get up from the rubble on the floor he fell asleep on in a slow but controlled manner, yet suddenly stopped as he noticed something weird lying on him. A suit jacket of high quality was sprawled over his legs, looking tiny when compared to his ginormous body.

Is this…Marco’s? What’s this doing here?

Confused by the weird show of affection by the taciturn leader, Gus carefully picked up the jacket in an effort to avoid getting dust on the expensive item. He then carefully placed it on his palm and held it on his hand with his fingers sprawled out to avoid creasing it. Making sure it wouldn’t fall, Gus softly walked towards the humans who were busy studying in order to not disturb them.

Seems they all got the gist of what should be done.

The humans were no fools. They all witnessed what the Golem was capable of, and just knowing it could be one of many that the Merchant controls was horrifying enough thought to make them both diligent and obedient.

Walking past them, Gus noticed that they would back away and give him terrified looks as the mighty Golem got too close.

Well, it’s not too much of a surprise, I did get a little violent yesterday.

Noticing a pair of familiar humans, Gus walked towards the distracted man who was sitting close to a frail woman.

“Ah…Gus. Are you okay?” Cricket softly asked, noticing Gus first.

The last person I wanted to talk to right now…okay maybe second to last person cause the Merchant would definitely be worse.

The frail woman who looked at him with kindness fitting for another human gave him a mix of conflicting feelings. Yet if he were to describe the strongest of the emotions it would be one of shame. As for what right does he have to be happy from the kind woman’s words when she could one day be killed by his hands?

Unless I figure a way out of here first.

“Do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?” Cricket asked again in her caring voice, interrupting his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, no…I’m fine now. I have an idea of how to fix things. I just wanted to return this jacket to you, Marco. Thank you…for it.”

Gus lowered himself to the handsome man and showed the suit jacket that was resting on his hand. Marco looked up at the Golem with a face of surprise before turning abruptly to face Cricket who was giving him a sneer while hiding a chuckle. Quickly noticing his slip-up, he coughed and returned his face back to the usual confident mask he always donned.

“Do not think much of it, Golem, I was simply…testing the waters, yes, to make sure you wouldn’t go postal again and break us to pieces next,” Marco said in an arrogant fashion.

“Gosh Marco, *cough* *cough*, you don’t need to act all shy now,” Cricket said with a snicker and coughs in between before turning back to Gus, “But Gus, we’re here if you want to talk. It must have been a lot for you yesterday, it’s only human to be angry enough to want to break something after all that. I can always spare you a moment if you want to share anything. Marco too, even though he doesn’t like to admit it.”

Only human, huh…

Marco looked at the frail woman in surprise and quickly turned his head away.

“Me? Why, no, um, I’m not concerned at all with this stone man. In fact, I’m more worried for your safety, Cricket. Who knows if it will throw a fit again.”

“This goofball… sorry Gus, this shy idiot gets so caught up in playing the leader that he sometimes forgets how to function like a human,” Cricket playfully said.

“It’s no problem, it’s what he should be doing…actually, I feel like it’s strange that you're not wary of me. It’s not like I’ve done anything particularly good for you guys,” Gus questioned.

“Oh? Suspicious of me now, huh?” Cricket mischievously asked in return.

“No! It’s just…well—”

“The Golem makes a point, Cricket. You’ve been awfully chummy with what could be your killer, it’s only fair that it asks why,” Marco interjected.

It’s scary how good at reading Marco is, he basically said my thoughts out loud. But then again…I am curious.

“Ah…I suppose that’s true. Well, I guess the best way I can explain is that I get the feeling we’re more similar than we think. It might sound weird, but…it feels like fate brought us to meet,” Cricket ominous said.

“Awfully romantic, Cricket…” Marco said with eyes full of doubt.

There’s that word fate again.,

“No. What she says makes sense. In fact, I need to go somewhere. I think I might have a clue on how to save us,” Gus whispered at the end.

The two humans turned serious at his words, looked around for any listeners, and then got closer to him.

“You say you have an idea on how to escape?” Marco whispered, his eyes full of hope.

“More like a lead, but it has to do with the upper levels of this library. There’s a book up there that I have to recover, it’s got the same name as what that Merchant was talking about, Havory. I think it might give us a clue on how to escape.”

“Then…what do you want us to do?” Cricket whispered, curious why Gus was telling them this information.

“Just continue like normal, and have no one try to follow me upstairs. I have this rules pamphlet, and supposedly anyone who tries going up to a level they shouldn’t be at can get heavily penalized. I’m not for sure how that counts to me, but I’m sure I can handle it.”

The two humans nodded their heads simultaneously and decided to leave the Golem to its own trial. After watching both of them resume their reading, Gus thought of sighing before turning his gaze to the staircase.

This is going to hurt like a son of a bitch…

Placing his first step onto the staircase, his mind was immediately alerted by a popup that read:

"Prohibited level, please return to the floor where the challengers currently reside.”

Ignoring the pop-up, Gus proceeded to climb the stairs. After reaching the second level, a familiar sharp pain in his soul returned, urging him to descend back down.

Did not miss this feeling at all…

As Gus resisted the pain, he soon ascended up the next flight of stairs to the third level. But with each flight of stairs, the more the sharp pain turned to a violent and cruel one that dug deep into his soul.

Agh! That really hurts, damn it!

Gus then made it to the fourth flight of stairs, feeling the pain in his soul grow to even stronger levels. Even his mind couldn’t focus due to the amount of pop-up warnings now appearing in his head.

Just…two… more floors!

Gus walked across the fourth floor at a slow and unsteady pace, with one hand now grasping his chest. The flame that resided deep within him ached and dimmed as if an outside force was trying to snuff it out of existence.

So…close….

Finally, Gus reached the last flight of stairs, and slowly ascended it. The fifth floor was now in sight, and the bookshelf that held the book called Havory stood tall in the back of the room.

But then that was when Gus noticed it. The books that he had once neatly organized on the bookshelves were now all sprawled out onto the floor, as if a storm had knocked all of them over. Even worse, standing next to the bookshelf where Havory was located was the very being Gus wanted to avoid.

“Ah. You’re here finally, yes.”

The Merchant had beat him to do it. Standing in its signature bowler hat and trenchcoat, the uncanny being known as the Merchant stood eerily in the darkness. With every book on the floor except for the one in its hands, Gus knew it was too late.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

No…not like this!

“Oh, I should probably turn off that pain controller I have on you, yes, if we want to have a proper discussion.”

The Merchant snapped its fingers, and soon all the pain and warnings disappeared from Gus’s mind and soul as if it was never there.

“That’s better. Now, Golem, come have a seat.”

Despite there never being such a thing located within the library, a luxurious wooden chair appeared miraculously before Gus’s eyes with just its words. Knowing he had no other choice but to obey for now, Gus approached the chair and sat down on it, facing the still-standing Merchant. His flames which had just returned to full vigor already began to die down once again from the fear he felt by this being.

“Now you may be wondering what I wanted to talk about, yes, and I guess I’ll start off simple.”

Gus gulped mentally, staring at the book the Merchant was still holding in his hands.

Is that…it?

“Simmer down, yes, will you? This isn’t the book you wanted to find.”

The Merchant threw the book behind him into the pile of the others.

“In fact, whatever book you were talking about earlier doesn’t exist.”

Doesn’t exist? But that’s impossible!

“Wha–what do you mean by the book I was looking for?”

Multiple things surprised Gus in that sentence, but none were as big of a shocker as the fact that the Merchant had been listening to his conversations the whole time.

“Don’t play stupid with me, Cobble. I hear all, yes, within this library. In fact, I wanted to talk to you about your conduct lately as a trial Golem.”

“Oh…um, what’s wrong with my performance, sir?”

“All of it, you walking disaster! ‘Oh boo hoo, I’m a Trial Golem now, better go smash up some of my master’s previous art, yes, while I’m pissed off’. And now you talk of escaping with my contestants!? Honestly, you should be happy I haven’t turned you into street pavement yet.”

Damn it! He really saw it all!

“I’m…sorry sir. I acted foolish these past two days. I won’t do it again.”

“You see it’s hard to trust you when you keep saying you will obey but never do. But I’m generous, and more importantly, curious about who created you. That is only the reason, yes, why I haven’t already flattened you like the bug you are."

“I’m grateful… for that, sir.”

“You better be! Now remember, I am always watching, yes, and I have full dominion of these trial grounds. In here I am like God, while you're simply a piece of pebble I thought looked interesting. Know your place and do not test me further. Do you understand?”

“...yes sir.”

“Good.”

The Merchant looked away from Gus and walked towards the railing of the fifth floor that looked down to the ruined mosaic on the first floor.

“Now I have a business to attend to with the contestants. Go back down those stairs, yes, and do your job actually right this time.”

With a quick wave of its hands, all the books on the fifth floor suddenly floated and returned to their original positions on the bookshelves as if they were never taken out in the first place. Staring at the Golem one last time, the Merchant let out a fat ugly grin and whispered a few words between its revoltingly stretchy lips.

“Hope is poison, Golem. Never hope.”

And then the Merchant jumped off.

***

At the bottom floor, small groups of four to six had started to form amongst the humans. At first, it was so that they can help study with each other on similar languages and topics, but eventually the readers began to whisper fervently between each other as their concerns grew louder and louder.

“Hey…um guys, what happened to that Golem?” Primis timidly asked the small group of fellow companions she had joined.

“Who cares about that Golem, we should be thinking about the bigger picture! Where are we going to get food and water? Our rations will go dry long before that two month period comes!” Larry loudly warned as he held onto his half-drunk water bottle with a strong grip.

“Two months…heh. You really don’t get it, do you, Larry?” Jack quietly said with a hint of despair on his tongue.

“Don’t get what? What’s it like to get licked all over by that monster?” Larry retorted with acid in his voice.

“No…but don’t remind me of that. I’m talking about the fact that it said two months for just this floor,” Jack said, looking up at the rows of floors circling the center of the building.

The group looked up at the four floors above, their mood turning somber.

“And this is just one trial of four…” Primis realized with a sound of defeat.

The group turned their heads downwards in despair, thoughts circulating each of their heads such as what their family and friends are currently thinking or if they will ever make it out of these ruins.

“We shouldn’t let such thoughts distract us, let’s return to reading,” Ms. Jasmine, the oldest of the group, ordered with a stoic face.

The other three looked at her with solemn faces before returning to their reading, their growling stomachs reminding them of their concerns every few minutes.

Just when Larry had about enough and reached for his food rations, it suddenly occurred.

Slam.

“What was that…?”

But Larry stopped himself asking further, seeing Jack noticeably tremble in fear.

Standing in the rubble mosaic, the giant, trenchcoat-wearing, snowy white demon was standing with a sinister grin. In its hand held a small silver bell which it then delicately rang with two of its abnormally long crooked fingers.

“Good day, Contestants! It is now time for lunch! Please stand ready as my esteemed retainers, yes, come out to serve the menu for today.”

The giant gateway to the library which had remained closed since the contestants first arrived opened slowly, letting in the new arrivals.

Gus who was now watching the scene from the railing of the fifth floor, felt his flames drop when he noticed what came through those doors.

A fleet of twenty stone golems, all donned in stone aprons and clothing, carried out trolleys full of steaming metal-covered plates. Despite being of a smaller size than Gus, the golems were noticeably more human-looking in their designs with smoother cuts that made Gus’s body seem amateurish.

And yet…they have no soul. All of those golems are just mindlessly doing their job like robots.

As the stone retainers stopped their trolleys to pass out the plates to each contestant, Gus slowly backed away from the scene and turned away.

I won’t turn out like them. I refuse to live such a life.

Looking back at the fifth layer full of books, Gus took the time to process the changes that had interrupted his plan.

So the book is gone…guess whatever was in it, Syuna did not want to hand it over to that fiend.

Surprisingly, he didn’t feel upset anymore about such a shocking loss. There wasn’t time to mourn it, and besides, the book’s disappearance told him a very important piece of information. With a cold calculating logic and a firm trust in Syuna, Gus was able to deduce that the book’s disappearance was a sign, not a betrayal.

Yet what does it mean?

Recounting the exact scene Syuna had revealed Havory to him, he retraced his steps by starting where he had first picked up Don Quixote.

From there, he moved in the exact order his past self did, retracing the steps in picture-perfect memory. And then he stopped, just like the scene in his memory replayed.

Halt. Those were the words she said. And then. One. Remains.

Syuna was not one to set up a flashy show for just about anything. And that voice she had used when commanding Gus to halt, it was one so foreign to her regular voice that it almost sounded like it came from a different being. Maybe it wasn’t even her voice in the first place in that memory. Following the same sequence that had occurred back then, Gus finally turned his body around after repeating the clues she left behind.

Ah…you mysterious Star. Can’t ever tell me things straight up, can you?

Unknowingly, Syuna had set up her own trial for the Golem separate from the Merchant’s, relying simply on his memory to connect the dots for the whereabouts of the mysterious book.

And now, he had found it.

You sneaky bastard.

Appearing out of thin air just like it did in the past, Gus could see the brown, smooth leather book in the spot that had marked the beginning of his final trial.

Havory…

Before grabbing the book, Gus quickly went back to the railing and looked over to see if the Merchant had caught on to what he was doing. Luckily, the monster was still watching its luncheon with a cruel glee rather than paying more attention to the defeated golem.

Good, that devil’s arrogance will be its downfall.

Approaching the bookshelf once again, Gus nonchalantly grabbed the Havory book as if it was like any other, and then slowly opened its wrinkly pages.

What the…

With what should have been the pages of the mysterious forgetful story that he was familiar with in the book, Gus was instead met with a hidden compartment. Located behind the first blank page, the secret compartment held only two items.

The first one was a key made of pure cut amethyst and the other was an azure blue coin. Out of the two, Gus felt more drawn to the coin as if there was an irresistible lure about it.

Like it was made for me.

Picking up the coin, Gus noticed that it had two different sides similar to that of heads and tails. On what should have been heads, it instead depicted a Golem that looked exactly like Gus while the tails side showed the symbol of a star. What was most peculiar, however, was that each side had small words accompanying the images.

On the Golem’s side, it read:

‘Slot me! Chest!’

Slot? I don’t exactly have a hole in me that could do that.

Confused by its description, Gus flipped the coin to the side of the star.

‘Good Luck! Love you!’

Nice…but not helpful.

Moving the coin to his chest, Gus couldn’t help but feel confused about what to do next.

Do I just touch my chest with it? That sounds…weird.

Yet with no other choice, Gus finally relented and pressed the azure blue coin onto his chest. Just as he did so, however—

Holy crap!

The blue coin, which was clearly made out of a copper-like material, suddenly turned to partial blue flames as it pressed against his stone chest. With no time left to lose, he continued to slide the coin deeper into his chest, watching as it slowly lost its metal form the deeper it got. Gus was…perplexed by the experience as he didn’t exactly feel anything from it, yet was still very uncomfortable by it.

Couldn’t make this, like, less weird to do, Syuna?

After what felt like an unbearably awkward stretch of time later, the coin finally slotted into his core, both flames and metal now gone.

Um…now what?

And then he heard it.

* emergency service now downloading < > *

Syuna!? What…your back?

* < > *

Oh, I have so much to talk about! You gave me a fright earlier with that disappearance, I thought you abandoned me.

* < > *

Wait…Syuna had never spoken full sentences before.

* < | Congratulations Gus! | > *

Who are you?!

* < | Syuna’s emergency service, Nova, has been successfully installed. | > *