The landscape shifted as we were engulfed by fiction. The Library Dungeon's interior transformed into a row of houses made of logs and bricks. Before we knew it, we had arrived in an entirely different world.
Everyone fell into confusion especially Lee Suhye.
"What is this place? An Illusion?"
"No, it's a bit different from the Illusion dome."
This place was not a simple illusion. If it was a simple illusion, the Omniscient Wall would have activated and destoryed this world.
I touched the wall made of bricks. This sensation, it was indeed real. It was a different realism yet felt similar to the real world. This was the power of the Keeper of the Library Dungeon. He can bring fictional stories to life.
"This is a story."
"Huh? A story?"
"It's a bit complicated but I guess you can say we're inside a story."
"Ridiculous. This is ridiculous."
If a novel can manifest into reality, then what was stopping another story from becoming real. The fiction within the fiction. Yes, that's the right term to describe this phenomenon.
The books in the library dungeon were filled with stories and those stories contain trials. Since the stories in the library dungeon are mostly small stories, we should be able to manage.
Well, that depends on the theme of the story. If it's a horror story then things might become difficult.
"Move! Move!"
"Reinforce the wall!"
"We're going to die! We're going to die!"
The place was noisy so I surveyed the surroundings.
The people crunched in fear while armoured figures swiftly traversed the streets. It seemed like something big was happening. What kind of story was this? I needed information.
I approached a man that was despairing on the floor and opened my mouth.
"What's happening?"
"You mean you don't know? It's a monster horde! We're all going to die! This is the gods judgement!"
It was difficult to make out the words of a despairing man but I managed to capture a few key words.
Monster horde. From those words alone, I was able to determine what kind of story this was. That bastard Sun Jaewon, he was a really nice guy.
"Everyone, let's gather together!"
At my words, the party members who were looking around, assembled.
"What's happening here? Why are the people despairing?"
"From what I've gathered, it seems they're under attack."
"By who? Is it a war?"
"Not exactly. It's a monster horde."
"...!"
Everybody's eyes opened at the word 'Monster horde'. Perhaps they already have a clue what we needed to do here.
Lee Suhye opened her mouth and asked an important question.
"What's our mission here? Are we fighting against a monster horde?"
"It seems so. In any case, we need to gather as much information as possible. Let's scatter and explore the area. Ryu Eun, take the high grounds. Angell and Jung Yunhee, you two will check the current state of our allies."
"Understood."
"Let's meet back here after five minutes."
Everyone nodded and moved at the same time. The party members scattered in four directions.
Since we haven't received the mission for the story, it means the main event hasn't started yet.
During this time, we need to gather necessary information such as number of enemies, their positioning, the number of the counter force, and the condition of the battlefield.
Conveniently, there was a bell tower nearby. I ascended the stairs quickly and soon reached the top.
From this height, I had a clear view of the surroundings. It seemed we were summoned in the heart of the city.
I began to explain the severity of the situation. There were thousands of monsters approaching the city and city's last line of defence were seriously lacking manpower. As they continued to listen, their expressions slowly became darker.
Lee Suhye opened her mouth and asked some questions.
"You're saying the mission is defense?"
"Yes."
"And you're saying thousands of monsters are currently marching their way here and the city's defence is greatly outnumbered?"
"That's right."
"What are we going to do? It's logically impossible to win with this conditions. Can't we just run away?"
I shook my head. "No. If we fail the mission, our lives will be forfeit so running away won't change anything."
Lee Suhye's expression stiffened.
It was a cruel reality. This was the story trial of the library dungeon. The difficulty ranged from story to story but if we fail to complete their tale, there will be serious consequences.
My gaze moved. Next to the tower stood a modest cathedral, its courtyard embellished with a statue made of plaster. The statue emitted a radiant luminescence.
The statue depicted a male figure clad in body armor, a sword gripped tightly in his hand, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on the heavens.
This was the legendary Siegfried, the hero who had vanquished the dragon Fafnir.
I pointed at the statue and explained.
"The situation is similar to the 3rd Trial. If that statue falls, we will fail to complete the story."
"That's unreasonable."
"I know. But if we want to live then we have to prevent the destruction of this city somehow."
I crunched down and sketched a grand circle on the ground with a stick.
A total of two circles; the large circle and a small circle. Then I drew a dot in the middle of those circles. I pointed towards each of them and explained.
"The large circle represents the outer defense, the small circle represents the inner defense. And the dot represents the hero statue. The number of allies may be modest, but the defensive structures are steadfast."
With the stroke of my stick, I sketched circles around the north and eastern part of the city.
"The monsters are approaching from the north and east. Although I couldn't properly identify them, I assume their ranks consists of mostly unintelligent monsters. It's just a guess though. In the end, lack of information is the problem."
"Can we just stall for time?" Angelica asked.
"That won't work. It's different from the 3rd Trial."
Merely stalling for time won't lead us to victory. If Han Sanghoon was with us, the scenario would have been easier but that was not the case.
There was only four of us. Objectively speaking, the walkers were far more stronger than the allied soldiers since they were just ordinary people. However, it didn't mean we could handle thousands of enemies on our own.
Of course, it didn't mean victory was completely out of the window.
I came up with a strategy and then opened my mouth.
"We are going to abandon defense."
"W-WHAT?"
The party members looked shocked.
"W-What do you mean by that? If we abandon defense, we'll surely..."
"Listen, I'm not done. Even if we join up with the allied soldiers, it will be meaningless. We might be able to defend the wall for a while, but ultimately the enemy would break through our defense."
"Then what do you suggest?"
I pointed at the drawing I made on the ground again and explained.
"There is another gate apart from the northern gate on the east. Since the main forces were concentrated on the northern gate, the eastern gate was left with small forces. We'll go through there."
"Huh? Why are we going outside? There are thousands of monsters out there. Going there will only result in death." Lee Suhye retorted.
"So you'll stay here? No matter how you look at it, staying here will only result in total annihilation."
"Then..."
"Just listen. There's a bridge located at the east but it's going to be destoryed by the monsters. If we want to survive then we have to prevent the destruction of the bridge at any cost."
I pulled out the sword and said, "If we can prevent the destruction of the bridge then help will come."