I Have Become an NPC at the Tower’s Used Bookstore

The creatures called bookworms have a talent for angering people.

They are literally worms that eat away at the books you’ve painstakingly collected.

If not cleaned periodically, their numbers explode in an instant.

It’s as if they’re testing human diligence.

You can’t use things like insecticides.

If you spray insecticide where books are, there’s a risk of damaging the books.

This is a side effect of insecticides being enhanced to catch the insects in the Tower.

Insecticides don’t cause serious harm to humans.

This is partly due to the body adapting accordingly rather than technological advancement, and partly due to the body being strengthened through climbing the Tower.

It’s said that low-level players sometimes gain poison resistance from using insecticides. That’s how potent they are.

NPCs inherently possess various resistances, so it didn’t matter. The levels of resistance aren’t high, but they serve their basic functions.

And more importantly, insecticides don’t work on bookworms.

“Bookworms aren’t insects to begin with.”

They’re only worms in name. They were named as such because they resemble insects.

Strictly speaking, bookworms are spiritual entities closer to elementals or fairies.

Physical attacks don’t work on them.

They can’t be caught by swinging a fly swatter, and things like insecticides don’t work either.

They are troublesome creatures that are only affected by magic.

Moreover, they have large numbers, but with the condition that you can’t use area attacks.

This is because area attacks are likely to involve the books. They can be described as heinous creatures that take books hostage.

True to their name, they live attached to books.

If only half of the name had to be accurate, it would have been better if the “worm” part was correct instead of the “book” part.

Then I wouldn’t have to struggle like this.

Bookworms, unlike their name, are finicky creatures. There’s a reason why most NPCs who run bookstores have high reputations.

Either the NPC needs to have high combat power independently, or they need enough money to call professional bookworm exterminators.

Inspectors from the Tower periodically come to check the condition of bookworms and books.

This means the bookworm species is that dangerous.

Catching them before they mature isn’t that difficult. It’s just cumbersome; if you have enough magical power, you can catch them.

There’s a minor issue that the standard for “enough magical power” needs to be more than an ordinary person, but still.

However, everyone would agree that the difficulty of extermination is lower than for matured adults.

“When bookworms mature, their potential is not to be underestimated.”

Perhaps because I spend so much time alone, I keep talking to myself.

“Ahem.”

Feeling awkward, I cleared my throat.

Anyway, bookworms grow by eating words and sentences in books.

Occasionally, when reading a book, you might find pages in the middle that are completely empty—those pages have been eaten by bookworms.

If it were just the words in the book disappearing, I wouldn’t be making such a fuss.

As I said, bookworms are spiritual entities.

They don’t feed on visible, material things.

The invisible, unconscious realm is where their food is located.

Rather than eating the letters themselves, they eat the thoughts of people attached to the words.

If they eat the word ‘fire,’ they gain potential related to fire. And if they eat words like ‘shoot’ or ‘launch,’ they can combine the two to perform ranged attacks that shoot or launch fire.

The longer they survive, the more diverse words they acquire, making them that much harder to deal with.

That’s why the Tower conducts regular inspections.

If you don’t pass the minimum conditions set by the Tower in this inspection, you have to close your store.

Even after passing the inspection, the types of books you can bring in vary according to each standard.

Skill books were among the highest-tier items. Whether used or not.

Since they are creatures that can extract abilities even from regular books, it seems they don’t discriminate between used and new skill books.

There are only a few bookstores authorized to sell mythic-grade and legendary-grade skill books.

“Among them, our store is the least famous.”

Other stores hold monthly auctions and such to attract money, while I, on the contrary, had no money because I spent it buying books.

It’s a sad reality.

Even bookworms don’t discriminate based on whether a book has been used…

The current reality where used skill books aren’t sought after is just lamentable.

“Let’s clean up.”

My useless thoughts have gone on too long.

As I clean, perhaps the random thoughts floating in my head will disappear too.

When catching bookworms, precision is more important than firepower.

They’re hard to find and good at escaping, but their defense is miserable.

There’s no need to increase firepower.

Rather, you need to be careful as increasing firepower might damage surrounding books.

Instead of catching bookworms one by one, it’s better to find the queen’s nest first.

No matter how many you catch, it’s all for nothing if you don’t catch the queen.

If the queen escapes and makes another nest, there’s no solution. Their reproduction rate is so good that you can’t handle the increasing numbers.

So you need to catch the queen before the full breeding season begins.

The funny thing about bookworms is that no matter how much you clean, they sneakily make nests after a certain period.

It’s said that most cases are due to not finding eggs laid in books, but that wasn’t applicable to me.

I can assert that it doesn’t happen because I always check thoroughly when receiving books.

If they’re not naturally occurring, then they’re invading through other routes, but I don’t know what methods they’re using.

Perhaps because of the variety and number of books, bookworms frequently attempt to invade.

It seems that the quality being well-maintained for the most part contributes to this.

Come to think of it, I’ve been recognized by bookworms. Wouldn’t that make a good promotional slogan?

Like “A bookstore recognized by bookworms,” similar to how some creatures only live in first-class waters.

Looking at it now, there really are a lot of books. When I first opened, there were just a few.

“Have you read all the books here?”

I recall Ber’s question.

My answer was no.

It wasn’t a matter of taste. It wasn’t related to interest.

It was just a matter of emotions. There were books even I found hard to read.

The authors of those books weren’t people who had committed serious crimes, nor were they people who had lived miserable lives.

Rather, they were people close to me.

Because memories embedded throughout the book painfully resurface.

Memories I had deliberately buried rise to the surface and burst painfully.

In the end, it was avoidance and escape.

I can’t commemorate in a space built for commemoration.

Despite collecting books to reminisce, I can’t fully reminisce.

I was a paradoxical, dual person who loved contradiction.

Because I was a coward and a misfit who extremely disliked pain.

“Enough. Let’s just work.”

Slap. I lightly slapped my cheeks to focus.

Let’s clean. So I can clear away these negative thoughts.

In the early stages of nest construction, bookworms have the characteristic of hardly engaging in external activities and rather hiding their bodies, making them hard to find.

But who am I?

I am a person who has shared a lifetime with the Tower.

“Yes, a somewhat impressive person.”

I said with an awkward smile. It was a clumsy boast.

This area was entirely my territory. It was my own realm that even the Tower couldn’t interfere with.

I could easily find where mere insects were gathered.

The reason I decided to clean today in the first place was because something caught my senses.

As expected, there was a nest attached to the back of a remote bookshelf.

Perhaps because they are spiritual entities, they were glowing semi-transparently, with the material and fantastical realms half-mixed.

If it weren’t for the insects inside, it would have been a quite beautiful scene, but knowing what they were, I found it merely disgusting.

“Urgh.”

I’ve always hated insects, and these are particularly wicked ones that tamper with my precious books.

“There’s no reason to show mercy!”

I unnecessarily shouted once and cast a skill. It feels like courage is welling up.

The magic concentrated at my fingertips gradually takes shape and grows its gestures.

Like a butterfly stretching after breaking out of its cocoon, it begins to spread its wings elegantly.

I take in the sight of the butterfly’s wing flaps, flying quietly and calmly without making any sound.

The magic particles that leak out slightly reflect the light and sparkle.

The butterfly that flew in such a manner softly perches on the nest. And then it completely covered the nest with its large wings.

Seeing that, I quietly clenched my fist.

Then, the butterfly and the bookworm nest it was enveloping begin to converge into a single point.

Like a powerful gravity acting, they gather to one point and then disappear without a trace.

“It’s over.”

Somehow it feels empty. Like I woke up early for nothing.

I hurried here thinking the nest might be quite large or there might be other nests…

But that’s not a bad thing. Rather, I should be glad to have discovered it early.

“Uuugh.”

Perhaps because I woke up early after a long time, my body still feels stiff. I lightly stretch, dispelling both complaints and stiffness.

“How much time has passed?”

Not much time has passed, it seems.

“Can time be turned back?”

Speaking of time, I recall the question Ber asked the day before.

It was a question she asked as we were about to part. After hesitating for a long time, she asked as if she had made up her mind.

Was that the purpose of her visit yesterday, to ask that?

“Whether time can be turned back.”

Even now, time could be turned back.

However, the Tower’s permission would be needed. Since the Tower can’t touch me, I can’t touch the Tower, so it’s inevitable.

And the Abyss, another force, would also need to give permission.

When I told her that, she nodded as if she understood.

“What on earth are you planning?”

Both Ber and the old man have been acting a bit strange lately.

It seems like they’re plotting something behind my back.

“I probably don’t need to worry about it.”

Even if I could somehow get permission from the Tower, the Abyss would never allow it.

I realized that thought was wrong a few days later.

The old man came to me abruptly and said:

“The Tower wants to meet you. Would you be willing to meet?”

“Me? Why?”

“And the Abyss will also join for a three-way meeting.”

“That makes even less sense.”

“It’s about the issue of regression, they say. Are you willing to participate?”

The old man looks at me observantly. He’s just like a cunning fox.

This is clearly the result of the old man and Ber plotting something.

The ‘Tower’ wants to turn back time, and the ‘Abyss’ is likely opposing it.

And they’re calling me, the only one with the power to turn back time, to somehow reach a resolution.

Are they asking me to mediate?

“Alright. Tell them I’ll participate.”