Chapter 110: The Eye in the Book

Evan read the title on the book cover.

‘Records of the Last World 20?’

It was a title whose meaning he couldn’t decipher.

The Last World.

What could it possibly mean?

And the number following the title—he couldn’t make out what it symbolized, nor its intent at all.

‘Records of the Last World, huh.’

He turned the book cover over and over, looking to see if anything else was written.

But nothing else was written; instead, his eyes landed on a familiar emblem.

In a corner of the book was stamped the Red Dragon Emblem.

‘Why is this here?’

It was the mysterious emblem he had noticed on occasion before.

Whether it was a Goblin test subject, a Nightmare, or any other bizarre monster that appeared, this emblem was always present.

More recently, he had found it on a suspicious group who seemed to be followers of the king.

‘Was it called the Pioneer’s Power?’

That was the only clue Evan could deduce.

If not for the system message, he would never have realized it.

‘One thing’s certain—the person who wrote this book must be related to the Pioneer’s Power and those grotesque monsters.’

Of course, Evan couldn’t yet be sure whether Elresel had written this book.

He opened the book wide and began to read.

Fortunately, the text was written in the current era’s script, so he could understand it.

-I leave my records here. Perhaps there will be future generations, perhaps this will be passed down in some form. I hope they will come to know the truth. Everything recorded here is from my own experience, and I emphasize that there is not a single lie……(omitted)……We were the most pitiful generation. Ours was the generation that stared at the end of the Last World. How frightening. What changes await us in the future……..

Evan still wore a puzzled expression.

The first chapter was just a simple introduction and a few grand statements—he couldn’t understand it.

‘The end of the world?’

Evan turned to the next chapter.

There were marks showing the pages had been torn.

Evan frowned.

‘Looks like I won’t be able to learn what comes next.’

With nothing else to do, he skipped ahead and read the following chapter.

-The end of the world brought rapid changes year after year as I lived. What used to be possible was now impossible, and the abundance of my youth had dried up. I began to feel the reality of the world’s end. As if, when a certain amount of time passed, everything would change. The world is hurtling toward destruction. I want to stop this. We tried to prevent it.

‘Just what kind of experience did they have? Did the world really perish once in the past?’

The phrase “end of the world” seemed to point toward annihilation.

From the record, Evan could feel the writer’s deep despair.

What mattered most was, if this record was true, it presented a significant threat to Evan.

‘The end of the world exists. Is something like that even possible?’

It was a notion he’d never even considered.

No such records existed in the previous world, either.

Evan wanted to know who the author of this record was.

‘Elresel. Is it really him?’

There was still no definite clue about that, so he decided to keep reading.

Evan quickly read the next chapter.

-When the end of the world had only one day left, I realized the truth. I found the record I had left behind before. My personality and thoughts had not changed. I have left the same record behind for future generations to know what I have done. I read my record and was shocked……(omitted)……And today, I have witnessed the end of the world.

‘The world ended, and in the world before that, he found a record he had left behind….

I can’t even imagine it.

I wonder how such a thing is possible.’

‘There’s still no detailed explanation of what exactly the end of the world is.’

Feeling frustrated, Evan turned to the next chapter.

But from that chapter on, all the writing was distorted.

-I @%# here @%& reached the next world. I am % I remember. Somehow…….

Evan kept turning the pages.

He wasn’t sure if there would be any chapters he could read, but he decided to look just in case.

No matter how hard he searched, there were no more readable chapters.

When he reached the end of the book, Evan’s brow furrowed and he stopped flipping pages.

||
……!”

Unlike the other chapters, there was only a single short sentence.

And it startled Evan.

-Who are you?

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

Evan turned to the next page.

-Who gave you permission to read?

Again, it felt as if the question was directed at him.

“1

“……No way?”

Evan continued to flip through the pages again and again.

-There’s nothing more for you to know.
-What are you doing here?
-Are you the one who interfered with me?

The contents of the book began asking Evan questions one after another.

But how could a book ask questions?

As that thought crossed his mind, Evan turned to the last page.

At that moment—

-Found you.
-Found you.
-Found you…….

Phrases like that appeared over and over. Suddenly, a drawing began to take shape on the page.

First, a circle was drawn, and then the outline slowly filled in.

It became the shape of a human eye.

“……Wait.”

A chill ran down Evan’s spine; he quickly pulled a mask out of his inventory and put it on.

The drawn eye began to move.

It blinked, its pupil darting left and right.

He didn’t know whose eye it was, but if it was Elresel’s, that would be bad.

Startled, Evan shut the book.

“Damn it. To think they’d set such a trap.”

His face was hidden by the mask, so he wouldn’t be recognized, but now his actions had been exposed.

Now, the other party would know that they had an enemy.

Fwoosh!

At that moment, the book Evan was holding caught fire.

He threw it to the ground.

‘This is bad. I haven’t found all the clues yet.’

It seemed his location had been discovered.

Evan hurriedly shouted to Elisa.

“I think this is a trap. We need to get out of here…….”

Elisa tilted her head and held out the book she was holding to Evan.

“This looks like a diary. But all the writing at the end is distorted.”

“What’s the title of that book?”

“This one? It says Records of the Last World 59.”

Evan quickly scanned the books on the shelves again.

Now that he looked, he saw that books titled Records of the Last World were stuck in between other books, each with a different number.

Given the numbers, it seemed the author had continued leaving records over time.

“Quick, close that book!”

Evan shouted urgently at Elisa.

“Huh?”

A circle was starting to appear in the book Elisa was holding.

An eye.

“Close it! Don’t show your face to it. It’s a trap!”

Elisa, startled by Evan’s urgency, quickly shut the book.

Immediately, the book began to burn.

“This isn’t good. Looks like it really is a trap. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Evan grabbed Elisa’s hand and hurried out of the room.

The mansion was still silent.

But the trap could spring at any moment.

Now that they’d been discovered, it was dangerous to stay.

It was too risky to keep searching for clues—they would have to stop for now.

“I’ll go get Alan and Reynold.”

“No, please take me with you. I’m confident when it comes to magic—I can help.”

Elisa followed right behind Evan.

“Then, be careful.”

“Yes. Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

The second floor of the mansion.

From the center, the wide corridors stretched out to either side.

But when Evan and Elisa reached the second floor, it was utterly quiet, with no sign of anyone.

Feeling something was wrong, Evan called out loudly.

“……Alan! Reynold! Where are you?”

He ran down the hallway, calling again and again for Reynold and Alan.

But no matter how much he called, the silence was absolute, as if even a mouse wouldn’t make a sound.

There was a strong sense of something being off—there wasn’t even the slightest hint of anyone’s presence.

Elisa said to Evan,

“There’s no answer. Do you think something’s happened?”

“I
…Damn it. It seems so.”

Unlike the first floor, the second floor had many rooms on both sides of the hallway.

If they had to check every single door, it would take all day.

But there was no other way.

“Let’s start searching from one end, room by room.”

“Okay.”

Evan and Elisa dashed to the end of the hallway.

As they ran, Evan asked her a question.

“Can you figure out what kind of magic has been cast on the mansion?”

Elisa hesitated before replying.

“The magic on this mansion is very advanced—it’ll take a long time to figure out.”

“All right. If there’s no other way, let’s try dispelling the magic on the mansion first.”

Elisa nodded, then pointed out something strange to Evan.

“……But, doesn’t this seem weird to you?”

“What’s the problem?”

“We’ve been running for a while, but I don’t see the end of the hallway……?”

At her words, Evan finally realized something was wrong and looked ahead.

He couldn’t see the end of the hallway—it just kept going. It seemed to be another trap.

“Let’s turn back.”

Evan turned around and ran back down the hallway.

“There’s no end this way, either,” Elisa said anxiously.

Evan stopped in his tracks and stood still, thinking.

It seemed the mansion’s second floor had a prison-like structure.

From the moment they set foot here, they’d been trapped.

Alan and Reynold had no doubt been caught in the same way.

They must also be wandering the corridors right now, desperately looking for a way out.

“Is this illusion magic? Or some kind of space magic?”

Whichever it was, if it was at this level, the caster must be extremely skilled.

If someone has enough power to warp space itself like this, escaping will be difficult.

“To be trapped like this. If we’re going to find a way out…….”

Evan gathered his aura.

He strengthened his arm and formed an Aura Blade.

He swung his sword with all his might at the wall.

Thunk!

Despite the force of the blow, his sword didn’t leave even a scratch.

Evan sheathed his sword and touched the wall.

‘Physical force is useless.’

He decided to try a different method and opened the shop window.

There were still plenty of things left to try.

“Hold on. Let me try finding the exit. Traps like these are common in ancient ruins.”

Elisa knelt and placed her hand on the floor, drawing out Mana.

As the Mana circulated inside her body, a magic circle began to form.

“Even in magic meant to confine, there has to be an exit. Or at least a weak point we can exploit.”

Elisa began casting a detection spell.

Fourth-circle Detection Magic, Detect Eye.

Mana gathered in her eyes, and her red pupils turned blue.

“It’s not the floor.”

She removed her hand from the floor and pressed it against the wall.

Mana waves radiated from her hand, flowing across the entire wall.

Soon, she discovered something unusual.

“There, by the door—the Flow of Mana is weak. Let’s try there.”

Elisa ran toward the spot; Evan followed right behind.

“This door is suspicious, right?”

“Yes. Let me try opening it.”

She grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

Clack!

Creeeeak!

As the door opened with a wooden groan—

Evan and Elisa, peering inside, were left speechless.