Chapter 65: Evan and the Forbidden Archive

As the door opened, darkness engulfed the surroundings.

The only visible things were the stairs right in front of him and, above them, a glass floor floating in midair.

Evan began stepping up the stairs.

At that moment, a man’s voice echoed in Evan’s mind.

[Welcome. You’ve come a long way to get here.]

After ascending all the stairs, something transparent greeted Evan.

It was a being with a ghost-like, translucent form, though clearly human.

Disheveled hair and a scruffy beard.

An old man dressed in what seemed like a large cloth draped over his body.

Evan cautiously approached him.

The old man introduced himself to the advancing Evan.

[I am the 12th Successor of the Archive. I’m curious what happened to the previous master and how you came to possess the Key.]

It seemed he was referring to Velled.

Unsure of his relationship with Velled, Evan carefully responded.

“My lord experienced some misfortune, so I received it on his behalf.”

[That’s unfortunate. There were few who possessed such wisdom…]

Despite his words, the Successor showed little emotion.

‘If it were an important matter, he would have been angry.’

Judging by his reaction, it seemed trivial to him.

Evan cautiously spoke again.

“I don’t know anything about this place except that I have the Key. Could you tell me more?”

According to item info, Evan knew the Archive was a knowledge repository.

But he wanted a more detailed explanation from the Successor.

[Very well. Now that the Key’s owner has returned to you, you shall become the master of this place. This is the Archive—a place where knowledge left behind by the Successors is offered to those who pass the trials.]

He stepped closer.

A red gem appeared, floating above his transparent hand.

[This is the knowledge of the First Successor. If this is your first step into the Archive, you should start with this.]

As soon as he finished speaking, the red gem seeped into Evan’s mind.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, Evan’s head began to overheat.

His vision spun, and the surroundings transformed into a space filled with runes.

It felt as if he was being sucked somewhere.

“Th-this place…”

The scene shifted, revealing a vast city.

It seemed he had been transported.

Grasping his head against a severe headache, Evan looked around.

Every building was uniquely bizarre—some inverted triangles, others twisted shapes.

Most buildings floated in the air, covered densely with runes.

It was like seeing a futuristic city.

He stood in the very center of the city.

A desolate place with no one around.

Yet, one woman stood before him, gazing at him.

A beautiful lady with softly glowing green hair.

She waved her hand and greeted Evan.

“Welcome… $%&.”

“Ugh!”

Evan weakly stretched out his hand as if to call for help, trying to approach her.

But that was all.

Suddenly, everything before his eyes blurred like static interference.

[Warning! Your current level is too low.]

[Information not permitted.]

[This may seriously affect the main quest difficulty.]

[Access denied.]

With the warning, the world began to collapse.

Roarrr!

Cracks formed and the world crumbled.

The moment Evan opened his eyes, he found himself back in the Archive.

The Successor looked flustered, examining Evan closely.

[What happened? You repelled the power of the runes.]

Evan, too, was somewhat confused.

‘Information not permitted? This has never happened before.’

Not even in his previous world.

He wondered how he should interpret this unprecedented situation.

Slowly, Evan pieced it together.

‘Information not permitted, main quest difficulty affected… and a warning that my level was too low.’

He recalled when he first received the quest.

‘The Mediator said quests are tailored to my standards. Even the Mediator can’t alter quests at will.’

The system also reminded him the quest balance was based on Conqueror F.

‘If I acquire critical information about the main quest here… and it affects the quest’s structure…’

The quest difficulty might be adjusted upward next time.

‘They might demand something absurd.’

This was a very important realization.

But Evan was angry he hadn’t realized it sooner.

‘Mediator, why didn’t you warn me?’

He shook his head.

No one could have predicted this situation.

Besides, if it weren’t for Evan being the Hidden Piece here, he wouldn’t have reached this point.

‘If not for the Soul Arbiter’s gem, if I hadn’t come to Talin, or had ignored those prisoners in the jail, none of this would have happened.’

A Hidden Piece discovered another Hidden Piece.

Even if the Mediator knew of this restriction, he likely had no obligation to inform him.

Because such restrictions would automatically activate in such cases.

‘Still, it feels bad. I have to confront him about this.’

Unlike the previous world, this one had many variables.

Evan decided he needed to visit the Mediator for more answers.

[Warning! Your current level is too low.]

[Information not permitted.]

At that moment, another warning window flashed repeatedly before Evan’s eyes.

He finally snapped out of his thoughts.

“What are you doing?”

The Successor continued repeating his previous actions on Evan.

[I cannot understand. How is it possible to neutralize the power of the runes…?]

Evan’s eyes brightened at the mention of runes.

“Runes? Right, you said you use runes, didn’t you?”

[Indeed. All the Successors before me, including myself, could use runes. Though I am the last, I know only a few.]

Evan’s expression turned intrigued.

Being able to use runes was an enormous clue.

“Then please tell me directly. About you all.”

The Successor shook his head with a sorrowful look.

[Ha ha, sorry. This is the Archive, an absolute repository of knowledge. All knowledge is recorded through runes and can only be accessed via runes. I am merely the administrator here—nothing more than a conversational companion.]

As he finished speaking, the red gem that had seeped into Evan’s mind appeared again before his eyes.

Now that he examined it closely, it was not a gem but a mass made entirely of runes.

[This is the knowledge of the First Successor. But if you cannot accept the runes themselves, you cannot learn anything about this place.]

Evan rested his chin on his hand, pondering.

According to him, there was no way to obtain information here without accepting the runes.

‘Then…’

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Evan’s mind.

“Wait a moment. You said you are the 12th Successor?”

[Yes. Eleven Successors came before me.]

“Then please bring forth all the knowledge about the twelve Successors, including yourself.”

[Hmm? You likely won’t understand any of the runes anyway…]

“It’s okay.”

The Successor looked puzzled but summoned the knowledge of the Successors.

Twelve rune masses of various colors appeared before Evan’s eyes.

“The red one is the oldest, the First Successor, and the rest follow in order?”

[Correct. Arranged sequentially from the 1st to me, the 12th.]

The twelve rune masses ranged from red to purple, green, and so on.

Evan guessed that, like runes being divided by era, the knowledge available here was also ranked by level.

‘If it’s sorted by rank, then I can only access knowledge within my level.’

Evan decided to test them all in order.

“I want to access all the knowledge here.”

[A pointless action, but if that is your wish…]

[Warning! Your current level is too low.]

[Information not permitted.]

When categorized, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd were all red.

Then the 4th and 5th were purple, and so on.

The last, the 12th, was the only one marked white.

The moment that knowledge seeped into Evan’s mind,

[Accessing the knowledge left by 12th Successor Benián Xser.]

Fortunately, this one was permitted.

But the knowledge came in a very different form from before.

Like when his memories were initially implanted upon arrival in this world, it was briefly summarized.

Evan learned about Benián Xser’s life.

He was once a slave who served the Successors in the Archive.

When this place still had intact buildings, it was a research institute where many scholars, alchemists, and mages worked.

One day, it was attacked by some unknown force.

Benián, who happened to be near the dying Successor, accidentally became the final Successor of the Archive.

However, this information was not very helpful to Evan.

[You look disappointed. I was forced to inherit this role from the previous generation.]

“So that’s why you said you’re just a conversational companion.”

Though Evan felt somewhat deflated, he wasn’t ready to back down.

After all, there was still some information to gain.

Rank determined what could be accessed, and the runes marked white were permitted.

‘Anyway, this is info I can get later. No need to rush.’

He decided to search for information at his current level.

‘The information I need now…’

It was clear what he needed.

“Successor, please provide knowledge about the Nervan Cult.”

The Successor looked surprised at Evan’s request.

[The Cult? It seemed unrelated to this place. Wait a moment.]

He stood still like a statue.

A brief silence fell.

Then the Successor moved again and began to speak.

[Knowledge of the Nervan Cult… this appears to be very old.]

A white rune mass formed on his palm.

Fortunately, it was accessible knowledge.

Evan’s eyes lit up as he looked at it.

‘I can finally learn about those bastards.’

[Are you sure you want this knowledge?]

“Yes.”

Upon Evan’s confirmation, the Successor transferred the knowledge.

[Accessing knowledge of the Nervan Cult.]

Because it was low-rank knowledge, nothing changed drastically.

The information entered Evan’s mind simply, like a brief memory implant.

It included myths about Goddess Nerban and the origins of the cult.

After absorbing all the knowledge, Evan was left speechless.

‘…This is the Nervan Cult?’

It was far different from what he had imagined.

Evan was shocked in many ways.