The Eternal Library - where all the books that received the Breath of Life of the Creator referred to as Living Books, were being kept and protected inside since all of them are equivalent to a world that keeps revolving within hardbound covers.
The library is comparable to a universe where thousands of worlds exist. And as long as another story has garnered millions of attention and accumulated enough merits, it will be bound to be blessed by the Breath of Life and come into existence.
Within that boundless institution of all kinds and genres of books, three exceptional creatures are given the power and authority to manage the library.
They are none other than the Guardians of the Worlds, but inside that spacious and enchanted room filled with books, they are called Librarians.
The Librarians make sure that every book that comes to life will progress to its destined epilogue. Books that suddenly strayed from their course because of unknown interferences are subjected to revision.
And books that failed from the very beginning, those which have plots that are impossible to save anymore, will be discarded.
Inside the Eternal Library, the Guardians were closely monitoring every world appointed to them.
A chapter in the book Savior of the World got their attention. It was the chapter where Atlas Sterne first received the system penalty.
"Do you think he can escape?"
Caelum, the Guardian of All Skies, frowned at the concerning inquiry of his fellow librarian inside that huge library. His eyes were focused on the enormous screen floating at the center of the cylindrical bookshelf which stretches endlessly on both sides.
He was sitting on his floating desk, with arms propped up and his chin settled above his clasped hands. While his subordinates, the Book Worms, were busy wriggling in and out of the many books neatly stacked inside the round shelves, doing their jobs.
"If he can't even escape that penalty, then he doesn't deserve to be the hero," Caelum answered Behemoth – the Guardian of All Earth.
Behemoth watched the screen where an average-looking man was running as if his life was hanging on a thread, trying to find a way to escape the room. He sighed deeply, feeling a bit guilty toward the man.
The novel where he belonged was later discovered to be the work of artificial intelligence. On top of that, a bug corroded its original plot which then kills the original protagonist. However, the novel already received the Breath of Life and turned into a Living Book.
But because of the virus that killed the hero, the Book Launch was postponed. The Creator had to do something for the book to continue – which led that book to that situation.
A few minutes passed and the screen showed the current chapter of the Savior of the World in real time.
Inside the cylindrical interior of the Eternal Library, Leviathan, the Guardian of All Seas, was floating in the air, her legs crossed in a lotus position, and her arms folded in her chest.
Her expression was amazed, watching the unfolding events through the enormous screen above.
She began, "So, the Creator only changed the protagonist, but left the plot as it is? Atlas Sterne still comes to possess that bloody sword!"
"It seemed so," Behemoth replied, his expression wasn't good.
"The plot only changes if it is something that involves him directly. In the original book, the protagonist accompanied the soldier, taking the child with them."
Leviathan nodded her head repeatedly, "Yeah, I remember reading that. So, the plots will depend on Atlas' choices. But what will happen if he ends up choosing the path of his original role unconsciously?!"
The shrill voice of the tentacled serpent-like creature caught the attention of Caelum, who was busy checking the list of books that received the Breath of Life.
He looked up at the huge screen and answered, "That's why the escape system was given to him. He will eventually meet many powerful enemies if he walks on his original role, and every time he dies, the system will make him remember that he's now the hero."
Caelum's serious gaze shifted to the two, "The New Releases have been deposited in the Library's Inventory System. Go check the ones in your genre instead of loitering here. Do your jobs properly."
"Argh…my genres are too boring!" Leviathan complained, but she scurried away after meeting the death glare of Caelum. She went back to her own section, followed by Behemoth.
[Ting!]
[DaoistDWY_2719 just commented on the chapter
[Ting!]
[DaoistDWY_2719 just rewarded the chapter
[Ting!]
[_IAMSpiderMan just commented on the chapter
Caelum grimaced at the comment.
How would these humans feel if they learned that they were reading, voting, and commenting on someone's life? They would probably feel superior, as their attentions and coins are what fueled the story to revolve.
[Ting!]
[WriterMonk_01 just commented on the chapter
[Ting!]
[AlliceWell_02 just commented on the chapter
Some readers truly have a strong intuitive sense, Caelum thought.
[Ting!]
[SaitamasFist just rewarded the chapter
[Ting!]
[SaitamasFist just commented on the chapter
Some are nice readers.
These readers are no different from those characters. They were, in fact, characters in another book as well. They were just lucky that the setting of the novel they were living in wasn't in an apocalypse or world destruction.
They were no-name characters in another world who liked to read books, waste time commenting, and spend money on every chapter. These characters are privileged.
How unfair. For someone like Atlas Sterne who had received consciousness of the existence of the world beyond worlds, he would probably turn into a villain if he learned the unfairness of the worlds.
He was unlucky to be born in that book. His existence, who was nothing more than a cannon fodder, will give justice to that story. That is what Caelum believes.
He who chose to walk the path of the single plank, misconstrued, forsaken, yet never bent, never tainted, will do greater things. That is who Atlas Sterne is. At least, in the original novel. Now, whether he chose to still walk on the same path or deviate on it, was something Caelum could not predict.
It all depends on Atlas.
"May the God of the Story bless him."
Caelum scrolled and refreshed the Inbox of the novel 'Savior of the World', but the notification stopped after the last sound.
"Considering it was only a few chapters in, but it already received 1500 coins means it's not bad. Well done, Atlas," he commented and proceeded to send coins to the character who participated in the chapter.
The only one Awakener alive was him, thus he would receive eighty percent of the coins alone.
[The coins have been delivered.]
Caelum leaned back on his chair.
The coins received from the books, gifted by readers, were then distributed to characters who participated in the completion of the chapter. These coins will be transferred to the System User's Bank which they can use to purchase weapons, potions, armor, scrolls, and spells, or pay to upgrade their levels.
The God of All Earth once again focused on his work after giving the screen one last glance at where the sleeping Atlas Sterne was.
Meanwhile, Atlas jerked from the notification sound.
[Ting!]
He sighed. After he committed homicide and had that nightmare, even the smallest noise could startle him. He ran his hand over his face and sighed in frustration. He couldn't sleep properly at all.
He clicked on the screen that appeared and his eyes widened after reading the message.
[1200 coins have been added to your Bank Account.]
"Hah?"
What did he do to earn coins that many? He only slept, though?
Caelum snickered at the stupid and groggy face on the screen, and then he continued his work like nothing happened.