[Open] Hanbit Library

[dedicate]

Who: Agent Choi + Anyone. Bring your own top-levels
What: Canon update @ the Hanbit Library
When: February but let's not think too hard on the details
Where: Hanbit Library (Dream)
Warnings: Spoilers for GDCG chapters in the 290's range.

Hanbit Library

Late Night Station

The next stop is Late Night, Late Night Station.
A library of knowledge, a place of citizen’s rest, a sanctuary of ■■. Passengers heading to Hanbit Library, please disembark here.

A subway bell chimes, and the announcement jolts you awake. Your eyes open within a new dream, greeted by the everyday sight of a subway platform. The primary signage features both English and Korean, but the first anomaly to catch one's attention in the station will probably be a single A4 sheet in handwritten hangul:

Sekwang Technical High School Graduation Ceremony
Exit 4 →

And stepping further in, that's far from the only one. Sheets, slips and scraps of paper alike are scattered through the empty station, each carrying its own notice:

Exit 2 escalator under construction. Please use another exit.
Fire hydrant water shutoff notice.
Train malfunction / G155■
If you lost a cat-shaped wallet, please report to the station office.

With every exit out of order or with access cut off, there's only one place left to go. The space at the top of the stairs extends into a narrow cavern of modern bookshelves, stretching from floor to ceiling and filling the space with knowledge. Dim lamps are interspersed between the shelves, casting a warm, shallow glow.

Welcome to the Hanbit Library.

Hanbit Library I

Through the labyrinthine stacks, there are occasional, illegible markings staining the floor. Distorted lettering. If you can read Korean, bending your body forward into a bowing position will allow your line of sight to condense the stretched out letters into something legible, with each rule appearing intermittently one at a time:

〈 For One Who Walks the Path of Worship 〉
⟶ Do not make footsteps.
⟶ Do not fall asleep.
⟶ Embrace curiosity.
⟶ Once you have obtained one thing, leave.
⟶ Do not descend underground.
⟶ Gaze upon the window.

Not difficult, right? And look, there it is, right there—a window can be found wedged between the shelves. Upon meeting the eyes of your own reflection within it, you may find that something strange has happened.

You've changed. While moving through the library, your book has opened to a different page of your story, and you have become the person from that chapter once again—a past self, a different self, or perhaps you're the same, and it's your companions who have changed.

Hanbit Library II

Of course, a library wouldn't be what it is without books to line the shelves. Depending on what kind of curiosity you carry, you'll find yourself among shelves of the associated genre. Some of the sections you can stumble upon include:

• Horror
• Fantasy
• Romance
• Biography
• Fairytales

Take one from the shelf and next thing you know, you'll experience the chapter you've opened it to as if living through it firsthand.

Hanbit Library III

Working together with your companion(s) to reach the end of your story, it's entirely possible that you may come across something strange. Someone strange, but someone you recognize all the same. Another version of yourself is also wandering among the same stacks. Perhaps they're accompanied by a companion of their own, or perhaps their companion is quite different from your own, but the choice remains in front of you all the same:

What will you do?

Other selves who are accepted and acknowledged will be returned to the place they belong: the innermost chamber of your heart. Their newly acquired memories converge with your own and a sense of peace washes over you as you awaken from the dream. A blessing of ■■, perhaps.

Selves who are rejected, whether by death, sacrifice, or abandonment, will experience no such relief. The only way to escape this library is to physically escape the maze-like shelves, arching over your head like tunnels. Even as you board the train that marks your successful escape, you find yourself overwhelmed by an aching emptiness in your chest. Their memories do not become your own, but perhaps those who encountered those sides of yourself will still remember them.

Comments

Sparknotes

[dedicate]

• Upon encountering the window, characters will become other versions of themselves. These are ideally versions they've experienced, but think of it as being able to pull from any canon point; they can be past selves, roles, or in GDCG even different forms of contamination and other outside influences counted. Feel free to exaggerate the traits a little if it's fun, as if the other sides of them have been cut away!
• All things happening during the course of this dream are simultaneous. Feel free to encounter other versions of yourself and their companions along the way.
• To give them something to do, feel free to get pulled into any kind of book or story you feel like referencing or making up. Maybe you enter a book about marine biology where the author tours you through an aquarium while explaining, etc. The canon-familiar can feel free to explore Sekwang Technical High as well, but no matter where you end up, you are still in the library and may continue to see the stacks in your peripheral.
• The memories and feelings of alternate selves experienced in the library can be kept. So any CR development that happens with an AU version of yourself won't disappear! You just don't get to keep, for example, the alternate self's history prior to arrival unless they think/speak about it during the interaction.

Agent Choi | GDCG

[dedicate]

01. Poster of a Girl

Hanbit library ⋆ Open to anyone

[ A library, huh? The sanctuary of ■■? Of course, Agent Choi isn't the type to leave any stone unturned in a disaster like this—what he can only assume is a disaster, at least, judging from the weighty presence that hangs over this place little different from the tiger general's own.

it doesn't take long for him to come across it: the window that's, really, more like a mirror. and maybe that's where you find him‐or rather, this version of you finds him. if it isn't— ]

B) Twinkle, Twinkle, Ocean Palace

[ a young child with brown hair and bright blue in the centers of his eyes strides through the library with steps that are light, but not quite so loud nor frivolous as a real child's might be. his body is still decorated in light scarring, including his neck, he peers at you from around the shelves at them with a gaze far sharper than one might expect for someone his age.

... he's been following you for some time now. ]

C) Within the Shadow of Darkness

[ or maybe it's a teenager you come across, calmly walking the shelves with one finger tracing along the spines of each book he passes, until...

...

he pulls one off the shelf: 2000's Horror Classics Anthology. ]

02. Wildcard

Open to anyone

As a note, Within the Shadow of Darkness will lock us into that disaster. Feel free to wildcard if you'd like teenager Choi outside of it, though he's just LARPing the role. As always, if nothing here works for you, or for some reason you want Looky Mart Choi, then please feel free to hit me up with a wildcard below! You can also shoot me a PM if you'd like to plan out something specific!

02

[roedeer]

[ tickled pink and absolutely thrilled at the prospect of what's in his sights, all sorts of literature and store items placed upon shelves. what stands out though is a certain book, something that looks familiar, but he's not so sure. it's a sensational feeling, his heart skips a beat as eyes flash red in interest alone. the problem here he faces is that he's a tad shorter than what he wants and doesn't have the stool to reach it, and it's with a bounce in his steps that he finds his prey.

he leans left over the man's shoulder, then he leans right with a certain expectation at the forefront of his mind. ]

Hellloooooooooooo! [ he cups his hands around his mouth to emphasize the distance of his greeting, annoyingly so, but with good intentions all around. ]

my buddy!
Hello! My worker!
Hello! My minimum wage pal!

[ he tweets, a playful hum of a tune as he places his hands on the sides of the man's shoulders in an attempt to get his attention. ]

Send me an ad by wire!
Buddy, my heart's on fire!
If you refuse me, worker you'll lose me,
Then you'll be left alone!
Oh buddy, telephone and tell me you'll help all on your own! ♡

[ a man of fame and stardom, and what sounds like a crowd of applause dying down behind the entertainer, his face is severely flushed as he claps his hands together if the man turns around completely. ]

can i one icon you this whole thread

[dedicate]

[ the weight resting against his shoulder, sudden as it is, doesn't come as a surprise at all to agent choi.

actually, make that supervisor choi. he'd left his old job behind so long ago, after all! even now, that scar that wraps around his neck is covered by a barcode sticker, slightly itchy but more than tolerable.

in any case, instead of becoming frightened or startled, or even offering a good-natured joke, supervisor choi listens to the customer's cheerful song—as any good retail worker would do—and waits patiently for his turn to answer. the lyrics are a little different than one might expect, but that doesn't faze choi at all; when he faces the customer, it's with a bright, signature customer service smile to match his voice. ]

Haha! Of course, you're looking for the weekly specials, right?

[ he asks, but he doesn't need to. what else would this charming hoobae customer be looking for? his hand is already reaching for the shelf that he's been dutifully standing guard at, withdrawing a thin flyer from where it's been pressed between two magazines and holding it out for soleum to take.

as it exchanges hands, he uses his to indicate one of the front page deals. ]

I recommend the cough drops—they're currently buy one get one fifty percent off. Great for entertainers!

[ you know, with all that projecting of his voice to a live audience he's surely doing nowadays. even as choi points out the deal, their surroundings slowly begin to melt around them; the books ooze off of the shelves only to be replaced with products, and the lights overhead brighten to give off a fluorescent glow.

Welcome to Looky Mart! ]

02 i come to you with a wiki page and a dream

[for_sake]

( if only he hadn't looked at that disturbing flier promising "mints for talking to the scarecrows that saw it happen" and "magnifying glasses for finding where your body drowned in the rice field". with a flier like that, is it any wonder the store itself is steeped in doom?

wandering around, then up, each floor eventually stops stirring finicky feelings, like irritation and confusion, and goes straight for the rabbit heart. yoshiki can't remember what he did after finding the "Sell Your Flesh at Looky Mart" stall. it's there in spots of panic: the fourth floor's door opening to popping balloons. the blaring, disorienting store theme. covering his ears. seeing agent choi. screwing his eyes shut. being assigned to agent choi…?

this is agent choi, right? )

I... never worked at a place like this.

( why are they (working) here? why does that creeping doom compel him to go along with it? )

What was I supposed to learn first?

YESSSSS i embrace u with open arms

[dedicate]

[ agent choi? don't be silly! this is supervisor choi, and in fact, yoshiki's supervisor—the one he should be reporting to during his employment at none other than looky mart!

for what it's worth, supervisor choi, in his blue and yellow striped employee vest, he looks as cheerful as ever. perhaps even more cheerful, lacking in his striped tail and spotted ears, he strolls through the aisles as familiarly as if he's worked here all his life. though there are some mysterious details out of place, like for example, his name tag:

Hi! My name is

■ ■■

but that's nothing to worry about, right? choi doesn't seem to think so, guiding his new hoobae around with practised ease. ]

Haha, don't worry about that~ We tend to get a lot of summer employees around here.

[ there's a certain gleam in his eyes as he peers down at yoshiki while saying as much. ]

And you know, it's not rare for them to like it so much they decide to stay!

[ but in an instant, it's gone, slightly vacant gaze turned back towards the stall they've come to a stop in front of. the label reads none other than the familiar, easygoing text written in bright font: Sell Your Flesh at Looky Mart! the grill next to the signage sizzles, and atop it, two chunks of flesh can be seen, both belonging to the upper portion of what seems to be someone's arm.. ]

Here we are! Normally this section is self-serve, but let's see... You're not a vegetarian, are you?

01.

[sacral]

— ah! This again, huh...

[ Maybe it really is no good...? Standing a little further down the tunnel is a teen, somewhat breathless as if he's been trotting along for some time now, expression sheepish. He has a small slip of paper in hand, half-creased by the press of his gloved thumb. When he chances a step forward, he jingles, the leather backpack he has hanging off of one shoulder stuffed with something covered in ornate cloth and tied off with cord and bells. ]

Hello, sorry! Do you have a minute? [ He calls out brightly, easily. Professionally. ] Um, I managed to read the rules, somehow, but I'm afraid I keep getting turned around and ending up right back where I started...

[ Two green eyes turn upward, hopeful. ]

Do you happen to be familiar with any of these paths?

[dedicate]

[ the man that subaru has found in this library isn't so different from the one his older self has become so acquainted with—furry ears perk up atop his head at the sound of such a voice, and the striped tail behind him curls at the tip as he turns to face the source of it. he's very mindful however, that even at the scent of the boy, his nose doesn't betray that he's paying such mind to that. instead he only blinks for a moment, followed by the offering of a smile.

rather than answer, one finger comes up to his lips—shhh. a heavy atmosphere hangs just below the surface of the library after all, and in a regular library, one should keep their voice down. but agent choi beckons the boy to come a little closer nonetheless, keeping his voice low and soft when he does speak. ]

Sorry, kiddo. I don't think this place has a map.

[ too bad, right? and though he doubts this particular child will be so alarmed even if choi voices his suspicions honestly, what he opts for is a slightly different approach. ]

You read them, right? [ clever kid. choi had managed to figure them out too, so: ] Have you been following them well?

1b

[trashblaze]

[ It's hard not to notice the sharp gaze following him constantly. But Caelus doesn't want to assume anyone's intentions, so he tries to allow the follower to roam freely for a while, hoping the follower would eventually approach him on their own.

Caelus did catch sight of the follower's appearance not long ago: a child. But maybe because of that cute appearance, he's more lax about this. Probably shouldn't be considering the sharp sensations, but oh, well! He'll cross the bridge when he gets there, if he needs to raise his guard. For now, he doesn't see a solid enough reason to be.

The gaze could mean many things, after all. Maybe the little kid just doesn't like his style or something. (Cry…) Besides, there's something strangely familiar about that child.

Hmm… But maybe the trailblazer should say hi? The kid might be too shy or scared to approach alone. An idea shortly comes to Caelus, so he convincingly acts. He tries to get a book from a shelf, but his fingers purposely slip, and several books fall right onto the floor…

He acts like he's troubled (perfectly good at it) and starts trying to clean up quietly. ]

WILD CARDING AND TIME TO SOLVE A MYSTERY

[salaryman]

[ Huh.

Yuuto holds his face with both hands as he stares at the ornate room in front of him. There is, unfortunately, a quite dead person in the room with blood pooling every which way. He has remained in this frozen position but his eyes move around as he takes in the space he finds himself. ]

Hmmmm.

[ Shifting, he acknowledges the person next to him. ]

It looks like there's been a murder.

[ He pauses and squints. ]

I don't have a catch phrase. You would think in a novel there would be catch phrases.

kim soleum | gdcg | an amalgamation of things

[roedeer]

▎at the premier inn.

hanbit library | artist: good kid

[ perhaps your character has been wandering these endless halls of books, every nook and cranny there's a book in sight. some that you know, others are in languages that barely makes any sense. down one hall, you'll notice a man with a deer mask, but the moment your character looks away and back to double take. the man is gone.

continue searching, you'll hear the sound of a black cat meowing loudly to the left, and if you turn in that direction. there's nothing. returning to where you were leaves a bookshelf in the way as though that location never existed. continue to wander, and there will be a place for you to sit down and rest, in the center is a book by the name of snow white and the seven dwarfs. upon sitting here, sleep will start to drape over you, and right before your eyes close shut forever.

a hand is placed on their shoulder. ]

Hey. You need to wake up, take a different path.

[ a man with a black cat (may also be a larger cat?) mask withdraws his hand, and takes the book on the table replacing it with another. there's four bookmarks that stick out with certain symbols: a yellow flower, a microphone, a cat and a fish. ]

She's on her way, so you must hurry and choose.

▎Aloe Lite.

A book in Hanbit Library | Artist: Good Kid

[ whatever genre of aisle you were in, any book chosen will unfortunately lead you into a horror-esque underground room. the walls are concrete, and behind you the bed is covered in stains of dried blood, as well as clipped nails, hair, are those organs...? wherever you are, you find that it's not in hanbit kansas anymore. by your side, you'll find a paper with runes, other symbols, and various lettering that doesn't make sense to the reader that forms one large word.

by a door where a red light shines is a pet cage lying in wait, and on top happens to be another piece of paper for that can be read:

Welcome! This is a trial test to see if you can survive. You are given one tool, the pet carrier, and you'll have to solve the riddles and puzzles in this underground facility. Haha, I know what you're thinking, how can you read this and not anything else. Well! I wouldn't want to spoil the logistics.

Beware of the ghosts, survive, and make it to the flight of stairs that'll give you freedom! Good luck!

the iron door light changes green, and the sound of it unlocking echoes into the room revealing a dark hallway. ]

▎Wildcard

Any book!

Welcome to Hanbit Library, going back through this hell again! Alright, so as everyone knows that Kim Soleum has a compartmentalizing problem, here is a list of all his contaminations. He's canon-updating to 295 so this means you get a wide range of fun versions to toy with. If you got a book in mind and a personality of his that you want, feel free and go for it! If you'd want me to write the starter then just let me know who you want. These are not limited to horror games, and horror stories you'd find on youtube and other creepypastas.

In the first prompt: golden flower mascot, talk show, lord cat, and cat (could also be twinkle twinkle ocean palace soleum if someone wants that route), and the second prompt is 130666.

If there's things you'd like to hash out, shoot me a PM or add me on anjonala!

ur my aloe lite in the darkness baby

[inverseye]

[ The sour taste is bright on his tongue, even as misfortune hangs in the air. The light around them flashes green, an intermediate sickly flicker without any vibrance. It's an uncomfortable frightening place to stand alone with no shoes and thin summer clothes, but also a perfectly natural feeling that everyone has, so it's not bothersome for the moment.

One eye scrolls down the page repeatedly. He must have stood here reading the same page over and over for at least ten minutes. ]

I seee.

[ The paper is tossed away without a thought, as suddenly as the urge to reread it vanishes. He gets it now. Leaning down, the young man taps on the cage door to his help. ]

Am I supposed to kill myself?

1

[trashblaze]

[ Oh, shit. Can't believe he fell asleep here. Caelus jolts awake when someone tells him to wake up, and he gives an apologetic smile immediately. He's still kind of drowsy, so he's not fully there. All he knows is that he should move. ]

Thanks…

[ … She? Huh? Choose… Oh, well. Maybe his questions will be answered later. He blindly picks one of the bookmarks (maybe it was the yellow flower because he likes that color) and opens the book given to him. He doesn't expect much, honestly, because everywhere he's looked here, he couldn't read a thing on the covers. But there's no harm in glancing in one more book. ]

premier inn, ready for employment boss!

[for_sake]

Huh?

( yoshiki lifts his head, blinking blearily. is that—a cat? Lord Cat? it wouldn't be strange for his form to differ from the waking world, this is a dream… that means he's helping, isn't he? in that case, yoshiki dutifully chooses a bookmark, opening to the page marked by the yellow flower. in his urgency, he reads and rereads a few lines, struggling to fully process them, then pauses.

looking up again, he asks, ) But who-

( suddenly he thinks he should have asked sooner, as if the decisions he's made has guaranteed he will be left unanswered. )

Is it Sleep?

wildcard, just send me what u want!!!

[justification]

[Cait may be younger, but she is no less stubborn. Part of being a well-adjusted successful rich child means that she has a healthy sense of curiosity and an underdeveloped sense of danger.

So she walks through the halls without much fear, her fingers sliding over the various books on the dusty bookshelves. She's been in libraries before - her own mansion has one - but nothing quite as odd as this one. She can't find any sort of librarian or keeper of the books, and while she's a relatively smart child, she's never been much one to curl up with a good book for hours and hours, so these don't particularly interest her.

Plus, she knows that some people have rules about this sort of thing. Touching things that aren't hers is poor manners, and so for now her first instinct is to find someone to help her figure out what's going on.]

Is anyone there?

[Her voice echoes through the empty aisles. Strange.]

wildcardish comboy good with whatever

[schietto]

[ from reading the note, Dante blinks big eyes up at the door as the light changes color from red to green before looking at the dark hallway up ahead. carefully, he folds the paper instructions to slide into his pocket and goes to use both hands to try and lift the pet cage. all right, so he has to... carry this with him and use it somehow? it's hard to believe the child understands very much of what he just read, but he isn't showing any signs of being scared.

... granted, he's also not showing signs of much of anything, either. he's merely quiet and calm as he works and does his best to lift and carry the pet carrier towards and into the newly opened hallway.

it's actually true that as a child most of it doesn't make sense even if he is able to technically read the words; but he understands having to solve puzzles and just maybe he has to help catch a lost animal? Or a ghost animal...? (or maybe the creature is in the carrier? maybe he can't even lift it?!) surely it'll be fine (he didn't even so much as pause to take in his horror surroundings, choosing instead to ignore things that will only make him more frightened internally. )

excuse him, five-year-old with a pet carrier coming through... or trying to, but whether he even is able to lift the carrier off the ground is questionable depending on if it's empty or not. if he can't lift it, he's going to have to crouch down and peer into it through one of the openings to see what is making it so heavy... ]

Baek Saheon | GDCG | OTA

[inverseye]

a. to say nothing of the dog.

You've got to be kidding me.

[ LO TRAVELER! The fine text above the wall announces, banners of lions and serpents and fire breathing harpys dancing around a final crest of a sword plunging into a stone. TEST YOUR CHIVELRY!

A cobblestone path stretches beneath ones feet, leading down a quaint village square and on to a grassy pavalion. The sounds of swords clash against a sunny, windless day. There are fine smells, crowds, cheering ladies and knights in armor, hounds in fine coats and horses in bright colors, strange animals and horns and one very miserable looking salaryman, holding his head like he can't quite believe the sights. ]

Are you an idiot? Were you dropped on your head as a child, or did they hold you back in school? In a place like this, why did you pick up King Arthur?

b. and the dragon waiting

[ But maybe you don't pick up a book. Maybe your path takes you across the library, cutting into it's deeper shelves, hands drifting across countless tomes until you round a corner and see:

001.	A confused child, holding a kite.
002.	A smiling man in traditional clothing, with a cup of makgeolli
003.	Saheon, as he normally is, miserably fiddling with an overly neat boarding school uniform.
004.	A much older man with an eyepatch...

All of them will look over towards a new appearance, pointing with fear/elation/resignation/apathy towards a newly erected door in the middle library with the following letters.

Bono malum superate

Wildcard? Wherever the swords and sorcery festival you mentioned is!!

[trashblaze]

[ They're lost… in a very funny, lighthearted isekai fantasy trash! Even the art style of the environment indicates the lightheartedness of the setting. The author must have particular tastes, too, since everyone is hot and well-dressed. Everywhere they look, there's an abnormally attractive person… It's exaggerated to the point that talking to any of these hot people causes them to produce a sparkling aura, far more blinding than what Caelus does.

Yes. That includes the lower class. Even their ragged clothes are designed to look good, what the hell. … Anyway, at the moment, Caelus has been wandering around the streets with Saheon for a while. There's some kind of colorful festival going on. It's easy to tell with the decorations and so many people excited around them. But the trailblazer doesn't know what it's all about… ]

I can't read any of these signs, Heon hyung!

[ Some things never change at least? Caelus ended up being himself still. (And maybe Saheon did, too?) ]

b1

[dedicate]

[ it's a mirror that got choi—but that will become clear enough later, for both of them. for now? it is, in fact, the child amidst the stacks who has pulled agent choi's attention in.

in the body of a child he might be, but his neck is still wrapped in a scar, and the rest of him is no less decorated. he's an adult in his head and his heart, so isn't it only natural that he'd want to approach the kid standing alone in the middle of a supernatural disaster? make sure that they're alright? well, that's exactly what he'll do, closing the distance between the two of them, and then lifting a hand to his mouth to give a hushed greeting.

at least, his mouth opens to, before his gaze is pulled in the direction that saheon is pointing, and then back to the boy himself. ]

?

sumeragi subaru | x/1999 (& tokyo babylon)

[sacral]

— 00. 怪談.

[ This isn't such a strange dream to have, as of late. Subway tunnels, languages he grasps more on instinct than by study. He is often called to act on these impossible instances in the dead of night, and so passes the defunct exits, towards the stairs, downwards into the glow of the library.

But not before warding an arm out to whoever's nearby, as he so often rarely dreams alone these days. Knowledge, sanctuary, ceremony... ■■...

— whether it's to stop you or offer a hand isn't immediately clear, even to him. ]

I should go first.

— 01. DIPLOMACY.

Hello, excuse me...

[ Hushed but somewhat harried as a dapper teenager approaches. A certain understanding plays on his features, though hope momentarily supersedes it. He bows politely, a hand risen to steady his hat on his crown so it doesn't fall off with the gesture. ]

I'm Sumeragi. [ He rights himself. ] Are you the one who called for me?

— 02. OF A MIRROR AND A BELL.

[ shuku

dou

shou.

jingle. ]

Hmm, that's strange... [ At a fork in the pathway hemmed by more books than Subaru has ever seen in his life, he's paused, a gloved hand raised before him. In it is a strip of paper scrawled in ink and stamped with a pentagram, faintly crumbled and humming with magic. Burning motes drift around him like embers. His expression twists as he puzzles at it. ] Do you not want to come out? Is something the matter after all?

[ And, on realizing he's literally standing right in the way of the path forward, he jolts slightly when someone else comes along. An easy smile tips apologetically onto the corners of his mouth and he bows, his backpack jostling and jingling as he moves. ]

S-sorry! Here, let me... [ shuffles... awkwardly... ] Since it was in the rules to not make any footsteps [ ?? ] I thought it might be best to try and look ahead a little! But for some reason, it doesn't seem like that's going to work here...

[ He's rambling, but also he might just be lost... ]

— 03. A DEAD SECRET.

Well...

[ Soft, enterprising. His voice seems to catch on the very spines of these books as he treads down one of the rows, fingertips gliding across them. ]

Since we're here, it seems like a waste to not even look, right? I don't think I've ever seen so many stories in one place before.

[ Like a maze, unspoken. Perhaps one with clues, if one were to be so obliged. It could be nothing, also, but he'll never know if he never tries.

Tapping one, he almost slips it free before catching himself with a quiet, oh! ]

Actually, if you don't mind... what kind of books do you like? I don't want to pick something that might not go over well. Say, if you're scared of ghosts, we should probably find something with a happier tone.

[ Like he isn't scared of ghosts? ]

— 04. WILDCARD.

(ooc: hello you get one (1) version for prompts 01-03 and it's the babymode protagonist of tokyo babylon! before all the bad events of volume 7 happen. feel free to wildcard current somnia subaru for your alternate critters, or you can have him at like 18-20 (1. 2.) when he's only begun to be depressed.

pm, elate or aoibhelle on disco for all your plotting needs!)

01 We couldn't decide, so I rolled for us. 👀

[trashblaze]

[ …

Lost in the subway, now lost in the library. Caelus immediately lost everything the moment he came into this dream. There's panic in his eyes, and he couldn't find the words to respond to the younger boy's polite greeting. What should he even say to that? Did he call for someone?

No, not really. He was minding his own business the whole time. … Or maybe he did, yet he didn't realize at all? Ah, no. He shouldn't think like that. If someone here genuinely called for this boy, then he should be somewhere else.

Somewhere where the boy is really needed. So Caelus smiles, trying to hide it with his expression. ]

… No. You've got the wrong person.

wildcard

[dedicate]

[ and while somewhere else in the library one teenage subaru has come across an agent choi with some extra stripes to him, in this place, it's the opposite.

though this agent choi isn't so different in mentality, one might find him to be a little different than the man they know. standing at exactly eight years old, his body bears every mark and scar that it did at its full size, neck included. that said, he still can't help his childish feeling of getting a little startled when he comes across someone else in this strange, seemingly dry library.

so at first, he's cautious about it, peering around the corner to get a better look at the guy. a local, maybe? a librarian? or could it be a long-term missing person? usually, looks alone would be enough to tell, but in this unregistered disaster, it's probably best to be careful. unless he sees the man breaking any of the rules, he'll just observe for now.

and subaru might spot him like this—peeking around the corners of the stacks as he makes his way through the library, blue pupils trained on him. ]

megumi fushiguro | jujutsu kaisen | did u wanna get sassed by a first grader?

[potentialman]

i. the station
[ The station doesn't look much like the ones that are still to be found in Manhattan -- too clean, too well-used, no sign of hosts or the telltale fungus anywhere. But the real giveaway, perhaps, is that so much of the text is in Korean.

This is definitely another dream. ]

Goddammit.

[ Pardon his French, the last couple of dreams he's had have ended pretty badly.

But with no sign of any other way forward, Megumi moves through the station carefully, deliberately, stopping to examine the signs and scraps, even if he can't make sense of half of them.

He's examining one such message, this one only in Korean, without an English translation handy, when he hears footsteps nearby. Without looking up, he asks -- ]

Don't suppose you can read this?


ii. the library
[ Or maybe you come by after he's stopped to inspect the window...and by the time you close the distance and he's turning to see you come near, he's quite a bit...shorter than he was a moment ago.

Instead of the teenager you may already know, there's now a boy of about six years old giving you a deeply doubtful look. ]

What are you looking at?


iii. idk w/e
( We can wildcard some shit too? Or just ping me and we can come up with something. I am leaning towards sticking with a younger Megumi in these threads, because it's a nice break from his teenage trauma, but if you want something with original flavor we can discuss! lmk. )

2 How do I resist.

[trashblaze]

[ Gasp… Another cute little kid! Who also seems familiar! What's with this strange dream and cute familiar kids? Not that Caelus is complaining. He equally enjoys the company of kids, adults, animals, and whatever else. They all have their own charms…

When the kid looks at him like he's actual trash, he takes it as a compliment instead and beams out a ray of light towards the child. ]

Oh… I was just thinking I needed help. Big brother is a little stupid, you see. Can you help me?

iii.

[roedeer]

Once upon a time there were three Bears, who lived together in a house of their own, in a wood.

[ grass begins to sprout along the floors, branches breach between the nooks of the bookshelves, and everything has an earthy smell to it. underfoot, the child can tell that the straight path has started to become bumpy while his surroundings have started to change. ]

One of them was a Little Wee Bear, and one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great Big Bear.

[ behind megumi, he can hear the sound of wood thumping together, twisting and tearing over and over. when he turns to look, if he ever does, he'll find a giant, wooden cabin with a logo of three different sized bear emblems on the door. it's wedged open, all he would need to do is climb up the first three steps onto the porch.

underneath one wooden step is a black tail, it flicks before disappearing further in. ]