Here it is! Another chapter update!

I really did it! I posted a chapter without looking checking for mistakes! Oh well, post first regret later.

If you see some mistakes, I apologize. I will edit the chapters in the future as I read them again in my free time, or if you would be so kind, point them out to me.

Anyway, I have an important announcement.

I have decided that the length of each chapter will not be consistent.

What does this mean? It means more free space for me and I may produce chapters much faster!

The cons? Some chapters might become shorter.

How short? Well... take this chapter as an example, then cut it in half. That short.

I've decided to do this as to give myself a little break from the pressure.

You know what I'm talking about if you're writing your own story.

(Edit: I just realized, I really did name the chapter as info dump)

Now then, enough chit-chat and here's the chapter so... enjoy:

It's painful to admit that I still need to ask this question but, what is my name?

Earlier, Rea told me that she knows what my real name is.

But...

Here's what happened earlier:

She told me that this book, the black cube I'm holding now, has just started a new cycle. In other words, the story inside the book has changed.

Every time a story ends, another story begins with different characters, settings and plot.

It's like every story has an infinite number of sequels. Well, not that it matters to a side character like me.

My sister was supposed to be in my place because she was the main character in our book but here I am instead because she died.

Rea also told me that the flow of time in books can be paused but cannot be turned back or accelerated.

She already paused the flow of time back in my world so I won't have problems with my parents finding out that I was missing.

This also solves the problem of finding my sister when the time comes that I rescue her, finding her body I mean.

Incidentally, the flow of time on the book that I am currently holding is currently paused until she decides otherwise or that I enter the book, or so she says.

She approached me and touched another white cube to the lucky charm I got from my sister.

"Brother, stare at the white dot and enter the book, now!"

"Wait, let me prepare myself firs-- Whaa!"

My body suddenly moved on its own. I don't know what happened, but it's like someone is controlling my body like a puppet.

"Don't lose your "Key". Oh, and by the way Brother, your real name is--"

[Current Chapter: Chapter 1]

Huh? There's a voice in my head that says which chapter of the book I am now.

This is scary... and why did I go straight to chapter 1 anyway? Shouldn't I be the prologue first?

Light is shining everywhere. I kept moving forward and then the light was suddenly gone.

When I looked back, there was a crack in an empty space with shining light coming from inside it. Seems familiar. Where did I see it before?

Now where am I....?

I look around to check on my surroundings.

I'm on the sidewalk of a futuristic city. The scenery I see in front of me right now can only be described with the word "Sci-Fi".

Many people are walking on the sidewalk but I was just standing there in a daze.

Everyone around me stopped moving when they noticed me. Is it just me or are their gazes quite hostile?

Why are they moving away from me?

After a few seconds of silence, I can hear Rea calling my name.

"Ksssshhh....Ksshhh! Junn, Junn! Do you hear me? Kssshh! Over."

"What's with the 'Ksssh'? I can hear you clearly, just speak normally."

After confirming that I heard Rea's voice in my head, I replied like she was just in front of me but...

"Aaaaah!! Run away! It's happening again!"

"Aaaaaa!"

"Help! Aaaaaaaah!"

After I finished speaking, they suddenly screamed and shouted like someone threw a grenade in the middle of the street.

Are they afraid of me?

It looks like they were running away from me.

"Junn! Did something happen?.... oh and Ksssshh! Over."

"That's what I wanna ask. What just happened? Ahh, no. I already have an idea."

It must be because I appeared the same way as that killer guy in the prologue.

I looked around and there is not a single person present.

"Kssshh! That. Kssssh! was. Kssssh! to be expected. Kssssshh! I think. Kssshh! Over."

"I said drop the 'Ksssh'es. We're not talking through a radio, I can hear you just fine."

"Ksssh! You're no fun. Ksssh! Over."

"...Okay, what now?"

"Our little experiment is done. Kssshh! Just ask later if you have questions so come back now, over. Ksssh! Over."

"Uhh, how do I go back? ....ksshhh. Over..."

"Oh my! Junn~, how childish of you. We're not talking through a radio, remember?"

"You!! Just tell me how to get back there."

"Okay, okay. Just think inside your head about the word 'Enter' or just think about entering. You didn't move from your starting position, right? Ksssh!"

I looked around and I can already see people in uniforms armed with surprisingly normal guns approaching me fast.

Damn, I better get out.

Alright, I'll just think of the word "Enter".

Light surrounded me and I felt like I was floating.

.....aaand I'm back to the Observation Space. Rea approaches as she greeted me,

"Welcome home, Brother!"

"Stop calling me that! Didn't you just call me by name earlier!? Call me....huh? What was my name again?"

"Oh, so you noticed?"

With a smug look on her face, she asked me that question. Yeah, I just noticed. Books fill up the gaps in missing information when you enter it.

Though, I don't know if the same information will be used to fill the gap every time you enter another book.

Ah, right. Earlier, Rea said I can ask questions so I'll just ask now before she start ignoring me all of a sudden.

"Rea, what--"

"Miss!"

Enough of that already! You're even stomping your foot just because of that?

"Miss Rea, what did we do just now?"

"It's part of my little experiment. I'm just preparing you for the future."

Ehh... What future is she talking about here?

"Hey! I'm not gonna keep on doing that with other books, right?"

"...."

No answer. She just stares at the floor.

She's spacing out again.

Then, she turned around and finally said,

"Now let's proceed to the next experiment~!"

"Hey! Don't start ignoring me again! And I'm not done questioning you yet! Hey!!!"

Ah. Saving my sister will surely take a lot of hard work.

=======

Rea's Point of View

=======

After he exited, I paused the book's flow of time again.

It stopped in the beginning of chapter one, so there's still plenty of time for training him.

I'll use chapter one as a training ground for a while, since nothing too bad will happen yet anyway.

There are only two books in my possession right now. Junn's world and the one he just entered.

I already confirmed that Junn can also "edit" books even though I still need to link our "Key"s together so that he can enter.

It may look convenient because I can read the book to see the future while he's inside it, but reality doesn't work that way.

Once an [editing] of a book has started, the book would go into a temporary "locked" state. You cannot intervene from the outside, like [read] it to see the future or pause the time.

The only thing you can do is to watch the 1 meter visible area around the editor or join them in [editing].

As I cannot do the latter because of a certain thief, I could only watch from the outside.

It's like watching a movie that cannot be paused.

Though it's not normally possible, I can speak with Junn because I linked my "key" to his own.

Maybe I should try out some other things as well? It's never a bad idea.

It's been a while but now that I remember it, the thief who stole my things should already be a part of the book when he entered it without a "Key", that's why unlike Junn, when he entered the book, I can't see his actions inside since he's not [editing] the story nor is he the main character. But because he did something that made me unable to enter the book by normal means and now he managed to change the contents greatly.

Really...

Even though that book even meant a lot to me...

My father is giving me a lot of trouble...

Oh, right. Now is not the time to be sad.

"Now let's proceed to the next experiment~!"

"Hey! Don't start ignoring me again! And I'm not done questioning you yet! Hey!!!"

I forgot, I was supposed to be answering his questions.

Never mind, it can wait later.

"Brother, give me the "Key"."

"Wha? Hey, I still have lots of questions! And why is my hand moving on its own!? What did you do!"

He handed out the cube shaped "key" to me.

When I try to take it from his hands,

"Ugh! So, it wont come off even if he was enslaved..."

His attachment to the "Key" is strong after all. It might be because he got it from his sister.

"Ahh! You lied after all! You made me your slave!"

"Calm down, I'm not that bad. I was only doing it as an experiment to see if I can take the 'Key' from you."

"But you won't let me go, right?"

"Who would want to keep you as a slave? I'll set you free once we both get what we need. Your sister and all of my books. It means that even if your sister is alive, you will still be my slave unless you get back all of my stolen books."

"How many books do you have anyway!?"

"It's a secret~ Let's keep it that way so that it's more fun."

========

Junn's Point of View

========

This lying piece of she-dog!

I thought she was just joking when she said that I was her slave. But It turns out to be like this!

Oh well, not like I can do anything about it anymore...

But what if she's also lying about setting me free once we're done?

"Hey! What if you're also lying about setting me free after we're done?"

"*smile*"

"...I just hope you're not lying then."

"Now, aren't you supposed to ask me a few things, Brother?"

Ahh, she's right. I still need to ask about what we did earlier and what she means about all those experiments and preparations for 'my future'.

She then prompted me to go have a seat by the table.

She sat on the other side and told me to ask.

"What was that earlier? When I entered the book I went straight to Chapter 1 but isn't it supposed to be the prologue first?"

"Oh so you wanna start asking with that? That's pretty simple. It's because I already went in first and started the prologue because the old owner of this place said the previous and the current story had the same prologues and I got curious."

Oh, so it was her fault.

Then she continued,

"This happened long ago by the way. Also, you always arrive at the place where the scene is currently taking place according to the book's story so you have to be careful to not go inside when there's an ongoing tornado or fire or some other forms of disaster."

"Ahh, right. Wait, there's another owner of this place!? And what do you mean about two the same prologues?"

"That... The other owner isn't here right now. And also, the two identical prologues is due to the book having two main characters appearing at the same time in the story and meeting each other."

"How do you kno-- Ahh, right, never mind. Please keep talking, I'm listening."

"This was the very first book I touched when I just arrived in this place."

She took the cube from my hand, the one I just entered, and held it up high dramatically. I get the feeling that she's just exaggerating and doing it on purpose.

Then she continued saying,

"It was also the only book that had its flow of time resumed. All the other books had their time paused for some reason."

"Okay, but there's something more important. Where's the other owner now?"

She lowered the cube and returned to her normal sitting position.

Then she said,

"I'll get to that later. Now then. Because the basics were already taught to me by the previous owner, I got carried away and tried to edit the book without reading it first. Somehow, I can't access the first prologue, what the previous owner called Prologue Alpha. Since I can't, I jumped straight to the Beta part. I was transported to where the main character's house was... Until I realize that the place, his house, was familiar to me."

"I'm sensing something wrong but please continue."

"When I noticed that the events that happened were all too familiar to me, I quickly exited the book. Because I forgot to pause the time, When I entered again the prologue is already at the part where it shows a girl that was locked up. When I tried to speak to the girl, she wont even pay attention to me."

And so you decided to be like her, huh? Just randomly ignoring someone who is talking to you.

Rea resumes her talk,

"After looking around the place where the girl was locked up, I recognized the place and then I remembered... No, telling you any more is too much. You'll find out soon anyway. Also, I know you saw the Prologue Alpha but you don't have to tell me anymore. I already know what's inside."

"Okay. But I wanna know more!"

BAM!

She slammed the table with her free hand. She looks angry.

Then she threw the cube at me with the other hand.

Ow, she hit my head.

Then she said,

"No! Look! All you have to know is things happened and now you're only able to go to Chapter 1! That's all! The end!"

"That's all?"

I looked at the cube in my hand in a daze. She really threw this hard thing straight to my head.

Wait a minute.

There are still too many things that needed to be cleared up! I should ask before she starts ignoring me again!

So I asked,

"Wait! Last question! Where is the previous owner of this place?"

"Oh? You must be talking about my father. He just stole a bunch of books and some other stuff then ran away. He's in hiding right now. He's probably inside that book you're holding right now."

"Err, okay? He's your father, huh... Now what?"

"O~kay! we're now done with the questions and answers! Time for training!"

"Wait! I'm still not ready! And what do you mean by training!?"

Freaked out, I tried to stand up and slowly back away from her.

She replied,

"Enough questions! This is the first time you've pissed me off!"

"What did I do!?"

========

Rea's Point Of View

========

That talk made me remember some bad memories. I should be careful not to let him ask too much next time.

Junn is now standing far from me with his back touching the wall.

Did I scare him too much? It's not like I was really angry at him.

"Alright, Brother! We will start your training. Why are we doing this? So that when the time comes, you can find my father and kill him of course."

"What? I know he's your father, but do we really need to kill him? Did he do something to offend you other than stealing some things?"

Kuh! He says to me the most painful things.

"You don't get it. He didn't just steal material things from me... He stole things from me that are far more precious. I was still too young to realize it before, but by the time I was old enough to know, it was already too late."

"I... I see... I'm sorry. So your father was that kind of guy... That bastard... Not even having mercy towards children."

Did he really understand?

I'll ask just in case.

"You understand now, right?"

"...Yes, somehow. Is this also what you would be sending my sister to do?"

"Yes. I think she can handle it."

Maybe. I'm not actually sure.

"You know, Rea, why--"

"Miss!"

Why does he keep forgetting to add 'Miss'?

"Miss Rea, why are you the current owner of this place? Why would your father give you the ownership if he would just steal the books anyway?"

Again, the things that he says makes bad memories start to surface.

"I kicked my father out when I learned the truth about what he did. It's not like he was a bad father, I just got really angry when he said he wont apologize and started laughing about it. After that, he stole most of the books and shut himself inside that book you're holding. He also did something that prevented me from going inside the book so that I can't chase after him."

Every time I remember, I get angrier towards my father.

"Your family... sounds complicated. Where is your mother anyway?"

...Did he really understand about me and my father? He had the clues already.

"Looks like you're not as smart as I thought after all. Now let's do a review, read the book!"

"Wha! Again!?"

He focused on the red dot, then his eyes became hollow. He went back to normal 5 seconds later.

"Hey! I appeared in the first chapter! It changed slightly."

"Now get inside the book so that we can start your training!"

With that, he focused on the book's white dot and then he disappeared, leaving the cube lying on the floor.

He went inside it.

I will be guiding him from now on. Training by experiencing is the best method to learn after all.

========

Junn's Point of View

========

[Current Chapter: Chapter 1]

Just like last time, a voice said what chapter I am currently on right now.

There's a crack filled with white shining light behind me.

I'm back at the scene where I appeared previously.

"Junn. I need you to follow my instructions."

Ahh, that's my name. I can remember my name again! But more importantly her voice sounded angry.

"Rea, is something wrong?"

"Just do as I say."

She said that in a forceful tone and didn't even bother to correct me. Yep, I'm sure she's angry. I might have said something wrong... Not that I feel sorry about it anyway.

"Now, Junn, look around you and describe to me what you see right now."

"I'm still at the same place as before... This time, there are a bunch of people approaching... Damn."

"Oopsie~."

"What the hell!?"

"Oh, they're coming? Prepare yourself. Also, I will not allow you to get out of the book. This is part of your training."

"Hey, hey! How did you know 'they' will come? Why didn't you resume the time before I went in!?"

Is it just me or did Rea do this on purpose?

"STOP! DON'T MOVE!"

"!!!"

And 'they' shouted at me and told me to stop moving. This is really a bother. I can escape anytime I want but Rea said I shouldn't. I don't think it would be a good idea to disobey her right now.

About 15-20 people surrounded me. All of them are armed with guns. Since this is a sci-fi world, I expected them to shoot lasers with those things but that may not be true.

Why does their level of technology look so low for its age?

One person slowly approached me, then I was hand-cuffed and forced to go inside a glass cage. Rea must have expected this to happen. I guess everything is according to plan so I should ask her about what to do next.

"Rea, what's my next move? I got captured according to your plan, right?"

"HEY YOU! SHUT UP! We will be forced to shoot you if you try to talk or otherwise do anything else without permission!"

The one who answered me wasn't Rea but one of the people who captured me. Should I have added 'Miss' when I spoke earlier?

Now I'm not even allowed to talk.

Every time I try to talk or just show signs of moving my mouth, they would immediately point their guns at me.

....

....

....

It's been a while now. They had already transported my cage into an underground facility.

Where exactly am I?

Why is Rea not saying anything?