Chapter 0: Prologue

Chapter 0: Prologue

Darkness enveloped the world, a void of nothingness where 'Time' felt like a distant concept, completely irrelevant in this realm. Images flickered like distant stars, fragments of 'something' I could barely grasp...

But then, a flicker of light—Memories, not entirely mine but somehow woven into the fabric of my being. It played out almost like scenes from a... 'movie?' These unfamiliar words emerged inside of 'me', words I couldn't understand, words I couldn't comprehend... but when 'I' did, everything connected.

Everywhere, nowhere, somewhere.

Each string in different colors, each text in different syllables, slowly intertwining within me almost as if I was... 'learning?', 'understanding?' I didn't know, but I did, and yet something was missing...

Strange voices I couldn't 'hear', yet I could, reciting the same words, over and over again... and before I knew it, I 'grew' from it.

I couldn't understand it at first, but slowly... I did. And when 'I' did finally understand, 'it' was established.

"Sapientia Ianua Vitae."

The words reverberated within the void; something had been 'made', and when it was created, 'I' appeared.

I could see. I could hear. I could smell, feel, think. But amidst all this newfound awareness, I remembered.

'What the fuck is going on!?' This was my very first thought within the never-ending darkness.

I was panicking; I mean, who the hell wouldn't?

Imagine lying down in bed in pure blissful comfort, scrolling for new and updated fanfictions to read, when out of fucking nowhere, You die.

No, to be precise…

I died.

Yet I'm still 'alive'.

I have no clue as to how or why. But I did know one thing. I wasn't human anymore.

To be more precise...

I turned into a book. A goddamn fucking book. Why the hell did I turn into a damn book?!

I didn't know. and it didn't matter, not until I know what brought me here...

I could 'see' the outside at least, but all that greeted me was darkness. And if I could see outside the realm... I could probably see within the realm.

'Huu..' Focusing on that thought, I could feel reality shifting to my will.

Then...

I saw my hands, no, I saw my whole body, actually scratch that I should call it a vessel since I wasn't exactly human now, was I?

I am the very book itself. So it's easier to say that my former human body is a manifestation of myself. Maybe a soul? or a corporal vessel to hold my consciousness? I didn't know, and honestly, I couldn't afford to care about that now, since I'm pretty much looking at a library so damn huge Earth probably wouldn't be able to hold it.

Books were everywhere, some floated around and some remained on the shelves. They all had topics I knew of and some that were completely unfamiliar to me.

Some of the books did have one common thing going for them though.

Chains.

Several chains bound the books so they couldn't be opened.

With a resigned sigh, I acknowledged the futility of my predicament. "Well, I'm stuck here anyway," I muttered to myself in frustration, "maybe I should... well I don't know read? there's a shit ton of b-" I stopped midsentence, staring at the black holographic window that suddenly appeared in front of me.

[Loading Information...]

[Loading Modules...]

[Loading Complete!]

---INFO---

Name: Elric(?)

Age: 17

True Name: Lorebinder

Occupation: Overseer of The Library of Babel.

Knowledge Authorization: Level 0(A lot of Memories are omitted until further Authorization.)

Book Keeper: None

---END---

I stood still as I processed the information before me.

To say I was shocked would only undermine the emotion I felt right now.

'Overseer? Library? What the fuck do you mean I'm the overseer? I didn't even apply for this shit!!.'

"Goddamn eldritch being, what made you so damn lazy to choose someone like me to oversee this shit?"

"Ha..."

Everything was moving too fast for me, I couldn't even calm down and act like myself.

"...If you're going to transmigrate me, might as well just put me in a human body. Ha..."

I took a good 30 minutes or so to finally regain my composure, taking deep breaths in between and absorbing the turbulent memories that were jumbled, until I was completely calm.

Glancing up at the seemingly endless library, I let out a sigh. I rose from the floor and made my way toward the first shelf, reached out for a book, and read the cover.

[A Beginner's Guide to Magic - By Ambrosius]

"At least the topic is interesting."

And so, my reading frenzy began.

 ***

[December 4th, 1989]

[4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey]

Harry let out a growl of annoyance as he ignored the yells coming from downstairs; they told him to clean the attic, but they never even bothered to go up there!

Nevertheless, he still went up to the attic, He didn't want to face another beating for what he deemed a pointless task. With the cleaning kit in hand, he prepared to clean a whole damn attic that was barely used.

He despised them. No, it's better to say he loathed them, but what else could he do?

He'd attempted to seek help from child protective services to no avail. Teachers brushed off his complaints as if they never happened.

It felt as if the world was intentionally tormenting him at every turn, but what had he done to deserve this?

Usually, he'd be complying with the Dursleys demands without complaint, but Harry had endured beatings for several years, being treated worse than a dog, and cooking for the Dursleys every single damn day. 

And for once in his life his frustration had reached its breaking point.

With a furious growl, he hurled the cleaning kit at a shelf of boxes, the impact sending them teetering dangerously. One box toppled over, crashing to the ground with a loud thud, its contents spilling out onto the dusty attic floor.

Harry looked at the scattered contents before realizing what he'd done.

He knew better that being angry wouldn't solve anything let alone help his situation, after all, he swore he would never become like the Dursleys.

"Ha…" Harry let out a breath of frustration before turning his attention toward the box that had just fallen over.

Several things lay on the floor, scattered, they ranged from Dudley's old toys to useless trinkets until something caught Harry's eye—a book, It was old and dusty but yet... felt untouched.

He picked the book up and felt an odd sensation welling up inside of him as he read the title.

[Sapientia Ianua Vitae]

Harry looked curiously at the book title for a second before blinking in confusion.

He didn't understand what this text meant but he could feel an odd sense of familiarity within it almost pulling him towards it, it felt almost... odd almost, magical.

Harry knew, he was different from other kids his age.

Ever since he was six, strange things had been happening around him, he would sometimes appear at the top of a building when Dudley and his goons were 'Harry hunting'. There was also the time when Petunia had shaved his hair, which later in turn grew to the same length the very next day.

And when he asked about it, they would always dismiss it as childish fantasies.

But Harry knew that… 'magic' did exist, but he could never prove it.

He'd think about it almost all the time.

If he had such powers could he finally escape the Dursley's abuse?

Could he live a fulfilling and joyful life?

He didn't know.

But Harry truly hoped this book was could help him.

And so he slowly opened the book...

Blank.

There were no words, no lines. All that the book offered was blank yellowish parchment that had nothing written in it.

Harry felt stupid for believing this book would actually help him.

He sighed in frustration slumping to the floor as he reluctantly turned the cover of the book to shut it... when suddenly the book glowed a faint light.

Harry yelped, letting go of the book out of fear of something happening causing it fall to the ground.

The book shone with different lights, moving around on the floor until the books several pages flipped at continuous speeds filling the room with several strings of golden light before finally everything stopped.

Harry looked at the book in complete awe, he was unsure of what just happened. but he did know one thing

Magic was real, and this book might be the key to it.

***

[???]

Time lost its meaning in the endless expanse of the library. Days blurred into nights, and nights into days, I didn't even know if there was a cycle or not.

Yet, despite this, I found myself reading book after book almost with no purpose, though it didn't feel that bad.

In this... 'Realm', I discovered that the constraints of mortal existence no longer applied to me. Pretty cool in my opinion since I'm neither hungry nor thirsty; sleep eluded me but was no longer a necessity. It was nice and all but it kinda gave up the purpose of enjoying meals or drinks so it felt kinda dull.

With all the time in the world, I dove deep into the library's books, From ancient magical tomes to manga and even culinary books that I couldn't even use!

I soaked up every bit of knowledge I could find. But it wasn't all reading.

During my readings, I discovered something awesome—I could actually do magic! 

It wasn't just something out of stories or movies anymore; it was real, and I could control it.

And so with the insatiable curiosity of a transmigrator and the burgeoning power of an epic gamer, I set forth on a quest for knowledge like no other, every single day, I unveiled the mysteries of magic or blew shit up. 

Either way, I cast magic almost every second I got, and every time I succeeded I laughed like a madman.

'At least there were some good points about this transmigration.' I thought to myself.

And before I knew it, I had devoured every bit of knowledge my authorization permitted—magic, science, manga; it mattered not, for reading had become my sole purpose in this realm, and I had nothing else left.

So I reread it all over again, I immersed myself in every single word that was written like my life depended on it.

And reread it.

Whether it was science or magic I read every single topic over and over again, almost like I had not purpose.

Chapter end.