"Are you Librarian The Sloth?" Seeing that the figure didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards me, I got curious and asked the figure in front of me regarding her identity.

  'Isn't he out of character now?' Deed said.

  'Well, who cares anyway? Him being himself is the best either way.' Zeronoz said with a smile, shrugging off his self-assigned role as the director.

  "My apologies once again, honorable guest. It seems I have been inconsiderably rude towards you." The librarian said with a polite bow.

  [I'm so stupid! Where are my manners... I pry upon his identity yet without even introducing myself. The librarian thought to herself.]

  [I'm lucky the pressuring aura has gone now, which I would assume means he pardoned my rudeness. The librarian continued.]

  "My name is Aasiah. I am just your humble librarian. Indeed, I am someone who symbolizes Sloth." She introduced herself.

  "I was merely given a role as the librarian for this library by chance, and I am assigned to guide guests towards their destined role." She explained.

  "You may be at ease, this library itself prevents anyone who isn't destined to enter, as that is the will of the Almighty Creator, The One God." She said further, as if to ease my mind despite being an unexpected guest.

  Also for my other self... who supposedly 'stole' someone's fate to enter this library.

  "So, you don't have the power to choose who can enter this?" I asked further, also because Zeroze wanted to know.

  "Normally, that's how it is, but as I am the Librarian, I also have the key to enter and exit as I please. I never really brought any human inside, but I did bring my cat though." She happily explained, while a black, fluffy, cute cat mysteriously popped out from the air into my hands.

  "Meowww~" The cat purred as I held this cute little thing in my arms.

  "Male or female?" I asked as I admired the cuteness the cat emitted.

  "Femaleee, ain't she such a cutieee?" Aasiah said.

  'So cute...' All my other selves seemed to also be mesmerized by this cute and fluffy mysterious creature.

  "She smells so good." I couldn't help but kiss and sniff her.

  "Meowww~" The cat seemed to be enjoying me cuddling her while purring.

  'Hehehe...' Deed seemed to be having fun.

  'Cat... huh...' Zeroze seemed to be reminiscing about something with a melancholic expression.

  "Ahem..." Aasiah realized that we seemed to be getting sidetracked from the topic.

  While I was playing with the cat, I asked her about what I was curious about again. "Are you human? If so, what gender are you?" I asked.

  'You...' Deed said. 'Why are we talking about gender again?'

  'I just wanna confirm if she's truly a woman despite being one of the Seven Wise Men.' I replied to him with a thought.

  "I am formerly human... no... I will always be human, and of course a woman. But as you've noticed..." She showed me her hands, which looked so much like those of wooden mechanical dolls. "My body is that of a doll."

  "This is the price I have to pay for my long life and becoming one of this world's Ancient Beings." She explained, her voice somewhat low. "Perhaps it's also due to my past arrogance and ignorance..." She continued.

  "But at the same time, I'm glad. If not for this body, I wouldn't be able to repent and even have the chance to pursue this infinite knowledge." She said while looking towards the endless amounts of books inside the Library of The Shattered Dimensions.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  [Wait... why am I talking about myself now? Aasiah thought to herself, feeling embarrassed.]

  [Is it because it's been so long since I've had a conversation with anyone?! She thought, flustered.]

  "Ahem... anyway, honorable one... can we talk about other things? It's quite embarrassing to talk about myself." She said, her hand raised as if trying to cover a cough.

  'Aasiah... formerly human...' Deed tried to find something in his memories about this Librarian.

  "You are one of the Seven Wise Men, right?" I said, trying to confirm it again. "Why does it say Man when there are clearly women too? Isn't this too misogynistic? Why don't they just call it The Seven Ancients? Wouldn't that be cooler?" I said, not being satisfied with this world's, or rather its people's, naming scheme.

  [That's what you're concerned about?! Aasiah was shocked and left speechless by Null's randomness.]

  "Perhaps it's because the identities of all the Seven Wise Men aren't commonly known. In the first place, the Seven Wise Men at first did consist of all men, and they weren't just ordinary men... but rather Sinners. They weren't called the Seven Wise Men, but the Seven Evil Sinners." She explained the history further. "The history books that you've known are just fabricated by the winners." She said, telling me that common knowledge wasn't reliable.

  'As expected, it's the same in every world huh...' Zeronoz said, somewhat pissed by that fact.

  [Why am I explaining this... I'm pretty sure the honorable one knows more than me, even about the shattered dimension. He even accessed all the knowledge, which I myself haven't dared to read yet. Is he testing me? About my knowledge? She thought to herself.]

  [Being able to decide wisely about the Library's knowledge injection, and even come up with an alternative, far more powerful method to gain knowledge. The honorable one is indeed not a simple person. She thought to herself.]

  [Seeing how there's no sign of CORRUPTION coming from him so far, he's definitely quite powerful as well to be able to resist that. She thought much more highly of Null.]

  'What else should I ask?' I talked to my other self while playing with the cute cat, seeing the Librarian also seemed to be deep in her thoughts.

  'Let's just go already, we still need to find the shapeshifter, remember?' Zeroze said somewhat rushed, as he looked towards the cat with a somewhat pained expression.

  Somewhat noticing my move, the cat pushed herself away from me and started floating and cleaning herself.

  'Wait?! Aasiah?! You mean that Aasiah?!' Deed said, suddenly remembering something.

  'In history, there was known to be one very powerful SoulCrafter. One who was known to reach the peak of SoulCraft, which is Phase 1, a being very close to becoming a Divine. But she was neither an Invoker nor a Conjurer. During the first Great Ancient War of Invokers and Conjurers, she stood in the neutral faction and famously stated how pointless that war was. She was known as one of the world's great heroes.' Deed said further, not expecting and unable to believe that the Librarian of Sloth's true identity was her.

  'Are you sure it's her?' I asked.

  'It's quite obvious. She was said to be killed in action by the Seven Wise Men due to suddenly going crazy and losing control... however, there's no record of where she was ever buried, and that already implies something.' Deed said as he tried to connect his memories.

  'This Aasiah in front of you is indeed Phase 1.' Deed said, as if assessing her power.

  [I'm being read?! Aasiah was suddenly shocked by an unknown gaze.]

  [She realized it came from Null and became somewhat embarrassed. It was a different gaze from the first one she had felt.]

  "Umm... honorable one, I know I'm not one to say this, but you can just ask me anything if you're curious." She said towards me, trying to be more open.

  'Did you do something, Deed?' I asked my other self.

  'Hmm... I did read her power level.' Deed said. 'Being able to notice that, she really is Phase 1, just like me before.'

  "How do I get out of this library?" I asked her.

  "Eh? Already?" She was somewhat shocked that I was going to leave early.

  [What's this... why am I disappointed that the honorable one is already going to leave... Aasiah thought to herself.]

  "Hmm..." Aasiah seemed to be thinking of something. "In theory... that should be possible..." she muttered.

  "Umm honorable one... since you've rejected all three of the benefits of the Library's chosen one..." She seemed to hesitate.

  'Heh Null, look, another cheat choice for you to choose from.' Zeronoz said with a chuckle, as if already knowing what she was going to say. 'You shouldn't reject it this time.'

  "It seems the honorable one is interested in the history of this world, umm... I may not be much help, but I can answer your questions about this world's history, I mean, I've lived for quite a long time..." She said.

  [Why am I implying that I'm an old lady?! She thought, flustered. And why does answering his questions seem to benefit him since he seemed to absorb all the historical knowledge in the first place?]

  "What I mean is... is it possible for me to follow you on your journey? As you know, I'm quite strong as well... wait that's not the point, I'm sure I can be of help to you." She said, readying herself to be rejected.

  "Oh, ok." I answered her instantly since Zeronoz said it was fine.

  [Eh... that easy? Aasiah was dumbfounded by this mysterious person who was both from this world but also not.]