Black Canvas

The Back of a Book

There it was. The final page in a book, the one at the very back. It was blank, yet it felt full of memories from the story. All the people he followed, the events and tragedy he shared- it stops. But it was still there.

Kim Dokja stared at that blank page with nondescript eyes. The thought had not settled in yet.

The story ended. There was nothing else for him to read about that tale. When that thought finally came to him, he shuddered.

What would he do now? There were no stories he found in the library that suited his tastes anymore. Since he came, the library shifted from the books he loved to the ones everybody read nowadays. Those dumb, copy-paste, Isekai tales of an Overpowered MC and a world built to make him a god.

Dokja frowned, knowing that he had almost lost his reason to come to the library. He sat up a little straighter after recognizing the pain his back was in from being hunched over for so long.

Perhaps they hid something good among the rest of the stories, that wasn't traditional poetry or famous works.

Before he could go looking, he noticed it was dark outside. Sighing, he realized he spent too long buried inside of his story.

He slid the book he finished back in its place on the shelf, and scanned the ones around it for a moment, before deciding to leave.

He ran his hand along the books as he walked past the shelves, but stopped when one cover in specific caught his eye.

Among the thousands of "I Became the Trash Character in My Favorite Novel!" and "I Reversed Time and Was Given a Second Chance After Earth Fell into Apocalypse!" Titles, one single book out of the many stood out.

"☐☐☐"

It was an unusual title that seemed familiar to him. Not familiar in the sense that he read it before, but familiar in an indescribable way.

The book's black spine printed its title and a number in white text. It was the first in a series.

Dokja reached out and pulled the book from the shelf. It slid out smoothly, as if it knew it didn't belong there.

The cover held a picture of a phone. The phone displayed a man in the window of a subway, wiping blood from his face. His expression looked dull, as if nothing phased him. The only color on the cover was red, which highlighted the blood, splattered around him on the subway.

Before he could take a peak as to what the book held, he heard a noise behind him and whirled around.

The Librarian before him jumped backwards at his sudden movement. Her light-brown haired bounced with her sudden shock.

"Ah.."

Dokja stared at her with mixed emotions. She was someone he knew, only because she is in one of his classes.

"You are a librarian?"

"Yeah.. Haha.."

There was definitely confidence even in her nervous voice.

The two just stared at each other for a moment before the girl remembered what she was there for.

"Oh! Uh.. The library is closing soon.."

"Right.."

Kim Dokja realized it was getting late. He still had classes to attend in the morning.

"I'll head out in a moment."

"Alright."

Restlessness filled his entire body. Watching her walk away, he made sure she was out of sight before he tucked the book under his shirt.

As he approached the exit, he glanced around to make sure she wasn't there, before hurrying out of the small library.

Authors Notes:

The original authors name was Woah1thats1crazy. Also, I just finished rewriting this a little, just adding small details and spell checks. I'm going to do that the every chapter until the end so i am able to continue on this great story. Arigato, and bai bai.