This Novel is not my Novel

There are alarm clocks in this world too. Thanks to the various items created for convenient daily use under the name of 'Ether Engineering', these conveniences exist. It's not that you can enjoy all the products of modern scientific civilization, and even trivial items are very expensive. Still, there were a few products, including alarm clocks, that were almost identical to modern ones.

'Actually, an alarm clock is something you can make with just a clockwork mechanism, without even mentioning modern science or Ether Engineering... But I guess the luxury of the nobility is buying expensive things that have Ether Engineering incorporated into them.'

So why the sudden talk about alarm clocks? It's to take this opportunity to subtly explain the worldview. It also reveals that the reason I could fall asleep at 2 a.m. and wake up at 6 a.m. was thanks to its help.

To get to the main point and explain why I woke up early, my schedule for today was packed.

"Hey, Familiar. Big bro is going to walk around the campus to familiarize himself with the layout, then go to the library to look into something. After that, I'm thinking of going to the commercial district. I need to eat, check out a few bookstores, and buy some things I realized I needed while cleaning yesterday. I'll stop by the room for a bit before going outside the Academy, so don't be too lonely and wait bravely for me. Got it?"

I placed my hand on the Familiar Egg, providing today's portion of Ether, and spoke.

I've heard that talking to it often won't make a stronger familiar hatch from the egg. But since I have to imitate the possessed body's speech even when talking to myself outside, I felt like saying something before leaving the room. That's all there is to it. There's no grand reason behind it.

'At this time, I wonder if the protagonist is training at the Public Training Ground?'

I proposed that we treat each other as background scenery, but I haven't heard an answer to that suggestion. And I think it would be awkward if we actually ran into each other. So today, I decided to walk around, avoiding the training ground building.

'Come to think of it, I need to do some training too...'

Isn't walking around this wide Academy campus a form of physical training in itself? But I didn't want to run around everywhere. If someone saw me doing that, they'd think it was strange, so I compromised by walking at a fast pace. This way, even spending the same amount of time, I can explore more areas than by walking normally, so it's killing two birds with one stone.

After bustling about for a while, my legs started to ache. This is proof that this possessed body had been neglecting his physical training. Of course, compared to my original body that was cooped up at home writing, this one is much better in terms of age and activity level. But with Demon Realms scheduled to appear worldwide soon, it's concerning.

As I walked without resting, treating it as exercise, the library's opening time approached. But I wandered around a little more before heading to the library. Since the Theory Lecture Building is right next to the library building, I waited until the remedial classes started to avoid running into Reisir.

'My legs hurt, so let's just sit down for a bit.'

As soon as I arrived at the library, I picked five books from the shelf where Ether-related books were collected and sat down.

Research on Ether was so active in this world that something called 'Ether Engineering' existed. Even excluding the books I read at the possessed body's main family home, there was still a ridiculous number of books I had to check. There's no way I can read all of them in detail.

So I quickly skimmed the table of contents first, and then picked out and read only the chapters that seemed to have the information I needed. Then I put the books back in their places and repeated the process of bringing another five books and skimming them three or four more times.

For the record, I went back and forth like this because of a library rule stating, 'You can stack up to 5 books at a time for reading, and borrow up to 4'.

But I digress.

It was time to check out the problematic Novel Section.

Intending to check from the innermost part first, I walked along the 'ㄹ'-shaped path created by the bookshelf arrangement.

'Something's... this path is too long.'

It wasn't just the unique structure making it feel that way. From the outside, it appeared to have about ten rows of bookshelves, but I had turned far more corners than that and still hadn't reached the end. It was undeniably long.

Was that kid Reisir just calmly borrowing and reading books while going back and forth through here? Shouldn't he, as a novel protagonist, have been suspicious enough to try uncovering the mystery?

As I continued walking, feeling bewildered, I eventually reached a dead end. This meant the passage made of bookshelves didn't continue indefinitely.

'It seems not all the web novels from the world I lived in are in this library.'

The number of officially paid web novels alone was countless, and including the unpaid ones made it truly endless. If all those web novels had been turned into physical books and placed here, I likely would have surrendered before reaching the passage's end.

For the record, this has nothing to do with the main content, but since 'paid' was mentioned, I'll include a brief footnote.

《NaSE》 was a submission to a contest on some platform. I discovered that novel while browsing through the submitted works.

'The ranking was low, but since the beginning followed the flow of an Academy growth story, I was interested...'

I don't know the exact reason, whether the publisher failed to contact him after the contest ended, or if the author himself refused. But after that, Author Senna continued serializing it irregularly for free. Then he posted a notice of indefinite hiatus, which practically announced he was discontinuing it, and vanished.

Actually, the keyword 'paid' was merely an excuse. I figured you might be curious about how I, who only writes healing novels, ended up reading a discontinued killing novel, so I mentioned it.

Now, back to the main topic.

'Are the novels that aren't here completely nonexistent in this world, or can I find them at a bookstore outside?'

As I retraced my steps and made various predictions, I stopped in my tracks without realizing it.

The title of a novel I had read before caught my eye, and that's because there was only one volume of it, even though it had been completed a long time ago and was over 400 chapters long. Since there were no empty spaces on that bookshelf, it didn't seem like someone had borrowed the next volume either.

A certain hypothesis came to my mind.

And to prove whether it was true, I scanned the bookshelves, thinking of the titles of the completed works I knew.

To get straight to the point, some had been properly completed, and some had not.

'Are only the web novels that Author Senna has read here, and are the ones that are cut off the works he dropped midway?'

The thought suddenly came to me that this world was a place created reflecting even this aspect of the author.

The original author probably didn't think, 'I'll put the web novels I've read in my novel world and give the protagonist the setting that he really likes those novels.'

Still, some element of the original author must have had an influence on this.

'Is it okay for me to find out something like this at this point in time?'

It's only at a superficial level for now, but still, this is knowledge that can be called 'the hidden truth of this world'.

Possession/transmigration novels are supposed to focus on the story related to the original content, and the secrets of the world are a narrative rule to be revealed at the earliest in the middle, right?

But it hasn't even been two months since I was possessed, and I only met the Original Protagonist for the first time yesterday.

As a web novel author, I can't help but wonder, 'What's he going to do with the story progression from now on?'

As a web novel transmigrator, I'm also worried, 'Could it be that my life's portion is too short, so I've come into contact with key information quickly? Am I going to die soon?!'

Is it okay to keep digging into this or not?

While conflicted, I randomly picked up a paperback version of a web novel. Then I carefully picked three Ether books and headed to the information desk near the library entrance.

"I'd like to borrow these books."

"Yes, just a moment."

When I presented my student ID along with the four books, the Library Club Member, who was in the middle of reading, set aside her book and answered. It was the same Library Club Member who had kicked me and Reisir out yesterday.

I thought she might say something about that incident, but my worry was needless. The nameless Library Club Member recorded the lending information in a document that looked like a ledger without saying a word.

I watched her quietly until her hand stopped.

"The place where this book was, isn't it strange?"

I asked in a small voice while tapping the cover of the book I had brought from the Novel Section.

Since I pointed my finger exactly at the author's pen name, which was replaced with a special character, she would immediately know what I was talking about. Even if she claimed not to know, she would understand if I mentioned it was where I was before being kicked out yesterday.

"Ah~, the Novel Section? The bookshelf arrangement there is a bit unusual. I don't know why it's arranged like that."

"That's not the only problem, is it?"

"If not that, then what?"

"The area of the space..."

"......?"

I was about to say, 'Isn't the area of the space different from what it actually is?' but I stopped.

Because even though the keyword 'space' was mentioned, the Library Club Member in front of me was just blinking with an expression that said she had no idea what I was talking about. That look meant she really didn't know anything.

'Was she unaware of the strangeness because she wasn't interested, or is it that she's completely unable to perceive it...?'

If it was the former, it didn't matter, but if it was the latter, I would end up looking like the only weird one.

Anyway, it was as if I had gotten the answer from the Library Club Member's expression.

I let the words I was going to say trail off and asked another question.

"More importantly, are there others besides me and Reisir who borrow books like this one?"

"I can't tell you who borrows what books."

Are there even people who borrow them? Or does it mean she can't say whether there are or not?

As I tried to gauge the meaning of her words, the Library Club Member hid the lending records ledger under the table. Then she pushed the four books I had requested to borrow and the student ID toward me. It was an action filled with the wish that I would take these things and leave quickly, since there was nothing more she could tell me.

'With an attitude like that, she probably won't answer even if I ask when and through what route the paperback versions of the web novels came in.'

Instead of acting like a jerk and saying, 'Do you know who I am?! I am the son of the Austri Ducal Family!', I quietly took the books and student ID and left the library.

I didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, and I didn't think it would work anyway. Since it's a violation of Academy Regulations, I would just get demerit points without getting what I want.

'Since Reisir probably just read the books in the library, I thought I could find out some information through the Library Club Member, but...'

Now that it has come to this, there is only one path I can take.

To become a Library Club Member myself.

However, that was impossible right now. I know this because I have familiarized myself with information about Valhalla Academy's major clubs, and Library Club recruitment only occurs at the beginning of each year.

So am I disappointed?

Not at all.

In fact, my heart felt much lighter.

For some reason, it felt like my lifespan had been extended a little.