ch32.1

[Chapter 32 - The Villainous Librarian]

"Kakat! It's time to start some real villainy!"

Grimoire pushed a cart full of books, striding between the bookshelves.

Finally, the time had come for her grand scheme to truly begin.

This quiet library would soon be transformed into a crucible of chaos!

'The peaceful reading atmosphere is destined to be shattered by me, just the thought of it is exhilarating!'

Books sorted by color, bookshelves perfectly arranged in numerical order.

Orderliness was precisely what Grimoire had to destroy.

Who would want an organized world? The world should be filled with disorder and chaos!

"Now, it's time to sow the seeds of chaos."

The role of a 'volunteer' was to return the books on the return cart to their original locations.

But Grimoire was a villain. The great villain Grimoire would never do such good deeds, would she?

She confidently picked up a book of philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche's 'The Birth of Tragedy'.

Nietzsche, like her, was a genius ahead of his time. Perhaps he was worthy enough to be one of her subordinates.

"Today, you will join me in my villainy. Consider it an honor."

The book had a blue sticker on its spine. After looking around the bookshelves for a moment, she found the cookbook section filled with yellow stickers.

"The meeting of food and philosophy… it will be an unprecedented chaos."

After quickly checking her surroundings, Grimoire placed Nietzsche's philosophy book next to 'Cake Techniques for Beginners'.

"The insignificant humans who were trying to make cakes will fall into the abyss of existential impermanence! Oh? But then who will make my cake?"

The black cover of Nietzsche's book stood out strangely among the colorful cookbooks. Like a crow infiltrating a group of yellow chicks.

"Anyway, this is chaos. Kakat!"

Next was a quantum mechanics textbook. The cover featured Schrödinger's cat. Where should she hide this…

"Hmm, the mythology section would be good. The collision of past and future, reality and possibility! A brilliant idea!"

She slyly placed 'Understanding Modern Quantum Mechanics' next to 'Greek and Roman Mythology'.

They will surely fall into despair. Instead of the mythology they were looking for, they will study quantum entanglement!

"My villainy continues!"

Grimoire painstakingly spent an hour completely mixing up all the books. But she wasn't just mixing them up, she was rearranging them according to her own wicked logic.

The complete collection of Russian literature among computer programming books, an astronomy guide next to yoga instructions, the principles of economics in the fantasy novel section… the more bizarre the combinations, the more elated she felt.

"Chaos Operation Phase 1 complete! Now no one will be able to find the book they want! Order will collapse, and chaos will reign! Kakat!"

What if Socrates baked cookies, and Einstein read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? What if Dostoevsky wrote Python code, and Tolstoy explained C++ object-oriented programming? It's already making her head spin!

Even if it looked suspicious, there was no need to worry. No one would suspect that she, a 'volunteer', harbored malicious intent.

Grimoire wore a victorious smile, left the empty cart, and decided to take a short break.

A little later, three graduate students were gathered in front of the first bookshelf she had messed up.

'Oh, it's finally starting. Poor humans falling into confusion.'

She secretly approached and hid behind the bookshelf, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Hey, look at this. Nietzsche is placed in the cookbook section. At first, I thought it was a mistake, but when I think about it, looking at food from a philosophical perspective gives you a new perspective. The point where Nietzsche's 'tragic essence of art' parallels the creative agony of a pastry chef is clear."

"Right! I was also shocked that the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics is similar to the concept of fate in Greek mythology. The prophecies of the three goddesses of fate also existed on several possibilities of fate before 'observation', right? This is worth making a thesis topic!"

"I found Dostoevsky while looking for a programming algorithm, and I discovered that the psychological structure of the characters in the novel and the logical flow of the computer algorithm strangely coincide. It feels like human psychology and computer logic come from the same source!"

The three began to take out their laptops and type something diligently.

"I don't know who arranged these books, but this is a brilliant idea that breaks down the boundaries between disciplines!"

Their faces were full of excitement, as if they had made a great discovery.

"W-What?"

Grimoire unknowingly hit her forehead.

What was going on? Her actions, which were intended to cause confusion, had instead given them academic inspiration?

Her plan to destroy order and create chaos was going in the completely opposite direction. She hadn't anticipated this result… even her genius brain couldn't have predicted it!

"Why did this happen? No, this must be just a coincidence! Let's move on to the next operation! I will confuse them with more powerful villainy!"

• -

Regaining her composure, Grimoire headed to the old classical literature section for her second act of villainy.

'I have to come up with a plan again. The first one failed, so this time I need a clearer and more distinct act of villainy!'

More certainly, more viciously!

She decided to go for a more direct act of destruction.

"Okay, this time it's a more certain act of villainy! I'll fold the corners of all the books to ruin the library books! It's the thing book lovers hate the most! Who else could come up with such a wicked idea as me?"

She picked up 'The Old Man and the Sea' as her first target. As she turned the pages, the savory smell of old paper tickled her nose.

"Huh?"

Upon closer inspection, the book was so old that the corners were already crumbling. She picked up another book, and the condition was even worse. Most of the books in this section had torn covers, worn pages, and already worn corners.

"These books are too old… I can't even fold the corners! My villainy can't be established!"

After thinking for a moment, a brilliant idea suddenly came to her.

"Then… I can repair the books first and then fold the corners! My genius brain is shining again!"

Grimoire went to the library office and found book repair tools. She took transparent tape, glue, repair paper, and returned to the literature section.

She carefully unfolded the cover of the book and glued the torn parts with special glue. She carefully unfolded the crumpled pages one by one and gently pressed them with an iron. She reinforced the torn spine with special tape.

"Shakespeare, I will breathe new life into your work. Shouldn't you at least say thank you?"

For some reason, she felt at peace. The sight of old paper being revived at her fingertips… was surprisingly fun.

'This is just preparation for villainy. I'm going to fix the books and then ruin them more thoroughly.'

One book, two books… before she knew it, five books had been transformed into new books by her hands.

"Oh my, you're repairing the books so carefully!"

"Heeek!"

When Grimoire turned around, the librarian who had given her the volunteer badge earlier was watching her work.

"Thank you so much for doing what we were supposed to do!"

"N-No! This… this is to fold the corners later… That's right! I'm saving the books for the ultimate villainy!"

Before she could finish speaking, other librarians rushed over and admired her work.

"Wow, you repaired it so meticulously! Most of these old books were scheduled to be discarded!"

"Your spine processing skills are at a professional level! We can't do it this delicately either."

"This taping technique, are you a student of library and information science? Or did you major in book art?"

A middle-aged woman who seemed to be the head librarian approached and gently patted her on the shoulder.

"I've never seen a student who loves books so much. I'd like to recommend you as the volunteer representative for next week?"

Grimoire's face stiffened. What? A volunteer representative? No way!

"I am a great villain! I don't love books… I just…"

In the face of the librarians' sincere gratitude and recognition, it suddenly became difficult to insist on her villainous side.

Looking around, the books she had repaired were neatly arranged and shining like new books. When she touched them with her own hands, they felt like the work of a proper book repairer.

'I, who has the King's DNA, am talented in repairing books?'

Grimoire tried to gently fold the corner of the last book she repaired (Hamlet).

Finally, the real villainy begins! That's why she came all the way here!

Her finger touched the corner of the page. She only had to fold it once…

But for some reason, she hesitated. This was a book she had carefully revived with her own hands.

"Ugh…"

Grimoire unknowingly unfolded the corner again.

"Hmm… this is a strategic disguise for villainy! Yes, I'll gain enough trust and then commit a bigger act of villainy!"

[TL: I had to split the chapters cause it was too long. I will only split chapters if they are above 3000 words]

TOC | Next Chapter