Chapter 184 — The Shelf That Holds His Name
The deeper Ne Job followed Qi-Yun into the First Archive, the more the world stopped behaving like a place and started behaving like… a thought.
Shelves didn't stand still. They shifted. Tilted. Rearranged themselves like polite but panicked librarians in the presence of a VIP.
Ink-stars blinked awake overhead.
Paper pathways folded themselves beneath Qi-Yun's feet.
Ne Job tried to keep up—physically, mentally, spiritually—but mostly he just tried not to faceplant.
"Slow down!" he cried, stumbling over a floating footnote.
"No," Qi-Yun replied.
Ne Job wheezed. "Why are ancient beings always like this?! No one's heard of jogging! Or breaks! Or interns with weak knees?!"
Qi-Yun stopped abruptly.
Ne Job crashed into him face-first.
BONK.
He staggered backward, clutching his nose. "WHY ARE YOU MADE OF METAL?!"
"I am not," Qi-Yun said.
"You FEEL like metal!"
"Your face is weak."
Ne Job opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Whimpered.
Qi-Yun pointed forward.
"Behold. Your section."
Ne Job turned.
And stared.
---
1. The Erased Section
A single long shelf floated at the center of a spiraling void.
Everything else in the Archive had color, shape, movement.
Not this.
This shelf was blank.
Pure white.
Paper-white.
Memory-white.
Books sat upon it in neat rows—identical, plain, unmarked. Not a title, not a name, not a seal. They radiated silence.
Ne Job stepped closer.
The silence deepened.
Even the floating ink-stars held their breath.
"Wh-what is this?"
Qi-Yun's voice was low.
"This is the Shelf of the Lost. The place where records are stored when the Bureau, the Court, or Heaven itself wishes something to disappear."
Ne Job looked down the endless row.
"…So this is like cosmic storage?"
"No," Qi-Yun said.
"It is the place they put things no one is allowed to look at."
"Oh."
Beat.
"…So cosmic junk storage?"
Qi-Yun glared.
Ne Job cleared his throat and shut up.
The Archivist floated into being beside them, parchment face solemn.
"This shelf holds all erased fates," it said. "Including yours."
Ne Job stiffened.
"Mine?"
Qi-Yun nodded.
"Yes."
Ne Job swallowed.
"But… why erase me? I was just a kid who couldn't even hold a pencil without stabbing himself!"
Qi-Yun raised an eyebrow.
"That is still true."
"HEY—"
But he shut up again as Qi-Yun gestured toward the shelf.
A single book glowed faintly.
Not bright.
Just… guilty.
Qi-Yun spoke:
"That book is your erased life."
Ne Job's chest tightened.
He reached out—
But the Archivist blocked his hand.
"You cannot open it," it said.
"Why not?" Ne Job asked.
"Because your resonance is unstable. Viewing the full record would shatter your mind."
"Oh," Ne Job said softly.
Then louder:
"WAIT. WHAT?!"
Qi-Yun nodded calmly.
"Yes. Your mind is fragile."
Ne Job flailed.
"I—I'm not FRAGILE!"
"You died earlier from a mild tap."
"I DID NOT—okay I almost died but that's DIFFERENT—"
Qi-Yun ignored his rant.
"The book cannot be opened yet. But it can be activated."
Ne Job blinked.
"What does that mean?"
Qi-Yun extended his palm toward the glowing book.
The Archivist raised both arms.
The Archive itself hummed.
And then—
The book vibrated.
Ink seeped out from the edges, forming a ring of symbols around it.
The symbols turned.
Locked.
Clicked.
Qi-Yun stepped back.
"It begins."
---
2. A Memory Without a Name
A line of ink rose into the air—thin, trembling—like a single string being pulled from a tapestry.
Ne Job felt it enter his mind like a whisper.
A voice—childlike, breathless—echoed:
"Don't forget your name."
Ne Job staggered.
A flash hit him—
A firelit room. A small desk. A boy scribbling furiously into a ledger.
"Don't forget—don't forget—don't—"
The image blurred.
Vanished.
Ne Job gasped, grabbing his head.
"That… that was me."
Qi-Yun nodded.
"Yes."
"But I—I can't remember anything else. It's like someone ripped half the picture out."
Qi-Yun's expression remained unreadable.
"That is what erasure feels like."
Ne Job sucked in a shaky breath.
Then he looked back at the book.
"So if I activate more pages… I'll get more memories?"
"Yes."
"Will it hurt?"
"Yes."
"Will it kill me?"
"Possibly."
Ne Job stared at him.
"…This is the worst internship in the universe."
The Archivist patted his shoulder.
"There are internships worse than this."
"REALLY?!"
"Yes. The Undersea Filing Department."
Ne Job shuddered. "Okay fair."
Qi-Yun floated a hand toward the shelf.
"Again."
Ne Job blinked. "Again what?"
"Activate the next page."
Ne Job balked.
"But I almost exploded!"
"Yes. And you must do it again."
"Why?!"
Qi-Yun looked at him as if the answer were obvious.
"Because you fear the truth."
Ne Job's breath hitched.
"And the only way to defeat a fear," Qi-Yun said, "is to face it until it grows tired of you."
Ne Job blinked.
"That's… actually terrible advice."
"It is how most gods overcome things."
"…Oh."
Qi-Yun gestured.
"Begin."
Ne Job took a deep breath.
Slowly reached toward the book again.
And touched the ink.
---
3. Yue POV — Waiting, Worrying, Not Pacing (She is Absolutely Pacing)
Yue paced.
Ling watched.
Taiyi drank tea.
Bao meditated.
The sealed doorway pulsed faintly with pale light.
Yue stopped. "That's the third pulse this hour."
Ling nodded, tapping her bat nervously.
"What does that mean? He's alive? He's dying? He's being lectured? He's being killed by paperwork?"
Taiyi raised a finger.
"In my experience, paperwork usually kills first—"
"NOT HELPING," Yue snapped.
Taiyi slowly lowered the finger.
Bao opened one eye.
"Yue."
She froze.
"You cannot help him in there."
Yue folded her arms tightly.
"I know."
"But you want to."
"Yes."
"Because you care."
Yue flinched.
Ling grinned.
"Oho?"
Yue glared. "No. I'm just—concerned."
Ling raised a brow. "Concerned in a caring way?"
"No."
"Concerned in a 'he is your intern and you are emotionally invested in his wellbeing' way?"
"No."
"…Concerned in a 'he might die and you'll feel guilty forever' way?"
Yue paused.
"…Maybe."
Taiyi sipped loudly.
Yue exhaled shakily.
"I don't want him to be alone in there."
Bao's flame flickered kindly.
"He is not alone."
Ling nodded.
"He's got Qi-Yun. Scary cosmic dad energy. Very reliable. Probably."
A sudden BOOM rattled the Void Storeroom.
A shockwave of silver ink rippled outward from the door.
They all froze.
Taiyi choked on his tea.
Ling shouted, "WHAT WAS THAT?!"
Bao whispered:
"He activated another memory."
Yue clenched her fists harder.
"Ne Job… don't push yourself too far."
---
4. Back Inside — The Second Memory Breaks
Ne Job screamed as the second wave hit.
Ink flooded his mind.
Images hammered behind his eyes.
Hurry.
Hide it.
No one can know.
Not yet—
A pair of hands slammed a ledger shut.
A flame swallowed the edges.
Someone shouted—
"Find the child!"
Ne Job collapsed.
Qi-Yun caught him by the collar before he hit the ground.
"You survived."
Ne Job panted, shaking uncontrollably.
"I—I saw something. Someone was—someone was looking for me. And… I was hiding. I think I was hiding my resonance."
Qi-Yun's gaze sharpened.
"It begins to return."
Ne Job swallowed hard.
"Why… why was I erased?"
Qi-Yun met his eyes.
Finally.
Directly.
And said:
"Because you were never supposed to exist."
The words shattered through Ne Job like a bell toll.
He felt the room tilt.
His breath caught.
"W-what does that mean?"
Qi-Yun turned to the glowing book.
"It means your story was not written."
The Archivist whispered:
"It means you were born between the lines."
Ne Job's voice trembled.
"…So I'm a mistake?"
"No," Qi-Yun said firmly.
"A mistake cannot change fate."
Ne Job blinked.
"Then what am I?"
Qi-Yun placed a hand on his shoulder.
His voice was quiet thunder.
"You, Ne Job…"
"…are an unwritten rule."
Ne Job stared at him.
Heart pounding.
Then the book glowed again.
The third page began to unlock.
Ink rose like smoke.
Qi-Yun stepped back.
"Prepare yourself."
Ne Job exhaled, trembling but determined.
"Okay."
He looked up at his erased fate.
At his unwritten destiny.
And whispered:
"I'm ready."
The Archive roared open.
And the third memory struck.
---
End of Chapter 184