Min groaned and shifted his body. He could remember how he felt as if he were drowning in darkness as death closed in, how he was bleeding out on the ground like a stuck pig.

Strange. It was oddly comfortable. There was a soft mattress supporting his body, and the sheets were silky smooth. He wriggled his fingers and sighed in satisfaction.

He blinked his eyes open. A warm, fuzzy glow lit up the room, and the aroma of fresh flowers filled his nose. 

“...This is way too comfortable to be in my house. Where the hell am I?” he demanded.

“Morning to you, sunshine. Welcome to Huan City,” Seni replied from the foot of the bed. “In 4077, they voted my city the worst place to live in the Guo Empire. Main issues? Sky-high rate of violence and more people living below the poverty line than anywhere else. Can’t deny it - it’s all true. But everybody still wants to live here, this city’s always got a promise for you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“It might be a lie, an illusion, but it’s there. Just around the corner-”

“Seni, did I end up halfway across the duchy or something? Where am I?”

“Uh, Longhuan Hotel. After patching you up, I ran all the way here. Then I bought some herbs and medicine and kinda, y’know, saved your life.”

“Oh...oh shit. For real? Thank you. I mean it.”

Seni grinned and hid his smug smile. “It was nothing. Can you stand?”

Min sat up and immediately felt nauseous. “Ugh. Hold on, what happened to the immortal back there? The bird guy?”

“I do happen to faintly remember beating the everloving crap out of him.”

“No way. You couldn’t even hit him at first, and now you’re telling me that you just folded him? Easy as that?”

“Well...I do admit to having some help on the side. I think there really was a ghost possessing that creepy rock, ‘cause it was like my body got possessed and I was running a payload of hurt on him the next thing I knew. And I was yelling something, too, but it was in some other voice.”

“Maybe a morally upright ghost has possessed you through that stone?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I guess?”

Min felt comfortable enough to stand on his own and slid off. His legs wobbled, then stabilized as he slowly breathed in and out. “Okay Seni, now where’s my shirt?”

A ragged gray tunic launched across the room and wrapped around his face.

“If only you were younger, you’d probably have perfect abs and pecs that we could put on the cover image while shadowing out your face and lower body to coerce young teenage girls into reading,” Seni commented.

Min looked down at his slightly bulging belly. “It’s not all that bad. I bet I could look young again if I shaved my beard and ate less.”

“And somehow got rid of your wrinkles?”

“Yes, that too.”

“Great. Alright, I’m leaving for an inn near the harbor. And then I’m going to have to find a new job.”

 

As the day came to an end and the sun had long since set behind the enormous city walls, Ainsworth pounded the wall and shouted, “We’re closing! Get out!”

By this time, only a couple of stragglers at the pub were still drinking his cheap, unrefined sake. One by one, they picked themselves up and drunkenly stumbled out.

Naturally, there would always be someone who had a bone to pick with Ainsworth’s business practices.

“Ah, I’m, I’m sick o’ ye bossin’ me around, southerner!” One-eyed Wang slurred.

Apparently, he had lost his eye in a war, or so Ainsworth had heard. The man was unwieldy on his feet everywhere he went. Although he was bulky, he lacked any sort of agility, as he was perpetually suffering from alcohol poisoning and hangover at the same time.

Wang slammed the table and marched up to the bar, where Ainsworth had set down the mug he was cleaning. Before Wang could make a single move, he found his upper body dragged over the counter and Ainsworth glaring into his eyes.

“If you throw a single punch - no, if you misplace even a single strand of hair on my head, I’ll have you banished from my establishment,” he growled, then let go of Wang’s collar and threw him towards the door. “Now get out!”

Being from the Southern Continent, Ainsworth’s accent was horrible and his dialect was unique to only him. But it was understandable enough to the rough-speaking ruffians of the East District. Wang scrambled out of the door as Ainsworth finished cleaning the mug.

His skin was somewhat darker due to the constant hot weather in the south, and his hair was cleanly shaved on the sides. A neatly trimmed mustache and beard gave him an intimidating look that was perfect for a barkeep in the bad part of town, especially since southerners were generally taller than most northerners.

After-hours was an especially dangerous time to be outside in this part of the city, but the drunkards that drank late in the night always somehow found their way back to waste their money. Perhaps it was how they reeked of alcohol, or how they had nothing but dust gathering in their purses.

He barred the door with a sturdy wooden plank, then locked it 5 times. There were no windows in his pub. It was built into one of the enormous stone towers of the East District. Outside, there would be seedy restaurants and shops on his floor, then apartments and entire neighborhoods on the lower floors. 

He climbed the stairs to his tiny room and stared out of the window at the city. A bit of the tower had crumbled away in this spot, allowing for a breathtaking view if one ignored the rancid smells and periodic screams erupting from the broken-down buildings below.

The enormous Jiang River separated the West District from the east, connected only by a couple bridges that were heavily guarded and restricted. From this great height, he could spot the sparkling, colorful lights on the other side. It was said that all the immortals that lived in Huan City lived in the west, and he could see where those claims came from. Streetlamps illuminated the West District, and magical lights often rose into the sky from their enormous decorated towers and pagodas. 

From here, he could name all of the buildings that he always stared at in admiration each night. “Redlight Tower, Longhuan Hotel, uh...Tai Jian Plaza…”

Soon, he settled down on his futon after slamming the window shut to prevent any birds from flying in. He had a rather odd dream about a shattered nation above the clouds.

 

Long before the emperor rejected by Heaven

Before the children of the abyss

The endless kingdom was united

An earth and sky that was never meant to collide

Bent reality

And the world went mad

 

Seni threw the book of ancient poems across the room and groaned in frustration. Pages upon pages of nonsensical drivel that gave him absolutely no clue about anything called a Librarian’s Brain. 

“What’re you looking at?” Min called out.

“Poems from prehistory. I tried looking through modern records, but they never mentioned anything related to a brain or possession, so I thought if I went back far enough, then I’d find something,” Seni complained. “But no, it’s all just pretentious drivel!”

“You’re hardly halfway through.”

“Yeah, well, time is money, right? And my shift is almost coming up. Why not look through it for me if you’ve got the time?”

“Seni, I can’t read.”

“Oh, right. Maybe I ought to teach you someday.”

Before Min could reply with a sarcastic quip, Seni had already left for work at a restaurant near the harbor that had recently been gaining popularity ever since he became their ‘poster girl’. 

Ever since Min had returned to his village to find that his house had been looted after being presumed dead for a single day, he had left in a fit of rage and found a new occupation at the city’s Mercenary Guild as a trainer for some rookies. His illiteracy was initially a barrier, but he found himself to be quite effective at passing on his knowledge to others.

Today was his brief respite from work. Instead of analyzing the book himself, he had a much better idea.

“Good day, dear. Any type of book you’re interested in?” greeted the old woman managing the local library.

“Ah, no. I can’t read, see, so I was wondering if you could take a look at this book and see if it mentioned anything about a librarian or a brain,” Min replied.

She adjusted her spectacles and gazed at the book. “Ooh, I remember this one. That girl was such a sweetheart.”

“Heh. Wait until you get to know him.”

The librarian opened the collection of poems and records, scanning through it while making conversation with Min.

 

Carp’s Whiskers restaurant was clamoring with customers by noon. Some were workers here for their lunch break, and some others were here for an entirely different reason.

“Seni! One catfish bowl!” shouted the waiter.

Although the interior was quite large for a small business, it was already filled with steam from the chefs hard at work in the back. 

Meanwhile, Seni juggled hard-boiled eggs into the pot, flipped fried fish filets, and rolled bowls of rice down his arm and onto the table. It was as if cooking was the only situation in which he’d be able to utilize his immortal reflexes and strength to its fullest.

“I’ve got my hands tied!” Seni yelled back, then turned and instructed another cook to make the meal while showing off as he spun a bowl of fried noodles on the tip of his index finger and landed it perfectly onto the passing waiter’s platter.

He tossed a cucumber up into the air with his knee and slashed it into equal slices before it dropped back onto the chopping board again, then slammed his hand on the board to launch the sliced cucumber into the pot.

As the customers dwindled and the sun began to set, the kitchen became much less hectic. The evening closed in, and that was when Seni had finished his shift. As fast as he was, nighttime was when the more exquisite customers came. Gourmet cooking was not a field he was particularly educated in.

However, the boss would have been a fool not to take full advantage of the new employee. 

Seni donned a waitress’s outfit with a short skirt. If a particularly wealthy-looking customer arrived, then he would whisper recommendations into their ear. 

He was in the middle of gleefully watching one such customer becoming increasingly flustered when he noticed an immortal swaggering through.

Everybody else’s heads swiveled towards the entrance. 

He was tall, fit, and good-looking. But that was the status quo for all immortals. Seni wasn’t impressed. What stood out the most was his fluffy cat ears and tail. 

Judging by his expensive silk garments, he was quite rich as well. Still, that was not anything unique - most immortals were generally laden with coin. 

“May I have an audience with Seni?” he said.

Everyone suddenly turned towards Seni, who immediately distanced himself from the man he was teasing earlier. “Ye-yes, that’s me.”

“Good. Come outside, I want to have a private chat.”

The night air outside was cool, but also carried the slight smell of raw fish from the river. Moonlight illuminated the two in the deserted alleyway. The cat-immortal backed Seni up against a wall and leaned down, pulling out a heavy purse of coins from within his tunic.

“I can make it so you won’t have to work again,” he said, leaning his head down to whisper into Seni’s ear, and shook the purse.

Seni’s ears picked up the crisp jingle of coins within. “O-okay, but who’s - I mean, who are you?”

The other immortal chuckled, revealing a pair of small pointed canines as he laughed. “You’re definitely new around here. Else I’d have heard about you a lot earlier. Name’s Rouyi.”

“Right. And I’m assuming that you’re here to offer me money in exchange for either romance or sex?”

“Dear, you’re a smart one. Unlike a lot of my other girlfriends.”

“Um, okay. Putting aside the, er, womanizing and flaunting and objectification aside, what if I were to tell you that I was a full-grown man?”

Rouyi blinked, then laughed and caressed Seni’s cheek. “Beauty knows no borders.”

In contrast to his calm demeanor, Seni’s thoughts were racing. “Hold, hold on. Give me a moment.”

He’s serious about this. Should I? I mean, if I did, then…

“Do it!” shouted Warrior Seni. “We’ll go back to our luxury days! No more dealing with grabby customers or stressful cooking!”

Fashionable Seni was against it. “Don’t! What about the Marquis? Are we really going to just betray him like that?”

“He’s dead, you bloody cocksucker!” Warrior Seni snapped. “Come on! This ain’t the first dick you’ve ridden!”

“But-but-but…! What about Min? What if Rouyi gets hurt when someone comes after us for the possessed stone again? We don’t know a thing about this man!”

“Okay, shut up!” Seni shouted. “Let me think, damn it.”

He backed himself up against the wall as Rouyi’s gaze became more and more piercing.

 

Min had been relaxing on the bed when an exhausted Seni came back to the inn room. 

The door slammed so hard that the entire building shook slightly. He could hear the drunkards and diners downstairs suddenly fall silent in a moment of shock.

“Hey, hey,” said Min. “Whoa there. What in the world happened?”

“Had to give a certain someone a piece of my mind. Fuckin’ shitty...six harem members...well, fuck right off if you want me to be the seventh!”

Seni threw his hands up in the air and collapsed on the bed.

“Was he rich?” Min asked.

“Yeah. And he was a right pompous bastard. Charming, my fat peach-shaped ass!”

“Well, if I know anything about right pompous rich bastards, is that they hold a grudge. And I’m talking from experience.”

Seni sniffed. “Marquis Xue would always put me first. We spent all of our time together, y’know? I didn’t really want much, but...if I did, he’d give it to me as a present.”

“Sorry. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of him. He sounds like a good person who loved you.”

“Ahh, you shouldn’t know. Halfway across the entire continent.”

Min shifted, noticing that Seni was slowly sliding across the bed and snuggling up to him. “What are you doing?”

“Just...hold me for a bit, alright? I had a rough time today, man.”

“A’ight, dude. You’re the one who saved my life. Call the shots.”

“Thanks, bro. You a real one.”

He placed his head on Min’s chest and received a gentle head pat. 

“Homie, this is real gay,” Min suddenly realized.

 

Seni awoke to the sound of clamoring on the first floor of the inn as usual. He noticed the absence of his friend after patting the bed for a while, then remembered that Min’s job started earlier in the morning. 

On the bedside table lay his ancient poetry book with a bookmark slipped in its pages that read - Librarian. 

He threw the blankets off and jumped out of bed, now fully awake. 

“Ohh, seriously. Don’t tell me…” he muttered while combing his hair and thumbing through the pages at the same time.

The sky is ablaze

Has our age finally come to an end?

Today, the Librarian fell

Tomorrow, we will all fall

Hark! Our world is ending!

Blood rains from the skies

The keeper of the archives

Is dead

And forbidden knowledge 

Dies with him

Seni had copied the poem on a separate sheet of parchment, and then a couple more times in case the original copy was destroyed or lost.

Alright, Seni. Let’s think about this poorly written piece of trash. 

Without a doubt, the Librarian was certainly a person. Perhaps a scribe. Supposedly, he kept archives with him, meaning that he was trusted with such important documents. Not only that, but they were also filled with forbidden knowledge - government secrets, perhaps?

This was, of course, assuming that this was to be taken literally. Every single entity in these poems could be nothing more than symbolism for aspects of life. However, that was also unlikely. While he was looking through the book, a large portion of it was filled with poems that resembled thoughts going through someone’s mind during an apocalyptic scenario. Additionally, there were more entities referred to by their titles, such as a ‘Devourer’, an ‘Outcast’, a ‘King’, a ‘Prince’, et cetera.

Hold on a damn minute. Isn’t it strange that the people of prehistory developed written language, but never kept any historical records to be kept in museums and such?

Seni’s mind immediately flashed to the conclusion of the government hiding historical secrets from the general populace.

Shit. Then, that phoenix guy I killed...was he a government agent? Or is he affiliated with an entirely different group? Let’s see...Librarian’s Brain, Librarian’s Brain. Whatever could that mean?

It was general knowledge that when people were killed, they would die. That rule even applied to the immortals, who had eternal youth, magic, and superhuman abilities on their side. 

However, in his youth, Seni had read plenty of philosophical stories that explored ideas of hive minds, life after death, biological transhumanism, and all other sorts of strange concepts. 

What if…

Seni knew that whenever he became possessed, he would lose all free will. Everything he could control in his body down to his breathing pattern was wrested away from him. 

Medical studies a couple decades ago say that our brains control just about everything we do, like moving our hands and feet. What if my possession happens because my brain is being controlled?

The air suddenly became very chilly once he realized that he could possibly be going on a murderous rampage at any moment.

Keep it together! Librarian’s Brain...does that mean…?

“I think I figured it out.”

If his far-fetched theory was true, then that meant huge implications for the existence of death itself.

He sprinted as fast as the wind, leaving behind a cloud of dust in the room. There was only one destination he had in mind - the Mercenary Guild.