WHEN A BOOK BECOMES THE STRONGEST WEAPON

7. Battle

BUGH!

A punch was thrown the moment the bell rang, imitating what Leah had done earlier. The difference was, this time it was Shaden who received the blow—and it was a hard one. Yet despite having a smaller build than his opponent, his body didn’t move at all. He blocked the punch using only one arm.

Everyone was shocked. Shaden’s body was clearly smaller, a point that had made the fight seem unfair from the start. But they had all forgotten—this world could be altered and bought, as long as you had enough coins.

“Did you sell that damned cube at a higher price so you could get more coins?” his opponent asked.

Shaden wasn’t interested in answering. Instead, he moved swiftly and delivered a kick straight to the man’s stomach, sending him flying backward.

“Boss!” the others shouted.

Unexpectedly, one of the other leaders stepped forward the moment the first one fell from Shaden’s kick.

“No! Shad!” Leah cried out from behind, unable to bear witnessing the injustice of their opponent’s actions.

But Shaden was confident. Even though it hadn’t even been a full day since the world had changed, he was sure he was stronger than anyone here.

This time, he spun around and struck the man’s chin with his elbow. The sound of cracking bones was immediate, followed by the man collapsing to the ground, clutching his jaw.

Shaden didn’t stop there. He delivered a kick until the second man lay unconscious. Then, he turned his sharp gaze toward his first opponent. The man instinctively stepped back in fear when their eyes met.

“I had no intention of interfering with you lot robbing people under the pretense of renting space—but you got greedy and wanted it all. Now, stop what you’re doing and stay out of my way!”

Shaden wiped the sweat from his face, then turned around. He walked back to Leah, who welcomed him with a wide smile.

“Whoa! What is this? How could a little kid knock out two grown men?”

Shaden smiled sheepishly. “I just did what I could.”

“And I’m shocked you’re actually that strong.”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he gave Leah a glance, signaling her to leave the building. But they were forced to stop in their tracks when they ran into Judy and Ely. The two looked awkward as their eyes met.

Shaden glanced at Leah, but the woman simply walked past her former colleagues without saying a word.

“Leah…” Judy called out, making Leah stop.

Shaden had no choice but to stop too, since Leah had been walking ahead of him.

“I—I’m sorry for leaving just like that after you helped me. I also chose to pay the high price because I—”

“I don’t want to know,” Leah interrupted. “I’m not curious and I don’t want to hear any explanations. Just like you, I did what I believed was right from the start, so I never thought your choices were wrong.”

Judy and Ely were surprised by what Leah said.

“So you mean—”

“But you must take responsibility for the choices you’ve made. Since you decided to walk away, don’t ever think of coming back. Because both Shaden and I need people who can understand and trust us in this terrifying world. Just like you value your lives—and the lives of others—I feel the same. So from now on, do whatever you want.”

Only after saying that did Leah continue walking, and Shaden followed quietly. They returned to the cube and sat down without saying a word.

While Leah sat in silence, deep in thought, Shaden was surprised to see additional coins appearing in his pocket. The notification read: cube rental—meaning the coins were automatically deducted by the system from those occupying the cube he had created and transferred to him.

“Leah, I just got some coins from the people staying in the cube,” he told her.

Leah turned to him. “Did they give them to you directly?”

Shaden shook his head. “It was transferred by the system.”

“Then accept it! After all, you’re the one who created that cube, and I doubt those people would regret paying you to save their own lives.”

He fell silent, glancing at the people who had no intention of leaving the space. Honestly, Shaden was afraid some might try to take the cube by force for their survival. But those who had witnessed his fight against the three clan leaders now instinctively avoided him, not wanting any trouble.

“Ah, Leah. I need to go somewhere for a bit. I’ll be back before nightfall, so you should just get some rest.”

Leah looked surprised, as if she wanted to ask where he was going, but instead, she simply nodded.

“Be careful!”

*

A small house behind a tall building. In the storybook Shaden owned, this place was described as a fairy's house.

Fairies were said to be beings whose existence was so isolated from other species that they created nearly everything they needed themselves, since they couldn’t obtain or buy them from the outside.

So Shaden had come to take anything he could use for self-defense—but of course, he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

[You have entered the fairy house. Your body size will shrink temporarily until you find the book The 12 Fairy Leaders from the bookshelf in the room. Time limit: 60 minutes. If you fail, your body will not return to its original size.]

Within seconds, Shaden suddenly shrank drastically. His body felt so light he could’ve been swept away by the wind.

Finding a single book sounded easy enough. The problem was that his body was now tiny, while the room was filled with towering bookshelves containing what seemed to be more than a thousand books.

“Shouldn’t I have wings if I’m supposed to be a fairy?” Shaden muttered in confusion. Unfortunately, only his body had shrunk—nothing else had changed.

He looked up, observing the room that had first seemed small and narrow but now appeared vast and towering. Shaden searched for a way to reach the high bookshelves.

First, he climbed a low chair using his staff. Luckily, the staff hadn’t shrunk, so he was able to slowly climb up to the top of the chair.

However, the distance between him and the shelf was still great. His neck began to ache from looking up for too long.

“What should I do?”

Before he could come up with a plan to climb the shelf, his ears caught a strange sound that gave him a bad feeling. He looked around cautiously, and in the next moment, a flying creature crashed into him at high speed, nearly knocking him off the chair.

“What was that? Was that a fly?”

The annoying buzzing sound made Shaden certain it was a fly. He tried to hide behind the chair’s leg, but the fly seemed to know exactly where he was.

Shaden readied himself. He waited until the fly came at him again, then struck it hard. He succeeded—the fly collapsed in front of him.

Slowly, Shaden approached the fly to check if it was dead. To his surprise, its eyes suddenly opened. He thought it would attack again, but it didn’t. The fly looked at him in fear, as if traumatized by the blow.

Seeing the flying creature, Shaden got an idea—he could use it to reach the tall bookshelf.

*

[You have completed the Fairy House Sub-Mission. You have received 500 coins. The skill minisize has been added.]

Shaden smiled in satisfaction—not because of the 500 coins, but because of the item he had needed from the start.

A fairy crown, which when worn, would allow him to issue five commands that the target would be compelled to obey. Plus, there was the bonus minisize skill, though it could only be used for a limited time.

Though Shaden didn’t yet know what the crown would be used for, he was sure he’d need many rare and useful items in the future. And this sub-mission was one only he knew about.

“I need to get back to Leah.”

As he exited the house, it collapsed and crumbled within seconds.

Shaden stood frozen, staring at the house that now felt like an illusion. It was indeed strange—a small house like that in the middle of a city full of tall buildings. But his goal was accomplished, and the destruction of the house was no concern of his.

He walked back toward where Leah was waiting. But then he heard a scream from the opposite direction.

Shaden hesitated, unsure whether he should go toward the scream or continue heading back, as night was approaching.

But a second scream left him no time to think. He ran toward the sound and found a woman being dragged by the hair by a man. Another man stood nearby, laughing.

“You should’ve kept your mouth shut! Do you think we’re going to kill you? The world’s gone mad, and you still care about your dignity?! All you had to do was satisfy us for a moment—why are you fighting it so hard?”

Shaden watched the scene coldly. He bent down, picked up a small rock, and threw it with full force.

“Argh!” the man cried out, blood dripping from his forehead where the rock had struck.

“WHO ARE YOU? HOW ARE YOU HERE?”

The other man noticed Shaden and charged at him. Shaden easily kicked him down. The first man let go of the woman’s hair.

“You… you’re going to die here!”

What Shaden didn’t expect was that the man suddenly transformed—growing larger with fangs and long claws—after swallowing a pill.

Danger. The rate at which people adapted was far beyond what Shaden had anticipated.

**