The craftsmanship alone was beyond anything a regular artisan could make. The hieroglyphs seemed to shift ever so slightly, as if alive, rearranging themselves each time I blinked.
Of course, I couldn’t understand a single one of them.
Magic inscriptions had never been my specialty.
Still, I knew how to use it.
That much, at least, was simple enough.
All I had to do was place the Sage’s Bookmark in a book, ask it a question, and the letters on that page would rise up to form an answer.
It didn’t predict the future—no, that would’ve been far too convenient.
Instead, it drew from every piece of knowledge that existed in this world—past and present—to give an answer, however brief or cryptic.
A miracle tool, really.
There was one artifact out there that could peek into fragments of the future, but...
’Yeah, that’s way out of my reach right now.’
For the time being, this was more than enough.
I set the bookmark on a clean, open page of the book I’d brought and took a deep breath.
Time to ask.
"Does there currently exist a level of danger that could destroy this world?"
The question echoed faintly in the quiet archive.
For a few moments, nothing happened. Then the air above the book shimmered.
The ink on the page began to glow, and letters—faint at first—rose from the paper like drifting fireflies. They twisted and turned in the air, rearranging themselves until words finally formed before my eyes.
—Danger: None.
I exhaled, tension I hadn’t realized I was holding finally leaving my shoulders.
"Phew... thank god."
For a second there, I thought something terrible might be looming just out of sight.
But if the Sage’s Bookmark said otherwise—then that was that.
Its accuracy rate was known to be 99.9%. As far as I was concerned, that was as close to the truth as anyone could get.
My worries had been for nothing.
Still, as I closed the book and pocketed the bookmark, I couldn’t help but glance toward the dim corner of the archive.
Only one question per day.
Twenty-four hours before I could ask again.
Which meant... I’d have to choose my next question very carefully.
Because something told me that, sooner or later, I would need to ask again.
Satisfied with the answer, I leaned back slightly, already wondering what question I should ask next.
If I wanted to figure out why these strange variables were appearing, I needed to understand how this thing actually worked.
But then—
—However.
"?"
I froze.
I hadn’t said anything yet. My previous question had already been answered, so why were more words suddenly forming?
The faint, glowing letters began to rise again before my eyes, one after another.
I held my breath, watching anxiously as they slowly arranged themselves into coherent text.
—Several. Weak. Possibilities. Exist.
"...What?"
My brows furrowed as I read the words again, trying to make sense of them.
Several weak possibilities exist.
What’s that supposed to mean?
So... there’s no immediate danger now, but there could be? In the future?
A cold unease settled in my chest.
The message didn’t feel like a simple warning—it felt like a prediction. Something vague, uncertain, but heavy enough to make my heart race.
Feeling a faint dizziness, I pressed my hand to my forehead and shut my eyes tightly.
It seems... my path ahead won’t be peaceful after all.
No matter how much I wished for calm, this world clearly had other plans for me.
For a long moment, I just stood there in silence.
The faint golden light of the floating words slowly faded, leaving only the dim glow of the archive’s lanterns and the sound of my heartbeat echoing in my ears.
Several weak possibilities exist.
That single line lingered in my mind like a whisper that refused to leave.
"...Tch."
I closed the book with a soft thud, the dust dancing in the air like faint embers. My reflection in the glossy surface of the table stared back at me—calm, but undeniably uneasy.
It wasn’t a clear warning, but it wasn’t meaningless either.
If this artifact really possessed 99.9% accuracy... then those "weak possibilities" weren’t something to dismiss.
I slipped the Sage’s Bookmark carefully into my inner pocket and sat there for a while, lost in thought.
What kind of danger could it be referring to?
The Empire collapsing? The return of some ancient calamity? Or maybe—
"...No. I’m overthinking it."
I shook my head lightly. The answer was vague, yes, but it didn’t mean the end of the world was around the corner.
Still, I couldn’t shake the thought that this was somehow connected to all the changes I’d been noticing.
Elena’s different behavior.
Tatsuya’s sudden appearance.
Events diverging from how they were supposed to go in the webtoon.
Each one of them was a small ripple. Individually, harmless. But together... they were starting to feel like waves.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "If this keeps up, I might really have to ask the Bookmark about the cause."
But not today.
I’d already used my one question.
And besides, asking about something like ’Why is the world changing?’ might give me an answer I wasn’t ready for.
I sighed quietly and stood up, brushing off the dust from my uniform.
"I should head back before curfew."