"O Sage, O Great Sage, do you have such a thing?"

  The Sage.

  The Great Sage.

  The Sage said with a laugh: "My child, you are among the rare few who seek knowledge instead of life and power. This is very, very valuable to me."

  "You, despite having a difficult illness, seem determined to learn rather than seek treatment. Truly, why, Zal my child? Why?"

  The Sage moved his plaster eyes toward Zal. The sound of grinding plaster echoed as his eyes shifted. The Sage looked at Zal.

  "What the Sage saw in that moment was not a man seeking knowledge. It was a void shaped like a man. A darkness so deep that even the face of the one carrying it was invisible. And the Sage, who had seen everything, for the first time saw something he could not name."

  Between his eyes, Zal saw only emptiness and nothingness—darkness that had gathered in his chest, so much that even his face was barely visible.

  The Sage said: "Why, truly? Why do you seek knowledge? I can offer you a solution to escape your illness, or at least ease its pain. You seem to be experiencing great suffering."

  Zal realized he had strayed from the main path of his question.

  He tried to return the Sage to the right path.

  Yet his mind was consumed by how the Sage knew of his illness.

  Zal asked: "Great Sage, my illness might be something simple. How do you know it's a difficult illness?"

  The Sage said: "Nothing remains hidden from the prophets of the One God, young one."

  Zal had somewhat received his answer, yet doubt remained. He held himself back and spoke no more of his illness. He needed to reach the main matter—the knowledge he sought.

  Zal said: "Great Sage, despite this, I am certain of my request. Please, with all respect, grant what I ask."

  Zal leaned back in his chair after speaking.

  And suddenly, the chair trembled.

  Zal exclaimed: "What? Why is it shaking? An earthquake? Now? Of all the ridiculous times?!"

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  The ground beneath Zal trembled more and more. Zal gripped the chair tightly to keep from falling.

  His gaze fixed on the Sage.

  Enormous, plaster-covered hands emerged in a gesture of prayer.

  Suddenly, a whisper was heard from the Sage, and the tremors stopped.

  The whisper had no distinct form at first, then suddenly gained meaning.

  Zal listened carefully.

  The Sage suddenly spoke loudly in his whisper:

  "O Almighty God, O blesser of the earth, O dawn of the moon and bringer of light, O bringer of light and wisdom—teach your dear and cherished servant the supreme knowledge he seeks."

  The sounds around fell silent.

  .

  .

  .

  Suddenly, a very fine crack appeared within the Sage's plaster eye.

  And blood flowed like a river.

  "There are moments so impossible that the mind refuses to process them. Zal stood at the edge of such a moment. A god bleeding. A prophet wounded. And in that wound, the birth of what he had asked for. Reality had become a dream, and the dream was bleeding."

  This was astonishing for Zal. His mind had a long way to go to analyze whether this was real. This was more like surrealism than fantasy reality.

  Blood flowed and flowed and flowed.

  The blood-like liquid covered half of the Great Sage's body.

  Zal stared at the substance. Is this... blood?

  Slowly, his gaze drifted to the space around him. The moonlight-like space was still there, the same color lingering in the room.

  Suddenly, the space turned red.

  Red.

  Zal looked around in astonishment and saw light emanating from the blood-like liquid.

  The light turned everything red.

  Zal asked in wonder: "What is this?"

  The Sage slowly moved his great hand, placed it on his face, and covered the crack in his eye.

  The Sage said: "This is the knowledge you seek. A book called The Book. A book called The World and a book called The Law."

  "This is what you're looking for—a book containing all information from the beginning of humanity. But be certain, even if you read this book completely—which is nearly impossible—the world will still remain exciting for you. Not all information is inside the book. The laws of the world do not permit it. For this, I am sorry, my child."

  Zal nodded, his eyes fixed on the main source of light emanating from the bloody liquid.

  The source of light slowly rose upward.

  And revealed its true form.

  A book—neither too large nor too small.

  The book moved directly toward Zal's hand.

  When Zal took the book in his hand, he said only one thing:

  "Why is this book so small? Are you sure this is the complete version?"

  "Zal held infinity in his hands and complained about its weight. The Sage smiled, for he had seen this before. Humans always measure things by what they can see. They forget that the most important things are invisible."

  The Sage said with his whispering laugh: "My child, do not judge a book by its size. This book cannot be compared to others. This is the first book ever written by human hands."

  "This book has no last page. When you open it and turn its pages, you will never reach the end. Only the first 300 pages list the title of each chapter and the page where that chapter begins. And it constantly updates itself. You might wake up one day and see that another page has been added to those 300."

  Zal couldn't believe the Sage's words. He began opening the book to make sure.

  He started turning pages.

  One minute passed. It didn't end.

  Five minutes passed. It didn't end.

  The tenth minute passed. Still no end.

  "The book was playing with him. Every page led to another. Every chapter opened to a new beginning. Zal felt like a mouse chasing a piece of cheese that always stayed one step ahead. And in that chase, he understood: some things are not meant to be finished. They are meant to be journeyed through."

  Zal felt this was more like a cat and mouse game. It seemed the last page was always running away.

  After several minutes, exhausted, he had no choice but to accept the Sage's words.

  Zal asked the Sage: "Great Sage, I came to you through a door. But when I arrived, the door disappeared. How do I return?"

  The Sage said: "How quickly you wish to leave. Of course, it's none of my business, but I would be happy if you stayed longer."

  The Sage said: "Look behind you, Zal."

  Zal quickly stared behind him.

  Light burst into his eyes, and Zal fell to the ground.

  "Ah! Where did this light come from? Is there light in a cave?"

  Zal rubbed his eyes and opened them.

  He was in front of his room door in the Press.

  The same room.

  When he looked at his hand, he saw the book. The same book.

  The same book.

  "Everything before Zal saw that book had seemed like a dream. But with the book in his hands, everything changed. Dreams had become reality. And reality had become a question mark. Zal stood at the threshold of a new world—not the world outside, but the world between the pages. And he was afraid to open it."

  Everything before he received the book had seemed like a dream. But with the book's existence, everything changed.