Chapter 97: The Fifth Death – Library of Screams
> [System Broadcast – WARNING]
Truth exposure imminent. Mental stability check required.
Each survivor will be subjected to a forbidden revelation from the Tongue Archive.
Survivors may choose to resist… at a price.
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The doors to the Tongue Archive groaned open.
Shelves lined with vocal cords, echoing books bound in phantom skin, and sealed jars of screaming ink floated in perfect silence. The survivors stepped onto living parchment—the floor breathing beneath them.
This was not just a place of knowledge. It was a weaponized hell built from everything left unsaid.
And the Tongueless King's voice—now stitched together from fragments of billions—boomed from the ceiling:
> "You cannot kill what you do not understand.
So understand.
Or be devoured by the silence of truth."
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First Truth: Lian's Page
He opened a tome with his name burned across the front. Inside:
"You weren't chosen by fate. You were bait."
His Coin Multiplier Talent?
Originally meant for a villain, forged by a system glitch caused by another survivor's death.
His rise… was someone else's fall.
Lian clutched his chest. "I've been a bug in the code this entire time?"
> [Sanity Check: Failed. Passive Disassociation triggered.]
[Warning: If Lian loses faith in himself, Fate Anchor collapses.]
Jayce grabbed his wrist. "You're not a bug. You're the update."
Lian exhaled. The book closed. The ink screamed one last time.
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Second Truth: Jayce's Page
His page bled jokes that turned into curses.
"You were always meant to die first. Your luck is borrowed—from everyone else's misery."
Every joke he cracked, every time he survived—it was because someone else suffered more.
Jayce laughed weakly. "That's… kinda on brand."
But the laughter faded.
His reflection—another version of him, broken, alone, silent—stood at the far end of the aisle, not laughing.
> [Talent Shift: Comedic Fate Manipulation → Tragic Irony Channeler]
New effect: Jokes can now twist reality, but backfire emotionally.
Jayce turned away. "I'll make them laugh even if it kills me."
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Third Truth: Ria's Page
"You healed your friends, but you abandoned your sister."
The voice was hers.
The book summoned a memory—Ria's twin, fading in a medical world, while Ria chose to fight for the system instead of saving her.
"She's gone because I was too slow."
The page didn't argue. It just pulsed.
Ria fell to her knees—but Kuro placed a hand on her shoulder.
"She would've died even if you stayed. But now… you're saving millions."
Ria stood, wiping her tears with rage. "Then I'll burn this place down and write a better story."
> [Trait Upgrade: Sacrifice Converted – She can now absorb others' wounds permanently and transform them into strength.]
---
Fourth Truth: Kuro's Page
No book. Just a sword.
His own blade floated in the air, dripping ink.
"You killed your mother."
The Tongueless King's voice was flat.
"She was the one who trained you. You broke free. But when the system marked her for deletion, you didn't fight hard enough."
The memory returned—a younger Kuro, hands shaking, choosing the mission instead of her.
He didn't scream.
He sat down.
Then he sharpened his sword against the truth.
"I'll remember her… every time I swing."
> [Soul Reforged Blade: Now deals true damage to "regret-born entities."]
---
The King's True Voice Begins to Awaken
The walls cracked. One giant book unfolded, the size of a mountain, pulsing with glitch-runes.
Inside it was the King's origin.
> Born from collective silence.
Fed on truths no one could say.
Became the library itself when the first system world tried to destroy emotion.
This was his fifth death—but also his greatest weapon.
The survivors stood side-by-side, bloodied, burned, emotionally shattered—but still together.
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> [Fifth Death Reached: Tongueless King at 5/6 DEATHS]
Next Phase: Last Silence
He will now erase words from reality. One survivor's voice will be taken permanently… unless the final phrase is spoken.
The chapter ends as a phrase appears on the walls—half written:
"To defeat him, one of you must say the one truth… that no one else can bear."
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