"This puzzle— they're nothing more than just smut books."
Like an epiphany, it hit him.
He frantically reached for the other books and began deciphering them.
Volume 2.
He squinted his eyes to see it clearly.
"So... it says here: When gods grew bored of mortal thrill,
One man made passion an act of will.
He stole divine hearts, defied their reign,
And died with a smirk in chains of pain.
Yet mountains weep where he once fell,
The cliff of crimes, his prisoned hell.
To rise again in skin anew,
He sought his lovers— more than two."
"..."
He stared out the window as the sun dipped lower and lower behind a faraway hill, bathing the room in beautiful golden yellow hues.
Lost in thought, drowned out everything else, the world around him, the uncertainties, all his questions— all that mattered now was the poem.
'When gods grew bored of mortal thrill... One man made passion an act of will.
gods grew bored— it has something to do with celestials or maybe just powerful beings.
One man made passion an act of will— it's already a famous trope for MCs to be determined.
He stole divine hearts, defied their reign... And died with a smirk in chains of pain.
Stole divine hearts, defied their reign— either the MC's a Playboy or an asshole.
And died with a smirk in chains of pain... He clearly died happy.
Next line, Yet mountains weep where he once fell... The cliff of crimes, his prisoned hell.
Basically, the MC made it to the peak of power and was imprisoned... Or betrayed. Either by the divine hearts he stole or a pissed off god.
To rise again in skin anew... He sought his lovers— more than two
Skin anew is clearly reincarnation, while sought lovers more than two confirms it's a harem.'
"Hmm..."
He drummed his fingers against the table.
"Playboy MC, both in his previous and new life, played with divine hearts, imprisoned and died happy just to reincarnate and do it again.
Dual Cultivation."
A grin of satisfaction curled on his lips, he kept on joy, no longer caring he was in a library.
He looked around him, there was no one around anymore, not that he could question it. It was getting really late.
But he could stop, it was both exhilarating and exhausting.
He reached for the third.
"Not all chains are forged in flame,
Some are silk, and whisper your name.
A mortal craves what saints despise,
In velvet pain, their spirits rise.
He binds, she bends, the world looks on,
Desire reborn, the shame long gone.
Where once was blush, now empire stands,
Built on the tremble of trembling hands."
'Not all chains are forged in flame... Some are silk, and whisper your name.
Some chains are silk, clearly a metaphor for BDSM.
A mortal craves what saints despise... In velvet pain, their spirits rise.
Mortal carve what Saints despise is basically kinky sex, while in velvet pain, their spirit rise is the line between sexual pleasure and pain.
He binds, she bends, the world looks on... Desire reborn, the shame long gone.
He binds, she bends, the world looks on— clearly bondage involved.
Where once was blush, now empire stands... Built on the tremble of trembling hands.
Empire stands... Either royalty or someone with influence... Like a billionaire smut god.
It's fifty shades of Grey.'
He moved on to the fourth.
"Eyes that see no light still dream,
Hands that move not still redeem.
He crawled through dark, through metal lies,
To craft a world where spirit flies.
Not born of touch, but thought alone,
He built a realm to call his own.
The crippled god of glass and wire,
Who fed on pain, yet rose much higher."
'Eyes that see no light still dream... Hands that move not still redeem.
The MC's either blind, crippled or both.
He crawled through dark, through metal lies... To craft a world where spirit flies.
A world where spirit flies should either be a new world, maybe transmigration or reincarnation.
I don't even need finish the rest, 'He built a realm to call his own. The crippled god of glass and wire.'
It was obviously Cultivation Online."
"..."
And with that he deciphered the rest.
1. Fancy Hill.
2. Dual Cultivation.
3. Fifty Shades Of Grey.
4. Cultivation Online.
5. Twilight Saga.
6. Conquering Ladies with my 10x rebate system.
Although Twilight Saga technically wasn't a smut book, he remembered several times when the author made mention of the trilogy.
He stared at the answers, then looked around the empty library room.
Threw his hands into the air in confusion.
"What next?"
He'd figured it out but now he had no idea what to do with what he solved.
The sun dipped even lower, only the corners now visible as it hid behind the hill.
He slumped back into his chair— watched as the shadows danced off objects and the golden light turn the scene picturesque.
His hand tapped gently against the table—three fingers in rhythm, a familiar tempo of thought.
Aegon sighed. 'Even after figuring it all out, it's still hopeless.'
And for the third time he buried his back down in the table—
~THUD.~
One of the books fell to the door.
He groaned as he bent to pick it up, reaching the book and tilting his head back up.
It blinded him momentarily.
The iron railing next to the steps that elevated the floor slightly. The sun's rays had bounced off the rails to hit him in the eye.
But he dropped the book back on the table and headed for the rail.
Barely noticable, on the corner of the rail— cryptex.
A six glyph cryptex that rolled and moved.
He studied each of the glyphs— a deck of cards, another was a bat and wolf, a VR headset, a sun off a hill, a set of handcuffs and twin 'R' opposite each other.
Aegon knitted his brows and grabbed the notes he'd scribbled down earlier.
'A deck of cards is Conquering Ladies.
A bat and wolf is clearly Twilight Saga.
VR headset is Cultivation Online.
A sun off a hill is Fancy Hill.
Handcuffs for Fifty Shades.
Twin Rs for Dual Cultivation.'
He began assembling them according to the volumes.
First, The sun, then the twin Rs, then the huffs, then the headset, then the bat and wolf then lastly the deck of cards.
They clicked together.
Aegon hurriedly stood up, braced himself for whatever was going to happen.
The glyphs glowed ominously but then he heard it—
A entire mechanism within the walls, turning, clicking and rumbling— he watched and trailed the sound, eyes wide open.
The sound eventually rested within one of the beams— as a slight parting etched open within the beam.
"Grrrgh."
He gritted his teeth and pulled it open with all the strength left within him.
The beam was hollow within— like an empty elevator shaft with just a rope going down.
Aegon shook his head.
'Why couldn't I just reincarnate as a God?'