Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1222. The Book at Night (10)

"Under the seventh bookshelf, there is not only your father's rib, but also his memories. If you want to know the truth about his disappearance, go and dig it out. But remember, once you dig out the rib, you will also become a participant in the cycle of reincarnation, and may be trapped here forever."

Banxia's tears flowed instantly. She looked at the boy, then at Lin Xi and the others, her lips trembling.

"My father...is he still alive? If I dig out my ribs, will I be able to see him?"

"Alive?" The boy sneered, a strange red light flashing in his cloudy pupils. "In the cycle of reincarnation, there is no concept of being alive, only participants and losers. Losers become books on bookshelves, their memories become words within those books, forever imprisoned here. Your father might be on one of those bookshelves right now, watching you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the books on the shelf suddenly began to shake violently, and one book after another fell off the shelf.

The pages flipped wildly, revealing pitch-black pages inside. There were no words on the pages, only wisps of writhing black mist.

Ouyang Xichen pulled a dagger from his pocket and looked at the boy warily.

"Who exactly are you? Why do you know so much about reincarnation? Are you also a player of this game?"

The boy ignored Ouyang Xichen and continued to look at Banxia, ​​his voice becoming even hoarser.

"Time is running out. The 72-hour countdown has begun. If you don't dig out the ribs, you will all become losers and be trapped here forever. If you do dig them out, at least you will have a chance to see your father's memories."

Banxia took half a step back, as if she had been tripped by something, and staggered.

Lin Xi quickly helped her up and glanced at the ground.

Lin Xi squatted down, picked up the bronze pocket watch from the ground, and opened the dial. The hands inside were spinning wildly, pointing to a mark he had never seen before.

She then looked at the pocket watch the boy had dropped on the ground and noticed that its hands were also spinning wildly, and the two pocket watches were spinning in completely opposite directions.

Bai suddenly squatted down, picked up the boy's bronze pocket watch from the ground, and carefully examined the patterns on the dial.

"Sister Mumu, look at this pocket watch. The pattern on it matches your pocket watch perfectly."

Lin Xi immediately went over and put the pocket watch in her hand together with the pocket watch in Bai Ye's hand.

Sure enough, the patterns on the two pocket watches matched perfectly, forming a complete design.

The design features a spiral staircase, with the top of the staircase pointing towards the seventh-floor bookshelf.

"I see." The boy saw the pocket watches pieced together and suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with relief. "Finally, someone has managed to put the two pocket watches back together. The 137th cycle has finally come to an end."

Everyone was stunned, not knowing what the boy meant by those words.

Lin Xi looked at the pocket watch pieced together and suddenly realized something.

"You've been waiting for someone to piece these two pocket watches back together, haven't you? You're not the enemy, you're helping us?"

The boy nodded, a glimmer of clarity flashing in his cloudy eyes.

“I am a participant in the 100th cycle of reincarnation. Because I failed to find the key to unlock the cycle, I am trapped here and have become a guide. My task is to wait for someone to piece together these two pocket watches and then tell them how to unlock the cycle. The rib under the seventh bookshelf is actually the key to unlocking the cycle, not a trap.”

"Then why did you say that digging out the ribs would trap us here?" Banxia wiped away her tears and looked at the boy with a puzzled expression.

"Because I must test your resolve."

If you don't have the courage to face the truth, even if you know the way to break the cycle of reincarnation, you won't dare to do it. Now that you have passed the test, I can tell you the truth.

The cycle of reincarnation in this library is controlled by an NPC called the 'Time Guardian,' who turns the souls of the defeated into mist and their memories into books to sustain the cycle. The way to break the cycle is to use Banxia's father's rib to open the secret chamber behind the seventh bookshelf, find the 'Time Guardian's' heart, and destroy it.

Lin Xi looked at her companions around her, and then at Banxia.

"No matter what dangers lie ahead, we must go to the seventh bookshelf together. Banxia, ​​you must also want to find out the truth behind your father's disappearance!"

Banxia nodded.

Huang Jingjing gently hugged Banxia and patted her back.

—Teacher Huang seems to regard NPCs as people just like them.

—It's not just Teacher Huang, it's the same for other players.

—Don't even mention them, I don't want to distinguish between players and NPCs anymore.

—After experiencing Meng Ye's instance, I also feel that all NPCs are actually real people with real lives.

—Was last week's dungeon not just for everyone to fall in love?

The boy then looked at the others, making eye contact with Guo Yuelang, Bai Yueming, Quan Quan, Xiao Qin, Bai Ye, and Ouyang Xichen one by one.

A hint of a smile finally appeared in his eyes.

"Good luck. Remember, there are many traps in the secret room behind the seventh bookshelf. Those traps are all made using the memories of the losers. Be careful and don't be fooled by the memories."

After he finished speaking, the boy's body slowly became transparent, eventually turning into a wisp of mist and disappearing into the air.

The black footprints on the ground then disappeared.

The pocket watch that Lin Xi had pieced together in her hand no longer spun wildly; its hands now pointed towards the seventh bookshelf.

Lin Xi gripped her pocket watch tightly and said to everyone, "Let's go, let's go to the seventh bookshelf."

The group followed Lin Xi, walking step by step toward the seventh-floor bookshelf.

The surrounding fog grew thicker and thicker, and the rustling sound of the books on the bookshelf grew louder and louder, as if countless eyes were watching them from the shadows.

The fog, like cold vines, wrapped around everyone's ankles, making each step feel like walking on cotton, so unsettling that it made one's heart race.

The aisles between the bookshelves grew narrower and narrower, and the originally messy bookshelves began to adjust their positions automatically, forming a winding maze. Only in the direction the pocket watch hands pointed was there a narrow gap that could only allow two people to walk side by side.

"Be careful not to bump into the books on the bookshelf."

Lin Xi walked at the front, clutching the pieced-together pocket watch tightly in her hand. The spiral staircase pattern on the dial gleamed faintly in the dim light.

She could clearly hear the faint turning of gears coming from inside the pocket watch, as if it were guiding them or counting down.

Suddenly, Quan Quan cried out "Ya!" and stopped abruptly in his tracks.

Everyone turned around and saw him staring at a book with a yellowed cover on the left bookshelf, his hand unconsciously reaching for the pages.

The book's cover had no text, only a blurry photograph of a little boy in a school uniform holding an ice cream cone, smiling broadly—it looked a lot like… Bai Ye when he was a child.