Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1242. The Book at Night (30)

Lin Xi and the others looked in the direction Xia Jin was pointing.

Under the chandelier, a phantom owl, formed from luminous dust, slowly spreads its wings, its left eye shaped like a dancing silver bookmark.

"Finally... I've waited for you guys."

The owl's call was like the rustling of wind through the pages of a book, tinged with a weak tremor.

"I am Alo, the guardian spirit of this bookstore. Now, it's about to collapse."

A few specks of light, formed from wings of light dust, fell onto the table in the reading area and condensed into a line of glowing words: The Chapter of Eternity has been tainted by the Shadow of Oblivion. If it is not purified before dawn, all knowledge will forever fall into chaos, and the bookstore will collapse.

"I...I'm just an intern, I don't know how to purify anything." Xia Jin took a half step back.

Alo's phantom hovered low, its wings sweeping across the bookshelf, and a copy of "The Origin of World Languages" opened automatically.

The cuneiform script on the pages began to glow.

"The fact that you can see me and touch the Book of Blanks means you are 'chosen by knowledge.' Go to the linguistics section first and find the ability to 'interpret auras.' Without it, you can't even open the first door of the bookstore."

Before he finished speaking, A Luo's phantom suddenly vanished, leaving only a floating feather of light that gently landed in Xia Jin's palm.

The emergency lights went out with a "snap," and in the darkness, only one place emitted a faint, warm light.

Just then, a cold, electronic voice sounded.

"Please assist Xia Jin, the intern administrator of the bookstore, in completing various tasks, purifying the bookstore of pollution, and preventing the bookstore from collapsing. Countdown: 72 hours."

"Come on, let's get to work." Bai Yueming still had that carefree attitude.

"Thank you all for your help." Xia Jin had calmed down by now and pointed in the direction of the faint light. "That's the linguistics area."

On the walls of the linguistics area, there are several yellowed rubbings of ancient characters.

In front of one of the cuneiform rubbings stood a stone base about half a person's height. In the center of the base was a groove, the shape of which was exactly the same as the light feather in Lin Xia's palm.

Xia Jin looked at the light feather floating in her palm, then looked down at the groove in the center of the stone base, her fingertips trembling slightly.

Lin Xi took half a step forward, her voice gentle yet reassuring: "Give it a try. A Luo said you're the chosen one."

Huang Jingjing had already walked around to the rubbing, her fingertips gently brushing against the yellowed edge of the paper.

“This cuneiform script doesn’t look like an ordinary rubbing; the edges are reflective, so it might be some kind of medium.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Jin took a deep breath and sent the light feather into the groove.

The moment the light feather was embedded in the groove, silver-blue patterns appeared on the surface of the base, spreading along the groove like water, and finally climbing up the cuneiform rubbing.

The previously blurry text suddenly lit up, and the symbols rearranged in the air, transforming into a line of text that everyone could understand.

"Star trails guide the way, the compass clarifies the way when lost, and the astronomical region holds the first key."

"The Astronomy section?" Bai Yueming stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the signs inside the bookstore. "When I first came in, I think I glimpsed a 'Natural Sciences section' on the west side; maybe the astronomy books are there."

He was about to take a step when Lin Xi stopped him.

"and many more."

Lin Xi's gaze fell on the shadow of the bookshelf. The faint sound of pages turning suddenly became clear, even mixed with a faint sigh.

"Don't you guys think... the shadows here are a bit strange?"

Following her gaze, everyone noticed that the shadow of the bookshelf, which had been stretched straight by the emergency lights, had become slightly distorted, its edges blurred as if stained with ink.

Several dark shadows spread down the bookshelf legs towards the floor, dimming the wood grain in their wake. "Is that the Shadow of Oblivion?" Chu Xue frowned slightly. "It's following us."

Xia Jin subconsciously clenched her fist. After the light feather embedded itself in the base, a faint warmth remained in her palm. At this moment, that warmth suddenly pulsed, as if reminding her of something.

She looked up at Lin Xi.

“When I was sorting through old books before, Uncle Zhang mentioned that there was an old compass in the astronomy district. He said it was placed there when the bookstore opened and had never been touched.”

—A compass? We have one at 123!
—Even the estimate of 123 is not foolproof; you need to find a compass in the astronomical region.

—This instance seems to really like compasses!
—Perhaps it is because he likes compasses that he also used the compasses from 123 as props.

—Hmm, if it weren't for the compass from 123, I guess it would have been given as a reward for the last time I cleared the game.

—That's really unfair to 123, they wasted a prop for nothing.

“Then let’s go and meet this old compass,” Bai said.

The group walked towards the natural sciences area.

As Lin Xi passed by the reading area, she took a special look at the chandelier that A Luo had just appeared under.

Now, only empty shadows remain, with only the lingering light spots on the tabletop still flickering slightly, as if silently guiding the way.

The bookshelves in the natural sciences section were taller than those in the linguistics section, almost touching the ceiling. Besides the smell of old paper, there was also a hint of rusty metal in the air.

Xia Jin stopped by the innermost bookshelf and pointed to a glass cabinet about half a person's height in the corner.

"It's that compass."

Inside the glass case was a bronze compass, its surface covered with intricate markings, but the needle was crookedly stuck in a corner, as if it were being jammed by something.

A yellowed note was pasted on the bottom of the cabinet, with words written on it in faded ink.

"The stars move with the constellations, and time changes, but the due north remains unchanged."

"Due north?"

Bai Yueming leaned closer, about to reach out and touch the glass cabinet, but Quan Quan grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch it! There's a layer of dust on the cabinet, but the dust on the edges has been rubbed off, which means someone has touched it recently."

Lin Xi squatted down and carefully examined the bottom of the cabinet, discovering a tiny scratch on the inside of the cabinet leg.

Silver-blue powder remained in the scratches—the exact same color as the faint glow that had just emanated from the Book of Blanks.

She looked up at Xia Jin: "Have you touched this cabinet?"

Xia Jin shook her head: "I haven't been here to organize things. Uncle Zhang said he's in charge of everything in the astronomy section."

Just then, a loud crash came from deep inside the bookstore, like the sound of a bookshelf collapsing.

Immediately afterwards, the emergency lights began flashing wildly, and the crackling of electricity was mixed with the clear sound of pages tearing.

"Oh no!" Chu Xue's expression changed. "The Shadow of Oblivion is destroying the bookshelves! We need to find the key quickly!"

Bai Yueming took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it on the compass.

"The markings on the dial are wrong. Look here, where the 'zi' position should be, there is a star pattern engraved on it."

Lin Xi stared at the star pattern and suddenly remembered the text on the rubbing: "Star trails indicate direction... Could it be that the pointer needs to be pointed to a specific star?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the warmth in Xia Jin's palm throbbed again. This time, a faint light spilled from her fingertips and fell on the glass cabinet.