Finishing the book means death; I abandoned the whole world.

They rushed to the second office. The door was locked. Zhang Gou Dan punched it, shattering the door, but there was no author inside, only manuscript papers scattered on the floor, each one bearing the words: "[And then what?]"

"Is this bait for those urging for more updates? This place has been marked?" Ye Tian reminded him.

The door to the third private room was ajar. Yong pushed the door open and saw a female author sitting inside. Her body had transformed into a hardcover book with the title: "Apocalyptic Sweet Romance: The Domineering Zombie Falls in Love with Me" on the cover.

[Completion Time: Day 2 of the Apocalypse - Status: Voluntarily Completed]

"She voluntarily ended it?" Wu Qu asked in surprise. "She chose to end it voluntarily?"

Yongge opened the book and quickly skimmed through it. After the apocalypse, the female author discovered that her "sweet romance" setting was incompatible with the cruel reality. Her "domineering zombie male lead" was imagined by readers as a real monster who then turned around and hunted her down.

"She chose to end the story so that the monster would disappear along with it." Yong Ge closed the book, his emotions complex. "Sometimes, ending something is a relief."

He found the relics in the book: a book titled "The Complete Guide to Sweet Romance Novel Plot Tactics" and a "Female Lead Halo (Incomplete)".

[A Complete Guide to Sweet Romance Novel Plot Tactics: Items can be redeemed or used as props to temporarily induce a "love-struck" state in the target]

[Female Protagonist Aura (Flawed): Can be redeemed or equipped. Effect: Attracts the attention of surrounding monsters.]

"Brother Yong!" Wang Gangtie shouted from the fourth private room, "Come and see this!"

Yongge rushed over and saw an old man sitting in the private room. He had white hair and his body had turned into a book that was exceptionally thick. The cover read: "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Apocalyptic Revised Edition)".

[Completion Time: Day 3 of the Apocalypse - Status: Completed with Burning Weight]

"Burning weight complete?!" Brother Yong was stunned. What kind of operation was this?

He opened the book and discovered that the old man was a retired history professor who, after the apocalypse, chose to use all his power to write a "dystopian history of humanity," recording the truth of the world's changes.

"He wasn't forced to finish the book, nor did he finish it voluntarily..." Brother Yong's voice was a little hoarse, "He risked his life to create a book, to leave for posterity."

The last page of the book reads:

[For those who come after, if you want to know why the world has become the way it is, please read my book. But do not try to finish it, because the truth is still unfolding.]

Relic: An old man's record pen, which can be exchanged or used as a prop: increases the narrative weight gained from writing by 20%.

One physical copy of "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Apocalyptic Revised Edition)". Not redeemable.

He carefully put away his "Documentary Pen" and stuffed "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" into his backpack. This book might not be able to exchange for influence, but the information within might be more valuable.

"Let's retreat!" Yong glanced at the time. "We've been here long enough; any longer and monsters might spawn."

The five quickly left the studio and retraced their steps. They needed to go to the exchange point first to exchange for some weight points.

The hazy fog was even thicker than when we arrived.

"How far is the redemption point?" Wang Gangtie asked in a low voice. She had never been to a redemption point before and was a little nervous.

"Turn right at the next intersection, wait, that area has changed?" Wu Qu's expression changed.

The group stopped in their tracks. What should have been a gray area marked "Street to be added" was now covered with dense text: "Exchange," "Trade," and "Equivalent Exchange."

"Has the radiation range of the recycling point expanded?" Ye Tian floated forward to check.

The ground suddenly shook, and the characters peeled off the ground, coalescing in the air into a gigantic humanoid shape. There was no light, and a constantly rotating gear on its chest emitted a metallic grinding sound.

[Initiate security review process]

"Holy crap! Security guard? They have security checks here?"

"Gatekeeper ID 047A: All asset exchange transactions require source verification. Please cooperate with the registration process."

"Investigate my ass! They were all found!" Zhang Gou Dan's eyes widened. "You yourselves said whoever finds the belongings keeps them!"

[Refusal to cooperate will result in a 48-hour freeze on trading privileges]

48 hours? What's the difference between that and waiting to die?

"Cooperate!" Yong squeezed out through gritted teeth, "But hurry, we're in a rush."

He opened his backpack and laid out his belongings one by one on the ground: [Keyboard Warrior's Spare Pen] [Draft USB Drive] [Complete Guide to Sweet Romance Novel Plots] [Female Lead's Halo (Incomplete)] [Multi-functional Signature Pen] [Delivery Route Notes].

The gatekeeper's gears emitted a scanning red light, scanning each item.

[Source confirmed: Unclaimed property, legally found]

[Evaluation complete, transaction ready]

The gatekeeper's human form disintegrated, transforming back into countless "Exchange" characters scattered across the ground, clearing a path.

"Let's go!" Yong-ge gathered his belongings. "Let's go inside and exchange them first!"

Inside the exchange point, there was a queue? Seven or eight survivors were waiting to exchange their belongings. It was rare to see any living people there.

Yong glanced around and saw that most people's backpacks were empty, indicating that they hadn't reaped much.

About half an hour later, it was their turn to exchange the items. He walked to the window and placed the six relics on the counter.

[Under evaluation]

[5 points, 15 points, 25 points, 10 points, 6 points, 6 points, total 67 points. Confirm redemption?]

"confirm!"

[Current narrative weight: 130 + 67 = 197 points]

Yongge breathed a sigh of relief; he could live another day.

But before he could turn around, Wenwen's voice rang out again: [Transaction detected as complete. Initiating tax payment procedure.]

"What?"

According to the "Narrative Ethics Committee Resource Allocation Regulations," a 10% narrative tax is levied on weight exchange transactions to maintain the narrative stability of the world.

"Damn, you only tell me now that I just finished exchanging the money?" Yong Ge, who had never paid taxes before, was a little annoyed. In the normal world before, his income never reached the tax threshold, so he had never had this concept.

"That's how the program works." Yong Ge's weight automatically changed from 197 to 190.

"7 o'clock!" Yong almost jumped up. "Do you know how long 7 o'clock can last?"

Thank you for your cooperation. Please come again next time.

Yong gritted his teeth and walked out of the counter.

The journey back was even more dangerous than the way there. There were now more wandering, hungry monsters, as if they had smelled the activity around the exchange point and were gathering in the area, waiting to ambush their prey.

"Let's take a detour." Yong-ge decisively changed direction, "We'll go through the 'description interruption zone'."

"That place is unstable!" Wu Qu said urgently.

"It's better than being surrounded by monsters."

They turned into a narrow alley, the walls on both sides were fading, grayish-white [to be supplemented].

Wu Qu closed his eyes: "The alley... needs a surface... bluestone slabs..."

[Warning: Unstable assumptions detected]

A rustling sound came from the depths of the alley, and several "fragmented beasts" poked their heads out from the wall, their faces blank [facial features should be present here].

"They're trying to steal our authority!" Ye Tian shouted. "These monsters can smell the narrative authority!"

"Steel! Dog Egg!"

Wang Gangtie formed hand seals, and his spirit sword instantly solidified. A cyan light pierced through the gray air, slashing fiercely towards the horde of broken-chapter beasts.

"cut!"

Three seconds. The instant the spirit sword touched the monster, Wang Gangtie's face turned ashen. [Narrative weight: 34→31]

The Broken Chapter Beast was split in two, but its body transformed into countless characters that read "To be continued," and then reassembled.

Zhang Gou Dan welcomed the boxing champion and threw a punch [61→56]. The fragmented beast's body broke into more fragments, but it was still slowly gathering together.

"Damn it, this thing is indestructible!" Zhang Gou Dan shouted.

Yong Ge raised his red pen and scribbled wildly in the air: [The Fragment Beasts suddenly realized that these people were rushing home to update their stories; their tales weren't finished yet. Eating them now would only yield a "to be continued" section, utterly devoid of substance!]

Narrative weight: 190→185

As the words fell, the scattered fragments on the ground stopped wriggling.

[To be continued]...[To be continued in the next chapter]...

It let out a low growl of resentment and slowly retreated into the crack in the wall.

"Walk!"

The five of them rushed through the alley, Wu Qu desperately trying to imagine: [At the end of the cobblestone path is an iron gate; it's safe behind that gate!]

The iron gate appeared out of thin air, and Yong Ge kicked it open, revealing the street where the stronghold was located.

With the posters at the base entrance in sight, Yong almost collapsed to the ground. But then a bright smile appeared on his face: Safely home!