The First Story: Monster

The Grand Library.

"Challenge?"

Slightly puzzled, Bai Zhi glanced at the other person, propped his head up with one hand on the table, yawned, and gave a perfunctory reply.

"Okay, you win, I concede."

--I was fine before, but now after sitting in the chair for a while, I feel sleepy again.

"... As Top Player in the First Echelon, you don't even have the courage to accept a challenge?"

After a moment of silence, the Chronicler, still somewhat unwilling to give up, asked.

"The courage to give up is greater than the courage to accept a challenge."

Bai Zhi glanced at the other person and gave a rather lazy reply.

Those who treat others as fools are often the fools themselves; looking back, the Clown Is Me.

"..."

He pulled out an empty chair, sat down, and pulled the hood over his head. The Chronicler then fell silent.

Four-Sided Table for six people, with six chairs, three on each side.

[The Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part], [A Pure Smile, Shy Blushing Cheeks], [The Chronicler] and the other two sat on the left, while Bai Zhi, Xia Wen and [Instant] sat side by side on the right.

As the last Player took his seat, the system message was finally displayed to everyone.

[Dungeon Name: Ghost Story Collection]

[Quest Type: Type]

[Dungeon Difficulty: A-rank]

[Danger Level: B-rank]

[Dungeon Drops: Equipment, Items, Skill Card, Miscellaneous Items]

[Dungeon -exclusive drop: Books]

[Current Instance Completion Rate: 64%]

[Quest Target: To be revealed one by one as the story progresses]

[Note:: The First Story will begin in three minutes. Please be prepared.]

"The idea behind these stories and books is that we should participate in ghost stories, become the Protagonist or a supporting character, and then find a way to survive them?"

After a moment's thought, Xiao Yue was the first to speak and voice her guess.

"Possibly."

After thinking for a moment, Xia Wen nodded.

"If this Dungeon hadn't undergone that Dungeon change in difficulty, it would have simply been a book containing 20 strange stories called the [Ghost Story Collection]. But now it's become such a large Library..."

Why are you all holding a book?

Before Xia Wen could finish his sentence, he suddenly asked a question with a blank expression.

"Since we're in the Library, we should follow the Library rules, including keeping quiet and not making loud noises..."

Bai Zhi turned his head and glanced at the person sitting next to him, then shrugged slightly.

"Of course, these are just personal speculations. You can believe them or not, just take it as peace of mind."

"..."

She didn't reply immediately, but after hearing his words, she got up and took a book from the bookshelf next to her. However, when she was about to take a second book, Bai Zhi added an extra sentence.

"Also, the situation inside this Library is unknown. Until we have more clues and information, everyone should only take the book that is rightfully theirs."

"... Are there any key points to consider when choosing books?"

The Chronicler reached up and tugged at his hood, looking up in his direction.

"There's no pattern, it's completely random; any book could appear."

Xia Wen glanced at the Human Skin Book in front of him with a look of disgust, and then answered on Bai Zhi's behalf.

"This Library is amazing! I bet you'd never guess what book I just grabbed..."

"You got the Human Skin Book?"

The Chronicler glanced at the book in front of Xia Wen and clearly became interested.

"Since even the Human Skin Book exists, could the Legendary the Book of Sand be hidden within this Grand Library?"

As she spoke, she quickly got up and ran to the bookshelf to pick something out.

--Although every book has the same cover, she has no choice.

"... Is it really that easy to guess?"

Xia Wen's lips twitched slightly as he turned to look at Bai Zhi sitting beside him.

"It's not just easy to guess, it's extremely easy to guess."

Bai Zhi pursed his lips.

"The Human Skin Book is highly valuable to collectors. There are fewer than 100 copies left in the world today. Honestly, you've hit the jackpot."

"..."

When the Chronicler and Setsuna had both retrieved their books and returned to their seats, the three minutes had just passed.

At that moment, the Lights in the Library suddenly dimmed, and a holographic projection of a huge book with Golden Cover slowly appeared above the center of the Four-Sided Table in front of the six Player.

As the book was opened, lines of text appeared on the Blank Pages.

[Story One ▪ Monster]

I used to think that the most terrifying Monster were those with grotesque faces and gaping maws, but now I realize that it's the unseen and intangible ones that truly send chills down your spine.

[This story takes place on a stormy night...]

The text on the page only went this far before freezing, like Progress Bar that had reached 99% and then stopped moving. The blood-red text that had slowly emerged from the blank page was stuck there.

Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, a notification from the system appeared before them.

[The First Story begins]

[Currently, the story can accommodate four players.]

[Note ①: The story is rated on a scale of 10, with 6 being Pass and 9 being excellent. If a story is rated below 6, all participants will be subject to an unknown and mysterious punishment.]

[Note ②: All damage suffered by the Player during the story will be reflected in their physical body at all times until the story ends, at which point the Player will not be able to return to their original state.]

[Note ③: Player can bring back any Item they obtain in the story, but this may also bring Monster or Curse from the story into reality. Player should choose carefully.]

[Remark ④: Player have 60 seconds to register. If there are not enough participants after 60 seconds, Player will be randomly selected from those who have not registered to fill the vacancies.]

[List of current available participants for each story.]

[Protagonist: None]

[Heroine: None]

[Supporting Character 1: None]

[Supporting Character Two: None]

[Registration Countdown: 60s]

"So, which of you wants to be a part of this story?"

Feeling slightly intrigued by this new Anomaly Mode, Bai Zhi touched his chin, looked up, and asked the others.

"By the way, just a heads-up, ghost stories are different from regular stories, so you'd better be careful. The Protagonist in these stories don't have any Protagonist Aura."

Bai Zhi held up a finger in front of him and spoke with a smile.

"Because in ghost stories, the Protagonist is often the one who dies the most tragically, while the supporting character is the one who survives to the end."