Trivial Matters and Return

After the Book Spirit disappeared, the surrounding scenery began to change rapidly. In the blink of an eye, Bai Zhi found himself in a dilapidated town.

Quiet, deathly still.

The entire town seemed to have died completely, eerily quiet.

He was surrounded by a thick fog, and a small figure lay on the ground not far away. The fog obscured the sky, and things a little further away were indistinct.

--As time goes by, the fog around us is gradually dissipating.

"The Real World...?"

Bai Zhi exhaled slightly, walked to Tong's side, and picked her up.

The [Ghost Story Collection] Dungeon revolves around the Corrupted Gospel of Truth. To be honest, Bai Zhi strongly suspects that the Gospel of Truth was corrupted because of the Book Spirit's self-salvation behavior.

He didn't doubt the [Gospel of Truth], but he doubted the Book Spirit. From any perspective, there were too many suspicious points about the other party, whether it was the terrifying knowledge of the [Eden], Evil God that ordinary people had never even heard of, or the inexplicable contract signed with Tong. All of these revealed a rather strange feeling.

It's certain that the Book Spirit has a problem, but it's also true that if it weren't for the other party, Tong would have already fallen into [Eden]. Therefore, Bai Zhi is temporarily keeping his stance reserved regarding the other party's attitude.

In fact, Bai Zhi had many things he wanted to ask Book Spirit about, but the other party simply avoided him completely.

But that's alright. After all, the monk can run away but the temple can't. The Mysterious Train shuttling through the Void, the Library breached by countless Monsters... the secrets behind these things are far deeper than he imagined.

As for the others, judging from the progress of the Campus Belle and the Night Owl's exploration, their strength has improved considerably. Even if we and the others don't come in, they should still be able to complete the level.

However, the outcome back then would likely be the complete opposite of what is happening now.

"Return time..."

After glancing at the System Prompt he had suddenly received, Bai Zhi thought for a moment, then carried Tong into a nearby house and placed her on the bed. He then reached for the Gospel of Truth that Tong was holding in front of her.

In the blink of an eye, he reappeared in the Library, which had turned into Labyrinth. The other Five Players besides him had already gathered there, but the Campus Belle and the others were not there; they seemed to be elsewhere.

Due to the slumber of the Book Spirit and the disappearance of the Strength belonging to [Eden], this Library is currently in the process of slowly collapsing.

--An alternative Countdown the return.

When Bai Zhi arrived, he found that the Chronicler had been tied up for some reason, and Instant next to her, Shana coldly chopped off the back of her neck with a chop.

With a soft cracking sound, the Chronicler was swiftly and decisively knocked unconscious by this chop to the neck.

What are you doing?

Seeing this scene before him, Bai Zhi's lips twitched slightly.

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

She glanced back at Bai Zhi and Instant offered a brief explanation.

"She wanted to commit suicide; that way, it would be easier to deal with."

Bai Zhi: "..."

"What was Hitomi's final fate!?"

Before Bai Zhi could say anything, Xia Wen ran up to him in a few steps.

"I almost made it before..."

"We'll talk about it when we get back."

Bai Zhi winked slightly at Xia Wen, then followed him to the desk.

The Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part, A Pure Smile, Shy Blushing Cheeks. In Instant, the Chronicler, Xia Wen, bound hand and foot, and herself, along with six other Player, were found lying on the ground.

Aside from the Chronicler got into some trouble for some unknown reason, the others were all fine.

"You can take these books you bought with Story Point here, but if you want to take the items drawn from the Destiny Card, you'll have to pay a price."

After glancing at Bai Zhi, Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part took the initiative to speak.

She had originally intended to ask Bai Zhi about the final outcome and the Walkthrough, but after Bai Zhi said those words to Xia Wen, she wisely refrained from delving too deeply into the matter.

"What price?"

Bai Zhi glanced at the unopened Destiny Card in front of him.

"These Item are all products of some kind of Strength. Taking them out will incur Curse. The system can help purify the Curse Strength, but it requires a certain amount of Game Coins as a reward... I did the calculations, and the result is not worth it, especially since the Quality of the Item will decrease after purification."

With a sigh, Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part, looking regretful, placed the gold coin she had obtained at the very beginning on the table.

Fortunately, the system can use a certain amount of Game Coins to recycle these Item, so the loss isn't too great.

Elite Level Item are worth considering if their Quality doesn't decrease after purification, but Fool would make such a deal to pay so much for a Rare Level Item.

"Curse contamination...?"

After listening to the other party's words, Bai Zhi looked thoughtful.

He wasn't surprised by any of this; if even the Gospel of Truth had been corrupted by the Strength of the [Eden], what chance did other things have?

"How about this, instead of handing those Equipment over to the system for recycling, why don't you sell them to me?"

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi held up a finger and began to speak.

"I'm willing to pay 10% more than the system price for the acquisition. What do you think?"

To upgrade [Pluto]'s Quality from Elite to Perfect, it needs to absorb five pieces of Elite Level Equipment. However, Elite Level Item are rare these days, and if he were to acquire them himself, the tens of thousands of Game Coins he had saved might not even be enough to upgrade [Pluto]. From the very beginning as a newbie to where he is now, Pluto has provided him with invaluable assistance. Now that he has the opportunity to upgrade [Pluto]'s Quality again, he will not let it pass.

--Previously, he upgraded [Pluto] from Rare to Elite, but in the Tombstone Apartment world, he used the same method back then.

No one else objected to Bai Zhi's suggestion, since it was simply a simple Multiple Choice Question, and Bai Zhi's offer was already quite generous.

They didn't open the Destiny Card after the third story ended. After opening all the Destiny Card one by one, Bai Zhi barely managed to collect five pieces of Elite Level Equipment.

After dealing with these miscellaneous matters, Instant was the first to return with her older sister Chronicler, followed closely by the Gemini sisters, Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part, and A Pure Smile, Shy Blushing Cheeks.

After Xia Wen also returned, along with the library, Bai Zhi first returned to reality from the collapsed Library, and then left this world with Tong, who was in a deep sleep... After figuring out how to explain the reason to Qingyi.