Chapter Summaries

Bai Zhi explained why he believed the Grand Library was dangerous, including the disappearance of Instant, and organized the team to search it for clues. While investigating a Shadow Guard’s destruction, he found the Library’s expressionless Librarian and secretly switched the book it was holding with another.

• Bai Zhi said his missing companions were likely trapped in the Library’s stories and warned that a Player named Instant had vanished from everyone’s memories.
• Bai Zhi suspected someone disappeared when alone in the Library and said the fourth story might have only four participants.
• Bai Zhi gave the team a map drawn by his Shadow Guards and asked them to search for books with unusual covers.
• Bai Zhi sensed a presence among the bookshelves and sent a Shadow Puppet to investigate after a Shadow Guard was destroyed.
• Bai Zhi saw the expressionless Librarian pick up a fallen book and secretly switched it with another book before returning to the table.

Bai Zhi discovered that a fallen book in the Library was Instant, and the Chronicler’s purchase restored him. Instant explained how the Library transformed him into a book and revealed fragments showing the book’s origin; he ended with the Players arriving at the Forbidden Zone it created.

• Bai Zhi suspected a fallen book was Instant and asked the Chronicler to purchase it, restoring the missing Player.
• Instant told everyone that the Library was a story and that being alone there triggered a rule that let a Librarian turn him into a book.
• Instant described visions of a vast Library attacked by Monsters, where a book escaped into a ruined world and was picked up by a dying little girl.
• Instant said the book fulfilled the girl’s wish for a peaceful world by Devouring her, then grew stronger as it Devoured more people and turned its cover black.
• Instant explained that the book’s influence became a Forbidden Zone before the Players arrived.

Instant revealed that the Dungeon’s Anomaly was a sentient book that had learned from Players and tried to invade their world, while Bai Zhi suspected other Players had left clues in the Library. The group set out to retrieve six marked Anomalous Books before the next story began, and Bai Zhi wondered what Night Owl and the others were doing.

• Instant explained that the Book had learned about the Players’ world and tried to invade it, but the System’s defenses stopped it.
• Bai Zhi deduced that the Anomaly was a self-aware book copying parts of the System, though Instant did not know why she had seen its memories.
• Bai Zhi proposed that Instant’s knowledge might have come from other Players or the Book’s Master, and said the group should search the Library for clues.
• Bai Zhi gave the others a map marking six Anomalous Books and assigned each person a Shadow Guard to help retrieve one while avoiding the Librarian.
• After Instant left, Bai Zhi suspected she could foresee one possible future and wondered whether Night Owl and the others had ever needed his rescue.

Xia Wen found the Anomalous Book in the Library, but the Librarian blocked her escape. She used her Reverse Harem Technique to distract him and fled with the book.

• Xia Wen followed her sketch to the Anomalous Book on a high shelf and climbed up to retrieve it.
• The Librarian appeared below Xia Wen and waited for her to come down.
• Xia Wen jumped down and used her Reverse Harem Technique to create a group of handsome Shadow Clones.
• The Librarian became confused and grabbed several clones, giving Xia Wen time to escape.
• At the Four-Sided Table, Bai Zhi felt a mysterious chill as he drew on paper.

A Pure Smile, Shy Blushing Cheeks reflected on her doomed world and her determination to protect her sister as she searched the Library for an Anomalous Book. After hiding from approaching footsteps, she saw something in her mirror that left her stunned.

• A Pure Smile, Shy Blushing Cheeks considered how her world's losses and harsh Survival Rules had shaped her pessimism and resolve to keep her sister safe.
• She recalled that she and her sister had joined the Large-scale Campaign Quest to gather resources for their world, where anything they brought back would be distributed according to merit.
• She found the marked Anomalous Book, identified it as Shadowkhan, and tried to store it in her Inventory.
• When hurried footsteps approached, A Pure Smile, Shy Blushing Cheeks hid behind a bookshelf with the book tucked into her clothes.
• She peered at the approaching figure through a mirror and was so shocked that she nearly dropped it.

Xia Wen escaped a Librarian and was rescued by Chronicler, who explained that the Library had become a shifting labyrinth and that their Shadowkhan had been destroyed. They were left without a reliable map or a way to contact Bai Zhi as they tried to figure out how to return to the Four-Sided Table.

• A Pure Smile, Shy Blushing Cheeks spotted Black&White running naked through the Library and then noticed a Librarian watching the book she carried.
• Xia Wen fled a pursuing Librarian after escaping with the Reverse Harem Technique, but she became lost as the Library’s lights dimmed.
• Chronicler pulled Xia Wen into a passageway and used an Invisibility Veil to hide them from the Librarian.
• Chronicler told Xia Wen that each Special Book brought a new Librarian, making seven in total if everyone had found their targets.
• Xia Wen tried to use her Sketch Map to find the Four-Sided Table, but Chronicler explained that the bookshelves were shifting and the Library had become a labyrinth.
• Chronicler revealed that the Shadowkhan had exploded and died when the Library began changing, leaving them without their Shadow Guards.

The Library transformed into a dangerous Labyrinth, and Chronicler, Xia Wen, and [Instant] set out together to find the next story. Their plan to navigate carefully was undermined by the discovery that [Instant] had no sense of direction.

• The Library rearranged into a dim Labyrinth containing seven Librarians, so Chronicler and Xia Wen waited under the [Avoidance Cloak].
• Xia Wen called her relationship with Black&White that of Good Brothers who would share life and death, while Chronicler questioned her explanation.
• [Instant] arrived looking pale, and Chronicler worried about how hard he had pushed himself to reach them.
• [Instant] took the lead and told Chronicler and Xia Wen to watch for danger while he scouted ahead.
• The three began navigating the Labyrinth, but they had overlooked that [Instant] had no sense of direction.

Xia Wen and Chronicler became lost in the Library Labyrinth and were trapped in a dead end by patrolling Librarians. As they prepared to escape, a Bronze Gong rang out with a warning about fire.

• Xia Wen recognized that she and Chronicler had passed the same intersection three times, while Instant spotted three Librarians ahead and told them to run.
• Chronicler dragged Xia Wen toward a dead end, where another Librarian appeared and blocked their way.
• Xia Wen used her Reverse Harem Technique to create smoke, letting her and Chronicler hide from the Librarian under the Avoidance Cloak.
• After the illusion wore off, Xia Wen and Chronicler planned to time their escape around the Librarian's patrol, but more Librarians passed the entrance.
• A Bronze Gong sounded through the Labyrinth, followed by a voice warning, "The air is dry, beware of fire—"

Bai Zhi rescued Chronicler and Xia Wen from the Library Labyrinth and used his magic to guide the group back to the Four-Sided Table. With the next story about to begin, the Players gathered and prepared to present their books.

• Bai Zhi used a gong to lure the Librarians away, then found Chronicler and Xia Wen with the sixth book.
• Bai Zhi explained that the Library was filled with Boruto, which he said was non-flammable, and Xia Wen borrowed his gong.
• Bai Zhi slowed a Librarian with a spell and led Chronicler and Xia Wen through the Labyrinth while the gong drew other Librarians away.
• Instant joined the group, and Bai Zhi led all four back to the Four-Sided Table five minutes later.
• Bai Zhi asked the Players to take out their books, noting that three minutes remained before the next story began.

After the Library became a Labyrinth, Bai Zhi and the others gathered the six Anomalous Books at the Four-Sided Table. The books triggered a strange Apocalypse survival question, and the group considered what the options might mean before choosing.

• The Library transformed into a Labyrinth, delaying Bai Zhi’s plans, and the group returned to the Four-Sided Table with six Anomalous Books.
• The six books floated into the book above the table, which flipped to its final page and produced a blank sheet and pen for each person.
• A multiple-choice question appeared, asking everyone to choose three survival items for an Apocalypse setting, and the Players found they had the same options.
• Xia Wen, Chronicler, and Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part looked to Bai Zhi for guidance, but he pointed out that the question seemed simple.
• The Players speculated that their choices might send them into an Apocalypse as ordinary people, and wondered whether it meant humanity’s destruction or the world’s destruction by Anomalies.

Bai Zhi analyzed the options for the final story, explaining that Players would lose enhancements, equipment, items, and skills but retain their trained Base Attributes. He warned everyone to choose according to their own needs because the story would split them into separate solo scenarios.

• Bai Zhi said options four through seven suggested that Players would enter the final story without attribute enhancements or access to equipment, items, and skills.
• Chronicler compared the restrictions to an earlier story, and Bai Zhi explained that the Virtual Gym had already raised their Base Attributes to the human limit.
• Bai Zhi reasoned that systems could acquire other worlds’ specialties through Mandatory Quests, using the Virtual Gym as an example.
• Bai Zhi rejected option four for himself, arguing that its promised physical boost was probably smaller than it sounded.
• Xia Wen chose option four because her Base Attributes were still low, and Bai Zhi cautioned everyone that they would face separate solo stories.

Bai Zhi warned the others that some choices could be wasted if their unenhanced attributes could not support them. He examined Xia Wen’s information, confronted her about using a Skill that copied his appearance, and recommended choices four, five, and nine for her.

• Bai Zhi explained that options five, six, and seven could randomly grant unusable Skills, items, or equipment, and that Spiritual Energy would be capped at 300.
• Xia Wen asked Bai Zhi for help choosing options and disclosed her attributes and Skills to him.
• Bai Zhi spotted the Reverse Harem Technique among Xia Wen’s information and questioned her about using his appearance as its template.
• Xia Wen admitted she had used the Skill twice and persuaded Bai Zhi not to punish her by banning her snacks.
• Bai Zhi recommended that Xia Wen choose options four, five, and nine.

Bai Zhi and the other Players answered two more questions about their identities and arrival times in an apocalyptic scenario. As they tried to infer the Anomaly’s objective from Instant’s fragmented visions, Instant described the little girl who had picked up the book.

• The Players chose identities from the second question, and Bai Zhi reasoned that they might be able to change those identities if they failed to meet a condition and had to restart.
• Bai Zhi suggested that the Players might be trapped in cloned versions of the same scenario and wondered whether clearing it together would free them all.
• The Players chose when to enter the apocalypse, then discussed whether the objective was tied to the little girl’s wish for a peaceful world.
• Bai Zhi cautioned Instant against letting empathy distort her account and asked her to describe the little girl.
• Instant described the girl’s dirty yellow raincoat and matted black hair, then continued with an absurdly basic list of her body parts.

Bai Zhi and the others answered questions in the Library before That Book transported them into an apocalyptic world. Bai Zhi arrived as a debt-ridden Doctor, and Hyena’s gang confronted him at his clinic.

• Instant described the deformed people he had seen, and Bai Zhi explained that pollution had caused mutations.
• Xia Wen vanished in a White Light Pillar after answering her questions, and Bai Zhi warned the others that the test had a time limit.
• Bai Zhi chose an answer and was transported into a filthy town in the wilderness, where he found himself inhabiting the identity of a Doctor in debt.
• Hyena and several gang members kicked open Bai Zhi’s door and demanded to discuss his debt.
• Bai Zhi challenged Hyena to say whether he was sick, since the clinic only treated patients.

Bai Zhi faced Hyena over his debt, demonstrated that his strength rivaled the Wolf Gang leader’s, and accepted an offer to join the gang as its doctor. Hyena warned him that the area outside the city had become extremely dangerous, and the two prepared to head to the Wolf Gang’s base.

• Hyena tested Bai Zhi’s strength by gripping his hand, but Bai Zhi resisted him despite Hyena’s power as an Evolver.
• Bai Zhi explained that he wanted to be treated as Hyena’s equal, and Hyena apologized for his earlier rudeness.
• Bai Zhi said he had considered becoming a hunter to repay his debt, but Hyena warned that fewer than one in ten people recently returned from outside the city alive.
• Hyena offered to erase Bai Zhi’s debt if he joined the Wolf Gang as a doctor, and Bai Zhi accepted.
• Hyena welcomed Bai Zhi into the gang, gave him a cigarette, and invited him to the gang’s nearby base.

Bai Zhi assessed the desperate state of the Apocalypse town and learned how its gangs, Hunters, and Vagrants were ranked. After Hyena brought him to the Wolf Gang’s base, an urgent matter arose, and Hyena invited Bai Zhi to investigate it with him.

• Bai Zhi deduced that the town’s Players still fought Anomalies, while gangs and Evolvers dominated its lawless society.
• Bai Zhi recalled that public killing and eating human flesh were forbidden, with offenders condemned to become Cannon Fodder.
• Bai Zhi noted that most Hunters had recently died after a great upheaval outside the town, leaving the survivors and residents on edge.
• Hyena showed Bai Zhi the Wolf Gang’s fortified factory compound and said its Boss and others would return by nightfall.
• A messenger whispered news to Hyena, who invited Bai Zhi to come take a look at the matter.

Girl sat traumatized in an Underground Prison where slaves were abused and killed. Hyena tested Bai Zhi by offering him a slave to exploit, and Bai Zhi opened the prison gate while asking for food and other comforts.

• Girl huddled in a corner of the Underground Prison, clutching a bloody shard beside a mutilated corpse.
• Hyena explained to Bai Zhi that the Wolf Gang used captured vagrants as expendable slaves in the wilderness.
• Bai Zhi realized Hyena had arranged the encounter as a test and that armed gang members were watching him.
• Hyena handed Bai Zhi a Key and told him to take a slave and do whatever he wanted before the boss returned.
• Bai Zhi asked for hot water, clean clothes, and proper food, then unlocked and opened the prison gate.

Bai Zhi explored the Underground Prison and rescued a silent Little Girl before treating her badly wounded hand in his room. He learned that the recently recruited hunter Qu Fu had also joined the Wolf Gang, then urged the Girl to bathe and change clothes.

• Bai Zhi found a Little Girl sitting beside a child-sized corpse in the Underground Prison and took her with him.
• Hyena told Bai Zhi that hunter and Evolver Qu Fu had joined the Wolf Gang a few days earlier.
• Hyena led Bai Zhi and the Little Girl to a clean room stocked with hot water, clothes, food, and medical supplies.
• Bai Zhi removed a shard of glass from the Little Girl's bloodied palm and treated her festering wounds while she remained silent.
• Bai Zhi told the Little Girl to bathe and change clothes, offering to help if she would not do it herself.

Bai Zhi weighed the clues surrounding the solo Dungeon and the city’s impending destruction while trying to gain the Little Girl’s trust. After she ambushed him and tried to kill herself, he restrained her and learned her name: Tong.

• Bai Zhi considered whether the book caused the world’s approaching destruction or merely revealed the fate it was already heading toward.
• Tong sneaked up behind Bai Zhi and attacked him with a dagger and scissors before biting his neck.
• Bai Zhi restrained Tong after her ambush failed and she tried to kill herself.
• Bai Zhi told Tong he was not with the people she wanted to kill and offered to take her somewhere.
• Tong finally told Bai Zhi her name.

Bai Zhi used the items and equipment granted by the Dungeon’s multiple-choice question to slaughter the Wolf Gang. He stopped Tong after she beat Qu Fu to death, leaving the pair amid the gang’s bloody destruction.

• Bai Zhi chose [Radiance] and [Beat Up Doll] to protect himself and Tong while facing the Wolf Gang.
• Bai Zhi led Tong out of the room and killed every Wolf Gang member they encountered, while [Beat Up Doll] absorbed the ranged attacks.
• Bai Zhi shot Qu Fu in his mutated right eye but spared him when Tong began attacking him with an iron hammer.
• Tong continued hammering Qu Fu after he died until Bai Zhi grabbed her arm and told her it was over.