"Still, if you accidentally break a rule, just give them my name and say you're my man. She'll definitely do me that favor!"
After Xia Yao finished speaking, she rolled over in Chu He's arms, leaving her smooth, bare back to him in a clear "I'm going back to sleep, so don't bother me" pose.
Chu He took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her soft, warm body from behind.
Xia Yao's body tensed for an instant, then relaxed. At an angle Chu He couldn't see, the corner of her mouth curled into a smug smile.
She continued pretending to sleep without a word, but her toes, curling and uncurling restlessly, gave away how unsettled she really was.
2:50 p.m.
Chu He arrived at the library alone.
The library looked so small that it didn't seem like it could hold even a hundred people.
It was also a Gothic building, and beneath the blood-red sunset, it looked eerie and strange.
An iron sign stood by the entrance, with several large characters written on it in dried blood: [Please be quiet inside!]
Chu He pushed open the door, which was covered in strange Runes, and an eerie, fragrant scent wafted toward him.
It smelled like a mixture of certain Chinese medicinal herbs. He couldn't quite place it, but after a few breaths, he felt refreshed and clearheaded!
What surprised Chu He even more was that the space inside was nothing like it had looked from the outside. It was so vast that it defied imagination!
Inside, eighty survivors from other countries had already gathered.
They were all tense, on tiptoe as they cautiously looked around. Their faces showed fear, confusion, or grim unease, but not one of them dared make a sound. The entire space was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Chu He looked around carefully!
Row upon row of towering bookshelves reached up to the ceiling, like silent giants dividing the space into countless shadowy corridors.
There were hundreds of thousands of books on the shelves, and every one of them had a bizarre appearance.
Some had covers made from the hide of some kind of creature, complete with fine scales;
Some had eyeballs growing along their spines, slowly turning to follow anyone who walked by, their gaze filled with scrutiny;
Most bizarre of all, Chu He saw an entire row of books that were actually alive!
They lay flat on the shelves, their pages rising and falling rhythmically like chests, making faint breathing sounds.
Filled with wonder, Chu He made his way toward the consultation desk in the center of the library, taking an interested look at these peculiar "collections" as he went.
At the consultation desk, a silver-haired little girl who looked about ten years old was sitting there.
She was petite, around five feet tall by his estimate, but her proportions looked very good.
She wore a little blouse in a gradient of pale blue and light purple, made of misty star gauze and cut to just above the waist. Countless tiny crystals decorated the neckline, scattering flecks of rainbow light whenever she moved.
The outer layer of her A-line miniskirt was translucent gauze printed with golden patterns, while the inner layer was a deep, matte blue. Her little legs swung in the air, making the hem sway. Countless silver threads hidden in the inner fabric flickered along with it, their light flowing until, at a glance, it looked as though Star Orbit were quietly circling the hem.
Most striking of all were her eyes: big and bright, with what looked like an entire brilliant galaxy hidden in her irises. They were indescribably beautiful.
At that moment, the silver-haired elf was perched on a tall chair, swinging her legs as she read a thick book propped up on the desk, utterly absorbed.
Chu He's gaze instinctively drifted to the book's cover.
The title was blunt, provocative, and... downright perverted.
<Kiss to Seal the Deal: Conquer the Supernatural World, Starting by Kissing the Weird School Belle into Submission>.
Chu He's expression froze instantly.
Th-this was Kachi, the "very smart" friend Xia Yao had mentioned?
An SSS-Class supernatural loli was reading this kind of brainless Dragon Country power fantasy harem novel?
Just then, a "tick-tock, tick-tock" sounded.
The hands of an antique clock on the consultation desk met precisely at three o'clock.
Kachi reluctantly closed the harem novel and carefully set it aside, then hopped down from the tall chair.
She raised her sweet, childish face. Her galaxy-like eyes swept across everyone present, and her voice rang out, clear and pleasant, though what she said sent a chill through them.
"Welcome to my library. Now, let's play a game."
As she spoke, she raised a small, fair hand and lightly traced a line in the air before her.
Hum—!
Space warped, and a dazzling, multicolored door appeared out of nowhere before them, its colors swirling like a nebula.
The scene within the door was exactly like the galaxy in her eyes.
"The game is simple. Enter this 'Dream Gate.'"
Kachi wore a sweet smile as she continued, "A little tip: your dreams will magnify your deepest desires without limit, and they'll feel incredibly real. Inside, you'll experience all the sensations you feel in the real world—touch, pain, pleasure, warmth, cold... almost exactly as you would in reality."
"While one hour passes in the outside world, sixty years will pass in the dream."
She paused, looking around at their ashen faces. Her smile grew wider.
"The rules require you to spend thirty years in the dream, which is half an hour in the real world."
"If, after thirty years, you can still tell the dream from reality, the exit will appear before you."
"If you can't tell the difference..."
She tilted her head, wearing an innocent expression.
"Then you can stay in there forever and enjoy your sweet dreams!"
As her voice fell, the temperature in the entire library plunged.
Everyone looked at her impossibly cute face, yet felt a chill shoot from the soles of their feet to the crown of their heads. They were terrified!
After spending thirty years in a dream, would they still be able to tell what was real?
That would take an incredible amount of willpower!
But no one dared resist.
Faced with overwhelming power, they had no choice but to obey.
One by one, the survivors, their faces drained of color, walked trembling into the dazzling Dream Gate, consumed by fear.
Chu He felt the world spin around him. It was as if his soul had been ripped from his body and plunged into a warm, viscous sea of stars.
Once everyone had entered, dozens of screens appeared out of thin air before Kachi, each showing one person's dream in real time.
Kachi returned to her tall chair and crossed her legs, watching the dreams with interest as if she were watching a movie.
Some men dreamed of owning mountains of gold and silver, surrounded by beautiful women and hailed as the richest men in the world. Their faces twisted into crazed, infatuated grins.
Some women dreamed of staying forever young, pursued by countless handsome men and made the center of the world.
Others dreamed they had gained the power to destroy heaven and earth and rule over all living beings, crushing beneath their feet every person who had ever bullied them. Their expressions were wild with madness.
"How boring."
Kachi yawned, casually picked up a steaming cup of black tea, and took a sip. Her eyes were full of disdain.
"Human desires always come down to the same few things. There's not an ounce of originality."
She scanned the screens listlessly, her gaze passing over one person after another, all lost in their desires.
Suddenly, her gaze stopped.
Her eyes locked onto a screen in the corner.
It showed Chu He's dream.
Her galaxy-like eyes went wide, her little mouth forming an "O." Her face was filled with shock and disbelief unlike anything she had ever shown before!
It was as if she had seen something terrifying that turned her entire worldview upside down!
"Wh... what the hell?"
This SSS-Class supernatural loli had actually let out a curse.
Before you continue