Chapter 7 (1/2)

As if she really was just expressing her contempt, the mosaic on the little girl’s face returned to normal after finishing this sentence. She handed the giant match to Tang Mo and ran into the depths of the bookshelves. Her long ponytails swayed as she jumped and the little figure vanished into the shadows of the bookshelves.

“Ding dong!The game ‘Who stole my book?’ has been completed.”

“Calculating game clear rewards…”

“Player Tang Mo has won the game and obtained the rewards ‘Giant Match’ and ‘Mosaic’s Contempt’.”

“Player Chen Fangzhi has failed the mission.”

The clear child’s voice echoed in the empty library and entered Tang Mo and the huckster’s ears. Generally, games always had rewards. Even online card games gave some type of rewards. Tang Mo had already guessed that this big match was probably his prize.

But what was the ‘Mosaic’s Contempt?’ Wasn’t it a mission clue? It was actually a game reward?

Tang Mo’s face paled and his heart became complicated. Compared with him, the huckster was worse.

The huckster was the loser of the game. Along with rewards, there were usually punishments. Losing in an ordinary game might cause a person to lose money. Nobody knew what would happen when losing in a black tower game.

The black tower didn’t talk about the punishment. The huckster paused for a long time before slowly turning to look at Tang Mo. “…I will die?”

Tang Mo didn’t have an answer to this question. He spoke comforting words. “It shouldn’t be that serious.”

The huckster suddenly gained confidence. “I believe you. You are so smart and your words make sense. God wouldn’t be so cruel. He will bring hope and rebirth, that is my god…”

Tang Mo held the giant match and looked calmly at the huckster who was muttering madly.

Not knowing the punishment for the first game made Tang Mo uneasy. It was like the calm before the storm. This type of behaviour didn’t conform to the common sense of games and often represented a more fearful and unpredictable result. However, Tang Mo inwardly comforted himself. If the punishment for failing the game was really death, wouldn’t half the people on this world die?

How could billions of people die?

It should be impossible. It was impossible…

The game was over but the library still hadn’t returned to normal. Tang Mo and the huckster tried but they still couldn’t go downstairs. At the same time, the outside of the third floor windows were still blank space.

They haven’t returned to Suzhou yet.

Time passed and Tang Mo and the huckster were trapped on the third floor of the library.

The clock on the wall had just passed 6 o’clock when Tang Mo’s body suddenly tensed. An unknown panic swept over his mind.

His heart starting beating quickly again.

His pounding heart seemed like it would fly out of his chest. Tang Mo held onto a bookshelf but his body wasn’t stable and he ended up slumped on the ground. The huckster hurried over from a distance. “What happened?”

The too fast flow of blood caused Tang Mo’s face to become red in a minute. Every inch of his skin was a scary red, as if he was a cooked crab. The huckster took a step back with fright and horror. Then he plucked up his courage and walked to Tang Mo’s side. “Are you okay? You are so red and your face is hot…do you have a fever?”

Tang Mo’s heartbeat was too fast but his mind was still awake. He tried to speak. “Heart…”

The huckster immediately knew and touched Tang Mo’s chest. “Why is your heart beating so fast? This is 200 per minute…no, it is 300!”

Tang Mo was unable to speak, otherwise he would correct it to 394.

They couldn’t get out of the library and there were only two people inside, Tang Mo and the huckster. Tang Mo had suddenly become like this and the huckster was helpless. He could only push all the things off the help desk and place Tang Mo lying down on it. After this, the huckster ran to the bathroom, dipped the toiler paper in water and placed it on Tang Mo’s forehead, hoping it would help.

Tang Mo’s heartbeat had now reached 532 beats per minute. He didn’t know how fast the human heart could reach but he felt like his heart might explode at any second. For some reason, his heart acted inconsistently with medical knowledge and persisted tenaciously.

The huckster kept running to the bathroom, grabbing wet toiler paper and placing it on every inch of Tang Mo’s bare skin.

Tang Mo could feel that this type of behaviour didn’t help, yet he was grateful that the huckster was trying to help him. He couldn’t speak. He could only watch the sweating huckster with red eyes.

After a full hour, Tang Mo counted his heartbeats and found that his heart rate had actually dropped.

The huckster thought the cold was effectively and quickly ran a few more times, placing wet toiler paper on Tang Mo’s eyelids.

Tang Mo didn’t know how long it was before he could move again. He took off the wet toilet paper and got off the table with trembling hands.

The huckster had just left the bathroom and saw this scene. He came running and asked, “How are you?”

Tang Mo opened his mouth and found that his throat was dry. He swallowed his saliva a few times before nodding with a smile. “Good, it seems to be better.”

“That’s good. I was scared to death.” The huckster sighed with relief.

Tang Mo looked at the huckster seriously. “Thank you.”

The huckster shook his head. “It’s okay. I couldn’t just leave you lying there.”

The relationship between the two of them was very confusing. On the one hand, the huckster pulled Tang Mo into an unknown game, causing him to fall into uncertain danger. At this point, the two people should be distant and wary of each other. On the other hand, the game was over and it was just like playing an ordinary game. Tang Mo’s body suddenly became like that and the huckster didn’t ignore it. It might not have actually helped but Tang Mo couldn’t be ungrateful.

After this incident, the relationship between the two people became closer.

The huckster asked, “Why did your heartbeat suddenly become so fast? My father is a doctor and that isn’t normal. For a normal person, once their heart rate reaches 250, the heart can’t supply blood and the person will die within minutes.”

Tang Mo thought about it and decided to tell the huckster. “Your heartbeat hasn’t accelerated in the past few days?”

The huckster shook his head. “No.”

Tang Mo frowned and explained. “It started three days ago. My heartbeat suddenly became fast. It wasn’t as fast as today, but it did reach 300 beats per minute. At the same time, I became very annoyed. This irritability might be because of the black tower. I am not in the ‘black tower is dangerous’ faction but I’m not someone who thinks the black tower isn’t a big deal. I can understand the irritability. However, I can’t understand the heartbeat.”

“Do you have an illness?”

“It happened after the black tower event and I haven’t been to the hospital to check.”

The huckster thought about it. “Then you should go see a doctor. I’ve never heard of this illness. Not dying after your heartbeat goes over 300 beats per minute, I am afraid you are the only one in the world.” The huckster joked, “Perhaps you might be recruited by the country and used as a research mouse. Maybe it is better that you don’t go to the hospital.”

Tang Mo smiled.

Click.

In the silent library, the sound of the door opening was suddenly heard.

Tang Mo and the huckster exchanged a glance. This was the sound of the door on the first floor of the library opening!

The two people quickly ran downstairs, with the force keeping them on the third floor of the library completely gone. They used their fastest speed to run to the mahogany door of the library’s main entrance.

The key turned in the lock and the door was pushed open. Long-lost sunshine shone through the crack in the door, shining on Tang Mo and the huckster’s face. This warm feeling was the real sun, not the fake one during the ‘daytime’ of the game.

Tang Mo blinked as the warm temperature soothed his body.

“Tang Mo, how are you here?” A bright female voice was heard. “Did you come early to get your things?”

Tang Mo’s eyes widened. “Xiao Zhao?”

Tang Mo remembered that he came to the library yesterday to collect his things because Director Wang said the library would be requisitioned by the government. It took him a few seconds to organize his thoughts. “Did you come to get your things?”

Xiao Zhao smiled. “Yes. My parents think this black tower thing is too bizarre and plan to go to our hometown to avoid it. We will leave at 10 o’clock, so I came to collect something. Eh, didn’t I ask you first? Why did you come so early? What are you holding in your hand, a match? The huckster…cough, why is he here?”

Xiao Zhao looked at the huckster, who swallowed nervously.

Tang Mo calmly explained, “I met him when I came to get a few things and we chatted for a bit.”

“You had a conversation with him…” Xiao Zhao muttered. She looked up and said, “Then I will go in to get my things. I won’t chat with you.” The young girl said this and took a step to enter.

Just as one of her legs was about to enter through the door, Tang Mo’s eyes widened and his pupils trembled.

“Zhao Yan!”