In Virtual Reality 72 ☆ The Library of Eternal Life (6/10)

At the outset of the closed beta testing for «Murphy's Amusement Park,» no one could have foreseen that this nascent game would become the pearl, the blood-red beauty mark, and the white moonlight of the gaming community for a long time to come.

Featuring rudimentary pixel art and simplistic controls, this humble RPG game appeared at first blush indistinguishable from other substandard games. However, it afforded players a unique experience, where they could taste the flavour of "killed by NPC" and glimpse "human madness."

"This is..." Xu Jin Yi perched atop the book ladder, which had just halted, and gawked in awe at the region marked by the lengthened and enlarged red exclamation point before her. "This is far too much!"

She clutched the metal frame of the book ladder, leaned out from her body, and gazed outward. The red exclamation mark was stretched, and its colour had been considerably diluted. It appeared to envelop dozens of voluminous bookshelves! The information contained within the books in this library was mainly derived from gaming community forum posts, meticulously organized and compiled. Which meant that...

"It seems that after the conclusion of the Amusement Park's closed beta testing, many lingered, waiting." Xu Jin Yi nonchalantly restored «The Savior of Murphy's Game» light novel to its proper place and stroked her chin, chuckling.

In the closed beta iteration of «Murphy's Amusement Park,» only two NPCs survived alongside the players. One was 【Wang Jin Long】, the public enemy of the entire gaming community forum, while the other was the child 【Cao Du】, who was rescued by 【Ye Cheng Jing】.

Most of the other NPCs perished at the hands of NPCs posing as 【Werewolves】, much like Wang Jin Long. Amidst this turbulent internal strife, unless the protagonist's identity was 【Judge】, they would have fallen to the werewolf king in the final battle.

The volumes on «Murphy Amusement Park» were too numerous to count. Xu Jin Yi's hand skimmed across these hefty covers, scouring the titles for any gems that might be useful. She was so engrossed in her search that she had completely forgotten about the other person in the library.

**

As Zhang Rou Rou watched the self-proclaimed "librarian" depart, she remained rooted to the spot, observing their dwindling form as they retreated further into the stacks. Once they were out of sight, she extracted her phone from her pocket, only to find it unresponsive, locked in the call interface. No signal. Her efforts to unfreeze the device were in vain, and she reluctantly stowed the useless "brick" away.

Zhang Rou Rou's surroundings were unremarkable, resembling any other library she had visited. Lower tables supported diminutive tomes, while taller shelves held larger volumes. She approached one of the shorter tables, selecting a book at random, and pried open its cover.

"[email protected]&$《xs...?"

Zhang Rou Rou furrowed her brow, baffled by the chaotic jumble of characters sprawled across the page. She questioned how such gibberish could have made it into published works.

After shutting the nonsensical book, Zhang Rou Rou scrutinized the cover for publication information but found none. Could it be self-published? With several more desks to explore, she rifled through each one, discovering that every book was incomprehensible. In haste, she accidentally toppled stacks of books, revealing more pages of gibberish.

The once-neat black font twisted before Zhang Rou Rou's eyes, the dense letters resembling blood-sucking parasites crawling across the pages. Suddenly, eerie and fragmented sounds pierced her ears.

**

【The Customer Damaged the Books.】

【Warning: 1st time.】

【Warning: 2nd time.】

The red exclamation marks on the dialogue box glared at her, their fiery hue resembling a virus as they flickered incessantly.

Xu Jin Yi swiped the dialogue box away with a sigh, her impatience palpable. "Warn me all you want," she muttered under her breath, "what's it got to do with me...!"

But it did concern her! Xu Jin Yi suddenly snapped back to reality. She was the librarian, the guardian of these books, and her duty was to protect them. Breaking the library rules may not seem like a big deal, but what if a new NPC had done this?

"Come on, come on," Xu Jin Yi muttered as she frantically closed the book, holding it in one hand and patting the bookshelf ladder with the other. "Let's go find Zhang Xiao Hua!"

Zhang Xiao Hua was the only new NPC in the library, and Xu Jin Yi hoped she might be the culprit. The new librarian's ladder zoomed off in search of Zhang Xiao Hua. The red exclamation marks followed Xu Jin Yi frantically as she raced through the library.

**

"Go away! Leave me alone!" Zhang Rou Rou's voice trembled as she fell to the ground in terror, her hands frantically waving as if trying to fend off an invisible attacker.

The library transformed before her eyes, morphing into a grotesque and eerie world. The once immaculate white walls transformed into murky, black nests, and the ground squirmed as if something was trying to break through. The books scattered across the room sprouted black, jumbled characters that crawled out of the pages while minuscule, dense creatures slipped onto the ground, some sinking into the sludge and others climbing up Zhang Rou Rou's body. Her screams echoed through the room, tearing through the air like razors, causing the characters to fall to the ground.

Zhang Rou Rou tried to stand but stumbled, flailing her arms and striking her clothes like a drunken person, trying to rid herself of the nauseating creatures. She wanted to escape, but the sludge had already swallowed her delicate legs, and she couldn't free them. It continued to creep up her legs until it almost reached her knees.

"Are you okay?" A hand grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the sludge. Her legs trembled in the air as the black sludge clung unwillingly to her skin.

When her feet touched the ground again, the pristine white floor had returned, and the grotesque world vanished. Zhang Rou Rou trembled, her legs feeling weak. Luckily, the person who had pulled her out had not let go. She looked up, dazed, and saw her saviour: the librarian.

In the grasp of the other person was a dark brown book, and the mere sight of it, even just the cover, triggered an instant and distressing recollection of the garbled text from before. As she flailed away from the perceived danger, Zhang Rou Rou's legs turned to noodles in fear.

"Relax, relax..." The librarian's kind voice tried to soothe the struggling girl, one hand holding her firmly in place. "The library has warned you twice," Silence began, their tone flat but tinged with a hint of threat. "If it happens again, I cannot guarantee what will follow."

Zhang Rou Rou's animal-like intuition made her regard the librarian warily, frozen in place by their ominous warning.

At last, the librarian let go of her, showing a concerned expression as Zhang Rou Rou stumbled. "Let me reintroduce you," Silence sighed, speaking softly, "to the 'The Library of Eternal Life,' which holds many... well, stories that may not pique your interest."

The librarian, dressed in a youthful pink hoodie, set the dark brown book on the nearby desk and then turned around to retrieve the scattered books from the ground. "Please don't damage the library," the hoodie said earnestly, picking up and stacking the books neatly. "I'm a newly appointed librarian. I can help you once but can't always save you."

After organizing the books, Silence took back the book they were reading before and said to the dazed Zhang Rou Rou: "By the way, you might find this book intriguing."

**

«The Library of Eternal Life». What a curious name for a game, Xu Jin Yi thought as she tidied her desk with the guidance of the red dialogue box. As she finished, her eyes nonchalantly scanned the now immaculate surface. She had just cleared away twenty-three books, and after restoring order to the scattered pages, the desk should have been pristine. However, a slim volume lay atop the desk, different from the others.

Xu Jin Yi picked it up. A book. It had the same cover as the books on the shelf but was pitifully thin, with only about twenty pages.

She flipped to the front - «The Marvelous Adventures of Zhang Xiao Hua.»

Xu Jin Yi's brow furrowed.

Zhang Xiao Hua?

With an unimpressed look, she observed the girl in front of her. The changes in the library were already noticeable before Xu Jin Yi arrived by scaling the book ladder. Without her, Zhang Xiao Hua would have been consumed by the engulfing mud. She casually flipped to the first page, and her eyes widened after reading a few lines.

Oh my...

So that's what "eternal" means in The Library of Eternal Life.

**

Zhang Xiao Hua left with the slender book while Xu Jin Yi turned her attention to the library entrance. A red dialogue box had just flashed, indicating someone had arrived at the library. Without anything pressing to do, curiosity nudged her towards the registration desk. Unlike before, Xu Jin Yi didn't climb the noisy book stairs. Instead, she took a leisurely stroll towards the front.

The Library of Eternal Life... Who could it be this time? It wasn't long before she found out.

"Wen Wen," said the bespectacled boy, adjusting his glasses and positioning himself protectively in front of his girlfriend. "Something's not right here!"

Fang Wen Wen: "..."

It was clear to anyone that the college library was smaller. The situation brought to mind the haunted house and the person who had led them out. Fang Wen Wen surveyed her surroundings before her gaze settled in the distance. she rubbed her eyes.

"Si De," the girl hesitated, blinking rapidly. "That person looks familiar..."

-How could he not be familiar?!

Tian Si De's pupils trembled as the hooded figure approached them slowly.

"Welcome, ah! It's you guys!" exclaimed the hooded figure, waving enthusiastically and looking particularly happy. "Are you here to see me? And you brought a friend?"

-What friend?

A hand with dirt under the fingernails pressed onto Tian Si De's shoulder with a misty breath blew into the stunned boy's ear.