Chapter 258: The Last Ten Seconds
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
All sorts of books, new and old, thick and thin, were swept off the heavy bookshelf which was made of quality hardwood. They fell from the shelf one after the other, making a pitter-patter sound like rain. The evil perpetrator of this action acted swiftly and before long the bookshelf was half empty.
"Look at this, will this book work?"
The young teenage girl held an old book between her white fingers. She called out to her brother and Lin Sanjiu, who were not far from her, "It's called 'The hidden truth'. There is the word hidden. Maybe, we could use this."
Lin Sanjiu and the siblings decided to search through the sea of books in front of them to find for a way to enter the multimedia section right under the noses of the west wing team. As each of these books was a Special Item, they were sure that they could find a book whose effects would allow them to enter the multimedia section undetected. The biggest problem was that they could not open the books to check their content.
Once a book was opened, the content of what they read would immediately be activated as the book's effect. The effect could only be activated once and the book would become just a normal book which couldn't be used again. In other words, they could only judge the usability of a book's content by its title or the occasional summary on the back of the book.
Lin Sanjiu looked up and frowned immediately.
"Pick up the books on the floor!" Even though she spoke quietly, her words were firm, "If the bookshelves are empty, what would block us from their line of sight?
This was the first time Lin Sanjiu had lectured her, but Rena panicked inexplicably. "Oh," she replied before bending down and collecting the books hurriedly. After she placed some of the books back, she suddenly felt somewhat indignant. She wanted to throw a tantrum but she just couldn't. In the end, she placed all the books back on the bookshelves obediently. Then, she sashayed over to the end of bookshelf 100 and placed the book on the book pile there. There was a large pile of books on the floor. They had all been carefully selected based on their potential effects.
As there were many pages in a book, there was no guarantee that the page they read would hold the effects they needed. With that in mind, they had decided to place all the useful books to one side on the outset. A few hours had passed since Lin Sanjiu approached Siri. Through the windows, the color of the sky hinted that dawn was arriving.
Observing the situation from yesterday morning, the lights in Kisaragi Library would be switched off at 5 am. At that time, the library would become dark—though not as dark as during the night—but it would give Lin Sanjiu and the siblings a good opportunity to act.
"Ready?" Lin Sanjiu was crouching. She led the way, as the two kids followed behind her. They looked a little pale as they nodded their heads. This was already the third day since they entered the library. This also meant that the actual number of lives Rena had was only 1.
At the moment, they had no idea what would happen if Rena received a lethal attack. They did not know if her "life" would be deducted from the actual 1, or the 4 that was on her back. Neither did they have an opportunity to ask Siri this question. Consequently, it was inevitable that the siblings were feeling very nervous.
"Just follow behind me later. If anyone attacks, I will take on the blows. Don't let yourself be separated from the group." Lin Sanjiu advised, "My body is a hundred times more resilient than your bodies, so my number won't drop."
Hearing this, Rena let out a sigh, sounding a little relieved. Reno looked at the wall clock in the central hall and pulled out a small backup torch. Lin Sanjiu reached for one of the books and opened it from the middle.
"...Thus, before we could get a more accurate information about the situation, we could only wait helplessly and anxiously. Jumon, our tribe chief noticed our predicament and took the initiative to lend us his car…"
The effect of the book was "A way out of a predicament". Even though it was very useful, it wasn't suitable for their current situation, so they had wasted the book. Lin Sanjiu sighed and quickly took another book.
"...based on the logical considerations behind this behavior, this is something very meaningful. Was there any other way to change this situation other than improving the natural essence of the matter? Unfortunately…"
"This won't work either."
"...She felt a wet sensation gliding past her thigh. It landed sloppily on the floor, spreading out like a blooming white tulip. Goodbye, my child..."
"No."
".... she didn't want this! This man was more handsome, more influential, and richer. But so what? Did he think he could do whatever he wanted to her? They were just lovers by contract!"
"What bullshit is this!"
As Lin Sanjiu grew increasingly frustrated, Reno suddenly exclaimed softly, "This!" Both Lin Sanjiu and Rena looked over at the same time.
"Luo Bixue knew very well that Li Yulong was a man that was destined to have more than one woman. Besides, she was willing to allow Li Yulong to have more women, to share her burden..."
"This is worse than the previous book!"
"What can this shitty book do?" Rena asked with a frown. Much to their surprise, the book's effect was incredibly useful.
[A Description of Twisted Logic]
If such a plot devoid of normal human logic can be rationalized in a few thousand words, you can twist everything in your reality.
"Quick, let's do it now!" Lin Sanjiu's eyes lit up. She patted Reno's shoulder and he reacted immediately. He grabbed the book and ran out of the book section. Each book can be employed in its unique manner with minute differences between the users as it is entirely based on how a user interprets its effects. After a few seconds, Reno suddenly turned back and gestured for them. Lin Sanjiu and Rena immediately rushed toward him.
The west wing was quiet, though they could occasionally hear some footsteps. Even though west wing team was very close to Lin Sanjiu and the siblings, they did not notice anything unusual downstairs.
"We only have five minutes," Reno blurted rapidly as he crouched hastily beside a desk while he surveyed all possible crevices and hiding spaces. "Right now, our existence had been twisted. If someone were to look for us, they would still see us in the books section… While the item is activated, we can't attack anyone. Let's find the book!"
There were 200 computers in the multimedia section. The possibility of searching through all the desk spaces in five minute was slim. However, none of them had the time to complain now. They grabbed every single second they had and searched the area for anything that looked like a book.
"We still have 3 minutes."
"We still have 2 minutes."
Reno announced each time a minute had passed. They had to rush back to the bookshelves within 5 minutes, otherwise, they would be spotted by the people from the west wing...
"We still have 10 seconds!" While the teenager shouted anxiously, Lin Sanjiu's fingers trembled when she touched a cool and smooth cover of a book…
She grabbed it and saw its title: A Girl's Sorrow.