Absolute Death Game

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"Alright, time to divvy up the loot. Which of these three books do you guys want?" Once they were out of the library and almost outside, Xiao Buli asked Du Yibo and He Suoju.

The two pondered for a while but seemed to have no interest in these two books. It couldn't be helped; not only were they not Skill Books, they didn't even count as informative books. At best, they were miscellaneous books introducing background stories, truly not worth anything valuable. They were so uninterested that they didn't even feel like splitting them up.

Du Yibo said, "Forget it, I don't want the book. Just let me read it after you're done."

He Suoju also said, "Exactly, that thing isn't worth any money."

Xiao Buli nodded; this was easier and saved the trouble of splitting it. He eagerly opened "Penglai Secret Chronicles: The Incident at Xuantian Palace" and to his surprise, there wasn't a single word on the pages. He flipped through several pages and they were all the same. He checked the item description.

"Penglai Secret Chronicles: The Incident at Xuantian Palace": This book has been eroded by some special power, and all the text has disappeared.

Damn, how could this happen, Xiao Buli felt speechless inside. Why did he always encounter such things?

In the blink of an eye, the three of them left the library, and when the three of them came out, those librarians immediately gathered around.

"Fantastic, you three actually came out alive. That's really surprising." The old man's words left Xiao Buli speechless, "What do you mean by that? Would you be happy only if we had died?"

"Not at all, I'm just speaking out of excitement, right. What kind of ghosts did you encounter in there? Why did everyone who went in before you disappear?"

Xiao Buli thought to himself, who should I ask if you're asking me?

"Didn't you say there were ghosts inside before? Why are you asking this now?"

The old man looked a bit embarrassed: "Well, whether there are ghosts or not, I am not entirely sure. It's just that recently strange silhouettes and exotic beasts have been appearing in the library, and there have been weird noises too. Although no one has died, I had to close the library just to be cautious.

Later, some adventurers went down to catch the ghosts, but none returned, alive or dead, so I really don't know what happened."

Xiao Buli then roughly recounted what had happened down below.

The old man was startled after listening, "My God, so it was the work of Book Demons. I can't believe such creatures actually exist!"

Xiao Buli was puzzled, "Book Spirit? What's that?"

"Book Spirit is one of The Four Wonders of the Study, which consist of Book Spirit, Painting Demon, Pen Immortal, and Ink Ghost. The Book Spirit is said to be a supernatural being formed when text gains spirituality, possessing the magical power to turn stories in books into reality.

However, everything about The Four Wonders of the Study has always been rumor, and I never thought it would actually appear. Book Spirits would use stories in books to fool humans, and could even kill them, but clearly, your strength has defeated it."

Xiao Buli asked, "Has the Book Spirit died?" He asked this for a reason, of course – there should have been a system notification if it had been truly killed.

"Most likely not. The power of the Book Spirit comes from books with spirituality. It takes more than a decade to convert the text in a book into its power. Once it exhausts the spiritual energy in the book, it will hide in other books to rest and gather strength, waiting to cause trouble again next time.

Book Spirits are intangible and can transfer to any book, so unless we burn all the books, we can't eliminate it, which of course I wouldn't do. Anyway, I am due to retire in two years. If any mischief occurs then, it will be the next person's problem. Still, I want to thank you. Here is your reward. Take it, don't be shy."

Xiao Buli thought to himself, who's being shy? It's just three Gold Coins, and you're acting so generous.

But even a tiny mosquito is meat, and a Gold Coin would've been a substantial income under normal circumstances. The three of them accepted the reward and prepared to leave.

Walking along the stone path of the Nine Dragons City library courtyard towards the exit, they hadn't gotten out of the yard when suddenly a group of people walked in from the outside.

Leading the way was a guy in a Taoist Robe named Chen Chuan. As he walked, he said to those behind him, "I'm telling you, there's great stuff in this instance. It's a light blue instance that I took a long time to find, right in front of us, huh? Where did the instance gate go?"

Chen Chuan glanced at Xiao Buli and instantly became furious, "Damn, where did you three come from? Tell me, did you guys clear the instance?" As soon as he finished speaking, the bunch behind him had already surrounded the three of them.

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The opponents numbered eight, and they seemed to have brought reserves. Yet Xiao Buli wasn't very tense, ever since he'd acquired the "Cloud Thunder Leap" divine skill, which allowed him to leave combat at will, he had never been afraid of anyone outdoors.

"So what if it is?"

"Damn, just as I thought, we discovered this dungeon first, and you actually stole my business. We can't just let this slide. Don't say I don't adhere to the rules of the mortal world; hand over half of the treasures you got from the dungeon, and we'll call it even. Otherwise, don't even think about leaving today."

Xiao Buli couldn't help but find his arrogant words somewhat amusing. "You wouldn't dare kill someone in the city, would you? Aren't you afraid of being wanted?"

Chen Chuan burst into laughter upon hearing this: "Hahaha, the NPCs of the Golden Dragon Legion wouldn't dare to mess with us. We're from the Awesome Empire, the reinforcements they paid a hefty price for. It's not just about snatching a few pieces of your gear – even if we killed you, it wouldn't matter."

After boasting, he flashed his guild title for all to see, followed by his cohorts doing the same. Indeed, each bore the suffix 'Awesome Empire'. This Chen Chuan was an 'Imperial Elite' of the Awesome Empire, and among the others, two were also Imperial Elites, while the rest bore the title 'Imperial Warrior'. Buli figured that Elites must be a rank above Warriors.

Awesome Empire? Xiao Buli thought they were quite something, recalling that Zhu Changfeng of the Iron Blood Brotherhood had told him about this absurdly named guild. Hearing the other party's tone, the guild's power seemed considerable, influential enough even to recruit NPCs.

At that moment, He Suoju murmured in the voice chat, "Shit, it's the people from the Awesome Empire; this is bad."

Du Yibo curiously asked, "What? Do you know them?"

He Suoju replied, "I've had a few run-ins with them. This guild has a huge number of members who are incredibly united and loyal. Among them are also plenty of experts. What's most fatal is that these guys are fearless when it comes to fighting, acting domineeringly and disregarding other guilds. But because they're so powerful, few people dare to provoke them.

Currently, their guild occupies a large city and over a dozen towns and villages in the north, making them a force to be reckoned with."

Du Yibo said, "That doesn't necessarily mean they're all that powerful. Qilin Hall occupied Nine Dragons City, and it fell all the same."

He Suoju clarified, "You can't say it like that. Qilin Hall was squatting, but they've actually taken over."

But Xiao Buli caught something in those words, "What do you mean by taken over?"

He Suoju explained, "They wiped out the original NPC Lord of that city. Now their guild leader is the master of that city. Aside from having hundreds of players, they also command thousands of NPC troops. I've heard that when they go after world bosses, they straight up dispatch their army to encircle and suppress them."

Having heard this, Xiao Buli immediately began to re-evaluate the guild. Considering the strength of Zhang Xiaotian, the Lord of Nine Dragons City, the Lords of those cities must be very powerful NPCs – most likely Dark Gold named. Being able to conquer a city and kill a Dark Gold-level boss-level NPC, this Awesome Empire was indeed awesome.

The few people opposite seemed to think that the three of them were already intimidated, looking over with smug satisfaction.

However, after sizing up the people opposite him, Xiao Buli still had no intention of backing down. How tough could they be? They wouldn't find it easy to deal with him.

As long as he wasn't facing the legendary RMB players, as long as his opponents were still bound by the game's rules, Xiao Buli had the confidence to fight and win. It was just a matter of how long it would take. No matter how awesome the other side was, he didn't take them too seriously.

"So you're from the Awesome Empire," he scoffed. "What a pleasure to meet you. However, you might be mistaken. I was the first to discover this dungeon, and I'm affiliated with Qilin Hall."

Xiao Buli, boasting with borrowed authority, tried to divert the trouble elsewhere.

Chen Chuan disdainfully said, "What's so great about Qilin Hall? They're just pawns. Besides, haven't they already disbanded? I don't care whether you found the dungeon first or not. Hand over the stuff, or you're dead." Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

Upon hearing that, Xiao Buli let out a cold laugh. "I did indeed get some good stuff. If you have the ability, come and take it." Chen Chuan didn't get angry at all but instead smiled. "Hey, you guys do have some guts. Good, since you invited me to take it, brothers engage! Take them down!"

Seeing the group charging at them, Xiao Buli didn't hesitate. He shouted in the voice chat, "If you can't handle it, just run. Don't worry about me; I can get out anytime." As he spoke, he rushed forward to meet the charge.

It was Xiao Buli's first time engaging in PK in the game, but he wasn't nervous. Fighting players shouldn't be much different from fighting NPCs. Even though their numbers vastly exceeded his own, neither Xiao Buli nor his companions were easy targets. Moreover, this game wasn't a lock-on system but more akin to an action game, where superior control could fully compensate for a lack of power.

(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)