Brian Carter looked up at the distant black tower, picked up his bag, and boarded the bus to the library.

It had to be said that Huaxia was truly excellent at maintaining social stability. Except for people like them, whose workplaces were too close to the black tower and had to go home for a break, all other public facilities were operating as smoothly as usual.

However, when swiping his card to get on the bus, Brian Carter noticed an ashtray in front of the driver, full of cigarette ash, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

A middle-aged woman complained, “Driver, how can you smoke while driving? Isn’t it prohibited?”

“It’s so annoying. If I don’t smoke, I don’t even want to drive. Why don’t you come drive instead?”

“Hey, how can you talk like that? Not smoking is your bus company’s own rule. If you smoke, you’re in the wrong, and you won’t even let people say anything?”

The driver and the woman started arguing, and the two female college students sitting next to Brian Carter hurried to mediate. After much effort, they managed to calm things down. The two girls returned to their seats, and one said, “Today is the third day, right?”

“Oh, you mean that? It really is the third day.”

One girl, playing with her phone, said, “They say they’re going to eliminate players, and it’s not limited to games. What does that even mean? It’s been three days and nothing’s happened. What counts as a game? If we play rock-paper-scissors, does that count as a game?”

“Hehe, want to try?”

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

“Ah, I lost. So am I eliminated by you?”

The two girls looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Those who still had the mood to take the bus and continue their daily lives were the ones who didn’t care much about the black tower incident. When Brian Carter arrived at the library, he saw thousands of people holding signs, blocking the road and confronting the armed police. These were the people who cared deeply about the black tower incident, the ones who truly believed the black tower would bring about the end of the world.

Brian Carter took a detour and entered the library through the back door. It seemed he was the only one in a hurry to come back for something; the empty library had no one else inside. Outside, the chants of the marching crowd could be heard, echoing inside the library as well. Brian Carter found his locker and took out a few books from inside.

He was about to leave when he suddenly heard a dull sound from the southeast corner.

Brian Carter stopped in his tracks and looked over. After a moment, he took a black riot baton from the security guard’s locker, tiptoed, and carefully walked toward the corner.

“Who’s there?”

No response.

He could vaguely hear someone picking up books in the corner, stuffing them back onto the shelf, and in the flurry, another book fell.

Brian Carter walked to the bookshelf in the corner, turned around, and shouted, “Who’s there!”

A young man with an ordinary appearance and messy hair looked at Brian Carter in a panic, still holding a book in his hand.

Brian Carter relaxed his grip on the riot baton and said in surprise, “Charlatan… ahem, Mr. Brooks? What are you doing here?”

The charlatan stiffly looked at Brian Carter, gave a dry laugh, and stuffed the fallen book back onto the shelf.

Brian Carter frowned. “How did you get in?”

“There’s a window on the east side that wasn’t closed properly… I just came in to take a look, just to see…”

Brian Carter recalled that there was indeed a window on the east side of the library, but it was at ground level, connected to the basement, mainly for ventilation. How did this charlatan get in? Did he really climb in through the window?

Brian Carter: “Mr. Brooks, this puts us in a difficult position. This counts as theft, doesn’t it?”

“I didn’t steal anything!” the charlatan said anxiously.

Brian Carter looked him up and down, gripping the riot baton tightly, and walked to the bookshelf in front of the charlatan to take a closer look.

Indeed, no books were missing; it was just as he had left it three days ago.

“So what did you come in for this time…”

“Ding dong! Confrontation game ‘Who Stole My Book’ has been triggered. November 17, 2017, 5:52 p.m., players Brian Carter and David Brooks have safely entered game time. Players have entered the sandbox, the game map is complete, data loading finished…”

In an instant, the deafening chants outside the library vanished without a trace.

In the empty library, a strange, clear child’s voice suddenly rang out, singing a nursery rhyme no one had ever heard before.

“La la la, la la la.

A stick taps lightly,

Two players play house.

Three days and three nights without a word,

Angels and demons want it.

Shh… Who stole my book?”

Chapter 3: Mom Will Kill Me!

Those who didn’t believe in the black tower were just watching the spectacle from beginning to end. They believed this was a government high-tech research project and wouldn’t cause them any harm. The government couldn’t possibly hurt people, right? Even if something really happened, the leaders were people too. Even if the sky fell, there would be people above to hold it up. It had nothing to do with them anyway; after all, there was nothing they could do.

Those who believed in the black tower were terrified to the extreme when the third day arrived.

“What is a game! What is elimination! We want an explanation!”

“An explanation! Explain!”

“What is this thing? There must be an explanation!”