Logan Reed's face suddenly turned very ugly as well. He stiffly turned his head and his voice trembled slightly: "How many bookshelves are there on the third floor of your library?"

"Twenty-three."

Logan Reed's eyes widened: "Why so few!"

Brian Carter was also helpless.

Was this his decision to make?

A few months ago, Director Smith had some strange idea and said he wanted to learn from Western modern library practices and renovate their own library, starting with the third floor. Suzhou Library has decades of history, just like any other city library, and its facilities are all quite old. After Director Smith renovated the third floor, he replaced all the original hundred-plus bookshelves and bought twenty-three large bookshelves connected together.

Many readers complained that these bookshelves made it inconvenient to move around, and Director Smith was already planning to replace them again next year. Unfortunately, man proposes but God disposes—he probably won't get another chance to change the bookshelves in this lifetime.

If the range of books is limited to the third floor, it's actually beneficial for Brian Carter and Logan Reed. Although Brian Carter is a library employee, he has always worked on the third floor, and Logan Reed loves reading books on mysticism and religion, which are all on the third floor. The two of them are the most familiar with the third floor of the library.

But with fewer bookshelves, it becomes even easier for the demon to burn books. The probability of burning the right book increases significantly.

While the two of them were worrying, that familiar sound of footsteps echoed from deep within the bookshelves again. When he saw the pixelated little girl, Brian Carter no longer had the energy to complain about where she kept popping up from. The little girl was holding a small rice bowl in her hands, wearing a little pig bib around her neck, and came running over, huffing and puffing.

"Did you find my book?"

Logan Reed shook his head dejectedly: "We haven't even started looking yet."

The little girl said angrily, "You haven't even started looking?! I finally managed to sneak out to find you while the teacher wasn't paying attention during lunch. The first day is almost over—after my afternoon classes, I have to go home. If my mom finds out, I'm done for."

Brian Carter said, "Do you have any clues? Can you remember anything about that book?"

The little girl shook her twin ponytails: "I can't remember."

Logan Reed said anxiously, "Weren't you going to give us a clue?"

Suddenly, the little girl said, "Ah, I remember! I found this feather in my room this morning. Yes, this is the demon's feather! I knew it, it definitely wasn't me who lost the book—it was that damned demon, he stole my book! Demons are all lying bad guys, I hate demons the most. That hateful demon, I'm going to catch him, break his wings, and put them in the popcorn machine to fry them into my favorite popcorn!"

The little girl handed a black feather to Brian Carter, then hopped away.

"Ding dong! The angel has received clue one: 'the demon's feather.'"

Brian Carter: "..."

Logan Reed: "..."

A moment later, Brian Carter: "...This is our clue?"

Logan Reed was a bit confused too. He thought for a moment: "Does this feather have any other use?"

Brian Carter touched the feather, then waved it in the air a couple of times. It seemed to be just an ordinary feather, with not a trace of magical power. When Brian Carter tried hard to discover any hidden magical abilities, it simply stayed quietly as it was, silently mocking him.

At that moment, the light suddenly disappeared.

Logan Reed screamed in fright.

The entire library was instantly plunged into darkness. Brian Carter's heart skipped a beat. He happened to be standing next to the service desk and instinctively turned on the old-fashioned desk lamp on the table. Click—the faint yellow light dimly illuminated a one-meter area around the service desk, enclosing both Brian Carter and Logan Reed.

Brian Carter stared unblinkingly at the bookshelves shrouded in darkness.

Brian Carter suppressed his nerves and tried to turn on the other lights. He found that except for the desk lamp on the service desk, none of the other lights would turn on. The two of them huddled close to the desk and sat down on the floor.

In this boundless darkness, fear became even more pronounced. On the entire third floor of the library, there was only this faint, dim light. No matter what, the light couldn't reach anywhere else. It was as if a giant beast was hiding in the darkness, ready to devour them the moment they stepped out.

"Did you hear something?" Logan Reed moved closer to Brian Carter in fear.

Now that he mentioned it, Brian Carter felt his scalp tingle a bit too. He listened carefully for a while: "No, I didn't hear anything."

Logan Reed swallowed hard: "Why did it suddenly get dark..."

Brian Carter remembered the nursery rhyme sung by the child's voice at the beginning: "Three days and three nights without speaking, the angel and demon both want it. The angel gets a clue during the day, the demon can burn a bookshelf at night... Does the day and night in this game flow at a different speed than our time?"

Logan Reed was so scared he couldn't think at all.

Brian Carter tried hard to calm down: "It's two hours."

"What?"

"The game started at 17:52, and now it's 19:58. Two hours is one day."