The clear, crisp voice of a child echoed through the empty library, reaching the ears of Brian Carter and Logan Reed. Most games offer rewards—even online card games give out things like joy beans—so Brian Carter had already guessed that this giant matchstick was probably his prize.

But what was that “contempt from the mosaic”?!

Wasn’t that a quest clue? What the hell kind of game reward is that!

Brian Carter’s face alternated between pale and flushed, his feelings complicated. Compared to him, Logan Reed was even more dazed.

Logan Reed was the loser of this game, and usually, where there are rewards, there are also punishments. In an ordinary game, losing might mean losing money, but in the Black Tower game, no one knew what you might lose.

The Black Tower hadn’t clearly stated the punishment. Logan Reed was stunned for a long time, then slowly turned his head to look at Brian Carter: “…Will I die?”

Brian Carter couldn’t answer that question either. He tried to reassure him: “It probably won’t be that serious.”

Logan Reed immediately regained his confidence: “I believe you. You’re so smart, what you say makes sense. It won’t be that cruel. It’s a god, it’s supposed to bring me hope and rebirth, it’s my god…”

Brian Carter held the giant matchstick, calmly watching as Logan Reed slipped further into madness.

Not being told the punishment right away made him uneasy. It felt like the calm before dawn; this kind of behavior, which went against normal game logic, often signaled something even more terrifying and unpredictable. But at the same time, Brian Carter tried to comfort himself: If failing the game really meant death, wouldn’t at least half the people in this world be dead by now?

Billions dead—how could that be possible?

It shouldn’t be possible.

It really shouldn’t be possible…

The confrontation game was over, but the library hadn’t returned to normal. Brian Carter and Logan Reed tried, but still couldn’t go downstairs. At the same time, the view outside the third-floor windows was still a blank void.

They still hadn’t returned to Suzhou.

Time ticked by, second by second, and Brian Carter and Logan Reed remained trapped on the third floor of the library.

As the clock on the wall passed six o’clock, Brian Carter suddenly tensed up, a wave of inexplicable panic sweeping over his mind.

His heart began to race wildly again.

His pounding heart felt like it might burst out of his chest at any moment. Brian Carter grabbed onto a bookshelf, but his body wouldn’t steady; he slid down along the shelf and collapsed onto the floor. Logan Reed hurried over from a distance: “What’s wrong?”

The rapid flow of blood made Brian Carter’s face flush bright red within a minute. Every inch of his skin was red, like a boiled crab. Logan Reed recoiled in terror, but quickly gathered his courage and came to Brian Carter’s side: “Are you okay? Why are you so red? Your face is burning up… Are you running a fever?!”

Brian Carter’s heart was just beating too fast; his mind was still clear. He managed to squeeze out two words: “My heart…”

Logan Reed immediately understood and placed his hand over it: “Why is your heart beating so fast! It must be 200 beats per minute… no, 300 by now?!”

Brian Carter could no longer speak, but in his mind he corrected: It’s 394.

They couldn’t get out of the library, and inside, it was just Brian Carter and Logan Reed. With Brian Carter suddenly like this, Logan Reed was at a loss. He could only help him onto the service desk, sweeping everything off the table so Brian Carter could lie down. After that, Logan Reed ran to the restroom, wet some tissue with water, and placed it on Brian Carter’s forehead, hoping it would help.

Brian Carter’s heart rate had reached 532 beats per minute. He didn’t know what the maximum human heart rate could be, but he felt that at any second, his heart might explode. Yet for some reason, that heart defied all medical logic and stubbornly kept going.

Logan Reed kept running to the restroom, wetting toilet paper and placing it on every inch of Brian Carter’s exposed skin.

Brian Carter could feel that this was useless, but he was still deeply grateful for Logan Reed’s efforts. He couldn’t speak, so he just looked at Logan Reed with bloodshot eyes, watching him work up a sweat.

A whole hour later, as Brian Carter silently counted his heartbeats, he realized his heart rate was finally dropping.

Logan Reed thought the cold compresses were working and hurried to make more trips, even covering Brian Carter’s eyelids with wet tissues.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually Brian Carter felt he could move again. He removed the wet tissues from his body and, hands trembling, climbed off the desk.

Logan Reed happened to come out of the restroom and saw this. He immediately ran over: “You’re better?!”

Brian Carter opened his mouth and found his throat unbearably dry. He swallowed and nodded with a smile: “Yeah, I think I’m a bit better.”

“That’s good. You really scared me just now.” Logan Reed let out a sigh of relief.

Brian Carter looked at Logan Reed seriously: “Thank you.”

Logan Reed shook his head: “It’s nothing. I couldn’t just leave you lying there, could I?”

Their relationship was awkward now. On one hand, Logan Reed had dragged Brian Carter into an unknown game, putting him in vague danger, so there was a rift between them, maybe even a need to be wary of each other. But on the other hand, now that the game was over, it really did feel like just an ordinary game. When Brian Carter suddenly had a problem, Logan Reed didn’t abandon him—even if he couldn’t really help, Brian Carter couldn’t help but feel grateful.