When they first entered the library, there definitely wasn't a person in the central hall. They looked at each other and clenched their fists a little nervously as they took a few steps forward. The central hall of the library was huge. The arched ceiling hung high above their heads as it was not segregated into two floors. The light from the setting sun barely lit the dim central hall which was divided into a few vague sections. On their left side, about six meters away, there were rows and rows of bookshelves. Each of the bookshelves was about three meters tall, and as the light could barely reach that spot, it was dark.
There was a computer section near the glass windows a little further inside. Light reflected off the black monitor screens of the computers. The sound came from the administration section just in front of the computer section.
"Are you here to borrow some books?" the voice asked again. This was followed by the sound of a chair shifting. A head popped up from behind the dim light of the administration section. They saw a pale-looking woman with mediocre looks. She was wearing a light-blue woolen cardigan sweater, and a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles hung from her beck.
"Is it a… a duoluozhong?" Rena was a little uncertain. She hoped, more than anyone else here, that this was a mutated building. However, she was also afraid that they would be disappointed once more. "Doesn't this duoluozhong look a little too nerdy?"
The librarian obviously heard Rena's comment, but it did not evoke a single change in her expression. The woman's voice was still monotonous; it was as if she had been programmed to answer the questions she received with an artificial human voice. "I am not a duoluozhong. I am a librarian."
Lin Sanjiu had a sudden thought and quickly wrote something on a piece of paper. She showed Reno what she had written. Reno looked away and shouted skeptically, "We are here to borrow books, so what do we do?"
"Are the three of you here together?" The female librarian seemed to only have a single expression. She spoke with a flat tone, enunciating every single word.
"Yes!" This time, Rena replied first.
"Okay, please stand here. I will explain the borrowing rules here," the female librarian sat back on her chair in the shadows after she said that. The three of them exchanged glances. If this wasn't a mutated building, the woman before them must be a very, very intelligent duoluozhong. However, considering their current circumstances, they had to take this risk. With Lin Sanjiu leading the way, the three of them cautiously approached the desk at the administration section. However, they were not attacked, despite their suspicion even after a few seconds. The female librarian seemed busy with something on her computer and did not even look up to greet them. Instead, she just said, "Please wait a moment."
Lin Sanjiu shoot a quick glance at the gold-plated nameplate and saw the name "Siri". Just when she was feeling a little confused, the female librarian suddenly stopped working and spoke to them in the same tone she used previously, "Hello. I am the librarian of this library. My name is Siri. Welcome to this library. Your team is the fourth group of guests here. Please read this information for the specific borrowing rules." As she said this, she turned her monitor screen and showed the display to the three people.
At that moment, Lin Sanjiu could more or less believe that the woman wasn't a duoluozhong, perhaps because of her name. After extending the scanning range of her higher consciousness, she quickly looked at the screen along with the siblings.
[Notice: Borrowing in Kisaragi Library]
To provide a better reading environment for the users, our library specially created an "Open Day" event. During the Open Day, we will only allow five teams of readers to enter. The five groups of readers have a wonderful mission. They will need to find five specific books the librarian among the thousands of books in the library. Of course, this definitely isn't because the librarian had misplaced them.
The first team of readers to collect all five books and have them verified by Siri can bring the five books back home to read, and they can also each gain 25 lives as a reward. When all five teams of readers have arrived, Siri would announce the names of the books. Our library does not have any restrictions or rules regarding how the five teams of readers compete.
After Team A have verified their books with Siri, Team A would get the reward even if Team B snatch the five books from them. While searching, the numbers on the readers' back will not be used up no matter how many days have passed outside. After a team verifies all five books, the number of days spent in the library would be deducted from the readers all at the same time. For example, if the five teams spend 3 days searching for the five books, and the winner is Team A, each of the members in Team A would receive 25 lives. After subtracting 3, they each would get 22 lives. The remaining members from other teams can leave the library after 3 lives are deducted from their original number.
However, before there are all five teams, and before the search starts, the normal rate of reduction still applies. While in this library, "gaining lives by attacking" still applies. There is no limit to the amount of time you can spend to find the book.
This are all the rules. Let's jump into the sea of books enthusiastically! Because once you finish reading the rules, you can't quit!
Kisaragi Library, July 6th, 2333.
After they finished reading the rules, the three of them were in a daze. After taking some time to process what they have read, they gradually got the sense of it and their expressions soured.
"You mentioned that we are the fourth group…" Reno said with a moody face as his eyes swept their surroundings, "Then, the people before us…"
"Yes, there are three teams of readers in the library right now. They have already waited for two days," Siri said calmly.
"Why didn't you mention that earlier!" Lin Sanjiu cursed in her mind and extended her scanning range to the maximum radius. However, she didn't spot anyone, perhaps because there were too many hiding spots in this library.
When they thought about the fact that three teams of enemies were watching them, their expressions became even bleaker.
"But, according to the rules, before the next team of readers arrives, the daily reduction rate would still be the same…" Rena said with a pallid face. Before she could finish her sentence, Reno tugged her arm lightly. She immediately realized her mistake and kept quiet. If the other posthumans found out that she was an easy target, it would be bad.
Her worries were indeed justified. If the next group of posthumans didn't arrive…
Surprisingly, the next team came very quickly. After Lin Sanjiu and the siblings hid, two people pushed open the front door. One of them was someone Lin Sanjiu knew.