novelraw Chapter 101: The Library
Chapter 101: The Library
Songjiang City, within a secluded estate.
A middle-aged man sat at the head of a long dining table. He wore a long black robe embroidered with golden patterns, holding a knife and fork as he savored a sumptuous dinner.
At the other end of the table sat a young man, sitting respectfully with his eyes lowered, his posture humble.
After a long silence, the middle-aged man finished his meal and slid the white porcelain plate in front of the young man.
“Fisherman, this is your mission.”
On the plate sat a crimson orb of light. Just looking at it felt like staring directly into a bloody, corrupted sun.
Its aura of degenerate mutation was so intense that one might feel compelled to claw out their own eyes just to escape it.
[Type-III Source of the Apocalypse Fragment , Corrupting Blood Sun: This item is unique. It will be forcibly dropped upon Apostle death. You may bring this item back to the Library to solidify it into a Relic.]
The young man, known as Fisherman, understood well that even the most elite Apostles in the organization rarely attained an S-rank chapter evaluation. This made the Sources of the Apocalypse unimaginably valuable.
In ordinary chapters, achieving an S-rank was already near-impossible, let alone one from the Blood Sun world.“Lord Bashir, I will devote myself completely to the task.”
Bashir gave a slight nod. “In our New World, Apostles already struggle to clear the Blood Sun world. To get an S-rank… that’s nearly unheard of.”
“Only the Master has ever managed to earn an S-rank within the Blood Sun world.”
“This Source of the Apocalypse Fragment has been preserved by the Master for a long time… Now I entrust it to you. I hope you won’t disappoint me.”
Fisherman respectfully received the plate with both hands and placed it in front of himself.
“My lord! I would rather die than fail you!”
His face was full of emotion, his eyes gleaming with a fanatical fervor.
With trembling hands, he reached for the crimson orb…
But in that instant, a sudden change occurred!
The crimson orb twitched, then dissolved on its own into countless tiny red specks of light, which floated upward and vanished into the air.
Fisherman stared blankly as the Source of the Apocalypse Fragment vanished before his eyes.
He was stunned.
Bashir shot to his feet, his voice filled with disbelief:
“Who… Who received an SSS-rank evaluation in Chapter 323?!”
It was the first time Fisherman had ever seen Lord Bashir lose composure. He cowered in silence, not daring to speak.
The Source of the Apocalypse was unique, once an Apostle acquired it through an S-rank evaluation, no other Apostle could obtain the same item from that chapter.
Unless… someone achieved a higher rating.
The disappearance of the Corrupting Blood Sun fragment meant that somewhere, someone had attained an even higher evaluation in the Blood Sun world.
A terrifying thought crossed Fisherman’s mind.
Could there be an Apostle in the same difficulty tier… even stronger than the Master?
—
Lin Xun put down his phone, needing a long moment to collect himself.
Even if the Source of the Apocalypse could have horrifying applications in the real world, it had nothing to do with him, at least for now.
What truly mattered was growing stronger through in-game cultivation.
All he needed to do was take it back to the Library and solidify it into a Relic to empower himself. There was no need to overthink all the rest.
With that in mind, Lin Xun picked up his phone again and resumed the game.
He approached the Resting Page once more and selected the third option: Teleport.
[Would you like to teleport to a previously resonated Resting Page, or to the Library?]
Lin Xun had long looked forward to visiting the Library. Although the Apostle Forum contained many descriptions of it, none could compare to the thrill of exploring it firsthand.
[Teleporting to the Library…]
[…]
[…]
[Teleportation successful!]
[A feeble wandering soul awakens within the Library…]
[You open your eyes and find yourself inside an enormous space…]
[It is a vast circular hall, dazzlingly bright despite the absence of any light source.]
[Tall bookshelves line the walls in perfect symmetry. Strangely, despite the encircling shelves, you see no visible entrance or exit to the hall.]
[Upon closer inspection, the shelves are packed with identical books. Each book’s spine and cover are made of pure gold, radiating brilliant luster, inlaid with multicolored gemstones, and engraved with familiar alien script.]
[You realize that every book on the shelf is a Book of Salvation, differing only in the chapters they contain.]
[At the center of the great hall floats a massive Book of Salvation, its height nearly reaching the domed ceiling.]
[Surrounding it are several slightly smaller books, each with silver covers inlaid with a single-colored gemstone, each a different color.]
[Beneath the colossal Book of Salvation sits an old man in a black robe, rocking gently in a chair, a single-lens monocle perched on his nose as he reads.]
[Do you wish to speak to the Librarian?]
Heh, old acquaintance.
Lin Xun still remembered, early on in the game, on the second floor of the tower, the Librarian had tricked him.
His first Apostle invasion had been thanks to this very Librarian.
[You approach the Librarian to speak…]
[He rises from his rocking chair and looks at you silently, his gaze filled with gentleness and serenity.]
[The Librarian congratulates you on successfully completing the initial chapter.]
[He tells you that the Library is the Apostles’ place of rest, where they explore and interpret chapters.]
[Here, you may trade, converse, and spar with other Apostles… You may also spend Spirit to purchase items, forge equipment, enhance weapons…]
[The large floating books in the center of the hall each have unique functions… He recommends you interact with them first before continuing your conversation.]
Lin Xun blinked. This guy had changed his tone quite a bit. He still vividly remembered how shady the Librarian had been back in the tower.
He even still had the Librarian’s Monocle in his inventory, left behind after that failed fishing scheme.
[You nod and step forward to touch a book embedded with a yellow gemstone.]
[Book of Trade: Through this book, you can trade with other Apostles.]
[You then touch another book with a green gemstone.]
[Book of Letters: Through this book, you can add other Apostles as Book Friends, message them, etc.]
—
The Library also contained books like the Book of Craftsmen, Book of Oaths, and Book of Arena.
After experimenting a bit, Lin Xun gained a general understanding of their functions.
The Book of Trade functioned as a marketplace where Apostles could buy and sell with one another.
There were two modes of trade:
Consignment Sale: Set a price in Spirit Essence and list the item. The Book takes a 5% fee on the final sale price.
Auction: Set a starting price and incremental bid amount. Other Apostles can then bid. The final sale is charged a 10% fee.
The Book of Letters was the game’s social system. You could add Book Friends, private message them, or block them.
The Book of Craftsmen had functions similar to blacksmiths—forge, upgrade, repair, and dismantle gear, but all required Spirit Essence to use.
The Book of Oaths allowed you to view faction alignments and Oath functions.
The last one, the Book of Arena, was perhaps the most interesting.
Here, you could spend Invasion Bookmarks to challenge other Apostles to PvP duels.
There were two PvP modes.
Invasion: Standard direct PvP.
Arena: Public duels, essentially livestreamed fights.
In Arena battles, other Apostles could bet Spirit Essence on the duel’s outcome. Guessing correctly awarded you with a mystery box, and the more you bet, the higher the box’s quality, beloved by gambling addicts.
The winning Apostle also received a mystery box. The more people who bet on the loser, the better the winner’s prize.
Lin Xun had heard that as chapters became more difficult, new floating books would unlock with additional features.
At the moment, he was flush with currency, his Spirit totaled over 27,000 points.
But instead of rushing to splurge in the Book of Trade, he headed to the Book of Craftsmen first…
After all, his inventory was filled with materials waiting to be forged into powerful gear.