He Fei’s situation was clearly different from theirs. Upon his entry into the game, time in the real world seemed to remain fluid, and the fact that he could still communicate via the app was utterly bizarre.

Mu Sichen didn’t hesitate. He immediately messaged the other two: [I’m going in.]

He Fei was his roommate. Regardless of whether Mu Sichen’s involvement in this world was the reason He Fei had been sucked in, he couldn’t just leave him to fend for himself.

Moreover, the transformation of the “Crescent Moon Library” into the “First Quarter Library” was deeply concerning. Crescent, First Quarter, Half Moon, Full Moon—this was clearly a progression of the Moon’s power growing stronger. They had been back in reality for less than three days and it had already reached the First Quarter stage. Mu Sichen suspected that if they waited out the full seven-day rest period, the library would be mere steps away from a Full Moon.

The System’s designated rest periods were always calculated to the razor’s edge. If they waited until the clock ran out, something catastrophic would likely happen in-game, and their previous progress would go to waste. In that light, entering a few days early was the logical choice.

Of course, they were only human. Given how dangerous the other world was, anyone would want to cling to every extra second of peace. But now, Mu Sichen no longer had the luxury of a vacation.

Chi Lian: We’re going in now? Okay, I—

Mu Sichen: I’m not asking you two to come. I’m going in alone.

Cheng Xubo: That’s out of the question. You’re stronger than us, sure, but going solo is suicide. Our abilities are meant for support; we should all go together.

Mu Sichen: Don’t misunderstand. There’s a reason I need you two to stay in reality. I need you to verify if the time dilation between the game and the real world has changed.

Mu Sichen was fixated on the last shift in time flow. Furthermore, the fact that He Fei could send messages from inside the game suggested the two worlds were hemorrhaging into one another.

His plan was to infiltrate alone first to see if he could transmit messages back and to check the time variance. If he needed their specific powers, he could signal them to join him later.

After he explained his reasoning, the other two reluctantly agreed.

Chi Lian: I’ll wait until midnight. If I haven’t heard from you by then, I’m calling in sick and coming to find you.

Cheng Xubo: Same here.

It was nearly 10:00 PM. Last time, three days in-game translated to only thirty minutes in reality. Even if the ratio had shifted, two hours should be plenty of time to accomplish a great deal—that was the limit of Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo’s patience.

[Understood.] This time, Mu Sichen didn’t try to stop them. The game was lethal, and their abilities were unique; he wasn’t the type to let pride get in the way of survival.

Because of the time difference, there was no telling how long He Fei had actually been “in” or what kind of trouble he’d stumbled into. To avoid any further delays, Mu Sichen spent exactly two minutes dressing and grabbing his gear.

As he reached for the app, he looked at the knock-off plushie and held out his hand. “Are you coming with me? How do I take you in this time?”

The doll extended a tentacle, wrapping it around his wrist. The springy, life-like texture vanished, and the tentacle went limp. In its place, a fine, ink-like tattoo appeared around Mu Sichen’s wrist, resembling a delicate bracelet.

From a massive totem to a full sleeve, and now down to this thin band, the power Qin Zhou left on him seemed to be thinning out.

Mu Sichen stared at the “bracelet” for a second before hitting the Enter Game button. The world blurred, and he was back.

His backpack didn’t make the trip this time. It seemed his successful transport of the bag last time had been entirely thanks to the little octopus; his own strength wasn’t yet sufficient to carry external objects through.

However, his phone—now hosting the game app—was still in his hand. There was no signal and no way to place a call, and since his power bank was in the bag left behind, he had to be extremely careful with his battery life.

Bright-Eye Town hadn’t changed much. The residents who had reclaimed their “Self” were going about their lives in an orderly fashion. Since it was 10:00 PM, many were turning in for the night. He saw a group of people huddled over blueprints near a small building in the town center, but he didn’t have time to investigate their construction projects. He sprinted toward the library.

Mu Sichen’s top speed now reached nearly 40 km/h. The town wasn’t huge, and at a full-out sprint, it took him only twenty minutes to reach the threshold of the library’s territory.

The area was shrouded in a thick, unnatural fog. Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo had tried to push through it before, but they always found themselves wandering back to where they started, dazed and confused. Mu Sichen tried it himself, but five minutes later, he was spat back out at the edge.

As he paced the perimeter of the mist, a System notification chimed.

[Detection: Player is attempting to enter a “Boundary Domain.” Boundary Domains are unformed, unstable territories. The perimeter is currently closed to the public. To enter, the Player must undergo “Decontamination.”]

“What is that supposed to mean?” Mu Sichen asked. The System’s jargon was becoming increasingly impenetrable.

[The First Quarter Library is a Pillar and partial domain seized by the “Single-Eyed Moon” from the territory of the “Sky Eye.” The power of the “Sky Eye” within this Pillar has not yet been fully digested by the “Single-Eyed Moon.” It is an unstable boundary between Bright-Eye Town and Ghoul Town.]

[Currently, two opposing energies exist within this domain. Its rules and physical manifestations are in a state of flux. Any external power entering the Boundary Domain risks being targeted by both forces simultaneously. Extremely dangerous.]

So that was a Boundary Domain. He Fei’s legendary bad luck had really outdone itself by picking this as a spawn point.

“What is ‘Decontamination’?”

[Since the two powers in the Boundary Domain are currently devouring each other, even an Apostle-level follower would be consumed upon entry. No single faith can persist for long here. Only ordinary humans with no faith, or “Decontaminated” individuals with perfectly balanced internal energies, can enter safely.]

Mu Sichen began to grasp the concept. If the library was a room filled with a volatile mix of hydrogen and oxygen, any “Apostle” or “Believer” entering would be a spark that triggers a massive explosion. To enter, one had to be an inert object—or a gas like carbon dioxide that wouldn’t react with either.

Chi Lian, Cheng Xubo, and the townspeople were all his followers—little sparks that the Boundary Domain would snuff out. He Fei, however, had been tainted by Qin Zhou’s power and then “awakened” by Mu Sichen’s Self-Totem. The two forces had canceled each other out. He wasn’t a follower of Qin Zhou, nor was he a follower of Mu Sichen. He was “stable.”

“Decontamination” meant finding a way to mask his own Self-Totem power, balancing the energies within his body.

Mu Sichen thought for a moment and pressed his wrist—where the bracelet tattoo sat—against the small of his back, right over his totem. If this didn’t work, he’d consider using his pickaxe to literally dig the totem out of his own skin.

The moment his wrist touched the skin, a wave of cool energy surged into his lower back.

Since the gold-rimmed glasses drained 2,000 energy the moment they were put on but didn’t charge again for an hour, Mu Sichen kept them on to maximize the “value.” Through the lenses, he watched as a tiny, curled tentacle pattern manifested in the center of his Self-Totem.

As the tentacle merged with the totem, the mark on his back began to fade, becoming so faint it was nearly invisible to the naked eye.

A strange, unsettling sensation flickered in his gut. He pushed it aside and stepped into the fog.

This time, the mist didn’t push him back.

Through the glasses, a clear path appeared. He ran forward, and a massive building loomed out of the grey: the First Quarter Library.

Simultaneously, the System’s voice rang in his ears.

[Newbie Mission 4 Issued: Reclaim the Pillar occupied by the “Single-Eyed Moon.” Drive the “Single-Eyed Moon” out of Hope Town.]

[Newbie Mission 5 Issued: Establish the first complete Hope Town.]

It was exactly as he expected. He would have to take back this final Pillar sooner or later.

Mu Sichen took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses (which had nine minutes of “free” time left), and stepped into the library.

The building was colossal, but it was eerily silent. Unlike any other Pillar he had encountered, there was no one there. No followers, no Apostles, not even a townsperson. Just row after row of bookshelves stretching into the shadows, and countless, silent books.

He Fei was nowhere to be seen.