Su Ming'an stared at the list of outstanding talents.

Who are these two experts, the "Lighthouse Sect Leader" and the "Number One Player"? How did Lv Shu split into "Lv Shu," "Xiao Lv," and "Little Black"? And who on earth are "Strawberry Milu" and "Banana Milk"...

Before Su Ming'an could say anything, the chat channel on the right popped up.

...

[Olivius raised his hands in surrender upon seeing me: As expected.]

[Olivius, where are you really: ...]

[Olivius, you can't escape now: Why are you all using these kinds of names? It's annoying.]

[Lighthouse Sect Leader: This is too sad... Your resentment is so intense; it's time to let it go. I believe that whatever Olivius does, he has his reasons. Persisting further will not lead to a good result.]

[Banana Milk: Yo, so many well-dressed people. Is this the real Su Ming'an?]

[Strawberry Milu: Banana Milk... do you still remember our hug?]

[Lv Shu: Su Ming'an, I am Lv Shu.]

[Little Black: ?]

[Xiao Lv: ...]

[Xiao Bai: ... So many people.]

[Do you want to believe in the Lighthouse: Noel, I am waiting for you on page 4.]

[Su Ming'an's dog: Ah? I'm attacking Su Ming'an... is that for real.]

[You can only trust me: It seems we can only distinguish who is who when the numbers shrink to a certain extent. The person we are looking for will definitely be among the last.]

[Supporting Male Character: Exactly. Instead of talking trash here, everyone should start rolling the dice.]

[Ferris Wheel: So many imitators, quite interesting.]

...

Su Ming'an looked up, and a six-sided die appeared before his eyes.

...

[Your identity is "King," maximum advancement page number is "6 pages," available advancement direction is "any direction."]

[Please begin to act.]

...

According to the rules, each page contains a story plot for contestants to read and take away. Therefore, if one wants to achieve the victory condition of "collecting the ultimate storyline," they must traverse as many pages as possible. After all, eliminating the other 31 contestants is an almost impossible victory condition to achieve.

For a book, moving forward or backward affects the increase or decrease of the page number.

Su Ming'an wanted to avoid combat as much as possible, so it was best to get as far away as possible from others.

"Move forward." He draped a black robe over himself, hiding his face, and rolled the die.

...

[The roll is: 6.]

[Your page range: (Page 5) — (Page 11).]

...

Su Ming'an felt a jolt around him, and the next moment, he appeared on the 11th page. Above him was the vast, boundless star sea, and beneath his feet came the soft touch of the book page. Before him was an open book marked with the label [Page: 11].

However, before he could read the plot on this page, another figure appeared before him.

"Hmm...?"

The newcomer wore a red robe, her slightly curly long hair draped over her shoulders, and a rose beret on her head. Intricate cream ribbons adorned her hair, and she held a wand. She glanced at Su Ming'an, scrutinizing his attire: "Hello, you must be... [Tower], right."

The King's Scepter in Su Ming'an's hand resembled a wand, and what she held was also a wand.

Su Ming'an recalled that on the world chessboard in the First World, the Tower was a ranged attacker, so using a wand made sense. By this analogy, the "Knight" should hold a Knight's Sword, the "Bishop" a Priest's Staff, and the "Guard" a great sword. Thus, the other person inferred that Su Ming'an was also a "Tower."

"I am indeed a [Tower]. Do you want to kill me, or negotiate peace?" Su Ming'an gripped the scepter tightly.

"Haha, of course, negotiate peace. I'm aware that my strength is no match for those big shots, so I won't make enemies." The girl waved her hand, appearing to be a calm and intelligent person: "However, on the adjacent pages, someone is already fighting."

"Page 10 or 12 then..." Su Ming'an looked to the side, but the distance between book pages was so vast that he couldn't see what was happening on adjacent pages. He realized then that the "Tower" could see what happened on adjacent pages, but as "King," he could not.

"My name is Huajian Weilai." The girl seemed unconcerned with his slip: "And what is your name, sir?"

"... Noel." Su Ming'an replied.

"An unfamiliar name." Huajian Weilai chuckled: "Judging by your reaction, you don't seem to have heard of me either? That is rare. Though I haven't done anything earth-shattering, my name is fairly well-known on the surface. Could it be you are not a surface dweller?"

Su Ming'an felt as if he had been seen through. Although Huajian Weilai looked like a young girl, given her high-class race's long lifespan, she might actually possess the age and wisdom of an elder, assessing his details with just a few words.

"Sorry, I really haven't heard much." Su Ming'an said.

"Oh... it's fine. Covering your face, you probably don't want others to know your identity." Huajian Weilai smiled: "In this game, there are no unknown individuals, so you must be a clever person as well. I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Go ahead."

"What do you think..." Huajian Weilai said, "in this battle of books, which identity is worth approaching, and which should we avoid?"

Su Ming'an thought for a moment and said his opinion: "Everyone would want to approach [King], right? [King] has no combat power boost, but the scepter in their hand is quite useful. Due to their highest status, the reward for killing [King] is also the richest. Of course, that's assuming [King] isn't protected by the [Queen] or others, if there's a [Queen], [Tower] can't attack [King], if there are others, [Knight] also can't attack [King]."

"Hmm... so a solitary [King] is the most worth killing..." Huajian Weilai insinuated.

"The most dangerous should be the [Guard], because [Guard] has a mandatory task of killing. If the identity of [Guard] falls into the hands of someone like the Dragon Emperor, even without additional combat power from their identity, they are still capable of killing anyone." Su Ming'an said.

"Correct." Huajian Weilai chuckled: "However, we have no need for conflict between us, so why don't we each watch our own plot? Please, after you?"

Su Ming'an nodded. He was not worried about Huajian Weilai making a move; in fact, he was rather anticipating triggering a rollback. However, Huajian Weilai merely stood smilingly on one side, appearing to keep her word.

He reached out and touched the book.

The next moment, a white light burst forth, and he was drawn into the book, experiencing the plot on this page.

...

[The title of the story you drew is——The Last Supper.]

[The total page count of this story: 14 pages.]

[Your current page number: 11.]

...

Su Ming'an initially didn't quite understand the rules, but now he understood a little——it seems that upon reaching a particular page, you draw a random storybook to read, and your current page determines the storyline page you see.

He drew a book named The Last Supper, which comprised a total of 14 pages, and since he stood on page 11, he would witness the plot occurring on page 11 of this book.

"Page 11, it should be the plot near the end of this book. What could it be?" Su Ming'an pondered.

He was a bit curious about which books were available for them to draw from. There must have been more than 32 books to supply 32 people simultaneously.

"Swoosh!"

The teleporting white light faded away, and before he opened his eyes, he smelled a peculiar scent.

It was a scent of... decaying flowers, a mixture of red wine and blood, permeating with fragrance, bloodiness, and intoxicating undertones.

"Clink, clink—" He heard the sound of forks and knives clashing, crisp and pleasant, like a delightful piece of music.

He felt a cold sensation in his chest, and he opened his eyes wide in astonishment, seeing the scene in front of him clearly.

Before him was a crystal chandelier emitting a faint glow. The interior was dimly lit, with a few red candles flickering eerily, and heavy red curtains tightly drawn, blocking any light from coming through.

His perspective seemed to be... lying on something.

He could feel the softness against his back, a sensation similar to a tablecloth. In his limited view, he vaguely saw seven or eight wine glasses, parallel to his height.

He couldn't move his limbs; his whole body was paralyzed. He could only watch as a hand reached out, grabbed a fork, pressed it against his chest, and started slicing downwards, crimson blood flowing out...

... What kind of harmful book is this?

Su Ming'an never imagined his luck was so "good" that he would draw such a feasting plot. It seemed to be hinting at something.

"...Olivius." He heard a gentle voice, a female voice: "How did Olivius wake up?"

"Let him sleep." A voice came from the other side.

Su Ming'an wanted to turn his head to look at them, but his neck was extremely stiff, unable to move.

... Is this a story written from Olivius's memory? Or merely a fictional story created by Olivius?

"You..." he realized he could speak due to the privilege of the [King] identity, which allowed him to change the plot a bit without following the book. But in this situation, speaking seemed futile.

"Who... are you..." His voice was halting and stammering.

"His mental state seems abnormal, he doesn't recognize us anymore," the female voice said.

"It doesn't matter. Once we're done with this round of eating, there's another round. Don't waste time," another voice said.

"There's no point in clinging to the past, science has vanished."

The scent of red wine and flowers became more potent, and Su Ming'an wearily closed his eyes, feeling the stabbing pain and chill in his chest...

...

Su Ming'an released his sweaty grip, and the book in front of him slowly closed.

Huajian Weilai stood by his side, observing his expression, and wondered aloud, "You've finished reading? Did you see some unpleasant plot? You seem very frightened, but logically, the system shouldn't show us ghost stories."

"It wasn't a ghost story..." Su Ming'an said slowly.

Ghost stories are merely fictitious tales meant to scare.

But this could be... a very likely true event.

If Olivius really experienced such a thing, being continuously eaten, it's understandable if he turned into a deranged person, laughing maniacally...

Su Ming'an gradually understood Olivius.

"It's my turn." Huajian Weilai touched the book, disappearing from the spot, reappearing ten seconds later with a normal expression.

It seemed that when reading the story, time passed quickly, taking only a brief ten seconds.

"It's an interesting story, I'll keep it." Huajian Weilai tore out the page, placing it into her bosom. It seemed she picked a good story.

Su Ming'an did not act, even though the rules stated they could take away scenes they had read. Su Ming'an had no intention of including a feasting plot in his story.

"Well, I'll be going; I hope we meet again." Huajian Weilai smiled slightly.

After rolling the dice, Huajian Weilai disappeared from the scene.

This wasn't strategic turn-based; they could leave after reading the story. Su Ming'an didn't plan to stay either and immediately rolled the dice to move to another page.

...

[Dice roll: 1.]

[Your pages: (Page 11) — (Page 12).]

...

Su Ming'an appeared on a new page, feeling the soft touch of the page beneath his feet.

This page already had someone, a blond youth standing with eyes closed, seemingly savoring the story. Hearing a sound, the youth slowly opened his eyes, looking at Su Ming'an.

"...Liujin?"

Even though Su Ming'an was shrouded in a black robe, the blond youth immediately identified him.

Su Ming'an's eyes widened.

The blond youth in front of him had blue eyes. The figure that was meticulously concerned for him in the Red Tower Kingdom resurfaced in Su Ming'an's mind.

"Hui Bai?" Su Ming'an exclaimed in surprise.

Hui Bai smiled, his eyebrows arching: "It's great to see you here, Liujin. I'm glad you're okay..."

Hui Bai approached him, looking at him with concern: "Since you were taken by the Bone Dragon, I've been worried for a long time. Did you bring along the Dragon Blood I gave you? With those things protecting you, you'll be safer."

He chattered, afraid that something might happen to Su Ming'an.

"I'm fine." Su Ming'an recalled Hui Bai's gifts, feeling a bit relieved. As one of the first people he encountered, Hui Bai truly seemed like a good person.

But as he took a few steps forward, he suddenly broke into a cold sweat.

He suddenly remembered that in the previous story, there was a Feaster's voice... that sounded very similar to Hui Bai's voice in front of him...

"What's wrong?" The Hui Bai in front of him was very close, still wearing a gentle smile: "...What did you think of?"

... It was almost the same voice, although Su Ming'an couldn't remember the exact words it spoke.

"Hui Bai, let me ask you a question." Su Ming'an said, "Have you ever eaten... other lives?"

If Olivius wasn't lying, he shouldn't have written a story about himself being feasted upon, so the scene Su Ming'an saw just now might have truly happened before.

Hui Bai's expression shifted slightly: "As long as they've grown up in Luowasha, most lives have eaten other lives. It's a natural law, Liujin."

"..." Su Ming'an gripped the Scepter tightly:

"So eating Jellyfish... is also a natural law, right?"

Hui Bai looked at him, his expression unchanged.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.