Chapter 7: Tang Mo, help me, you help me!

As if to express her contempt, the Mosaic on the girl's face returns to normal after these words. She hands the giant match to Tang Mo and turns to run deeper into the bookshelf. The long ponytail swayed from side to side as she bounced and jumped, her tiny figure disappearing into the shadows of the deep shelves.

"Dingdong! The confrontation game 'Who really stole my book' is over."

"Game rewards are being settled ......"

"Player Tang Mo has won the mission and received the rewards 'Giant Match' and 'Disdain from Mosaic'."

"Player Chen Fangzhi failed in his mission."

The clear voice of a child echoed through the empty library and into the ears of Tang Mo and the magician. There are usually rewards for games, even online card games, and Tang Mo had already guessed that this big match was his prize.

But what is that "disdain from Mosaic"?

Isn't this a quest clue? God damn game reward!

Tang Mo's face was green and white, his heart complicated. Compared to him, the clergyman was even more in a trance.

The gods and goddesses are the losers of this game, with rewards and generally penalties. Whereas a loss in a normal game might be a loss of money, a loss in The black tower game is a loss of who knows what.

The black tower did not explicitly tell the punishment, and the Godsend was confused for a long time, moving slowly and turning his head to Tang Mo: "...... Will I die?"

It's a question Tang Mo can't answer either. He reassures, "It shouldn't be that serious."

The magi gained confidence all of a sudden, "I believe you. You are so wise and your words make sense, it will not be so cruel, it is God, it will bring me hope and rebirth, it is my God ......"

Tang Mo, holding a large match, looks calmly at the godly man who is slipping into a frenzy.

The fact that he was not informed of the game's punishment at the first opportunity gave him a twinge of unease. It was like the calm before the dawn, when such unconventional behaviour often means a more terrible and unpredictable outcome. But Tang Mo also mentally reassured himself: if failing the game really meant dying, then at least half the world would have to die, wouldn't it?

How is this possible when billions of people are dying?

It should not be possible.

I don't think so ......

The confrontation game is over, but the library is not back to normal. Tang Mo and the Godsend tried, but they still could not get downstairs. Meanwhile, the third floor window was blank.

They have not yet returned to Suzhou.

As the minutes tick by, Tang Mo and the Godsend are still trapped on the third floor of the library.

The clock on the wall crossed six o'clock and Tang Mo's body suddenly tensed up as an unexplained panic swept over his senses.

His heart was beating fast again.

With his heart pounding as if it could fly out of his chest in the next second, Tang Mo held onto the bookshelf, but his body could not be stabilised and he sat down on the floor along the shelf. The cleric rushed over from a distance: "What's wrong with you?"

The rapid blood flow made Tang Mo's face turn red within a minute, and every inch of his body was so red it looked like a cooked crab. The godfather stumbled backwards in horror, but soon found the courage to go to Tang Mo's side: "Are you all right? Why are you so red and your face is hot ...... you have a fever?"

Tang Mo's heart was just beating too fast and his sanity remained clear. He struggled to utter two words, "Heart ......"

The godfather immediately understood and covered it with his hand, "Why is your heart beating so fast! That must be 200 ...... no, 300 beats per minute?!"

Tang Mo, who could no longer speak, corrected in his head: it was 394 strokes.

There was no way out of the library, and Tang Mo and the magus were the only two people inside. Tang Mo was suddenly in such a state that there was nothing he could do but help him to the desk, push everything off the desk and lay Tang Mo down. After doing this, the God Stick ran into the bathroom and put water on Tang Mo's forehead with paper, hoping that it would help.

Tang Mo's heartbeat had reached 532 beats per minute. He didn't know what the fastest human heartbeat could be, but he felt that every next second his heart could explode. But for some reason, that heart, completely defying medical common sense, held on strongly.

The magician kept running to the bathroom, dabbing toilet paper and applying it to every inch of Tang Mo's exposed skin.

Tang Mo could feel that such actions would not help at all, but he was very grateful that the magi had helped in this way. He was unable to speak and could only look at the magi with red eyes and see them sweating profusely.

After a full hour, Tang Mo silently counted his heartbeat and noticed that it had actually dropped.

Thinking that the cold compress was working, the magician rushed to make a few more trips and put wet wipes on Tang Mo's eyelids as well.

After an unknown amount of time, Tang Mo felt that he could move. He removed the wet paper from his body and got up from the table with trembling hands.

The clergyman happened to come out of the bathroom and when he saw this, he immediately ran over, "How are you?!"

Tang Mo opened his mouth and found his throat frighteningly dry. He swallows a mouthful of saliva, smiles and nods, "Well, it seems a little better."

"That's good, that scared the hell out of me just now." The cleric sighed in relief.

Tang Mo looked earnestly at the magus, "Thank you."

The magus shook his head, "It's fine, you can't just watch you collapse there and not care."

The two of them are now in an awkward relationship. On the one hand the Godsend has pulled Tang Mo into an unknown game that poses an unclear danger to him, and at this point the two should be at odds and even need to be wary of each other. But on the other hand, the game is over and it really does seem to be just a normal game being played. Tang Mo can't help but be grateful that the Magus didn't abandon Tang Mo when something suddenly happened to his body, even if he didn't do anything to help.

After this, the two drew a little closer together.

Godsend: "What just happened to you, your heart suddenly beat so fast. My dad is a doctor, not to mention reaching that heartbeat of yours, a normal person with a heartbeat count of 250 would not be able to supply blood to the heart and would die within minutes."

Tang Mo thought about it and decided to inform the Godsend, "You haven't had a racing heart for the past few days?"

The magus shook his head, "No."

Tang Mo frowned and patiently explained, "My heart has been beating faster all of a sudden since three days ago. It wasn't as fast as today, but it has reached over 300 beats per minute. At the same time, I was very irritable. I'm not a 'The black tower dangerous person', but I'm not exactly a 'The black tower optimist' either. I'm not 'The black tower dangerous', but I'm not exactly 'The black tower optimist' either. But the heartbeat is something I don't understand either."

"Are you sick of something?"

"I haven't been to the hospital in the last few days after The black tower incident."

The magus thought for a moment, "Then you'd better go see a doctor sooner rather than later. I've never heard of a disease like yours, and I'm afraid you're the only person in the world with a heartbeat of 300 or more who hasn't died." The clergyman joked, "Maybe you'll be drafted by the state to be a Little Bai Rat and studied properly. Eh, then you'd better not go to the doctor."

Tang Mo laughs.

"Click-"

In the silence of the library, there was a sudden sound of a door opening.

Tang Mo and the Godfather looked at each other: it was the sound of the door on the ground floor of the library being opened!

The two men raced down the stairs, the forces that had prevented them from leaving the third floor of the library having all but disappeared at some point, and they ran as fast as they could in their lives to the tall mahogany doors of the library.

The key turned gently in the lock hole and with a creak the door was pushed open a crack. The long-lost sun shone through the tiny crack and shone on Tang Mo's and the magi's faces. The warmth was not the 'angelic day' of the game, it was the real sun.

Tang Mo squinted his eyes as the warmth soothed the pores of his body.

"Huh, Tang Mo, what are you doing here?" A clear female voice rang out, "You're here to get your stuff so early?"

Tang Mo opened his eyes: " Little Zhao?"

Tang Mo now remembered that he had come to the library yesterday evening to pick up something, as Director Wang had said that the library would be expropriated by the government. He took a few seconds to clear his mind, "You came to get your things?"

Little Zhao laughed: "Yeah. My parents think The black tower is too weird and are going back home to get away from it. We're leaving at ten, so I've come to pick up a few things. Eh, I asked you first, but you're here so early? What's that in your hand, a match? Ah, the godly man ...... ahem, why is he here too?"

Little Zhao saw the godly man, who swallowed nervously.

Tang Mo calmly explains, "I ran into him while I was picking up my stuff and had a few conversations."

"You've got something to talk to him about ......" Little Zhao muttered twice. She looked up and said, "Then I'll come in and get something, so I won't talk to you." With that, Little Girl lifted her steps and prepared to enter.

Just as she was about to step one leg inside the door, Tang Mo's eyes widened and her pupils quivered.

"Zhao Yan!"

Zhao Yan was Little Zhao's name. She had been in the library for six months and few people would call her by that name. Tang Mo suddenly shouted it out loud and Little Zhao looked at him strangely, "What's wrong?"

Tang Mo's lips were slightly parted, unable to utter a single word, and she simply looked at Little Zhao's lower back with a strange look in her eyes. Little Zhao followed his gaze and looked down, and when she did, suddenly she fell to the ground and crawled backwards on her hands and knees a few steps.

"What's this, what's this ...... Where's my leg! Where's my leg!!!"

Tears spilled out of her eyes in a flash.

This was just a young girl fresh out of college in '96, howling and bawling as she kept running her hands over her lower body, but there was nothing there but an empty space.

In Tang Mo's eyes, an invisible thread is spreading from the base of Little Zhao's thighs to her upper body. Everywhere this thread runs, everything is reduced to nothing, as if something has erased Little Zhao from the world.

He did not know when the thread appeared, and by the time he found it, Little Zhao's calf had disappeared. She was completely unaware of it and was still standing and talking to Tang Mo.

With tears and snot running down her face and Little Zhao's waist gone, she crawled up to Tang Mo's legs and grabbed his trouser legs with both hands, crying out in pain, "Help me, Brother Tang, help me! What's wrong with me, what's wrong with me! Brother Tang, help me!"

Tang Mo reached out and took Little Zhao's hand, but just two seconds into his grip, the thread went to Little Zhao's arms and her hand disappeared.

The transparent thread goes up to Little Zhao's neck.

She was lying on the ground with only her head, her eyes in tears, looking at Tang Mo in a horrible and eerie way.

"I don't want to die ...... I don't want to die. I haven't been in a relationship, I haven't had a favorite person. I want to go back to watching cartoons, I haven't finished the novel I was following yesterday ...... Dad ...... Mum ...... I don't want to die, I don't want to die. Brother Tang, Tang ......"

The mouth has also disappeared.

Those eyes, wet with tears, watched Tang Mo until the man all but disappeared.

Within a minute, a large living person had just disappeared.

Tang Mo's mind went blank, but what frightened him most at this moment was that he was very calm even at this time. He looked at the spot where Little Zhao had disappeared for half a minute, then suddenly thought of something and turned his head to look behind him at the magi.

In the darkened library, the godly man had disappeared from the thigh down. He looked at Tang Mo with a pale face and a scared and pitiful smile, "Tang ...... Tang Mo, is this the punishment for losing the game ......"

"Goddammit!"

Bang!

The magus fell to the ground.

Tang Mo immediately rushed up and took hold of the gods' hands.

The godly man cried, his tears streaming down his face, his snot sticking to his lips. He clutched Tang Mo's hand for dear life and, like Little Zhao, said over and over again, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die ...... Tang Mo, help me, I don't want to die ...... "

Tang Mo could do nothing, he pressed his hand against the part of the god-stick that had not disappeared, but when the line came through, what should have disappeared was still gone, and all he touched was a piece of air.

Only the upper half of the sacred stick remains.

Tang Mo: "Don't be afraid, there must be a way out."

Godsend a big man crying, "What can I do, I don't want to die, I really don't want to die ...... Mo Tang, you save me ah! You eliminated me, you save me! You save me!"

Tang Mo can't say a word.

The magus also stopped talking, he kept crying and kept crying. Time became unbearably slow and when his chest was about to disappear, he suddenly clasped Tang Mo's hand, looked at Tang Mo with those bloodshot eyes and said with a hiss, "I have a daughter. She is in Shanghai and her mother and I have divorced. Go and see her for me, see if she is still alive. Her name is Shanshan, Chen Shanshan. She has to be alive, she has to be alive! Just look at her for me, just look at her!"

The clergyman's hand disappears.

"You help me, Tang Mo, I beg you, help me. She must be alive, surely!"

Tang Mo: "Where does she live?"

"She is in the Jing'an district, studying in the city's Northern Poly, in her first year. She ......"

The mouth of the magi disappears.

His eyes were fixed on Tang Mo.

The transparent thread went to his ear, and he stared at Tang Mo without blinking, his eyes frighteningly red, as if with all his strength.

"I'll go and find her, she must still be alive."

The thread completely obliterated the godman's ears, but the godman's eyes relaxed for a moment. Still crying, he could no longer speak, but simply looked at Tang Mo and blinked at him before his eyes disappeared and a tear fell and dripped to the ground.

Tang Mo sits alone on his knees at the entrance to the library, Little Zhao outside the door is gone and so is the magus inside.

The clock strikes eight in the library, the pendulum clock strikes eight, and Tang Mo is still sitting on his knees on the cold floor.

"Sleep, sleep, my dear baby. Mommy's hands, rocking you gently ......"

A gentle, kindly female voice resonates throughout Suzhou.

Tang Mo turned his head stiffly to look at the huge black tower that sits 200 metres away from the library.

Colourful lights glowed on the black tower. A day ago there were thousands of people gathered around the tower; now, a day later, there are only seven or eight people left sitting on the ground like Tang Mo, looking up blankly at The black tower singing "Lullaby".

The female voice finished singing the beginning and a group of children's voices rang out along with the female voice.

"Sleep, sleep, my dear baby.

Mother's hands, gently rocking you.

The cradle rocks you, sleep quickly and peacefully.

The night has been quiet, how warm it is under the covers ......"

The voice sings over and over again. The wind blows across the earth, carrying this beautiful song further and further away.

The crisp, familiar child's voice rang out after a song.

"Dingdong! 498,160,000 players successfully loaded into the game ......"

"Game archive in progress ......"

"Game data loading ......"

"Player information loading ......"

"Archived successfully at ......"

"Loaded successfully ......"

"Loaded successfully ......"

"Dingdong! November 18, 2017, welcome players to the game."

"Announcing the three iron rules of The black tower -"

"Firstly, all explanations belong to The black tower."

"Secondly, 6pm-18pm is game time."

"Third, all players are asked to work on attacking the tower."

"Ding dong! Happy gaming!"

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Author's Note.

This chapter took a little longer to write, but now that the game has completely kicked off, the players are online~

I'd like to tell you that I'm not sure what you think, but it's the first time I've written about this kind of subject matter and I'm not sure what I think, so I welcome your suggestions.