Leonard was clearly outnumbered, yet he was the one taking control, trying to calm the situation.
He continued,
"I was also forced to join this game. I used to be just an ordinary office worker."
"We don't have any grudges. As long as you don't mess with me, we can all get along."
"There might be something hidden here. Let's each search on our own. First come, first served. That's fair, right?"
His words eased the tense atmosphere in the room.
A chubby guy boldly responded, "Alright, we'll go with that. First come, first served. We're civilized people, not cavemen. Everything can be talked through."
Others agreed, and a verbal agreement was reached.
Leonard confidently entered the room and began exploring.
Seeing that he acted normally, the others gradually let down their guard and went their separate ways.
As it was a library, it was filled with books.
Three walls were lined with large bookshelves.
Each bookshelf was enclosed in glass and equipped with a control panel.
They were labeled: Architecture, Craftsmanship, and Metaphysics.
When someone touched the device, a screen popped up:
[Enter user info to borrow a book. Each user may borrow one book per category.]
Someone gave it a try, entering their room number and username.
Like a vending machine, the bookshelf spat out a book.
"A book came out!"
The player picked it up and flipped through it, finding blurry text he couldn't read.
Eventually, he found a page with a recipe for upgrading a Level 2 door!
"Haha! I got a recipe!" he cheered.
Leonard understood now.
So, the library allowed each person to get one book, and inside each book was a recipe.
Three bookshelves, three books.
Leonard already knew the Level 2 door recipe. It was useless to him.
The player kept flipping but found nothing else.
It seemed each book only held one recipe.
Everyone caught on and quickly lined up to get their books.
Architecture, Craftsmanship, Metaphysics...
Leonard was drawn to the Metaphysics shelf.
Could this survival dorm game really include mystical elements?
Considering there were zombies, maybe metaphysics wasn't so far-fetched.
He queued up, followed the process, and retrieved a book.
Inside, he found a special page.
There were words and an image drawn in what looked like blood, complete with bloody fingerprints!
[Blood Sigil - Exorcism found. Unlock Sigil Archives. Unlock Drawing Function.]
"A sigil?" Leonard's eyes widened.
So metaphysics was real!
He studied it immediately.
To draw a Blood Sigil, you must use your own blood. You could draw the symbol anywhere.
Drawing came with a high failure rate. Fail, and it's wasted.
Blood meant health, so it literally cost life.
If successful, the Blood Sigil - Exorcism would affect creatures like zombies.
The sigil was consumable. The more you used it, the sooner it would vanish.
Like crafting items, drawing also had a proficiency system. The more you drew, the higher the success rate.
Leonard grasped the basics.
"What sigils did you all get?" he asked around.
"Blood Sigil - Exorcism," a young man replied.
"Same here," said a woman in her forties.
So everyone got the same one. No point in trading.
Leonard moved to the other two shelves, queued up, entered his info, and got two more books.
From the Craftsmanship shelf, he got a recipe for a Level 2 Box Helmet.
From the Architecture shelf, a recipe for a Level 3 Dorm.
Someone who got a recipe looked confused and asked, "How do we even make this stuff? We can't just build it with our hands, right?"
The chubby guy from earlier chimed in, "There are workbenches in some places. You can craft stuff there. I saw one before, but didn't have a recipe then."
There were multiple workbenches in the building.
The one Leonard brought home was just one of them. He had seen at least three more scattered around.
"Hey! Hey!"
Someone nearby started yelling.
They were attacking a bookshelf, trying to break it open.
If they could destroy it, maybe they could grab all the books inside!
But their attacks did zero damage.
The bookshelf was completely unharmed.
Leonard tried with a fire axe. Same result. Zero damage.
Then he tried to store the bookshelf in his dimensional backpack, but it failed. A prompt said it couldn't be collected.
So the rule stood: one book per person.
Some started trading recipes. Others shared theirs publicly on the global chat.
Leonard didn't join the recipe swapping. He had other places to explore and limited time.
So he left.
Someone ran after him, calling, "Wait, boss!"
Leonard turned. It was the chubby guy from earlier.
"Boss, my game name is 'FattyBoy.' You're Zero, right? The only Level 4 player?"
"Yes, that's me. No point hiding it."
"A guy like you, you shine wherever you go. No way to keep a low profile."
"I'm in a hurry. Get to the point."
"Okay, straight talk then. Can I tag along with you? I'll be your lackey, carry your stuff, follow your orders, whatever you say!"
"No. Find someone else. I prefer to work solo."
"Come on, boss! You're all alone. Wouldn't a helper be great? My family runs a chain of restaurants. We're pretty well off. I can give you a million or two, no problem. Just take me with you. I'll even sign a promissory note!"
Leonard didn't even respond. He just walked away.
FattyBoy stood there deflated.
Once Leonard disappeared from view, he muttered bitterly,
"Fine, you're the big shot. You're too good for us regular folks!"
—
Leonard continued exploring and reached the third floor.
The admin chat had mentioned that there was an infirmary here. Clearly an important place.
So far, he hadn't found any medicine.
When he got there, he saw something odd.
A large section of the hallway had collapsed. Many people were gathered there, unable to cross.
From the looks of it, the gap was at least seven or eight meters wide.
Directly across the gap, a room door was flashing with light.
The sign on the door read: Infirmary.