Black tower

A matchstick

"Ah, my book!" The little girl ran to Alex at a speed unmatched by humans, grabbing "The Secret of the Disappearance of the Maya Civilization" into her arms. With the giant matchstick in her left hand and the book in her right, she confirmed it was her lost book before running to sit beside a shelf, leaning against it to read.

"Mom is going to quiz me on this book tomorrow, I need to study quickly." The sound of the little girl turning pages echoed loudly in the vast and spacious library.

Alex glanced down at the tramp's right hand. On the back of that hand, the white angel wings pattern gradually turned black, becoming demon wings. The tramp looked at Alex and bitterly smiled, "So it's this book. When did you know?" Alex's voice was calm, "From the moment I saw you."

The tramp's eyes widened in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

Alex touched the angel wings pattern on her hand, "I enjoy playing games too, like bridge, one of the fairest card games in the world. Luck can sometimes outweigh skill, like in poker. But there's one thing that's equal in all these games – fairness to both players. Once the game starts, luck becomes a form of strength. Whether one player is luckier or less lucky, it's a matter of strength. The game itself is fair."

"But the Black Tower game is unfair to the demon. For the angel, the game provides clues to solve the puzzle. She just needs to find the book. But for the demon, all she does is burn books. No one gives her any hints, no one tells her where the book is. So the game becomes this – the angel is playing a puzzle game, while the demon is purely gambling. The angel can rely on skill and luck to complete the game, but the demon can only rely on luck."

The tramp remained silent, her face alternating between pale and flushed. After a long time, she let out a heavy sigh and helplessly smiled, "I guess I don't play enough games. Alex, is bridge fun? Maybe I should play more too."

Alex said, "If you have the chance, I'll play with you. If it were her playing with me, perhaps the outcome of this game would have been completely different."

"Who is she?"

Alex smiled, "A friend I often play bridge with. She's amazing. If it were her, she would definitely think of what I'm thinking and trick me with perfect reasons. At least she wouldn't make as many mistakes as you did."

The tramp didn't feel ashamed but rather humbly asked, "I made mistakes? I thought I acted well. When I saw you, I pretended to be scared to hide my flaws. Later, I tried to speak and act as little as possible, following all your instructions."

"Actually, the little girl's three clues exposed your identity long ago. Those clues had a lot of fluff, but in summary, there were only three points. First, demons lie. This hinted to the angel that the demon was hiding among them. Second, the angel knows the book. This clue seemed useless since Alex knows so many books, at least a few hundred that she recently remembered. Third, the demon knows the book. This was a book they both discussed before the Black Tower incident. If you were to ask which book they both knew and remembered most, it would definitely be 'The Secret of the Disappearance of the Maya Civilization'."

"I thought I could expose you on the first night, but I didn't expect the shelf to catch fire. I thought you had a companion because the Black Tower assumed one angel with clues was equal to two demons. When the little girl came over, I noticed her hair. Unfortunately, the ends were slightly burnt. Maybe she accidentally touched it during a previous arson attempt."

Just then, footsteps echoed from deep within the shelves.

The mosaic-faced little girl, holding the book, skipped over to Alex. Her two ponytails swung in pretty arcs in the air. With her chest puffed out and a hint of excitement in her voice, she suddenly extended her hand, presenting the giant matchstick to Alex.

"You're quite skilled for an angel. Since you helped me find the book, I'll give it to you."

Alex took the huge matchstick with a wry smile and instinctively asked, "The Little Match Girl?"

In an instant, a gap appeared in the thick mosaic on the little girl's face. Alex's eyes widened as the mosaic disappeared from the area around her eyes, revealing large, lifeless, deadpan eyes. The rest of her face remained mosaicked, except for her eyes.

Those deadpan eyes glanced at Alex with a concentrated disdain that seemed tangible.

"Grandma, haven't you grown up yet? Have you ever seen such a cute Little Match Girl?"

So the mosaic disappeared just to express disdain?!!!

As if to truly express her disdain, after saying that, the mosaic on the little girl's face returned to normal. She handed the giant matchstick to Alex and turned to run deep into the shelves. Her long ponytails swung left and right with each skip, and her small figure disappeared into the shadows at the back of the shelves.

"Ding dong! The confrontation game 'Who Stole My Book' has ended."

"Calculating game rewards…"

"Player Chen Tom has failed the mission."

"Player Alex has won the mission, receiving rewards 'Giant Matchstick,' 'Disdain from the Mosaic,' and an Ability Mystery Box."

At this moment, an invisible line was spreading from the tramp's upper thigh to her upper body. Everything along its path vanished, as if something was erasing the tramp from this world. "I don't want to die… I don't want to die." She looked at Alex with bloodshot eyes, and Alex reached out to hold the tramp's hand. But after just two seconds, the line reached the tramp's arms, and her hand disappeared.

The tramp screamed, "I have a daughter. She's in Shanghai. Her mother and I are divorced. Please go see her, check if she's still alive. Her name is Shan Shan, Chen Shan Shan. She must be alive! Please just look at her, just once!"

Tears and snot streamed down the tramp's face, and her waist had already disappeared. She crawled to Alex's legs, grasping her pant legs with both hands and sobbing, "She's in Jing'an District, studying at Shibei High School, in seventh grade. She…"

The tramp was now just a head lying on the ground, tears in her eyes, looking at Alex with a terrifying and eerie gaze. Her eyes were fixed on Alex as the transparent line reached her earlobes. She stared unblinkingly at Alex, her eyes bloodshot, as if using all her strength.

The line completely erased the tramp's ears, but her gaze relaxed. She continued to cry, her mouth now gone, unable to speak. She just looked at Alex and blinked before her eyes disappeared, a single tear falling to the ground.

The eight o'clock bell chimed in the library, the pendulum clock striking the eighth time. Alex knelt on the cold floor, comforting herself: If failing the game really meant death, then at least half the world's population would have to die? Billions of people die. How could that be possible?

Suddenly, an unfounded panic seized Alex's senses, her heart racing so fast that she couldn't speak. She counted in her head: 394 beats. The rapid blood flow turned Alex's face scarlet within a minute, every inch of her skin a frightening red, like a boiled crab. Her heart was beating at 532 beats per minute. She didn't know how fast the human heart could beat, but she felt like it could explode at any moment. Yet somehow, that heart, defying medical logic, stubbornly persisted. And then, she fainted…

Colorful lights flickered on the black tower. A day ago, thousands of people had surrounded that tower; now, only seven or eight people remained, sitting on the ground like Alex, looking at "Lullaby" Black Tower.

The female voice finished the opening, and a chorus of children's voices joined in.

"Sleep, sleep, my dearest treasure.

Mother's hands, gently rocking you.

The cradle rocks you, sleep soundly.

The night is quiet, the quilt so warm…"

The song repeated, carried by the wind to distant places.

When the song ended, the familiar, clear child's voice resounded.

"Ding dong! 498,160,000 players successfully loaded into the game…"

"Player information loading…"

"Save successful…"

"Load successful…"

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

"Announcing the Three Iron Laws of the Black Tower –"

"First, all explanations belong to the Black Tower."

"Second, 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM is game time."

"Third, all players must strive to attack the tower."

"Ding dong! Enjoy your game!"

When Alex woke up again, she found herself in her own car. In her hand was a book resembling a notebook, with a hardcover of tan craft paper. As she opened it, the pages were blank. Alex stared intently at the blank paper, and under her gaze, lines of text gradually appeared on the white paper.

[Ability: Eat, Clean Up, and Don't Pay]

[Owner: Alex]

[Type: Special]

[Function: Collect Abilities]

[Note: Everyone has a dream deep down—to eat, clean up, and not pay! Don't be fooled by Alex's appearance; she may look presentable, but you never know what's going on inside. She's always wanted to do such things. When she was seven, she stole her neighbor's kid's chocolate and didn't pay; at ten, she copied her deskmate's homework and didn't pay; at fifteen, she sneaked a peek at her first pornographic film (er, calcium supplement) and still didn't pay! You see, she just wants to eat, clean up, and not pay!]

Upon reading this, although she knew it was a reward from the Black Tower, she instinctively thought of the dead tramp. She felt a chill down her spine and got out of the car to grab a coat from the trunk. A cold, sharp object pressed tightly against her lower back, piercing a small hole in her thick coat. Alex maintained her half-standing position without moving, realizing it was a knife.

But the man couldn't wait any longer: "Dammit, give me your wallet! Hurry up! Or I'll cut you!"

Alex opened the trunk, her voice calm: "Move the knife back a bit, let me stand up, and I'll give you my wallet."

"What is this thing? A matchstick?" the man asked curiously. Alex bent down to grab her suitcase, her hand scratching the sharp latch on the trunk, leaving only a shallow mark on her delicate palm skin. Alex's eyes narrowed, and she grabbed the matchstick with her left hand, swinging it behind her like a baseball bat. The giant matchstick slammed into the man's head with a loud bang, and blood immediately gushed out.

Alex didn't expect the matchstick to have such power. When she held it in her hand, it didn't feel heavy, like an ordinary wooden matchstick. But just from the loud bang, it sounded like an iron rod hitting the head, causing excruciating pain just from hearing it. Alex reacted quickly. Just as the matchstick was about to hit her head again, countless red banknotes suddenly fell from the air. Alex suddenly felt dizzy and her heart raced. When she opened her eyes again, she saw only the man's wide-eyed body, "…dead." Alex looked down and saw a book beside her:

[Ability: The Only Thing I Lack Compared to the Protagonist is a Piece of Spiritual Field]

[Owner: Qian Sankun (Illegal Immigrant)]

[Type: Special]

[Function: Seal any touched object inside the body, presented as a tattoo]

[Level: 2, can store two inanimate objects]

[Restriction: Can only store objects of the same type, and cannot store living beings]

[Note: Qian Sankun never imagined that what she lacked compared to the protagonist wasn't a piece of spiritual field, but a matchstick!]

The text was all in black, but at the bottom, there was a line of red text.

[Alex's Version Usage Instructions: Disposable, can only store one type of object, non-replaceable. Friend, have you decided what you want to store?]

Alex looked at Qian Sankun's cold body on the ground and then at the scattered knives and banknotes. She couldn't remember what had just happened. A vague, panicked voice echoed in her ears: "Move your matchstick away. I confess. My tattoo can store money and weapons."

Alex picked up the matchstick with her left hand, and a flash of red light disappeared, leaving a small red matchstick tattoo on her wrist. Qian Sankun's ability name had changed to—[Ability: The Only Thing I Lack Compared to the Protagonist is a Spiritual Field (Used)][Note: Obviously, Alex has already realized that when she killed that person, she ate, cleaned up, and didn't pay.]

Alex's eyes narrowed, her fingers tightly gripping the pages, trembling slightly.

"Is killing the only way…?"

A minute later, another line of text appeared on the book.

[Note: But how could I tell Alex that she could also obtain others' abilities without killing?]

Bang! The book was ruthlessly thrown by its owner into the pile of banknotes. Three minutes later, Alex coldly picked up the book again. She casually grabbed a handful of banknotes and covered Qian Sankun's face, burying her entire body in her beloved pile of banknotes. After doing all this, she took the book and drove away, continuing towards Shanghai.