At nine o'clock in the morning, seven or eight white-haired elderly people were waiting at the library door for it to open. Outside the library was a busy and hustling world, while inside, it was silent. Only the sound of flipping pages could be heard, softly echoing in the ears.

ALEX sat at the computer at the inquiry counter, helping to organize books one by one. Her left hand continuously entered book numbers on the keyboard, while her right hand clicked to confirm with the mouse. She wore a leather jacket, looking charming. Her brown hair was tied up with an oriental-style golden hairpin. Whenever someone came to inquire, Alex would always smile warmly like the morning sun from behind her glasses and give a reply. In the monitor, ALEX saw a tramp sitting in a corner holding a book, tearing out its pages. She put down what she was doing in disgust and quickly ran over: "Sir, are you buying this book, 'The Secret of the Disappearance of Maya Civilization'?"

The tramp suddenly looked up, staring with bloodshot eyes. He looked terrified and said, "Do you know the secret of the disappearance of the Maya civilization?"

ALEX smiled mischievously and said, "I don't know. Do you?"

"I know, of course, I know." The tramp immediately got up and said, "They offended the only and eternal God, so they all died. Those who offend the God need to pay the price of their lives!"

ALEX replied perfunctorily, "Where is the real God?"

The tramp's expression suddenly stiffened, and he walked to the window. He showed a mysterious smile and said, "The God is coming soon." He pointed to the distance. In the sunset shining in the distance, there was a black tower suspended over the city... It was so calm that it seemed the building didn't exist.

Everyone outside the window panicked. Countless people drove to the countryside, trying to get as far away from the black tower as possible. At this moment, people in the library also grabbed their things and hurried home. ALEX drove everyone away, decisively shouting: "Closing early today."

The LED screen in the city center was broadcasting news: "At 11 a.m. Beijing time, 369 black strange towers appeared in the sky above major cities and oceans in China, completely suspended! At least 100 meters above the ground! It is reported that at the same time, black towers appeared in large areas globally. Please don't panic. The country has established relevant departments to investigate the black tower incident. We have invited Professor Luo from the Physics Department of Peking University to explain the issues related to the black tower incident. Now connecting with Professor Luo..."

The news and panic had caused a sensation in Shanghai, and the black tower incident had become a hot topic of discussion worldwide on the internet.

ALEX lay in bed scrolling through her social media feed. Her college classmates studying in Japan and the United States posted photos where the text on the black towers was no longer in Chinese but had changed to Japanese and English.

Alex calmly turned on her computer and logged into QQ, where a chat box popped up.

[Victor: Sorry, I've been busy recently and may not have time to play. Want to play a game? I might be busy for a long time after the black tower appears.]

[ALEX: I'm surprised to see you online today. [Smiling face] I guess, like me, you think there's no place to run away, so you're here to slack off?]

ALEX invited Victor into the room, and soon the game began. Midway through the game, ALEX found herself losing to Victor again.

[ALEX: You're still as good as before. So can you answer my question about the black tower now?]

[Victor: Just lucky. I belong to the "Black Tower Danger Party." Before I disappear forever, I came to say goodbye to my gaming buddies.]

A silence spread, and ALEX didn't know how to continue. She only said, "Take care."

Victor [Smiling face], and then his avatar turned gray and went offline.

The next day, when she woke up, it was already 7:30 in the morning. ALEX quickly got up, brushed her teeth, and hurried to catch the 8:00 bus. She quickly put on her clothes, grabbed her backpack, and was about to leave, but just as her hand touched the doorknob, a pleasant and smooth melody suddenly sounded.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong, the bell is ringing..."

ALEX turned around in surprise, but couldn't find the source of the sound in the room. The song "Jingle Bells" continued to play, without lyrics, yet everyone knew what song it was.

Listening carefully, ALEX could not pinpoint the origin of the sound. It seemed to come from everywhere.

In the next moment, ALEX froze. She ran to the window with unprecedented speed and looked far into the black tower located in the center of Shanghai. Colorful lights flashed on the tower, changing with the melody of the nursery rhyme. When the last note fell, the colored lights disappeared, and everything fell silent and dark again.

A clear, child-like voice sounded: "Ding Dong! Earth Online, November 15, 2035."

All humans stopped what they were doing at this moment. They looked towards the nearest black tower.

"Ding Dong! Within three days, all players must eliminate one player, including but not limited to gameplay methods."

ALEX stood on the balcony, staring unblinkingly at the tower. But the black tower returned to its calm state, the blue font disappeared, and the child's voice vanished, as if nothing had changed.

ALEX couldn't access foreign websites, but her classmate studying in the United States replied several times in her WeChat Moments.

"Yes, it's not Chinese, it's speaking English! It scared me to death. Our school has suspended classes, and now many people are protesting at the gates of the White House, demanding an explanation from the government."

"It's so hard to buy airplane tickets at the airport now. I can't buy a ticket back to China, but my roommate is rich and is going back this afternoon."

"It was still evening when it spoke, and it also played a nursery rhyme. My friend has a video, I'll upload it."

ALEX clicked on several posts speculating on the truth about the black tower. Most people believed it was a research achievement of cutting-edge technology. In the afternoon, there was an announcement in the library group.

"Urgent notice! From the day after tomorrow, the library will be requisitioned as a temporary research center. Please collect any personal items within the next two days. Notice again, from the day after tomorrow..."

The group suddenly exploded with activity.

Several veteran employees inquired about where they would work after the library was requisitioned. A few young employees joked, "This is the end of the world, so why work?"

ALEX looked up at the distant black tower, picked up her bag, and boarded a bus to the library.

ALEX sneaked into the library through the back door. It seemed like she was the only one in a hurry to come back and get something. The vast library was empty. Chants from the protesting crowd outside echoed in the library. ALEX found her locker and took out a few books.

As she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a muffled sound coming from the southeast corner. ALEX stopped and looked over. Moments later, she took a black riot baton from the security guard's locker, tiptoed, and carefully approached the corner.

"Who's there?" There was no response.

She could still vaguely hear the sound of someone picking up books. The person was putting the books back on the shelves, and in their haste, they dropped another book.

ALEX walked to the bookshelf in the corner, turned around, and exclaimed, "Who's there!" ALEX's grip on the riot baton loosened, and she exclaimed in surprise, "The tramp... um, Mr. Chen? What are you doing here?"

The tramp stiffly looked at ALEX and chuckled, putting the fallen book back on the shelf.

ALEX frowned and asked, "How did you get in?"

The tramp replied, "There's a window on the east side that's not properly closed... I just came in to look around, look around..."

ALEX said, "Mr. Chen, this will make things difficult for us. This is considered theft."

"I didn't steal anything!" The tramp quickly responded.

ALEX looked her up and down, tightly gripping the riot baton, and walked to the bookshelf in front of the tramp to take a closer look.

Indeed, no books were missing, just like when she left three days ago.

"So, what exactly did you come here for this time..."

"Ding dong! The confrontation game 'Who Stole My Book' has begun. At 17:52 on November 17, 2035, players ALEX and Tom Chen safely entered the game. The players have entered the sandbox, the game map has been created, and the data has been loaded..."

In the empty library, a eerie and crisp child's voice suddenly rang out: "La la la, la la la. A stick gently beats, two players play house. Silent for three days and three nights, angels and demons want it. Shh... Who stole my book?"

It flashed colorful lights, which was particularly eye-catching in the dark night...