Lexi guided me through another twisting corridor, her pages glowing softly as she updated the minimap. The library groaned around us. Shelves shifted. Pages fluttered in the dark. My fireball flickered in my palm, barely pushing back the gloom.

  Then the corridor ahead widened into a long, straight hallway. Clean, bright, and almost normal compared to everything behind us.

  Lexi froze midair, as if hesitating. A glowing arrow formed across her pages, pointing straight ahead.

  “EXIT DETECTED.”

  My chest tightened.

  At the far end of the hallway stood a tall wooden door. Sturdy. Unmoving. Not shifting with the rest of the library.

  A system window appeared as we approached.

  Floor Exit Located

  Objective: Complete

  Time Remaining: 18h 12m 44s

  I let out a long breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “That’s it,” I said quietly. “The exit.”

  I stepped forward and placed my hand on the door. It was warm. Real wood. Solid. Not whispering. Not moving.

  If I pushed it open, I’d go back to my home room and wake up. Safe. Done. A clean victory.

  I stared at the door for a long moment.

  I was hurting. I was exhausted. My shoulder still throbbed, even after chugging a health potion. No one would blame me for leaving.

  But…

  Orsik’s face flashed through my mind.

  Him in that creaking chair.

  Hands trembling. Thoughts slipping.

  His voice cracking when he said:

  “Before this place eats my memories clean out o’ my skull…”

  And then, softer:

  “I trust ye will, son.”

  Those words hit harder than he realized. Because layered beneath Orsik’s voice, I could almost hear my dad’s—asking the same question he asked every time I failed, every time I stumbled, every time I wanted to quit:

  “Did you give it your best?”

  The truth pressed against my ribs like a hand squeezing my chest.

  If I walked away now… if I took the exit and left this place behind… I knew exactly what the answer would be.

  And it wouldn’t be yes.

  I let my hand fall away from the door.

  Lexi hovered close. “MIKE…?”

  “I’m not leaving yet,” I said.

  Her pages stilled. The library groaned somewhere behind us, like it was listening.

  “I’ve only known him for what… an hour? Two?” I said. “And yeah, he’s an NPC. A construct. Whatever the System wants to call him.”

  Lexi wrote slowly:

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  “YOU ARE CHOOSING TO HELP?”

  I looked back down the dim hallway we’d come from. Into the twisting dark. The whispers. The corruption.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I told him I would. I’m not going back on my word.”

  I tightened my grip on my bat.

  “NPC or not, it doesn’t matter. He’s real enough. Real right now. Tonight, he’s real.” My throat tightened. “And this?” I gestured around us at the shifting shelves. “This feels real too.”

  Lexi fluttered, uncertain.

  “Even if it’s just for a day,” I added. “If I can help him, I’m helping.”

  I pointed my bat back the way we came. “Come on. Let’s go find whatever’s rotting his library.”

  Lexi hesitated, then flipped to a single page and wrote in tiny, determined handwriting:

  “THANK YOU, MIKE.”

  I smiled. “No problem.”

  The exit waited behind us. Safe, clean, untouched by corruption.

  I turned my back on it and stepped once more into the shifting dark.

  The shelves closed behind us with a groaning shudder, swallowing the exit as if it had never existed. The air thickened again, heavy and stale, humming with quiet whispers.

  We ran into a few more booklings and ended up with extra vials for our trouble.

  Loot Acquired:

  Fiery Ink ×1

  Common Ink ×1

  Heavy Ink ×1

  The Fiery Ink dropped from the Pyromancer variant. The Common Ink from the Spear variant. The Heavy Ink from the Tackler variant.

  We walked a few more minutes before Lexi suddenly darted in front of my face to get my attention. She flipped to map mode. Her trembling pages drew a shaky line forward, then lit up a small square off to the right.

  “SAFE ZONE NEARBY.”

  My shoulders loosened a little. Even the dungeon apparently wasn’t completely heartless.

  We followed the glowing arrow, weaving through aisles that shifted like restless sleepers. Lexi pressed against my shoulder like she was trying to hide and peek at the same time.

  After a few tense minutes, we reached a narrow alcove between two shelves. It looked like a dead end.

  Until Lexi hovered toward a blank section of wall and scribbled:

  “RIGHT HERE.”

  I reached out and touched it. Solid. No seams. No hint it was anything but normal wall.

  “Seriously?” I muttered. “There’s no way I would’ve known this was a Safe Room entrance without you.”

  I swung my bat.

  The wall shattered, leaving a jagged hole. Warm orange light spilled out.

  Safe Room Discovered

  Monsters cannot enter this area.

  Combat disabled.

  Rest and recovery available.

  I stepped inside.

  “Welcome to the Safe Room,” a familiar voice announced.

  I grinned. “Hey. How’ve you been? Did you miss me?”

  “I did not,” the attendant replied without emotion.

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said. “So this Safe Room is exactly the same as the one on the first floor, huh?”

  “Yes,” the humanoid answered calmly.

  I inspected him.

  Name: Dave (Safe Room Attendant)

  Lvl: N/A

  Type: NPC

  “So, Dave, this is Lexi.” I gestured to the floating book.

  Lexi wrote:

  “HI DAVE.”

  “Hello, Lexi,” Dave replied.

  “Alright, same rules with the healing pod?” I asked.

  “Correct.”

  “Cool. Question—can I do anything with these inks?” I pulled out the different vials I had collected so far.

  “There are several professions that utilize ink,” Dave said.

  “Can you tell me what those professions are?”

  “I cannot.”

  “Of course you can’t.”

  The moment I said that, Lexi zipped in front of me and wrote:

  “I CAN.”

  I blinked. “Really?”

  “YES.”

  “Awesome. Show me,” I said, taking a seat on a nearby chair.

  Lexi flipped open and began writing rapidly, ink flowing smoothly like it had a mind of its own.