"Holy crap, it seems like you don’t have to memorize the whole book, you can just take the book with you."

Hearing this voice, Ah Chen turned around, seeing the adventurer copying calligraphy standing there with a face full of regret, looking at the library entrance.

At the library entrance, two adventurers were holding a book that wasn’t too thick or thin, and one of them was being tested by the administrator. Their expression didn’t look great and was a bit rushed, but at least they found the answer to the administrator’s question in the book and started reading it out stumblingly.

Ah Chen wasn’t surprised; she had already guessed this method. It would be strange if you had to recite the whole book. There are open-book and closed-book exams, and this place isn’t really after the adventurer’s lives. After all, among 100 people, there would definitely be some clever ones; they couldn’t possibly die off almost completely on the first day.

"Even if it’s an open-book test, a thinner book is still better," Ah Chen said. "Especially for people with short attention spans, they can’t remember much after one read-through, making it hard to find the answers."

She initially picked a thin book, planning to memorize it, since she had a photographic memory, it would be more convenient to memorize it.

The person behind her felt relieved after hearing Ah Chen’s words; he rubbed his wrist, saying, "That’s true, I seem to read without processing the information. If I had thought of this method earlier, who knows how long I’d struggle with this, copying calligraphy is much better."

"We know of three methods so far, I wonder if there are any others."

There definitely are!

Ah Chen was certain.

But that wasn’t her concern anymore. She glanced at the card she held, which had a room number on it. She remembered where the adventurer’s rooms were from the cruise’s layout and headed straight there.

"Hey, where are you going? I’m heading to the restaurant; after writing a book on calligraphy, I’m starving. Want to join me?"

"No, I’m not really hungry right now. I’ll check out my room first," Ah Chen replied.

"Alright then." The adventurer was clearly very hungry and didn’t intend to go back with Ah Chen. After all, this was a single-player challenge, and maintaining relative friendliness was enough; there was no need to form deep connections.

When Ah Chen withdrew her gaze, she noticed the situation in the library. Many who were originally desperate now had a glimmer of hope.

To think they could take an open-book test, with more than half a day left, there might be a chance to pass the exam.

Soon, Ah Chen found her room.

It was a small room, but it had a window, which suited her current status. After all, this ticket was won in a lottery, and the Blue Crystal had real guests who paid a lot of money, so their rooms were naturally better than those who got a ticket through the draw.

There was actually a suitcase in the room, and Ah Chen opened it without much hesitation.

The suitcase contained very few items, just some basic toiletries and a change of clothes. At the bottom, she found ten thousand in cash. After thinking for a moment, she put the cash in a handbag.

This handbag wasn’t hers; it was prepared by the game for her identity this time. The bag the commissioner brought was in her backpack, which appeared after she cleared the first level, along with the inventory store, making things a lot more convenient.

Since there was this ten thousand, there certainly would be a place to spend it later on, so it was better to keep it in the handbag.

After confirming there was nothing special in the room, Ah Chen went to the restaurant, where adventurers were already joyously dining, indicating the cruise’s food was pretty good.

She ordered a portion as well, sitting down to eat. The food was indeed good, just slightly less tasty than Food Village’s offerings and not as varied.

After finishing, she didn’t go to the library but wandered around the cruise. She also noted the locations of the challenges mentioned on her ticket.

At the entrance to the game room, Ah Chen was stopped by an administrator, who informed her that she would have to wait until tomorrow to fully enjoy the game room.

The administrator was very friendly, also introducing other recreational facilities such as the sauna, massage parlor, beauty salon, and music hall.

Ah Chen wasn’t particularly eager to visit, just confirming whether she could enter today. She even asked if she could experience it in advance, and the answer was, of course, no.

She didn’t insist, and after wandering around everywhere, she finally went to the library, just in time to see the administrator examining an adventurer with a pale face. Upon glancing at the two thick books in the adventurer’s hands, it was obvious this wasn’t their first test.

But the books were so thick, and if one’s memory wasn’t good, finding the answers would still be difficult.

What’s more frustrating was that the adventurer was holding two physics books; he was really careless. Unless he was particularly good at this subject, how dare he?

In reality, you really shouldn’t overestimate everyone’s intelligence, not even those adventurers who have gone through some levels.

Ah Chen found a book she was interested in on the shelf and didn’t even find a seat; she just stood there and slowly flipped through it.

[Maybe he’s trying to show off.] The sudden voice of 997 broke in. [Probably knows a bit, but not much.]

[Are you free lately?] Ah Chen asked.

Lately, 997 hasn’t been speaking much, likely because he has been busy. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

[I’m not busy now, taking a break. Previously, I was monitoring a few newly-bound hosts, worried that they’d make mistakes. Now that they’re competent, I came over to check on you.] 997 said, [That person is secretly watching you, host. Why doesn’t he come over? He seems quite free, wandering around here and there, not greeting you, nor any other adventurers.]

[Host, he might be one of those NPCs that require an adventurer to greet him before a storyline is triggered.]

Ah Chen looked over at Bai Chao’s position; he was indeed weaving through the crowd, holding a small conspicuous pot of cactus, distinctly different from other NPCs.

Bai Chao’s identity was definitely unusual; he might even be Bai Xingwen’s elder, someone who had exited successfully after completing five levels. Playing an NPC today was likely not the original plan. The odds were high that he came here to find her.

She also noticed Bai Chao’s subtle attention and even the somewhat talkative cactus Xiao Pan, urging Bai Chao to come over to her.

Should she go ask him then?

Ah Chen took her book and walked over, when a pale-faced adventurer carrying three thick books entered her field of vision. It was the same person initially trying to leave the library, looking somewhat desperate. At that moment, he suddenly noticed Bai Chao, and hurriedly walked over to him.

Stopping in front of Bai Chao, he hesitated before saying, "Hello."

Bai Chao asked, "Hello, do you need help?"

The adventurer paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up, "I accidentally picked three books from the library, and there’s too much content. Even with flipping through, it’s really hard to pass the exam. So, could you help me?"

He was at his wit’s end; the books were too thick to answer the administrator’s questions.

Suddenly, a feeling of inspiration struck him; he thought this NPC might be special, so he risked it, hoping for a miracle.