Chapter 536: Book of Elfins
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Math had always been Zhang Zian's worst subject. He felt a bit lost as Meng Li's question came from nowhere. "What do you mean?"
Meng Li looked at his watch, and said in a hurry, "If you want to look for a book about life, universe, and everything, maybe try to search in the reference book section. If that kind of book exists, it should be classified as a reference book. I need to go. See you soon!"
Before Zhang Zian could respond, Meng Li waved and hurried off with his books.
"Wait! Why reference books?"
By the time Zhang Zian finally processed the information, and hurried off to the second floor to ask for an explanation, Meng Li was already at the check-out counter, then disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Zhang Zian lost.
Meng Li spoke with a certainty. Although how life, the universe, and everything could be considered as a reference books, he didn't know, but he didn't have time for a random search. The reference section seemed to be his only option.
The books on the second and third floors were split into four categories: social science, science and technology, reference, and literature. If the search was narrowed down to reference books only, it would reduce search time by three-fourths.
After careful thinking, Zhang Zian realized something. Both the second and the third floor had reference sections. Should Zhang Zian search the second floor or the third? Or both? Meng Li left in such a hurry that Zhang Zian had no time to ask.
He stood on the stairs between the second and third floor. He stood in the way of the readers passing by.
Should he go to the second floor or the third?
He took out his phone and looked. The icon indicating the elfin's location on the map was already very faint. Judging from his search speed just now, he could only choose one of the two floors.
He couldn't hesitate any longer. Zhang Zian decided to bet on the second floor, since it was the Chinese book area, and the search might go faster. Maybe he'd have enough time to search the third floor after he finished.
As he took his first step, he suddenly remembered the moment when the elfin first appeared. Galaxy blinked at him three times. He had no idea what it meant, and Galaxy didn't explain it.
Was that Galaxy's way of hinting to search the reference section on the third floor?
Maybe he interpreted it wrong, maybe Galaxy didn't mean anything.
Since he was clueless, he gambled that Galaxy had given him a clue. He stopped hesitating, returned to the third floor, and went straight to the reference section.
The search was narrowed down by half.
Reference books had a variety of sub-categories: dictionaries, encyclopedias, manuals, graphs, tables, maps, etc. Zhang Zian had never searched in the reference section on the third floor before, and sighed at the countless books.
He bet that Galaxy's blinks had special meaning. If so, what would be Galaxy's meaning of facing the wall afterwards?
Wait, which direction did the wall face on the outside? East or west?
Coincidentally, the bookshelf in the reference section faced east and west Once Zhang Zian figured it out, he turned west and saw the east side of the shelf.
The search was narrowed down by another half.
He lifted his head to a similar angle as Galaxy, and raised his phone horizontally. He saw the fifth and sixth levels of the shelf.
The search was narrowed down by a third.
If he had correctly interpreted Meng Li's reminder and Galaxy's hints, the search was narrowed down to 1/48 of what it was in the beginning.
Zhang Zian lifted the phone over his head, and searched row by row.
One shelf, two shelves, three shelves.
Nothing, nothing, nothing!
The fewer shelves that were left, the more anxious he grew. Was his interpretation wrong?
Interactive Oxford Picture Dictionary. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Collins English Dictionary. The New Oxford Illustrated English-Chinse Dictionary. Diccionario de la Real Academia Espanol. Macmillan English Dictionary. Thick dictionaries appeared in the screen, then disappeared.
Zhang Zian's arm grew sore. As he switched hands, he noticed a slight discrepancy between the phone screen and reality.
His heart was pounding. He quickly aimed the phone back where it was earlier, and saw a crimson book between Diccionario de la Real Academia Espanol and Macmillan English Dictionary through the game interface. The spine of the book was bare.
When he moved the phone, the crimson book disappeared. When he moved the phone back, the crimson book was there.
That's the book!
Zhang Zian tried to remain calm. He held his phone in one hand, while he raised his other hand towards it.
When he hunted Fina, Old Time Tea, Richard and Famous, he never touched the elfins. After the capture, the elfins existed physically in reality, but during the hunt, they existed between the virtual and real world. He couldn't imagine how they'd feel if he touched them then.
Now, he was about to touch a book from the virtual world.
He pinched the spine, but didn't feel a temperature. Despite this fact, it felt like a regular book, with the same texture and thickness.
He took the book off the shelf.
Just as the elfin described, the book had no name. The cover had shiny metal lining on the edge, and was heavy. He couldn't tell whether the book was new or old, but the texture was pleasant.
If Zhang Zian was being himself, he would've read the book to find out if the book really talked about life, the universe, and everything. He also wanted to know why Meng Li was so certain that it was classified as a reference book. However, he had no time, so he grabbed the book and ran towards the fifth floor.
Some readers pointed at the signs on the wall with a displeased look: "No shouting, running, spitting or littering." Zhang Zian ignored them.
He returned to his computer in one breath, and typed as fast as he could in the chatroom.
[The Hottie]: 3.1415926, I found your book. I'm standing here, with your book in my hand!
He pushed the keyboard away, lifted the Book of Elfin as high as an Olympic torch, and prayed that he still had time.