Chapter 117: The Living Game

Wen Xishu needed to project a bit of presence, because he felt he had been looked down upon by this game.

First, he chose "The Majority," and second, he had no hidden options. If not for the Trinity Force, he would be a complete waste of space right now.

The blind man said very candidly: "You don't have to give me hope; I don't need that sort of thing, and you don't need to worry about me."

"Once the door opens, just go your own way."

Wen Xishu said:

"Do you have any assets in the Three Towers?"

The blind man was somewhat puzzled:

"No, why do you ask that?"

Wen Xishu first shook his head, but then realized the other person couldn't see, so he said:

"Then you aren't even worth dying for. I have a suggestion: here, take this axe."

"There are two ways to die in this world. One way is to go throw your life away, but there's absolutely no need to die in the Three Towers; where can't you go to throw your life away?"

"If you really want to die, I recommend the second way: just keep swinging that axe as you go. Killing one isn't a loss, killing two is a profit, and if you kill three, I'll call you the Sunglasses God of War."

The blind man still had an expression of neither sorrow nor joy:

"Do you want me to do this to provide you with some value?"

What must this person have experienced to be in such a state of completely not wanting to live?

Wen Xishu said:

"I'm just making a suggestion. I don't save those who won't save themselves, so let's go our separate ways. If we happen to meet later, we can make other arrangements then."

Wen Xishu gave the axe to the blind man.

Perhaps sensing the other person's respect—a very equal kind of respect—the blind man actually took the axe.

To him, everyone in this world was insignificant, and at the same time, everything he heard was that kind of condescending pity.

But Wen Xishu's actions at this moment gave him a feeling that the two of them were equals.

Because this person really did give a blind man an axe, as if he truly believed he could accomplish some kind of miracle. He even thought they could meet again at a later node.

He had never experienced this before. In the past, everything about him was decided by others.

People pitied him and cared for him, but they never cared about his own thoughts. Because everyone felt—what could a blind man possibly understand?

Wen Xishu didn't intend to save the blind man anymore; let him fend for himself. He really didn't want to bring someone like that along.

It would just be a headache later. If he saved him, he felt it would increase the game's difficulty; if he didn't... he was a strange person. There were some he wanted to kill, but for others, he just felt an urge to help.

He decided not to bring him along.

However, before leaving, Wen Xishu asked:

"Can you reveal some details about hidden classes? I don't have a hidden class."

After hearing this, the blind man became more accepting of Wen Xishu. He himself just couldn't afford the assets, but this person... actually didn't have a hidden class.

Is he actually poorer than me?

"How could you not have a hidden class?"

"Because I am a hidden character." Wen Xishu remained stubborn.

The blind man didn't expose him, seemingly understanding this way of maintaining one's own self-esteem, and said:

"I just refused to choose a hidden class because I didn't have any assets. I couldn't afford the price of the six-asset-value first-time top-up."

Wen Xishu was stunned:

"What the hell? First-time top-up? This game actually has a first-time top-up?"

The blind man nodded:

"It seems you really are poor, poor to the point that the game determined you wouldn't have any assets."

"Hidden is a paid option. But I didn't have any assets. Choosing a hidden class prompts you that this is the most rewarding investment. You can get ahead of everyone at the starting line."

Asset value.

This was something emphasized in the mission introduction. The mission introduction also said that if you couldn't beat the game, you could become stronger by paying a price; everything on you could be exchanged for assets.

Wen Xishu had a bad premonition; he seemed to understand a little bit about what that vague mission introduction was trying to express.

"Can you describe it in more detail?"

The blind man thought carefully:

"I actually had assets at the time. If I had chosen 'Super-Senser,' the assets I would have needed to pay were that I could choose to lose another sense, like smell or taste, to pay the asset value and obtain Super-Senser."

"But I refused, because for me, the powerful hearing of a Super-Senser cannot replace vision."

Wen Xishu felt it was getting stranger and stranger:

"Things on your body are also tradable assets..."

The blind man, who had never played games, said:

"It's quite reasonable, isn't it? It's actually strange that you don't have this option. Is there really nothing on you worth exchanging?"

"Is everything you have someone else's? Does nothing belong to yourself?"

Wen Xishu shook his head:

"No, I think I was just assigned the most difficult option. I have a suggestion for you..."

The blind man said:

"You've given suggestions to a dying man more than once. But... go ahead, let me hear it."

Wen Xishu said:

"Based on my experience, any game with a six-yuan first-time top-up is trash, one and all. It has nothing to do with the game's art, plot, or settings; it only has to do with the numerical balancing."

"I have a guess... if you want the game to be normal, I suggest you use your brain as much as possible in the survival levels ahead, rather than relying on trading."

"'You will truly feel the weight of your dreams here, and all your actions will make a value judgment for your dreams.' These are the words from the mission introduction... don't you think it's ironic that this sentence is linked to the pay-to-win culture of asset values?"

The blind man kept that same look:

"Do you think a blind man can survive without relying on the strongest assistance provided by the game?"

Wen Xishu said:

"Why not? You're just blind, not dead. I've even seen people in wheelchairs invited to kick against a goalkeeper. They were having a pretty good time, weren't they?"

The blind man was stunned, and an image appeared in his mind. He said again:

"Don't you think you are someone abandoned by heaven?"

Wen Xishu gave the medical kit to the blind man as well and said:

"Just because I can't trade with assets?"

Brother, I'm a cheater; how could a whale compare to me? Wen Xishu thought very calmly.

The blind man said:

"I'll tell you something cruel: actually, when choosing initial survival items, I could have exchanged 30 asset points for a gun with infinite ammo."

Wen Xishu was silent for two seconds. This shop... is indeed powerful. It seems the shop's power is even more ruthless than my cheats.

"Do you still think your experience is the same as theirs? Do you think this game of choosing a savior still has anything to do with you?"

The blind man seemed to be competing with Wen Xishu, as if by discouraging Wen Xishu, he could prove that his own desire to die was the correct thing.

Wen Xishu said:

"Since I've come, I have the possibility of becoming the savior. Alright, I won't talk to you anymore. I'll leave this medical kit with you, too. I'll leave the bullets for you as well."

"I'll collect items myself after I leave here."

As Wen Xishu spoke, he had already begun to turn the doorknob. Once the door opened, there was no turning back.

The blind man suddenly felt a bit annoyed. Why did this person think he could do it?

The door opened.

Wen Xishu was currently in a storage room inside a school's indoor stadium.

Looking into the distance, he discovered the danger here.

"Listen to me, if you want to live, keep running toward the right side in a moment..."

"Outside, there is an indoor basketball court and an indoor volleyball court, with a few scattered zombies wearing school uniforms."

"Their strength shouldn't be high. That's all I can say, blind man. Good luck."

Wen Xishu closed the door for the blind man, then shouted loudly himself:

"Babies, come and eat meat!"

This loud shout made all the slowly wandering zombies suddenly turn their heads.

Wen Xishu was certain that these zombies were the lowest level kind. Their speed was indeed a bit fast, but not the kind of fast that would make a human despair.

Wen Xishu was confident that he could easily shake them off.

But after he started running... he discovered the problem.

Wen Xishu's current speed was as fast as a primitive man from a tribe, the kind of primitive man who would be eaten by wild beasts if he ran too slowly.

His speed was indeed very fast, but the strange thing was, it wasn't fast enough to satisfy his heart.

"Hell, this place can actually suppress attributes? The values have been adjusted!"

Wen Xishu already understood what was going on.

Theoretically, "The Majority" is the most useless, completely mediocre class.

They wouldn't be able to outrun zombies.

But Wen Xishu was not an ordinary "Majority"; he had the Trinity Force and the Tower-Slaughtering panel.

So Wen Xishu's speed was exaggerated, almost maxing out his physical fitness.

But normally, his speed could have been several tiers faster. At the very least, breaking existing human records would have been possible.

The game, however, actually restricted his attributes, keeping Wen Xishu’s stats at the limit of a human within the range of cognition, never breaking through to a superhuman level.

"I'll have to test later whether the effects of the items have been weakened."

Wen Xishu began to run frantically.

Inside the storage room, the blind man was somewhat irritable; he naturally knew that Wen Xishu’s shout was to help him draw fire.

Was it worth it? Was it really worth it? I am a blind man, I can’t even take care of my own daily life, and you actually think I can survive?

This was truly an unprecedented feeling.

……

Wen Xishu’s speed was extremely fast; before long, he ran out of the gymnasium and arrived at an open plaza between the gymnasium and the cafeteria.

Here, there were swarms of densely packed zombies.

He should have quickened his pace and run even faster, but Wen Xishu’s vision and hearing were both at the level of a max-level human.

He suddenly discovered an anomaly within the zombie horde.

A woman with long hair, wearing a white dress, was squatting in the corner, crying silently; that sobbing made one unable to help but want to step forward and comfort her.

According to Wen Xishu’s experience... once such a zombie gets close, he will undoubtedly die.

"Damn, I just walked out of the gymnasium and there’s already a mini-boss..."

He decisively ran toward the other side. Wen Xishu did not intend to fight; even with the turn-based system, he felt that the female zombie was the type of player who could KO him in a single turn.

A large number of zombies began to chase after Wen Xishu, but fortunately, they did not disturb the long-haired female zombie sobbing in the corner.

While running, Wen Xishu took out the Pseudo-Fate Luo Pan.

His items consisted of a constant set of three: the Scorpion Dagger, the Phoenix Gloves, and the Fate Luo Pan.

At this moment, the direction the Fate Luo Pan pointed was exactly the direction of the school gate. He did not look back for a single moment; after getting far away from the crying woman, Wen Xishu ran wildly the entire way.

Following the constantly changing direction of the Luo Pan, Wen Xishu traveled through this city filled with zombies.

The attributes of a max-level human were indeed powerful; behind Wen Xishu was already a vast and mighty army of zombies.

Under the guidance of the Luo Pan, he arrived at the top of a seventy-meter-tall office building. Due to the narrowness of the stairwell, the monsters behind Wen Xishu were finally blocked in the stairwell because of their sheer numbers.

As for himself, he was on the rooftop of the office building and jumped directly to another building via parkour.

Through this super jump that ordinary people could not achieve, Wen Xishu completely shook off the zombies. When overlooking the city through the view from the high-rise, Wen Xishu discovered many interesting things.

This place was divided into many areas, and each area had places to scavenge for resources.

Some areas were white, where basic survival resources could be scavenged. Above the area would be a skull icon.

Blue areas would have three to four skull icons, while purple areas would have five to seven skull icons.

Red areas, ten skull icons, which meant a ten-star difficulty level.

Gazing into the distance from the top of the building, Wen Xishu could discover that the final gathering place was located at a ten-star difficulty level location.

"I must find enough supplies and equipment before entering that place."

A bout of wild running had already left Wen Xishu’s body in a state of hunger and thirst.

These were also two values. They were the things all survival games loved to create: hunger and thirst levels.

Usually, games liked to design blue bars and red bars for characters, but survival games also had resource bars, health bars, mood bars, and other attributes.

Wen Xishu only now began to carefully observe his attributes.

Mood: Good.

Hunger: 50.

Thirst: 70 (Your life recovery ability is beginning to decline, and your tolerance for high temperatures is reduced.)

Health Status: Currently no illness.

"Normally, with that level of exercise just now, I shouldn't feel thirsty or hungry." Wen Xishu felt somewhat helpless.

Thanks to the Three Phases, otherwise, a pure "Majority" would find it too difficult to survive in the game. He opened the Luo Pan again; the Luo Pan began to rotate, guiding him to find water and food. This place was not far.

It was right in the building where Wen Xishu was currently located.

Wen Xishu began to move in a stealthy manner, walking without making any sound.

At the same time, he also began to slowly read the information of others in his field of view.

Tam: The rocket launcher is so awesome, this game is really fun. Have you guys used that thing worth 98 asset points? I exchanged for a rocket launcher!

On the other side of the city, Wen Xishu could indeed hear the sound of some kind of explosion.

The criminal Tam, with a group of lackeys, was slaughtering zombies on a massive scale.

Wen Xishu did feel that after paying-to-win, the other party’s experience was much better than his own.

He was being chased frantically by a group of zombies, and from time to time, he would encounter one or two crying female zombies—the kind he dared not provoke.

But Tam directly had a group of lackeys dying for him, and now he had even exchanged for a rocket launcher, a weapon that was almost only available in the late game.

Ye Lingfeng’s profession was Social Elite; the ability of this profession was that he knew a little bit of every skill, which could be considered a strengthened version of "Majority."

Ye Lingfeng said:

"I have already started using the armored vehicle worth 128 asset points. I am different from you all; my feet do not like to be stained with dust."

Child-Faced Wolf:

"Already started using 128 asset points for trading? It seems I overestimated you all. Very well, we were never people of the same world to begin with."

Child-Faced Wolf did not use any additional pay-to-win; after choosing a hidden profession, he had been exploring on his own the whole time.

At the current stage, everyone was exploring on their own. Almost everyone, like Wen Xishu, had experienced an escape.

It was just that Wen Xishu was escaping, while others were making the zombies escape.

Some were holding rocket launchers, taking lackeys to clear out floors everywhere. They even fired directly at buildings.

Others were driving armored vehicles, cruising around the city like a rich young master admiring the scenery.

There were also those who were intoxicated by their own role-playing, killing a few zombies and then hiding in a corner, fantasizing about how lonely they were and how they were misunderstood.

Wen Xishu noticed one point: it seemed... not only was he excluded, but these few people were all separated.

He realized that the starting locations for ordinary professions and hidden professions could not be the same. Therefore, he, with an ordinary profession, could only appear at the same novice spawn point as the blind man, who also had an ordinary profession.

But the hidden professions were not together either; because they chose hidden professions, Child-Faced Wolf, Tam, and the others all had their own individual spawn points, with everyone in different areas of the city.

Fitness coach Zhang Hai said:

"I seem to have arrived at a plot location... brothers, I have discovered survivors; they are in a prison. I see them."

"They used the prison walls to block the monsters outside, and they even planted vegetables inside. I see the giant exclamation mark floating above this prison; I’m going in to take a look!"

Zhang Hai was the only one who gave Wen Xishu useful information. Although Wen Xishu had already guessed it long ago.

At this moment, Wen Xishu had already sneaked to the twenty-second floor of this building.

There were only a few scattered zombies at the twenty-first-floor stairwell. There was a zombie with an exclamation mark above its head; it was a zombie holding a steel pipe and wearing a military-green overcoat.

It was patrolling at the stairwell. Occasionally, zombies would try to pass through the stairwell, but this zombie would wave its steel pipe and beat back the other zombies.

Wen Xishu was on a higher floor, overlooking this scene through the collapsed floorboards.

"This zombie... should have had a very strong obsession before it died, prompting it to stubbornly perform some kind of behavior. It should be protecting someone..."

"Zombies do not possess interactivity; it has an exclamation mark above its head, but the quest-giver is definitely not it."

Wen Xishu noticed that on the twenty-first-floor corridor, outside room 2111, there was barbed wire.

This was a simple defensive fortification, which counted as hindering zombies from approaching; things like zombies were driven by hunger, but they would also bypass certain things due to pain.

"If I’m not mistaken, there is someone in room 2111, and the person inside should be the target this zombie is longing to protect."

Wen Xishu discovered that his hunger value had reached 60 at this time, and his thirst value had even reached 80. Rated as extremely thirsty.

He had to find a water source as soon as possible.

"There is a zombie at the stairwell, and the zombie is holding a steel pipe; this steel pipe might be useful to me."

"At the same time, the door to 2111 is locked. If I try to knock on the door and enter directly from the 21st-floor corridor, I will inevitably alert the zombies, and in that case, the quest will very likely fail."

Currently, this game had pay-to-win options.

The source of asset points was the things on your person. According to the quest interpretation, you could exchange everything you had for asset points, and then use the asset points to purchase cheat items in the game.

But Wen Xishu did not possess this ability. Therefore, Wen Xishu cherished one point...

That was the quest.

A game, if it wasn't too terrible, had to have a sufficiently good growth system, such as doing quests.

If the game’s reward output relied purely on pay-to-win... then this game was probably raising pigs or geese.

"The Luo Pan guided me here, which shows that this quest should be very important."

The stairwell was guarded by a zombie; Wen Xishu was confident he could kill the zombie, but the zombie had an exclamation mark above its head, and Wen Xishu felt that killing it was wrong.

At the same time, if he bypassed the zombie and entered from the door of room 2111, Wen Xishu would alert other zombies, and it was very likely that the zombie with the exclamation mark would also fight Wen Xishu again to protect the residents of 2111.

Wen Xishu was certain... the result would be that he would run away, or accidentally kill the zombie.

The quest would still fail.

"I must enter 2111 directly. I cannot alert any zombies. I cannot enter from the doorway."

Thinking of this, Wen Xishu soon had a plan.

He first observed the structure of the corridor, then slowly returned to the rooftop of the building.

That was the 24th floor of the building. According to his memory, Wen Xishu found room 2411.

Then he climbed over the railing directly and began to descend from the exterior facade of the building.

He had seen this kind of gameplay in games and movies, and he had done it himself back in the Niqi Building.

That was to jump directly from the 24th floor, then use his arm strength to grab the focal point when falling to the window of room 2311 on the 23rd floor, then let go, fall to the window of room 2211, then let go, and fall to the window of room 2111.

This required extreme grip and arm strength, but for the current Wen Xishu, it felt incomparably easy to do.

Before long, Wen Xishu arrived at the windowsill of 2111.

The window was open.

The moment Wen Xishu’s feet landed on the windowsill, two mission options appeared in his mind, and time seemed to slow down to an extreme degree.

Everything around him was in a state of slow motion.

[Please select the mission you wish to accept.]

[Mission One: Family Reunion.]

[Mission Two: Toil and Labor.]

There was no mission description, nor was there a preview of the rewards. He could almost only choose based on the names.

Furthermore, the countdown was only five seconds.

Wen Xishu chose Mission One. In that instant, the speed of everything around him returned to normal, and time seemed to resume its regular flow.

The woman inside subconsciously wanted to cry out in surprise, but Wen Xishu was quick-witted and agile; he immediately lunged forward and covered her mouth directly.

There was actually more than just the woman in the room; there was also a little girl who was unconscious and running a high fever. The little girl’s hands were tied with a belt.

With the woman’s mouth covered by Wen Xishu, Wen Xishu made a "shh" gesture:

"If you make a sound, you should know it will attract zombies. So, if you want to keep living, and want your daughter to keep living, be quiet. I won't hurt you, okay?"

The woman nodded.

This was a woman of thirty-five or thirty-six, with no distinct features; she could not be considered pretty, nor could she be considered ugly.

Wen Xishu let go:

"I am just a survivor passing through. I need a little water and food."

The woman looked at Wen Xishu in fear and shook her head:

"There is only a little bit left... Please, please don't take them."

On the table in Room 2111 sat half a bottle of mineral water and a bag of instant noodles.

Wen Xishu’s gaze turned to the mineral water, and he discovered the following note: [Drink it, and your thirst value will decrease by forty points.]

The instant noodles were the same, marked with the hunger value they would reduce.

Seeing that Wen Xishu seemed relatively friendly, the woman suddenly turned fierce; she actually rushed over, wanting to snatch the half bottle of water and the bag of instant noodles from the table.

But with a light pull, Wen Xishu grabbed the woman’s entire body.

The woman gritted her teeth, afraid of crying out, and said:

"You... don't take ours... these are our last resources. My daughter is still sick."

Wen Xishu first put the water and food into his pocket, then silently pondered their current situation.

"If there are no melodramatic plot twists, this woman and this girl probably won't live much longer."

"I seem to understand the mission mechanism of this game. Missions are triggered forcibly when approaching a location, and they exist with multiple possible endings."

"And it won't give you enough time to think, nor is there any mission description. Your only information is the mission name."

The mission Wen Xishu chose was Family Reunion.

At this moment, the cruel side of this game appeared.

Wen Xishu said:

"Is your daughter infected?"

The girl lay on the bed with a wound on her arm and purple lips; from time to time, one could see something like a worm lurking and crawling under the girl’s skin, like a walking wrinkle.

The woman seemed unable to accept this statement:

"No! She is not infected, she is not infected, she just has a cold."

Wen Xishu became completely calm:

"Is there anything you can tell me about this catastrophe?"

The woman shook her head, her eyes merely fixed on Wen Xishu’s pocket:

"I don't know anything, I beg you... leave me a mouthful of water!"

Wen Xishu asked again:

"Fine, but regarding this apocalypse, can you tell me some useful information?"

The woman still shook her head.

Wen Xishu was certain that the daughter’s life, added to her own, could not make this woman intentionally hide anything.

So he said:

"Alright, it seems this mission was just to test my moral inclination..."

"Your daughter is about to turn into a zombie, and you won't survive without water either. Let me tell you your upcoming ending."

"This world belongs to the zombies. You and your daughter must accept this. You are about to welcome a new life, where you don't need to worry about water and food, and you won't need to run or be afraid when you see humans, but instead will be a life of pouncing on them with great excitement. Very beautiful, isn't it?"

"Also, the girl’s father has been guarding you from outside for a long time. Your family should be reunited. Sorry, I said too much. I should save my saliva."

As Wen Xishu spoke, he pulled open the door.

The sound of the door opening instantly attracted other zombies. And the zombie wearing the military green coat at the stairwell made a sprint that was different from the slow pace of ordinary zombies.

Like a wolf whose territory had been violated, it let out a terrifying roar carrying the scent of decay.

It began to wildly beat the other zombies, then used a steel pipe to sweep away the wire mesh at the entrance and rushed into Room 2111.

Wen Xishu had already retreated to the windowsill by this time.

He saw a cruel scene.

The woman looked at the zombie in the military green coat, stunned for a moment, then began to cry loudly.

The zombie tilted its head, seemingly recalling something in its mind, but it only recalled it for a few seconds.

Then, without any melodrama and without any surprise, it bit into the woman’s neck.

At this time, the little girl lying on the bed let out a cry that also carried a somewhat rotten scent.

A family of three, reunited.

Wen Xishu actually didn't like the flow of this mission; he had only guessed the design arrangement of this mission.

The male zombie was the head of the household, having brought his wife and daughter to this city for a vacation.

The zombie outbreak occurred, and the man relied on his own strength to guard the floor, but he himself was bitten.

With powerful obsession, he managed to engrave a mark in his mind, even after becoming a zombie—no one was allowed near 2111.

But he himself could no longer recognize his daughter and wife. His wife and daughter also gradually fell into a predicament of having no water or food.

The mother and daughter accidentally discovered that the zombies on the floor seemed not to approach them because the father, who had already become a zombie, was actually protecting them.

The daughter seemed to try, naively, to awaken her father’s humanity by communicating with him.

She believed that even if her father had become a zombie, he would still protect her.

But she was wrong; the father who had become a zombie did indeed still have some memories in his mind, curbing his instincts, but he ultimately could not overcome them. The girl was even scratched because of this.

This was a desperate family; water and food were down to the last bit, the daughter was sick, and the father, turned into a zombie, was protecting them while also cutting off their path to survival.

In the apocalypse, such a family of three naturally could not survive.

Thus, the game’s designer made a dark-humored design—

In the seemingly warm mission option of "Family Reunion," there was actually a extremely cruel ending.

You had to let the husband who was guarding the mother and daughter kill his wife with his own hands, and then the family of three would be reunited in the way of zombies.

Of course, you could also choose the second mission, "Toil and Labor."

In all likelihood, you would be like a tool character, having accepted the mission, telling you to go help the girl and the woman find water and plants, using love to extend the girl’s life and prevent the tragedy from arriving.

You would go and tediously collect materials, just as NPCs in various stupid games demand you to do.

But this mission was bound to be the wrong choice. The real apocalypse is cruel; in a situation where Wen Xishu was hungry and thirsty and the other party was completely incapable of surviving, his real choice could only be the first one.

When the monster in the military green clothes finally rushed into Room 2111, he only hesitated slightly before biting his former wife to death.

However, at this moment, this zombie perhaps did indeed have emotional fluctuations.

It dropped the steel pipe in its hand.

Although Wen Xishu didn't think much of the steel pipe, he still picked it up, then retreated to the windowsill, using a climbing method and relying on his explosive power to jump repeatedly.

Although the power of the "Ultimate Kick" was weakened in this Savior game, it still gave Wen Xishu astonishing jumping ability.

Without wasting much effort, Wen Xishu returned to the twenty-fourth floor.

At the same time, he also received a mission notification.

[Your rationality, cruelty, and aggression have given you the qualifications to survive in the apocalypse. Congratulations, now you are no longer the "majority"; you have proven that you have the qualifications to advance to Savior and win that special grand prize. This is a world where villains compete with villains. There are still too many villains lurking in this city; perhaps you should continue on your journey and head to the next place.]

[Obtained mission reward: Thirst resistance increased by 25%, hunger resistance increased by 25%.]

After the notification appeared, although Wen Xishu still hadn't drunk water, he suddenly felt that he wasn't as hungry anymore.

At this time, he took out half a bottle of water and finished it in two gulps. His whole person was completely rid of the negative effects of thirst. Wen Xishu just felt unprecedentedly refreshed.

At the same time, Wen Xishu discovered that the "majority" in his field of vision had changed, becoming "a portion of people who are thirst and hunger resistant."

He stood on the roof, looking at the zombies wandering below, pondering the problem:

"It seems this counts as a novice mission. This mission actually indicates the designer’s intention: how a 'majority' can slowly evolve into the 'only one' in the apocalyptic world through various choices."

"I have now changed from the 'majority' to 'a portion.' I imagine that for the following missions, if the right choices are made, I will slowly change from a portion of people to something even rarer, such as a minority, a very small minority..."

"But will the mission style of this game always be like this?"

Although Wen Xishu did not loathe this kind of game plot that sent people on their way, was this game entirely this "selfish"?

"Also, the fifteenth floor of the Desire Tower world surely does not have an apocalypse. I am currently in a game designed by a person; this person’s game mentioned dreams and assets... How will that be displayed in the Desire Tower?"

Wen Xishu opened the Luo Pan again. The True Destiny Luo Pan could lead Ding Dong to avoid the Three Tower War; the False Destiny Luo Pan helped Wen Xishu find suitable missions; this was not difficult.

He soon began to act. The novice mission just now was very simple, with only half a skull, because this mission had almost no difficulty.

But next, the place Wen Xishu was heading to was a place with three skulls.

……

……

There were some questions to which Wen Xishu could not find the answers himself, but he could learn a portion of them through chat conversations.

Just as Wen Xishu was heading toward the Three Skulls mission area, he was also observing news from others.

[Tam: This damn game is really interesting. I just did something in the Strange Tower that you can only do in the Tower of Desire. The game's mission reward was actually a beauty offering herself to me. Hahahaha, so much for the fifteenth floor of the Strange Tower! I’m going to go conquer more women next.]

Tam’s words made Wen Xishu feel that something was wrong.

Although Tam’s game style was vastly different due to "paying to change fate," was the mission style actually different too? Judging by Tam’s words, Tam had just completed a mission, but this mission rewarded Tam with a beauty.

A second ago, Wen Xishu still felt that the game’s style seemed to be a dark, post-apocalyptic realistic style, and looking at the job descriptions, some jobs even had moral dilemmas.

But now, Tam made Wen Xishu feel like it was a reskinned national war game: expanding territory, fighting zombies, collecting beauties...

Honestly, Wen Xishu was not envious. He just felt—this was very strange.

Up until now, Wen Xishu hadn't actually encountered much that felt like the Strange Tower’s style. But those words from Tam just now gave him a weird feeling.

[Ye Family Young Master: People who indulge in female beauty will only get lost in the apocalypse. Just now, through a mission, I successfully opened up a goods trade route for the agents in this area, between the Commercial Street survivors and the Residential Area survivors. Now, people from the two camps have a market where they can trade supplies regularly. I am just too talented after all; even this damn apocalypse has been subdued by my business acumen.]

[Child-Faced Wolf: I really envy you all, being able to happily indulge in it without being disturbed by the true cruelty of the apocalypse. But I do not regret my choice, even though I bear it all.]

Wen Xishu gradually began to catch on, and the following words from Dechuan Dahe made Wen Xishu almost certain of his guess.

[Dechuan Dahe: I just helped a woman find medicine to save her child; her child was infected... But I spent some asset points to redeem an antidote, and now their whole family is grateful to me. There is warmth in the apocalypse, too.]

Tam was a criminal, and the things he craved... were actually the simplest desires. Women, destruction, expansion—very straightforward.

And Ye Lingfeng was a guy who liked to show off his wealth; coincidentally, his game had started to turn into an apocalypse merchant simulator.

Child-Faced Wolf was still unclear for now, but this style of liking to act profound had never changed, and presumably, he was also very satisfied with the role he was playing in the game.

Originally, Wen Xishu wasn't sure, as it seemed their playstyles could indeed be realized.

It was just that the following words from Dechuan Dahe made Wen Xishu feel it was too much of a coincidence.

Dechuan Dahe had said he was risking his life in the Strange Tower for his child’s job opportunities.

This meant he was a person who valued family. Coincidentally, he had experienced a mission almost exactly the same as his own.

The difference was that the "Pay-to-Win System" gave Dechuan Dahe an option that didn't fit the apocalyptic atmosphere at all—an antidote.

If there were antidotes for everything, was there even a need for this apocalypse to exist?

Wen Xishu could now almost be certain... the game was transforming and extending according to the players' pay-to-win will.

Until this moment, Wen Xishu seemed to understand the information in the mission introduction—

"Here, you will truly feel the weight of your dreams; all your actions will make a value judgment for your dreams."

He finally understood the meaning of this sentence completely.

"This game is practically like a living thing."

At this moment, Wen Xishu was suddenly very curious: if the blind man who was bent on death paid to win, what would change?

He discovered something that surprised him: the blind man still hadn't died.

(End of chapter)