Chapter 15: An Interlude in the Slaughter Tower

Slaughter Tower, twenty-first floor.

Most people in the Desire Tower linger below the first twenty floors. Once they reach the twentieth floor and above, the possibility arises that certain targets may be difficult to please.

But the Slaughter Tower is different.

Exploration of the Trick Tower has only just begun, and people know very little about it. However, the Slaughter Tower has been explored for some years now.

There is no such thing as safety in the Slaughter Tower; every floor carries the risk of death.

Because of the monsters.

These monsters are not entirely incapable of communication, but they harbor an intense hatred for humans.

They almost refuse all interaction; they kill on sight and strike the moment one shows their head.

The twenty-first floor of the Slaughter Tower is already considered a death trap in everyone's eyes.

Aside from the teachers and students of the Slaughter Tower Academy, very few independent tower climbers from the bunkers ever come to such a high level.

"Damn it... I'm still seventy short of the mission quota. But if I don't find a place to light a campfire now and lower my slaughter value, I'm going to turn into a monster."

A tall, blood-covered second-year senior from the Slaughter Tower Academy said.

His name is Zhang Wei, and he is one of the prominent figures of the Slaughter Tower Academy's second year. Not long ago, on the seventeenth floor of the Slaughter Tower, he obtained the powerful Slaughter Sequence 244: Armed Bone.

At the same time, he also possesses the tradable Slaughter Sequence 303: Slaughter Will, which he rented from an academy teacher.

Equipped with sequences in both of his sequence slots, he thought he could show off in front of the freshmen, so he risked his life to head to the twenty-first floor.

If he could lead his junior to successfully clear the twenty-first floor, he would be incredibly glorious upon returning to the Slaughter Tower Academy.

The ideal is plump, but the reality is cruel.

Moen City, located within the Slaughter Tower, is practically crawling with mutated creatures.

This prominent second-year figure of the Slaughter Tower Academy has been killing here for a full four hours...

Killing nothing but one type of monster: rats.

It is said that on the twenty-first floor of the Desire Tower, someone once saw a certain area plastered with "Beware of Rats" warning signs.

But that was in the Desire Tower; people in the Slaughter Tower didn't care.

Yet here in the Slaughter Tower, these rats are far more terrifying than the elite monsters below the tenth floor.

Zhang Wei has a solid foundation and keeps fending off the rats' attacks. But that is all he can manage—just fending them off.

"Se... Senior, are we going to die here?" a 2061-level freshman asked, trembling, his heart filled with regret.

This freshman had already noticed that the senior's expression was wrong; the side effects of Slaughter Will were beginning to manifest.

With his slaughter value too high, Zhang Wei was currently struggling with all his might to suppress the urge to kill with his reason.

He knew very well that if he didn't find a place to light a campfire now and lower his slaughter value...

Then he would become just another part of the Slaughter Tower.

Zhang Wei regretted it; he shouldn't have underestimated Moen City. A place where Xun Hui could go was not necessarily a place he could go.

But right now, he couldn't shake off this pack of incredibly fast rats.

And that wasn't even the worst of it.

He sensed a terrifying aura; not far away, a super-giant rat was slowly approaching.

He couldn't even view any of that rat's stats... It was a monster that was completely overpowered for his current stage.

Unable to fight and with nowhere to hide, these two Slaughter Tower Academy students would likely pay the price for their recklessness today.

Unless... they entered that building.

Jack's Trick Building.

Zhang Wei noticed that the rats didn't even dare to approach the building not far behind him.

In the process of fighting, he had unknowingly drawn near to this building.

But he had heard rumors that some floors had hidden monsters that absolutely must not be provoked.

These monsters have their own territories, unlike the monsters that constantly roam the city.

As long as a tower climber does not approach or intrude into this area, they will not trigger a battle with these monsters.

But once they approach, it becomes a boss fight with very low odds of winning.

Zhang Wei is an elite of the second year and will surely be one of humanity's powerhouses in the future.

But he knows very well that inside that building hides an existence that even the teachers of the Slaughter Tower Academy dare not provoke.

Suddenly... Zhang Wei and his junior widened their eyes.

Movement came from inside the old building. The surrounding pack of rats suddenly retreated several meters.

The door of the old building actually opened.

A young girl walked out from the shadows of the old building; her style was completely different from the terrifying monster Zhang Wei had imagined.

She looked... as if she were just a girl from the Desire Tower Academy; no, she looked even more pure than them.

Even so, Zhang Wei suddenly became vigilant.

Because even that giant rat he was completely unable to match had fled in fear.

Zhang Wei stood in front of his junior, assuming a defensive stance. He knew, of course, that he had no chance of winning.

But he had no choice; as a senior, he couldn't let a junior who didn't even have a sequence go to his death.

Yet the girl had no intent to fight; she just said indifferently:

"Do you want to come in and rest for a while? We can allow you to stay for a short time today. I have some things I want to ask you."

The junior was terrified; he didn't understand what was happening, but he had heard a saying...

Monsters in the Slaughter Tower are humanity's mortal enemies; do not attempt to communicate with them.

The girl's expression was somewhat languid:

"While you are still human, you can come in and take shelter."

"If you don't want to come in, you can stay there. I'm not interested in whether you live or die, but I need to ask you about someone."

"You look like you have the same skin color as him."

Zhang Wei was confused.

He was actually even more shocked than his junior. Because the more experienced one is in exploring the Slaughter Tower, the more one understands how absurd this situation is.

An existence suspected to be a regional boss would never communicate with people; they belong to the category of existences that immediately erase humans upon detecting them.

Yet this girl at the door of the old building seemed to have no murderous intent. If the other party wanted to act, he probably wouldn't be able to fend her off anyway.

Could it be that his killing of the rats triggered a hidden mission?

Zhang Wei could never have imagined that a death-row prisoner far away in the Trick Tower had saved him in the Slaughter Tower after completing a Trick Tower mission.

"Who... who are you trying to ask about?" Zhang Wei decided to try communicating.

The girl spoke slowly:

"Do you know Wen Xishu?"

The dizziness and blurred consciousness caused by frequent spatial shifts felt quite comfortable to Wen Xishu.

It felt like the sensation a patient has on the operating table after the anesthesia kicks in.

A moment ago, he was still in Jack's old building, but the next moment, he opened his eyes and arrived in a strange room.

This room was covered in clocks and doors.

Wristwatches, pocket watches, wall clocks, sundials, hourglasses...

Wooden doors, iron doors, crooked doors, straight doors...

These elements were everywhere, making the already dizzy Wen Xishu even more confused, but when he looked at the figure in front of him—

He immediately felt that dizziness and drowsiness vanish, and he became instantly clear-headed.

The person in front had three heads.

The Three-Tower Guide.

Everyone who completes their first tower-climbing journey comes here to see it.

It's just that Wen Xishu didn't expect this guide to have such a bizarre appearance.

But the guide was also curious. It saw the clues from the reflection in Wen Xishu's pupils.

"How interesting. Who was the last one to see our three heads again?"

"It was that killing machine, wasn't it?"

"Oh~ I like that killing machine. He killed so many people. But he was snatched away by the third one!"

The three different heads actually began to converse.

To Wen Xishu's surprise, the content of their words seemed to indicate—

Not everyone can see the guide's three heads.

"Welcome, welcome, a newcomer suitable for all three tower systems. I am the Guide, the one who leads you to the top of the Three Towers."

All three heads spoke at the same time.

(End of chapter)