Chapter 48: Speedrun Plan

Wen Xishu became interested.

The two strongest in the Bunker: Slaughter Tower’s Xun Hui, and Desire Tower’s Wen Renjing.

These two are the ceiling of their respective tower systems.

Of course, Albert is not the ceiling; he is the heaven beyond heaven. It is also not excluded that there are heavens beyond heaven in the Desire Tower system.

However, people recognize the Heavenly Ladder Ranking. So, in a sense, Xun Hui and Wen Renjing are the most popular people in the Bunker.

If he could make Wen Renjing owe him a favor... that wouldn't be bad at all.

Wen Xishu does not like this bureau or that bureau in the Bunker; if he could, he wouldn't mind killing to his heart's content together with Zheng Zai.

But he is still too weak.

Everything must be done in stages. At this stage, the only thing Wen Xishu wants to do is survive, firmly establish a foothold in the Bunker, and ideally, build connections with all the major forces.

As for those credits that were stolen, and the architectural facilities that bear his signature...

Wen Xishu believes that everything he has lost will be returned twofold.

"Thank you both. At the very least, I know one wrong direction now. When it comes to charming people, I don't think I'm better than Wen Renjing, but at least... I can try other approaches."

Wen Xishu did not intend to delay.

After getting a free guide, he immediately turned to leave.

At this moment, Ji Boda really wanted to see Wen Xishu’s wrist.

Last time, he and Liu Ruyan had noticed this turning motion of Wen Xishu.

But in the end, the two of them held back.

Mainly, Wen Xishu displayed an incredible background, and as instructors, the academy teachers are generally quite polite to students.

As Wen Xishu’s figure disappeared, Ji Boda said:

"I don't even have the mood to climb the tower now; I just want to rush to the principal's office and ask clearly, what exactly is this kid's background?"

Liu Ruyan said:

"He wasn't lying. There were no muscle excitation reactions associated with bragging. After learning about Wen Renjing’s regrets, he actually became somewhat excited instead. That was the excitement of a challenger."

Ji Boda said:

"Do you think it's possible that he... is that Wen Xishu?"

Liu Ruyan was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said:

"It is rumored that Wen Xishu’s supplies come from the Ghost Tower."

But after saying this, she suddenly thought of the sneaky way that boy had started his login device.

She looked at Ji Boda, and Ji Boda smiled:

"If this is true, it’s a big deal. I really have to ask the principal. If I don't ask... I won't feel at ease."

"Let's go, wifey. I wish you success, and I wish myself success. I hope we can heal the poor souls in this Desire Tower sooner."

Liu Ruyan nodded, and the two of them activated their login devices at the same time.

……

……

The world of the Desire Tower is a world with love.

But this love does not seem to come from the Desire Tower itself, but from the Bunker.

The Desire Tower is like a sick world, and the Bunker is the medicine. The Slaughter Tower and the Ghost Tower are terminally ill; they need to trace the source, and they need strong medicine.

As Wen Xishu stepped into the Desire Tower, such a concept suddenly appeared in his mind. The frequent spatial transitions made his consciousness somewhat blurred.

But compared to the first time, he had adapted much better. The thoughts in his mind were quickly cleared away because the scenery in his line of sight had become clearly visible.

Desire Tower, Sixth Floor: Jiangcheng.

The differentiation between cities is actually becoming smaller and smaller, which led to Wen Xishu not immediately recognizing where Jiangcheng was. However, judging by the accents of the passersby, it seemed to be the Suzhou-Hangzhou area.

Wen Xishu likes the soft Wu dialect here, but he doesn't like the cuisine here. As always, after arriving at the Desire Tower, Wen Xishu received a notification.

[Tang Rui’s current happiness value: 0. Mission status: Incomplete.]

[Time remaining: 47 hours, 59 minutes, 30 seconds.]

Because he possessed twelve points of luck, Wen Xishu’s spawn point this time was not far from the mission target.

Luck affects many things. Every time one enters the Desire Tower, there will be a reasonable temporary identity to begin the adventure.

Whether this identity has enemies, whether this identity is legal, how much wealth this identity possesses, the initial items of this identity, the initial location of this identity, the initial favorability with the target...

These things are all determined by luck.

Even the timing of the mission entry is determined by luck.

And those who enter via an invitation letter often have an additional luck bonus.

For example, last time, Wen Xishu happened to arrive at a node where everything was just beginning.

So in a sense, different luck values lead to different difficulties in entering the Desire Tower; in layman's terms, the way to open it is different.

Wen Xishu’s luck was quite good this time. With the twelve points of initial luck and the invitation bonus, he appeared not far from the mission target.

This was a bar called "Empty Cup Regret." A pun on the "empty sorrow" from the line "Do not wait in vain, lest you regret it when your hair turns white."

This bar was not noisy; the bartender was mixing drinks, and a few people were sitting casually at the bar. The music playing not far away was also an extremely slow and lazy tune.

Wen Xishu had originally been thinking about just asking everyone one by one who was named Tang Rui; he shouldn't be too far from the target.

By constantly asking, he would definitely be able to narrow down the range quickly.

But suddenly, he discovered that he seemed to be able to sense the target. This feeling was something the Wen Xishu of last time had never possessed.

Ghost Sequence 37: Mental Barrage, gave Wen Xishu a certain degree of ghost-sensing ability.

And those who possess this ability, under the circumstances permitted by the rules, will have a slight sense of connection.

This connection is very weak, the direction is unclear; it is like a scent that is ethereal and hard to find, or like a sigh from a great distance.

Wen Xishu understood: it was the Power of Three Phases. The so-called "permitted by the rules" means being able to use the powers and items of the Ghost Tower system within the Desire Tower.

This was originally absolutely forbidden. But because of the Mad Dice, the current Wen Xishu can use the power of the sequence.

No wonder when he met Zheng Zai before, his first reaction was that the problem with Zheng Zai was not an illness, but a sequence.

Now he had that feeling again; in this bar, there seemed to be someone who, like him, was hiding the aura of ghost power.

Wen Xishu began to look for that person, and suddenly, his gaze met that of a girl of twenty-six or twenty-seven.

The girl looked at Wen Xishu, and Wen Xishu looked at the girl.

There was a certain confusion in the girl’s eyes, as if she had suddenly sensed something, but that feeling was too weak to grasp the details.

Wen Xishu walked straight toward the girl.

The girl had a head of fluffy short hair; she looked like a little punk.

Because her hair was dyed in those vivid, interwoven pink and green colors.

Her tattoos were exaggerated, covering her entire arm.

She was wearing leather pants, but her upper body was unusually cool and revealing, exposing her flat midriff.

She seemed like someone who should appear in a bar with crazy head-banging and deafening heavy metal music, not here.

She was smoking, and the confusion in her eyes gradually turned into a bit of haziness, as if she were somewhat drunk.

"Tang Rui?" Wen Xishu asked directly.

"Yes, who are you?" Seeing Wen Xishu approach, Tang Rui was not afraid; instead, she raised her wine glass.

Perhaps it was the slightly roguish aura radiating from Wen Xishu that made her not feel repulsed.

Wen Xishu watched the girl raise her glass and suddenly smiled.

It’s no wonder so many people are willing to choose to solve problems with their "handles" at low levels.

At low levels, if your luck is slightly higher, you will encounter a start like Wen Xishu’s.

Under these hazy lights, the liquid swirling in a goblet is always easy to ignite a spark. Besides, this girl’s appearance is the kind that could move Wen Renjing.

Wen Xishu is not interested in this kind of approach. If he were to mess around with women in the Desire Tower’s instance world... he would have the feeling that he was about to cuckold someone else, and would sooner or later be cuckolded by someone else as well.

Time is very precious. As a pure plot-focused player, Wen Xishu does not want to waste time—

He wants to figure out what Tang Rui has experienced, and also investigate why the Ghost-Tang Rui stage is related to four different scenes.

Which four items are the pollution objects corresponding to the four scenes.

Why this girl, after Wen Renjing brought such beautiful love... still chose to commit suicide.

If he were to investigate slowly, forty-eight hours would be completely insufficient.

Therefore—Wen Xishu decided to speedrun.

Now he could already confirm that he could use the items and sequences of the Ghost Tower.

Without hesitation, Wen Xishu took out the Truth-Telling Wine Glass.

"Dare to have a few drinks with my glass? This glass has a very magical effect. Once you drink from it, you will gain happiness."

Tang Rui did not hesitate; she took the glass and began to pour the wine.

Wen Xishu was now certain that this girl’s world had truly crumbled to almost nothing.

Although the Truth-Telling Wine Glass was beautifully crafted, drinking from a stranger’s glass in a place like this, and pouring the wine with almost no hesitation... was still too dangerous.

This was not like the inexplicable trust in strangers that Jack had, but rather a complete lack of concern for what might happen afterward.

It was as if she were certain that she was already miserable enough, and would never experience anything worse.

Wen Xishu actually thought this was good; he thought it was very convenient. Starting at a bar, and using a Ghost Tower item to cheat and inquire about cause and effect right from the start.

This gave Wen Xishu the feeling of playing a speedrunning game.

What Wen Renjing couldn't do in seven days, perhaps he could do in just a few glasses of wine.

Tang Rui said:

"So you will also reap happiness?"

"Of course. I am using the same cup as you; I don't know what will happen after drinking the wine either. But fate brought us together, perhaps it will bring good fortune to us both in some future season."

Wen Xishu also poured himself a full glass of wine.

He was not lying; there were two Truth-Telling Wine Cups, and he and Tang Rui each had one at this moment.

However, Wen Xishu knew what the world of the Desire Tower was all about. He did not mind telling a creature within the Desire Tower all of his truths.

Tang Rui said:

"How do we play? Spin the bottle? Shake the dice?"

Wen Xishu smiled and said:

"You choose the rules. Just one thing, the faster the better."

Tang Rui inexplicably felt that this was very exciting:

"Then let's shake the dice and guess odd or even. If it's odd, I drink; if it's even, you drink."

"No problem."

Tang Rui asked the bartender for dice, and the two of them left the bar counter and moved to a slightly more secluded seat.

The last few days of life... Tang Rui really wanted to go crazy.

Wen Xishu liked this kind of rapid development, but what he did not know was that although he would soon figure out the ins and outs of the story...

This trip to the Desire Tower would be bloodier than the trip to the Trick Tower; fortunately, he was the creator of that bloodshed.

(Starting tomorrow, and for the chapters over the next several days, it should count as the first small climax of this book. Familiar old readers should know, it's that kind of big chapter with a high word count... Although it hasn't been officially released yet, I will burst out all the chapters that should be burst out. I hope you won't hoard the book during the new book period~ Thank you everyone.)

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(End of this chapter)