Chapter 68: No One Is Normal

Yin Junchi shook his head and said, "It seems like there wasn't one at that time."

Wen Xishu memorized the details of the day and said:

"I need to study this, but don't be afraid, remember, don't be afraid! I will come to visit you later. Rest assured, as long as I am here, nothing will happen to you."

Wen Xishu had some guesses; they didn't count as deductions, just pure speculation. He guessed that the situation Yin Junchi encountered was related to fear.

After confirming there were no other items of note, he chose to soothe Yin Junchi first, then returned to his own room to think it over properly.

He had to do this, because the hour was up.

[Interaction with neighbor has ended, 50 action points have been deducted, current remaining action points: 45.]

Wen Xishu's body began to walk back uncontrollably. After returning to the room, he began to organize the clues he had obtained.

But there were truly few clues, making effective deduction difficult. He could only hope that by combining his clues with those of the other four, he would be able to infer something useful.

"Some things are still just guesses, but combined with the others' clues, perhaps I can find a breakthrough on the first day."

……

……

First day, night. One hour remains until the end of the day.

Wen Xishu and the other four have all completed the "Interact with Neighbor" option. Wen Xishu, A Miao, Xiao Wu, and Wu Xiangjiao all have 45 action points remaining.

However, A Miao, Xiao Wu, and Wu Xiangjiao did not conduct their investigations as thoroughly as Wen Xishu.

In the end, it was Xiao Wu who initiated the meeting. Because Xiao Wu was truly feeling some fear inside, and felt inferior for not having made any contribution, he thought he must make some compensation.

The five people began to communicate again.

In fact, after interacting with their neighbors, several people had already pondered some things that felt wrong.

"I, I'm sorry, I wasted fifty action points, my fault, my fault... I shouldn't have made such a mistake. Perhaps I should have been a bit tougher?"

"But seeing that he was a lawyer, I was naturally afraid, and the information I could provide was very limited."

"He must be a very excellent lawyer, he has many trophies, but he seems to have severe mysophobia. He spoke a bit stiffly; perhaps he has also encountered something terrifying recently."

"Ah, I should go take a shower, I feel like I'm a bit dirty."

"No, I have to finish speaking first. It's just that he might have severe mysophobia; he felt the room was too dirty to host me, so he closed the door. At that moment, it prompted me that I should go back, and my action points had already been deducted."

"I'm really sorry, I... after I got out of prison, I've been useless."

"I think I'll go take a shower first. Oh, what's wrong with me? I have to wait for everyone to finish speaking."

Xiao Wu patted his own head, then lowered it.

Wen Xishu silently observed Xiao Wu's changes. Recalling how Xiao Wu looked when they first met, was he such a sensitive person?

Did he feel that he was dirty? So eager to take a shower?

Something is wrong.

Wen Xishu had a feeling that Xiao Wu had already begun to be influenced by some strange, eerie power.

The second to speak was Wu Xiangjiao.

"I don't seem to have discovered anything either, it's really strange. I just met a shut-in. I thought, although the university knowledge of the Three Towers and the university knowledge of the bunker aren't the same intensity, a college student is a college student, they're much the same at this age, the age of jerking off three times a day."

"Plus, his room really did have that kind of smell... just that kind, heh, hehehe. He might have been in his 'sage time.' As soon as I started talking to him about women, he very seriously chased me away."

"Damn, could it be a super 'sage time' after continuous jerking off?"

Wen Xishu asked:

"Did you notice anything else? Or what do you think was the most prominent impression this college student gave you?"

Wu Xiangjiao shook his head:

"Nothing else, to be honest, he was quite ordinary. He said he wanted to be a prosecutor in the future, but the books in his hands weren't study-related books either."

Wen Xishu took note of this.

The third to speak was Wen Xange:

"Ahem, ashamed, ashamed. I thought that with my cooking skills, I could definitely make the neighbor opposite like me, the newcomer. As it turns out, I have failed you all."

"Now that I think about it, that stuff wasn't even that good. I overestimated my own abilities too much. How could I have thought of using that method to interact?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He is a somewhat obese person, he must have a big appetite, but the food I made was probably too terrible. As soon as he saw it, he felt nauseous and vomited, then closed the door."

"I, I actually wasted fifty points just like that!"

Wen Xishu realized that Wu Xiangjiao was actually quite normal.

But Xiao Wu and Wen Xange seemed to have something wrong with them.

Although Xiao Wu had just finished his labor reform at the time, he had a face of peace and tranquility, and Venerable Wen had an exceptionally good mental state.

But now, both of these people seemed to be overly guilty and self-reproachful.

Wen Xishu began to listen to the last person, A Miao's, statement.

A Miao said:

"I met a comedian. If I had to say what the most prominent part was, it's that he was really optimistic and happy. He also infected me; his smile was very healing to me."

"I think, actually, there's nothing to be afraid of, I also feel very happy!"

"Everyone, don't be too nervous, what could there be? My Lord will protect us, there is no hurdle in life that cannot be overcome!"

That was it.

A Miao's statement was too brief; Wen Xishu hadn't expected it to be like this. Looking at it this way, A Miao was the most normal one.

But he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"A Miao, you feel very happy now? But at the beginning? At the very beginning, before you visited your neighbor, what were you feeling?"

"A bit afraid, I suppose. You also know that I'm actually here to risk my life. With the Level 6 hospital brought by Sect Leader Wen Xishu, I, who was originally destined to die, now have a chance at life."

"That's why I thought, under the policy incentives, I'd come to the Eerie Tower to earn some money. But when I discovered that there is an eerie power in the Eerie Tower that can actually directly control my body, I was indeed very afraid, and also a bit annoyed. If this power keeps controlling me, wouldn't I be unable to do anything?"

Wen Xishu said:

"And are you still afraid now?"

A Miao shook his head:

"Not afraid anymore. Life should be full of laughter. I think my neighbor is very good, I should learn from him."

This is bad... now, truly, except for Wu Xiangjiao, not a single person is normal.

Wen Xishu faintly captured that common point:

"My neighbor is a bestselling author who came here to find inspiration and is currently in a state of being particularly excited, with inspiration overflowing."

"But the things he writes are horror novels. Now, whenever he wants to rest a little, he starts having hallucinations."

"The content of these hallucinations is very terrifying."

"Xiao Wu, Venerable, have you two felt fear?"

Xiao Wu and Wen Xange lowered their heads, thought for a while, and said together:

"Yes!"

Xiao Wu stated the reason for his fear; he felt that the lawyer was very abnormal. The room was bright as day, yet he still complained that the room was dirty.

Wen Xange, on the other hand, thought that once this place had no action points left, one couldn't even go out. He couldn't even escape... and so he felt afraid involuntarily.

He didn't want to die here; he still wanted to spread the deeds of the Holy Wen to every corner, to make the Xishu Divine Sect grow and flourish to create brilliance together.

Wen Xishu sighed:

"It seems that's how it is. I think even if I tell you not to be afraid, it will be of no use."

"Everyone..."

Wen Xishu suddenly shut his mouth. He realized that not everyone had a heart as big as his.

If he emphasized saying this one sentence at this time:

"You have all become very different from before you came in, have you noticed?"

Once this sentence was carefully pondered by them, they would find that peaceful people had become insecure, desperate people had become optimistic, and it was hard to say if this would make them fall into even greater fear.

Now he could be certain that fear was the switch that opened the eeriness.

The author felt fear, so he began to have hallucinations. A Miao felt fear, so he began to become extremely optimistic. Xiao Wu and Venerable Wen felt fear, so they began to feel inferior...

The inferiority of these two people could perhaps be further subdivided into differences.

Only Wu Xiangjiao had no changes. Because this person wasn't afraid, but it's hard to say what will happen later.

Wen Xishu was still thinking about whether the reactions of these people after feeling fear could string together any clues.

Wen Xange asked:

"A-Shu, what were you just going to say? I think your analytical ability is quite reliable. As the future of my Xishu Divine Sect, you can speak your mind freely."

Wen Xishu shook his head:

"Nothing, this mission is actually not difficult. I have some clues. Everyone, don't be nervous. As long as we cooperate with each other, nothing will happen."

"It's only the first day, I can't draw conclusions yet. Everyone, wait a little longer."

The others had their own thoughts, but they all nodded, and the meeting ended quickly.

Only a few dozen minutes remained until the end of the first day.

Before the end of the first day, Wen Xishu decided to spend 25 action points to search this room.

Facing his teammates falling into a predicament, Wen Xishu instead had a surging desire to work.

……

……

There were actually very few places to explore in the room.

After confirming the consumption of action points, Wen Xishu could freely check every corner, as well as use the room's network equipment to view some information.

Wen Xishu first looked at the current status of Jicheng. Then he checked the names of the family members of the chaebol behind the Three Spheres Company.

He noticed someone named An Zhenqi. At this moment, Wen Xishu was paying extra attention to Qi, so he looked up An Zhenqi.

Incidentally, he looked up the works under the pen name Yin Junchi, as well as the website and novel categories they belonged to.

He discovered some clues, but they were not yet enough to form a complete trail.

Subsequently, Wen Xishu began to search this room.

He searched very carefully, but he did not search the entire residence in a general way; he only searched the bedroom. Because the bedroom was adjacent to another room.

Which was Room 14-1.

After all items had been searched and nothing special was found, Wen Xishu did not continue searching for items; he placed his ear directly against the wall and began to listen to the movement next door.

"Amazing! That's it!"

Yin Junchi's voice came through.

"Just write like this! Just write like this! I can write all night; I have never been so smooth, just like thirty years of constipation, suddenly gushing out in one go!"

Approaching twelve o'clock, Yin Junchi had no sleepiness at all; he seemed to be filled with inspiration once again and began to tap the keyboard incessantly.

Wen Xishu felt a sense of incongruity.

But he could not figure out any definite clues, and time was passing ruthlessly.

[Exploration of your current room is complete. 25 points of Action Power have been deducted. Remaining Action Power: 20 points.]

[The second day has arrived. Remaining Action Power: 100 points.]

The suddenly appearing prompt made Wen Xishu feel a bit of tension.

The first day had passed just like that.

Now his Action Power had been replenished to one hundred. He decided not to sleep yet and go do other things.

However, before doing these things, Wen Xishu still sorted through the current clues:

"Xiao Wu, A Miao, Venerable Wen, Wu Xiangjiao—the people these individuals visited all have a distinct characteristic."

"But with just these few people, it is very hard for me to find a pattern."

"A germaphobe lawyer, a college student who wants to become a prosecutor, a comedian with a happy-go-lucky attitude toward life, and a fatty who is quite picky about food."

"These people seem to have no connection... the only connection is that they will all die."

"There are five of us, corresponding to seven households. Coincidentally, it seems we all encountered single-person households. The neighbors of the five of us are all the type without any family members."

"Then what about the remaining two households?"

Wen Xishu decided to find the remaining two households.

"I am on the 14th floor, A Miao is on the 35th, Xiangjiao is on the 21st, Venerable is on the 7th, and Xiao Wu is on the 28th."

"This pattern is actually quite easy to find; they are all multiples of seven, so the remaining two households should be on the 42nd and 49th floors."

"I'll just go straight to the 49th floor."

Wen Xishu arrived at the door again, and the familiar prompt appeared once more:

[You are about to step out of the room. You seem to have some leads; what do you decide to do?]

[1: Explore Miracle Apartment Building: Consumes 50 points of Action Power.]

[2: Interact with neighbors: Consumes 50 points of Action Power.]

This time, he chose 1. His body was once again controlled by a strange power, only this time he had arrived in front of the elevator entrance.

Actually, twelve o'clock at night is not an ideal time for exploration, because normally, these residents would all be asleep.

But in this building, the word "normal" does not exist.

Now is the second day of the seven-day survival; after a first day that was devoid of danger but vaguely abnormal, the second day immediately brought danger and eeriness.

When Wen Xishu entered the elevator, there was already someone inside.

He was wearing a green uniform and looked like one of the staff members of Miracle Building. He stood with his back to Wen Xishu, facing the elevator wall.

Even after Wen Xishu walked in, he still kept his back to Wen Xishu. Wen Xishu faced the elevator door side, while he faced the elevator wall, his head slightly lowered.

His appearance and expression could not be seen. He just stood there without moving.

Wen Xishu discovered that he could only go to the 49th floor; the 42nd floor required a special door card to be pressed. After he pressed the 49th-floor button, the elevator door slowly closed.

At this moment, Wen Xishu discovered that the inside of the elevator door seemed different from the daytime.

During the day, he saw the inside of the elevator door shimmering with a metallic luster, and he could vaguely see his reflection, but now, under the illumination of the elevator lights, he could not see any reflection at all.

Wen Xishu suddenly became alert and turned around immediately.

The "staff member" behind him, who had been back-to-back with him, still had not moved. Motionless, nearly completely still, as if he were not even breathing.

However... his posture had changed.

He seemed to be about to turn around. His face had already turned halfway; Wen Xishu could see his side profile, his mouth wide open, as if it had split open.

Wen Xishu’s gaze was fixed on him, and he remained completely still.

The elevator kept rising. But it felt as if a long, long time had passed, and it still had not reached the forty-ninth floor.

The midnight Miracle Building was indeed a strange place.

Wen Xishu had a premonition that if he handled this carelessly... he might die in the elevator.

He decided to make a bold attempt: he turned his head to look at the elevator door in an instant.

In that instant, the elevator rose from the 14th floor to the 15th floor.

In that same instant, Wen Xishu turned his head rapidly again to look at the elevator wall behind him.

The figure of that "staff member" was still still, but his posture had changed again; he had already revealed most of his face, his eyes were opened abnormally wide, bloodshot eyes still looking straight ahead, and his two hanging hands had already been raised slightly.

If it were anyone else, they would feel terrified at this moment.

"He is trying to turn around; it looks like he wants to attack me. As long as I stare at him, he won't move. This setting is a bit like a Weeping Angel... but my situation is worse; if I don't look at the elevator door, the elevator won't move."

Yes, if Wen Xishu's gaze did not cover the elevator door, then Wen Xishu would be in an abnormally slow space right now.

Wen Xishu did not act rashly; at this time, the correct approach seemed to be to walk into a corner.

There are four corners in the elevator; as long as he ensured he stood in a corner where he could see both the door and the person, he could crack the eeriness before him.

But Wen Xishu noticed a detail:

"This person's eyes are not looking at me..."

Although there were no clues to infer what would happen if the other party's eyes locked onto him, Wen Xishu still felt that he should perhaps avoid that gaze.

He just felt that if his figure appeared in the other party's line of sight, something even more terrifying would happen.

The elevator's floor buttons and counter were on the left side of the elevator door, on the same side as this "staff member."

The staff member occupied one corner, and the elevator's floor buttons and counter occupied another corner. If Wen Xishu chose either of the corners on the left, he would either be too close to this "staff member" or he wouldn't be able to see the floor counter at all.

But if he chose the corners on the right, he would either be unable to see the elevator floor buttons and counter, or he would be seen by that "staff member."

"Check attributes."

Wen Xishu was not panicked; he summoned the mirror directly.

The Three Towers Guide had said that after completing registration, one could summon this mirror at any time within the Three Towers.

This was a mirror that only players could check. Only players could see it. The mirror would display the character's attributes, and at the same time, it could be used as a normal mirror.

15th floor, 16th floor, 17th floor, 18th floor...

The elevator finally began to move at a normal speed, and that "staff member" who wanted to turn around was finally unable to move.

When the elevator door opened and finally arrived at the forty-ninth floor...

Wen Xishu did not turn around either, but instead stared at the mirror and the "staff member," walking backward out of the elevator.

Not until the elevator door closed did Wen Xishu let out a long breath.

"A narrow escape."

"It's a pity, I don't know what it would be like to ride the elevator during the day on the first day. During the ascent, would one also encounter this? Or is it that the first day isn't this eerie, and just like visiting neighbors, it leaves behind some points that are terrifying upon reflection?"

"Without a variable for comparison... I cannot judge, but I can feel that this building has some points that defy common sense, making people slowly feel psychological horror."

"And once one falls into the emotion of fear, one will establish a connection with the eerie. This is a vicious cycle; once a connection is established, it is very likely to trigger more terrifying experiences, the connection will become deeper, and so on repeatedly..."

Wen Xishu guessed the possibilities of this building in his heart, because currently, he still could not find out how those seven households would die.

Wen Xishu was walking in the hallway on the forty-ninth floor; not long after, he heard footsteps and knocking on a door.

"Hehehe, hahahaha, Mommy, is it okay if I do this?"

"Of course it's okay. As long as you like it."

The little boy's voice and the woman's voice came through. Wen Xishu followed the sound, walked toward the left side of the hallway, and saw the owners of the voices.

This was a mother and son; the woman was in her early thirties, and the child looked to be six or seven years old. The lights in the hallway were still on, but the other residents had indeed already gone to sleep.

But what the little boy was doing now was standard behavior for a brat. He ran back and forth in the hallway, making shrill laughter, and would knock on doors from time to time. After knocking, he would hide.

He looked at his mother with a probing gaze.

The woman just looked at her child with a rather indulgent gaze:

"It's okay, do whatever you want to do."

"Mommy, will I be very ill-mannered doing this? You didn't allow me to do this before; you used to always praise other people's children and were very strict with me."

"How could that be, my treasure? Mommy was ignorant before; now Mommy feels life is very happy."

The two did not see Wen Xishu, because Wen Xishu was standing at the end of the hallway. Miracle Building is a cylindrical building; one floor is actually seven sections of hallways surrounding it.

After discovering these two, Wen Xishu immediately hid at the corner of the hallway and listened silently.

"Mommy, I, I want to pee."

"Then let's go back, my treasure."

"Mommy, can I pee in the hallway?"

"Of course, treasure, you're so great; you really are a little genius."

A brat and the mother who dotes on him?

This child's behavior is too heaven-defying, isn't it? Is the mother not angry at all?

"Forget it, Mommy, doing this is wrong. You taught me before that I must go in the toilet. Let's go back. I'll go back to use the toilet. Mommy, can you carry me back?"

"Sure, sure, I love carrying you."

"Mommy, how did you become so nice?"

"Because Mommy loves you. Even if you do something wrong, it doesn't matter; Mommy will forgive you."

It was past midnight, and only the sound of a woman's high heels echoed in the hallway; the entire floor was deathly quiet.

Wen Xishu frowned.

In fact, those conversations just now already held a somewhat eerie meaning.

A six or seven-year-old child, not sleeping at this hour, making noise in such a quiet hallway, and even knocking on other people's doors...

But no one opened their doors, and his mother did not stop him at all.

It seemed that no matter what he did, his mother would not get angry.

It was somewhat similar to the comedian A Miao mentioned who was always happy and faced everything with joy, yet it always felt like something was wrong.

Wen Xishu pondered slightly and noticed some clues:

"No, this isn't happiness or joy... this is indulgence."

"I understand now; for these few households, a certain mental attribute has been excessively amplified."

(End of chapter)