Chapter 8: The Rich Kid

Wen Xishu did not look outside the door immediately.

He first looked at the eerie walls and the two chairs that looked sinister.

Finally, he looked at the refrigerator that was emitting a foul stench.

The dilapidated refrigerator in the corner of the room did not seem to be just a piece of furniture.

This was Jack's former safe, and now it very likely contained someone's corpse.

Wen Xishu guessed that watching the performance could help one avoid being hunted by Jack outside, but the performance itself also carried great risks.

If the score was lower than sixty... one might be stuffed into the refrigerator to "share a room" with Anderson.

He was almost certain that the corpse in the refrigerator was Anderson's.

He quite liked this method of Jack's, but he did not want to be stuffed into the refrigerator himself.

Fortunately, his score was high now, and an escape route had appeared.

This also meant that after getting through the opening kill, the patrol, the loop stairs, and the past performance segments...

There should only be one final hurdle left before clearing the level.

"Let's go, let's see what's next."

Wen Xishu did not use the invitation immediately, deciding instead to continue pushing forward with the Ghost Tower mission.

The freak Jack seemed to have gone to another floor.

After leaving Jack's room, the two heard Jack's laughter again; the laughter was further away, but something even more terrifying than the laughter appeared along with it.

On the walls on both sides of the stairs, countless black lines had appeared.

They seemed to have a life of their own, like strands of moldy noodles, their gray-black bodies constantly writhing.

Millions of insects writhed, gradually forming a sentence on the wall.

Dense and overwhelming, covering almost every place that entered their line of sight, was this sentence—

"Jennifer! Where are you!"

This scene made even Wen Xishu feel his scalp tingle, as if he had fallen into a cluster of black spiderwebs or been surrounded by countless strands of hair.

From the moment he called Remian, Wen Xishu had noticed one thing:

"Jack's superpower seems to be the ability to materialize certain thoughts from his mind."

"The phone ringing in his mind will broadcast in all directions, and his thoughts will also drive these eerie insects to arrange themselves into text..."

As of now, this ability did not seem to be aggressive.

Perhaps it was because deep down, Jack did not want to kill Jennifer.

However, Wen Xishu could increasingly feel that Jack's patience was running thin. He trusted his own judgment.

The reason was likely—only someone equally perverted could achieve a high score of 97.

Wen Xishu had actually thought about it: if one day this world forced him into becoming a monster, he would definitely just kill, kill, kill, kill, kill...

None of that "General Guan's broadsword doesn't slay the old or young" or "kind-hearted people don't kill" nonsense existed.

The greatest respect for revenge is to rather kill the wrong person than let one go.

So if Jack killed Jennifer, Wen Xishu would not be surprised.

The insects on the wall grew more numerous, and the layers upon layers of "Jennifer, where are you" that met his eyes had reached a level that would make a trypophobe vomit or faint.

Wen Xishu carried Jennifer on his back, typing while heading downstairs.

"From now on, no matter what you hear or see, ignore it. I'm here, don't be afraid."

【Ghost Jennifer's favorability increased.】

Jennifer's body was icy cold and somewhat stiff, but she still nodded, biting her lip tightly.

Wen Xishu descended the stairs very quickly.

As a former extreme sports enthusiast and parkour expert, even with his new body after crossing over, he could rely on his memory to perform many professional maneuvers.

He was almost leaping downward continuously in the stairwell, moving at an incredible speed.

The speed at which the insects spread clearly could not keep up with Wen Xishu's speed going downstairs.

Jack's voice also became weaker and weaker.

This building was not tall, and Wen Xishu soon noticed a problem.

"This isn't right. Logically, an old building like this shouldn't be that tall... but I've gone down over a dozen floors and still haven't reached the first floor."

The endless stairs seemed to lead to hell.

The temperature was also getting lower, and the breath Jennifer exhaled turned into white mist.

On the stair railings, there was a thin layer of ice crystals.

Jack's voice was indeed getting smaller, and it seemed they were getting further away from him, yet the end of the stairs remained invisible.

"Jennifer... don't leave me. Are you going to Yulia's?"

"You will choose me, right? Or—are you going to be a child who listens to her mother? You have a mother, are you showing off to me?"

The second half of Jack's sentence clearly became ferocious. Although the voice was increasingly faint, Wen Xishu still captured the key information in this sentence.

"Sure enough, there is one more stage."

Wen Xishu, who had been a bit uncertain, now had a firm stride.

And not long after Jack's voice fell, a warm breeze brushed past Jennifer.

Gentle and warm, compared to this cold, it felt as if there were a paradise behind them.

Wen Xishu became alert instantly.

"Jennifer... Jennifer... my poor daughter, come to Mommy quickly!"

The woman's voice seemed capable of dispelling this terrifying chill.

In front of Jennifer were the endless stairs—he didn't know how many more floors down—and the bone-chilling cold.

But behind Jennifer, this narrow, oppressive stairwell seemed to have widened, as if there were a bright, warm path behind her.

Wen Xishu instantly thought of the "performance" he had seen not long ago.

He realized then that Jack was indeed very much like him: holding grudges and seeking revenge for the slightest grievance—this was standard tit-for-tat.

When Jack begged Jennifer to watch his performance, Yulia had completely crushed Jack with the words, "Jennifer, don't look back."

Now, forced by the situation, Wen Xishu shouted similar words.

"Jennifer, don't look back!"

Jack's inner thoughts would materialize; his greatest hatred for Yulia was not her contempt for the poor, but her forbidding Jennifer from watching his performance.

At this moment, these feelings of hatred also materialized, and it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The woman behind them was not Yulia at all, but a manifestation of Jack's psyche.

Just when Wen Xishu thought Jennifer was going to experience a "look-back kill" and he would only achieve a low-score bad ending—

Jennifer actually did not look back.

A prompt that greatly surprised Wen Xishu appeared in his mind.

【Your stable emotions have brought faith to Ghost Jennifer. Favorability requirement met; at this moment, Ghost Jennifer has chosen to trust you.】

Three favorability increases actually had such an effect.

Jennifer was actually quite smart.

She had probably guessed that at this time, her mother could not possibly be nearby.

When her mother told her to stay under the bed while she herself left...

Jennifer had been wondering if her mother was going to abandon her. Was she just a tool hiding under the bed to attract Uncle Jack?

But if Wen Xishu's performance hadn't been so steady earlier, Jennifer might still have looked back in such a scene.

The woman continued to call out, increasingly shrill, and even gradually becoming ferocious.

"Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer..."

The speed of the voice accelerated, becoming glitchy.

But Jennifer just closed her eyes, her two small hands clutching Wen Xishu tightly. Wen Xishu did not lower his guard, but his assessment of Jennifer had improved significantly.

He had to admit that this little girl was indeed a qualified protection target, completely lacking the traits of a brain-dead NPC who forces the protagonist to increase their workload.

And what made Wen Xishu even more excited was that he finally saw the exit of the stairs.

As the woman's shouting gradually became inaudible, these endless stairs finally had an end. Wen Xishu successfully arrived at the first floor of the building.

The stairwell on the first floor was only a few steps away from the building's exit.

The mission was about to end.

"Jennifer, do you think you can leave me just by escaping this building? Can you handle the outside world on your own? This is all just a beginning."

"I will be with you forever!"

Jack's voice came from a distant floor.

Wen Xishu suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked at Jennifer and said with a smile:

"Sorry, Jennifer, you leave here first; I still have some things to do."

Sending Jennifer out of this building and successfully leaving himself would count as completing the mission.

To be precise, his own successful departure was the key; whether Jennifer could leave only affected the final completion rate.

Combined with the hints from the invitation, Wen Xishu was absolutely certain that there were still some aspects of this mission that could be dug deeper.

So he did not intend to complete the mission right now.

After Jennifer reluctantly left the building, he first covered his login device with his sleeve.

Then he took out the invitation and bit his finger, pressing his fingerprint onto it.

The patterns on the invitation began to writhe.

At this instant, everything around stood still. Time also froze completely in this moment.

[About to head to the [Rest Area], Trial of the Deceitful Tower progress paused. All objects within the area, including other Three-Tower players, will also enter a time-stopped state.]

[The time allowed to enter the Desire Tower via an invitation letter cannot exceed forty-eight hours; after forty-eight hours, you will be forcibly sent back to the Deceitful Tower. You may also use the invitation letter to return to the Deceitful Tower early.]

Two pieces of information surfaced in Wen Xishu’s mind.

What satisfied him greatly was that if it were a multi-player mission, as long as one person obtained an invitation letter, the others would also enter the time-stopped state.

This meant that even if he teamed up with others to explore the Deceitful Tower in the future, he could use the invitation letter without worrying about being discovered.

However, invitation letters were clearly not easy to find; presumably, the conditions to obtain one differed for every mission.

The surrounding scene became hazy, and Wen Xishu was unable to move.

Originally, he had been wondering, since the invitation letter interrupts mission progress and causes everything in the Deceitful Tower to fall into a time-stopped state...

...could he, like the male lead in those island-nation films, do something during the time stop?

Now it seemed he could not.

Compared to the other time-stopped objects in the area, Wen Xishu was no better off.

The only thing he could do was think.

But there was not much time to think, and before he could even process this stillness...

His brain felt a wave of dizziness. Subsequently, he entered the next area.

……

……

"Sixth floor, the mission to help a basketball player find happiness—does any big shot know the details? I heard you have to learn to fly a helicopter?"

"I'm eighteen, age eighteen, length eighteen, about to head to the ninth floor. Mission objective: bring happiness to the game producer Miyazaki Takakao. Can anyone tell me, is this guy a pervert? How do I turn him? I only know how to serve people with my handle!"

"Fourth floor, sky-high price wedding mission, selling strategy guide. Teach you how to play the role of a rich, handsome man in front of the mission target. Guaranteed to make her happy, make her take the initiative, and make her unlock hidden actions."

Bursts of hawking sounds came from afar, leaving Wen Xishu somewhat bewildered.

But he quickly understood that he did not seem to have entered the Desire Tower yet, but rather some kind of transit area.

Desire Tower Rest Area.

People entering the Desire Tower, Deceitful Tower, or Slaughter Tower for the first time would enter the area corresponding to their tower system directly.

But from the second time onwards, they would first enter the "Rest Area."

All Three-Tower players could stay in the Rest Area for a maximum of one hour.

During this hour, one could ask other Three-Tower players in the same time slot for strategies for certain levels, or ask if anyone had the same mission to seek a team-up.

Or, one could peddle certain items, sell strategies, or sell special props needed for certain scenarios here.

Of course, one could also choose to ascend the tower early and not stay in the Rest Area.

The Rest Area as a whole resembled a market. There were many display stands and shelves.

But if viewed from above, one would find that this area looked more like a Go board. Intersecting aisles, nineteen vertical lines and nineteen horizontal lines.

Many people occupied a display stand, peddling all sorts of things.

Wen Xishu’s sudden appearance also attracted attention.

"Ho, you look like you’ve just come of age. Little brother, which Young Master are you?"

The area where Wen Xishu was located was the tenth vertical and tenth horizontal zone, which was the center of the Rest Area—the 'Tengen' position of the Go board.

The person greeting Wen Xishu was a kind-faced, chubby middle-aged man with a smile that suggested he valued harmony as the way to wealth.

His smile was even more amiable than Sha Ruiqing’s, but it carried a hint of treacherous sycophancy, perhaps because his double chin was too rounded.

Beside this person was a woman who was cold as frost, with sharp eyes, but whose features were absolutely exquisite.

"Oh, excuse my rudeness. Let me introduce myself first: I am Ji Boda, and this is my wife, Liu Ruyan."

"We have all kinds of intelligence you might want. May I ask, little brother, which Young Master are you?"

Ji Boda was very polite.

Because in his view, to be around eighteen years old, to be able to enter the Desire Tower directly at such an age, and to be of the yellow race...

This was definitely not an ordinary family.

However, there was one thing Ji Boda could not understand: why this young man was at the Tengen position.

This was not a place where a novice could appear.

Wen Xishu smiled and said:

"Just a newbie who just started ascending the tower, no Young Master or anything. I’m just a citizen from the bottom of the bunker."

Ji Boda waved his hand:

"Little brother, you joke. Being able to come to the Tengen zone proves that in this time slot, your tower-ascending level is in the highest tier."

Once Wen Xishu heard this, he knew there was a trick to it, so he didn't put on airs and asked directly:

"Does that mean the closer the initial position is to the center area, the higher the level?"

Ji Boda looked at Wen Xishu carefully, and seeing that the other party truly didn't seem to be faking it, he was a bit curious:

"You really don't know?"

Wen Xishu shook his head:

"I really don't know."

Ji Boda and Liu Ruyan exchanged a glance. This time it was Liu Ruyan who spoke; her tone was very cold, but her voice was very pleasant:

"It's normal not to trust us as a couple. We sell intelligence; we have a lot of information for levels one through thirty-seven."

"If you have any questions, you can ask us."

Wen Xishu looked around; indeed, only he and this couple were in the Tengen zone.

His own level corresponded to the twenty-first floor of the Desire Tower.

Although there was very noisy hawking outside, proving there were many people in the Rest Area...

...the levels explored by so many people were not high, likely only between the first and tenth floors.

And he had already arrived at the Tengen position.

That is to say, in this current hour, his twenty-first floor was the highest. Only Ji Boda and Liu Ruyan were on par with him.

Unless someone of a higher level entered here and squeezed him out.

Wen Xishu roughly knew which areas ordinary tower-climbers usually hung around in.

Since this couple could sell intelligence for levels one through thirty-seven, they must be experts among experts.

He said:

"I need to go to the twenty-first floor to help a child named Jennifer and bring her happiness."

As soon as Ji Boda heard the words "twenty-first floor" and "Jennifer," his heart was thrown into a tumult.

Because the young man before him was truly too young; he looked like he was just at the age allowed to ascend the tower.

For someone so young to have already explored to the twenty-something floors, he was truly a genius of the Desire Tower.

He became even more convinced that this young man was a child from some wealthy family in the bunker.

Two big chapters, exactly ten thousand words! I am truly strong!





(End of chapter)