[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-three-towers-game":3,"chapter-the-three-towers-game-the-three-towers-game-chapter-8":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Three Towers Game",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2294145,4488,"Chapter 8: The Rich Kid","the-three-towers-game-chapter-8",8,"\u003Cp>Wen Xishu did not look outside the door immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He first looked at the eerie walls and the two chairs that looked sinister.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, he looked at the refrigerator that was emitting a foul stench.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dilapidated refrigerator in the corner of the room did not seem to be just a piece of furniture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was Jack's former safe, and now it very likely contained someone's corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu guessed that watching the performance could help one avoid being hunted by Jack outside, but the performance itself also carried great risks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the score was lower than sixty... one might be stuffed into the refrigerator to \"share a room\" with Anderson.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was almost certain that the corpse in the refrigerator was Anderson's.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He quite liked this method of Jack's, but he did not want to be stuffed into the refrigerator himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, his score was high now, and an escape route had appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also meant that after getting through the opening kill, the patrol, the loop stairs, and the past performance segments...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There should only be one final hurdle left before clearing the level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's go, let's see what's next.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu did not use the invitation immediately, deciding instead to continue pushing forward with the Ghost Tower mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The freak Jack seemed to have gone to another floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the walls on both sides of the stairs, countless black lines had appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They seemed to have a life of their own, like strands of moldy noodles, their gray-black bodies constantly writhing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Millions of insects writhed, gradually forming a sentence on the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dense and overwhelming, covering almost every place that entered their line of sight, was this sentence—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jennifer! Where are you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the moment he called Remian, Wen Xishu had noticed one thing:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jack's superpower seems to be the ability to materialize certain thoughts from his mind.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As of now, this ability did not seem to be aggressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it was because deep down, Jack did not want to kill Jennifer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Wen Xishu could increasingly feel that Jack's patience was running thin. He trusted his own judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason was likely—only someone equally perverted could achieve a high score of 97.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>None of that \"General Guan's broadsword doesn't slay the old or young\" or \"kind-hearted people don't kill\" nonsense existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The greatest respect for revenge is to rather kill the wrong person than let one go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So if Jack killed Jennifer, Wen Xishu would not be surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu carried Jennifer on his back, typing while heading downstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"From now on, no matter what you hear or see, ignore it. I'm here, don't be afraid.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Ghost Jennifer's favorability increased.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer's body was icy cold and somewhat stiff, but she still nodded, biting her lip tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu descended the stairs very quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was almost leaping downward continuously in the stairwell, moving at an incredible speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speed at which the insects spread clearly could not keep up with Wen Xishu's speed going downstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack's voice also became weaker and weaker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This building was not tall, and Wen Xishu soon noticed a problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The endless stairs seemed to lead to hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The temperature was also getting lower, and the breath Jennifer exhaled turned into white mist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the stair railings, there was a thin layer of ice crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jennifer... don't leave me. Are you going to Yulia's?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sure enough, there is one more stage.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu, who had been a bit uncertain, now had a firm stride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And not long after Jack's voice fell, a warm breeze brushed past Jennifer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gentle and warm, compared to this cold, it felt as if there were a paradise behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu became alert instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jennifer... Jennifer... my poor daughter, come to Mommy quickly!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman's voice seemed capable of dispelling this terrifying chill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of Jennifer were the endless stairs—he didn't know how many more floors down—and the bone-chilling cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But behind Jennifer, this narrow, oppressive stairwell seemed to have widened, as if there were a bright, warm path behind her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu instantly thought of the \"performance\" he had seen not long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Jack begged Jennifer to watch his performance, Yulia had completely crushed Jack with the words, \"Jennifer, don't look back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, forced by the situation, Wen Xishu shouted similar words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jennifer, don't look back!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, these feelings of hatred also materialized, and it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman behind them was not Yulia at all, but a manifestation of Jack's psyche.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just when Wen Xishu thought Jennifer was going to experience a \"look-back kill\" and he would only achieve a low-score bad ending—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer actually did not look back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A prompt that greatly surprised Wen Xishu appeared in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Your stable emotions have brought faith to Ghost Jennifer. Favorability requirement met; at this moment, Ghost Jennifer has chosen to trust you.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three favorability increases actually had such an effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer was actually quite smart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had probably guessed that at this time, her mother could not possibly be nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When her mother told her to stay under the bed while she herself left...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if Wen Xishu's performance hadn't been so steady earlier, Jennifer might still have looked back in such a scene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman continued to call out, increasingly shrill, and even gradually becoming ferocious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speed of the voice accelerated, becoming glitchy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And what made Wen Xishu even more excited was that he finally saw the exit of the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stairwell on the first floor was only a few steps away from the building's exit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mission was about to end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I will be with you forever!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jack's voice came from a distant floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked at Jennifer and said with a smile:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sorry, Jennifer, you leave here first; I still have some things to do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sending Jennifer out of this building and successfully leaving himself would count as completing the mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be precise, his own successful departure was the key; whether Jennifer could leave only affected the final completion rate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he did not intend to complete the mission right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Jennifer reluctantly left the building, he first covered his login device with his sleeve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he took out the invitation and bit his finger, pressing his fingerprint onto it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The patterns on the invitation began to writhe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this instant, everything around stood still. Time also froze completely in this moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[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.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[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.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two pieces of information surfaced in Wen Xishu’s mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, invitation letters were clearly not easy to find; presumably, the conditions to obtain one differed for every mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surrounding scene became hazy, and Wen Xishu was unable to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...could he, like the male lead in those island-nation films, do something during the time stop?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it seemed he could not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the other time-stopped objects in the area, Wen Xishu was no better off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing he could do was think.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there was not much time to think, and before he could even process this stillness...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His brain felt a wave of dizziness. Subsequently, he entered the next area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bursts of hawking sounds came from afar, leaving Wen Xishu somewhat bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he quickly understood that he did not seem to have entered the Desire Tower yet, but rather some kind of transit area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Desire Tower Rest Area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People entering the Desire Tower, Deceitful Tower, or Slaughter Tower for the first time would enter the area corresponding to their tower system directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But from the second time onwards, they would first enter the \"Rest Area.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All Three-Tower players could stay in the Rest Area for a maximum of one hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or, one could peddle certain items, sell strategies, or sell special props needed for certain scenarios here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, one could also choose to ascend the tower early and not stay in the Rest Area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Rest Area as a whole resembled a market. There were many display stands and shelves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many people occupied a display stand, peddling all sorts of things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu’s sudden appearance also attracted attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ho, you look like you’ve just come of age. Little brother, which Young Master are you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside this person was a woman who was cold as frost, with sharp eyes, but whose features were absolutely exquisite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, excuse my rudeness. Let me introduce myself first: I am Ji Boda, and this is my wife, Liu Ruyan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We have all kinds of intelligence you might want. May I ask, little brother, which Young Master are you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Boda was very polite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was definitely not an ordinary family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, there was one thing Ji Boda could not understand: why this young man was at the Tengen position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not a place where a novice could appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu smiled and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Boda waved his hand:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Wen Xishu heard this, he knew there was a trick to it, so he didn't put on airs and asked directly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Does that mean the closer the initial position is to the center area, the higher the level?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You really don't know?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu shook his head:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I really don't know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you have any questions, you can ask us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu looked around; indeed, only he and this couple were in the Tengen zone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His own level corresponded to the twenty-first floor of the Desire Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although there was very noisy hawking outside, proving there were many people in the Rest Area...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...the levels explored by so many people were not high, likely only between the first and tenth floors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he had already arrived at the Tengen position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless someone of a higher level entered here and squeezed him out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Xishu roughly knew which areas ordinary tower-climbers usually hung around in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since this couple could sell intelligence for levels one through thirty-seven, they must be experts among experts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I need to go to the twenty-first floor to help a child named Jennifer and bring her happiness.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Ji Boda heard the words \"twenty-first floor\" and \"Jennifer,\" his heart was thrown into a tumult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the young man before him was truly too young; he looked like he was just at the age allowed to ascend the tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For someone so young to have already explored to the twenty-something floors, he was truly a genius of the Desire Tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He became even more convinced that this young man was a child from some wealthy family in the bunker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two big chapters, exactly ten thousand words! I am truly strong!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2862,"2026-06-20T04:46:41.185Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","b511341e6fb29a4cb0d990d72f004fdbc849d3988846423d0b59e783f2350818","the-three-towers-game-chapter-9","the-three-towers-game-chapter-7",281,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-three-towers-game-cover.jpg"]