Wen Xishu didn't immediately look outside the door.
He first looked at the eerie walls and the two unsettling chairs.
Finally, he looked at the foul-smelling refrigerator.
The dilapidated refrigerator in the corner of the room didn't seem to be merely a decoration.
This was Jack's former piggy bank, and it was now very likely storing someone's corpse.
Wen Xishu guessed that watching the show could help one evade Jack's pursuit outside, but watching itself also carried immense risks.
If the score dropped below sixty points… one might be stuffed into the refrigerator, to “coexist” with Anderson.
He was almost certain that the corpse in the refrigerator was Anderson’s.
He quite liked Jack's method, but he didn't want to be stuffed into the refrigerator.
Fortunately, his score was high now, and an escape route had appeared.
This also meant that after evading the opening kill, patrol, the spiral building, and past performances…
There should only be one final hurdle left before clearing the mission.
“Let’s go, let’s see what else is next.”
Wen Xishu didn't immediately use the invitation letter, but decided to continue pushing the Weird Tower mission forward.
The eccentric Jack seemed to have gone to other floors.
Upon leaving Jack's room, the two heard Jack's laughter again; it had receded somewhat, but something even more terrifying appeared with it.
On the walls on both sides of the staircase, countless black lines had appeared.
They seemed to be alive, like strands of moldy noodles, their grayish-black bodies constantly wriggling.
Millions of insects wriggled, gradually forming a sentence on the wall.
Dense and overwhelming, almost every visible area was filled with this sentence—
“Jennifer! Where are you!”
This scene made Wen Xishu's scalp tingle, as if he had fallen into a cluster of black spiderwebs, or was surrounded by countless strands of hair.
From the moment he called Remian, Wen Xishu noticed something:
“Jack’s superpower seems to be able to materialize some of his inner thoughts.”
“The sound of the phone in his mind will broadcast from all directions, and his thoughts will also drive these strange insects to arrange themselves into words…”
As of now, this ability didn't seem to be offensive.
Perhaps it was because deep down, Jack didn't want to kill Jennifer.
However, Wen Xishu increasingly felt that Jack’s patience was running out. He trusted his judgment.
The reason was probably—only a similarly twisted individual could achieve such a high score of 97.
Wen Xishu had actually thought, if one day this world forced him to become a monster: then he would definitely kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…
There would be no such thing as Guan Yu’s broadsword not harming the old and young, or not killing those with beautiful hearts and kind intentions. That simply didn't exist.
The greatest respect for revenge was to rather kill by mistake than let anyone go.
So, if Jack killed Jennifer, Wen Xishu wouldn't be surprised.
The insects on the walls grew more numerous, and the layers upon layers of “Jennifer, where are you” that filled their vision had reached a point that would make someone with trypophobia vomit and feel dizzy.
Wen Xishu carried Jennifer on his back, typing as he descended the stairs.
“From now on, no matter what you hear or see, ignore it. I’m here, don’t be afraid.”
The Weird Jennifer’s favorability increased.
Jennifer’s body was 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 transmigration, he could still perform many professional movements based on memory.
He was practically leaping down the stairs, moving incredibly fast.
The speed at which the insects spread clearly couldn't keep up with Wen Xishu's descent.
Jack's voice also grew weaker.
The building wasn't tall, and Wen Xishu quickly noticed a problem.
“Something’s wrong. Logically, an old building like this wouldn't be too high… but I’ve descended over a dozen floors, and I still haven’t reached the first floor.”
The endless stairs seemed to lead to hell.
The temperature was also dropping, and Jennifer’s breath turned into white mist.
There was a thin layer of ice on the stair railings.
Jack's voice was indeed getting smaller, and it seemed they were indeed getting further from Jack, but the end of the staircase was still not visible.
“Jennifer… don’t leave me. Are you going to Yuliya now?”
“You’ll 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 latter half of Jack’s words clearly turned ferocious. Although his voice became increasingly faint, Wen Xishu still caught the key information in this sentence.
“Sure enough, there’s one more hurdle.”
Wen Xishu, who had been somewhat uncertain, now walked with firm steps.
And not long after Jack's words fell, a warm breeze brushed past Jennifer’s back.
Gentle and warm, compared to the cold, it was as if a paradise lay behind them.
Wen Xishu immediately became alert.
“Jennifer… Jennifer… my poor daughter, come to Mommy!”
The woman’s voice seemed capable of dispelling the terrifying chill.
In front of Jennifer were endless stairs, who knew how many more floors down, and a bone-chilling cold.
But behind Jennifer, this narrow, oppressive stairwell seemed to widen, as if there was a bright and warm path behind her.
Wen Xishu instantly thought of the “performance” he had seen not long ago.
Only then did he realize that Jack was indeed very much like himself—vengeful, retaliatory. This was a classic case of an eye for an eye.
When Jack begged Jennifer to watch his performance, Yuliya 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 Yuliya was not Yuliya’s contempt for the poor, but Yuliya 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 Yuliya at all, but a manifestation of Jack’s spiritual body.
Just as Wen Xishu thought Jennifer would face a deadly consequence for looking back, and he would only achieve a bad ending with a low score—
Jennifer actually didn't look back.
A prompt that greatly surprised Wen Xishu appeared in his mind.
Your stable emotions gave the Weird Jennifer faith. Favorability reached the standard, and the Weird Jennifer chose to trust you at this moment.
Three favorability increases actually had such an effect.
Jennifer was actually clever too.
She probably also guessed that her mother couldn't possibly appear nearby at this time.
When her mother told her to stay under the bed, but left herself…
Jennifer began to wonder 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 earlier hadn’t been so steady, in such a scenario, Jennifer might still have looked back.
The woman continued to call out, her voice becoming increasingly shrill, even gradually turning ferocious.
“Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer…”
The speed of the voice quickened, becoming distorted and demonic.
But Jennifer merely closed her eyes, her two small hands tightly embracing Wen Xishu. Wen Xishu did not drop his guard, but his evaluation of Jennifer increased significantly.
He had to admit, this little girl was indeed a qualified protection target, completely lacking the traits of a dim-witted NPC who forcibly increases the protagonist's mission load.
What excited Wen Xishu even more was that he finally saw the stair exit.
As the woman’s cries gradually became inaudible, the endless stairs also reached their end. Wen Xishu successfully arrived at the first floor of the building.
The stairwell on the first floor was only a few steps from the building's exit.
The mission was about to end.
“Jennifer, do you think if you escape this building, you can leave me? Can you cope with the outside world alone? This is just the beginning.”
“I will always be with you!”
Jack's voice came from the distant floors.
Wen Xishu suddenly stopped, he looked at Jennifer, and said with a smile:
“Sorry, Jennifer, you go first. I still have something to do.”
Sending Jennifer out of the 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.
Combining the invitation letter's hint, Wen Xishu was absolutely certain that there were still some areas in this mission that could be deeply explored.
So he didn't plan to complete the mission just yet.
After Jennifer reluctantly left the building, he first used his sleeve to cover his login device.
Then he took out the invitation letter, bit his finger, and pressed his fingerprint onto the invitation letter.
The patterns on the invitation letter began to wriggle.
At this instant, everything around them became still. Time also completely froze at this moment.
About to proceed to 【Rest Area】, Weird Tower trial progress paused. All objects in the area, including other Three Towers players, will enter a time-stop state.
The time allowed to enter Desire Tower via the invitation letter channel must not exceed forty-eight hours. After forty-eight hours, you will be forcibly sent back to Weird Tower. You can also return to Weird Tower earlier via the invitation letter.
Two pieces of information surfaced in Wen Xishu's mind.
What pleased him greatly was that if it was a multiplayer mission and one person obtained an invitation letter, then everyone else would also enter a time-stop state.
This meant that even if he teamed up with others to explore the Weird Tower in the future, he could still use the invitation letter without worrying about being discovered.
However, invitation letters were clearly hard to find, and presumably, the conditions for obtaining an invitation letter would differ for each mission.
The surrounding scenery became blurry, and Wen Xishu couldn't move.
He had originally wondered if, with the invitation letter interrupting the mission progress and putting everything in the Weird Tower into a time-stop state, he could do things during the time stop, like the male protagonists in certain island nation movies?
It seemed not.
Compared to other time-stopped objects in the area, Wen Xishu was no better off.
The only thing he could do was think.
But there wasn't much time for thought, and before he could fully experience this stillness…
His brain felt a dizzy spell. Then, he entered the next area.
…
…
“Sixth Layer, the mission to help the basketball player find happiness, does any big shot know the details? I heard you need to learn to fly a helicopter?”
“I’m eighteen, age eighteen, length eighteen, about to go to the Ninth Layer. Mission objective: bring happiness to game producer Miyazaki Eagle Cake. Can anyone tell me if this person is perverted? How do I bend him? I only know how to use my ‘handle’ to convince people!”
“Fourth Layer, sky-high wedding mission, selling guides. Teaches you how to act like a rich, handsome guy in front of the target, guaranteed to make her happy, make her take the initiative, and unlock hidden moves.”
Waves of shouts came from afar, leaving Wen Xishu a bit bewildered.
But he quickly understood that he hadn't yet entered the Desire Tower, but rather some kind of transfer area.
Desire Tower Rest Area.
Those entering Desire Tower, Weird Tower, or Slaughter Tower for the first time would directly enter the corresponding tower system's area.
From the second time onwards, they would first enter the “Rest Area.”
All Three Towers players could stay in the Rest Area for a maximum of one hour.
During this hour, they could ask other Three Towers players from the same time slot for guides on certain layers, or inquire if anyone had the same mission and seek to team up.
Or here, they could peddle certain items, sell guides, and special props needed for some scenarios.
Of course, they could also 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 resembled a chessboard. The intersecting passages were nineteen vertical and nineteen horizontal.
Many people occupied a booth, peddling various things.
Wen Xishu’s sudden appearance also attracted attention.
“Oh, you look barely adult. Which family’s young master are you, little brother?”
Wen Xishu’s current location was the vertical ten, horizontal ten area, which was the center of the Rest Area, the ‘tengen’ position on the chessboard.
The person who greeted Wen Xishu was a kind-faced, plump uncle with a benevolent smile, suggesting prosperity.
His smile was even more amiable than Sha Ruijing’s, but it carried a hint of cunning and obsequiousness, perhaps due to his overly round double chin.
Next to this person was a woman who was cold as ice, with sharp eyes, but undeniably exquisite features.
“Oh, I apologize for my rudeness, let me introduce myself first. My humble self is Ji Boda, and this is my wife, Liu Ruyan.”
“We have all kinds of information you might want. May I ask which family’s young master you are?”
Ji Boda was very polite.
Because in his opinion, someone around eighteen, at such a young age, who could directly enter the Desire Tower, and was also East Asian…
This was definitely not an ordinary family.
However, there was one point that Ji Boda found very confusing: why this young man was in the ‘tengen’ position.
This was not a place where a novice could appear.
Wen Xishu said with a smile:
“Just a newbie who just ascended the tower, no young master or anything. I’m just a citizen from the bottom of the Bunker.”
Ji Boda waved his hand and said:
“Little brother, you jest. The fact that you can come to the ‘tengen’ area proves that, in this time slot, your tower ascension level is the highest tier.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Xishu knew there was something to it, and without putting on airs, he directly asked:
“Does that mean the closer the initial appearance location is to the central area, the higher the level it represents?”
Ji Boda carefully observed Wen Xishu, and seeing that the other party genuinely didn't seem to be faking it, he was a little curious:
“You really don’t know?”
Wen Xishu shook his head:
“I really don’t know.”
Ji Boda and Liu Ruyan exchanged glances. This time, it was Liu Ruyan who spoke. Liu Ruyan’s tone was very cold, but her voice was pleasant to listen to:
“It’s normal not to trust us as a couple. We sell information; we have a lot of information from layers one to thirty-seven.”
“If you have any questions, you can ask us.”
Wen Xishu looked around and indeed, only he and the couple were in the ‘tengen’ area.
His level corresponded to the twenty-first layer of the Desire Tower.
Although there were many noisy shouts outside, indicating that there were many people in the Rest Area…
However, the levels explored by so many people were not very high, possibly only between layers one and ten.
And he had already reached the ‘tengen’ position.
In other words, in this current hour, his twenty-first layer was the highest. Only Ji Boda and Liu Ruyan were about on par with him.
Unless someone of a higher level entered here and pushed him out.
Wen Xishu roughly understood which areas ordinary tower climbers usually frequented.
Since this couple could sell information from layers one to thirty-seven, they must be masters among masters.
He said:
“I need to go to the twenty-first layer to help a child named Jennifer bring her happiness.”
When Ji Boda heard the words “twenty-first layer” and “Jennifer,” his heart was stirred with tumultuous waves.
Because the young man before him was simply too young, looking like he had just reached the age allowed to ascend the tower.
Someone so young had already explored to over twenty layers; this was truly a genius of the Desire Tower.
He became even more convinced that this young man was a rich scion from the Bunker.
Two long chapters, exactly ten thousand words! I'm truly strong!