Chapter 8: The Wealthy Son

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Wen Xishu didn’t immediately look outside the door. Instead, he first examined the eerie walls and the two sinister-looking chairs. Finally, his gaze settled on the foul-smelling refrigerator in the corner. The dilapidated fridge in the corner of the house was clearly no mere decoration. It used to be Jack’s safe, and now, it likely contained someone’s corpse. Wen Xishu suspected that watching the film might help avoid Jack’s pursuit outside, but the act itself carried great risks. If one’s score fell below sixty, they might just end up stuffed inside the fridge, sharing a cold room with Anderson. He was almost certain the body inside the fridge was Anderson’s. Wen Xishu found Jack’s method intriguing, but he had no desire to be chilled in the fridge himself. Fortunately, his current score was high, and an escape route had appeared. This meant that after evading the opening ambush, the patrols, the labyrinthine floors, and the passing performances, only one final challenge remained before clearing the level. “Let’s go. Let’s see what’s next.” Wen Xishu chose not to use the invitation letter just yet, opting instead to press forward with the eerie tower’s mission. The peculiar Jack seemed to have moved to another floor. Upon leaving Jack’s room, the two of them heard Jack’s laughter again—fainter now—but something even more terrifying than the laughter soon appeared. On the stairwell walls, countless black lines had begun to writhe. They seemed alive, like moldy strands of noodles, their gray-black bodies writhing continuously. Millions of these writhing creatures crawled across the walls, gradually arranging themselves into words. Dense and overwhelming, almost every visible surface displayed the same phrase: “Jennifer! Where are you?” This scene sent chills down Wen Xishu’s spine, as if he’d fallen into a tangled web of black spiders or been surrounded by countless strands of hair. Since the call to Remian, Wen Xishu had noticed something: Jack’s supernatural ability seemed to manifest certain inner thoughts into tangible forms. The ringing of the phone in his mind echoed in all directions, and his thoughts drove these strange insects to form words. So far, this power appeared non-aggressive, perhaps because deep down, Jack did not wish to kill Jennifer. Yet Wen Xishu increasingly sensed that Jack’s patience was running thin. He trusted his own judgment. The reasoning was simple—only someone equally twisted could score such a high 97 points. Wen Xishu had actually considered that if one day this world forced him to become a monster, he would be merciless: kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Forget the notion of sparing the old and young or being gentle and kind; that didn’t exist for him. The highest respect for revenge was to rather kill wrongly than let go unpunished. So if Jack killed Jennifer, Wen Xishu wouldn’t be surprised. The insects on the walls multiplied, their repeated “Jennifer, where are you?” overwhelming enough to induce vomiting and dizziness in those with trypophobia. Carrying Jennifer on his back, Wen Xishu hurried down the stairs while typing a message: “From now on, no matter what you hear or see, ignore it. I’m here. Don’t be afraid.” [Eerie Jennifer’s favorability increased.] Jennifer’s body was cold and somewhat stiff, but she nodded, biting her lip firmly. Wen Xishu descended rapidly. As a former extreme sports enthusiast and parkour expert, even with his new body after transmigration, he could still perform many professional moves from memory. He practically leapt down the stairs with astonishing speed. The insects’ spreading speed clearly couldn’t keep pace with Wen Xishu’s descent. Jack’s voice grew fainter and fainter. The building wasn’t tall, so Wen Xishu soon realized something was wrong. “This isn’t right. Normally, an old building like this wouldn’t have so many floors... but I’ve descended more than a dozen levels and still haven’t reached the first floor.” The endless staircase seemed to lead straight into hell. The temperature dropped steadily, and Jennifer’s breath turned into white mist. A thin layer of frost coated the stair railings. Jack’s voice was indeed growing distant, suggesting he was far away, yet the staircase’s end remained unseen. “Jennifer... don’t leave me. Are you going to Yulia?” “You’ll choose me, right? Or... will you be a good girl and obey your mother? You have a mother, are you showing off to me?” Jack’s voice turned menacing in the latter sentence. Though increasingly faint, Wen Xishu caught the crucial meaning: “There’s another level.” Wen Xishu, who had been somewhat uncertain, now stepped forward with determination. Soon after Jack’s words, a warm breeze brushed past Jennifer’s back—soft and comforting, like a slice of heaven behind them amid the cold. Wen Xishu instantly became alert. “Jennifer... Jennifer... my poor daughter, come to your mother!” The woman’s voice seemed to dispel the chilling cold.

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Ahead of Jennifer stretched an infinite stairwell, descending into unknown depths and bone-chilling cold. Yet behind her, the narrow oppressive stairway seemed to widen, as if a bright and warm path had opened. Wen Xishu immediately recalled the recent “performance” he had witnessed. He now realized how much Jack resembled himself—resentful and vindictive, a perfect eye-for-an-eye. When Jack begged Jennifer to watch his performance and Yulia forbade it with the words “Jennifer, don’t look back,” it shattered Jack completely. Now, pressed by the situation, Wen Xishu shouted similar words. “Jennifer, don’t look back!” Since Jack’s thoughts materialized, his greatest hatred wasn’t for Yulia’s disdain for the poor but for forbidding Jennifer from watching his performance. At this moment, those resentments took form, exacting revenge in kind. The woman behind was not truly Yulia but a manifestation of Jack’s spirit. Just as Wen Xishu feared Jennifer might turn back and force him into a low-score bad ending, Jennifer surprisingly did not. A gratifying prompt appeared in his mind: [Your calm demeanor has strengthened Eerie Jennifer’s faith. Favorability threshold reached. At this moment, Eerie Jennifer chooses to trust you.] Three increments of favorability had this effect. Jennifer was actually quite intelligent. She likely sensed that her mother could not be nearby at this time. When her mother told her to stay under the bed but then left, Jennifer wondered if she was being abandoned, merely a tool to lure Uncle Jack. But if Wen Xishu hadn’t remained so steady before, Jennifer might still have looked back in such a scene. The woman’s cries grew ever more desperate, turning shrill and increasingly grotesque. “Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer! Jennifer...” The speed of the voice quickened, becoming almost manic. Yet Jennifer kept her eyes closed, clutching Wen Xishu tightly. Wen Xishu did not drop his guard but raised his estimation of Jennifer considerably. He had to admit, this little girl was indeed a worthy protectee, lacking the traits of a weak-minded NPC that forcibly burdens the protagonist. Even more exciting was that he finally spotted the stairwell’s exit. As the woman’s cries faded, the endless stairs reached their end. Wen Xishu successfully arrived at the building’s ground floor. The stairway’s exit was just a few steps from the building’s doorway. The mission was about to conclude. “Jennifer, do you think escaping this building means you can leave me? Can you handle the outside world alone? This is just the beginning.” Jack’s voice echoed from a distant floor. Wen Xishu abruptly stopped, looked at Jennifer, and smiled: “Sorry, Jennifer, you leave here first. I still have some business.” Sending Jennifer out and leaving the building himself would signify mission completion. More precisely, his own escape was key; whether Jennifer escaped affected only the final completion rating. Judging by the invitation letter’s hints, Wen Xishu was certain there were still aspects of the mission worth exploring. Thus, he did not plan to finish the mission just yet. After Jennifer reluctantly left the building, Wen Xishu first covered his login device with his sleeve. Then he took out the invitation letter, bit his finger, and pressed his fingerprint onto it. The patterns on the letter began to writhe. At that instant, everything around him froze. Time itself halted completely. [About to enter the Rest Area. Eerie Tower trial progress paused. All objects in this zone, including other Tower players, will enter time-stop status.] [Time spent in the Desire Tower via invitation letter cannot exceed 48 hours. After 48 hours, forced return to the Eerie Tower will occur. You may also return early via the invitation letter.] Two messages appeared in Wen Xishu’s mind. What pleased him greatly was that if this were a multiplayer mission, once one person received the invitation letter, everyone else would enter time-stop as well. This meant that even when exploring the eerie tower in teams later, using the invitation letter would be possible without fear of being discovered. However, the invitation letter was obviously hard to find, and each mission likely had different conditions to obtain one. The surroundings blurred, and Wen Xishu found himself immobilized. He had wondered if, like protagonists in Japanese time-stop films, he could do something during the time-stop. But it seemed not. Like other frozen objects in the area, Wen Xishu was just as stuck. His only option was to think. But time to think was short; before he could fully experience the stillness, a dizzy spell overcame him. Then, he entered the next area. … … “Level six, the mission to help the basketball player find happiness—any experts know the details? I heard you have to learn how to fly a helicopter?”

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“I’m 18, eighteen years old, eighteen in length, about to head to level nine. Mission target: bring joy to game producer Miyazaki Eagle Cake. Anyone know if this guy’s a pervert? How to turn him? I only know how to wield a handle to command!” “Level four, sky-high wedding mission, selling strategies on how to play a rich and handsome guy in front of the mission target—guaranteed to make her happy, proactive, and unlock hidden moves.” Shouts echoed from afar, leaving Wen Xishu momentarily confused. But he quickly realized he hadn’t entered the Desire Tower yet; he was in a sort of transit zone—the Desire Tower’s Rest Area. First-time entrants to the Desire, Eerie, and Slaughter Towers would go directly to their respective tower zones. But from the second time onward, they’d enter the “Rest Area” first. All players from the three towers could stay in the Rest Area for up to an hour. During this hour, they could ask other players about strategies for certain levels, seek teammates for the same mission, or sell items, strategies, and special scene-required tools. Of course, they could also choose to ascend the tower immediately without lingering in the Rest Area. The Rest Area resembled a marketplace, filled with many booths and shelves. Viewed from above, the area looked like a chessboard, with nineteen aisles running vertically and nineteen horizontally. Many people occupied booths, selling various goods. Wen Xishu’s sudden appearance drew attention. “Oh, you look just come of age. Young sir, which family are you from?” Wen Xishu was in the vertical ten, horizontal ten area—right at the Rest Area’s center, the “Tengen” spot on the chessboard. The man greeting him was a kindly-faced, plump middle-aged man with a genial, money-making smile. His smile was friendlier than Sha Ruijing’s but carried a sly, obsequious undertone, likely due to his very round double chin. Beside him stood a woman, icy and sharp-eyed, yet with delicate features. “Oh, pardon me. Let me introduce ourselves. I’m Ji Boda, and this is my wife, Liu Ruyan.” “We have all kinds of intelligence you might want. Young sir, which family do you hail from?” Ji Boda was exceedingly polite. To him, anyone about eighteen or so, already allowed to enter the Desire Tower, and of Asian descent, could not be from an ordinary family. Yet he was puzzled why such a young man would be at the Tengen spot. This was no place for novices. Wen Xishu smiled and said, “Just a newbie who just started climbing. No family this or that. I’m just a low-level bunker citizen.” Ji Boda waved off the compliment, “Young sir, you must be joking. The fact that you’re here at the Tengen zone means you’re at the highest tier of tower climbing at this time.” Hearing this, Wen Xishu understood there was a system behind it and asked without pretense, “So, the closer your starting point is to the center, the higher your level?” Ji Boda studied him closely, seeing he wasn’t pretending, and grew curious. “You really don’t know?” Wen Xishu shook his head. “I really don’t.” Ji Boda and Liu Ruyan exchanged a glance. This time, Liu Ruyan spoke. Her tone was cold but her voice pleasant, “It’s normal not to trust us. We sell intelligence on levels one through thirty-seven. If you have questions, you can ask us.” Wen Xishu looked around; indeed, only he and this couple occupied the Tengen zone. His level corresponded to level twenty-one of the Desire Tower. Despite the noisy shouts outside, indicating many people in the Rest Area, most were at low levels, probably between one and ten. Yet here he was at the center, meaning in this hour, his level twenty-one was the highest—only Ji Boda and Liu Ruyan were close. Unless someone of a higher level arrived to push him out. Wen Xishu roughly understood where ordinary climbers gathered. This couple, able to sell intelligence up to level thirty-seven, were undoubtedly top-tier experts. He said, “I need to go to level twenty-one and help a child named Jennifer bring her happiness.” The mention of “level twenty-one” and “Jennifer” stirred a tempest within Ji Boda’s heart. The boy before him was far too young, barely newly permitted to ascend the tower. For someone so young to have explored beyond twenty floors marked him as a genius of the Desire Tower. Ji Boda was increasingly convinced this young man was a wealthy bunker scion.