Soul-Crying Street: What's Wrong With Me Having a Sip of Milk Tea?
Standing on the fourth floor, Xu Xi had a strange premonition that this might be the last story.
I just don't know what this story is about.
Level 0, base layer, passed.
Level 1.
Xu Xi wanted to rub his eyes, but after blinking, he realized he hadn't misread it.
It's really raining garbage from the sky.
Banana peels, apple cores, jelly shells, beverage bottles, popsicle sticks, and all sorts of other odds and ends.
Ah.
Why doesn't he have an umbrella?
Xu Xi took a deep breath and ran.
Congratulations, your judgment was correct.
"His disdainful gaze was like a sharp, cold blade, stirring wildly in his heart."
Upon seeing the contents on the wall, Xu Xi's heart stirred.
He remained curious about how the boy in the second cycle got his injuries.
He initially thought it was the woman in the cheongsam or one of her business partners who made the call, but something felt off.
Could this story be about that boy?
It seems they have been bullied.
The boy looked young, probably in junior or senior high school.
Is it school bullying?
Xu Xi thought about it and felt it was very likely.
The woman in the cheongsam likely had a rather unusual profession, which might have been known to many on the street. It's plausible that the boy faced ostracism from his peers after the news spread.
But one thing doesn't add up.
Although the boy did kill someone in the end, he was convicted of acting in self-defense and can hardly be called a bad person.
Too few clues, next level.
Level 2.
At a glance.
Manhole covers, so many manhole covers.
Xu Xi broke her vow never to step on manhole covers again.
He would die if he didn't step on the manhole cover.
Apart from the manhole cover, the rest of the normal ground was like a bubble that would burst at the slightest touch, cracking as soon as you stepped on it.
Having learned her lesson from falling in and having to start over, Xu Xi made sure to step on the manhole covers the whole way.
Congratulations, your judgment was correct.
How egregious would the behavior have to be to avoid being considered a prank?
The slogan looked familiar; he remembered that a similar manhole cover and slogan had appeared in a certain cycle of the second story.
The theme of this story is that the boy is more likely to be the one.
Level 3, no abnormalities, proceed.
Level 4.
Four people walked towards us from the roadside.
Two adults and two boys.
It looked like a couple taking a walk with their two children.
The couple and one of the boys walked ahead, chatting and laughing.
Another boy lagged behind, expressionless, following slowly.
Xu Xi stopped and carefully observed them, suddenly noticing something quite interesting.
The boy in front looked quite like the husband, and the boy behind resembled the wife in the eyes and eyebrows, but the two boys looked completely different.
The family of four ignored Xu Xi across the street and gradually disappeared into the distance.
Congratulations, your judgment was correct.
A family of three, a happy family.
This realization made Xu Xi hesitate about her previous judgment.
He had come to understand that the Dungeon wouldn't provide a meaningless loop.
Even the normal streets interspersed within various abnormal loops are merely designed to induce player fatigue.
Therefore, the characters appearing on this floor must be related to this story.
Xu Xi pondered for a moment. The three stories all told about different families or people, and the four people from earlier were very likely the protagonists of this story.
Why do similar cycles occur? And what is the connection between the boy in the second story and this one?
Moreover, Xu Xi found this slogan quite strange.
They are clearly four people, but they are described as a family of three.
Judging from the four people's appearances, either the two boys are fraternal twins and the parents favor one of them, or... these four people are actually from a blended family.
Xu Xi became increasingly curious about who had killed the man in the third story.
Level 5, no abnormalities, pass.
6th floor.
"Beat them!"
"Boss, this kid's about to be beaten to death, let's not make it a real tragedy."
"You've taken the money, so you have to do the job. Keep going!"
Xu Xi quickly moved towards the direction from which the sound came.
That was a dead end.
By the Xu Xi approached, the sounds of punches and kicks had subsided.
"Boss, this kid is really about to die."
"Hmph, that's enough for now."
Xu Xi stood at the entrance of the alley and looked inside.
A boy lay in a corner, covered in bruises and swelling, his life hanging in the balance.
But he immediately recognized the other person as the boy who lagged behind.
They take money to do things... Whose money are these people taking, and why are the people who pay them targeting them?
Congratulations, you were right.
"A flawed existence, a superfluous entity that shouldn't exist."
Xu Xi stared at the word "redundant" for a while.
Could it really be a blended family?
7th floor.
Is this... milk tea?
Xu Xi stared blankly at the neatly arranged milk tea stalls lining both sides of the street.
The sudden change in style left him somewhat bewildered.
Xu Xi initially intended to ignore it, but after taking a few steps, she turned back.
Come to think of it, it seems like he hasn't had milk tea in ages.
He wasn't particularly fond of milk tea, but he occasionally liked to have it with barbecue.
Although his colleagues often said that his hobby was a bit too peculiar, he still enjoyed it immensely.
Ever since his sudden death and transmigration, and then being chosen by this damned God Hunt, he has never drunk alcohol again.
So... would you like to try some?
Reason told him that this was Dungeon, he was playing a level, and what looked like milk tea might actually be something else entirely.
But his emotions told him that if he missed this opportunity, he didn't know when he would be able to experience it again.
Ultimately, Xu Xi decided--
Drink!
Xu Xi carefully opened the lid and cautiously took a sniff.
It definitely tastes like milk tea.
As for what flavor it was, he couldn't tell.
Xu Xi's eyes lit up after taking a sip.
Delicious!!
--
Xu Xi stood dejectedly on the street.
He had only taken a few sips when the boy who had been beaten half to death in the previous Dungeon suddenly appeared not far away, looking furious as if his base had been raided.
Unsurprisingly, they started fighting.
As expected, he lost.
But Xu Xi was unwilling to give up.
He hadn't had enough to drink.
So after they reopened, he refilled his glass.
He managed to drink to his heart's content by just taking a few repetitive sips.
Standing on the street once again, Xu Xi was able to ignore the milk tea vendors with an indifferent expression.
Congratulations, you were right.
She was like a gentle ray of light, dispelling the gloom around him.