"Run! Hurry!"
Anke held his head high, staring at the blurry passage ahead. It seemed to be an upward slope, and every step he took was exceptionally difficult. Before long, his feet were rubbed raw with bloody blisters, and his body and muscles had suffered some kind of strain.
But he did not hesitate. He still held his head high and ran forward with all his strength.
The shifting light and shadow of cubicles surrounded him—rooms within this building. Though he was running upward, every step was incredibly arduous.
Yet, judging by the scenery around him, it felt as though he had been going downstairs the whole time.
The surrounding space seemed to have folded in on itself. His descent was as fast as the elevator that had brought him up.
He lowered his head, stopped looking at the surroundings, gritted his teeth, and continued forward.
The road ahead seemed about to reach its end. At that moment, an elegant figure appeared before the finish line.
35th Floor
"Dernothus," the girl in the white dress looked at the old man in the air, unable to conceal her surprise. "You're actually not dead?"
"What do you mean?" He Ao's body descended to the ground as he smiled at the girl before him. "That I wasn't killed by your subordinates?"
He raised his head and glanced around before finally fixing his gaze on the girl in white. "After all these years, you still like playing this game."
"That's how we met back then," the girl in white said, sitting on the sofa. "A young girl fallen into the dust is violated by an old man, then a young hero rescues the beauty from misery. Isn't that exactly what men like? A damsel in distress throwing herself into your arms, moonlit flowers, one