An Interlude in the Tower of Slaughter

The Tower of Slaughter, twenty-first floor.

Most people in the Tower of Desire tend to stick to the lower twenty floors. Once you go above the twentieth floor, there's a chance you might encounter targets that are difficult to please.

But the Tower of Slaughter is different.

Exploration of the Tower of Deception has only just begun, and people know very little about it. However, exploration of the Tower of Slaughter has been ongoing for some years.

There's no such thing as safety in the Tower of Slaughter; every floor carries a risk of death.

Because of the monsters.

These monsters aren't entirely impossible to communicate with, but they harbor an extreme hatred for humans.

They refuse almost all communication, killing on sight, eliminating anyone who shows themselves.

The twenty-first floor of the Tower of Slaughter is already considered a death zone by everyone.

Apart from the teachers and students of the Tower of Slaughter Academy, very few rogue bunker climbers venture to such high levels.

"Damn it... I'm still seventy kills short of the mission quota. But if I don't find a place to build a campfire and lower my kill count, I'll turn into a monster."

A second-year senior from the Tower of Slaughter Academy, tall and covered in blood, said.

His name was Zhang Wei, and he was one of the prominent figures in his second year at the Tower of Slaughter Academy. Not long ago, on the seventeenth floor of the Tower of Slaughter, he had obtained the powerful Slaughter Sequence 244: Armed Bone.

He also possessed Slaughter Sequence 303: Slaughter Will, leased from the academy teachers and tradable.

With both of his sequence slots equipped with sequences, he thought he could at least impress the new students, so he foolishly ventured to the twenty-first floor.

If he could successfully guide his junior through the twenty-first floor, the glory upon returning to the Tower of Slaughter Academy would be immense.

Ideals are grand, but reality is cruel.

Moen City, within the Tower of Slaughter, is practically teeming with mutated creatures.

This prominent figure of the Tower of Slaughter Academy had been killing for a full four hours here...

All he had killed were monsters of a single type: rats.

It's said that on the twenty-first floor of the Tower of Desire, someone once saw an entire area plastered with "Beware of Rats" warning signs.

But that was in the Tower of Desire; people in the Tower of Slaughter paid it no mind.

However, in the Tower of Slaughter, these rats were far more terrifying than the elite monsters ten floors below.

Zhang Wei's fundamentals were solid, and he continuously fended off the rats' attacks. But he could only manage to defend.

"S-senior, are we going to die here?" a freshman from the 2061 cohort stammered, filled with regret.

This freshman had already noticed—the senior's expression was off, and the side effects of Slaughter Will were beginning to manifest.

With his kill count too high, Zhang Wei was now desperately trying to suppress the murderous desire in his heart with his reason.

He knew very well that if he didn't find a place to build a campfire and lower his kill count right now...

He would become one of the monsters in the Tower of Slaughter.

Zhang Wei regretted it; he shouldn't have underestimated Moen City. Just because Xun Hui could come here didn't mean he could.

But at the moment, he couldn't shake off these incredibly fast rats.

And this wasn't the worst part.

He felt a terrifying aura. Not far away, a super-giant rat was slowly approaching.

He couldn't even check the status panel of that rat... it was a monster far beyond his current capabilities.

Unable to fight, with no way to evade, these two students from the Tower of Slaughter Academy might very well pay the price for their recklessness today.

Unless... they entered that building.

Jack's Deceptive Building.

Zhang Wei noticed that the building not far behind him was one that even these rats dared not approach.

During his fight, he had unknowingly moved closer to this building.

But he had heard rumors before, that on some floors, there were hidden monsters that absolutely should not be provoked.

These monsters had their own territories, unlike those that roamed the city.

As long as the climbers didn't approach or intrude into their areas, they wouldn't trigger combat with these monsters.

But once approached, it would be a boss battle with a very low chance of victory.

Zhang Wei was an elite of his second year, and in the future, he would undoubtedly be one of humanity's strong figures.

But he knew very well that within that building hid beings that even the teachers of the Tower of Slaughter Academy dared not provoke.

Suddenly... Zhang Wei and his junior's eyes widened.

There was movement from within the old building. The surrounding rat swarms abruptly retreated several meters.

The door to the old building actually opened.

A young girl walked out from the shadows of the building. Her appearance was completely different from the terrifying monsters Zhang Wei had imagined.

She looked... almost like the girls from the Tower of Desire Academy, no, even purer than them.

Despite his words, Zhang Wei suddenly became vigilant.

This was because even the giant rat, which he was completely no match for, had fled in fear.

Zhang Wei stood in front of his junior, adopting a defensive stance. He knew, of course, that he stood no chance of winning.

But he had no choice. As the senior, he couldn't possibly let his junior, who didn't even have a sequence, go to his death.

However, the young girl showed no will to fight. She simply said indifferently:

"Would you like to come in and rest for a while? We can allow you to stay for a short period today. I have some things I want to ask you both."

The junior was terrified. He didn't understand what was happening, but he had heard a saying...

The monsters in the Tower of Slaughter are mortal enemies of humans. Do not attempt to communicate with them.

The young girl's expression was somewhat languid:

"While you are still human, you can come in and take shelter."

"If you don't want to come in, you can stay there. I'm not interested in whether you live or die, but I need to inquire about someone from you."

"You look like him, in terms of skin color."

Zhang Wei was confused.

He was actually more shocked than his junior. Because the more experienced one became in exploring the Tower of Slaughter, the more they understood how absurd this situation was.

Beings that were suspected to be area bosses would never communicate with people; they were the kind of existences that would immediately obliterate humans the moment they detected them.

Yet, the girl at the entrance of the old building seemed to genuinely have no killing intent. If she had intended to attack, he probably wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Could it be that killing the rat had triggered a hidden quest?

Zhang Wei could never have imagined that a death row inmate, far away in the Tower of Deception, had saved him in the Tower of Slaughter after completing a mission there.

"Who... who do you want to inquire about?" Zhang Wei decided to try communicating.

The young girl slowly spoke:

"Do you know Wen Xishu?"

The dizziness and blurred consciousness caused by frequent spatial transitions felt quite comfortable to Wen Xishu.

It felt like the sensation a patient experiences after being given anesthesia on an operating table.

One moment he was in Jack's old building, but the next, he opened his eyes to find himself in a peculiar room.

This room was adorned with clocks and doors.

Wristwatches, pocket watches, wall clocks, sundials, hourglasses...

Wooden doors, iron doors, crooked doors, straight doors...

These elements were everywhere, making the already dazed Wen Xishu even more confused. But when he looked at the figure in front of him—

The dizziness and drowsiness vanished instantly, and he became completely sober.

The person in front had three heads.

The Three Towers Guide.

Everyone who completed their first journey into the towers would come here to meet it.

It was just that Wen Xishu hadn't expected this guide to have such a bizarre appearance.

But the guide was also curious. It could tell something was amiss from the reflection in Wen Xishu's pupils.

"How interesting. Who was the last person to see our three heads?"

"Must have been that slaughter fiend."

"Oh~ I liked that slaughter fiend. He killed so many people. But he was taken away by Old Third!"

The three different heads actually began to converse.

What surprised Wen Xishu was that the content of their conversation seemed to imply—

Not everyone could see the guide's three heads.

"Welcome, welcome, newcomer suitable for all three tower systems. I am the guide, the one who will lead you to the pinnacle of the Three Towers."

All three heads spoke simultaneously.