Materials Department

The call did not last long. Once everything that needed to be explained had been explained, Wen Xishu hung up.

Albert said:

"Mm-hmm, looks like you're busy. I'm looking forward to your performance this afternoon. Also, whatever you do, don't tell anyone you've met me."

Albert Napolitano was an extremely mysterious man. More than half that mystery came from the fact that nobody knew where he was.

Wen Xishu said:

"Can I learn anything from the courses at Tower of Slaughter Academy?"

Albert burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Those kids can teach you a little about fighting, but it won't mean much. Listen to me, kid. You're different from them. You can take those courses, but don't treat them like treasures."

"The path you need to take is the same one Wen Chaohua took back then."

Wen Xishu froze.

"Wen Chaohua... he explored the Strange Tower too? Why does no one know his name?"

Albert said:

"Because his Three Towers ID wasn't Wen Chaohua. And only a handful of people knew his ID. So even though he ranked quite high on the Ladder Ranking... well, you understand, right?"

Wen Xishu understood immediately.

Wen Chaohua had used another name and kept a low profile. That was why Wen Renjing and Xun Hui were famous, while he had remained largely unknown.

After all, people were always eager to talk about those in the top ten, top five, or top three.

Of course, Wen Renjing and Xun Hui's Three Towers Codenames were not their real names either, but people had uncovered them.

Wen Xishu asked again:

"So what rank was Wen Chaohua... on the Ladder Ranking?"

Albert shook his head.

"I haven't looked in a long time, so I've forgotten. You'll have to ask the guide. But if I remember right, on the Slaughter Tower, he was somewhere in the twenties?"

Wen Xishu actually felt a little disappointed.

In his eyes, even if Wen Chaohua could not compare to Xun Hui and Wen Renjing, he should at least have been in the top ten.

Someone the Security Bureau cared so much about could not have been mediocre. Everyone in the top hundred of the Ladder Ranking was extraordinary, but Wen Xishu still felt Wen Chaohua's rank was too low.

But Albert added:

"He didn't specialize in a single tower. At first, he focused on conquering the Slaughter Tower. Later, he found it boring and went to the Strange Tower. After that, he became interested in the Desire Tower."

"His rankings in the Slaughter Tower and Desire Tower were the same. As for the Strange Tower... there is no Ladder Ranking there, but if there were, he would probably be number one."

Wen Xishu's mouth fell slightly open, unable to hide the shock on his face.

He knew the Strange Tower had no Ladder Ranking. A Ladder Ranking could only be formed once there was a sufficient base of explorers.

If there were fewer than ten thousand Tower Ascenders, it was impossible to establish a Ladder Ranking.

Humanity's exploration of the Strange Tower was still far too limited.

Wen Xishu simply had not expected Wen Chaohua to be one of the rare "triple PhDs."

He immediately felt... much better.

"The Strange Tower can earn you credits, but it isn't there to serve you. We really do need people capable of exploring the Strange Tower."

"Since you have talent in that area, you can explore the Slaughter Tower later. Once you've explored the Strange Tower to a certain extent and then go to the Slaughter Tower, you'll find a surprise waiting for you."

"Perhaps you already know what that surprise is."

"Alright, get out of my office. And remember, don't mention me to anyone." Albert let out a wine-scented burp. He was actually a little drunk.

Wen Xishu asked no more questions and left the Principal's Office.

After Wen Xishu left, Albert suddenly began to laugh and muttered to himself:

"Whether it's for extra credits or the Security Bureau's request, neither is enough to reasonably demand that someone enter the Strange Tower. In fact, he could have asked for more, or even refused."

"That's what makes it interesting. Even though he knows perfectly well how dangerous the Strange Tower is, when he was asked to go there, he barely refused at all. He only complained symbolically a few times."

"Your little brother is even crazier than you were back then. Hahahahaha..."

That afternoon. The men's dormitory in the Tower of Slaughter Department Area of Three Towers Academy.

Nissen had finally come up with the perfect dance steps. In Wen Xishu's eyes, though, it was a cringe dance on the level of "Stop fighting already!"

Yue Yun had also finished exercising. Covered in foul-smelling sweat, he was preparing to wash up in the dorm.

After the two returned to the dorm and finished their own business, class time drew near. Only then did they notice that Wen Xishu was nowhere to be seen. That was when they spotted a note on the table.

It roughly said:

"I've been assigned special coursework that must remain confidential for now, so I won't be attending class with you this afternoon. I'll be gone for a while, but I don't know how long."

Special coursework. Confidentiality. Mysterious disappearance. Duration unknown.

When Yue Yun saw those words, his heart could no longer remain calm. He would not feel jealous, but he could not help thinking...

"Why haven't I received that kind of attention?"

"I must still not be strong enough, not desperate enough. In every opportunity I get to become stronger from now on, I have to push myself even harder."

"Wen Xun is no ordinary person. He actually has a course all to himself... Good. On the road to becoming number one at Three Towers Academy, I need people like that to motivate me."

Wen Xishu probably had not realized how deeply those words would affect Yue Yun.

Nissen's thoughts were much simpler. He merely said "Whoa!" and exclaimed:

"Whoa, that's so cool! Wen feels like someone with so many stories! I can't wait for him to come back!"

Wen Xishu also wanted to come back sooner.

But he did not know when he would return this time, or whether he would be able to return at all.

Wen Xishu had already calmly accepted that he had to constantly test the edge of death. After all, that was what he had done in his previous life.

Only in this life, extreme sports had been replaced by tower climbing.

Two hours earlier, before Nissen and Yue Yun had returned to the dorm, Wen Xishu had already gone to the Materials Department in the academy district.

Since he only had one sequence slot and already possessed Weird Sequence 37: Mental Barrage, Wen Xishu did not borrow a tradable sequence.

However, after asking around, he learned that the academy's tradable sequences all had sequence numbers in the hundreds or beyond.

To Wen Xishu, those all seemed like trash sequences. But judging by the proud expressions of the Materials Department staff... they apparently seemed quite rare.

He had still underestimated how difficult it was to acquire sequences. Even sequences numbered above one hundred were things many people outside desperately wanted but could never obtain.

The Materials Department had plenty of equipment, with all kinds of items displayed like exhibits in a museum. Quite a few people came here just to browse as well.

Wen Xishu borrowed only one piece of equipment.

Although he had four inventory slots, he claimed to have only one, in order to keep a low profile and avoid drawing attention.

This item's attributes were quite ordinary.

Item attributes could only be viewed within the Three Towers, but the Materials Department knew those attributes. They had long written down the earliest owners and attributes of these items on paper, making them into exquisite cards.

The color of a card represented an item's rarity.

White cards represented ordinary items, blue cards represented fine items, purple cards represented rare items, and orange cards represented legendary items.

Of course, Wen Xishu had not seen more than a few blue-card items so far, much less purple or orange ones.

It was worth mentioning that although the Truth Serum Wine Cups were consumables, they were blue-card items.

The Materials Department did have purple-card items, but those were not available for first-year freshmen to borrow.

That required additional approval from both the School Affairs Office and the Materials Department.

The item Wen Xishu had originally chosen was a blue item, but too many people were lining up to borrow it.

In that situation, the Materials Department staff had to decide who was most suitable. Wen Xishu did not want to stand out yet.

So he chose a white item. Its stats were low, but its special attribute satisfied him.

The card description for the item read:

Owner: Albert Napolitano.

Item Name: Forgot My Keys.

Item Description: If you often forget your keys too, give this thing a try. It may be a pair of gloves, but it is truly excellent for knocking on doors.

Item Attributes: Attack +5. Deals extremely high bonus damage to doors of all kinds and in all senses.

Attack +5 was an incredibly low stat. Even among white items, it was near the bottom.

Wen Xishu currently had no real sense of what a value like +5 meant.

On top of that, they were gloves with almost no bonus attack range, so nobody was willing to use them.

But Wen Xishu had thought they were excellent at first glance.

Whether they could be used in strange scenarios was still uncertain. If they could... then perhaps when he encountered situations like "the door cannot be opened from this side," they might produce miraculous results.

Besides, Wen Xishu thought gloves were inconspicuous. Maybe they could also be used in the Desire Tower.

The police would not question you for wearing gloves on the street, but if you carried a machete down the street, you would be treated differently.

After finishing that, Wen Xishu did not delay. He hurried back to the dorm and activated the Login Device before Yue Yun and Nissen returned.

The black wristwatch clamped down on his arm like a suddenly snapping mouth.

The familiar words appeared in Wen Xishu's mind once again.

Welcome to the Three Towers Game. You will now enter the Rest Area.

Current highest accessible level: Floor 7.

Special item "Madman's Dice" detected. Would you like to roll it?