The First Deceased

The man was about 1.9 meters tall, but what stood out most wasn't his height, but his arms, which hung naturally past his knees.

His arm span was astonishing, giving the impression that if he bent slightly, he could touch the ground with his fists.

Judging solely by his limb proportions, in Wen Xishu's eyes, this last teammate resembled an ape more than Neeson.

Of course, the most striking feature was the iron muzzle covering the man's mouth. Wen Xishu had only seen such attire in anime.

Usually, when the muzzle was removed, it meant a second phase would begin or something.

However, Kane, Park Mihee, and Sita weren't easily intimidated and didn't pay much attention to his appearance.

"My name is... Zheng Zai," the man said, his voice muffled.

"I'm sorry, I hope my appearance didn't scare you... I have to be like this. I'm trying to quit a certain desire."

Zheng Zai's voice was quite gentle. Without the iron muzzle, Zheng Zai might have given the impression of a tall, reassuring, and somewhat simple-minded man.

Wen Xishu noticed that Zheng Zai's gaze occasionally drifted towards Sita, the Indian man.

"Is there something about Sita that's attracting him?"

"He's trying to quit a certain desire?"

Wen Xishu couldn't help but ask:

"Are you sick?"

Zheng Zai nodded:

"I am sick. But it can't be cured."

Wen Xishu asked again:

"The Level 6 hospital on the second floor can't cure you either?"

Zheng Zai shook his head:

"After the epidemic ended, that hospital stopped being accessible to ordinary people... I need to earn money, earn enough money in the Ghost Tower."

Wen Xishu suddenly had a guess:

"Which tower did you go to last time?"

Zheng Zai rather liked it when people asked him questions; it helped reduce his desire because his attention would be partially diverted:

"In the Ghost Tower, the fourth floor. That mission... I completed it. A Level 4 completion."

The Ghost Tower, fourth floor, Level 4 completion.

The Ghost Tower itself should provide bonuses, and with a Level 4 completion, the resources should be very generous...

Considering Zheng Zai's physical condition, Wen Xishu said:

"What crime did you commit?"

Zheng Zai was slightly startled, as if his thoughts hadn't caught up with Wen Xishu.

He remained silent for two to three seconds before slowly speaking:

"My father... was arrested during the anti-corruption campaign. My family are all prisoners."

It was somewhat similar to his own fate.

However, the term "anti-corruption campaign" and the implication of collective punishment... it was likely that Zheng Zai's father was no ordinary person.

Wen Xishu asked one last question:

"How long ago was that?"

Zheng Zai appeared to be around thirty, but looked somewhat weathered. He replied:

"Twelve years ago."

"Alright, welcome to our team."

Twelve years ago, it seemed unrelated to the Wen family.

Wen Xishu didn't feel the slightest bit of malice from Zheng Zai, which he found reassuring.

As for Zheng Zai's illness, perhaps it wasn't an illness at all.

Of course, Wen Xishu couldn't be sure at the moment.

"Captain, why don't you take the lead?" Wen Xishu suddenly looked at Park Mihee.

Logically, the probability of someone arranged by the higher-ups becoming his teammate was low, but given that he had been experiencing various improbable events, Wen Xishu never relied on luck.

Arranging for Park Mihee to be the captain was partly to observe her, and partly because Park Mihee might possess some information.

At this moment, Sita objected:

"Why should a woman be the captain? Women are meant to... No, I can't accept that."

Wen Xishu looked at Kane:

"Do you also think this beautiful lady is not suitable to be the captain?"

Kane shook his head:

"Of course not. Men and women are equal. Hey, this beautiful lady must have a lot of experience climbing the tower. I'm willing to learn from her."

Neither Zheng Zai nor Mende Muer spoke.

Park Mihee asked:

"Why did you choose me as the captain?"

Wen Xishu seemed to change the subject:

"The keyword for this mission is parrot. Regarding parrots, you've climbed the Desire Tower multiple times. Do you have any impressions?"

Park Mihee frowned:

"This is also my first time climbing the Ghost Tower. How could I possibly know what the parrot represents? Although the highest level of the bunker once promoted Chinese as the official language, your language... is very obscure."

"Your writing system is simply complex for the sake of complexity."

Wen Xishu said:

"Alright, alright, Ms. Park, I don't expect you to understand the beauty of the Chinese language, but what I want to say is, did you have any memories related to parrots in the Desire Tower?"

Park Mihee seemed to realize that Wen Xishu might be implying a connection between the Desire Tower and the Ghost Tower.

She actually valued Wen Xishu's words quite a bit.

After all...

Unlike others, Park Mihee had indeed come here specifically for Wen Xishu. Wen Xishu's intuition wasn't wrong.

The six of them had completed their team formation. They had less than an hour to prepare.

Park Mihee naturally hoped to survive. Survival meant a chance for a better life.

For this mission, the bunker's higher-ups – mainly the Political Affairs Bureau – had arranged for 244 female special agents. Although these women usually operated in the lower levels of the Desire Tower, they were all capable in their own right.

The Bunker Security Bureau had also arranged for many non-academy graduates to infiltrate the Ghost Tower, totaling 450 men.

Students who graduated from academies were related to the Three Towers Academy and could not be persecuted. However, the Security Bureau recruited people from the lower classes every year to do "dirty work," and even trained them as death warriors.

Nearly seven hundred people were deployed into the Ghost Tower, all to team up with Wen Xishu and obtain the secret to clearing the Ghost Tower. These people might die, and the Bunker Security Bureau and the Political Affairs Bureau were prepared to pay enormous compensation for it.

And this was only for those with official positions. For those without, the truly imprisoned individuals, it was unknown how many were arranged. Some data Park Mihee herself did not know.

All of this indicated how important the secret Wen Xishu held was.

Park Mihee said:

"You should all know the first person of the Desire Tower, Wen Renjing, right?"

Everyone nodded. That name was known to all.

Park Mihee continued:

"Wen Renjing also had regrets. Regarding parrots, all I know is that Wen Renjing wrote about a colorful bird on the fourth level..."

"A colorful bird also has regrets. She didn't want love. I gave her the wrong thing. I was seeking speed at the time and used the wrong method. That was one of the very few instances of Level 1 completion in my life."

"Even now, I regret it deeply. Why did I view her so superficially? What the bird wanted was true freedom."

Park Mihee said:

"My study of the Chinese language is indeed insufficient, but I can still read from this that the early Wen Renjing expressed regret about the final outcome of that bird."

"You ask me about parrots... the only thing I can think of is the colorful bird."

Wen Xishu nodded:

"You see, you are very suitable to be the captain. After all, you have experience that none of us have. Perhaps some things you recall during this team-up will be of great help to us."

Park Mihee did not refuse.

She believed she had not been exposed, and only by remaining unexposed could she gather as much information about Wen Xishu as possible.

Otherwise, if the other party became wary, it would be troublesome.

So she nodded:

"From what you're saying, are these two birds... related? If so, I hope my memories will truly be helpful to everyone."

Park Mihee was the captain of the six. The six of them also briefly got to know each other.

Except for Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai, everyone else was exploring the Ghost Tower for the first time; they had previously been in other tower systems.

Time passed quickly, and after ensuring all preparations were complete... they simultaneously activated their login devices.

The world of parrots descended.

Wen Xishu was not surprised. This was indeed not a birdcage. Instead, it was a special room with doors on all four sides.

Besides the four doors, there was only a chaotic vortex in the room. Nothing else.

This room did have a bit of a parrot cage feel.

Because in Wen Xishu's opinion, opening the four doors was like opening a birdcage, yet the birds dared not fly away. Just like everyone here, they lingered in place, waiting for someone to give the command.

[Please choose a door and find the item that needs purification behind it. Each item will allow two people to leave. The final score will be determined by the number of purifiable items obtained.]

"It looks like we need to enter the rooms and find something... There are six of us, so if we find three items, we can all leave." Mendemuir was the one speaking.

Although he was timid, he wasn't so scared by the situation that he couldn't think.

Xi Ta walked up to one of the doors:

"I... I smell something I like!"

Black vortexes filled every inch of their vision. Wen Xishu and the others couldn't see what was inside the door.

Wen Xishu had to admit, brainstorming was necessary. His first thought was that the door led to another space.

So if they couldn't see, they could only enter in the dark.

But the logic of "Brother A San" was truly unfathomable; Xi Ta's first thought was... to sniff.

Who knew what scent he had picked up that made him feel it was familiar and likable?

However, this did give Wen Xishu an idea:

"Then let's go with this door? Standing here doing nothing is pointless. It seems now that the four doors lead to four different scenarios, and these scenarios... will ultimately form the birdcage that causes the 'parrot' to fall."

"There are four different items in the four scenarios. We need to find these items. If we find one, it should allow two people to leave. Those who leave might achieve a Level 1 completion."

"Whoever finds it can leave and designate one other person to leave. Is that okay?"

Upon hearing that they just needed to find something, everyone felt the difficulty wasn't that great.

Xi Ta said:

"No problem, let's go in quickly, I can't wait."

Zheng Zai also said slowly:

"No, prob, lem."

After entering the area of the strange tower, Wen Xishu felt Zheng Zai was becoming increasingly bizarre. The way he looked at Xi Ta was becoming more terrifying and ferocious.

Xi Ta himself didn't notice, his mind entirely focused on the likable scent behind the door.

Park Mihee had no objections to Wen Xishu's instructions, but she wasn't blindly obeying him either:

"If we just stand here, will we be forcibly returned safely after seven days? This isn't the Lust Tower; there's no setting where we die if the mission objective doesn't find happiness."

This was a very good suggestion. In Wen Xishu's opinion, proposing this could reduce his suspicion of Park Mihee to a certain extent.

Because it was logical.

Since no one knew the dangers behind the doors, waiting in place for seven days wasn't an unreasonable idea.

However, before Wen Xishu could even give a reason why they couldn't do that—the variables within the situation had already made everyone realize they couldn't.

Because... Xi Ta sensed the door was moving.

He was the closest to the door, having leaned in to sniff it.

Therefore, Xi Ta was the first to feel the subtle movement of the door.

"The door is moving, it's coming towards us!"

Wen Xishu glanced at Park Mihee:

"Captain, it seems we can't stay here. Assuming a door leads to a scenario, and within that scenario there's a strange entity that could harm us..."

"If we stay here continuously... we might end up with all four doors converging, and entering all four scenarios simultaneously."

"At that point, the danger and variables would be four times as much... no, if there are combinations, it would be more than four times."

Park Mihee nodded:

"My oversight, I'll listen to you."

In truth, the surrounding darkness and chaos were already making Park Mihee uncomfortable; she feared such scenes.

She wanted to survive, and to do that, she had to make good use of Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu didn't expose her thoughts. He no longer hesitated, even moving faster than Xi Ta, being the first to walk into the door.

Seeing Wen Xishu's figure swallowed by the chaos, the others, despite feeling a little fear, entered the door one by one, remembering Wen Xishu's words.

Books were scattered everywhere.

If viewed from above, one would see a desk taller than a person, with a few workbooks and exercise books placed on it. The open workbooks had marks of fingernails scratching the pages.

Wen Xishu was the first to enter. Upon entering, he immediately realized this was a study.

A giant study.

When he discovered that the books, originally palm-sized, were half his height, he realized either he had shrunk, or everything in this study was arranged differently from a conventional human study.

The desk felt as high as a wall to Wen Xishu.

When he looked up, he felt the ceiling was tens of meters away.

The room was filled with many things. A pen holder, trophies, many books on the bookshelf, a desk, an office desk, chairs, certificates, a music box...

Everything was larger than he'd imagined.

Wen Xishu walked up to a giant, tattered book page.

It was the first time he'd seen such a massive page, like a page from a workbook filled with exercises, stretched out to fill a huge 65-inch screen.

"Are these... first-year middle school exercises?"

The scene was set in Jiangcheng.

Wen Xishu viewed the Three Towers World as a parallel universe version of his previous life's world.

He guessed this might be a place similar to Suzhou or Shanghai.

The room's decor didn't seem problematic, but the scattered pages and discarded books made it look like it had been through a fight.

Before Wen Xishu could analyze what the contaminant might be or how to find it, he heard the voice of Ah San Ge Sita:

"I smell it! It's that smell, it's that smell!"

Sita began to run frantically towards a corner of the room.

If the proportions were normal, this room would be about twenty square meters. Even running diagonally would only take a few steps.

However, due to the altered proportions, Sita ran for quite some time, practically at a hundred-meter sprint speed.

At this moment, Wen Xishu, Kane, Mendeleev, and Zheng Zai all looked towards the end point of Sita's sprint—

What was there made Kane smile mysteriously, while Wen Xishu frowned slightly.

It was women's clothing.

Due to the enlargement, the lace panties were large enough to cover Sita's entire upper body. Sita certainly thought so too.

Like a pervert, he desperately wanted to press his entire body against it.

When a person is hungry, their sense of smell becomes sharper.

But perhaps only the Ah San race experienced such changes in that area.

Wen Xishu had to admire Sita's ability to smell the scent on women's clothing from dozens of meters away, through a door.

At this moment, Wen Xishu also saw the bullet comments.

From Zheng Zai.

"Meat... I want to eat meat!"

Wen Xishu suddenly felt like a major event was about to unfold.

Not long after Sita's mad dash, Zheng Zai finally lost control. His reason tried to stop his body from moving, but his limbs had already begun to twitch involuntarily.

It was very much like a zombie.

At the same time, Sita had reached the giant piece of clothing.

But suddenly, Sita stopped in his tracks.

Because a piece of information appeared in his mind:

[You have found an item with traces of sin. Do you wish to purify it?]

There was a contaminant in the room that needed purification. As long as this item was found, one could obtain a chance to leave the Ghost Tower and receive a reward of at least level one completion.

As soon as Sita saw the traces of sin, coupled with his brain being overexcited by the woman's scent, he chose to purify without much thought.

In that instant, the study, which had initially seemed merely messy, changed.

A strange aura descended. The giant music box, which Wen Xishu had noticed from the beginning, suddenly began to play music.

Wen Xishu seemed to have anticipated this development. He even guessed why Sita had paused, as he had received the same prompt when he touched a book page.

However, Wen Xishu had chosen "Refuse Purification."

This game was about finding an item. If this were the Desire Tower, there might not be any punishment for error, but this was the Ghost Tower. Once the wrong item was found, there would definitely be a penalty.

Therefore, Wen Xishu refused purification.

At this moment, he could have warned Sita, but he didn't.

His eyes were as cold as polar ice, and the mockery deep in his pupils made him seem like a spectator enjoying the show.

As the music played, everyone heard a prompt in their minds.

[Good girl, you're quite good at hiding. So you were here. Today's lesson is quite packed!]

The voice was greasy and disgusting, making one feel nauseous. Park Mihee, in particular, was instantly reminded of those overweight high-ranking officials.

Shortly after the voice fell, everyone witnessed a terrifying scene. The strange entity hidden within the item finally revealed itself.

Wen Xishu began to look for a hiding place. He didn't watch what was happening.

Based on the prompt, he guessed that he would need to hide next. He didn't share this information with anyone.

"Sorry, Officer Liu. Of course, I want to be a good person, but only if good people can survive until the end according to the game rules."

Sita, unaware of what he was enduring, let out a piercing wail.

The first teammate met their death.

(This chapter should have more words than yesterday's two chapters combined, but there's still one more chapter! It will be posted this afternoon.)