Mad Dice

Second Division of the Bunker Security Bureau.

Through the surveillance feeds, Liu Jinsen knew that Wen Xishu had entered the Three Towers World.

Wen Xishu was under his charge now, so he barely needed to concern himself with anything else.

He did not want things to be this way. If he could, he hoped to do more for the people at the bottom.

But with orders from above, obedience was his only choice.

Only after confirming that Wen Xishu had entered a tower did he make a call.

"Officer Liu, why are you calling? Has someone brought back medicine?"

The voice on the other end was full of excitement, but Liu Jinsen's words poured cold water over him.

"Sorry, no one has brought back any medicine yet."

Liu Jinsen had called the Bunker Health Bureau.

An epidemic was currently raging among the lowest ranks of the Residential Layer, and many people had been infected.

Medicine at the bottom was in critically short supply.

The disease was still spreading. With the population density down there being so high, complete isolation was difficult to implement.

Especially since the white and black people at the bottom of the Bunker loved to flaunt their freedom. They always refused isolation and were particularly skilled at invoking human rights.

That only made the epidemic more vicious.

"How are things now?"

"Terrible. We're critically short on medicine, the population at the bottom is too dense, and the disease is spreading far too quickly. I heard that people on the upper levels... have been infected too?"

Liu Jinsen did not answer that question. The person from the Bunker Health Bureau continued.

"Honestly, we all want to give up. This isn't the first outbreak, after all."

"But before, it was always the elderly who suffered. This time, young people are suffering too."

"If we don't save these young people, there won't be enough expeditions into the Three Towers... Great Devourment will be triggered, and the consequences will be unthinkable."

Liu Jinsen merely gave a quiet grunt.

Yes, disease had ravaged the Bunker before, but it had only taken the lives of the elderly.

The Bunker's upper echelons had not cared.

Just like how, before the Bunker era arrived, officials of a certain island nation believed an epidemic could solve the aging-population problem quite nicely...

They believed that if old people died, then they died. There was no need to deal with it. Unless the elderly were willing to work overtime until they were seventy, seventy-five, eighty...

But this time was different. This time, many young people in the Bunker had been affected as well.

If they could not bring back enough medicine soon and stamp out the epidemic, the shrinking young population would reduce the core force exploring the Three Towers.

Too few expeditions into the Three Towers would trigger Great Devourment... For humanity's side, that would be a massive calamity.

"Officer Liu, if I had the ability, I'd want to take a shot at Slaughter Tower myself."

"At a time like this, whoever can bring back medicine is a hero!" the Health Bureau worker sighed over the phone.

Liu Jinsen merely replied blandly, "All right. I understand the situation. You've worked hard."

Liu Jinsen hung up.

Right now, he desperately wanted to head to Slaughter Tower and fight with everything he had. Even bringing back a small amount of medicine would be good.

But now, he could do nothing, because his superiors required him to focus all his energy on one person.

Wen Xishu.

As a man of action, Liu Jinsen would not place his hopes on something so illusory.

For example, hoping Wen Xishu could bring something back from Strange Tower.

In truth, he did not even think Wen Xishu would return alive.

Wen Xishu was naturally not dead yet, but he had no idea how long he could stay alive.

When the option to roll appeared, he chose yes without hesitation.

When facing something new, he was like a stock trader facing a bull market—absurdly bold.

After all, even without rolling the dice, given all the risks before him, his chances of clearing Strange Tower were already low.

He might as well use some unknown method and take a gamble.

Wen Xishu gambled, and the result was—gamblers never died well.

Points rolled: three ones.

The red die, the white die, and the black die—every one of the three dice showed a one.

Please choose one of the following effects.

1: Triple High. (Tower floor x3. Can be triggered when all three dice show the same number.)

2: Three-Phase Power. (Allows the simultaneous use of the abilities and rules of three tower types. Can be triggered when all three dice show the same number.)

3: Minimalism. (Level too low. Description unavailable. Triggered when the points on all three dice are below five.)

As you currently have no build and your level is too low, "Three-Phase Power" and "Minimalism" cannot be triggered. This tower entry floor will be x3.

Thus, a newbie with zero Magic Resistance and level one was inexplicably teleported to the twenty-first floor of Strange Tower.

This was a floor that newcomers, and even many veterans, would be unable to reach for a very long time.

The reason it was the twenty-first floor rather than the third was that the floors entered in the Three Towers fluctuated randomly within a certain range.

When newcomers entered a tower, they could be assigned anywhere from the first to seventh floor. A very small number with atrocious luck would be assigned to the sixth or seventh floor.

Wen Xishu had originally been headed for the seventh floor. Now, it had become the twenty-first.

Without question, according to the saying that monsters grew stronger on higher floors—

Though he did not know what area he was about to enter, it was definitely one where monsters could kill him instantly.

"Wen Chaohua really is my biological brother. He's a real expert at screwing over his little brother."

Though he grumbled inwardly, Wen Xishu was not too upset.

In his eyes, the dice's ability was bug-level.

He could vaguely sense just how overpowered the ability to use the abilities and rules of three tower types at the same time was.

A Desire Tower sequence in Slaughter Tower—wouldn't that be a walking succubus?

A Slaughter Tower sequence in Desire Tower—wouldn't that be like an immortal cultivator descending into an ordinary world?

Of course, Wen Xishu did not know the exact mechanics either, and as a beginner, he had not yet made certain necessary preparations.

The scene around him kept changing. Countless white lines crisscrossed, constructing the area he was about to reach.

New information also appeared in his mind.

Mission Description: Welcome to Strange Tower. You have received a plea for help from Jennifer, a tower resident on the twenty-first floor of Strange Tower.

On the twenty-first floor of Strange Tower stood a peculiar old building. From time to time, sinister laughter came from within.

You infiltrated the old building and successfully made contact with Jennifer. But this contaminated building no longer seemed the same as when you entered.

The route out had become strange and complicated.

Taking Jennifer out of the building would earn a higher evaluation. Or perhaps your abilities were only enough to let you escape alone.

Of course, we also look forward to seeing you make an even more extreme choice.

The information quickly vanished from his mind, and Wen Xishu began his first Three Towers Game.

Strange Tower, twenty-first floor.

Location: Jennifer's home in the Moen City slums.

Wen Xishu was indeed somewhat surprised. His starting point was actually the comfort zone of the man next door—under a bed.

He lay beneath the bed, supporting himself with one hand while covering a little girl's mouth with the other.

The girl had freckles that Westerners considered cute, a ponytail, and large blinking eyes. She should have been pretty.

But the terror in her eyes made her face seem slightly horrifying.

Their situation was terrible.

"Jennifer—where are you? Say something!"

"My dear Jen-ni-fer! I'll find you soon. I'm about to hear your heartbeat, hehe."

A man's voice came from nearby, carrying a twisted excitement.

Wen Xishu quickly figured out the situation. The Three Towers were not simply three towers; they encompassed an entire world.

A certain area on a certain floor might only be one corner of that vast original world.

His mission was a rescue mission. The girl hiding beneath the bed with him was presumably Jennifer.

And the man calling for Jennifer was likely some dangerous person.

In other words, the reason Jennifer needed to escape this building.

Wen Xishu was about to speak and ask Jennifer for some details. But at the instant he was about to open his mouth, a powerful sense of danger crashed over him.

In his previous life, Wen Xishu's name had practically flickered in and out of the Book of Life and Death all year round. The comments under his videos were full of remarks like, "Waiting to attend the funeral."

That had given him an extraordinary instinct for death.

Wen Xishu noticed that Jennifer was holding a phone with silent mode enabled.

And his hand was covering Jennifer's mouth.

The chill of death instantly enveloped Wen Xishu, but he held himself back and did not make any movements.

Even his breathing became light.

"Jennifer! Where the hell are you! Let me hear your voice, okay?" the madman shouted again.

Wen Xishu had not expected the game to be this malicious. There was a spawn kill right at the start. No wonder no one wanted to come to Strange Tower.

Jennifer's muted phone, her covered mouth, and the meaning behind the madman's words...

All seemed to indicate that the madman would hear them if they spoke.

Clearly, the other party's hearing could not possibly be targeted only at Jennifer.

If a Tower Ascender was here and habitually opened their mouth to ask questions—

Then the madman would most likely rush right over and find Jennifer.

The game would end immediately.

Of course, there was also the possibility of using force to deal with the monster and clear the stage by brute force.

But Wen Xishu's Magic Resistance was 0.

And this was the twenty-first floor of Strange Tower. For him, this floor required far too much Magic Resistance.

Having Magic Resistance that was too low came with many negative effects—

He could not see normal item descriptions, could not harm enemies, enemy attacks would kill him instantly, and sometimes the world in his eyes would become indescribable...

In short, Wen Xishu had no viable way to clear this through force, at least not at this stage.

The madman's voice grew louder. It was not because he was shouting harder, but because his distance...

Was getting closer and closer.

If they kept hiding beneath the bed, death was inevitable.

But if they rashly left the bed, the noise they made would instantly draw the madman over.

This was practically a dead end.