Chapter Summaries

Wen Xishu’s Strange Tower climb reached the Seventy-First Floor, bringing the Three Towers’ leading climbers to roughly the same level, and the Bunker flocked to his Ten-Thousand Sword Manor for its high-grade weapons. Xu Manjin was invited into the Swordcasting Hall, where he met Wen Xishu and other top climbers, chose a sword suited to his insight into human nature, and recognized Wen Xishu’s hope of finding allies for the coming Three Towers War.

• Wen Xishu’s ranking rose to seventy-one floors, startling the Bunker and drawing the Three Towers’ progress level with one another.
• Xu Manjin went to the Ten-Thousand Sword Manor, where a sword-bearing boy recognized his destined connection and escorted him into the Swordcasting Hall.
• Wen Xishu welcomed Xu Manjin among Albert, Xun Hui, Wen Renjing, and Zheng Zai as they selected weapons, while Albert explained that the Swordsmith was forging him a Non-Sword.
• Xun Hui chose Suppress Evil, Zheng Zai chose the Gluttonous Beast Sword, Wen Renjing chose a purple Dreamlike sword, and Xu Manjin found a purple short sword with the Heart Thorn trait.
• Wen Xishu told the group that Evelyn might still be alive, and Xu Manjin realized that Wen Xishu hoped to gather more allies to fight beside him in the Three Towers War.

Xu Manjin gave Wen Xishu a Three Towers Company interview badge, and Wen Xishu entered the Strange Tower to investigate the mysterious organization. He arrived at the company’s interview with twenty-nine other survivors as the assessment began.

• Xu Manjin gave Wen Xishu an employee badge that sent its wearer to a Three Towers Company interview challenge.
• Wen Xishu discussed the disappearances of Old Jin and Evelyn with Albert, who vowed to kill them if they could not be brought back.
• Wen Xishu wore the badge, entered the Strange Tower, and received a floor-fifty-nine mission to pass the company’s interview assessment.
• Wen Xishu woke in a large office with twenty-nine other survivors, and the company announced that it would select suitable employees.

Wen Xishu warned the survivors about the Strange Tower’s rules and learned that they had to earn survival points while choosing a boss with absolute authority. As the election began, Wen Xishu tried to organize a fair vote, but a healer emerged as a rival and someone’s killing intent shifted toward a new target.

• Wen Xishu stopped Shen Changfeng from leaving and demonstrated that the tower eliminated anyone who exited early.
• The tower announced that employees had thirty days to earn survival points, warned that those below zero would be scrapped, and punished Gao Lele for interrupting.
• The tower ordered the survivors to elect a boss who would control schedules, rest, employee data, and the distribution of points.
• Wen Xishu warned that a tie could leave the team without a boss and get everyone killed, then urged the survivors to hold an election as he prepared to seek the position himself.
• A shrewd blonde woman revealed that she could heal others and appealed to the group, while Wen Xishu sensed that an attacker’s killing intent had shifted away from him.

Wen Xishu won a unanimous vote to lead C District by demonstrating his memory, rule-reading ability, and combat power. After learning about the rival districts and the limits on their abilities, he prepared to navigate a deadly month-long competition while expecting the other bosses to target him.

• Clark Kent challenged Li Weiwei for the boss position, arguing that strength mattered more than medical skills, while Li Weiwei countered that she could direct the team and help it earn points.
• Wen Xishu argued that the boss needed to interpret rules and protect employees, then used his shadow to test dangers and intimidated Clark with the threat of Jack's Mental Barrage.
• C District unanimously elected Wen Xishu as boss, and the team learned that he had defeated a red house and was skilled at cheating.
• Wen Xishu collected his employees' names and abilities, including Shen Changfeng's ability to go without food, water, or sleep, Gao Lele's ability to turn waste into treasure, and Li Weiwei's injury-conversion ability.
• The screen revealed the other district bosses: Yun Xinghe of A District, Alexander of B District, and Lorenzo of D District, before announcing a month-long contest and displaying internal affairs, diplomacy, and military strategy options.
• The vending machines revealed that points were required to buy food and drinks, and that abilities could not replenish HP or DR; Wen Xishu realized his impressive achievement might make the other bosses target him.

Wen Xishu guided Section C through its first twelve-hour workday, then tested overtime by approving only Shen Changfeng and discovered that overtime cost far more health than its points could restore. After the first-day scores were announced, A District targeted C District with a campaign and a recruitment offer, leaving Wen Xishu to manage both outside pressure and his employees’ survival.

• Section C completed its first day of individually calibrated arithmetic work, and Wen Xishu concluded that every employee had to maintain accuracy and efficiency through twelve hours of work.
• Li Weiwei, Clark, and Shen Changfeng applied for overtime, but Wen Xishu rejected Li Weiwei and Clark while approving Shen Changfeng to test overtime’s effects.
• After Shen Changfeng worked six overtime hours, Wen Xishu found that he had lost thirty HP, that restoring health cost more points than overtime earned, and that Shen Changfeng’s DR had risen.
• Wen Xishu kept one of Section C’s thirty-one points and distributed the other twenty-nine equally, then learned that each employee needed one point per day to avoid being forcibly downsized.
• The company announced that A District had earned 70 points, B District 31, C District 34, and D District 47; Wen Xishu suspected D District had an expert and recognized that B District’s remaining points suggested internal bloodshed.
• A District launched a successful campaign that would reduce C District’s next-day earnings and invited dissatisfied C District employees to defect, while Wen Xishu prepared to confront the resulting unrest and survival pressures.

Wen Xishu tried to keep C District united through a coming points shortfall by arguing that protecting HP mattered more than earning points, while Clark transferred to A District. There, Clark joined Yun Xinghe’s fiercely competitive system and drank stimulants after being urged to work overtime.

• Wen Xishu calculated that C District would face a survival shortfall, planned one hour of overtime for the team, and exempted Shen Changfeng because of his low HP.
• Clark rejected Wen Xishu’s equal-distribution approach and transferred from C District to A District despite Wen Xishu warning him about the dangers of overtime.
• Wen Xishu explained that overtime cost five HP and used Shen Changfeng’s losses and recovery to persuade C District that health mattered more than points; Li Weiwei helped steady the team.
• Clark arrived in A District, where Yun Xinghe had divided the employees into competing squads and made the Lucky Team’s position the prize.
• Yun Xinghe gave Clark eerie stimulants and urged his squad to work overtime, claiming the leading team received special assistance; Clark drank them, convinced he had chosen the right boss.

Clark entered A District’s second-day battle and worked overtime in a flow state while Yun Xinghe used harsh punishments and a Life Loan to drive the team’s productivity. A District’s campaign crippled B District and invited its employees to defect, while Wen Xishu chose not to compete for them and began planning another move through Li Weiwei.

• Yun Xinghe publicly punished underperforming employees, including pregnant A11, and used humiliation to push A District toward greater productivity.
• Clark worked hundreds of math problems in a flow state, while Yun Xinghe unlocked the Life Loan after A District’s average contribution passed two points per person.
• Alexander’s abusive rule over B District drove three people to their deaths and five to transfer, while the remaining employees competed for his favor and points.
• A District led the second-day results with 46 cumulative points, while B District had only 13 and C District had 7.6.
• A District’s upgraded campaign cut B District’s next-day earnings by thirty points and invited dissatisfied employees from B, C, and D Districts to join.
• Wen Xishu declined Li Weiwei’s suggestion to recruit B District’s employees and called her inside to discuss plans he could carry out through her.

Wen Xishu used Li Weiwei's image to strengthen employee loyalty while investigating how work intensity affected DR and suspecting that overtime triggered hidden rules. After B District went bankrupt and A District absorbed many of its people, Wen Xishu realized A District could soon threaten multiple groups at once.

• Wen Xishu told Li Weiwei to build employee loyalty by offering selective warmth and support while preserving her sanctified image.
• Wen Xishu observed that employees' DR rose after overtime and Li Weiwei's encouragement, then reasoned that excessive overtime might eventually cause DR to collapse.
• Wen Xishu rejected all voluntary overtime requests and gave Li Weiwei 3.6 points to distribute, prompting employees to believe they were special to her and making them less likely to leave.
• The second-day results showed B District had gone bankrupt, A Company had earned privileges for bringing it down, and C District had retained 1 point while D District retained 9.
• Wen Xishu concluded that A District had likely absorbed at least nine people from B District and could now have a population above 40, enough to attack two groups at once.

Mystery Thirteen disposed of Alexander after finding him irredeemably depraved, while Yun Xinghe used Zlatan’s promotion to drive A District’s employees back into competition. As night fell, Lorenzo’s analyst predicted that Yun Xinghe would launch a devastating attack at two in the morning, and Lorenzo asked which district would be targeted.

• Mystery Thirteen killed Alexander and his two followers after finding them in a depraved state at the Three Towers Company.
• The voices on the company screen discussed Yun Xinghe, Lorenzo, and Wen Xishu, including the possibility that Wen Xishu bore a brand left by a powerful candidate for boss.
• Yun Xinghe promoted Zlatan to honorary team member and promised him a share of the pooled points, using the reward to motivate A District’s employees to keep working.
• Yun Xinghe discovered a permission that would let him launch an unprecedented super expedition against another group and planned to choose a target that night.
• At D District, Lorenzo’s disciplined followers reported for duty, and D03 predicted that Yun Xinghe would strike either C District or D District at two in the morning.
• Lorenzo asked D03 which district he believed Yun Xinghe would target.

Lorenzo and Yun Xinghe expected A District’s attack to leave C District unable to survive, but Wen Xishu’s team still earned thirty points. Yun Xinghe accused Wen Xishu of cheating, while Clark Kent realized the score had a legitimate explanation.

• D03 predicted that A District would attack C District after eliminating B District, while Lorenzo wondered how Wen Xishu would respond.
• A District launched a campaign that blocked C District from earning points through normal work and secretly transferred most of its overtime points to A District.
• Yun Xinghe waited for C District employees to defect, then drove A District employees through more overtime with stimulants and promises of rewards.
• Clark Kent deduced that A District’s attack involved overtime and feared that C District’s score would be plundered.
• The fifth-day results showed C District earned thirty points and A District earned sixty-one, prompting Yun Xinghe to accuse Wen Xishu of cheating.
• Clark Kent told Yun Xinghe that Wen Xishu had not cheated and that C District’s score made sense.

Wen Xishu used a carefully staged diplomatic exchange with D District to protect C District from A District’s point-stealing attack without making his employees work overtime. Yun Xinghe realized D District had given C District points, while Clark Kent began regretting leaving Wen Xishu’s team.

• Wen Xishu explained to Tang Zhe that A District could steal C District’s overtime points, and revealed his plan to use the free-trading period and D District’s need for manpower to counter it.
• Wen Xishu sent Tang Zhe to negotiate a one-at-a-time exchange: D District would distribute overtime points to transferred C District employees and send them back, or C District would send its remaining people to A District.
• Yun Xinghe saw that D District had given 28 points to C District, leaving C District with one point after population expenses and D District with ten.
• C District broadcast that its employees had neither worked overtime nor even gone to work, prompting Yun Xinghe to react angrily and Clark Kent to worry about A District’s morale.
• Clark Kent felt his depleted HP and began missing Wen Xishu’s team, wondering whether he could return.

Wen Xishu purchased a tendency reward that concealed everyone’s DR values, believing it could disrupt Yun Xinghe’s and Lorenzo’s strategies. On the sixth day, Yun Xinghe forced A District to work overtime without realizing its employees’ DR was collapsing, and A11 finally broke down during the shift.

• Lorenzo accepted Wen Xishu’s deal to transfer 28 points and prepared to stockpile points against Yun Xinghe’s possible attack.
• Wen Xishu’s team celebrated its victory, benefited from a full day of rest, and earned a tendency reward for avoiding overtime.
• Wen Xishu spent five points to hide DR values across all teams, expecting the change to hinder his opponents’ decisions.
• Yun Xinghe berated A District and ordered everyone to work overtime, unaware that their DR had begun falling from dangerously high levels.
• A11’s DR plunged as she struggled through her work, but Yun Xinghe shamed her into overtime after she earned only 0.5 points.
• During overtime, A11’s DR continued to drop unseen, and she broke down while the rest of the team kept working.

After A11’s low DR drove her to kill Zlatan, A District’s workforce lost faith in Yun Xinghe and began demanding to leave for C District. Lorenzo realized that invisible DR had destabilized A District and left D District vulnerable to C District’s no-overtime policy.

• A11 hallucinated that Zlatan was depriving her child of a better life, attacked him in the Rest Area, and was erased after killing him.
• Clark Kent identified A11’s dangerously low DR as the cause, and the employees stopped overtime and began asking to transfer to C District.
• Yun Xinghe threatened to withhold the employees’ points to keep them working, but Clark Kent resigned and challenged him to release the points.
• In D District, D02 warned Lorenzo that A District’s crisis stemmed from invisible DR and recommended stopping overtime so employees could recover.
• Lorenzo concluded that A District’s collapse would drive its employees toward C District and leave D District unable to compete for workers or life assets.

Lorenzo expected Yun Xinghe to attack Wen Xishu after most of A District’s employees defected, but C District’s huge overtime haul gave Wen Xishu a strong reserve. Yun Xinghe launched an expedition that barred C District from earning points through regular work, and Wen Xishu ended the chapter insisting he would neither lay off employees nor let them die.

• Mystery Two refused to help Yun Xinghe, while Mystery Three learned that the game would continue and the pregnant woman had been sent away.
• Forty A District employees applied to transfer to C District, leaving only four people with Yun Xinghe.
• Wen Xishu’s C District earned 111 points in a day, raising its cumulative total to 92.6 and surprising Yun Xinghe and Lorenzo.
• Lorenzo and D03 concluded that Yun Xinghe could use repeated expeditions to force C District into a crisis because it had taken in so many employees.
• A District launched a successful expedition that prevented C District employees from earning points through regular work the next day.
• Tang Zhe asked whether Wen Xishu would lay people off or let them die, and Wen Xishu said he would do neither and would avoid overtime.

Wen Xishu reasoned that employees could defeat a tyrannical boss by leaving together, then used a declaration about wages and Yun Xinghe’s dwindling points to persuade A District’s remaining employees to resign. The four employees joined C District, and Yun Xinghe’s employee count reached zero just as a notification appeared.

• Wen Xishu explained that Expedition checks depended on the boss’s points and argued that a team with no employees would be wiped out.
• Wen Xishu and Tang Zhe concluded that A District’s employees might leave Yun Xinghe because he withheld their points while C District paid its employees.
• Wen Xishu issued a declaration warning A District’s employees that Yun Xinghe would spend their points on further Expeditions and leave them with little to share.
• A District’s four remaining employees submitted resignation requests after recalling that Yun Xinghe had refused to give Clark Kent his share of the points.
• Yun Xinghe tried to launch more Expeditions, but the four employees left for C District, reducing his employee count to zero as a notification appeared to everyone.

Wen Xishu outmaneuvered Yun Xinghe during A District’s final recruitment window, then persuaded Lorenzo to acquire A District’s assets instead of competing with C District. The auction left D District with 81 points and A District’s debt, which Lorenzo realized Wen Xishu had anticipated.

• Wen Xishu warned C District’s employees against returning to A District for Yun Xinghe’s promised points, and nobody defected.
• Wen Xishu offered D District A District’s assets in exchange for C District not having to compete, and Lorenzo agreed to the arrangement.
• Yun Xinghe failed to recruit anyone before the deadline, so A District disbanded and Mystery Thirteen took him away for Lord Qilin’s judgment.
• Wen Xishu declined to bid for A District’s assets but pressured Lorenzo to bid at least 25 points, and D District won the assets for that amount.
• The auction transferred A District’s 63 points and assets to D District, raising its total to 81 points, but also transferred Yun Xinghe’s outstanding debt to Lorenzo.
• Lorenzo realized Wen Xishu had driven up the bid because he knew A District had debt, and he angrily wondered how much D District now owed.

Wen Xishu's calculations exposed D District's massive debt, forcing Lorenzo to repay it and accept peace with C District. After C District remained unchallenged through the game's later stages, Wen Xishu accepted an external visit mission and met Mystery Thirteen, who revealed that the Three Towers Company had recruited him as Fourteen and was taking him to Lord Qilin.

• Wen Xishu calculated that D District owed 168 points because Yun Xinghe had borrowed HP, leaving Lorenzo to earn 87 points in three days.
• Tang Zhe warned Lorenzo that A District's former employees could work overtime, and Lorenzo chose to maintain peace with C District.
• C District and D District avoided conflict under the dual boss system, and D District repaid its debt on day ten while thanking C District for its restraint.
• Wen Xishu accepted a three-day external visit mission, leaving Tang Zhe in charge of C District, where no one acted against him.
• Mystery Thirteen met Wen Xishu in a dark space, called him Fourteen, and explained that the Three Towers Company had recruited him into its Special Operations Group.
• When Mystery Thirteen said Lord Qilin would explain the company, Wen Xishu reacted to the name, prompting Mystery Thirteen to ask how he knew Lord Qilin.

Wen Xishu met Kylin, also known as Mo Bai, and learned that the Three Towers Company was a hidden organization serving a future god. Kylin offered him a role that would let him travel from the World of Obsessions into the timeline of the Three Towers Battlefield, leaving Wen Xishu weighing the opportunity and its risks.

• Mystery Thirteen led Wen Xishu through the company's immense library to a strange door, where Wen Xishu entered a world filled with clocks running backward.
• Wen Xishu met Kylin, who explained that the Three Towers Company had selected him as its interim manager and that Wen Xishu's reputation for cheating came from the company's assessment.
• Kylin revealed that he was the company's first employee and had recruited Mystery One through Mystery Thirteen, who formed its Special Operations Group.
• Kylin told Wen Xishu that joining the company would let him travel from the World of Obsessions to the actual Three Towers Battlefield to search for Obsession-Bearers.
• Wen Xishu recognized the offer as a chance to enter the Three Towers War early and asked about the mission's meaning, its precautions, and whether it would interfere with his tower climb.

Wen Xishu joined the Three Towers Company after Kylin explained its purpose and the dangers of entering the Three Towers War. He accepted his first mission as Mystery Seven and was sent toward an unknown location.

• Wen Xishu questioned Kylin about the Constellations hunting him, and Kylin explained that he served the future God among his siblings and did not favor any particular Constellation.
• Kylin explained that the Three Towers Company hunted people whose obsessions threatened the Three Towers, and that its employees had to conceal their identities in the real world.
• Wen Xishu agreed to join, learned that missions could interrupt his tower climbing, and accepted a mission to find and kill a target identified by a special clue.
• Kylin assigned Wen Xishu the code name Mystery Seven and gave him an Employee Badge that changed his displayed name.
• Wen Xishu accepted the first external mission and hid his badge before Kylin sent him toward the battlefield.

Wen Xishu arrived in Hujiang and infiltrated a laboratory where Xiaoyuan, the mission target, was trying to save mutated children. As Master Lingqing and Morita Tong prepared to search for Wen Xishu, Wen Xishu questioned whether killing Xiaoyuan was truly required.

• Wen Xishu woke in a laboratory nutrient pod, learned that the Three Towers Company had assigned him a target matching Xiaoyuan, and escaped with his shadow's help.
• Wen Xishu discovered that his abilities and inventory were stronger in the real world and used the Compass to locate his target.
• In Hujiang, Morita Tong dreamed that Wen Xishu had returned, and Master Lingqing promised to track him down with a charm.
• Wen Xishu found Xiaoyuan comforting the dying, radiation-mutated girl Little Ant and realized Xiaoyuan was his target.
• Wen Xishu doubted that killing Xiaoyuan was necessary and suspected Qilin was concealing another way to complete the mission.