The Ascend Team

"Volunteering to explore the Fourth Floor..."

This wasn't a joke.

Although there were top-tier rewards like the Black Card on the Fourth Floor, very few apartment residents chose to go up there of their own accord. No matter how good the reward was, you had to be alive to use it.

Unless it was a Green Text Mission that would kill you if you didn't complete it, no one was willing to risk their life.

Even Jiangyang, who was as bold as they came, still shuddered when he recalled his experience on the Fourth Floor.

"When I first came to the Living Person Apartment, I got through my first two newcomer missions pretty smoothly. I got a little cocky and thought I was pretty impressive. I was also quite curious, so I wanted to go up to the Fourth Floor and see what the hell was there."

He stopped there.

He had obtained the first Black Card of his life—and the only one.

Jiangyang rarely mentioned exactly what he had encountered on the Fourth Floor. But after that, he became much more humble and never set foot on those stairs again.

Shata's gaze settled on Yusheng, who had his eyes lowered.

"If anyone wants to go up to the Fourth Floor and take a look, Yusheng should be the expert on that.

"After all, he's the one who has four Black Cards."

At those words, the remaining people in the room let out soft cries of surprise.

The Bald Monk had been keeping such a low profile, yet he was this impressive. He had completed six Green Text Missions and obtained four Black Cards. In every respect, he was far ahead of everyone else in the Living Person Apartment.

If Shata hadn't been observing him in secret, no one would have known. Yusheng himself certainly wouldn't have said a word.

Faced with everyone's astonished and admiring looks, Yusheng merely brushed it aside.

"Actually, I don't have four.

"I went upstairs four times, but twice I encountered situations I couldn't handle, so I was forced to use two Black Cards and return to the First Floor Hall.

"So now, I only have two Black Cards left.

"Also, your guess is right. Above the Fourth Floor is the Fifth Floor, and above that, there are more floors.

"The number of floors in the apartment is the same as the number of Green Text Missions. The higher you go, the harder it gets. The Fifth Floor is already unimaginably difficult. I had a chance to reach the Sixth Floor, too, but my instincts told me that the moment I stepped onto those blood-red stairs, I would die up there. Not even a Black Card could save me."

He turned the Prayer Beads in his hand, making them clack softly.

"If you're going upstairs, take my advice.

"Go no higher than the Fifth Floor. At the very most.

"The things on the Fourth Floor are probably already at the limits of what you can handle. The Fifth Floor is even worse, and don't even mention the Sixth."

Zhao Zhenjia couldn't help asking, "You've risked your life to go up there so many times. Is it because you know there's something on the upper floors that you need?

"Yusheng, you've completed six Green Text Missions, but every resident who went on a mission with you is dead. That means no one has seen you in action, and no one knows your background or what your Supernatural Items can do."

Faced with Zhao Zhenjia's rather aggressive questioning, Yusheng remained unmoved.

"Sorry, I can't tell you.

"I won't join your expedition team, but if you need it, I can write you a guide to the Fourth Floor. Certain rooms have residents who always stay there. As long as you follow specific rules, you can avoid direct confrontations with them.

"Of course, even with that, going upstairs is still a matter of Nine Deaths, One Life. The Fifth Floor is even more certain death."

Yusheng glanced at the sky outside the window.

"It's getting late. I'll head back and rest."

After saying that, he paid no attention to the other residents' reactions. He stood, walked straight to the door, opened it, and left.

Yusheng had always been like this, indifferent to everyone else in the apartment. He left whenever he felt like it.

He had turned this team-based instance into a single-player game. Yusheng explored the entire apartment on his own, treating everyone else as if they didn't exist.

That thought rose in Gao Tian's mind again.

If I could use the Shattered Face Ghost's ability to take all of Yusheng's memories...

But the idea was far too evil. If he collected all five of Yusheng's face Puzzle Pieces, he wouldn't just take his memories—he would take his life as well.

Gao Tian couldn't bring himself to kill an ordinary monk over something like this. He just couldn't get past that moral hurdle.

Yusheng was keeping his mouth shut, not committing some heinous crime. If it had been someone like Zhao Qiang, a member of the criminal underworld, Gao Tian would have had no qualms about using a Ghost's ability on him.

Besides, Yusheng had completed six Green Text Missions and gone upstairs four times. He must have a great many Supernatural Items on him. No one knew what would happen if they rashly attacked him.

Jiangyang shook his head.

"Forget it. Let's stop talking about Yusheng.

"I think Gao Tian has a point. Rather than waiting for those Evil Spirits on the Fourth Floor to come down and harass us whenever they feel like it, we should go up there ourselves and see what they're really planning.

"We've never tried sending a team up to investigate the Fourth Floor before.

"On your own, it's certainly hard to deal with the endless Ghosts, let alone reach a higher floor. But if we have a team whose members can cover one another's weaknesses, we might actually manage what the previous residents couldn't."

Zhao Zhenjia voiced his concerns.

"If this Elite Squad includes all the apartment's best residents and administrators, doesn't that mean that if they encounter some unavoidable Killing Rule upstairs and all die on the Fourth Floor, everyone else in the apartment will be doomed?"

Without the senior administrators in the apartment, newcomers wouldn't know what to do for the missions that came next.

Shata said calmly, "Once you enter the Living Person Apartment, you're more likely to die than survive.

"In all these decades, other than Xu Yuan, who exists only in legend, I haven't heard of anyone else completing Ten Missions.

"If you're too scared to go to the Fourth Floor, then you might as well stop completing Green Text Missions altogether."

Shata's words settled the matter.

Once you entered the Living Person Apartment, you were more likely to die than survive. They might as well take a desperate gamble.

Since they had decided to go to the Fourth Floor, and this was the most impressive lineup of apartment residents in the place's history, they now needed to decide who would go upstairs.

In a Supernatural Event, more people didn't necessarily mean better odds. More people also meant a greater chance of triggering a Ghost's Killing Rule. Anyone who wouldn't follow orders or had such poor composure that they could break down at any moment was a ticking time bomb. Better not to bring such people along at all.

After a brief discussion, they settled on a team of four to six people for the Fourth Floor. The first requirement for joining was having a Black Card, so they could return to the First Floor Hall at any sign of trouble.

By that standard, few of the remaining residents from the Third Floor in the room qualified. In the end, only Jiangyang, Shata, Zhao Zhenjia, and Gao Tian remained.

The other three had no objections, but Zhao Zhenjia was clearly against Gao Tian joining them.

"No. A newcomer who's only completed two Green Text Missions absolutely cannot come with us to the Fourth Floor.

"Your strength and mental resilience aren't things you can train in a short time. You have a lot of potential, but our goal is to reach the Fifth Floor, maybe even the Sixth. You need to have completed at least three or four Green Text Missions and have four usable items on hand."

If Yusheng were a little more normal, he would have been the perfect candidate for the fourth spot on the team. Unfortunately, Yusheng was unpredictable, so the team had only three people, with one spot still open.

Gao Tian replied, "On my first day in the Living Person Apartment, I went up to the Fourth Floor.

"That place is dangerous, but I came back alive without having completed even a single Green Text Mission."

(The other residents didn't know Gao Tian had obtained a Supernatural Item from the Chat Group.)

"Besides, what matters is the quality of your items, not the quantity. The Supernatural Items you have might not be better than mine."

He had the bone ash urn, which held the Shattered Face Ghost, and he had stolen the Memory Ghost's ability. He also had the Ghost Card as a safety net. He was prepared for both offense and defense.

Hearing this newcomer, who clearly didn't know his place, challenge him, Zhao Zhenjia's neck veins bulged.

"What did you say, kid?

"I'm keeping you from going upstairs for your own good. Don't be so ungrateful.

"If you're in your right mind, then you should know that the girl upstairs has her eye on you. Maybe she's waiting up there for you to blunder into her trap, you idiot. If you run into danger on the Fourth Floor and things get rough, we won't have the spare hands to help you."

Just as the two were about to argue, Shata cut them off with a single question.

"Classmate Gao Tian, your next Green Text Mission should be in about two weeks, right?"

Early Green Text Missions were fairly simple, but the intervals between them were short. Later missions became exponentially harder, but the gaps between them were measured in years.

Gao Tian had joined his second Green Text Mission as a Disruptive Entry. So, according to the Normal Timeline, his third Green Text Mission should be issued a month later. It had been about two weeks since the Sapphire Mall incident, so the timing was about right.

He didn't know why Shata had brought it up, but he nodded.

"More or less."

Shata said, "Good.

"Our team is still waiting for someone to come back.

"That person should return to the Living Person Apartment in about three weeks. They'll be an important addition to the team. Classmate Gao Tian, if you can complete your Third Green Text Mission by then and meet the minimum requirement, you can join us. That will bring our team to five people.

"If you can't meet it by then, we'll go to the Fourth Floor with four people.

"What do you all think?"

Hearing Shata's compromise, Zhao Zhenjia reluctantly accepted.

"Completing three missions is the bare minimum for joining us upstairs.

"If you can complete three missions, that means you have some ability to protect yourself. I agree to let you join the team."

But this time, the one who objected was Jiangyang, to everyone's surprise.

"Sister Ta, why are you agreeing to let that lunatic join us?

"Isn't she more dangerous than Yusheng? At worst, Yusheng likes speaking in riddles and keeping things from us. That crazy woman might go berserk once we're upstairs and get us all killed."

Shata brushed the concern aside.

"It'll be fine. I'll talk to her.

"In fact, she's eager to find out what's hidden above the Fourth Floor, too. She's dealing with a Vengeful Ghost in America right now. Once she returns, I'll handle the discussion."