Chapter 3: Return to High Tower

Bai Wu's previous life, due to his unique childhood experiences, resulted in a lack of empathy for certain emotions.

Thus, when facing dangerous situations, he could remain very calm. This oddity also meant he had almost no friends.

Only when confronted with mysterious cases would someone remember such a freak.

Convinced that the current predicament wouldn't provoke feelings of anger, sadness, or fear, Bai Wu wasn't discouraged.

After all, there was a better solution.

"Forget it, Plan B."

Bai Wu silently waited, making faces at his handcuffs all the while. When he was bullied as a child, he had exhausted all kinds of provocative gestures.

He might have been eighteen or nineteen, but he looked like a mischievous child.

Some wealthy women on the fourth floor of the High Tower, seeing the same scene, suddenly couldn't bear to watch this young slave die.

His handsome features, his playful demeanor, made them wish he could struggle twenty years less.

Meanwhile, the male audience wished even more for Bai Wu's death.

...

...

"The target is in the blue area, you need to disguise yourself as a humanoid Evil Fallen to retrieve the merchandise, the audience will think the goods were killed by the Evil Fallen."

In a dark room on the fourth floor of the High Tower.

A butler-looking person was conveying the orders of the master. His expression was serious, the variables in the gamble had clearly exceeded his expectations.

"This subordinate understands," replied the casino's elite guard.

"What's your Talent Sequence number?"

"755, Iron Armament. Innate Force, second tier, fourth level."

"That's a decent ability, but the Evil Fallen in the blue area are very powerful, you'd better control your emotions."

"Don't worry, I'll focus on the prey and avoid the Evil Fallen."

The butler nodded and said,

"Good, caution is your strength. Go to the transfer spot outside the tower, this is the area number for the target's location."

Outside the tower, known as the Random World.

The temperature, time dimensions, gravity coefficient, and even space itself are in some sort of irregular state of flux.

Leaving from any door, it's uncertain which area one will go to.

Each time you leave, the High Tower's teleportation gate generates a code number. Those who leave the tower later and want to go to a certain area must enter the corresponding number, but the number is only valid for three days.

Simply put, if someone is stranded outside the tower, loses the means to return, and the rescue team cannot rescue within three days, then it basically means…

That person will be forever trapped outside the tower.

Because once the number expires, those inside the tower who exit again will go to an unpredictable area.

So far, people only know that the High Tower is humanity's last shelter, the last cradle of civilization.

But where is the High Tower located? How to draw the map of the outside world...remains an unsolved mystery.

Because each exit from the tower, where one will be transported to by the gate, is unknown.

...

...

Outside the tower, in the ruins of an unknown city, the sewers.

Bai Wu thought of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from his previous life.

Could living in the sewers, if one could endure the filth and stench, also feel like living in a high-end apartment?

Body functions were slowly recovering, and the temperature was gradually rising. Estimating the time, the temperature on the ground was probably already at seventy-seven degrees. That was a lucky number indeed.

It was at this moment that he heard footsteps...

"Here they come."

Without looking in the direction of the footsteps, Bai Wu looked in the opposite direction.

That was where the Evil Fallen was located.

The status hadn't changed, the distance was still three hundred meters.

"It seems that the Evil Fallen's senses aren't very strong; their primary way of perceiving humans is through emotions. Quite fascinating creatures, they are."

Following the faint footsteps, Bai Wu's gaze focused on a spot.

[Innate Force, second tier, fourth level, Talent Sequence 755: Iron Armament. Your strength could probably last three rounds against an Evil Fallen behind you, comparable to the general Pan Feng. Of course, you, Xing Daorong, shouldn't get cocky either. Also, this person is cautious and suspicious.]

Talent Sequence, seen it again, before it was 929: Enhanced Vision. This time it's 755: Iron Armament.

Could this be some kind of ability evolved by humans? But why the numerical Sequence?

I'm not quite clear on this concept, but the key information from these messages is that this person is cautious and suspicious. Though the status doesn't seem to analyze things comprehensively, it can still provide some useful information.

Bai Wu quickly knew what he had to do.

Although he didn't possess much ability for emotional empathy, Bai Wu had also tried... to make friends with people.

For this, he had logged onto Netease Cloud Music at midnight and written down plenty of depressing jokes.

He had also logged onto the Anti-Stress forum, spreeing compliments and invectives at certain professional players.

In short, a good teammate for a person from Zaun, a joke writer for Netease Cloud Music.

Of course, none of this helped Bai Wu make any friends.

Because after acquiring these skills, he was able to target a person's heart with even greater precision, significantly improving his ability to depress and enrage people.

"Judging by the sound feedback, I'm tens of meters away from him, but the winding pipes prevent him from approaching me directly," Bai Wu thought.

Bai Wu naturally considered the possibility that the other party might be a terrifying existence that does not adhere to Newton's laws, but if that were the case, all calculations would be meaningless.

So he didn't hesitate and began his psychological attack:

"Oh, my old chum, you've finally arrived. You really should go back to your mother's womb and remake those legs of yours. Your dragging pace is just like the stupid groundhog kept by Mary next door. No, it's even worse than that."

To agitate someone successfully, there must be a common language. Bai Wu wasn't sure about this.

The footsteps stopped for about a second, then became relatively more hurried.

"You don't really think a lowly beggar can survive this long in such a place, do you? You don't truly believe this is just a simple assassination mission, do you? No way, right?"

This time the footsteps stopped for a full five seconds, then slowed down.

After two simple verifications, Bai Wu smirked in a sinister way.

After the insult, the other sped up not due to agitation, but to use the sound to quickly locate him.

After the taunting, the pause was obviously due to contemplation, and from a cautious nature, one tends to partially believe what the other says, so the pace slowed. This indicated that the languages of this world and the previous were the same!

A protagonist who can't talk his way out of trouble is doomed not to survive to the end. Thanks to the beautiful Chinese language, I have a chance to show off my verbal evasion skills!

"You've also participated in the bet, haven't you? The scene at the gambling house must be bustling now, with probably many wishing for my death, so your boss sent you to deal with me. But—"

Bai Wu dragged out the last word and continued:

"How can you be sure that this isn't part of the plan? A lowly beggar should have died quickly outside the tower, but not only did he not die, he even mocked everyone. The show must go on, right? It's all just the boss's mission."

"And now, your boss has sent you, poor soul, to kill me, and everyone is looking forward to seeing you tear me apart. When I saw the script, I laughed in sorrow, because you won't be tearing me apart—you'll stay here forever."

"As for me, I will step over your corpse and continue mocking those nobles! Then the dealer will start a new game and the gamblers will become even more frantic."

Such bold statements were put together by Bai Wu through reasoning from fragmented information noted before; the latter part was made up, of course, but was still plausible.

The truth required bold assumptions but careful verification. However, with pressing time, there was no room for caution, so Bai Wu went all in.

The footsteps stopped. Clearly, the other party was shocked by Bai Wu's words. Those who are cautious are often suspicious and tend to fear the worst scenarios.

The worst scenarios inspire fear.

Panic... even a tiny fear is fatal in the Blue Zone.

Bai Wu looked back.

The note changed!

The distance to Evil Fallen had reduced, obviously attracted by the negative emotions!

At that moment, Bai Wu resembled a true psychopath, letting out a sinister laugh:

"Isn't this a fun script? Next, please close your eyes, perk up your ears, and listen carefully to the sounds in the air. Can you hear its footsteps? Guess what I have prepared for you?"

The scent of fear led Evil Fallen closer. The distance to it was shrinking and its pace quickening.

Because he listened to Bai Wu, the hunter who came to kill him also sensed the presence of the terrifying Evil Fallen.

Once fear begins, it is difficult to stop, especially as danger looms closer.

Bai Wu stood quietly in place, patiently waiting.

He had no death wish to see what form the Evil Fallen took. But he hoped it was at least somewhat cute.

Soon, he heard the sounds from doomsday movies, of zombies devouring flesh and blood, along with human screams.

Fifteen minutes later, with feedback from his focused vision, Evil Fallen had eaten its fill and returned to its previous location.

Bai Wu, unhurried, followed the scent of blood and found a body.

Ripped open, its internal organs were mostly devoured, and although the clothes were torn and stained with blood, the hidden items were still there.

After groping around, Bai Wu found a palm-sized, black iron disc.

He had a rough idea of the object's purpose and quickly confirmed his suspicions with a focused look:

"[A return device, very simple. Twist it, and you'll roll back to where you came from. But the process takes a minute, even more tedious than the eight-second recall, so make sure there's no Garen in the bushes.]

Having confirmed how to use the return device, Bai Wu was ready to leave, but just as he was about to turn the disc, a dialogue box appeared again.

"[Current area exploration rate: 4.5%. Evil Fallen remaining: thirty-five. Doomsday Puzzle piece in this area not yet obtained. My rating: just a walk-through. However, for a newcomer, survival is equivalent to passing. It is suggested to abandon this scene and leave as soon as possible.]"

Exploration rate, Doomsday Puzzle...

Yet more concepts I don't understand. This note should only be visible to me, which means others probably don't know about the exploration rate and Doomsday Puzzle.

It seems this city ruins are harboring some secrets... no, more precisely, the world outside the tower is full of secrets.

Bai Wu didn't hesitate. Although he was curious about what would happen when the exploration rate reached 100% and what finding the Doomsday Puzzle pieces would entail, he didn't change his plan.

He smiled politely at the handcuffs.

This light and breezy smile was more mocking than all his previous provocations combined.

In the betting halls, the spectators watching the scene began to curse colorfully.

Then he effortlessly broke free from the handcuffs, a process so smooth it puzzled Bai Wu.

"Hopefully, the inside of the tower will be more interesting," he mused.

A minute later, Bai Wu's figure vanished.

(Looks like I saw the cover. It's not easy to get approved.)