Chapter 44: Repeating an Old Trick

Wen Xishu took a step forward. He had no intention of actually purifying the music box.

At this moment, Zheng Zai suddenly spoke up:

"I'll go."

Among the people present, there were two honest souls.

One was Mendemuir, and the other was Zheng Zai. In Wen Xishu's eyes, Zheng Zai was genuinely honest.

As for Mendemuir, he still required further observation.

Kane had been aggressive from the beginning, suggesting that whoever had the most severe crimes should become the leader. In some minor prisons, there was indeed such a notion—that the most vicious criminal was the boss.

Both Mendemuir and Kane were imprisoned because of women, but Wen Xishu felt that Mendemuir seemed far too cowardly. He didn't dislike cowardly people, but he detested those who played the pig to eat the tiger, pretending to be timid.

Zheng Zai, however, was honest through and through.

As Zheng Zai spoke, he had already stepped forward. Wen Xishu's analysis also made a lot of sense to him.

The reason he had hesitated for a moment was because he didn't want to leave too early.

His family background meant that he needed a massive amount of merits just to be treated like an ordinary person.

Therefore, Zheng Zai desperately wanted to stay until the very end, achieving as high a completion rate as possible.

Only by doing so could he possibly restore his honor, shake off the negative influence brought by his father, and—receive treatment.

Yet, Wen Xishu's words had truly moved Zheng Zai, filling him with gratitude.

After his bizarre craving for human flesh had been exposed, someone was still willing to treat him this well, and Zheng Zai was more than willing to take risks for such a person.

Zheng Zai said:

"Climbing up such a tall bookshelf shouldn't be easy for any of you, but I can do it."

"If I die, I won't blame anyone. Brother Wen's analysis makes a lot of sense, but if it's wrong, don't blame him either."

"If I survive and prove that Brother Wen is right, then I want to bring him back with me."

Wen Xishu felt no deep emotional stirrings, but Zheng Zai's words reminded him of Jack.

Jack from the Tower of Desire had, upon seeing an illegal intruder, reacted first by asking if they needed help.

For some inexplicable reason, Wen Xishu had a feeling...

Even though Zheng Zai wouldn't undergo the same transformation as Jack, he was likely standing at a crossroads that would drastically alter his personality.

If at this moment—

No one cared about him, and no one paid him any attention.

Zheng Zai was about to make a dash for it when Kane suddenly stepped forward as well, realizing that if he didn't make a decision now, he might never make it back!

Everyone who came to the Spectral Tower did so to change their fate, striving to make a name for themselves in the bunker just like the bunker's new legend, Wen Xishu.

Yet the prerequisite for changing one's fate was staying alive.

Having witnessed those grotesque tentacles, Kane was terrified. He only wanted to return alive, even if it meant settling for the lowest completion rate.

Kane anxiously blurted out:

"I'll go! Don't fight me for it!"

This was precisely the result Wen Xishu wanted; he had originally intended to stop Zheng Zai anyway. On his list of sacrificial teammates, Zheng Zai currently ranked at the very bottom.

If Zheng Zai performed well, Wen Xishu might even cross his name off the list entirely.

"Brother Zheng, it wouldn't be bad for you to purify the box, but since Kane wants to go, let's leave the chance to him. I assume you don't really want to stop at the reward for a low completion rate, right?"

Wen Xishu had mastered everyone's inner psychology.

Sure enough, Zheng Zai stopped in his tracks.

Climbing up the bookshelf was no easy feat for Kane—at least, not as effortless as Zheng Zai climbing trees like a wild cat.

Still, as a criminal bold enough to try his luck in the Spectral Tower, Kane's physical fitness was decent. Though slow, he managed to use the books as footholds to climb upward, inch by inch.

A few minutes later, panting heavily, he finally reached the top of the giant bookshelf.

Up close, he saw the intricate structure of the music box.

Wen Xishu guessed that the story here involved a young girl subjected to some terrible deeds by a beast.

Four rooms, four stories. Pieced together, they formed the "Birdcage."

However, he still hadn't figured out what the music box's actual function was.

Just as he thought Kane was about to purify the music box, and just as Kane thought he could finally escape this ghost of a place—

The music box suddenly rang out again, playing that youthful, energetic tune from a school recess.

Kane froze in shock; he hadn't touched the music box yet, nor had he chosen to purify anything.

At the same time, no one else in the room had chosen to do so either.

This sudden twist of events caused Kane to curse under his breath, leaving him no choice but to speed up and rush toward the music box.

Yet, he was still too late.

In the center of the room—under the bookshelf, beneath the fluorescent lights, on the study desk, the office desk, and near the legs of the stools—black smoke began to billow out everywhere.

The monster was about to appear.

*Good child, good child! You truly are my good child! As long as you obediently listen, your grades will definitely be great!*

That greasy, nauseating voice echoed once more.

Wen Xishu looked around and swiftly chose to run toward the bookshelf, hiding himself in the narrow gap between two heavy books.

By this time, Park Mi-hee had made up her mind to follow Wen Xishu; whatever Wen Xishu did, she would do.

Mendemuir and Zheng Zai followed suit, scrambling to hide among the bookshelves.

Only Kane, who had already climbed to the top of the bookshelf... had run out of time to escape.

He had been found.

Twisted, slippery, writhing tentacles pierced toward Kane at a speed too fast for human reflexes.

As Kane's flesh was pierced, the surrounding black smoke began to close in continuously.

They seemed to have been drawn by the blood and flesh.

Kane's facial orifices—or rather, any slightly larger opening on his upper and lower body—were completely filled and impaled by the tentacles.

Kane died a far more miserable death than Theta; he didn't even have time to let out a scream.

The monster he encountered was multiples stronger than the one Theta faced.

His hands reached out desperately toward the music box, but alas, before he could touch it, he perished at the top of the bookshelf.

The others did not witness this scene directly; they only saw blood dripping down from the summit of the bookshelf.

Hiding at the bottom of the bookshelf in the gaps between the books, everyone exchanged glances. Wen Xishu did the same, feigning a look of shock.

He had aimed for murder from the very beginning.

The second person who deserved to die was Kane.

The youthful and energetic music came to an end. Mendemuir and Park Mi-hee both turned to Wen Xishu with questioning gazes.

Wen Xishu put on a terrified expression:

"Oh no... I didn't expect it to be like this. We have to speed up!"

"If none of you are going, then I'll have to go."

Once the music stopped, it meant the monsters hidden within the black smoke had also vanished.

At this moment, Wen Xishu pretended to be panic-stricken as he began to climb.

Park Mi-hee anxiously blurted out:

"Wen Xishu, what on earth is happening! You have to tell us!"

She was genuinely terrified out of her wits.

Wen Xishu said:

"It's the anti-AFK mechanism! Aside from the four walls constantly closing in, there is also an anti-AFK mechanism built into the room itself. If we waste time and fail to purify the items..."

"It will trigger the mechanism, and monsters will appear in large numbers—likely right where we were previously staying! This will cause our safe area to shrink continuously!"

"We have to purify it quickly! Kane was just too slow! He shouldn't have been hesitating and dawdling up there!"

"This room runs an anti-AFK check at regular intervals!"

With this logical explanation, everyone finally understood. Why had Kane's attempt to purify an item summoned monsters over a large area in multiple different locations, whereas Theta had only summoned the monster from inside the item?

So Kane hadn't even had time to purify it; the sudden appearance of the monsters just now was a completely different mechanism!

They had to race against time!

Seeing Wen Xishu climb so slowly, Park Mi-hee and Mendemuir could no longer sit still!

Mendemuir dropped all pretenses:

"Sorry! I need to survive!"

He actually reached out and grabbed Wen Xishu's leg, pulling him down from the shelves!

Wen Xishu barely managed to suppress the smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"You might as well be the next one to die."