“Name.”
“Wen Xishu.”
“Age.”
“Eighteen.”
“Gender.”
“The lowest version.”
“What do you mean?” The Three Towers Game allocation clerk was momentarily confused.
“I mean male. Isn’t it obvious from my appearance?” Wen Xishu replied with a smile.
“No, no, no. In the Bunker, there are twenty-nine known genders… If you are male, you’d best explicitly state that you are male.”
The clerk was the same one who had interviewed Park Young-seo not long ago.
He was thirty years old, much like the corporate interviewers Wen Xishu remembered, a bit greasy, smiling kindly, but with a sense of numbness when his face was stern.
“According to the normal procedure, shouldn’t I be assigned to a Tower first?” Wen Xishu asked.
The clerk, however, spoke quite gently:
“Students from Tower of Desire Academy and Luo Tower Academy are directly assigned according to their academy.”
“As for everyone else, generally, for their first ascent, we have the climbers fill out some questionnaires.”
“Those with aggressive personalities or a strong aptitude for combat, we will have them enter the Slaughter Tower.”
“And those who make others feel comfortable, we will arrange for them to enter the Desire Tower.”
Wen Xishu added with a smile:
“And those with extraordinary talents?”
The clerk rubbed his forehead and said:
“Yes, every so often, I see various sizes of….”
“On the dopamine secretion pleasure ranking, smoking is third with a value of 220, and paying off debt is second with a value of 225.”
“But the first place, love between men and women, has a value of 550. The pleasure obtained is a clear lead.”
“This also leads people to generally believe that this is to please the Three Towers people, and letting them experience love is the most direct method.”
“So, all sorts of people think they are suitable for entering the Desire Tower.”
“Uh, the most crucial thing is that the Bunker high-level officials consider this very reasonable.”
“Indeed, many men and women have brought back abundant resources from the Desire Tower… which can be considered a significant contribution to humanity.”
“This has also led to me becoming an expert in identifying such talents at a young age.”
This clerk was very talkative.
Generally speaking, clerks are impatient and serious.
For example, the previous Korean Bunker citizen, Park Young-seo, who applied to transfer from the Slaughter Tower to the Desire Tower, made him very impatient.
But Wen Xishu was different, not because he was kind or handsome.
The real reason was—orders from above.
……
……
A few hours ago, Wen Xishu underwent interrogation.
Perhaps because the high-level officials feared Wen Xishu would enter a state of madness again, the interrogation intensity was not actually high.
At least, brain-damaging truth serums and similar things were not used on him.
This was also thanks to Wen Xishu’s half-mad, half-sane performance. Facing the interrogation, he always had only one answer:
“I must enter the Weird Tower to recall clues about Wen Chaohua.”
This was, of course, a delaying tactic, and a very clumsy one.
But Wen Xishu was very confident that there were only two outcomes:
One: The Bunker high-level officials are not that foolish and do not believe Wen Xishu’s nonsense at all.
Thus, he does not live to chapter four, protagonist dies. The end of the book.
Two: Wen Chaohua is extremely important.
To find Wen Chaohua, the Bunker high-level officials can take any risk.
Even with a flimsy reason like “only by entering the Weird Tower can I recall clues,” they are willing to believe it and take a gamble.
Wen Xishu chose the second option.
Anyone who could leave those three strange “dice” in the Fool’s mind was definitely not an ordinary person.
He gambled correctly, but this did not mean his situation had become safe.
Shortly after the interrogation ended, a high-ranking official from the Bunker Security Bureau found Wen Xishu.
He was a man with a particularly stern face, a robust build, and a distinct military demeanor.
In that cramped, dim room, this cold-tempered official said:
“From today onwards, your matters will be my responsibility. My name is Liu Jingsen, you can call me Liu Sir.”
Liu Sir got straight to the point:
“To escape death, you must do two things.”
“First, survive the Weird Tower. Otherwise, you’re just dying in a different place.”
“Second, Bunker citizens can only stay in the Three Towers for a maximum of seven days,”
“You must recall clues about the extremely wicked criminal Wen Chaohua within seven days.”
“I don’t believe someone like Wen Chaohua would leave clues on you.”
“But my superiors are firm in their stance, so I hope you truly have clues.”
Wen Xishu didn’t dislike Liu Jingsen, his temporary superior. At least his two suggestions were clear and logical.
Wen Xishu also didn't waste the opportunity:
“Suppose, and I mean suppose, I refuse to provide clues about Wen Chaohua, would I still die even if I successfully explored the Weird Tower?”
Liu Jingsen was not surprised that Wen Xishu said, “refuse to provide clues about Wen Chaohua.”
In fact, he was certain that Wen Xishu knew nothing and only wanted to seek a glimmer of hope by exploring the Weird Tower.
“The probability of that is over ninety-nine percent.”
“The remaining one percent is if you bring back a very important item.”
Wen Xishu asked:
“For example?”
Liu Jingsen remained as stern as ever but was not stingy with his answer:
“The lower levels of the Bunker have been plagued by disease recently, and there’s a severe shortage of medicine. If you can achieve a Level Four reward, then you will survive no matter what.”
Wen Xishu pressed on:
“Level Four reward?”
Liu Jingsen paused for a second, facing a question that was almost common knowledge:
“It seems you have never ascended a Tower.”
Wen Xishu shrugged.
Liu Jingsen recited as if from a textbook:
“Exploring the Three Towers will earn you different levels of rewards based on your performance.”
“Level One completion: You will receive basic rations and supplies to sustain a ‘family of three’ for three days.”
“Level Two completion: You will receive basic rations and supplies to sustain a ‘large family’ for three days, including some household items.”
“Level Three completion: On top of the first two levels, you will bring back some items, equipment, and facilities.”
“Level Four completion: You will bring back basic supplies sufficient to sustain a ‘community’ for seven days, and receive some advanced civilization items, equipment, and facilities.”
“Level Five completion: On top of Level Four, you will bring back certain epoch-making ‘technologies’ or items, facilities, and equipment.”
“Level Six completion: You will receive enough supplies to sustain the entire ‘Bunker level’ for a certain period of time.”
“And bring back items or technologies and facilities that are revolutionary for human Bunker civilization.”
“As for obtaining skills, attributes, and items within the Three Towers, that is a separate set of evaluation criteria.”
“Actually, there’s also Level Seven completion, but that can only be achieved within specific limited levels of the Three Towers.”
“You are new to the Three Towers, so your initial level won’t be too high.”
Liu Jingsen paused briefly:
“If you cannot provide clues about Wen Chaohua and wish to survive, then you cannot expect a life for a life. You must exchange one life for a hundred lives.”
“Or even more.”
Wen Xishu recalled a certain Su family brother, where the younger brother served as prime minister in court, and the elder brother constantly caused trouble, forcing the younger brother to patch up the holes.
He now felt like his older brother was seeking death, and the younger brother had to pay the price.
He had to bring back enough supplies to sustain hundreds of people, saving hundreds, to survive.
Of course, there was also a shortcut: fabricating clues about Wen Chaohua.
But the high-level officials were not fools; his credibility for such statements would not last many times.
And with so many experts on the sky ladder board, the plight of the common Bunker people had not changed…
This meant that a Level Four reward was by no means easy for even experts to achieve.
To survive the Weird Tower, and as a newbie, achieve a Level Four reward—it seemed somewhat fantastical.
Wen Xishu found Liu Jingsen increasingly agreeable.
On one hand, this person was very reliable, answering every question from a death row inmate.
On the other hand, this Liu Sir actually believed that his chances of success were as high as one percent.
……
……
Three Towers Game Allocation Office.
The clerk’s words pulled Wen Xishu’s thoughts back.
“You look very good; appearance is actually more important. You are very suitable for entering the Desire Tower.”
“If you can return alive from the Weird Tower, I can modify your physical data in the records.”
“People cared for by important figures have this privilege, as long as some data isn’t too outrageous.”
“Just like that Official Wang from the Bunker Industrial and Commercial Bureau, his son is one meter fifty-eight tall, but I wrote eighteen for him in the relevant values, and he still felt it wasn’t enough.”
Children of officials being directly admitted to the Desire Tower? While ordinary citizens go to the Slaughter Tower to toil like oxen and horses? The corruption in the Bunker is very severe…
However, rectifying the Bunker’s atmosphere was not something Wen Xishu needed to consider at the moment.
He interrupted the talkative clerk:
“Please arrange for my Tower ascent first. I want to contribute to the Bunker people today.”