On the right wall of the alley, there was a line of small, blood-red handwriting, the same font as the prompt at the very beginning of the instance.
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『Even the most passionately blooming rose has its day of withering』
Huh? What does that mean?
Xu Xi looked at the sentence below, feeling completely baffled.
Also, didn't he judge correctly on the layer with no anomalies just now?
Why wasn't the first slogan on the wall at that time?
Xu Xi thought for a while but still couldn't make sense of it, so he decided to stop thinking about it.
Anyway, he didn't die. Continue.
Exiting the alley, it was indeed still that same street.
The number on the road sign in the distance had also changed from 'Floor 1' to 'Floor 2'.
Now Xu Xi was certain; this number really was his cycle count.
Entering the street, he immediately looked up towards the second floor of the Sunny Day Department Store.
The originally bright windows were now pitch black, and the two embracing figures had vanished.
After this, Xu Xi felt a bit more sure of himself.
It seemed the so-called anomalies were similar to this kind of thing.
Huarong Supermarket, Sha County Snacks, First-Class Spicy Hot Pot...
Xu Xi observed bit by bit, but until he reached the end, he didn't find any other unusual places.
Alright, no anomalies, turn left.
He wasn't the least bit worried about what would happen if his judgment was wrong.
After all, his reload ability was, in a way, also a kind of cycle.
He was quite interested to see, in this kind of cycle-based instance, which time point he would return to if he died.
Not feeling in the slightest that there was a major problem with his line of thinking, Xu Xi entered the alley on the left.
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『Everything is normal』
Seeing the familiar blood-red handwriting on the wall, Xu Xi stopped in his tracks.
...Why is there a slogan this time when there are no anomalies?
Why wasn't there one on Floor 0?
Xu Xi thought about it and could only conclude that Floor 0 was probably special.
Perhaps the Floor 0 street was the original state, specifically set up to let him compare it with the anomalies later.
As expected, the number on the road sign jumped to 'Floor 3'.
As soon as Xu Xi entered the street, his ears faintly picked up some sounds.
As he walked forward, the sounds gradually became clearer.
Xu Xi looked around but couldn't find the source of the sound.
It seemed to be coming from all directions, echoing continuously in the silent street.
Unable to find where the sound originated, he could only tilt his head and listen carefully, trying to analyze what kind of sound it was.
Ding-ling-ling—
It sounded like the clinking of many small, metallic objects colliding with each other.
Crisp and resonant.
What is this? Gold? Coins?
Xu Xi really couldn't figure out what it was. Seeing no other anomalies, he headed towards the alley on the right.
Never mind, next layer.
The same wall, the same position, a different slogan.
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『They have been rubbed smooth and shiny by countless hands』
...Another incomprehensible phrase.
Xu Xi sighed inwardly.
Floor 4.
The first thing Xu Xi saw was a man kneeling at the entrance of Huarong Supermarket, kowtowing incessantly.
The dull *thud-thud-thud* sounds made Xu Xi inexplicably feel a pain in his own forehead.
The man seemed tireless and impervious to pain. Even though his forehead was covered in blood, he continued to smash it against the ground expressionlessly.
On the ground in front of the man was a piece of paper partially soaked in blood. Beside the paper was a bundle of banknotes, also stained with blood.
Xu Xi hesitated for a moment but still cautiously moved closer.
Seeing that the man was solely focused on kowtowing, completely unaware and ignoring him, he felt reassured enough to lower his head and look at the content on the paper.
Just in case, he didn't touch it.
As soon as he looked down, he saw the large characters at the top—
Mortgage Loan Contract.
After quickly skimming through it, Xu Xi finally learned the man's identity.
The other party was the owner of this Huarong Supermarket. Unable to repay his debts, he had chosen to mortgage the supermarket.
Xu Xi's gaze shifted to the bundle of banknotes.
He suddenly realized that the style of these banknotes was completely different from the banknotes given to players in the second instance.
Are these instances not set in the same world?
Originally, Xu Xi had never thought about this aspect. Now, seeing the differently styled banknotes, this question popped into his mind.
If only he had thought of it earlier! When Village Chief Zhu was making a phone call in the last instance, he should have asked him to try calling the Anomaly Management Bureau number from the hotel instance.
He still remembered the Anomaly Management Bureau's contact information.
Tsk, why didn't he think of it then?
Xu Xi felt a small pang of regret.
But soon, this feeling of regret passed.
This wasn't a particularly important question anyway; there would always be an opportunity to conduct this experiment later.
The more important question facing him now was: should he take that bundle of banknotes or not?
——
【Ahhhhhhh Master, whatever you do, don't take them! Taking the banknotes on this floor means instant death!】
【A cycle of finding anomalies, what a novel instance】
【Wk, I can't imagine. If it were me, just the deserted late-night street alone would scare me half to death】
【Completely incomprehensible. How are these instances getting more and more nonsensical one after another?】
【Embracing figures by the window, strange sounds, a kowtowing man, two inexplicable slogans... what is all this?】
【Trust me, it gets even more nonsensical later】
【How do you clear this instance? Just keep finding anomalies like this?】
【Don't know, no player has cleared it before】
【I can't take it anymore, this guy looks more and more creepy. His eyes don't blink, he kowtows non-stop, and his face is almost completely covered in blood】
【To the person earlier who said not to take the banknotes, what happens if you take them?】
【You die. One player took the banknotes here and got killed by a humanoid black shadow that suddenly appeared】
【Only an idiot would pick up money lying on the roadside like that】
【That player probably thought it was some kind of item】
【Oh no! Master Xu Xi seems like he really wants to pick it up... Huh?】
The worried live stream comments came to an abrupt halt.
They saw the young man on the screen squat down and carefully examine the bundle of banknotes, then stand up straight and walk towards the end without looking back.
——
Xu Xi looked at the bundle of banknotes as if they were a flood beast or a ferocious animal. Just moments ago, he couldn't resist the urge to take them.
After all, it really looked like an item that might be useful later.
But the moment he picked up the banknotes, a pitch-black human figure silently appeared behind him and reached out to pat his shoulder.
Seeing that pitch-black hand on his right shoulder—no joke—Xu Xi's heart practically stopped, nearly scared to death on the spot.
He wasn't afraid of dying, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of being scared!
Then he was stabbed to death point-blank by a completely black, faceless, only vaguely human-shaped creature.
Yes, that creature was even holding a sharp little knife.
Having unlocked yet another new way to die, Xu Xi returned to the moment just before he went to pick up the banknotes.
He had thought that in this cycle instance, reloading might have some new twist, but it turned out to be the same.
Anomaly, turn right, next layer.