Trapped in that floor's loop, Xu Xi had no choice but to kill himself and reload.
He now understood: the difficulty of this instance wasn't judging whether anomalies existed—after all, anyone with eyes could tell—but rather the dangers or predicaments one might encounter during each anomalous cycle.
The man jumping from the building right now was the supermarket owner who had been kneeling and kowtowing on the ground on Floor 4.
After picking up all the clean banknotes, Xu Xi looked at the bills that had fallen into the pool of blood and were rapidly being soaked, falling into a brief silence.
He had no idea if the paper money in his hand was enough.
Just as he was struggling over whether to pick up all of them, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of pitch-black human figures—the same ones that had stabbed him to death before—emerging one by one all around him. There were about ten of them, holding either clubs or kitchen knives.
Xu Xi: "...?"
Why did these figures appear as soon as he took the money?
Was their possessiveness over the banknotes really that strong?
The live stream comments were still worried about the young man gradually being surrounded by the dark figures. The next second, they saw their master not only easily dodge the attacks of the shadows every single time but also counter-kill several of them using the fruit knife given by the Nightgown Woman. He forcefully fought his way out of the encirclement, directly shook off the remaining shadows, and entered the next floor.
[...Master, what other surprises do you have that I don't know about?]
[Seriously, being a freakishly smart genius is one thing, but being this good at fighting too? Am I really the same species as him?]
[Instance: Can we even play if he's not nerfed?]
[LMAO, the instance is saying the natural order is reversed.]
The comments were originally buzzing with lively discussion, but then they watched helplessly as the subsequent developments seemed to speed up by 2x.
...
'Congratulations, your judgment is correct.'
'A withering life has arrived at the abyss of a dead end.'
Skipping past the slogans he had already seen, Xu Xi arrived at Floor 15.
He played with the fruit knife in his hand, his eyes showing delight.
He had thought he would have to restart again, but just now, while holding this fruit knife, he suddenly felt his physical abilities improve significantly, and his neural reflexes became much more sensitive.
This fruit knife could even inflict damage on those pitch-black creatures from earlier.
It was undoubtedly a beneficial attack-type item.
He wondered if this fruit knife was a necessary item for later cycles.
If only he could take it out with him.
If he couldn't take the cat, surely taking a fruit knife would be okay, right?
Putting away the fruit knife, Xu Xi, now familiar with the routine, found the camera placed by the roadside, pointed it at the supermarket, and pressed the shutter.
A photo spat out from the camera.
In the picture, the background was the storefront bearing the Huarong Supermarket sign. Three people stood at the entrance: the woman in a dress on the far left had a face full of smiles; the young woman in a nightgown in the middle was making a peace sign at the camera; the man on the far right was looking happily at the two beside him.
It was confirmed: a family of three.
Yet one hanged himself, one slit her wrists, and one ended his life by jumping.
That's right. When he saw the Nightgown Woman's bleeding wrist, he suspected she had slit her wrists.
He had no idea what exactly happened to this family, for their final outcome to be so tragic.
He felt that while the husband's debt was serious, it was far from reaching such a level of despair.
Shaking his head, Xu Xi put away the photo and turned to head to the next floor.
'Congratulations, your judgment is correct.'
'Past years are like a dream, a bubble, a shadow; his desires destroyed everything.'
Xu Xi stood at the street corner. The road sign beside him indicated Floor 0.
He knew it: he had reached the second story.
Floor 0, pass.
Floor 1.
The window on the second floor of Sunny Day Department Store lit up again.
Only this time, the figure was very different.
On the surface, there was only a woman's figure, but actually, from different angles, there was another figure embracing her, kissing her, and making various other intimate poses with her.
Anomaly, pass.
'Congratulations, your judgment is correct.'
'Every transaction was like carving a knife wound in her heart.'
Floor 2, no anomaly, pass.
Floor 3.
The familiar sound of metal clashing rang out, accompanied this time by a woman's coquettish laughter.
Anomaly, pass.
'Congratulations, your judgment is correct.'
'The dazzling array of temptations beneath the paper-drunken-golden-mirage was like a giant whirlpool; she sank into it silently.'
Floor 4.
Circumvented the loose manhole cover.
Anomaly, pass.
'Congratulations, your judgment is correct.'
'Would anyone really believe using a prank as an excuse?'
Floor 5.
No anomaly, pass.
Floor 6.
Nimbly avoided the thorns that abruptly grew from the ground.
Anomaly, pass.
'Congratulations, your judgment is correct.'
'The pain spread across the body, like sharp thorns piercing the skin.'
Floor 7.
A boy sat with his head bowed at the entrance of Sunny Day Department Store.
The boy's face, exposed arms, and calves were covered in various blue, purple, and bruised marks.
Anomaly, pass.
'Congratulations, your judgment is correct.'
'Pain grew wildly in his heart like vines, entwining every inch of his soul.'
Floor 8, no anomaly, pass.
Floor 9.
Finally here.
Xu Xi let out a sigh of relief.
Last time, he was trapped on this very floor, forcing him to use the fruit knife to kill himself, reload, and go back to collect the banknotes.