Standing on the fourth Floor 0, Xu Xi had a strange premonition that this might be the last story.
He just didn't know what this story was about yet.
Floor 0, the base floor, passed.
Floor 1.
Xu Xi really wanted to rub his eyes. After blinking a few times, he realized he wasn't seeing things.
Garbage was really falling from the sky.
All sorts of miscellaneous things like banana peels, apple cores, jelly cups, drink bottles, popsicle sticks, and so on.
Ah, this.
Why didn't he have an umbrella.
Xu Xi took a deep breath and ran.
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『The contemptuous gaze was like a sharp, cold blade, wantonly churning in his heart』
After seeing the content on the wall, Xu Xi's heart stirred.
He had always been curious about how the boy in the second cycle got those injuries.
Originally, he thought they were from the Cheongsam Woman or her clients, but something felt off.
Could this story be about that boy?
It seemed like he was being bullied.
The boy didn't look old, maybe middle or high school age.
Could it be school violence?
Xu Xi thought about it and felt it was very likely.
The Cheongsam Woman's secret profession was quite special, and it wasn't certain that no one on the street knew about it. After it got out, the boy was ostracized by his peers. That logic made sense.
But one point didn't match up.
Although the boy did ultimately kill someone, it was ruled as justifiable self-defense, so he couldn't really be called a villain.
Too few clues. Next floor.
Floor 2.
At a glance.
Manhole covers, so many manhole covers.
Xu Xi broke his previous vow to never step on manhole covers again.
Because if he didn't step on the manhole covers, he would die.
Apart from the manhole covers, the rest of the normal ground was like bubbles that would pop at the slightest touch, cracking the moment he stepped on it.
After falling through and restarting, Xu Xi learned his lesson and walked the entire way specifically stepping on manhole covers.
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『How vile must an act be to no longer be considered a prank?』
Such a familiar slogan. He remembered that a manhole cover and a similar slogan had appeared in a certain cycle of the second story.
The possibility that this story's theme was that boy grew a little stronger.
Floor 3, no anomalies, passed.
Floor 4.
Four people were walking towards him on the roadside.
Two adults, two boys.
It looked like a couple taking their two children for a walk.
Except the couple and one of the boys walked in front, chatting and laughing.
The other boy followed behind with an expressionless face, dragging his feet slowly.
Xu Xi stopped to observe them carefully and suddenly noticed a very interesting point.
The boy in front looked quite similar to the husband. The boy behind had eyes and brows resembling the wife's. But the two boys' appearances bore no resemblance to each other.
The family of four ignored Xu Xi across the way and gradually disappeared into the distance.
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『A family of three, a happy home』
This floor made Xu Xi doubt his previous judgment.
He already understood that the instance wouldn't provide meaningless cycles.
Even those normal streets mixed in among the various abnormal cycles were just to make the players feel fatigued.
So the characters appearing in this floor must be related to this story.
Xu Xi pondered for a moment. The three stories told about different families or people. The four people just now were most likely the protagonists of this story.
Then why were there similar cycles? What connection did the boy from the second story have with this story?
Moreover, this slogan also struck Xu Xi as quite strange.
There were clearly four people, yet it was described as a family of three.
Remembering their appearances, either the two boys were fraternal twins and the parents favored one, or... this was actually a blended family.
Xu Xi grew more and more curious about who exactly killed the man in the third story.
Floor 5, no anomalies, passed.
Floor 6.
"Beat him up!"
"Boss, this kid's almost beaten to death. Let's not cause a fatality."
"We took the money, so we do the job. Keep hitting him!"
Xu Xi quickly moved towards the source of the voices.
It was a dead-end alley.
By the time Xu Xi got close, the sounds of punches and kicks were already fading.
"Boss, this kid really can't take much more."
"Hmph, then stop here."
Xu Xi stood at the alley entrance, looking inside.
A boy covered in injuries lay in the corner, his face swollen and bruised, his condition unknown.
But Xu Xi recognized him at a glance as the boy who had been lagging behind.
Paid to do a job... Whose money did those people take? And why did the person paying want to target him?
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『A mistaken existence, an extra who shouldn't have appeared』
Xu Xi stared at the word "extra" for a while.
Could it really be a blended family?
Floor 7.
This is... milk tea?
Xu Xi looked at the milk tea lined up neatly on both sides of the street and couldn't help but be stunned.
The style shift was too abrupt, leaving him somewhat bewildered.
Xu Xi originally planned to ignore it, but after walking a few steps, he turned back.
Come to think of it, it seemed like he hadn't had milk tea in a long time.
He wasn't a huge fan of milk tea, but he occasionally liked to pair it with barbecue.
Although his colleagues often said his preference was a bit too peculiar, he still enjoyed it tirelessly.
Ever since he died suddenly from overwork, crossed over, and was selected by this damn God Hunt, he hadn't had it again.
So... should he try some?
Reason told him this was an instance, he was trying to clear it, and these things looked like milk tea but could very well be something else.
But emotion told him that if he missed this chance, who knew when he'd get to taste it again.
In the end, Xu Xi decided—
Drink it!
Carefully opening the lid, Xu Xi cautiously sniffed it.
It smelled like milk tea, alright.
As for what flavor, he couldn't tell.
He took a sip, and Xu Xi's eyes lit up.
It's delicious!!!
——
Xu Xi stood on the street, feeling depressed.
He had only taken a few sips when the boy from the previous instance, who had just been beaten half to death, suddenly appeared not far away, looking furious as if his home had been robbed.
Unsurprisingly, they fought.
As expected, he lost.
But Xu Xi wasn't willing to give up.
He hadn't had enough to drink.
So after restarting, he picked up another cup.
Relying on those repeated few sips, he stubbornly drank until he was satisfied.
Standing on the street once more, Xu Xi could now ignore all this milk tea with an utterly placid expression.
『Congratulations, your judgment is correct』
『She was like a gentle light, dispelling the gloom surrounding him』