When XĂŒ Beijin is going to switch up his stream, someone suddenly pops up in front of him.
Looking up, and yup, itâs Wei Lezhang.
The guy came chatting almost as soon as the last run started, and heâs here this run again? XĂŒ Beijin is feeling the warmth drain out of his body just picturing the guy accosting him for half a day after this.
⊠Especially if itâs to only talk about that bookstore owner of the bottom floor of the Tower!
XĂŒ Beijin truly regrets not having told him his true identity. Right, he deliberately kept quiet before, but now he really wants to let it out.
Man, Wei Lezhang, youâre seriously annoying for an Actor.
A different kind of annoying to Lin Qin, who is at least less loquaciousâŠ
Thankfully, this time Wei Lezhang has something else to add to the table besides the legendary âbookstore owner.â Heâs here to talk about the Nightmare itself.
He seems pretty irate at the Missiontakers, complaining, âwhatâs wrong with all the Missiontakers this time? That entire first run and only two people even made it to this floor.â
XĂŒ Beijin, feeling a stroke of inspiration, asks, âyou know something about this Nightmare?â
Wei Lezhang is grinning and adding mystique to his tone, âI knew youâd be interested in things related to Nightmares. And that is exactly⊠what this Nightmare is.â
XĂŒ Beijin is all ears.
Wei Lezhang then begins explaining, âIâm the nth-male lead, so basically, something better than being an extra.â
XĂŒ Beijin ââŠâ
Well, technically, he, an extra, would be slightly lower in rank than an nth male leadâŠ
He is looking at Wei Lezhang with this rather exasperated expression, hoping the big bald guy would quickly get to the point and tell him what he knows.
Wei Lezhang does as he wishes, and points to the burning scene outside of the window, and asks XĂŒ Beijin, âthis looks pretty terrifying outside, right?â
XĂŒ Beijin is surprised at the suddenly topic switch, but nods.
Wei Lezhang then asks, âso, if itâs that terrifying outside, and this building is kind of a shelter, even with food⊠Why do you think all of us would be trying to escape outside?â
XĂŒ Beijin thinks for a second and answers, âfor two possible reasons. One, this building wouldnât last much longer before crumbling, or two⊠there is something in this building, more dangerous than whatever is outside?â
âThatâs right!â Wei Lezhang claps his hands, and says, âbut thereâs a third reason.â
XĂŒ Beijin raises his brows to ask with curiosity, âwhat is it?â
âBro, pretty late on the uptick, are you?â Wei Lezhang tells him, âwell, there is âfood,â thatâs what I said, but do you really think, that in this office building without a canteen and only this little staff break area, there really is enough food?â
XĂŒ Beijin gets it, and says, âof course not,â he pauses, and asks, âsoâŠâ
Wei Lezhang shrugs, commenting, âI wonder if those Missiontakers would meet the cannibals? Theyâre probably⊠down from the 16th floor or so. I wonder what floor theyâve made it to alreadyâŠâ
XĂŒ Beijin says, âisnât it something theyâd only realise if they searched the 16th floor thoroughlyâŠ?â Then, curious, he asks, âso why didnât you tell the two people about this when they were on this floor before?â
Wei Lezhang shrugs, âthey havenât managed to trigger some corresponding⊠thing?â He seems unsure as well, saying, âwho cares, NE always have these strange rules governing the Nightmares. If it wants me to say it, then I do; if it doesnât, then not.â
XĂŒ Beijin then teases the big bald guy, âso why were you so pissed off when NE had you eating hotpot the last time around?â
Wei Lezhang is staring at XĂŒ Beijin in shock, with âomg! so youâre such a XĂŒ Beijin after all!â written on his face, before sighing, and saying, âbut itâs really hard to eat hotpot for four hours straight,â then, he adds, âalso, I have to keep eating hotpot even in my own Nightmare.â
XĂŒ Beijin ââŠâ
So basically, hotpots are to Wei Lezhang probably what the doors peepholes were to Shen YĂŒnjĂŒ and toilets to whatshisname.
PTSD.
Wei Lezhang then cusses at the Server, âdamn NE! One day, Iâll also force you to chomp down on four hours of hellish spicy hotpot!â
XĂŒ Beijin ââŠâ
Heâs giving the bro a pretty complicated look. Does Wei Lezhang know that NE might actually be watching the Missiontakers and Actors 24/7?
He probably does not.
So that means, next time, Wei Lezhang would probably have to endure four hours of hellish spicy hotpot again.
Poor him.
XĂŒ Beijin swears he isnât finding this morbidly amusing inside.
He is just wondering about⊠right, about this Nightmare.
The Missiontakersâ progress aside, XĂŒ Beijin is more concerned about⊠for example, where the Nightmare owner is. What happened to her?
In the Tower, he knows she has basically lost herself to this Nightmare, to her assigned role. Why? When she first met XĂŒ Beijin in the Nightmare, she was still completely sane.
And another question, coming from XĂŒ Beijinâs hypothesis that this Nightmare is based on what once happened to Mystic on Earth, then if the Nightmare owner did come face to face with Mystic, what would happen?
There truly are many questions in this Nightmare waiting to be answered, thinks XĂŒ Beijin.
He then turns his attention back to the stream, which is currently focused on Jiang Shuangmei and Mystic. Theyâre heading for the 31st floor from the 36th, which means they would probably be the first pair of Missiontakers to encounter something. So XĂŒ Beijin has the stream pointed at them.
They havenât talked at all along the way, silently checking each floor they pass by. Lin Qin and Fei, who headed off early for the 16th floor, is nowhere to be seen by now.
Jiang Shuangmei and Mystic didnât find any elevators or dangers at all these few floors.
Jiang Shuangmei wonders, âcould it be that the situation only deteriorates from the 31st floor, where the little girl is?â
She is surprised for all these floors to be without dangers.
Mystic is silent to Jiang Shuangmeiâs questions, and the latter is used to it by now. She also knows that Mystic is a pretty paranoid and probably overthinks things too much.
Though when they reach the stairs of the 31st floor, and Jiang Shuangmei is about to pull on the door for this floor, Mystic suddenly speaks up.
Her voice is exceptionally soft, as if it was drifting down from somewhere high above some dreams. She asks, âhave you ever felt, the pain⊠of watching your own close kin lost in the Nightmares?â