Thank you Jill & Brida for the Kofi.
Changsheng Building
Chapter 262: The non-existent fifth floor
After making all the necessary preparations, the group left the shop on the fourth floor and headed toward the stairwell.
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Wen Jianyan’s condition had slightly improved. Although his face still looked pale, at least he could walk on his own without relying on the support of others.
In the dark stairwell, only one oil lamp was lit, emitting a faint yellow glow.
The group walked forward in silence. In the semi-enclosed, long corridor, only the sound of chaotic footsteps echoed.
Wen Jianyan took out his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. There was just one hour left before the end of the instance.
Although “Changsheng Building” was a time-limited instance, the time limit didn’t mean much in such an advanced instance. This was because it would never give the anchors the chance to stall, do nothing, and wait for the instance to end.
If anyone tried to stay on one floor for too long, either the oil in the lamps would run out and they would be swallowed by the darkness, or they would die directly when another team entered the next floor.
So, even though they knew this instance required them to “survive for 12 hours” to clear it, no team dared to truly waste time in the “Changsheng Building.” They were like animals driven by some invisible force, desperately climbing upward.
Fortunately, no matter how much time was left in the instance, the fifth floor, which he had determined to be the most crucial, was now right in front of them.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, put the phone back in his pocket, and looked ahead into the darkness.
In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:
[Ahhh, the fifth floor!!!]
[The anchor is amazing!!!!]
[This has already broken the record for the “Changsheng Building” instance, right? I remember the previous teams; whether they timed out and left the instance or got completely wiped out, the highest floor they could reach was the fourth. This is the first time I’ve seen a team qualified to enter the fifth floor!]
[Good grief… I originally thought that this tower-climbing instance, which had no plot deviation, would be spared and wouldn’t achieve a platinum accomplishment, but now it seems… the anchor might take an alternative route and clear every single floor, right?]
[Oh my God, no way!]
Soon, the group arrived at a break in the stairwell.
Under the dim lightbulb, there stood a solitary red donation box.
Staring at the familiar donation box, Wen Jianyan furrowed his brow slightly.
Something wasn’t right…
According to his predictions, the fifth floor of “Changsheng Building” should be the core level, and it should also be the final floor of the entire tower.
Based on what he had seen and heard on the third floor, along with some of the information revealed by Wu Zhu…
Wen Jianyan had reason to believe that the fifth floor should break away from the structure of the “Changsheng Building” and resemble the courtyard at the end of a small path.
However, the stairwell between the fourth and fifth floors was no different from the others. If an ordinary anchor, who had not encountered the core of the instance, saw this; they likely wouldn’t realize that the next floor held such special significance.
This made Wen Jianyan feel that something was off.
Qi Qian stepped forward, about to place the ghost money into the donation box, but Wen Jianyan stopped him:
“Wait a moment.”
“Huh?” Qi Qian paused, turning his head in confusion.
“I think, before we do anything… it’s better if we first take a look at the fifth floor,” Wen Jianyan said slowly after thinking for a moment.
An Xin, standing nearby, showed a puzzled expression: “Why?”
Wen Jianyan: “No matter what, we should be the first team to leave the fourth floor; that’s indisputable.”
After all, on the fourth floor, they had chosen the shop with the lowest danger level. Other than the ghost money carried by the customer from another team, which was red, the rest of the ghost money was gray-white.
Moreover, in the stairwell between the third and fourth floors, Wen Jianyan, having carried the incense burner from the courtyard with the red-clad female corpse, unknowingly completed a business transaction in advance.
With all these advantages stacked up, their team must have ascended the floors the easiest, and no team could have surpassed them.
“In that case, we don’t need to worry about an ambush from other teams, nor do we need to be concerned about being eliminated for ascending too late. As long as we don’t all leave the stairwell, the staircase won’t disappear,” Wen Jianyan said slowly. “Based on the pattern that “Changsheng Building” has shown so far, the higher the floor, the more difficult it will be. So, before we make any decisions, I’d like us to take a look at the fifth floor—after all, we have nothing to lose, right?”
Qi Qian thought for a moment and withdrew his hand: “Alright.”
“…”
Su Cheng suddenly glanced at Wen Jianyan. After cooperating for such a long time, he had gradually come to understand his con artist friend.
Although Wen Jianyan’s reasoning was sound, still… no matter what, there was only one path between the fourth and fifth floors. Whatever they saw or encountered on the fifth floor, they would have to face it head-on to survive, so going up to check the situation before coming back didn’t really make sense, did it?
So…
This guy definitely knew something.
And he was probably harboring some ulterior motives.
After accepting Wen Jianyan’s suggestion, the group did not put the ghost money into the donation box but instead headed toward the fifth floor.
Soon, a faint, gray-white light appeared at the end of the corridor.
The full view of the fifth floor unfolded before their eyes.
This floor looked much the same as the previous ones—gray, hazy fog shrouded the entire level, and above them was a similarly misty atrium, high and seemingly endless.
The building’s four sides were lined with tightly closed shops, awaiting the anchors’ arrival.
In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:
[Huh? This is the fifth floor? I thought it would be scarier…]
[Yeah, yeah, it doesn’t look much different from the previous floors.]
[The danger must be inside the shops!]
An Xin, walking in front, was the first to enter the fifth floor:
“There doesn’t seem to be much difference?”
He glanced around, scratching his head, and added, “But there are more shops than the last floor.”
Indeed.
With each ascending floor, the number of shops had drastically decreased. By the time they reached the fourth floor, the number of shops had been reduced to four. But on the fifth floor, unexpectedly, the number of shops had increased again. At a glance, it was almost impossible to count them all immediately.
“This instance’s design is so strange,” Zhang Yu frowned slightly. “By the fourth floor, the number of shops had already dwindled to four. Why did the number increase on the fifth floor? Do they think that the teams progressing from the fourth floor to the fifth would increase instead of decrease?”
For the others, this detail might seem just “a little odd,” but for Wen Jianyan, the number of shops held a different significance.
He knew that the decreasing number of shops was not related to the number of teams.
The higher the floor, the fewer shops there were because the higher they went, the closer “Changsheng Building” got to its core form—the courtyard.
That’s why there were only four shops left on the fourth floor. And the difficulty of these four shops corresponded exactly to the difficulty of the four rooms in the courtyard.
Now, the increased number of shops symbolized something far worse…
Though they had ascended floors, in reality, they were moving further away from the instance’s core.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes slowly and suddenly spoke: “This isn’t the fifth floor.”
“What?”
Everyone froze, turning to look at him.
“I said, this isn’t the fifth floor.”
Wen Jianyan withdrew his gaze and said with certainty: “It’s the first floor.”
“The first floor?!” Everyone showed shocked expressions. “But we’ve been going upwards the whole time, it can’t be…”
Nearby, Orange Candy said thoughtfully, “Now that you mention it, it does seem that way.”
“First, although the number of shops isn’t conclusive yet, the size of each shop and the spacing between them are about the same as on the first floor. And…”
She pointed at the ceiling above, then gestured to the empty hall in front of them, where they could see the shops across from them. “Except for the first floor, where the middle is a hall, every other floor has an atrium in the center.”
With her pointing it out, everyone calmed down and clearly realized the differences between this floor and the previous ones.
“What does this mean?” Qi Qian furrowed his brows tightly. “We’ve fought so hard, and in the end, we’re back on the first floor?”
Beside him, An Xin said, “Isn’t that a good thing? There’s only one hour left until we can leave the instance. If the difficulty were too high, we might die without even a burial place. Returning to the difficulty of the first floor actually makes it easier for us to survive, doesn’t it?”
While everyone was discussing, Su Cheng turned his head and looked at Wen Jianyan not far away. He had his head lowered, and the shadow cast by his hair obscured his face, making his expression hard to read.
Suddenly, without warning, the girl silently took a step back, her entire figure disappearing into the shadows of the stairwell.
“!!!” Su Cheng’s pupils constricted.
*
While the others in the group were discussing in low voices, Wen Jianyan slowly took a step back, turning around in the unnoticed corner and quietly walking towards the stairwell behind him.
He had already realized what the problem was.
“Changsheng Building” itself was a “concept” without a specific form. This was evident from the outside of the building. From the outside, it appeared endless, infinitely tall. So even if you were standing on the first floor, looking up through the atrium, you wouldn’t see the top of the building.
Because “Changsheng Building” only had four floors. Or rather… countless floors.
The first floor sells bodies, the second sells voices and sight, the third sells faces, and the fourth provides offerings for the pieced-together customers, sending them to their graves for burial.
Once the four floors are completed, a full cycle ends. When the current “customers” disappear, the anchors who have completed the four floors re-enter the so-called “fifth floor,” but in reality, it’s conceptually the “first floor,” beginning a new cycle to send another batch of customers to the next fourth floor’s grave.
No wonder this high-level instance was presented in a “time-limited” format…
After all, in a never-ending building like this, the only thing that can be restricted was “time.”
In other words, within “Changsheng Building”, the concept of the “fifth floor” doesn’t really exist.
No, to be precise, it does “exist.”
But it exists outside of the instance itself.
Upon realizing this, Wen Jianyan immediately understood why Wu Zhu had appeared earlier inside the paper sedan chair.
At that time, he had indeed been on his way to the “fifth floor.”
It was precisely because that place didn’t fully belong to the “Changsheng Building” instance anymore that Wu Zhu was able to appear there without being restricted by the instance.
Sure enough, the core floor of the instance wasn’t so easy to enter.
If one followed the instance’s given path, going up floor by floor, it would be impossible to enter the “non-existent fifth floor.”
However, if one followed the previous route… that is, by entering the special painting on the third floor, leaving the courtyard inside the painting, entering the graveyard, and then following the path inside the graveyard to reach the “fifth floor”… it would probably be impossible to return from there.
And Wu Zhu had clearly said that he “needed to take another route” to go upstairs.
In other words, although Wen Jianyan was inside the instance, there was indeed a way to find the path to the fifth floor, which existed outside of the instance…
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, raising a hand to press on his neck.
There, a faint bruise from teeth marks remained, and the cold, wet sensation of the other’s lips and tongue still lingered, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Damn it, he could have just explained things clearly, but instead, he had to be all cryptic.
Every time he appeared, he was useless, aside from biting him twice…
Useless!
However, regardless, Wen Jianyan was certain that the invisible, inaccessible path was on the fourth floor, not on the so-called fifth floor he had just entered. That place was already far from the instance’s core, and no matter how long he stayed, he wouldn’t be able to achieve his goal.
But…
Wen Jianyan had no intention of dragging anyone else into this.
An Xin had a point: for the anchors, as long as they lasted another hour, they could leave this instance unscathed.
Finding the core floor of “Changsheng Building” and completing the ultimate main quest wasn’t necessary. The reason Wen Jianyan wanted to enter the fifth floor was because he had more obscure, more selfish personal reasons.
The journey ahead was extremely dangerous, and he didn’t think deceiving others into following him would have any meaning.
In the empty staircase, Wen Jianyan’s lonely footsteps echoed. He walked past the red donation box under the light without hesitation, heading toward the fourth floor.
Soon, the doors of the shops on the fourth floor appeared before him.
Whether it was the empty, dim shops inside, the glass doors open on both sides, or the two gray lanterns hanging outside the glass doors, everything seemed so familiar.
Just as Wen Jianyan was about to continue forward, a voice, barely suppressing its anger, called from behind:
“Wen. Jian. Yan.”
Wen Jianyan: “?”
Starled, he instinctively, halted his steps and turned around.
A fist was coming straight at him.
“!!!” Wen Jianyan’s face turned pale.
However, perhaps his current appearance was too frail and harmless, and the weakness he had shown on the previous floor gave him a somewhat pitiable aura. The fist hesitated, and in the end, its owner couldn’t bring themselves to punch his overly pale, pretty face.
The fist stopped angrily just inches away.
“Hah… haha…”
Wen Jianyan took a few steps back, looking at the furious and grim-faced Su Cheng in front of him. He let out a guilty, awkward laugh. “You… what are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” Su Cheng’s temple twitched wildly. “You’ve completely forgotten your promise, haven’t you?”
“He really didn’t expect that the other party would be so sharp to realize his departure so quickly and understand his goal for leaving.”
“Or are you saying that your promise of never recklessly risking your life again was just a load of crap?”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
He wore a bitter expression, unusually unable to come up with any excuse for the moment… He’s really getting hard to fool now!!!
“With you looking like this, I can’t bring myself to hit you,” Su Cheng gritted his teeth, speaking viciously, “I’ll wait until you’re back to normal.”
Wen Jianyan: “…………”
Su Xiaocheng, you’re a little scary right now, you know that?
At that moment, a string of hurried footsteps approached from behind.
Wen Jianyan froze, instinctively turning his head to look, only to see Qi Qian, Orange Candy, and the other teammates appearing not far away.
Upon seeing the two of them, Qi Qian let out a sigh of relief: “I was wondering why you two disappeared…”
An Xin looked heartbroken: “Wen Wen, you’re not fully recovered yet; don’t run around!”
Wen Jianyan: “.”
He thought getting caught by Su Cheng was already bad enough, but now, how did everyone else end up following too!
“You must know some different information, don’t you?” Orange Candy, standing to the side, crossed her arms and said coolly, “Alright, spill it; why did you run back?”
“Sigh…” Wen Jianyan let out a long sigh, as if finally out of options, and raised his hands in surrender, saying, “Fine, since you all really want to know…”
Quickly, he used the simplest words to explain his theory about the entire “Changsheng Building,” finally concluding, “In short, for certain reasons, I need to enter the non-existent fifth floor of the “Changsheng Building,” but the difficulty and danger are extremely high. You all only have one hour left before you can leave the instance normally, so there’s really no need to take the risk.”
“The fifth floor, huh…”
Orange Candy showed a thoughtful expression. Soon, she curled her lips into an excited smile: “Interesting, count me in.”
Wen Jianyan: “?”
Qi Qian, standing nearby, squinted his eyes: “Normally, I wouldn’t involve myself in such dangerous things, but…”
He sighed and glanced at Su Cheng: “Your prophet has to follow along, right?”
Wen Jianyan: “Actually…”
Before he could finish, Su Cheng coldly interrupted: “Yes.”
“Then there’s no helping it,” Qi Qian shook his head and said, “I’m in the instance with you, and it seems like the Oracle already knows. If your prophet is gone, where will I find such a useful employee in the future?”
The others all nodded in agreement.
“Plus, this instance is so difficult. If we actually complete the ultimate main quest and unlock the platinum achievement, won’t we make a fortune?”
“Yeah, exactly!”
“Exactly!”
“After being in Nightmare for so long, who doesn’t know the greater the risk, the greater the reward!”
“Hurry, hurry, I can’t wait anymore.”
Wen Jianyan: “……”
For some inexplicable reason, in the end, the whole team decided to stay.
Wen Jianyan shook his head helplessly: “Fine, do as you wish.”
After all… whether or not they can find the path to the fifth floor is still a mystery.
Moreover, if his guess is correct, the fifth floor doesn’t need to be “cleared,” because it exists independently from the “Changsheng Building.” In theory, it shouldn’t be bound by the instance’s rules anymore.
Even if they enter the fifth floor, they won’t need to be clerks selling goods anymore.
After saying that, he took a deep breath and looked towards the shop in front of him.
The familiar dark hall, the familiar glass doors, and the two lanterns hanging above the door.
Wen Jianyan looked away, about to step forward into the shop, but his footsteps paused once more.
Lanterns?
Wen Jianyan was stunned for two seconds, raising his head to look at the two lanterns hanging above the shop entrance.
Since the fourth-floor tasks were now complete, the lanterns at the entrance had dimmed, hanging there, dull and unnoticeable.
“Changsheng Building”’s fourth floor was the closest to the concept of a “courtyard.” So, on this floor, there weren’t just four shops at the cardinal directions, but also lanterns very similar to those in the courtyard. The subsequent crises that happened proved that these lanterns on the fourth floor had their own role to play within the mechanism of the floor.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes.
In the third painting on the third floor, there were also similar lanterns hanging at the entrance of the courtyard, and they were also dim.
He had left the courtyard with the dark lanterns, followed the winding path into the graveyard, placed the portrait on the shrine, and then… the grave collapsed, revealing a second path. At the end of that path was another courtyard, identical to the one in the painting, except for one thing…
The lanterns at its entrance were lit.
Wait a second!
Wen Jianyan suddenly realized a detail he had nearly overlooked before.
The shrine, the portrait, and the incense burner in front… Don’t these three things correspond exactly to the tasks they completed on the fourth floor?!
If that’s the case…
Then they might only be one step away from entering that nonexistent fifth floor.
“Come help me!” Wen Jianyan hurried forward, “Help me take down these two lanterns from above!”
Very soon, the two lanterns were taken down. Wen Jianyan fiddled with them for a while and quickly found the opening mechanism. He opened the lanterns.
Sure enough, inside each lantern, there was an empty spot, just big enough to place an oil tray.
“I need one red oil tray and one gray-white oil tray!” Wen Jianyan said.
Orange Candy: “I have one last red one left.”
“I also have two white ones left.” Qi Qian pulled out a half-burned gray-white oil tray from his pocket, which he had taken from the fourth-floor shop. “Here you go.”
Wen Jianyan took the oil trays, placed them inside the lanterns, and quickly lit them. The others worked together to hang the lanterns back in place.
Very soon, the two lanterns, one red and one white, were hanging in front of the shop.
One represented festive, eerie, blood-red joy, while the other symbolized mournful, cold, ghostly white. The red and white lanterns illuminated the darkness, emitting an unsettling and terrifying light.
In an instant, the temperature in the air seemed to drop by several degrees, turning bone-chilling cold.
“Whoa!” Someone behind them stumbled and nearly fell.
Wen Jianyan quickly turned around: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” The person paused and looked down at their feet, “It’s just… the stairs disappeared.”
Indeed, the stairs that originally led upward had completely vanished. In front of them now was a winding, muddy path that extended into the darkness…
At the end of it, a small courtyard could vaguely be seen.
At the courtyard’s entrance, two lanterns, one red and one white, were lit. In the surrounding boundless darkness, they appeared particularly eerie and terrifying.
Wen Jianyan’s heart skipped a beat.
This was it.
He took a deep breath and was about to say something when, suddenly, without warning, a lone footstep echoed from the darkness.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
Stiff, slow.
Wen Jianyan froze, instinctively glancing in the direction of the sound.
Not far away, in the deep, impenetrable darkness, a vague figure could be seen, slowly making its way toward them, step by step.
Though its face was obscured by the darkness, the figure’s festive red wedding dress and the embroidered red shoes beneath were strangely clear, standing out in the blackness. Just looking at it from afar filled one with a deep, terrifying dread.
“Wait… that’s…” Everyone was stunned.
Only Wen Jianyan showed a look of utter shock, his face turning pale as he shouted in horror:
“Run! Hurry, run!”
In this instance… there was only one thing that gave Wen Jianyan an unparalleled sense of fear and pressure. Only one thing he never wanted to see!
And the moment the fifth floor appeared…
So did it.
The red-dressed female corpse locked in the second-floor mirror!
Aww, I caught up 😦