Volume 5 - CH 88.3

What the woman has told him has cleared the light on some of the questions, for example, how the 15th floor came to be.

However…

After thinking about it, Wu Jian says, “if the 16th floor is safe, then you can just…”

“Temporarily safe,” says the woman, glancing over at Xü Beijin’s direction, “when food finally runs out here, we will no longer be as cordial.”

Wu Jian falls silent.

He wants to tell her, that from what he has heard from the other Missiontakers, when the little girl was once found on the 31st floor, there was only empty food packaging littered about her. The little girl’s tummy was rumbling with hunger.

In other words, even staying on the 31st floor isn’t much better for the little girl.

But… but what else could he say to this woman?

When the situation is as dire as this…

So, Wu Jian merely keeps his silence.

That is when Xü Beijin asks, “if the little girl left the 31st floor to look for you, then have you ever told her where you would be?”

The woman opens her mouth in vain, only to shake her head in embarrassment.

“So she does not know where you are,” Xü Beijin says with an impersonal tone, then he turns to Lin Qin and Wu Jian to ask, “did you take the little girl anywhere before she went missing?”

Lin Qin was going to tell the exact facts when Wu Jian quickly says, “after we brought her out of the 31st floor, Mystic… someone took her to the 9th floor.”

He doesn’t know if the little girl can already remember what happened the last run, but given she left the 31st floor on her own, she probably remembers, and is now going to look for her mommy.

In any case, since Xü Beijin asked, Wu Jian answers thusly.

Lin Qin gives Wu Jian a death glare, but since the matter at hand is more pressing, he doesn’t do anything.

Instead, he shifts his attention to observing Xü Beijin, making sure he doesn’t look to be doing any worse, before nodding with satisfaction.

Then he starts to wonder, is this what it is to like someone?

Why would liking someone produce emotions like worry?

Although he is slightly blue pondering such, it doesn’t show on his expression; all anyone can see is that he is staring at Xü Beijin in silence.

Xü Beijin doesn’t know what Lin Qin is thinking about either, and merely says, “so if the little girl last went to the 9th floor but doesn’t find her mommy, then would she start searching floor by floor this time?”

Wu Jian nods in agreement, but then he says, “umm… but I think she knows, we told her we’ve been to some floors and her mommy wasn’t there… Those other floors…”

Xü Beijin follows up, “are dangerous?”

Wu Jian’s face is going pale.

The 20th floor looks the same as ever.

When Teen, Fei and Mystic have reached the 20th floor for elevator Three, they do not find the little girl.

Teen is complaining, “where did the little brat run off to?”

Nobody answers, and so Teen can only roll his eyes and stop talking.

They checked the photograph again; Mystic is still on there, and the little girl is still wearing her bracelet.

Mystic is slightly dazed looking at the photograph. When Fei is watching her closely, worried she might do something weird, Mystic merely looks away from the photograph, looking disinterested.

Teen says, “I’ve told you that you are not the mother of the little girl. The Nightmare has affected your cognition,” then he asks, “have you never been to such a Nightmare before?”

Mystic seems to think for a really long time before gently replying, “I did.”

In Nightmares of higher floors, Missiontakers might sometimes have some sort of… faux setting applied to them. It was similar to what Wu Jian and Jiang Shuangmei experienced, like being hypnotised, but it begins the moment they enter the Nightmare.

If it was severe enough, Missiontakers might even forget their own identities and start ‘living’ in the Nightmare.

So Teen really sees Mystic’s performance as abysmal and bringing all of them higher-floor-Missiontakers shame. This isn’t even one of those settings, but merely a suggestive nudge planted by the Nightmare…

Seriously?

Teen wants to ask her.

Mystic glances at the photograph again before taking a deep breath and turn back normal somewhat.

They reach elevator Three.

The last Nightmare, Suits picked six. This time three buttons still remain – eleven, nineteen, thirty-five.

Teen spends no time pondering before he pushes down eleven.

He suddenly turns to Mystic to ask, “do you still remember which button you pushed in the first run?”

He doesn’t expect Mystic to be able to answer, but it wouldn’t hurt asking. Mystic might have still remembered something despite her extreme state of distress.

Mystic does produce an answer, though, looking at the panel of buttons, “it was eleven.”

“Eleven,” Teen murmurs, “and it went to the 18th floor.”

The elevator continues churning down, but the time it takes was beyond any of their imagination. Teen is calculating the time in his mind, and when the elevator stops, they spent almost as much as twenty seconds.

Teen blinks and says, “I suspect we’re already below the 9th floor.”

His suspicion is justified when they walk out of the elevator to see that the scenery outside appears very close nearby. This is probably already close to the ground.

The emergency stairwell access from the elevator lobby is blocked, not even allowing them to see the paint indicating the floor number. The time taken would suggest they’re on either the 7th or the 6th floor.

This floor is even dimmer than the floors above.

The Nightmare was already taking place at dusk, and all the lights are out. On higher floors, the burning city helps to be the light source, but on this floor, buildings being so close together meant light is blocked off. (tl: Plus buildings being close together usually means the shared sides would be bereft of windows)

This floor is so dark they cannot even see the ground in front of them.

They start walking about the floor, although soon enough, both Teen and Fei yell out in pain.

They have stepped on something sharp, maybe broken glass, or some other object, that tore even right through their shoes, slashing them on the foot.

Mystic, instead, is somehow avoiding all danger like she has clairvoyance.

Teen seems mystified, wondering, “is this floor designed to just hurt people?!”

Fei says nothing, but her brows are furrowed deep.

After bumbling through the floor, they do not find anything of value, but they can say that sharp objects, whether it be glass shards, scissors, knives or blades, have scattered about the ground, some even being put upright.

Even Mystic’s luck ran out, and she has wounds on her feet as well.

Finally, they return to the elevator lobby in pain.

Teen, utterly frustrated, knitting his brows, smacks his hand right on the call button for the elevator.

That is when he sees something surprising.

Because, after the button was pushed, the elevator that responded wasn’t elevator Three on which they arrived.

But an elevator that was stopped on this floor all along.

… Here, is elevator Four.