Yan Wei had indeed never been afraid.
He hadn’t immediately thought about reaching the top this time because his desire to do so wasn’t particularly strong.
A lack of desire didn’t mean he was willing to be manipulated.
The Tower randomly selected players like them, forcing them into instances, making them climb the Tower day after day in constant fear. Were they really supposed to just accept their fate without any choice?
He understood the frustration he felt during his first climb.
Players in the Tower World were essentially puppets in the face of the Tower. The better ones had some freedom to act, to struggle in the face of life and death, to have slightly more choices than other puppets. The worse ones were nothing more than insignificant tools, stepping stones for those who died in the instances. They had no freedom, no other choices.
And the so-called freedom after reaching the top was just a rumor; no actual example had ever appeared.
Yan Wei had suspected during his last climb that this supposed freedom after reaching the top was unattainable, and that the final instance would do everything in its power to keep those who wanted to leave—either they stayed or they died.
Only when all of this was truly over, when they passed the top floor’s instance, could they truly live. Not like now, teetering on the edge of life and death, living only to survive.
After regaining his memories, he clearly remembered how obsessed he had been during his first climb with reaching the top and obtaining Pandora’s Box. That obsession had driven him to continuously enter instances, the root of his motivation.
But during his second climb, starting from the first floor without the memories of his first climb, he felt as though he had simply walked into a black building from the outside world and began an endless climb.
During these instances, he hadn’t thought much about challenging the Tower’s authority.
Perhaps it was because Yan Mingguang had been by his side from the start, subconsciously reducing his sense of floating between life and death. Or perhaps it was the devastating failure of his first climb and the players who had all died on the final floor that made him unwilling to remember.
Even after regaining his memories, he wasn’t as obsessive about repeating his previous goal. His first thought was to talk to Yan Mingguang.
But at this moment, Yan Wei knew he still had to do it.
For himself, and for the consequences of Lin Qing and Lin Zhen caused by his unfamiliarity with the Moon Wheel.
Only if Lin Zhen and Lin Qing reached the top together and exchanged Pandora could they wish to separate from Lin Qing and leave. Otherwise, if he succeeded, Lin Qing would leave the Tower World with him, and Lin Zhen would die immediately due to their dependency. Or if they failed, Lin Zhen would…
So Lin Zhen had to climb with them.
As for ending all of this… Yan Wei had no interest in it this time. During his last climb, he wanted to free everyone from this predicament, largely driven by his own rebellious nature. Perhaps he was inherently cold-blooded; the lives of others didn’t concern him. He only wanted to take care of the people and matters before him.
That was to take himself and the people he cared about away from this hell.
The moment Yan Wei exited the Puppet Castle instance, he already had a vague idea of what to do next.
Lin Zhen’s situation acted as a catalyst, solidifying his decision.
The Black Ring in Yan Wei’s hand vibrated twice.
He opened the Information Panel, and the private chat interface between him and Lin Zhen popped up again. The last few messages were from Lin Zhen asking, “Where are you, pet? I need to talk to you,” followed by his location information.
The last message was from Lin Zhen again: “Where are you, pet? I need to see you.”
Perhaps Lin Zhen hadn’t found him earlier and sent this after returning.
Yan Wei just didn’t know how to explain to Lin Zhen now; he couldn’t keep ignoring him. After some thought, he replied, “I just came out of the instance and I’m too tired. I’ll rest for a bit. Let’s meet up after Lin Qing comes out in a couple of days.”
Lin Zhen, who seemed to be waiting idly, replied immediately: “Fine, go sleep.” His tone was as nonchalant as usual, as if he hadn’t noticed anything.
But in the Puppet Castle, Lin Zhen’s anomalies were so obvious, and Lin Qing using Lin Zhen to take damage had actually happened. No matter how slow Lin Zhen was, he couldn’t be completely unaware. Moreover, before this, Lin Zhen had occasionally mentioned some issues regarding Lin Qing. At this point, it wasn’t just about noticing; Lin Zhen probably already knew.
But he had inherited the traits and emotions Lin Qing didn’t want—indifference, apathy. Even if he knew, he would remain this nonchalant, as if it wasn’t his own life at stake.
Whether that was fortunate or not, who could say?
Yan Wei lowered his eyes and closed the Information Panel.
“I want to exchange the Box to end all of this because I want us to leave safely. I also want to take the risk in the 89th floor to get two invitation letters for Lin Zhen and Yu Feizhou… Am I asking for too much?” He chuckled lightly.
Yan Mingguang had somehow already sat down beside him. Even when sitting on a soft sofa, his back was straight, exuding a cool, snow-like aura that Yan Wei was familiar with.
Yan Mingguang’s unwavering personality, which seemed aloof to strangers, was a reliable and trustworthy presence in the eyes of someone as close as Yan Wei.
Yan Mingguang’s deep, unfathomable eyes reflected Yan Wei’s figure. He looked at Yan Wei and spoke slowly, “I’ll accompany you.”
Yan Mingguang had said this to Yan Wei many, many times, so many that Yan Wei couldn’t even count them.
Unconsciously, Yan Wei had already leaned against Yan Mingguang, smelling the faint, fresh scent on him. It was like the scent of soap on his clothes, or perhaps the pure, untainted scent of fresh air.
Yan Wei looked up, following the faint stubble on Yan Mingguang’s jawline, and then met his eyes—looking down at him.
Yan Wei’s heart stirred, and his cheeks inexplicably felt warm.
Yan Mingguang was a man who fit perfectly into Yan Wei’s aesthetic.
Yan Wei understood human nature well, which was why he had no expectations of it. He had always thought he would never fall in love in this lifetime—that was before he met Yan Mingguang. He had also imagined what kind of person would make his heart race.
It was someone like Yan Mingguang.
Yan Mingguang’s appearance and personality seemed to be the type Yan Wei had occasionally imagined, embodying the qualities and traits he subconsciously desired. It was the pure kindness he lacked, the cold detachment he didn’t possess despite navigating through the complexities of society—all the things he didn’t have but wanted.
This reunion, so close, made him cherish it even more.
Yan Wei thought about touching this person. But as soon as he raised his hand, his fingers curled, and he silently withdrew it, pulling his sleeve back.
…This man was a hypocrite!
Before regaining his memories, he had thought about teasing Yan Mingguang. Now that he remembered, how could he dare to tease?
He withdrew his hand, but Yan Mingguang noticed his movement and suddenly grabbed his retreating hand.
The warm fingertips brushed against Yan Wei’s palm, making him feel a slight itch.
In his memories, when Yan Mingguang did this, it would only lead to more blushing. But this time, the man just held his hand, still sitting upright, letting Yan Wei lean slightly against him. His deep voice came through: “You still need to receive some data, right?”
Yan Wei nodded. “To prevent the Tower from erasing my data, I turned that coin into a Legendary Item that the Tower couldn’t actively destroy, then stuffed my memories, data, and other items into it. The memories can be directly absorbed and integrated, but for the data, it might take me half a year to fully recover.”
Although he had left a backup, it was so well-hidden that even he had to dig it out.
The moment he felt the Tower trying to format them, he hid everything he had gained from his first climb in the coin, while Yan Mingguang’s memories and strength were separated and hidden in the swallow pendant. The swallow pendant was just a decorative item that could be exchanged in the mall, not even an Item, which was why it completely avoided being formatted along with all the data, Items, and memories.
They had chosen two different methods because Yan Wei wasn’t 100% confident.
What if the consciousness derived from the Tower could temporarily break the Tower’s rules and destroy the Legendary Item? What if the swallow pendant was also formatted?
By choosing different paths, even if one method failed, the other could still be preserved.
Fortunately, both succeeded.
It was just that Yan Mingguang’s strength wasn’t sealed as tightly, so he recovered much faster. Yan Wei’s seal was more hidden, but also slower to recover.
After some thought, he said, “I need to stay here quietly to recover my strength. The next 89th-floor instance will take at least half a year, which works out perfectly. You…”
“I’ll take Lin Zhen and Yu Feizhou to the 90th floor within half a year.”
Yan Wei smiled.
Yan Mingguang never needed him to explain too much; he always knew what Yan Wei wanted to do.
He wasn’t afraid of high-difficulty instances that were close to death, willing to take the risk and follow the path of his previous climb—reaching the top, destroying the Tower. After all, these were things he had to do.
But Lin Zhen and Yu Feizhou were only on the 49th floor, which was a problem. Lin Zhen and Yu Feizhou were genuine first-time climbers, without the sudden boost in strength and experience that Yan Wei had. If they went to the top floor directly, even Yan Wei’s prowess wouldn’t be enough to protect them.
Just as he needed some time to fully recover his strength, Yan Mingguang could use the fact that their current floor on the data panel was the 49th to take Lin Zhen and Yu Feizhou to higher floors.
“Your next instances should be relatively easy. ‘It’ is quite clever. I want to destroy ‘it,’ so ‘it’ will target me, using my desires to force me into the most difficult and dangerous places.” Whenever Yan Wei mentioned this, his words carried a frosty chill. “So ‘it’ just wants to kill me. I want to return to a normal life with you, and I want Lin Zhen to become an independent person. That’s my only goal now, so ‘it’ won’t dare to let anything happen to you.”
During his first climb, he had been insane and stubborn, thinking about the bigger picture, ending everything.
This had led to the consciousness derived from the Tower not being able to find his weakness, because his goal was too pure and direct. That was why it had let him reach the top, and only then did it find an opening, giving them a random excuse of disrupting the order to format their data and memories.
But he wasn’t a great person after all.
This time, his goal was actually selfish—which increased the things that could restrain him.
That was also why “it” wouldn’t let anything happen to Yan Mingguang and Lin Zhen. After all, if something happened to Lin Zhen, Yan Wei might change his mind about going to the 89th floor first. “It” wouldn’t just avoid harming them; it might even help Lin Zhen climb faster, pushing Yan Wei into instances sooner.
Before Yan Wei took people into new instances, it was better to use this to ensure Lin Zhen and Yu Feizhou could safely reach higher floors.
All of this didn’t need to be said; Yan Mingguang naturally understood, just waiting for Yan Wei to make the arrangements. This man was always like this. Even though both of them could think of many things, Yan Mingguang always let Yan Wei make the decisions.
Except for…
Yan Wei’s fingertips scratched Yan Mingguang’s palm a few times, and as expected, he felt the man beside him stiffen for a moment. He said, “Now that we’ve dealt with the outsiders’ matters, Teacher Yan, shouldn’t we talk about our own issues?”
“Before I entered the instance, I told the Blackbird people not to worry about me. But the two of us are different from the others. Until the very end, we were together… I told you, right? Whoever remembers first must tell the other, and we mustn’t let the Tower succeed. But you, you started remembering in the first two instances, didn’t you? I was like an idiot, thinking I was flirting with you, when in reality, I was just doing things we used to take for granted. I was the one feeling uneasy.”
The more Yan Wei thought about it, the angrier he got, until he laughed. He continued, “A seasoned lover watching their partner act like a clueless rookie, doing childish things—did you have fun? Huh?”
“Are you secretly getting back at me for mistaking you at the top floor?”
