The faint melody of the musical box was particularly clear in the silent castle. Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help shivering as his hair stood on end.

Tang Mianmian shook uncontrollably, “Fuck! …….Is that the musical box?” Isn’t that musical box broken?” Then, on second thought, he realized that he wasn’t making any sense. Under normal circumstances, a broken musical box wouldn’t play again, but the problem was – this wasn’t a normal place at all!

Lu Si’er hadn’t gone very far; she stopped, looking horrified.

Short and Skinny couldn’t stop shivering and whimpering with fear.

“Do you want to…… go back and have a look?” Tang Mianmian gulped and asked Xiao Tangqiu somewhat hesitantly.

Xiao Tangqiu thought about it for a moment, then said, “Forget it, it’s too late today. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

Tang Mianmian immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “I also think….. that we should come again tomorrow.”

Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian sent Short and Skinny to the second floor. Seeing that Lu Si’er had entered her room, they gave each other a look, turned around and walked upstairs together.

“I wonder if Shen Yuan has been to the attic.” Xiao Tangqiu said to Tang Mianmian in a low voice, “If they’ve already been there, then we’re a step too late…….”

Tang Mianmian was also a little uneasy. “I don’t think so. They should’ve searched elsewhere today. I don’t think they searched the attic first, right?”

Xiao Tangqiu laughed bitterly, “I hope so. If it weren’t because we planned to go with Shen Yuan’s team to the attic, we could’ve gone back into that room with the musical box just now. There might be some clues inside.”

Tang Mianmian muttered, “It could be a trap….… What do you think is in the attic?”

Xiao Tangqiu winked at him, “Crazy woman in the attic?”

Tang Mianmian immediately understood what Xiao Tangqiu was trying to say. “Do you think Lippinobert locked Maria in the attic?”

Xiao Tangqiu calmly said, “It’s also possible that it’s all three wives of Lippinobert. After all, they’ve never appeared before.”

“That makes sense!” Tang Mianmian nodded. Inspired by Xiao Tangqiu’s conjecture, his imagination went wild. “Maybe it’s Lily Marlene!”

Moments later, the two finally came to the attic of the old castle. Not surprisingly, the attic door was locked with a solid brass padlock.

Xiao Tangqiu studied the brass padlock and said, “I don’t think anyone’s been here before……. It’s so strange, this padlock is rusty and the keyhole is blocked. I don’t think anyone has opened this lock for a long time. Was my guess wrong? Maybe there’s no one locked inside after all?”

“But I don’t think your guess is wrong.”

Xiao Tangqiu turned around, only to find that Windbreaker Man was standing behind him since God knows when, and was smiling while he played with the scalpel in his hand.

Both he and Tang Mianmian jumped in shock and stumbled to the floor.

“You two rookies really have such great courage. You actually dare to come up to the attic.” Windbreaker Man smiled as he sized up Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, “Don’t you know, the greater your courage, the sooner you die?”

Xiao Tangqiu was afraid of Windbreaker Man, but after catching sight of Shen Yuan not far away, he suddenly felt unafraid again, and somehow, even felt a peace of mind.

“Wh-what…. what…. what do you want…….” Tang Mianmian was terrified. “Don’t think that just because I look like this, I’m weak. In fact, I’m really strong! With this one fist of mine……. even I don’t even know what will happen! “

Windbreaker Man grinned. “Oh?” He casually bent the scalpel with two fingers, and then casually bent it into shape again.

Tang Mianmian, “……Big brother, I’ll kneel for you!”

Xiao Tangqiu stepped forward and stood in front of Tang Mianmian. His tone was calm, “What do you want?”

Windbreaker Man shrugged, “Nothing, we just want to go in and have a look, but you’re in the way.”

“We’ll move right away. We won’t get in your way.” Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, “But we want to follow you guys to take look inside the attic……”

“Oh? Are you talking terms with us?” Windbreaker Man hooked his lips. “Who are you to do that?”

Xiao Tangqiu flattened his lips, “Of course not. I’m just giving you a heads up because it seems a little impolite not to.”

“So you’re not talking terms with us, but informing us?” Windbreaker Man blinked in disbelief, “Do you know who I am?”

Xiao Tangqiu blinked sheepishly, “…….Right now, I still don’t.”

“You actually don’t know who I am?” Windbreaker Man widened his eyes, pointing his scalpel at Xiao Tangqiu’s nose. “Is it because I’m not well-known enough or are you just too ignorant?”

“……This is only our second instance.” Xiao Tangqiu said cautiously. “We really are newcomers.”

“So you’re just ignorant.” Windbreaker Man suddenly narrowed his eyes, “That’s not right, you’ve just entered the game not too long ago but your second mission is an S-level mission? How is that possible?”

Xiao Tangqiu looked stunned. “Why is that impossible? Is there some reason behind that?”

“Of course! This damn game is similar to the games in the real world. Based on the principle that all things are difficult before they are easy, the difficulty is increased little by little. Everyone starts with a D-level mission and is only qualified for S-level missions after countless experiences. Except for a few abnormal conditions……” Windbreaker Man subconsciously glanced at Shen Yuan at the side, then glared at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian. “Everyone’s mission level is basically in line with their own level, and it’s unlikely that they’ll receive a mission beyond their level. How can you two rookies receive an S-level mission for the second task? “

One of the women interrupted Windbreaker Man, frowning as she said, “Not necessarily. The system also distributes missions according to the player’s innate abilities and potential. If a player’s potential is especially good, it is possible to skip a few levels and receive S-level missions in advance.”

“But do you think these two rookies look like they have special potential?” Windbreaker Man sneered.

The other woman casually added, “Maybe they have props or skill cards to forcefully enter S-level missions.”

Windbreaker Man looked at Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian from top to bottom and concluded, “That seems even more impossible. They look like two poor beggars.”

Xiao Tangqiu, “……”

Heartbroken!

All he had was a flashlight and a hemostatic spray. All his points added up weren’t even enough to buy a weapon.

One word – poor!

Just then, Shen Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked, “What was your first task?”

Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment. He hadn’t expected Shen Yuan to take the initiative to speak to him and merely stared dumbly at him for a while before he quickly explained, “It was just a D-level task……”

After he finished speaking, Windbreaker Man raised his eyebrows, “Did the mission difficulty get upgraded in the end?” From D-level to S-level – this leap in difficulty really was unheard of……

One of the women looked at Xiao Tangqiu impassively and explained, “It isn’t uncommon to see an upgrade in the difficulty of a mission, but generally it will only increase by one level, for example, from B-level to A-level…… Usually, if players perform well in an instance, the system will increase the mission level if the player is judged to have great potential.”

“What is the system?” Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help asking the question he was most curious about.

“It is the supreme will of the city of the abyss; you can also think of it as the Supreme God,” the woman explained. “It has power over the life and death of every players and is a force superior to all players. It sets all the rules of the city of the abyss.”

Xiao Tangqiu nodded thoughtfully, while Tang Mianmian laughed gleefully, “Does the system think we have great potential?”

The other woman rolled her eyes at him. “You failed your mission. What gives you the right to say that?”

Tang Mianmian hid behind Xiao Tangqiu while Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously looked at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan’s eyes flitted lightly over him, as if looking at him but not seeing him.

“You will join us for this mission.”

Listening to Shen Yuan’s cold voice, Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze: “Me?”

“Shen gē!” The outspoken woman immediately pouted discontentedly. “He’s just a rookie. Why do you want him to come with us?”

The indifferent woman also frowned slightly, “Shen gē, should you reconsider?”

Windbreaker Man pursed his lips and said nothing, but he obviously didn’t agree.

“Shen gē.” The indifferent woman paused and tried to persuade him, “If this was any other mission, even if it was an A-level mission, taking a rookie with us is nothing. But this is an S-level  mission. If we’re not careful, we may not be able to get out…….”

Shen Yuan lightly interrupted her, “I’ve decided.”

The woman bit her lip and stopped trying to persuade him anymore.

Shen Yuan looked at Xiao Tangqiu again, “Do you want to join us?”

Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t believe his ears. Shen Yuan had invited him to join the team?

Although he didn’t know why, he immediately agreed. “Of course! But can my friend also come along?”

Shen Yuan casually glanced at Tang Mianmian, who immediately held his head high and showed off, “I’m very strong…… and I eat very little!”

Shen Yuan nodded, “Ok.”

Xiao Tangqiu grinned broadly. “Thank you …….”

Shen Yuan glanced at Xiao Tangqiu but quickly withdrew his gaze. “Open the door.”

Xiao Tangqiu scrunched up his face, “I don’t know how to pick locks……..”

Why didn’t he know how to pick locks ah?!

~~~

P.S. Sorry for the late update! Guess who had to work overtime till 1am yesterday……😭 Anyways, I will release another chapter tonight, as usual, so stay tuned