Shen Yünjü isn’t too worried about not knowing, though, as he isn’t one of those conspiracists with an unparalleled imagination.

Sometimes, even if you put the truth in front of him, he would refuse to accept for the cruelty of it.

He’s used to being quiet, silent, taciturn, and immersing himself in his own dry, desolate little world.

Listening to Mu Jiashi, Ding Yi, Fei, Wu Jian and co. discuss the prospects of Xü Beijin being NE was quite astonishing to him back then.

NE is an AI, you know?! Xü Beijin is a Tower resident. A human, isn’t he?

How could an equal sign be put between them?

Even now, Shen Yünjü is more leaning on Xü Beijin not being NE.

On this point of thought, the nine Missiontakers would also have their own opinions.

Of course, Lin Qin is excluded from the discussion. In fact, they’re wary about Lin Qin learning about it.

Speaking of, they’re also a bit curious about Lin Qin and Xü Beijin’s relationship.

Not that they’d ask, again.

So here, Shen Yünjü wonders if Lin Qin is performing well in Xü Beijin’s Nightmare. Would he be peerless?

Looking at the Nightmare in front of him, Shen Yünjü imagines Lin Qin just tearing it apart through sheer force.

Though Lin Qin can, they do not have his ability.

Shen Yünjü sighs, and starts backtracking again to that question – who would be the Missiontaker to have succumbed?

The question is important because it relates to the door they’re looking for. Would it be directly involved in the resolving of this Nightmare? Or simply be related to what the succumbed Missiontakers experienced themselves?

Clearly, the answer to the question will point to different answers.

The former, the truth of the Nightmare, means they just need to head downstairs.

Given their discoveries of the stairs being out beyond the 9th floor, maybe if they took the elevator randomly until it went below the 9th floor, maybe the grey fog will come as soon as they step outside somewhere below the 9th floor.

If it’s what the Missiontakers have gone through, though, they must explore the building to uncover what the Missiontakers have experienced.

In comparison, it’s clearly a much more intensive task.

Ye Lan sees Shen Yünjü fall into thought after only a few steps down the stairs, so asks, “what’s wrong? Did you remember something new?”

Shen Yünjü knows Ye Lan hasn’t recovered their memories from the Tower yet, so she doesn’t know what’s going on.

He thinks about it, and tries to describe the current situation in simpler terms, “do you think the door we want is related to the scene, or related to the people in the scene more?”

Ye Lan, surprised, asks, “is there even a difference?”

Shen Yünjü explains, “if it’s related to the building, then we should head somewhere below the 9th floor. Those people have modified this building into a real-life mystery game.
If it’s related to the people here, then we would have to look for someone… who is clearly different from everyone else in personality. That’s what I think.”

Ye Lan thinks about it, and thinks she is getting it, asking, “you mean, the people might be like us, and came here from outside, until they became trapped?”

Shen Yünjü says with an uncertain tone, “basically, yes… They may have been the cause for this whole scene. It’s like, their appearance created a fork in a large stream, and now we are visiting this smaller stream of theirs.”

“Then we should look for them,” Ye Lan concludes, “perhaps they can tell us more about… this place.”

Shen Yünjü, though, suspects they might have lost their sense of self entirely at this point.

Though following what Ye Lan said wouldn’t hurt either. Their exploration of this Nightmare was largely limited to areas above the 9th floor. They were largely in the dark when it came to the floors below.

Even though what happened here was certainly sanity-defyingly disgusting, but Shen Yünjü thinks the disgust itself is not enough to send someone’s lucidity down the drain.

Perhaps what was there below the 9th floor was what truly caused the Missiontaker to go mad, and send them and this scene out into the fog.

After thinking a little, he says, “let’s go to the 16th floor first.”

“You think they’re at the 16th floor?”

“Possibly…” Shen Yünjü explains, “because that is the safezone in this building.”

“A safezone?” Ye Lan seems surprised, commenting, “if there is a safezone in this building, then in contrast, the other areas… are all dangerous?”

Shen Yünjü says, “not necessarily. And with this being a fork of a stream, it may not be as turbulent as the main one itself. Though the stairs would still be the safest option.”

“The elevators are dangerous?”

Shen Yünjü answers, “that’s right…”

Ye Lan shakes her head at the answer, feeling a little frightened.

When Shen Yünjü said they should head for the 16th floor, she involuntarily glanced right over at the elevators, not knowing about the possible dangers and risks at all.

She follows Shen Yünjü to the stairs, while saying, “it sure takes advantage of our usual mode of thinking.”

“There is always danger lurking even in our everyday lives,” Shen Yünjü replies with a grumbly tone, “where we are completely used to and relaxed.”

Ye Lan nods to that.

They walk downstairs in silence, until they arrive on the 16th floor. There wasn’t any danger on the way, and Shen Yünjü couldn’t see anything out of place on the small glass window of the emergency doors.

Until, finally, they arrive on the 16th floor.

In the Nightmare, this was the safezone, with many survivors huddling and looking for an opportunity to bust out of the building, even if they would ultimately fail.

When Shen Yünjü and Ye Lan arrive here, though, there is no one to be found.

Shen Yünjü almost instantly looks over at the chair nearby, but does not see the man named Xü Beijin seated there.

It’s empty.

The two of them look at each other, not sure what to do next, when suddenly, some noise comes from the elevator lobby.

They run over to see someone lying on the ground, pushing their head against the elevator doors, peeking inside.

It’s certainly a strange scene to see, so Ye Lan asks, confused, “is he it?”

“Let’s go and ask.”

They approach the person, who appears in his thirties or so. He is distinctly ragged, in the sense that he seems to have crawled here the entire way. His eyes are wide open, as if he is being heavily spooked.

When Ye Lan and Shen Yünjü approached, he didn’t notice at first, still staring right at the gap between the elevator doors; there is carpeting on the floor here, which makes their footsteps muffled.

Finally, when they are nearly standing over him, the man notices the unannounced visitors and immediately yells out in terror. It seems his legs are not functioning properly, as he is desperately trying to trawl himself to safety with his arms.

Ye Lan is knitting her brows at this pitiful and worrying display from the man.

Shen Yünjü says, “we don’t mean you harm. We just want to ask some questions.”

Then the person stops crawling, and looks at them suspiciously, before suddenly breaking into a strange chuckle.

Shen Yünjü could be convinced he is a different person from just now

The man says, “you also came from outside? Oh, sucks to be you. It’s over, it’s over, hahaha…”

He is laughing out loud at the top of his lungs, seemingly using all the life he has left in him, just to make sure Shen Yünjü and Ye Lan can see how morbidly amused he is.

Shen Yünjü asks, “what do you mean?”

“You will never be able to leave here again,” the man says with a strangely hypnotic tone, “forever, just like me. You will be stuck here forever.”

Shen Yünjü seems stunned for a moment before asking, “forever? Why forever?”

The man seems displeased, and explains, “are you retarded? I mean, this place is beyond saving──We are beyond saving──” He chortles, and yells again, “Beyond! Saving!”