The huge mole rubs its sharp claws on the head of the giant match. With a flick, a flame appears on the bright red match head. Roaring flames quickly consume the entire match. The mole lays the match on the ground and spears the turkey on its long claws, roasting it above the fire.

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The college student goes to check on the chef. “He’s okay, he’s just knocked out.”

Tang Mo and Li Wen help Li Bin up.

Other than the unconscious chef, the other six people sit far, far away from the mole.

But the cave isn’t that big in the first place. Even if they sit as far away as possible, the crackling sound of the fire and the delicious smell of the turkey is unavoidable from this distance.

Shiny oil drips down from the tight meat of the turkey leg, dripping into the roaring fire. Tang Mo had never smelled anything so tempting. There’s no seasoning, only a turkey roasting on a fire, but the rich scent of the meat enters everyone’s nose.

The huge match lights up the entire cave, allowing everyone to see the turkey even more clearly. The color is a perfectly roasted orange, skin becoming ever more crisp as the fire crackles. Even if they can’t eat it, they can all imagine how delicious it must be.

Everyone swallows.

When the match burns to ash, the turkey is ready to be eaten.

The huge mole sits on the ground, its little eyes shining. Those sharp claws and teeth successfully extinguish the urge of the six people to steal the turkey away. From afar, Tang Mo watches the mole bite into the turkey. The moment it does, its expression becomes unbelievably gentle.

“A turkey roasted using Pixels’ match is the most delicious thing in the world. I’ve never told anyone else before. This is the happiest Thanksgiving I’ve ever had.”

The mole rips at the turkey meat, completely ignoring the humans sitting close by who are continually swallowing in hunger.

There’s no way that Tang Mo can complain to the mole. Out of the rest of the group, he’s probably the strongest, but even if it’s him desperately using his one collected ability in that cheapass book to attack sneakily, he’d be blocked by those huge claws. And on top of that, the mole stole his match to use as fuel for his roast turkey.

The more satisfied the mole’s expression is, the more hungry the six people are.

The mole seems to be happy. After it finishes the first leg, it starts on the second turkey leg and mutters, “How do you have Pixels’ match?”

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It’s such a sudden question that Tang Mo starts. He says calmly, “A while ago… we unfortunately met.”
The mole lets out an ‘oh’. “Did Little Pixels commit arson this time, or did she kill someone? Actually, she’s a very good and obedient little girl. It’s just that her hobbies are a bit niche. You must think she’s very cute too, right?”

Tang Mo: “...”

Why does this seem like a life-or-death question?

Between his pathetic little life and the truth, Tang Mo mercilessly picks the former.

“She is really so cute,” he says expressionlessly.

The mole nods. “Yeah, she’s as cute as I am.”

Tang Mo: “...”

Everyone: “...”

As long as you’re happy.

The mole finishes the last turkey leg and starts on the wings. It moves very quickly; in the blink of an eye, the sharp claws tear apart the bones of the wing. Tang Mo’s pupils contract. At this speed, if the mole really wanted to kill them, it’d be easier than flipping over a hand. Then it struggled so much before because… it was playing?

The mole dumbly eats the turkey, completely oblivious to the alarms blaring in Tang Mo’s mind. While eating the meat, it says muffledly, “I really have to thank you for the match. Pixels’ matches are the best fuel for roasting turkeys, but this little girl isn’t obedient at all. She said she needed them to commit arson and would never give me a single one.”

“You just said she was a good and obedient little girl,” Tang Mo reminds.

The mole rubs its head. “Did I? I don’t remember.” It quickly changes the subject. “Normally, you shouldn’t be attacking the tower right now. Pixels’ match is a really good weapon that you can use to pass Floor 2. It can even be used to defeat those disgusting stinkbugs on Floor 3. I’m so lucky that I met you guys beforehand and got to eat my turkey. Ahh, thank you, Black Tower! Happy Thanksgiving!”

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Tang Mo looks carefully at the mole. Suddenly, someone touches his hand. He turns to see Luo Fengcheng mouth at him, ‘Get more info.’

Tang Mo was already planning on it. Taking advantage of the mole’s good mood, he casually asks, “We’re not supposed to be attacking the tower right now?”

The mole nods, still eating. “At your level right now, how many people have abilities? If this was the normal mode of Floor 1, you would have died immediately. You wouldn’t have even gotten into my cave. Those earthworms[1] on top would have bitten you to death.”

Luo Fengcheng latches onto the keywords. “Abilities? Normal mode?”

The mole only answers the last part. “Yeah, aren’t you in dumbass mode right now?”

Dumbasses: “...”

It seems like the Black Tower really did say that this was the dumbass mode of Floor 1… 

Half the turkey’s already gone. Tang Mo glances at the leftover bones. Even though he wants to learn about the abilities, there are more important things to ask about right now. “Mole… Mr. Mole, what exactly is attacking the tower?”

“Attacking the tower is just attacking the tower. You can’t even attack it right now. It’s just because there’s a stowaway who accidentally reached the level of being able to attack, so you were all pulled in.” The voice stops. The mole licks at the juices on its paw. “Hm, then shouldn’t I thank that stowaway? If he hadn’t started the game early, you wouldn’t have come. If you didn’t come, then I wouldn’t have had such a delicious turkey. But he’s a stowaway…”

Tang Mo: “What’s a stowaway?”

The mole raises its head, a light flashing across its eyes.

“Stowaways are people who logged into the tower without playing a game. They’re the most disgusting scumbags. If I can catch one and eat them, then I can receive a great amount of power. I love to eat stowaways. Their flesh is tender and fragrant and possesses an incredible amount of energy. Every stowaway has an ability!”

The six people glance at each other. Even the middle-schooler understands that the people who have ‘logged into the Black Tower’ must mean the ones who have survived and not disappeared.

Tang Mo’s scalp feels numb, but he tries to keep calm. “Then how did they log into the Black Tower?”

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The mole grinds its teeth together with a sharp grating sound. “There are three ways to enter the Black Tower. These three ways lead to three different types of players: official players, reserve players, and stowaways. Official players participated in a Black Tower game within three days and won, receiving the approval of the Black Tower. Reserve players did not participate in a Black Tower game within these three days, but they did participate in other games and received some sort of approval from the Black Tower. Afterwards, as long as they win one Black Tower game, they can be promoted to official players. Lastly, there’s them, the stowaways I love the most…”

The mole drools a bit.

“Stowaways are those who, within these three days, eliminated another player by killing them. Before the game officially starts, every human is a potential player. Eliminating at least one potential player allows you to log into the Black Tower. Elimination methods…” The mole raises its beady little eyes. “Including but not limited to game methods. Killing someone is also an elimination method.”

Tang Mo’s heart thuds ferociously but quickly calms down.

He remembers the first stowaway he saw.

Qian Sankun, that thief. Tang Mo originally thought they were the same, the winners and survivors of an inexplicable game. In his ability book, Qian Sankun’s name had the word ‘stowaway’ after it, and Tang Mo never understood what it meant. He never thought it’d be this...

The mole starts eating the turkey breast. He chews loudly, saying through a full mouth, “It’s a pity that stowaway didn’t come here, otherwise I’d eat him… a stowaway who’s able to start attacking the tower early, he must be so delicious! How much power I’d receive if I ate him!” It says regretfully, “Every official player and stowaway must have abilities already. The chances of a reserve player having an ability is a bit lower. I want to eat that stowaway so much…”

It swallows greedily again.

Tang Mo and company are too scared to imagine the mole eating a live person, but the words it just said have already helped them create a clearer picture of the Black Tower World.

Of the remaining 400,000,000 humans, there are three types of players: official players, reserve players, and stowaways. Reserve players may have abilities, but official players and stowaways definitely have abilities. Official players are like Tang Mo, who has his cheapass book. Stowaways are like Qian Sankun, who had the ability to store objects in his body.

Right now, they don’t know the ratio of these players. There could be more official players, or there could be more reserve players, but the majority definitely can’t be stowaways.

The number of people who killed others during those three days, even in the entire world, cannot possibly be more than 10,000,000.

If stowaways are the minority, then are there more official players or reserve players?

For some reason, Tang Mo feels like there are less official players. In this group of seven, at least, there are four people who definitely have not participated in a Black Tower game before.

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The mole begins to eat the last turkey breast. “It’s such a pity, that stowaway who started the attacking game must already be peeled alive and eaten. Why didn’t he come to me? Such a delicious stowaway, I want to eat one too…”

After eating the last bite of turkey, the mole rubs its round stomach in satisfaction. The delicious smell of turkey still floats around in the air. Everyone inhales hard, reassuring themselves that even if they couldn’t eat the turkey, they’ve at least smelled it.

The mole is no exception either. Its bright red nose keeps sniffing around in the air.

Eventually, the scent of turkey dissipates.

A clear childlike voice sounds beside everyone’s ears.

“Ding dong! Completed side mission one: roast a turkey for the cute Mr. Mole.”

Everyone lets out a sigh of relief.

However, right at this moment, there’s a creepy giggle. The mole opens its small eyes, sharp gaze sweeping across all the humans. It giggles, like nails scraping across glass, causing goosebumps to erupt on everyone’s skin, though no one knows how it’s able to make such an eerie sound.

And then they hear it say, with barely suppressed excitement: “Look what I just found? I can’t believe I just noticed, but it was hidden underneath the smell of turkey. Among you seven humans, there are two official players, four reserve players, and… a stowaway! My Black Tower, why are you so good to me today? I will eat this stowaway, I will eat him! Happy Thanksgiving!”

“Ding dong! Side mission two: find that damned stowaway!”

Notes

[1]

The Chinese text used here literally translated to 'earth dragons' and I just thought it would be a funny point to bring up because I, for one, was confused when I first saw it. I googled it and 'earth dragons' does seem to be another term for 'earthworm' but definitely less common in everyday life.

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