Chapter 303 Going Up 11
After the four got the magic beans, they did not hurry to bury them in the ground but started a thorough search of the fourth floor. For clues like that rope, they needed to get close to discover, and there might be more clues like that. So, they had to search the place carefully. Other than that, they also wished to know… where was the tin man?
Theoretically speaking, on loose ground like this soiled path, with the tin man's weight, he would have left behind some traces, but they were only able to find some footprints around the body of Don Quixote. After about ten steps, they had miraculously disappeared, and the footprints ended there. If the footprints had ended right before a wall, then perhaps it could be explained that the tin man had phased into the wall, but that was not the case. The place where the footprints ended was far away from the wall. It was a spot right in the middle of the grass land. It felt as if the tin man had suddenly disappeared into thin air while he was walking away.
The puzzles in this scenario seemed to come one after another, and each one was more confusing than the one that preceded it. It seemed that the Keter level SCP on the ground floor was just a simple test. When they got to the third floor, before they had gotten a clear understanding of what really happened to the crew from the Wizard of Oz, they found a dead Don Quixote on the fourth floor, and then a kid appeared to trade a magic beans with a milking cow. In this kind of situation, even Feng Bujue had trouble predicting what would happen next. What kind of adventure would they be led to next?
After about ten minutes of exploration, they did not find anything, and there was no hint that specified where the magic beans should be buried. Therefore, they found a random spot that looked empty enough to prepare to plant the beans.
"Now I understand why this floor's ground is carpeted with grass and soil," Autumn Zither said as he used the folding knife given to him by Feng Bujue to dig at the ground.
"There is no need to dig too deep. In the story, the magic beans will grow once they are dropped on the ground," Weighty Words reminded.
"By the way, do you think we should plant all the seeds or just plant one of them and see how it reacts first?" Feng Bujue held the bag of magic beans and took out one to study it.
"Didn't the item description say that it is a plot item?" Ambitionist argued. "There is no reason for us to keep it."
"Perhaps they have hidden properties? Maybe eating one will help you recover your Life Points to maximum and so on," Feng Bujue said jokingly.
"You're thinking of Senzu Beans!" Autumn Zither corrected.
"Fine." Feng Bujue shrugged as he walked to Autumn Zither's side and poured the whole bag of the magic beans into the small hole that the latter had dug out.
Autumn Zither used his hands to cover up the soil and buried the beans in a loose layer of soil. He handed the knife back to Feng Bujue and patted off the dust on his hands. "We're done."
"I believe something will change before long, right?" Weighty Words said.
"Is there a way to speed it up? How about I water it?" Feng Bujue added.
"What are you going to do this time?" Autumn Zither had a bad feeling as he glanced at Feng Bujue. "You can't take off your pants in this game, so do not get any funny ideas."
"I said I was going to water it, but I did not specify I was going to water it with pee," Feng Bujue argued.
"Of all the played I have met, you have stated the terms pee and sh*t the most in a scenario since I have started playing this game…" Even Ambitionist felt influenced by Feng Bujue. "From your earlier statement, you seem like a well-cultured person, but how come your choice of words is always so…"
"So what if I have a cultured choice of words? In my field, there are many who are better than me at coming up with flowery words, but it has also been proven that those who act like gentlemen often have worse morals than those who curse day in and day out. As they say…
"It's a pity that Ying of Qin and Wu of Han
"Lack any literary talent.
"Taizong of Tang and Taizu of Song
"Are slightly inferior in political merits.
"The outstanding Giant, Genghis Khan
"Could shoot but nothing else.
"All these have passed by.
"If you want to have scoundrels to highlight,
"Only in this era you can find."
While Feng Bujue borrowed from this poem, he walked to the wall and then bent down. He used the pair of silver heels to cup some clear water from the river that was painted on the wall.
"Oh, so you could also do something like that." Autumn Zither saw the man walk back with the water and finally understood what Feng Bujue meant earlier. Two 'shoes' of water splashed down on the ground. The water soon leaked into the soil, and the small mound shivered in response. The four reacted swiftly. This was a sign that something was about to happen. Without any reminder from their teammates, all of them retreated from the mound to a safe distance. Several seconds later, there was a boom.
A thick and large beanstalk burst out from the ground, and it soared into the sky like a rising dragon. The top of the beanstalk was like a drill and the stalk itself was intertwining like the curling of a twined rope. The players thought the beanstalk would push through and break the ceiling of the fourth floor, but to their surprise, it directly melted into the 'sky' that was painted on the ceiling. After a whole five minutes, the beanstalk finally stopped growing, and it stood there fixatedly. The four raised their heads. They were unable to see the top of the beanstalk and were unable to see what was waiting for them beyond the thick layer of 'clouds'.
"Hmm… Isn't it true that we are unable to cross into the painting?" Weighty Words said as a forethought.
"Now, that might not be true." Ambitionist pushed on his glasses and kept his head on the sky. "We have only tried it on the four walls, but no attempt has been made on the ceiling…"
"Assuming we can indeed crawl on the beanstalk and reach the 'sky', based on this height… we are not going to reach the top for another one or two kilometers," Autumn Zither said with a groan.
"Ah… I can still remember so many years ago, when I too climbed up such a tall place and managed to steal from a divinity who presided up there at the top a super saint water," Feng Bujue said in lamentation.
"Wait, that is the plot from Dragon Ball, about the Korin Tower!" Autumn Zither roared at him again.
"No matter what… it's one thing that Weighty Words is carrying the witch's hat, but how is Autumn Zither supposed to make the climb while he is holding the broom?" Ambitionist posed this question.
"How about we have him hold it in his mouth?" Feng Bujue suggested like it was a brilliant idea.
"How about we let you do that then‽" Without missing a beat, Autumn Zither handed the broom to Feng Bujue.
"Sure." Feng Bujue, to everyone's surprise, accepted the offer easily and handed the heels that he was holding to the man in exchange. "Look after these for me then."
Autumn Zither was completely baffled. He accepted the heels numbly and shoved them in his shirt pocket, which was larger than the pocket on Feng Bujue's western suit. Then… with a shocked gaze, he saw Feng Bujue bite on the wooden broom and walk toward the beanstalk calmly.
"When I was practicing the three-bladed fighting style, I spent my whole day with a blade hilt that is much thicker than this dangling on my lips…" With the broom in his mouth, Feng Bujue rambled through his usual nonsense unclearly. Even his saliva had slid down the corner of his lips because of this.
"I bet you guys five dollars that there is something mentally wrong with this person…" Autumn Zither narrowed his eyes as he watched Feng Bujue climb up the beanstalk.
Ambitionist and Weighty Words replied at the same time, "What is there to bet about when it is something so obvious to be seen?"
…
In gaming terms, all four of the players had superhuman strength and stamina, and it was not that hard for them to climb up the beanstalk. It did not take long for them to successfully enter the 'sky' that was painted on the ceiling. Of course, from their perspective, the world around him still remained in a three-dimensional world. From that moment onward, it was hard to tell 'which floor' they were on anymore. With a glance, after about another ten minutes of climbing, the four should have reached far beyond the tallest height any normal skyscraper should have.
They continued to climb and climb… About twenty minutes later, the four were greeted with a wisp of a golden cloud. The cloud had physical form, and it was curled around the beanstalk. There was a large leaf that extended out from the stalk toward the cloud and dangled at its side like it was sleeping on it.
Seeing such a clear path being laid for them, it was like the four were given a shot of adrenaline, and they started to climb with renewed gusto. Two minutes later, they leaped atop the cloud. Standing on the layer of golden clouds, their eyes were blinded. On this piece of land that was made up from clouds, everything was shrouded in a layer of golden glow and shine.
About one hundred meters away, there was a castle that had the quintessential Disney style, the type that you would often see in fairytales. Looking from afar, one could faintly see that at the top of the highest tower of the castle, there was a long ladder, and the ladder reached further into the layer of cloud on an even higher level.
"Through that ladder, we should be able to get to the fifth floor," Feng Bujue said.
"Even at a time like this, you still think the concept of floors works?" Autumn Zither asked.
"Compared to the different floors, the thing that I am more concerned about is… where has the tin man gone? Will we run into him on an upper floor?" Ambitionist said as if to himself.
"I think it is better for us to focus and assess our current surroundings first," Weighty Words said. "Assuming we are still inside the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, does that mean that there will be a giant… living inside the castle ahead?"
"Come, here is your broom, catch." Feng Bujue ignored the discussion of these people and directly passed the broom over to the Autumn Zither.
"You can keep it. I will help you look after the heels." Autumn Zither had no intention of taking back the broom that was now covered in Brother Jue's saliva.
"Are you sure?" Feng Bujue asked, dragging the words.
"It is only fair," Autumn Zither replied.
"You got it!" Feng Bujue again took on the offer with surprising ease. Then, he placed the broom across the back of his neck, extended his arms, and dangled his wrists on the two ends of the broom. In that state, he swung lazily as he walked toward the castle, his lips humming the famous song 'Love of a Lifetime' by Lowell Lo.
"In the ocean of suffering roll waves of love and hate. In this world, it's hard to escape your fate…"
"Ha… haha…" Ambitionist could not help but let out a laugh, "This man sure is something else… No matter the situation, he can make it into a joke."
"On this point, one has to be impressed no matter what," Weighty Words agreed with him. The three followed Brother Jue toward the castle and they reached the front door in a few minutes.
"It is quite clear now that we have reached this place," Feng Bujue observed. "At least based on the size of this front door, there is no giant living inside this castle."
The man was not wrong. Even though the door's width and height were slightly larger than normal, it was not large enough to fit a giant. It was still only in service of human beings of normal size.
"Then, should we knock on the door, or…" Before Weighty Words could finish, Feng Bujue had slithered more than ten meters back.
He stood at the back and shouted out in a matter-of-fact tone, "I will cheer for you from here. You have my full mental support!"
"Then, this time, let me see if there is anyone at home." Weighty Words volunteered. So far, he had not taken any risk. Based on the rule of taking turns, it should be his turn.
Bang bang bang!
Weighty Words grabbed the circular ring that was attached to the door and knocked three times. After about twenty seconds, they did not hear any response from behind the door. Therefore, he used the doorknocker and knocked three more time. This time, they waited for a whole minute, and there was still nothing. They walked to the left and right of the door. They wished to look through the windows into the room, but the windows of the castle were all too high up, and they were all frosted windows. Under the golden light, it was impossible to see what was within.
"There is no other solution… We will have to force our way in," Autumn Zither said.
Ambitionist nodded and gave an mm in agreement.
Weighty Words was still the first to volunteer. "Leave it to me then. I can still handle a door of this size."
He assumed a pose before the door. Then he activated his skill and pushed out a palm strike… Then nothing happened.
"Haha… This is embarrassing. My fighting mastery is only at Level E, and the skill has failed," Weighty Words apologized with a humble smile on his face.
Both Ambitionist and Autumn Zither also laughed to ease the awkwardness. "It's fine. This is normal. It's only normal for players like us."
"Let me give it another try," Weighty Words said. Then, without waiting for any set up, he gave it another go. This time, it appeared like he was successfully. A howling wind roared out from his palm and charged at the door. A hole the size of a wash basin appeared at the middle of the door. The two boards of the door loosened following it and slowly opened to the sides.
Among non-fighting players, basically everyone had this kind more practical Level E active fighting skill. Even if they could not find one in a scenario, they would go and buy one at the auction house. After all, this kind of skill would not be that expensive and they had a high CP value. Only someone like Feng Bujue, who was a puzzle-solving player but did not go and purchase any skills but somehow found them through his games, managed to train his fighting mastery up to level C…
"Brother Feng, there is nothing dangerous. You can come over now, right?" Ambitionist turned around to shoot at the man. "What if the door suddenly closes on its own? That will be more troublesome."
Feng Bujue did not need the reminder from him. He had been watching them from afar for a long time.
When Ambitionist opened his mouth, Brother Jue was already walking their way. The four of them walked into the castle together. Before the door, there was a curved staircase that headed upward, and the stairs were adjacent to the four walls, going up in circles. A giant chandelier dangled from an extremely long chain. The chandelier itself was close to the ground, about two meters off the ground to be precise, and could be reached by lifting one's hand up, but the chain itself seemed to reach into the heavens. Walking around the staircase, one could head through the two sides of the ground floor and the back of the castle. Naturally, the four did not get up the stairs immediately but prepared to explore the ground floor to see if there were any clues or equipment lying around.
In the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, the castle where the giant lived had a goose that laid golden egg. Even though the castle before them did not appear to have any golden egg, it should have a few clues waiting for them.
It would have been fine if they did not explore the place, but once they did, their sanity level started to fall…
This castle, instead of being luxurious and palatial, was more eccentric and peculiar. In the dreamy glow of gold, the castle did not give off any sense of being from a fairytale, but it had an imposing and dark presence about it. The chandelier and staircase design that one was greeted by at the front door was strange enough, but that was just the beginning. Such bizarre design could be seen all over the castle…
For example, in the dining hall on the ground floor, there was a long table placed in the middle. It was more than ten meters long, but it was laid with a zebra-print table cloth, and the sides were lined with two rows of tall stools. It looked more like they were for referees of tennis matches. Other than that, there was the kitchen sink, which was as big as a bath tub, and the countertop, which was as small as a phone screen. The stove was so low that one had to squat to use it, and the firewood was added into it from a slope.
Then there was the dance hall. The dance floor in the middle was not circular or rectangular but had a lighting shape, like on the costume of the superhero 'The Flash'. And the stage that was meant for the band was more like a slope for skateboarding pros. The u-shaped floor was impossible to place any big instruments.
After the four finished their investigation and returned to the front door of the ground floor, Feng Bujue commented, "Hmm… This castle is like a woman at the age of twenty-nine."
"An imbalance of internal hormones?" Autumn Zither added.
"I meant to say irrational, crazy, and hard to be reasoned with, but you have come up with something that is even more offensive," Feng Bujue said.
"Wait, who is the one being offensive here‽ You've mentioned, the age, sex, and personality. What I did was mention a biological phenomenon, and now it's me who was being offensive, is it?" Autumn Zither lost his temper again.
"That's enough… The internal décor of this place, as strange as it might be, has nothing to do with us," Ambitionist said. "Since there is nothing on the ground floor, let's go up to take a look."
The group then followed the staircase up from the door. The stairs led them all the way to the top just like that; there was no landing or door in the middle of the climb.
"Looks like we'll have to take the long way from the top to enter the middle floors of this castle," Weighty Words observed. "Or… could there be hidden pathways on the ground floor that we did not discover?"
"No, no, no… Castles are normally all like this." Feng Bujue denied that possibility. "If you had a cross section of a castle you would understand. The part in the middle is normally the part that you reach last. You have to follow the order and go through the foyer, the prayer hall, the back walkway, the dance hall, the underground sewer, the clocktower, and so on before you can reach the center."
"And the central area is called the 'throne room', right? It is the highest section of the castle keep, and at the places that you mentioned earlier, you have to beat one of the bosses. From them, you will gain a new skill every time." Even Ambitionist could not help but slip that remark in with sarcasm.
"That's right." Feng Bujue nodded and told Weighty Words, "You see, this is the difference between a newbie and a pro."
"What pro? You make it sound like I have not played Castlevania before…"
The group bantered among each other and soon reached the end of the stairs. There, they were greeted with an arched wooden door.
Autumn Zither walked at the front, and he was the first to see the words on the door. It was a sentence carved in gold. It was in English, and the font was quite elegant. The content said, "Irrational things are not necessarily that obvious."
"Again?" Autumn Zither groaned. "Don't tell… there is yet another dead body waiting for us inside the door."
Then, without waiting for the rest, he pushed the door open. The four players slithered into the room, and what appeared before their eyes was a bedroom. This was perhaps the most normal room that they had seen since they entered the castle. The walls and ceiling were pink, it had a wooden floor, and there was a big bed in the middle of the room. There were an armoire and a dressing table next to the wall. Clearly, this was a girl's room or perhaps the chamber of some princess.
"Hey… there's someone in bed." Autumn Zither noticed this immediately. The quilt had a human shape under it, and the chest of the person sleeping in it was rising and falling.
"Leave this to me!" Feng Bujue reacted quickly. With a roar, he tossed the broom away and prepared to bolt forward.
The other three stopped him immediately. Weighty Words was the first to ask, "Wait, what are you doing?"
Before Feng Bujue could answer, Autumn Zither helped him to it.
"Aren't you asking the obvious?" Autumn Zither scoffed. "Based on this situation, there is hundred percent this is the story based on the sleeping beauty."
"Hmm… Based on the rules of taking turns, it should be my turn this time…" Ambitionist's glasses glowed white, and as he spoke, he strode forward to the bed.
"Trident Tackle!" Feng Bujue lunged forward and knocked Ambitionist to the ground from behind. "Humph… Kogure, do you think you can sneak your way through by acting calmly?"
"Even if you have forgotten my ID is Ambitionist… how did you come up with this name, Kogure…"
Before Ambitionist could finish, Autumn Zither added, "Just take a look at yourself. See how ungentlemanly you are. When the princess wakes up, she will be so disappointed in you."
He then adjusted his collar. "In this situation, it should be me…"
"Invincible Fire ouroboros!" Feng Bujue jumped at Autumn Zither next. "Raichu, I advise you not to act out of place. There is a very long staircase out this door. Combined with my Invincible Fire ouroboros, even God will be killed by me!"
Even though the three were tussling, they were just joking. Teammates were unable to seriously harm each other. But looking at this group of people, Weighty, Words who was more mature, stood at the side and shook his head.
"Ah…" Suddenly, a man's hoarse voice came from inside the bed.
This call silenced and froze all four players instantly.
"Bloody hell… who is being so noisy!" the voice roared loudly with an impressive presence.
The next second…
A werewolf with gray fur all over his body, wearing a pink bathrobe and a plastic bath cap, peeled off the bedsheet and sat up in bed.