Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 339 - 316 Land of Darkness

Chapter 339: 316 Land of Darkness

In my life, there have been many pivotal turns, some of which could be described as "the beginning of everything." For example, during middle school, I would stare at an extinguished candle every day, trying to ignite it with my gaze, and then one moment actually managed to light it; another instance would be exploring a deserted construction site and then discovering Mazao lying unconscious, dressed in hospital garments.

In my mind, "the basement of the fifteenth floor" also occupies a significant place. I can’t forget when I actually saw bizarre things appearing before my eyes, and the indescribable surging heartbeat within my chest. Apart from the awakening of my superpower, it was the first strange event I encountered. Destiny’s gears were truly turning—if I were to romantically describe that experience, with my meager literary skills, I could only come up with this cliché yet fitting phrase.

It likely holds unusual significance not just for me, but for Changan as well.

Little Changan hesitated at the door, then gently pushed it open. The door was unlocked, and it opened with the sound of rough movement on its hinges. He slowly walked in.

Beyond the entryway was the living room, still how I remembered it. The floor, hardly ever cleaned; a few crumpled clothes tossed on the sofa; the trash bin filled with leftover food particles and juice-stained takeaway boxes. Although Changan is quite wealthy, he is extremely careless in his personal life. He would splurge on lavish meals outside, yet at home, he didn’t mind ordering all sorts of messy takeout.

The state of disarray in the house wasn’t just due to his laziness to clean or his reluctance to pay for domestic help. It was mostly because he didn’t think it necessary enough for a thorough cleaning, and he might even feel everything was well-organized, as essential items were placed within easy reach. It’s an attitude I can somewhat understand.

Between the sofa and the TV set, there was that familiar black fluffy carpet, adorned with several large coffee-colored English letters that together spelled "CARPET."

Little Changan bent down and pulled back the carpet, revealing the floor beneath. There lay a ritual array painted with dried, deteriorated blood, and in the center of the Array, a light brown large wooden lid was embedded.

In the real world, the ritual array had already been dealt with by Zhu Shi, and the entrance to the basement was no longer present. I’ve occasionally returned to this house for inspections, confirming that the basement of the fifteenth floor has become a place I can no longer enter.

Because I’ve deeply memorized the lines of the ritual array and even documented them with photos on my phone, I tried to replicate it elsewhere and even conducted experiments secretly in the fifteenth-floor room without Zhu Shi knowing. Unfortunately, none were successful.

The emergence of the fifteenth-floor basement was likely an accident within an accident. Agent Kong was able to summon it not because he grasped the knowledge needed for its successful invocation, but merely due to "serendipitous coincidence." Even this chance had nothing to do with him personally; it was Mazao’s Broom Star Physique that linked me with the Divine Seal Fragment in the fifteenth-floor basement and miracuously made the otherwise ineffective Array work, all to guide me there.

Little Changan opened the wooden lid, and the gray-white concrete staircase appeared once again before us. Everything seemed to return to the day we first encountered the basement of the fifteenth floor, only now I was no longer a novice to the abnormal world, and Changan had turned into a child-like figure.

"I’ve imagined more than once, how joyful I could be when the moment of discovering the bizarre object arrives, because then I could finally prove that my ambiguous memories were not false, and the words I shared with others in the past were not shameful lies..." Little Changan gaze dreamily at the eerie, thrilling entrance, "But... I am disappointed in myself.

"I am afraid to go in... Standing before the very thing I have long dreamed of, I am trembling with fear. Then, I thought of Zhuang Cheng...

"If it were him... He would probably choose to go in. Even without any guarantee of a safe return, he would enter without hesitation. I believe his decision would be entirely different from mine.

"But... Perhaps, I wanted to see him give up just like I did, faced with terrifying things. Maybe that’s why I’ve accompanied him on adventures to haunted places, because I wanted to witness his moment of giving up. If even someone like him would eventually give up, I could forgive myself. Perhaps that’s why I told him about the existence of this basement."

Listening to this, I continued: "Then you’ll just have to be disappointed, because I still went in."

"...Yes."

Little Changan responded with an odd tone, watching the dark entrance on the floor for a while before he also took steps and descended. I didn’t stop him, because I too wanted to re-enter this basement.

Although it was the first strange event I encountered, the basement of the fifteenth floor was not as simple as a "tutorial level" in a standalone game. Even if Water Navy Xuanwu shattered all my body and soul with a single Netherworld strike, making me believe I was done for, it later proved to be just a scare; but the basement of the fifteenth floor, despite showing no destructive power, rendered my proud strength completely useless. It was a true experience that pushed me to my limits.