"I must have missed some clue."
Wang Hao didn't directly load the game but continued to explore the 101st floor.
At that moment, sudden intense gunfire erupted in the hallway.
"There's a suspicious person!"
"Grab him, don't let him escape!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A yellow-skinned man wearing a jacket burst out from the corridor of the private auction, fell to the floor riddled with several bullets, and lay in a pool of blood. The hall turned chaotic as men and women still in the exhibit room screamed and scrambled in all directions.
He hurried over to take a look.
Several Black-clothed Guards rushed over and covered the body on the ground with a white sheet.
These people cursed loudly, "Damn it, there goes my bonus!"
"How did he sneak in?" "He just tried to destroy the collection but was stopped."
One of the Black-clothed Guards, reaching out to a woman crouched on the ground, said, "Miss, I am sorry for the scare! Let me assist you in leaving this place."
Wang Hao felt astonished, What's going on?
Is this friendly fire?
Has our ally been taken down?
Was this yellow-skinned man also here through illegal means?
After analyzing for a while, he chose not to restart the game. After all, there was no good solution now, and even starting over might still lead to a deadlock.
A few minutes later, the manager of the auction arrived, assessed the situation, and tried to calm the panicked crowd.
Someone loudly complained to the manager, "I demand an explanation from you!"
"How could you just shoot at will and deprive someone of their life!"
The manager quickly explained, "I'm sorry, he was a robber who sneaked in through the 'restroom.' We didn't expect him to be so bold as to climb down directly from the floor above. This is the 101st floor… But rest assured, the restroom windows on the 101st floor have been closed by us."
So that's what happened, he had climbed down from the floor above.
Is this a hint from the game?
Wang Hao was immediately annoyed at himself for not discovering this secret sooner, feeling a sense of frustration as if the plot had been spoiled.
He took the elevator to the 102nd floor, which housed a closed hotel, its reception covered in dust.
"So, even the mighty Empire Building has its shutdown areas."
Turning left and right, he reached the restroom on the 102nd floor, the room crammed with mops, brooms, dustpans, and cleaning rags, and the drifting dust indicated someone had recently broken in.
Stepping on a stool, he poked his head out the window.
The height of the 102nd floor was disorienting, the vehicles on the street below moved like ants, forming a ceaseless stream. The city that never sleeps roared impatiently, and ships on the Hudson River never ceased.
Despite knowing it was just a game, his adrenaline surged, triggering acrophobia…
The graphics were too realistic, which had its downsides at times.
To ensure continuity of the plumbing and reduce blockages, every floor of the building was constructed similarly, with the restrooms all located in the same position.
The 101st floor, where the auction hall was, had its restroom directly below, but now its window was shut tight, leaving no further access.
"Just by scaling from the 102nd floor to the 101st, I could bypass the security army of the Black-clothed Guards and enter the final private auction!"
"Let's load the previous saved game, there's no chance this time."
He immediately loaded a save from before the theft of the precious invitation and swiftly made his way to the restroom on the 102nd floor!
He gently pushed open the door.
The man in the yellow jacket was climbing down using a rope but became visibly stunned as someone burst into the restroom, totally unprepared for such a sudden intrusion.
He accidentally lost his grip.
"Ah—," a scream echoed through the air.
Looking down from the window,
the man in the yellow jacket had fatally fallen!
…
"Damn it..." Wang Hao fell silent for a moment, realizing the noise he'd caused had clearly been too much.
He didn't want his allies to die from just falling.
...
Once more!
This time, he increased his speed, moving about 15 seconds faster.
Upon pushing open the door of the restroom on the 102nd floor, the man in yellow had not started climbing, but after freezing for a moment, he immediately launched an attack!
Xiaobai struck back.
After a series of moves... he was pinned to the ground.
He was defeated!
[You are knocked out, expected recovery time 3 hours 39 minutes 42 seconds, mission failed.]
"That's embarrassingly bad, losing a fight like that."
The hardcore player was somewhat dissatisfied.
He reloaded the game 10 times and still couldn't beat the man in yellow.
Wang Hao was getting anxious, feeling like he was fighting a major boss, having even flung his high heels in an attack, but still losing.
The man's reaction was strange, ignoring any conversation and attacking anyone approaching, even beautiful women.
That just wasn't fair.
Wang Hao believed it wasn't his fighting skill at fault but that the "Xiaobai" character was simply no match for the man in yellow.
...
"I'm starting over directly!"
This time, he chose the "Xiaobai" character again, rushing towards the destination without delay, like speeding through the game!
He didn't even need to stop on the 101st floor, going straight to the restroom on the 102nd floor and quietly waiting.
This time, he arrived 6 minutes earlier than the man in yellow!
After waiting for a while, soft footsteps came from outside the door.
In the moment the door opened, he threw the high heel, delivered a knee strike, locked the throat, threw elbow strikes, and followed up with punches and kicks, all in one fluid motion!
He succeeded!
The man in yellow collapsed to the floor.
A dialogue box popped up in his retina: [You have knocked down a hidden story character, Li Qingshan.]
[Li Qingshan is expected to be unconscious for 0 hours 1 minute 42 seconds.]
Wow, he's going to wake up that quickly?!
He quickly tied up the man in the yellow jacket with a rope.
[You have rescued a hidden story character, saving him from a destiny of certain death. Final evaluation +100.]
[Character Card "Li Qingshan" unlocked. If Li Qingshan survives, he will help you find game clues in some future scenes.]
Wang Hao was pleased, "I knew this was a hidden subplot!"
But what's the deal with receiving a male character card? Why not a pink-haired lolita, it could be white-haired, yellow-haired, or black-haired too...
[Character Card]
[Li Qingshan, male, 24]
[Profession: Black-clothed Guard C-level Investigator]
[Physique: 201][Fighting: 211][Shooting: 169] (Note: The human average is 100, with the highest around 300)
[Talent: Iron Will, ginseng bloodline]
[Spiritual Strength: 314]
[Spiritual Ability: Beast Intuition, Bullet Time]
[Comprehensive Qualification Evaluation: B-level]
Wang Hao thought to himself, "No wonder he's a special character... his attributes are nearly as good as Xiaobai's, plus the special skills, no wonder Xiaobai couldn't beat him."