"Welcome to the Core City of Truth!"
Mike wasted no time and got straight to the point.
[Tonight's Tower of Truth requires no further preparation.]
[A 100% Exploration Rate to clear? You just need eyes!]
Summoning the core crystal of truth, Mike placed his palm on it. A white light engulfed him, and a familiar notification sound rang in his ears.
"May you clear the Tower of Truth soon."
The third floor of the Tower of Truth, open!
Boom—
With a flash of white light, Mike appeared in a tunnel. As soon as he landed, the ground began to shake.
In the dim tunnel, rocks kept falling, raising a cloud of dust.
A man ran out of the tunnel in panic, screaming, "Run! The mine is collapsing!!"
Another round of earth-shattering tremors occurred, and rocks tumbled, completely blocking Mike's way back.
A woman's sobbing came from behind Mike.
"Please save my husband, cough cough... he went deep into the mine to earn money to buy me medicine... sob sob..."
Her choking sobs echoed in the tunnel, eerily unsettling, giving one goosebumps.
"Would you like to accept the quest [Morgana's Request]?"
[Quest Details]: Bring back Morgana's husband or his belongings
[Quest Reward]: After submitting the quest, the level rating is automatically calculated
"Accept."
Only after accepting the quest could Mike move forward in the tunnel and start the challenge.
"Thank you, kind soul."
The crying behind the pile of rocks ceased, and a cold wind blew past Mike's head, leaving him alone in the tunnel.
"This level design even includes a backstory, interesting."
When the Tower of Truth first appeared, it was treated like an online game for a reason.
From the third to the sixth floors, it's like a traditional RPG game, offering a quest under a clichéd backstory to enhance participants' enjoyment and motivation.
Mike looked ahead, not acting rashly.
He had 6 hours and the [Eye of Truth] to assist him, so clearing the level was a breeze.
However, how to achieve a 100% Exploration Rate was what he needed to consider!
At that moment, the Eye of Truth provided a hint.
[Method to achieve 100% Exploration Rate: First reach 99% Exploration Rate, then obtain an additional 1% Exploration Rate]
The Eye of Truth was being cheeky again, its advice was as good as none.
"Nice hint, next time don't give such hints."
Mike surveyed his surroundings, trying to gather more information.
[This is an abandoned mine, rumored to be haunted by man-eating monsters, miners who tried to fend off the monsters all turned to dust]
[You are now at the first square]
[Straight ahead, you can collect 30 gallons of pure drinking water]
[To the left front, a giant lizard guards a bonfire, it is friendly and will not attack you unless you speak the complex lizard language or happen to possess the SSS-grade talent Eye of Truth]
[To the right front, damn, it's pitch black, nothing there]
Three options lay before Mike, the last one excluded.
"Pure water, not useful to me, but from my RPG gaming experience, such items usually have effects later on. Otherwise, they wouldn't just place 30 gallons of pure water on the path ahead for no reason."
"If it's just water needed, I could try a water element spell."
Mike wasn't a water element mage, but he carried related spell scrolls.
"Water Ball Spell!"
Mike tore open a scroll, and a water ball hovered in his palm before falling.
As soon as the water touched Mike's skin, it immediately evaporated and disappeared!
[Rule: Magic cannot be used to create 'water' for washing or drinking!]
Special rules indeed!
This made the value of the 30 gallons of pure water skyrocket!
"Since the lizard can communicate, obviously it has special clues..."
Compared to water, the lizard seemed more scarce!
If it were someone else, they would definitely choose the pure water without hesitation.
Oh, Mike forgot they didn't have the Eye of Truth; they could only guess.
Ah, the troubles of happiness.
"Choose the lizard."
Mike had a bold idea in his mind and wanted to try it out.
He could only move forward in the square, not left or right, but that didn't mean the lizard couldn't move sideways.
If the lizard could help him get water, Mike would not only gain clues but also secure the water!
Mike walked to the left front of the tunnel, moving to the next square.
The second square.
In the spacious tunnel, the bonfire crackled, and a giant lizard rested near it.
Upon seeing Mike's arrival, it just glanced up and then turned away, no longer paying attention.
"Indeed, it won't attack me, it's like a neutral NPC or creature."
"I need to try speaking lizard language with it to see what clues I can gather!"
Lizard language characters appeared before Mike, and he was instantly full of black lines.
[Sorry, forgot you don't speak lizard language]
[Converted to phonetic pronunciation mode]
Following the subtitles' prompt, Mike spoke:
"Sssslizzz-snap! Hizz-huzz, crick-crack!?"
What the hell! Is this lizard language?!
"Sssslizzz-snap! Hizz-huzz, crick-crack!!"
The lizard suddenly stood up, its eyes eagerly looking at Mike, for the first time in many years, it met a creature that could communicate with it!
"Gizz-gazz, fizz-fuzz, whizz-whazz...."
Mike communicated with the giant lizard in lizard language, and the giant lizard's words were translated in real-time by the [Eye of Truth].
Soon, Mike understood what the lizard wanted to convey.
"Run, tell me to run? There are monsters that petrify people, she's not one I can defeat?"
Really? I don't believe it! Mike looked at his Charge Up skill, feeling fearless.
In the giant lizard's description, the term [monsters that petrify people] kept appearing. Even its left hind leg had turned to stone, making it move very slowly.
'She'?
This was the first time Mike had heard of a female monster!
Mike looked at the giant lizard's hind leg and asked, "Can this injury be healed?"
Mike got quite a bit of information from the giant lizard and tried to help it.
Giant lizard: "Once the monsters die, all petrification will be lifted, there's no other way,"
Its intelligence wasn't high, repeating the same few phrases, urging Mike to run quickly.
"Okay, I'll kill her later, consider it avenging you."
Then, Mike expressed his desire to have the lizard help him fetch water.
"Water in the nearby tunnel?!"
Even without Mike's reminder, the giant lizard actively burrowed into the ground to fetch water.
"Just as I thought, exactly as I expected!"
Mike gained clues from the giant lizard and also got the pure water through its help, killing two birds with one stone.
When the giant lizard returned, the water jug was half full, about 15 gallons.
"I'm so thirsty..." The giant lizard explained, "Drinking water can relieve the pain of petrification and slow its spread."
"Water, the source of life."
"Shall I leave some for you?"
Since the water was fetched by the lizard, it wouldn't be polite for Mike to take it all.
The giant lizard shook its head, "I've drunk enough water for the next 100 years."
Good grief, Mike exclaimed in amazement!
"Alright then, big lizard, I'm off, see you later."
...
Carrying 15 gallons of water, Mike bid farewell to the giant lizard and set off again, heading to the second square.
[Straight ahead, you will encounter a meaningless battle]
[To the left front....]
With the help of the Eye of Truth and Mike's years of RPG gaming experience, he could almost always make the optimal decision at each square! His Exploration Rate was rapidly increasing. 1%...5%...10%!
Mike had successfully navigated through nine squares and was preparing to move to the eleventh when something unexpected appeared before him: a message board?!
[Message Board: A message board is placed every ten squares to provide valuable information for those who come after]
[Leave a message here, and all participants can see it, each message board only allows one message]
The third floor of the Tower of Truth is essentially a solo instance; however, its unique feature and a popular aspect among players is that the message boards allow all participants to chat.
Mike opened the message board and discovered that messages even had a like feature! Messages with a high number of likes were displayed at the front for more people to see. The first message that caught Mike's eye was, of course, from a supreme being!
No.1: [Morpheus]: 'Cool, I was the first to reach here, this is truly memorable.'
Likes: 12,345,478,987
Mike scrolled down.
No.2: [Ares]: 'Is achieving a 100% Exploration Rate that difficult?'
Likes: 10,486,145,859
Mike nodded, thinking to himself, "Indeed it is difficult, because you didn't achieve it either."
Before Mike, the highest Exploration Rate achieved by humans was only 99%!
Here, you only get one chance to leave a message, and it can't be edited or deleted.
"Supreme being's major social death scene, huh? They made big claims but didn't follow through..."
Mike browsed through two pages of messages and identified some patterns. Early participants tended to engage in casual chat. After all, the first ten squares weren't particularly challenging or noteworthy. Later participants even used this place as a confession wall or a venting spot.
No.16: [I like read novels]
Likes: 92,167,568,68
No.17: [This position is already very far back, surely no one will see this, haha, what I want to say is: I like eating shit, lol!]
Likes: 86,753,091,95
No.18: [Guys, let's like the message above and push it to the front!]
Likes: 55,864,458,31
[...]
"Quite interesting, it feels a bit like playing a game."
Mike pondered what to write on the message board.
Coming all this way and not writing anything would be embarrassing, right?
"This thing will display my ID once I post."
"I need to write something profound, even if it's a bit mysterious, otherwise I'll be the one socially dying in the future!"
With 'Ares' as a cautionary tale, Mike felt the need to be careful with his message. Otherwise, his words would be permanently displayed here for all humanity to see.
After a moment of thought, Mike opened the message board, his expression serious, and wrote a line.
[Thor: Water, the source of life]
"Done, that's a wrap."
Mike closed the message board and continued his journey in the Tower of Truth.
As soon as Thor's name appeared on the message board, it immediately attracted countless people's attention!
"Thor appeared on the third floor of the Tower of Truth!"
"He left a message, 'Water, the source of life'!"
"Is Thor calling everyone to protect the environment, to cherish water?"
"Upstairs, a Battle Chief-level mage just needs to cast a [Healing Rain] spell, and they'll have all the water they need, wake up!"
"....."
Regardless, Thor's brief message instantly dominated the top trends on various social media platforms, maintaining a high level of popularity!