This start could already be considered the worst of the worst.
He had gotten four artifacts in a row, but it seemed that only the Compass for checking locations was even somewhat useful—the rest were either outright Debuffs or simply completely useless junk.
The upgraded Regret Button looked impressive on the surface, but in reality, it was all show and no substance, because using the Regret Button meant you had to climb back up all over again.
While it was possible to choose a different Route and obtain the rewards again…
First, any Safe Room that didn’t require fighting and offered a reward must have already been mostly cleaned out by other Teams.
Second, climbing back up took far too much time—it was almost the same as giving up resistance entirely.
At present, it was still unclear whether, upon climbing back up, the rooms that had already been cleared would reset and require another battle.
If not, then that’s fine.
In that case, when faced with a choice between two Treasure Chest Rooms, you could press the Regret Button, quickly climb back to the current room, and grab the other chest’s reward.
But if that’s not possible… then it’s a dead end.
Jiang Ke’er felt it was necessary to give it a try.
“Hurry up and go.”
At this moment, the Taiming Sect Members were feeling low in morale, anxiety written all over their faces as they urged Jiang Ke’er to head to the next room.
All three options for the next Floor’s room were ordinary battles.
“I want to test this Regret Button,” Jiang Ke’er lifted her head and said.
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
“If you trust me, let Xiao Ming press this button. I want to figure out how the Regret Button and the Trial Tower actually operate… If it works, we’ll have a lot more options in our exploration moving forward.” Jiang Ke’er held the Regret Button, her expression serious.
“No, the price of failure is too high,” Xuanyang shook his head,
“If the Regret Button sends our whole Team back to the first Floor and all the checkpoints are reset, then we’d have no hope at all. But right now, we’re not too far behind—if we just push on and get lucky enough to hit a few chests, we might still have a chance!”
“No, we already have no chance.”
Once Jiang Ke’er said this, the atmosphere cooled as expected.
“Why do you say that?” Xuanyang asked in a low voice.
“Did any of you notice? When we first came in, there were 24 Teams in total, and there are also 24 rooms on each Floor of the Trial Tower.”
Jiang Ke’er took out the Compass—it was this tool that gave her the idea that there were 24 rooms per Floor in the Trial Tower.
“Conservatively speaking, after the losses of the first five Floors, there are probably only 15 Teams left,”
Jiang Ke’er continued, “These fifteen Teams each follow a different Route. Since only one Team can choose each room, that means we can only pick from the remaining nine rooms.”
“There are still Public Rooms!” Xuanyang frowned and added.
“That doesn’t conflict with my next deduction…”
Jiang Ke’er took out a dagger and drew a Route map on the ground.
“It’s already known that after passing through a room, each Team gets three room options. Every Team will naturally tend to pick the low-risk, high-reward rooms—like Treasure Chest Room, Coin Room, and Shop Room. If those aren’t available, they’ll choose Public Room and risk fighting for its Resource…”
“In other words, since we’ve already fallen behind, no matter how we choose, we can only pick from the trash rooms left behind by others, or Public Rooms that have already been stripped of Resources.”
Everyone fell silent—unless the good rooms on that Floor outnumbered the Teams, or some other Team foolishly left a good room behind, or another good option hadn’t refreshed, but the chances of that were too low…
Otherwise, things really were just as Jiang Ke’er said.
But even that wouldn’t allow the Taiming Sect Team to catch up, because the others would always get the better rooms; even if Taiming Sect got a moment to breathe, it would never turn into an advantage.
If you aren’t first, then all effort is meaningless.
“Our chances are already incredibly slim. Fall behind by one step, and you’ll fall behind every step. From now on, all we can do is pray for absurd luck in the Bizarre Room, or hope that other Teams get wiped out by monsters. So…” Jiang Ke’er held the Regret Button.
“I want to try it. I want to see what this thing is really for, and whether we can maximize our gains as we move forward… When we go back, whether the rooms we’ve already passed will refresh, or if they’ll stay cleared and let us pass through unimpeded—I have a plan, but for that plan to work, I need to figure out how this button works.”
Everyone looked to Xuanyang.
After all, Yuan Shouyi had once instructed them to listen to Xuanyang’s commands… because they all knew Jiang Ke’er was simply too crazy.
Who knew what kind of wild moves she’d pull! Though she hadn’t failed yet, if she ever did, the consequences would be dire!
At least Xuanyang had the thought process of a normal person.
“Sigh,” Xuanyang let out a sigh, “Go ahead and try.”
“Alright!” Jiang Ke’er didn’t hesitate.
“Xiao Ming, come here, stand at this end of the room. The rest of you, line up in a row. Xiao Ri, stand ten meters from Xiao Ming. Xuanyang, stand ten meters from Xiao Ri. Qian Yue, stand ten meters from Xuanyang…”
Once everyone’s positions were set, Jiang Ke’er jogged to a spot ten meters behind Qian Yue, just about up against the wall on the other side of the room.
“Now, Xiao Ming, lay your clothes over the button, and remember what I say.”
Xiao Ming followed her instructions.
Jiang Ke’er shouted loudly across the room to Xiao Ming, “Time is short, so we’ll only wait here for three minutes. If the room hasn’t reset, three minutes is plenty of time for you to run back to this room… If you’re not back after three minutes, that means the room refreshed, and we’ll leave immediately. You’ll be the test’s sacrificial lamb.”
“Wow, that’s really blunt!” Xiao Ming was both amused and helpless, “Good thing the Sect Leader didn’t put you in charge…”
“You can press the button now,” said Jiang Ke’er.
“Okay.”
Xiao Ming felt enormous pressure. He took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and pressed the button.
“Whoosh—”
Xiao Ming’s round figure instantly turned into a flash of white light and disappeared on the spot, but the Regret Button was left behind.
Jiang Ke’er stepped forward, picked up the Regret Button, and fell into deep thought.
“So, it only teleports one person at a time—not the whole Team, and not everyone in a range. Plus, the teleportation is targeted and has a certain level of intelligence. Even if something blocks the button, it still knows who pressed it and teleports that person.”
“And, the button stays in place, so there’s no way to use it for room farming…”
“I’m back!” Xiao Ming returned unexpectedly quickly, taking only a dozen or so seconds.
This lifted everyone’s spirits. At least, it meant the rooms on the way hadn’t reset.
“Press it again, and this time hold the button in your palm,” Jiang Ke’er said immediately.
She suspected that the button being left behind might be due to the way it was used.
If there was another way to bring the button along, then the last person to leave could take it and let the Team ‘reload’ and farm rooms infinitely.
Xiao Ming picked up the button.
Jiang Ke’er was on edge.
It all came down to this!
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.