Chapter 192: Exploiting the Tower Rules

Kaelen returned to his room in the cabin after hearing all the Herald had to say. He was still surprised at the fact that Emir had logged out when that was basically impossible for Heralds as much as it was for candidates. But she did, just to grab a glass of water.

That was definitely the kind of subtle threat Kaelen would make to prove a point. They weren’t so different after all, but to think she did it for him. He found it hard to believe, as there was literally no close relationship between them.

Maybe she just wanted to grab a glass of water, and everyone misunderstood her like they always did.

"Yeah, that sounds more like it," Kaelen mumbled to himself with a heavy sigh and shifted his attention to the unclaimed loot bundles he’d left for later.

There were over 4,000 loot bundles, which made it impossible for him to start reviewing them all now, so he simply chose Quality for them all and sent everything to his inventory without a second thought.

There was something else bugging him at the back of his hand, but Kaelen held it up and decided to take care of everything else first before he focused on it.

[Lysandra Cross sent (3) voice chats]:

"You promised you were only going to scout the second floor and return at the slightest sign of danger. I almost lost you back there. That was reckless of you."

"I’m sorry I raised my voice at you. I was really, really worried back there. My Herald told me you experienced a malfunction. I’m sorry for not putting myself in your shoes."

"Rest well and take your time. You don’t have to reply to me immediately. We’re having beef soup for dinner. Do you want some? I’ll send you some anyways."

Kaelen couldn’t help but smile while hearing Lysandra’s voice chats. It sure seemed they were having fun in their lobby, which was rare. He was still curious about where they got the meat they were eating, so he decided to ask.

Me: It’s fine. You don’t have to be sorry about anything. I’m curious, though. Where did your party get the food from?

Last time he checked, there was neither food nor water in his own lobby. Her lobby couldn’t have already gotten sponsors this early when they hadn’t even entered a floor.

Lysandra’s reply came almost immediately.

"Oh, our Herald is actually treating us to dinner before we enter the second floor tomorrow. Since yours was a malfunction, our plan still holds because the real second floor would be different from the one you cleared."

Kaelen had stopped listening after the first line.

"Wait, did you just say your Herald is treating y’all to dinner?" he asked with a frown.

"Mm-hmm," she replied casually. "I know," she added.

Kaelen’s brows shot up. "What makes you think you know what I’m thinking?"

"It’s common knowledge that she’s been overly caring, even though I haven’t seen how other Heralds treat their candidates. It’s not hard for me to see through her acts. She’s being favourable with everyone for now, but as soon as we hit the second floor, she drops those she deems useless and focuses her favourability on the outstanding candidates amongst us. This would be insurance for her that the outstanding candidates wouldn’t leave her for another party because, as long as they do well, she’ll shower them with all the good things. Meanwhile, those she drops will be forced to either do better or die trying, making space for new outstanding recruits to join our party. You don’t have to worry about me, Kaelen. I’ll never leave you for a bowl of soup. Have some faith in me."

Kaelen almost laughed at Lysandra’s last words. Indeed, she was on point and had read his mind.

In all honesty, her Herald was smart and was already ensuring her own survival by manipulating her candidates.

"Alright, then. Have fun and stay safe. I hope you aren’t getting bullied by that woman from earlier," Kaelen asked in a serious tone.

He was asking about the same woman who had stolen his spot on the first floor.

"Not really. I can handle her myself," Lysandra replied.

"That’s good to hear. We’ll talk later, then. Gotta go." Kaelen ended the conversation and swiftly moved on to the next.

[Elyndra Silver sent you a message]:

Guess who saved your life this time? Uh-huh. That’s me.

There’s more where that came from. It won’t be for free, though. It only costs an arm and no legs.

Kaelen’s lips twitched. She had unblocked him just to sell him her pitch for her product made with garbage. Reading her message reminded him of the awful taste of the Fate-Rewriting Pill.

He didn’t bother replying to her message and blocked her himself.

He wouldn’t be needing the Fate-Rewriting Pill for a while, especially since he didn’t have a Suppression Pill. He had been lucky earlier but wasn’t willing to take the risk a second time.

[Felix Gray sent you a message]:

Oh, I think you got the wrong floor. It seems they decided to slime you early lol.

The message had probably been sent when Kaelen was inside the second floor, but seeing the message now made his lips twitch a second time.

Me: They said it was a malfunction.

The man replied almost immediately.

Felix: You think so? 𝐟𝑟ⅇ

Me: I don’t care.

Felix: Sure, sure. You asked earlier about the privacy in the lobbies?

That was correct. Kaelen had asked him earlier in his message request and had almost forgotten about that.

Me: Yeah, though I think I’ve figured it out.

Felix: You do? I don’t think so. There’s no privacy in this tower, but it all depends on your Herald.

Kaelen immediately frowned.

Me: How so?

Felix: Not all the spectators want to watch the same content. Some are willing to buy illicit premium packages from the Herald that give them access to the candidates’ daily lives around the clock—no bathroom breaks. That’s one of the top ways to get gifts from sponsors, especially the creepy ones who want to see more than the candidates fighting.

Kaelen’s frown only deepened the more he read Felix’s message. That sounded like something Lysandra’s Herald might do while being overly friendly with the candidates.

Felix: You don’t have to worry about that, though. That’s a problem for irrelevant candidates to worry about. There’ll be a lot of changes, especially with the Herald Executioner. And trust me when I say she’s watching every single one of the Heralds like hawks, waiting for them to slip up even in the slightest so she has a reason to kill them right there and then. You should be more worried about your conversations and trades on here. Again, I doubt that should be a problem for you when you can bypass all that. Am I right?

Kaelen stared at Felix’s message in confusion.

Me: What the hell are you talking about?

Felix: Your shadow ability. I learnt that was what you used to sneak into the expedition ruins and Stronghold 3 the day you killed my father. For it to have gone undetected, it must have lacked a sentience that allowed it to move undetected.

Kaelen frowned. He understood where Felix was going but wanted to be absolutely certain because the idea was simply absurd.

Me: What are you trying to say?

Felix: You know exactly what I’m trying to say. There’s no rule against eavesdropping on other lobbies because it’s never been done before. Doing it for the first time wouldn’t make you break the rules. You know that better than I do.

Me: ...Are you trying to say I should put my shadow in a box, drop it in my inventory, and ship it to someone in another lobby?

Felix: That’s exactly what I’m trying to say. If it works, the worst-case scenario is that you get a warning. Best-case scenario... you can send a message across the tower that can never be traced and move across lobbies as well when no one’s watching.