Of course, you can also choose to upgrade various abilities of the tavern. Or use tavern currency to recruit rare heroes.]
[Equipment NPC · Punk has been unlocked.]
[S-rank extra reward · clue to the next level.]
[In the second level, you will head to the Mechanical City. It's best to have a hacker in your team, or you'll find it impossible to progress.]
The first level was simple, with Wen Xishu's personal strength making it easy to clear.
But it seems that there are many gameplay options in this tavern and numerous levels. Wen Xishu may not be able to clear them easily.
However, after acquiring thirty thousand tavern currency, he felt confident facing the challenges ahead.
Wen Xishu checked and found that thirty thousand currency was not enough to upgrade other attributes of the tavern, such as increasing the chance of recruiting rare heroes or recruiting heroes in an awakened state, or heroes having high affection.
This information made Wen Xishu realize one thing...
Everything is random.
In other words, the heroes recruited may not all trust him as much as Colonel Devon and his group did.
Affection is a random variable. It's possible the recruited hero may have no affection for him, leading them to not follow his orders.
And in the tavern, equipment can be purchased, each person's equipment is different.
Purchasing equipment requires specifying a character first.
For example, Devon can only purchase melee weapons and armor, while Cavendish can only purchase ranged weapons.
Gifting weapons can increase affection.
The last thing to spend money on is recruitment.
"Considering the next level requires a hacker... I'd better spend money recruiting a hacker."
Recruiting is divided into normal recruitment for 2500 tavern coins, advanced recruitment for 7500 tavern coins.
And precise recruitment for 25000 tavern coins.
The effect of precise recruitment is — you'll definitely recruit a hero useful for the next level.
Wen Xishu chose not to enhance his team members because his own combat strength was clearly superior to his team members. At this stage, he could handle enemies on his own.
His only issue was dealing with certain special rules, so he chose precise recruitment.
In the moment Wen Xishu made his decision —
There was a knock on the tavern door.
"Ah, I didn't expect to be summoned, wonderful, although I don't know who the commander is, I praise you!"
A man's voice came from outside the door.
Cavendish opened the door:
"Welcome, new friend!"
Cavendish spread his arms and hugged the Mohawk-headed, red-sunglasses-wearing Hacker Borg from outside.
Even Elsa smiled:
"Commander, he must be quite powerful, right?"
Wen Xishu nodded:
"Yes, with him in the next level, our difficulty will be much lower."
Although Devon's wounds weren't healed, he cooperatively extended his hand:
"Welcome to join us, friend. We've just had a significant victory."
[All members' affection +5. You can trigger memories in conversations with anyone.]
Wen Xishu received the notification.
Evidently, his proper command made everyone trust him greatly.
Wen Xishu pondered and conversed with Colonel Devon.
"Are you okay, your injuries aren't a problem right?"
"As long as we're in the tavern, don't worry, Commander, I'll recover soon and become your strong shield."
Devon indeed started to reminisce:
"In the past, my subordinates protected me, but they all perished in the apocalypse, now... I'm not really afraid of death anymore."
"When I was sprayed with that monster's liquid, I even thought, great, I can meet my subordinates again."
"But regrettably, I can't see you lead them to a land away from the curse."
"Hahaha, I'm getting sentimental, but please don't mind...I won't let these emotions affect me on the battlefield."
Devon next began recounting his past escape experiences.
Everyone listened attentively.
In the hours after clearing the first level, they could freely communicate and slowly recover in the tavern.
Two hours remained before the next level.
During these two hours, Wen Xishu also learned about Cavendish and Elsa's pasts but couldn't learn Hacker Borg's past.
Due to insufficient affection, conversations couldn't be triggered. Borg was unwilling to discuss it either.
Although Borg respected Wen Xishu as a commander, he simply refused to talk about those past events.
Cavendish had a sister who died during their escape because he failed to hit the monster's weak spot.
This made Cavendish feel guilty.
Elsa wasn't an outstanding doctor, and after the apocalypse, she regretted not studying medicine well while watching many relatives pass away.
Everyone was shattered because of the apocalypse.
Everyone also arrived at the Land of Obsession.
More clues need to be unlocked in the next round.
Wen Xishu guessed. In Desire Tower, this might be a tragic story of a team with various gifted people ultimately failing to escape the cursed land.
That's why there's such a Land of Obsession.
He guessed part of it right.
And then in the second level, Wen Xishu began realizing the harshness of the cursed land.
After a brief rest, the team received guidance again.
[Current team maximum limit (4 people), all members present, new team members will unlock in the next tavern round, but need to clear the second level. Start the second level challenge now?]
[Note: If not challenged, the Balance Curse will appear in the tavern.]
A one-hour countdown appeared again above everyone's head.
The malice brought by the Balance Curse finally manifested at this moment.
[Note: Due to exceeding the current number limit (five people), please abandon one person in the team. The member unable to participate in battle will bear the Balance Curse.]
This instruction appeared before everyone's eyes.
All laughter ceased at this moment.
Cavendish said:
"Lies...this is a joke, right? Commander...does this mean..."
He began trembling.
Even the typically resilient Elsa had fear in her eyes at this moment:
"Among us...must one die?"
Colonel Devon was silent at this moment.
A lot of information flashed in Wen Xishu's mind. Life Balance, Balance Curse...
At that moment, Wen Xishu understood its significance.
Looking at all the team members, fear was apparent on their faces.
He suddenly realized...this was a game where there had to be a sacrifice, because the balance, never tips.
But does this mean he can still achieve perfect clearance of the Deceit Tower?
An hour remained; within that hour, either he found a way to break the situation, or he had to choose that one person to be abandoned.