Chapter 7: Mine…
The room fell silent once more. Su Xiao grabbed the door handle with one hand and tried to pull.
*Crack.* The handle snapped off, and a startled cry came from inside the door.
"Um, that... big brother, I'll give you my family heirloom as compensation for the candy."
Perhaps due to the "different method of opening," an envelope was pushed out through the hole in the door, rather than the door being opened like during the negotiation with the gold-rimmed glasses man.
Su Xiao took the envelope.
[You have received Anliya's Letter of Introduction ×1.]
[Anliya's Letter of Introduction]
Origin: Demon Castle
Quality: White
Type: Consumable
Effect: Can be used to negotiate with certain plot characters.
Rating: 2
Introduction: A letter of introduction; its specific use requires personal exploration.
Price: 1 Paradise Coin.
Seeing the attributes of this letter, Su Xiao's eyes lit up. Although its quality wasn't high, its practical uses were numerous. Simply put, this item could increase the "favorability" of other plot characters on the first floor of the castle, making some previously unapproachable characters open to negotiation.
"Big brother, is this enough?"
A timid voice came from behind the door.
Su Xiao gestured to Bubu Wang, who understood and handed over a pile of chocolate and other sweet snacks.
Ignoring whether the little girl inside wanted them or not, Su Xiao stuffed all the snacks through the hole in the wooden door.
The little girl inside was probably stunned, not daring to eat immediately, unlike her earlier ravenous devouring of candy.
The Slaughtering Dagger appeared in Su Xiao's hand, and he stabbed it into the lock of the wooden door.
*Crack.* Part of the lock was damaged, and another startled cry came from inside. Within three strikes, the lock would be forcibly broken.
Just as Su Xiao was about to strike a second time, envelopes began to pour out of the hole in the wooden door like falling snowflakes, a staggering number.
The wooden door, like a broken ATM, started spewing out "cash."
Bubu Wang picked up the letters from the ground, while Su Xiao put away the Slaughtering Dagger. As the saying goes, people bully the weak, and horses are ridden by the gentle. Holding a blade to a plot character's neck was far more effective.
After counting, Su Xiao had obtained a total of fifty-six [Anliya's Letters of Introduction].
"Big brother, do you... do you have any more candy? The black kind. I want to eat more."
"No."
"Oh~"
The voice behind the door sounded disappointed.
Not far away, the gold-rimmed glasses man looked at the single envelope in his hand, then at the stack in Su Xiao's. A thought crossed his mind: "What use is my charm?" After hesitating for a long time, he chose not to use Su Xiao's method to get more letters. His aura was different from Su Xiao's, and the same approach might backfire. That terrifying presence and pressure weren't something one could acquire in a short time.
Ignoring the psychological trauma of the gold-rimmed glasses man, Su Xiao held a stack of letters and began examining the messages on the dozens of wooden doors one by one.
'Blood VI Yata (Five Hundred Jin).'
'Do not knock; death walks with the unknown.'
'The transaction of life is the fairest transaction.'
'Open this door, and you will...'
Each wooden door had a slogan, and behind them were plot characters with varying personalities and danger levels.
Su Xiao noticed a pattern in the slogans. Doors that hinted at impossibility to enter mostly housed cowardly plot characters, with a few extremely dangerous ones. When he knocked on such doors, most received no response. Conversely, the gold-rimmed glasses man and the detective little girl could negotiate with these characters.
As for doors with slogans like 'Blood VI Yata (Five Hundred Jin)' or 'The transaction of life is the fairest transaction,' Su Xiao received responses when he knocked.
Even through the wooden door, Su Xiao could sense how dangerous the plot characters inside were. Some exuded a chilling cold, others a pungent smell of blood. This was what they called affinity—Su Xiao's affinity matched these individuals.
*Bang!*
A crashing sound came, and a figure flew out from one of the rooms, rolling on the ground like a ball before stopping.
As the figure steadied itself, two more figures flew out from behind. The three supported each other as they stood up—it was the Three Brothers of National Football.
Now, the Three Fools of National Football were covered in blood. The second brother's arm was twisted unnaturally, the third brother's face was bruised and swollen, and the eldest brother was clutching his groin, hopping on the spot with a pale face.
"My balls..."
The eldest brother's mouth formed an O shape as he leaned on a stone pillar with one hand, clutching his groin with the other, knees together, legs forming an inverted Y shape.
"Big brother, are you okay?"
"Of... of course I'm fine."
The eldest brother trembled, tears glistening in his eyes as he uttered this tough line.
Seeing the miserable state of the Three Brothers of National Football, Su Xiao confirmed a thought in his mind: some plot characters behind the doors were cowardly, like the little girl earlier, while others were extremely dangerous, even capable of thrashing the Three Fools of National Football. Judging by their "tragic" condition, anyone else would be dead or crippled.
"Indeed, on the first floor of the castle, this woman is the most dangerous, but the rewards from her are also the highest."
The eldest brother muttered, not far from Su Xiao. The implication was clear to both parties.
The National Football team had likely obtained information from some plot character, prompting them to enter that room. Judging by the outcome, they had failed, and the eldest brother had been kicked in the groin, nearly crying from the pain.
The eldest brother revealing this information carried several implications. One was a trap, but considering that the National Football team had cooperated with Su Xiao before and knew his strength, this possibility was low.
Another was that the Three Brothers of National Football had lost their chance to gain this benefit and chose to do Su Xiao a favor.
Leaving aside the intentions of the Three Brothers of National Football, after they were thrown out of that room, the other contractors began to focus on it.
This room was located in the middle section of the many rooms, with a slogan on the door: 'Intruders Die.'
The message was simple and brutal. The Three Brothers of National Football hadn't forced their way in, yet they were still thrown out, possibly due to a combination of a sharp tongue and incompatible affinity.
The gold-rimmed glasses man adjusted his hair, cleared his throat, and stepped forward.
*Knock, knock, knock...*
"Excuse me."
The gold-rimmed glasses man smiled humbly, waiting for a response from inside.
"Get lost."
A female voice came through. What a straightforward reply.
The gold-rimmed glasses man, with a Charm attribute as high as 80 points, was dumbfounded. He often negotiated with plot characters but had never received such feedback.
"Madam..."
Before he could finish, the door suddenly swung open. A slender, long-nailed arm reached out, grabbed the gold-rimmed glasses man by the collar, and yanked him inside.
"Wait—"
*Bang, crash, clatter, bang, oww!!*
Sounds of beating, hammering, and screaming followed.
"Sis, I was wrong, don't hit the face..."
*Bang!*
"Oww~"
A few minutes later, the wooden door slowly pushed open, and the gold-rimmed glasses man crawled out, holding an envelope in his hand. It was because of this envelope that he hadn't been beaten to death.
The gold-rimmed glasses man had lost all his previous composure. One lens of his glasses was shattered, blood was streaming from his nose, and his mouth was bruised.
"Brother Wosh, are you okay?"
The detective little girl ran up, looking at the gold-rimmed glasses man with concern.
"No, I'm fine. Just a minor injury..."
Supported by the detective little girl, he stood up, trembling as he adjusted his glasses. He silently swore to himself that he would never enter that room again.
With four people in a row hitting a wall, everyone else understood one thing: the plot character in that room was very difficult to negotiate with, which also meant more benefits could be obtained from her.
PS: (Recommending a friend's book: Title: Starting from One Piece, Brain Hole Explosion.)