As soon as William steps into the train, he notices that its interior looks exactly like a real-world metro—very modern. He is lost in these thoughts when Mr. Li calls out to him.
Mr. Li: "Hey, are you planning to just stand there? Come, sit here and ask whatever you want to ask."
William: "Okay, sir."
He walks over to Mr. Li and sits beside him. Looking at Mr. Li closely feels a bit strange to him—his facial features and name remind William of the noble and wealthy families from the late Qing era in China. So he asks him directly:
William: "Sir, can I ask where you're from? And what year it was when you arrived here?"
Mr. Li tries to recall and then says:
Mr. Li: "Look, I don't remember the exact year very well, but I'm from China… from a place they now call as far as I've heard. And as for when I arrived here—back then it was around 1895, I think."
William is shocked to hear this—Mr. Li has been here for more than 100 years. He immediately asks the secret behind his long life.
William: "Sir… you've been alive here for over a hundred years!?"
Mr. Li: "No, no. It's been a hundred years according to your world. If I count how long I've been here, it's about the equivalent of five years."
Hearing this, William is stunned. Time here flows much slower than in the real world. But he drops the topic—after all, in a place where entities and strange levels exist, anything is possible. Yet the word he heard earlier in the waiting area—"climber"—keeps circling his mind. So he asks directly:
William: "Sir, what did you mean by climber?"
Mr. Li laughs a little at his question.
Mr. Li: "Here, a climber is simply someone who clears a level and moves on to the next one, then the next. And if you want to know why they're called climbers—once we exit this tunnel, you'll understand."
Hearing that there are even more levels, William begins to think deeply. Seeing him worry so much, Mr. Li tells him not to overthink and to rest for now, since he just cleared a level. But the mention of levels brings another question into William's mind.
William: "Sir, in the last level I cleared, the entity could read minds. But I used a small trick—one I created in my mind—and still managed to escape it. It should've known what I was thinking, right?"
Mr. Li: "You said you arrived here just a little while ago. That means the level you cleared was a tutorial level. And all the information they give about the entities in the tutorial level… is fake."
Hearing this, William is shocked. He remembers how terrified he was back then, thinking he might die. Turns out he was scared for nothing. Mr. Li yawns and continues speaking.
Mr. Li: "In the tutorial level, even if you want to die, you can't. Everything there is designed to be in your favor. Whoever created this place doesn't want you dying easily in the tutorial. They want to see you suffer and struggle in the later levels."
While Mr. Li is explaining this, the end of the tunnel becomes visible, and a bright light begins to shine through. As soon as their train exits the tunnel, William is shocked by what he sees outside—desert in every direction, and far away stands a gigantic tower, so tall that no matter how far up he looks, it just continues upward endlessly.
Mr. Li: "Now do you understand why they call them climbers?"
William (looking at the tower from the train): "Y-yes…"
William: "By the way, where are we going?"
Mr. Li: "This train is taking us to the base… Look over there—that's our base."
William sees a seven-story building standing in the middle of the desert. Something about it feels oddly familiar, as if he has seen it somewhere before. But he dismisses the thought, assuming fatigue is making him imagine things.
Their train stops at a small station in front of the base. As soon as the gates open and William steps outside, he is shocked by the sight before him.