The zombie at the other end was highly skilled, able to perfectly block the light beams Wen Wen casually fired. Even in this confined space, it could display considerable combat prowess.
However, its opponent was Wen Wen, and its own strength was ultimately too weak. After only a few moves, it was reduced to ashes by Wen Wen's flame.
Wen Wen shook his head speechlessly and then continued to charge forward, breaking through all resistance.
As he advanced, Wen Wen kept his eyes on the collector's badge. According to the badge's display, Wen Wen had been moving downwards, with at least twenty-five meters of stairs below him.
The monsters Wen Wen encountered grew stronger, and they seemed to appear targeting Wen Wen's weaknesses. If Wen Wen used fire on one level, a monster immune to fire would inevitably appear on the next.
But Wen Wen had an inexhaustible array of methods, and he easily fought his way to the twenty-first level.
The first ten levels were all disaster-class monsters, dropping items that were antiques, with values ranging from low to high. For Wen Wen, these were merely a negligible gain.
From the tenth level to the twentieth, the monsters' strength increased from the lower order of disaster to the middle order of disaster. Upon death, they dropped some monster materials, but these materials were only from disaster-class monsters.
This made Wen Wen somewhat weary. Even if he defeated a disaster-class monster outside, his gains wouldn't be this meager. This endless staircase was truly quite stingy.
The twentieth level gave Wen Wen a rune dagger, but Wen Wen could craft several such items casually, making it meaningless to him.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have come here. This trip is a huge loss."
If the dropped items were just uninteresting, it would be fine. At least fighting different types of monsters could increase Wen Wen's combat experience.
But during the process of clearing the levels, Wen Wen couldn't find any joy in the battles. There was no exhilarating rush, no life-or-death crisis, nothing at all.
Moreover, Wen Wen felt something was off about this place. Both the stairs and the monsters that appeared had a strange sense of incongruity, but he couldn't pinpoint where the incongruity lay.
The monster on the twenty-first level was covered in mud and had dozens of small holes, as if something could be shot out from them. This monster wielded the upper order of disaster!
Finally encountering an upper-order monster, Wen Wen's spirits were lifted, and he charged forward directly.
But after fighting for a while, Wen Wen regretfully discovered that this upper-order monster was simply a replica of Xiurumun.
Its holes could shoot out lasers, its bodily fluids could dissolve what they touched, and even its fighting style was somewhat similar to Xiurumun's.
"Like Xiurumun… Is this a coincidence?"
Wen Wen suddenly felt a jolt, and his gaze towards the monster changed.
He carefully recalled the twenty monsters he had encountered before and analyzed them one by one. Soon, he discovered that except for the monsters on the first five levels, all the other monsters strongly resembled opponents he had faced before!
Although they looked completely different at first glance, by dissecting the various abilities of those monsters, one could assemble the opponents Wen Wen had encountered previously!
This endless staircase should be a containment object, and the monsters Wen Wen faced were mostly targeted at him.
It was like this when Wen Wen came to clear the levels, and it should be the same for other demon hunters. Could a containment object truly harbor so many different monsters within itself?
Unless… those monsters were actually fake!
If those monsters were fake, then was everything else also fake?
"I feel like I've found a clue."
Wen Wen stopped fighting the mud monster and stood still with his eyes closed. The mud monster fired a laser beam at Wen Wen's head, but Wen Wen had no intention of dodging.
Just as the laser was about to hit Wen Wen's head and he was about to be finished, the laser beam inexplicably began to deflect, shooting into the wall beside him.
Wen Wen's lips curved into a smile as he said, "As expected, you wouldn't let the attack truly hit me… or rather, although you appear powerful, you actually lack the ability to cause me harm."
The mud monster stopped attacking, tilted its head, and looked at Wen Wen strangely, as if it didn't understand what Wen Wen was saying.
"You stopped, which means you can understand what I'm saying. That means you have consciousness, so I'm not just talking to myself."
The mud monster wiggled for a while, morphed into two large eyes, and looked at Wen Wen innocently, as if acknowledging Wen Wen's words.
Wen Wen sat on the ground and explained, "Everything you do is incredibly elaborate. If it weren't for me coming here, perhaps the legend of this endless staircase could have continued."
"Think about it carefully: all the supernaturals who explored here returned satisfied. Not a single one died here, not even one was seriously injured. This in itself is already abnormal."
"If this staircase could truly extend infinitely and housed so many monsters within, it would possess considerable power. Even if the containment object itself was benevolent, those supernaturals couldn't have all emerged unscathed."
The mud monster sat on the ground and extended a hand to Wen Wen, as if gesturing for Wen Wen to continue.
Wen Wen smiled and said, "When I fought the monsters, I always felt something was off, but I couldn't articulate what it was. When I saw you, it suddenly dawned on me."
"If all of this is an illusion, it would be easily explained!"
"When I entered here, I was at my most vigilant, so the first few tens of meters were not an illusion but a reality."
"After I defeated the first monster and believed the rumors of this place, the illusionary construction began. All the illusions did not directly affect me but were achieved by changing the details of the stairs and walls, which is why I couldn't detect it."
"Those monsters also do not exist. They merely feel real, like ultra-realistic holographic projections."
"When my attacks landed, you used some method to simulate the monsters' reactions when being attacked, so I couldn't find any flaws."
"But you wouldn't dare let these monsters actually touch me, because then I would discover the clue. The evidence is that over these twenty-odd levels, I have never truly touched those monsters!"
The mud monster sighed, transformed into a human form that bore some resemblance to the old man outside the door, "You are correct. What do you want to do next?"
Wen Wen stood up and said, "Nothing special. I just enjoy solving puzzles. As long as you haven't harmed anyone, what does it have to do with me?"