Chapter 835: Chapter 799: Global Collapse—Gu Bengbeng Pulls Out the Heavenly Ladder

"Pathetic, pathetic, to show such cowardice in the face of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But it’s not all lost, is it? At least they’ve witnessed a life they could never even dream of, providing ample material for future dreams."

Teacher Slaughter spoke with a look of compassion on his face: "Look, just look, this is the last time in your life you’ll set foot in such a wonderful place. From now on, you won’t have another chance to enter here; even a glance would be a luxury;

"You’re still dreaming of staying here, but of course, some will stay, though surely not you bunch of cowardly trash."

At this moment, the large screen behind him changed, no longer showing Teacher Slaughter’s close-up but transforming into a leaderboard.

However, this leaderboard had no names, just two columns of numbers.

Gu Mian had already fiddled with his ballot box and turned his gaze to the large screen behind Teacher Slaughter.

The screen bore two vertical columns of numbers, and aside from the numbers, there were some other decorations, but those were unimportant.

Above the column on the left was labeled "Name."

In fact, below "Name" weren’t actual names, but codes for the lower-class contestants.

Mr. Green was 1117, Gu Mian was 1118.

Gu Mian couldn’t find his number on the screen because the screen was limited and only displayed the rankings of the top one hundred.

Currently, first place was occupied by lower-class contestant number "0125."

The lower-class who entered Pleasure Heavenly City ranged from number 1000 to 1200, and this 0125 clearly was a contestant from another upper-class residential area.

Following 0125 was his vote count.

"113 votes, haven’t we started yet? Other places have already begun voting? This doesn’t align with the fairness of the show," Mr. Green called out softly.

Gu Mian then recalled he used to work on programs too, but they were harmless word-guessing games. Even the thugs hired were intimidating but brainless, like Xiao Hong.

It seems hosts in other residential areas aren’t as varied as Teacher Slaughter, Gu Mian guessed that methodical hosts had already allowed lower-class individuals to speak one by one.

"Let’s see the current top one hundred," Teacher Slaughter gestured to the screen, "participants who might emerge as upper-class people could come from these hundred individuals, while you all just wait and watch, hoping no one regrets not trying."

It was evident Teacher Slaughter was anxious.

Other areas already had contestants perform and receive upper-class votes, but in his area, no one had made the first move yet.

Even in haste, he didn’t show it but rather added some taunting remarks, throwing in the reward bait of "victors can transform into upper-class people."

Sure enough, someone took the bait.

If they hadn’t seen the upper-class lifestyle, the lower-class might still find their days tolerable.

But the scenes of upper-class residential areas were too overwhelming for them.

Watching upper-class individuals in the audience area eat desserts they’ve never seen before, the lower-class couldn’t even begin to imagine how those foods tasted.

It was clean, warm, and fragrant here.

I have the opportunity to stay here forever.

If someone can eventually stay, why can’t that person be me? This is my only chance.

Looking at the upper-class residential area they previously couldn’t even dream of and hearing Teacher Slaughter’s "encouragement" from atop the high platform, a contestant suddenly dashed out from behind the ballot box and charged toward the nearest ladder.

Gu Mian didn’t even get a clear look at him before he was already scrambling up, using both hands and feet.

"I want to become an upper-class person! I want to be first!" he shouted loudly as he climbed, seemingly trying to motivate himself.

Watching the lower-class individual rushing out, a smile spread across Teacher Slaughter’s face: "The first hero has appeared, so what’s his name..."

At this moment, a tracking camera timely flew in front of the lower-class contestant, capturing his expression and his number plate in the lens.

It’s number 1099.

His mouth and eyes widened, with his head raised, staring straight upward.

had climbed up to a height of three to four meters, and the soft ladder shook under his weight, yet he didn’t look down, endlessly climbing upward like a maggot clinging to a tree trunk.

People inherently fear unknown difficulties.

When facing unknown challenges, most are reluctant to be the first to try.

But as soon as the first pioneer appears, the rest will follow suit in hordes.

One by one, lower-class people rushed toward those fragile, skyward ladders from all directions.

They pushed and shoved, with some even fighting over the same ladder.

The initially quiet central square quickly descended into chaos, with dozens of tracking cameras bustling through the crowd, capturing the ungainly scenes of lower-class individuals pushing each other and even fighting.

Several hot air balloons hovered above the glass canopy, with a group of upper-class people near the canopy jostling and arguing, while upper-class audience members excitedly observed the lower-class individuals’ every move.

"See, just a moment ago they were reluctant to come up, and now they’re showing their true colors, fighting each other."

Several upper-class people tisked at the distant scene—one lower-class individual pulling a companion off the ladder he’d climbed, then climbing himself, while his companion seemed to have broken a leg in the fall, curling up and rolling painfully on the ground.

Such scenes weren’t uncommon.

Meanwhile, one lower-class person had climbed up to more than ten meters. The hot air balloons were about forty to fifty meters above ground, and he’d climbed a third of the way. At this moment, three tracking cameras were fully capturing him, but this wasn’t the first to climb, 1099.

The first ladder climber, number 1099, appeared to have lost momentum, halting at about ten meters, clinging to the soft ladder and trembling.

Because he was the first to climb, Teacher Slaughter favored him, with a tracking camera always circling and filming him. Gu Mian saw his tears overflowing on the screen: "I don’t want to climb anymore, I want to go down, waah waah waah waah..."

It seemed fear had finally taken over his psyche.

He could neither advance nor retreat.

On the ground below, another lower-class was impatiently shaking his ladder, trying to dislodge him to climb himself.

Many were like 1099, climbing to a certain height before losing heart, stuck in an impossible middle ground.

Yet more continued climbing desperately.

A small portion remained unmoved behind the ballot boxes.

"He’s still at the ballot box, hasn’t budged," 007 whispered to Chu Changge; the area was crowded and busy, so they used "he" when discussing Gu Mian.

"He trusts his luck too much," Chu Changge stared at the ladders above the glass canopy, "believing that once he climbs, the ladders will collapse."