CH 62

(Chose a Pot)

Edited Silver Wind 

The options to the multiple-choice question were shocked too.

Lisa stared at Shen Dongqing with utter blankness, and she did not manage to choke out a single word for a long time.

In the end, she quivered as she spoke: “What are you saying?”

Shen Dongqing asked impatiently: “Between the three of you, who died?” 

Lisa: “No—No one died ah.”

Zhou Wenyan spoke up: “How many days has it been since the plane crashed?”

A glint of terror, which was difficult to perceive, flitted across Lisa’s eyes before she said with the greatest caution she could muster: “Twelve days, we’ve been here for twelve days.”

When the others heard the time determinator, they came to an immediate realisation.

They were almost pitted by the game.

According to the game’s rules, if they really had fifteen days, it would never have revealed its sinister countenance on the first day, rather, it would have distributed the clues slowly and allow the players to crack the riddle.

The problem now, however, was that they did not have a fifteen day duration, which meant that they were directly dropped into a pitfall that the game made.

The players believed it to be safe, but murderous intentions lurked everywhere in actuality. 

The cold wind blew past and the Businessman shuddered.

The truth of the matter was that they only had three days.

Zhou Wenyan’s voice sounded: “Are all of you hungry?”

The Businessman answered subconsciously. “Hungry, I’m about to die from hunger.” 

The others echoed the same sentiments.

In reality, this was a cycle.

If the players could not find the deceased in three days, they would have to start all over again. And under the circumstances where they were not given any supplies, perhaps the players might not fall for the NPCs’ tricks the first time around, but if there was a second time, a third time…… there was bound to be one time where they would drink the NPCs’ soup and that would start leading them to their deaths.

Once Lisa heard the word ‘hungry’, her expression gradually became awful, and she said dimly, “Hungry, hungry….. There’s not enough food, we could only do this, or else the one dying would end up being me…….” 

Abruptly, something clicked in the Internet Celebrity’s mind and she covered her mouth as she said: “Soup, what was the soup made out of?”

Other than ghosts and monsters, everything else about the game conformed to logic, which meant that most people should not be able to survive to the twelfth day without any food or water. Tacking on the fact that Lisa said that they did not have enough food, what exactly was in the soup then?

Lisa tittered as she spoke: “The soup is made of Borg.”

Borg, who had been silent the entire time, started to struggle out of nowhere. “Bullshit, it’s obviously Leo, his meat is quite sturdy, and you can’t chew into it no matter how hard you try…” 

Leo refuted him: “The person being cooked in the pot is obviously Lisa, her meat is all fat, making it tender and fragrant.”

The three NPCs descended into an internal conflict while the onlooking players shivered but not from the cold.

They used human meat in the soup.

Once they received the answer, all of them looked nauseous, like they wanted to throw the soup up. But just how much time had passed? The soup had long been digested and they could not vomit it out even if they wanted to do so. 

Wrathful, the Businessman hauled up Leo by the collar because he was the closest to him as his eyes redden. He shouted: “Who did you kill exactly!”

Right now, he could not give less of a damn about how he should not be offending the NPCs.

Annoyed, Leo said: “I already told you it’s Lisa, didn’t all of you already drink the soup?”

The Businessman pointed at the whole and complete Lisa that was still seated. He questioned, “If you killed her, why is she still sitting here?” 

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The topic changed too quickly and the NPCs struggled to keep pace.

Lisa stammered out, “It’s a reserve tent ah.”

Having gained his answer, Zhou Wenyan no longer spoke and he seemed to be contemplating something. 

Businessman said: “Let’s do the identification.”

Shen Dongqing gave the three NPCs a sweeping glance and tilted his head: “Choose one?”

A one in three probability.

After knowing that they only had three days, the Businessman did not dare to be as careless as he was back then. He scrutinised them several times but he was not certain of who he should choose. 

The doctor spat out, “Since it’s one in three, we’ll just randomly choose one, don’t we have three days?”

That was true as well.

The Businessman settled his heart slightly and pointed at Lisa before he stated, “Let’s stick with voting for Lisa first.”

Shen Dongqing turned his head to look at Zhou Wenyan. 

Zhou Wenyan nodded faintly in reply.

They could see what consequences would be incurred if they made the wrong choice first.

Thus, everyone voted for Lisa unanimously.

Lisa did not mind at all as she lied on the snowy ground, laughing out loud like a maniac. “It’s not me, it’s not me….” 

【 Unfortunately, you did not find the deceased 】

【 Please continue to work hard on the second day 】

Lisa was not the deceased.

Which meant that Leo and Borg were left; it was one out of the two, they could not be wrong no matter which option they picked in this particular multiple-choice question. 

The Businessman let out a sigh, only feeling that it should not be this simple. Mind and heart weighed down by the matter, he said: “Let’s go back and rest first.”

No one dared to stay together with the NPCs, hence, the players carried them into one tent before they distributed the remaining three tents amongst themselves and went inside to sleep.

The colours of the night thickened gradually. 

The vestiges of the firelight reflected on the tents, and there seemed to be a human figure blended into its flickering flames, and they walked closer and closer, inch by inch.

Lisa, who had been tied up tightly, came out of her tent prone to the ground. Like a caterpillar, she wriggled across the snowy ground slowly.

Under the moonlight’s illumination, she revealed her true form; her entire person was just bare bones, her hair was withered, yellowed and dry, and her cheeks were utterly hollowed out.

Bit by bit, she crawled and crawled before she stopped on an empty piece of land. 

The empty snowy ground, once bereft of everything, suddenly ignited with a cluster of fire.

Above the firepit hung a soup pot that was smoking steam and a soup was currently being cooked inside.

Lisa stood up with a violence, shrugging off her bindings with both hands. Without the slightest fear of being burnt, she placed her hands on the side of the  pot and stared at the gurgling and churning soup for a while before she pressed herself into the pot directly.

Even if a full-grown adult was emaciated to the point where they were a walking skeleton, it was impossible for them to stuff themselves into a soup pot, but she forcibly drilled herself into the small soup before she ultimately disappeared without leaving a shadow or a trace, as if she had never existed. 

What remained was the soup pot, emitting steam steadily.

Inside, the soup simmered, and a strand of blond hair could be seen.

* * *

On the second morning, the players were awoken by a dense fragrance. 

The Businessman rubbed his eyes: “What smells so good?”

Then, he saw the soup pot set up before the tents and he shut his mouth immediately, choosing not to speak.

No matter how delicious it was, he did not dare to drink it; who knew what was cooking inside.

Alas, some people evidently had different thoughts. 

Braided Pigtails’ eyes were vacant as she headed for the soup pot directly, and saliva was trailing down her lips.

Hurriedly, the Doctor grabbed onto Braided Pigtails: “That’s made out of human flesh!”

Seemingly deaf to his words, Braided Pigtails threw off his grip with enormous strength, such that even the Doctor, a grown man, could not hold her.

She ladled up a bowl of soup and said without any fluctuations in her tone: “I’m starving, if I don’t eat anything, I’m going to die.” 

“I would rather let other people die than let it be me!”

Braided Pigtails downed the soup in one gulp.

Internet Celebrity abruptly said: “Lisa is gone!”

Only Leo and Borg were present inside of the tent. In spite of the fact that their companion was missing, the two NPCs were extremely calm. 

Borg said: “Since we can eat other people, they can eat us too.”

Leo issued a strange laugh: “You guys can become us too.”

They were trapped in this hellish place because they drank the soup, forced into this vicious cycle.

As long as these new and unexpected arrivals drank the soup and entered the cycle, they could take their place and allow them to leave. 

The players casted their eyes on Braided Pigtails subconsciously, only to notice that the pleasured expression on her face bore a faint resemblance to the previous Lisa.

The Businessman swallowed his saliva and thought of a matter: “Yesterday, she drank the most soup.”

They were becoming increasingly hungry and they had chosen to drink Lisa’s soup because they had no choice left. Apart from Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan, everyone else had drank the soup.

Who was next then? 

“Hurry up and find who the deceased is!”

* * *

Zhou Wenyan stepped out of his tent and lying on his back was a strengthless Shen Dongqing.

Shen Dongqing muttered powerlessly, “I’m starving…” 

Zhou Wenyan reached out to pat his head, saying: “It’ll be over soon.”

Once the Businessman saw them, he seemed to find a pillar of support as he rushed towards them in a hurry. Then, he proceeded to repeat what had just transpired to them. When they turned their heads, they discovered that Braided Pigtails had already learnt Lisa’s mannerisms of cooking the soup and she was perfectly identical.

Zhou Wenyan narrowed his eyes slightly. “I understand now.”

Businessman: “Ah?” 

Zhou Wenyan walked towards Braided Pigtails.

Braided Pigtails: “Do you want a bowl of soup?”

Zhou Wenyan: “Give me a bowl.”

Braided Pigtails basically refused no one’s request; in the next second, she ladled a bowl for Zhou Wenyan. 

Instead of drinking it, however, Zhou Wenyan poured the soup straight to the ground. Steam rose briefly, but once the hot air had dispersed, a strand of blond hair could be seen lying on the ground.

It looked like Lisa’s.

She had vanished and turned into a pot of soup.

Zhou Wenyan eyed the seething soup pot and said: “I know who the deceased is.” 

* * *

On the second day, dinnertime arrived again.

The game was punctual as per usual.

【 Identification time has started 】 

【 Please identify who you think is the deceased 】

As that was announced, Braided Pigtails continued to hum a small tune as she stirred her soup like she hadn’t heard the system’s words at all. It was as if she had been stripped of her identity as a player, fully transforming into a character in the copy.

The Doctor drank a lot of soup as well, and he was now staring at Zhou Wenyan with urgency in his eyes.

If they did not find the deceased today, he was afraid that he would be replacing an NPC tomorrow. 

Shen Dongqing was extremely curious: “Who is it?

He had not figured out who the deceased was up until now. Afterall, it was not like everyone was wearing a death date on their persons. Logically speaking, however, dead people would always have the breath of death lingering on them.

Zhou Wenyan said: “It’s not a person on the scene.”

There were players and two NPCs on the scene. Besides Lisa who had transformed into a soup, the deceased was not within the eight people present. 

Shen Dongqing cupped his chin with both hands. “Could there be someone else?”

He did not perceive them at all.

Zhou Wenyan said: “That pot.”

The players exchanged gazes and they spoke in unison: “You want us to pick a pot?” 

A pot?

It was not plausible no matter how they looked, alright?

The Internet Celebrity and Doctor whispered amongst themselves before they eventually declared their positions.

“I think we should choose Borg.” 

“Choosing a pot isn’t very reasonable, whereas I think that Borg looks especially calm. Adding on what he previously said, it’s quite likely that he is the deceased.”

Even the Businessman who had given Zhou Wenyan his unfailing belief showed some hesitation. “No way, isn’t it too illogical for you to choose a pot?”

Only Shen Dongqing agreed with Zhou Wenyan’s choice. “I’ll choose whatever you choose.”

Zhou Wenyan held his hand and said in a joking manner: “Choose the pot then.” 

The Businessman looked left and right, but he did not dare to follow Zhou Wenyan’s absurd choice. Hence, he chose the more reasonable option instead.

He gritted his teeth: “I choose Borg as well!”

Three against two.

Three people chose Borg, and the other two chose a……. 

Pot.