CH 63

(Vacation Hotel)

Edited by Silver Wind 

【 Congratulations, you have found the deceased 】

【 Hold on for a moment please, the rescue team will be arriving soon 】

Everyone at the scene heard the answer.

After their shock subsided, the players revealed a smile from gaining a new life after experiencing a calamity. 

The Doctor rubbed his neck: “Thank goodness, fortunately, I don’t have to become a NPC.”

After the Businessman was done smiling, he thought of an issue.

“We gave two different answers, there’s definitely one side that is wrong.” The Businessman gazed at the pair of players, “Which side got it wrong?”

Internet Celebrity gave him a look that questioned if it was even necessary for him to think about such a problem. “Naturally, we are the ones in the right.”

The Doctor agreed with her. “They chose a pot, it’s basically a joke, alright? How is the pot a person?”

The Businessman nodded, choosing to believe that he had answered correctly as well.

However, he inexplicably felt a hint of ominous air.

In order to ensure that no new problems would crop up unexpectedly, the players sat around the firepit and lowered their heads in silence, waiting for the arrival of the rescue team. 

Shen Dongqing tilted his head, leaning against Zhou Wenyan’s shoulder as he muttered under his breath: “I’m still really hungry.”

Turning his head sideways, Zhou Wenyan kissed him on the cheek: “We’ll be going out soon.”

The Internet Celebrity seated opposite of them heard his words and rolled her eyes. Suppressing her voice, she said: “What are they pretending for? The ones who guessed wrongly can’t go out at all, they must be jesting.”

However, on the silent snowy grounds, everyone by the firepit could hear her voice. 

The Doctor agreed with what the Internet Celebrity said but he did not give any opinions because he did not want to provoke these two individuals who were not to be trifled with. When all was said and done, why should he find more trouble for himself when he was about to leave?

Only the Internet Celebrity seemed to think otherwise as she continued to rattle on without an end.

Shen Dongqing closed his eyes and murmured to himself: “Why does it feel like there’s a fly buzzing around?”

Zhou Wenyan lifted his eyes and glanced over. 

Upon encountering Zhou Wenyan’s gaze, the Internet Celebrity was immediately startled and she went stiff. She had a premonition that if she continued talking, she would not have a good ending.

Hence, she shut her mouth tightly, no longer daring to say another word.

The area surrounding the firepit descended into silence again which made Braided Pigtails’ movements more pronounced.

Braided Pigtails did not seem to know the concept of fatigue as she held onto her soup ladle and stirred ceaselessly, and a smiling face could be seen tumbling about inside the pot. 

It was unknown when Borg and Leo got out of their restraints but they did not do anything to the players either. Instead, they stood by the soup pot with their lips pulled up, exposing an exaggerated and strange grin.

When the Doctor looked over his shoulder to look, he was frightened into turning his head back again.

The players continued to wait with palpable anxiety.

They did not know how much time had passed when they finally heard a loud, continuous noise coming from below their position on the snow-capped mountain. 

The Internet Celebrity could not wait to poke her head out to check and saw an entire rescue team walking over, causing her to wave her hands enthusiastically in an instant: “Hey—we’re over here!”

Maybe because the wind and snow was too big, the rescue team below did not hear Internet Celebrity’s voice and they routed around the bottom of the snow-capped mountain once before they slowly made their way upwards.

As she witnessed the rescue team going further and further, Internet Celebrity complained: “Why are they so unprofessional?”

The Doctor laughed. “Never mind that, it’s already considered a good thing that we can get out.” 

Touching his belly, the Businessman said: “When we go out, I’ll treat you guys to a big meal.”

Once he was done speaking, the Businessman thought about the bowl of soup he had previously drank and his complexion became a little rigid.

The other players seemed to think of the same point as their visages deepened.

The Doctor took the initiative to speak: “Actually, we didn’t eat anything.” 

Internet Celebrity nodded her head hastily, “Yes, that’s right, we were merely waiting here for rescue, we don’t know anything.”

The Businessman felt like he had been relieved of a heavy load and he said unhurriedly: “That’s more like it. We are all survivors of an aviation accident, it’s a matter of course that we mutually help each other. After we go out, I’ll invest in a television series and invite you to be the female lead.”

In an instant, a smile flowered on the Internet Celebrity’s visage. “Then I’ll really have to thank this boss.”

They appeared to be conversing joyously. 

However, they did not realise that they had already forgotten their player identities as they acted out the identities that the game issued them, like they had been fully integrated into the copy.

At the side, Borg and Leo had their heads raised as well and that creepy smile was ever present on their face as their deep and dark eyes stared at the three people’s backs in a fixated and unblinking fashion.

Braided Pigtails raised a ladle full of soup and crooned out a tune: “It’s done, it’s almost done, the soup is almost done cooking……”

Efrmefg: “Ktfs’gf bnfg tfgf!” 

Ktf batfg wfwyfgr bo atf gfrmef afjw mbcnfgufv bc atflg qbrlalbcr klat j ktbbrt.

Pcafgcfa Jfifyglas mbeiv rmjgmfis gfragjlc tfgrfio jr rtf rjlv: “Leggs eq jcv yglcu er bea bo atlr tfiilrt qijmf!”

Dea atf gfrmef afjw vlv cba rffw ab rff tfg jr atfs kjixfv qjra tfg vlgfmais ab reggbecv Vtfc Gbcudlcu jcv Itbe Qfcsjc, mbcrajcais jrxlcu lo atfs kfgf mbiv, offilcu kfjx jcv afiilcu atfw ab kjgw eq.

Shen Dongqing was taken care of extraordinarily well. The rescue team members were terribly afraid of him being hungry and cold, thus,they kept offering him hot water and bread until both of his hands were utterly full. Owing to the fact that he had gone hungry for too long, he was akin to a hamster with two puffed up cheeks that were packed with soft bread. 

Feeling his hands itch, Zhou Wenyan could not resist the urge to poke his cheek.

Shen Dongqing raised his head, somewhat confused. “Wuu……” was the only sound he could make, considering how his mouth was completely stuffed with bread.

Zhou Wenyan chuckled, “Eat slower.”

To that, Shen Dongqing raised his hand and held his half-eaten bread in front of Zhou Wenyan’s mouth. 

Zhou Wenyan took a bite from the offered bread.

The pair fed each other a mouthful of food happily, while the other three players had become stupefied.

The Internet Celebrity’s voice became sharper as she yelled, “We’re over here! Don’t you see us!”

The Businessman could not tolerate it any longer as he roared out: “Hurry up and come over here, or else I’ll file a complaint against you!” 

The Doctor was even more straight-forward; he went up to pull at the rescue team member that was closest to him, only to find that his hand went through them and he could not touch them at all.

He stared at his own hands, dazed. “Could I have died?”

Irate, the Businessman shouted: “How could that possibly be! I won’t die!”

The Doctor said: “Right, yeah, we won’t die, but…… I’m really hungry.” 

Despite saying that, the bread in Shen Dongqing’s hands did not rouse his appetite in the least, and it seemed like he could only fill his stomach with something else.

Internet Celebrity’s expression became vacant as well. “Hungry, hungry ah.”

The two turned back simultaneously to look in Braided Pigtails’ direction.

At that moment, Braided Pigtail replicated Lisa’s mannerisms perfectly as she asked in a soft voice: “Do you want to drink some soup?” 

“Want, want!”

The Internet Celebrity and Doctor threw themselves over, fighting to get there first as if they feared being last, and they completely forgot about the existence of the rescue team.

Only the Businessman persevered in asking for help from the rescue team.

However, the rescue team never acknowledged the presence of the trio from beginning to end as they brought Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan down the snow-capped mountain. 

As the Businessman watched their fading backs, he knelt on the ground: “Were we the ones who chose the wrong option……?” He turned his head, wanting to find Borg and Leo but those two had disappeared a long time ago. Instead, what greeted him was the voracious faces of the Internet Celebrity and Doctor.

“Hungry….”

“I’m so hungry……”

But there was no food left in the pot. The ravenous pair threw down the soup pot and fixed their eyes on the pot-bellied businessman, a fiery light emerging in their eyes immediately. 

Edible.

Food…….

The soup pot was hung up above the firepit again, and the soup began to boil once more. 

Gu lu gu lu.

Internet Celebrity, Doctor and Braided Pigtail sat around the firepit, motionless, resembling wax figures that were without souls. It was only when the players were arriving that they became animated again as they issued their lines.

Braided Pigtails was wearing a smile on her face: “Do you want a bowl of soup?”

“You’re asking who we are? I’m Lisa.” 

“I’m Borg.”

“Leo.”

* * *

“We would like to sincerely apologise for making the two of you suffer such a fright. We will arrange a separate flight to send the two of you to your destination.” 

“In order to compensate you, we will raise you to VIP clients for free, and if you have any needs, please do not hesitate to raise them……”

The heater was blowing warm air.

Shen Dongqing removed his outer coat and scarf, half-lying on the seat.

Zhou Wenyan pulled him into his embrace with his arm, allowing Shen Dongqing to rest more comfortably. 

The bus was swaying slightly. Drifting between his consciousness and dreams, Shen Dongqing asked: “How did you know that the answer was the pot?”

Zhou Wenyan opened his eyes: “Kiss me and I’ll tell you.”

Shen Dongqing blinked his eyes once and his curled lashes were like small fans that scratched at his heart, making it itch.

Before he could decide if he wanted to get up to kiss him, Zhou Wenyan had already moved on his own accord. He lowered his head and kissed his eyelashes gently before he left a trail of kisses all the way down to his mouth. And only when he was done tasting every inch of him, did he move away with lingering reluctance. 

“Four tents, three people.” Zhou Wenyan explained slowly and methodically after he had claimed enough of the price. “It’s that simple.”

Shen Dongqing slanted his head. “Why couldn’t I think of it?”

Zhou Wenyan used two fingers to clip a newspaper that had been folded into a stack and he unfurled it for his viewing.

A paragraph of small words were written on top. 

【 …… Twelve days ago, an airplane crashed near a snow-capped mountain and the casualties are unclear but three survivors have been found and rescued. According to the survivors’ statement, the three of them were backpackers who were fond of travelling, thus, they had better physiques and they had been equipped with goods and materials fit for camping which allowed them to hold on until the rescue team arrived. However, the curious thing is that the backpackers had set off as four people but now, only three people were left while the last person’s whereabouts remain unknown. 】

“The person who disappeared was in the pot.” Zhou Wenyan said.

Shen Dongqing seemed lost in thought: “Which means that ‘the deceased is your midst’ that the game said had actually become a pot, and it had not turned into a person!”

Zhou Wenyan nodded his head. 

There were two pieces of information that were not necessarily wrong which misled the players.

The first was “fifteen days” – it made the players believe that they had ample time and there was nothing they had to be anxious about, but the truth of the matter was that an avalanche would occur on the third day and their memories would be completely wiped out as they started over again. The players were capable of persisting through the first round without drinking the soup, but being put through the cycle endlessly would eventually make the players lose their reason from hunger, resulting in the consumption of the NPCs’ soup.

As long as they drank the soup, it completely eliminated the possibility of them clearing the game.

The second was “the deceased is in your midst”, followed by the sentence that it might be a player or it might be an NPC too, thus turning everyone’s attention towards the players and NPCs which would cause them to neglect the other obvious clues. 

“Actually, if you think in the inverse,” Zhou Wenyan relaxed his fingers, allowing the wrinkled newspaper to fall to the ground, “It might not be a player, and it might not be a NPC.”

It was merely a word game.

Fuming with anger, Shen Dongqing said: “It’s too mean!”

If he were to play this game alone, he would not have solved the riddle at all. 

Zhou Wenyan smiled, “You have me.”

Shen Dongqing nuzzled him, “Why haven’t we left this copy ah….” If he had to experience the scenery of the snow mountain again, he was going to get angry.

Zhou Wenyan patted his arm to comfort him. “That was just a small game, the highlight should be at the place where we’re having our honeymoon.”

Shen Dongqing looked outside the window: “And where is that……” 

He was a little expectant.

“Two sirs, you’ve arrived.” The driver got out of the car and pulled open their door: “I wish the both of you a happy honeymoon.”

Soon after, the pair changed to a new flight and they set off again.

Fortunately, an aviation accident did not occur again and they reached their destination safely. 

Additionally, they did not know where the game had arranged their honeymoon because after they got off their plane, they had to take a bus followed by a car before they finally arrived at their destination.

At long last, the driver stopped at a vacation hotel which looked incredibly retro and luxurious.

As Zhou Wenyan got off the car, the bell boy had arrived by their side in a prompt manner to retrieve their luggage from the car.

The bell boy wore a fitting and amicable smile that was neither unfamiliar nor overly enthusiastic. He inclined his body slightly and said: “Please follow me.” 

The driver had already sat back in his driver’s seat, and when he saw the bell boy turning around, his expression became complicated. In the end, he still gave them a reminder in a soft voice: “This hotel has some special practices, make sure you follow them…”

Before he finished his words, the unadulterated terror that the driver had for the hotel became apparent and he stepped on his accelerator, speeding off in a streak of smoke.

Zhou Wenyan looked at the bell boy who was walking in front of him pensively.

The bell boy seemed to perceive his gaze as his head directly turned by ninety degrees and he was still smiling as he asked: “Guests, do you have anything to instruct?” 

These sort of situations were already small operations in the eyes of the big bosses.

Shen Dongqing did not even spare him a glance as he yawned: “Is there anything to eat?” He had been starved badly on the snow-capped mountain.

Bell boy: “The hotel has prepared a sumptuous self-service buffet in the dining hall on the second floor.”

There was a long pathway to the vacation hotel’s entrance with cherry blossom trees on both sides. It was currently the season where the cherry blossom was budding, and large flower buds hung on the tip of the branches. 

After walking down the full stretch and reaching the entrance of the vacation hotel with much difficulties, the bell boy did not rush to go in.

Instead, they only saw the bellboy retrieve a bundle of rice straw from behind the pillar by the entrance, light it up and place it on the stairs. It was only when it started emitting smoke that he said: “Guests, please follow me.”

The bell boy brought them to the front desk.

The lady manning the front desk checked their basic information before she took out two bronze plaques with their room numbers branded on its surface. With both hands, she handed it to them and she even went out of her way to warn them repeatedly: “Guests, please keep the bronze plaque with you at all times. If you are to lose it, the hotel will demand compensation for it.” 

Zhou Wenyan took it. The room number on the bronze plaque was “2303”.

Shen Dongqing received one as well and he slipped it into his pocket immediately.

The bellboy bowed, “The other guests are all gathered in the dining hall. I’ll send your luggage to your rooms first, you can return back to your rooms directly once you have eaten your meals.

Other guests. 

Apart from the four idiots, there were also other players?

The meals at the dining hall in the vacation hotel functioned on self-service. Whether it was seafood, poultry or cakes and desserts, all of it was placed on the food counters, waiting for the guests to pick and eat.

However, the guests’ attention did not seem to be focused on this aspect, since all of them were seated at the dining table and none of them were moving.

A lady with red hair said impatiently: “We are still missing two people.” 

Seated next to her was a little lady in a puffy skirt and she giggled as she said: “There’s no need to be so anxious, the small game in the middle was quite difficult and it’s not something that every player can pass through.”

“Yeah, not everyone is like you, where they kill everyone in order to find the answer.” The person who spoke was a man who was conscientiously and meticulously dressed in a western three-piece suit.

Puffy Skirt’s smile did not change. “Dead people are the simplest, they can’t speak of any lies.”

They were conversing when two people finally walked over from the passageway. 

Puffy Skirt raised her hand to pinch at her cheeks to reveal a sweet smile. She moved closer and uttered: “You’re finally here…”

The besuited man sneered.

By virtue of the fact that Puffy Skirt appeared to be bashful and the sort that could be easily deceived, there were quite a few people who had been felled by her hands. Thus, he did not know how the two new arrivals would react.

Redhead looked over as well. 

The result was the two ignored Puffy Skirt completely as they headed straight for the food counters.

Shen Dongqing picked up a chocolate muffin and bit into it directly. The skill of the hotel’s main kitchen need not be said; the taste of a crisp outer covering and the soft sticky core burst forth in his mouth, making his eyes brighten.

“Delicious.”

Holding onto a plate, he loaded it until it was completely full. Then, seeing that the long dining table was already occupied with people, he turned a corner and went to the smaller table before he started eating. 

Zhou Wenyan had picked quite a bit of food as well by the time he seated himself opposite of Shen Dongqing. Furthermore, he had even grabbed Shen Dongqing a glass of fruit juice: “Slow down, don’t choke.”

Shen Dongqing did not even have the time to answer him.

Puffy Skirt, who had been completely overlooked, sat back down with a rigid expression.

Besuited Man said: “Perhaps they are two guest who wandered in by mistake…” 

They did not look like players at all.

Redhead: “I feel the same too.”

Who would eat something from the copy without making a single inquiry?

【 Every player seated here has either experienced an aviation accident, a fire, an earthquake or other various calamities, and you are the lucky people who have survived in the face of such threats to your lives 】 

【 All your companions have already died, and the god of death seems to have omitted all of you, allowing you to retrieve your lives back. However, due to a mistake or error stemming from a strange combination of circumstances, you were all gathered in this vacation hotel. And once more, the god of death will be making his approach again 】

【 Please note: you can only leave this vacation hotel after staying enough days, and you have to abide by the hotel’s rules and regulations during the entire duration of your stay here 】

Redhead said: “It appears that we have to pass our time here at the hotel following their rules.”

Puffy Skirt grinned sweetly, “I’m thinking, since we are all lucky people who managed to escape with our lives from death, does this mean that only one lucky person can live on in this hotel?” 

The Besuited Man shot her a glance: “That is perhaps, one of the ways to consider it.”

Before they arrived here, they had experienced a “small game” while they were in transition and all the players that accompanied them had already died, leaving only one survivor. No one was certain if the same could be said about the hotel, where the god of death would plunder away other people’s life, leaving only one.

Redhead: “I think……”

A human figure walked past their dining table. 

The Redhead was thus interrupted and she did not know what she wanted to say anymore.

The Besuited Man continued for her: “While the situation is unclear, we should work together for the time being.”

Puffy Skirt agreed readily, “No problem, it just depends on my mood……”

When she was halfway through with her words, the figure walked back and passed by their dining table again with the plate in his hands filled to the brim. It was exceedingly eye-catching and they could not disregard it even if they tried. 

Puffy Skirt became stuck as well and she could not continue to keep up her pretence. She glared at him: “Could you guys be more serious?”

They were players in the same copy, could they stop giving off the impression that they were really on a vacation?

Everyone was sitting here, discussing how they could clear copy!

When Shen Dongqing heard that inexplicable jab after he sat down, he stilled, raising his head in confusion. He asked: “But I am quite serious?” 

Didn’t they see that everything in front of him was food?

Wasn’t the dining hall for the purposes of eating?

Rather, it should be these three who were not serious at all; they were blabbering nonsense when they should be eating, and it was a serious waste!

Shen Dongqing picked up a piece of plump salmon, deciding not to argue with them. After all, these people were not as important as a small slice of cake.