Chapter 16: Meat
After gulping down several large mouthfuls of recovery potion, Fatty Pi's face returned to normal. Everyone's gaze turned to him, hoping to get information from his mouth.
Fatty Pi's hand trembled as he picked up the fork beside him again.
"Brother Fatty, what's the situation?"
The gold-rimmed glasses man's mood was very anxious. By now, there was no need for Alice and the Wolf Butler to remind them of the game's content; they had to eat all the food on their plates—that was the second round of the game.
Everyone stared at Fatty Pi, who held a recovery potion in one hand and speared a piece of steak with the fork in the other, his posture clearly indicating one bite of steak, one gulp of recovery potion.
"It's freaking delicious!"
Fatty Pi was resolute.
"Huh?"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
"Bro, give us some useful info."
"Please just drop dead right now."
Receiving this series of 'blessings,' Fatty Pi's expression remained unchanged.
"Just taste it and you'll know. This thing... is very 'delicious.'"
Fatty Pi emphasized the word 'delicious' heavily. He didn't offer any other information. With Alice and the Wolf Butler still present, Fatty Pi neither wanted to nor could say more.
"Delicious..."
Su Xiao looked down at the steak on his plate, then at Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang took a few steps back and looked up at the sky, his expression clearly saying, "Nice weather today."
No matter how dangerous this steak was, the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired. They had to eat it sooner or later; hesitation was pointless.
Su Xiao cut off a small piece of steak, forked it, and examined the morsel.
The steak was about medium-rare, pink and tender in the center, with just the right amount of fat and lean meat, the fat evenly distributed like marble patterns.
Juice dripped down as Su Xiao brought the steak to his mouth.
The steak was soft and tender upon entry. As he chewed, an exotic fragrance spread through his mouth. The smooth, tender texture made Su Xiao judge that this wasn't something beef could possess.
[Tip: The Hunter has consumed the tenderloin of the 'Venomous Doom Dragon.']
[Tip: You are being eroded by 'Shuddering Deadly Venom.']
[Endurance Attribute Judging...]
[Judgment Failed.]
[Willpower Attribute Judging...]
[Judgment Successful.]
[Intelligence Attribute Judging...]
[Judgment Failed.]
[Passed Judgments: 1/3.]
[You will endure the pressure effect of 'Shuddering Deadly Venom,' losing 10% of your Health Points per second, lasting 5 seconds.]
[Tip: This damage is True Magic Damage.]
[Tip: Detected that the Hunter possesses a skill that negates magic damage.]
[Absolute Magic Constitution: X, Immune to 40% of Magic Damage.]
[Rank Judging...]
[Judgment Complete. You are enduring the pressure effect of 'Shuddering Deadly Venom,' losing 6% of your Health Points per second, lasting 5 seconds.]
...
Su Xiao's Health Points dropped like flowing water. A pressure appeared inside him. Although this debuff was called 'Shuddering Deadly Venom,' it wasn't purely toxin-type damage.
If it were the full version of the 'Shuddering Deadly Venom' effect, any Contractor present wouldn't even need to eat the Venomous Doom Dragon's meat; just getting close enough to smell it could be fatal.
This was a steak made from the flesh of a Venomous Doom Dragon. Even if the toxins had been removed, the pressure of that venomous dragon remained. Its pressure was an ability between magic and poison—one could call it poison magic.
After a few seconds, Su Xiao's Health Points dropped by 30%. This was after the reduction from his Absolute Magic Constitution. Without that reduction, his Health Points would have been reduced by 60%.
Keep in mind, the piece of dragon meat he ate was about one-third the size of the piece Fatty Pi had eaten. The True Magic Damage the other had endured from eating such a large piece would have been fatal.
That was exactly the case. The tip Fatty Pi had just received was: You are enduring the pressure effect of 'Shuddering Deadly Venom,' losing 35% of your Health Points per second, lasting 5 seconds.
If he hadn't used a recovery potion immediately, Fatty Pi would have been dead. This was True Magic Damage; not everyone had an Absolute Magic Constitution that could negate True Magic Damage.
The Absolute Magic Constitution not only negated True Magic Damage from magic but also Holy Spell Damage and Execution-type Magic Damage, all by 40%. As a trade-off, Su Xiao couldn't learn magic-type skills.
Su Xiao took out a bottle of No. 1 Potion. He had prepared quite a bit of recovery items this time. The special equipment 'Eternal Crystal Vial' was a recovery item with no cost, usable three times for free every ten days, each use restoring 450 Health Points and 300 Mana Points.
Although the cost of making No. 1 Potion was high, Su Xiao didn't choose to use the Eternal Crystal Vial. The Crystal Vial could restore Mana Points, and using it now would be somewhat wasteful.
After multiple improvements by Su Xiao, the effect of No. 1 Potion was already extremely strong.
Effect: After drinking, rapidly restore 87% of Health Points, and continuously restore Health Points over the next 30 seconds, 3 points per second, and heal a certain degree of internal injuries.
Su Xiao took a sip of No. 1 Potion. The entire bottle could restore 87% of Health Points. Given his current Health Point loss, drinking about one-third of the dosage would suffice.
Seeing Su Xiao also use a recovery potion, the other Contractors had varied expressions, caught in a moment of great hesitation.
"Everyone, won't you have a taste? Wasting food in the castle is absolutely not allowed."
Alice looked around at everyone. Her tone was gentle, but this was an ultimatum. Eating the dragon meat might kill you, but not eating it would definitely kill you.
The Three Brothers of National Football were the first to pick up their knives and forks. A few seconds after eating the dragon meat, they exchanged glances.
"That's it?"
The eldest of the Three Brothers spoke while healing himself.
"Just a drizzle."
The youngest was very pleased, finding that the second round of the game was their home turf.
The Catwoman, the Detective Loli, and the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man also ate the dragon meat. The massive True Magic Damage made their hair stand on end.
"Eating a whole piece will definitely kill you. Our stock of recovery items can't handle it."
The Detective Loli's voice was already tinged with tears.
Su Xiao took one bite of dragon meat, one sip of No. 1 Potion. Based on the amount of this piece of dragon meat, he estimated he would need to consume about 5 to 8 bottles of No. 1 Potion.
Just as everyone was enduring the terrifying True Magic Damage while eating, Alice spoke again. Whenever she opened her mouth, it was never good news.
"Alice has prepared some fine wine for everyone. Won't you have a taste?"
As soon as Alice finished speaking, Su Xiao's hand, which was forking the dragon meat, stopped. Not because he wanted to stop, but because some kind of barrier had been placed on this piece of dragon meat, blocking his fork.
Everyone had witnessed the terror of the dragon meat. And this glass of red wine...
This glass of wine was personally poured by Alice. If there wasn't something fishy about it, Su Xiao wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death.
The threat from Alice and the Wolf Butler was clear, and the game's content was as such. This glass of red wine wasn't a multiple-choice question; it was a mandatory question with only one option.
After tasting the dragon meat, the Three Brothers of National Football were noticeably emboldened. They picked up their glasses, clinked them together, and downed the wine in one gulp.
A few seconds later, the Three Brothers of National Football froze.
"It's over."
"Not good."
The expressions of the eldest and second brothers turned strange. The youngest looked at Alice.
"Miss Alice... can I choose to be hanged instead?"