Chapter 18: The Third Game, Deception
Soon, one contractor had finished eating the Venom Dragon meat before them. That person was the Detective Loli!
That's right, it was the Detective Loli. Earlier, every small piece of Venom Dragon meat she ate filled her with fear, but after using that doll, she began to wolf it down.
Burp~
The Detective Loli was stuffed. She patted her slightly bulging little belly.
Not only had the Detective Loli finished the Venom Dragon meat, but she had also eaten her portion of dessert.
"This is the most expensive meal I've ever had, a shudder worth 650,000 Paradise Coins."
The Detective Loli reached her small hand into her clothes, rubbing her little belly, her face full of despair.
"Congratulations, you have passed the second round."
The Wolf Butler stepped forward, signaling the Detective Loli to follow him. The two walked toward the door Alice had come through. Through the crack in the door, Su Xiao vaguely saw stairs, which should lead to the third floor.
Su Xiao had previously asked Sha how many floors the Demon Castle had. Sha's reply was somewhat vague, only saying: 'For the players, the Demon Castle has five floors.'
The Wolf Butler had also revealed a piece of information: the first three games followed fixed rules, meaning the players couldn't move freely. The first game was Fate's Revolver, the second was Gourmet Paradise, and the content of the third was unknown for now.
As for the fourth and fifth floors of the Demon Castle, the games there should have higher freedom. By clearing the fifth floor's game, one could pass the entire game, return to Reincarnation Paradise, and obtain the Proof of the Strong.
Su Xiao now had a general understanding of the Demon Castle game situation. As long as he passed the Gourmet Paradise round, only three games remained. One of them probably didn't involve combat, while the last two likely did, and the combat intensity should be considerable.
While thinking, Su Xiao had already 'finished' the Venom Dragon meat, most of which had gone into Bubu Wang's stomach.
Bubu Wang drank a bottle of No. 1 Potion to calm himself, his expression clearly saying: "Is there any more steak? This Wang can still eat a few pounds."
Dragon meat wasn't cabbage; Su Xiao certainly couldn't get more. But he could already foresee a future scenario: whenever Bubu Wang saw a dragon, his first thought would definitely be whether that dragon was delicious, how to eat it—braised in soy sauce, charcoal-grilled, steamed, or hotpot would also be good.
Dragon meat was delicious, but Su Xiao had no mind to consider that issue. He still had a portion of dessert to deal with.
The dessert was a round cake, pure white, topped with a cherry.
Bubu Wang's big head leaned in, his small eyes conveying: "What demonic creature is this? Master, step aside, let this Wang handle it."
Su Xiao pushed Bubu Wang's big head back. He cut a small piece of the dessert and put it in his mouth.
Five seconds, ten seconds, half a minute... a minute passed. Nothing happened.
"Finish it!"
The leader of the Three Brothers of National Football slammed the table, startling the Cat Girl who was struggling with the Venom Dragon meat. She suddenly turned her head.
"Shout again and I'll kill you! You scared me to death!"
"S-sorry..."
The eldest and second of the Three Brothers of National Football completed the second round, looking completely unfazed. Not far away, the third brother had a sallow complexion. He had used various recovery potions in a short time, and relying solely on healing skills couldn't withstand the damage diverted from the eldest and second.
The trio's Life Link ability was quite good. Even true magic damage could be evenly split. However, true damage only ignored various reductions, while Life Link split the final damage taken. The judgment process occurred after true damage, not above it in rank.
The three brothers followed the Wolf Butler away. At the dining table, including Alice, five people remained.
Su Xiao ate the dessert slowly and methodically. This thing was normal food, which was quite surprising. When he finished the dessert, a notification appeared.
[Notification: The Hunter has passed the second game.]
[Hunter completes Gourmet Paradise assessment. Poison Resistance permanently +15%, Health Points recovery per minute permanently +4.]
...
For strength growth, this reward was quite good. Su Xiao had encountered many enemies who used poison. A 15% poison resistance increase might seem small, but it could actually help him reduce a lot of poison-type damage. Moreover, the reward also increased health recovery speed.
Compared to Su Xiao's improvement, Bubu Wang's enhancement was simply astonishing. That glutton had eaten dragon meat far above its rank.
Su Xiao temporarily didn't check Bubu Wang's attribute changes. He was observing, observing who would die in this round.
"A piece of cake."
Fatty Pi also finished the food on his plate. Although his words were tough, his face was slightly pale.
Fatty Pi stood up, but after taking just three steps, he fell with a thud. This wasn't eating Venom Dragon meat; it was like being bitten by a three-step snake—fall after three steps.
About ten seconds later, Fatty Pi's body twitched. This guy first fixed his hairstyle, then got up.
"Cough... no big deal."
If it weren't for the blood flowing from the corner of Fatty Pi's mouth, Su Xiao might have believed him.
Fatty Pi walked toward the entrance to the third floor with a moonwalk-like gait. Even while spitting blood, he wanted his back view to be cool.
Thus, only the Cat Girl and the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man hadn't completed the game. The two exchanged glances, both with bitterness in their eyes.
The Cat Girl's health was below 20%. A small piece of Venom Dragon meat remained before her. Eating it would mean death.
The two wanted to replicate Su Xiao's method, but unfortunately, familiar-type creatures couldn't participate in the game. Bubu Wang was Su Xiao's follower, with a status much higher than a familiar, and even had its own storage space.
"One minute left."
The Wolf Butler stared at the two. The consequences of exceeding the time limit were predictable, so their expressions grew even uglier.
"It seems... there's no other way."
The Cat Girl took a deep breath. She grabbed the small piece of Venom Dragon meat on the table, swallowed it whole, and stuffed the dessert beside it into her mouth.
The Cat Girl was gambling, gambling on her control over her digestive ability. In her stomach, that piece of Venom Dragon meat was wrapped in a layer of white silk web.
In the end, the Cat Girl won her gamble. When she completed the game, the 'Blood Agate' effect disappeared. With only 7% health remaining, the Cat Girl, now in a near-death state, used a recovery potion.
The Cat Girl barely passed. The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man gave a bitter smile.
"Wolf Butler, I'll use that privilege."
The strength of a Charm specialist was evident at this moment. As soon as the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man spoke, the Wolf Butler stepped forward and took away the remaining large piece of Venom Dragon meat and dessert.
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man sighed and walked toward the third floor. His personal favorability with the Wolf Butler was cleared. To earn that favorability, he had spent the previous three days helping the Wolf Butler with tasks, receiving no benefits, only that favorability.
"Surprising. Everyone passed."
Alice picked up a napkin and lightly wiped her mouth.
"This brave one, the third game is about to begin. Follow me."
Alice tossed down the napkin, her eyes smiling as she looked at Su Xiao.
"So soon?"
"Of course. The third game is a post-meal activity. Besides, none of you have rested in the past few days. The third game is to let you all 'rest.'"
Su Xiao, Alice, and the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man walked toward the stairs to the third floor. The Wolf Butler stayed on the second floor; the third floor's game didn't need him to host.
The content of the third floor's game was deception. Truth and falsehood, lies and deceit. The core question was only one: who was the real Alice.
As Su Xiao walked toward the third floor, Bubu Wang behind him had a somewhat strange gait. Su Xiao didn't pay attention to this. Bubu Wang's attribute increase after eating the Venom Dragon meat was too large; it needed some time to adapt, and this attribute increase was still ongoing.