Chapter 1380: Trick One, Count One
The Lame Butcher had a bloody hole drilled into his forehead by Xu Huo, so holding a grudge was only natural. During the hour Xu Huo rested, that guy passed by the door at least twice. On the other hand, the Raincoat Cleaner left after appearing and never came back.
Xu Huo didn’t plan to go out again tonight. He simply settled down to sleep in the room and sent a message to warn the others to be careful of the high-heeled employee who could enter rooms.
The restaurant opened at eight in the morning. Xu Huo left on time, walked past the hexagonal corridor, and near the large warehouse, a passage appeared that led straight to the dining area, close to the back kitchen.
Of the two passages that had appeared the previous night, one was near the main entrance and the other near the back kitchen. Although the passages had disappeared by night, their general positions hadn’t changed—only the entire restaurant had expanded several times in size.
There were people who had come out earlier than him, twelve in total. He found a seat and sat down, with more players trickling out afterward.
The restaurant looked no different from yesterday, except that the “Best of the Day” on the blackboard had changed from Deer Antler Soup to Plum Blossom Meat Pie.
Maris and the female player in the peaked cap, Xiao Wan, along with a few others, had already come out and sat down directly in the empty seats next to him.
“Why Plum Blossom Meat Pie?” Xiao Wan whispered. “Isn’t the Best of the Day based on headcount? How many people chose Plum Blossom Meat Pie yesterday?”
By the time Xu Huo entered yesterday, it was already noon, and at least half of the people had eaten breakfast and lunch. However, the votes were concentrated in the afternoon and evening. It was unclear how many had eaten the Plum Blossom Meat Pie, but the votes were likely fewer than fifteen.
Whether killed or having cleared the instance, those who voted for Plum Blossom Meat Pie couldn’t appear in the restaurant today. But if vegetable dishes were excluded, Plum Blossom Meat Pie had relatively more votes among the meat dishes.
It was relatively more, but not the most. The highest should have been another dish, the Fragrant Lamb Leg.
“Could it be that the votes first excluded vegetable dishes?” the player Li Hua Mao speculated.
“That’s unlikely. If vegetable dishes were excluded, wouldn’t clearing the instance be too easy?” the long-haired woman said, knowing the level of this instance. If it could be cleared that way, the players stranded from the first day could have agreed on votes in advance and then cleared the instance, leaving the newcomers behind.
As she spoke, she swallowed hard. “I’m starving. Can I order first?”
Today, they had to eat meat. Maris asked for the menu and chose Roasted Pigeon. “Eating poultry is safer.”
After this brief diversion, the topic returned. Maris and the others didn’t know the exact votes from the players yesterday, so they couldn’t confirm whether Li Hua Mao’s speculation could truly be ruled out.
“Why not guard the voting box?” Xiao Wan pointed her chin forward. “Someone’s already over there. Looks like they’re planning to control the votes.”
The nearby scarf-wearing player immediately got up to move, but Maris raised a hand to stop him. “Doing that might backfire.”
Xu Huo agreed. “Interfering with others’ votes might invalidate them.”
Moreover, Plum Blossom Meat Pie wasn’t the top vote-getter yesterday, yet it was chosen as the “Best of the Day.” This suggested something was wrong with the Fragrant Lamb Leg votes.
Either it was directly excluded for breaking the rules, or there were too many invalid votes. As for invalid votes, duplicate voting or voting without eating could both render a vote void. Since there were no clear voting rules, it was inevitable that some would try to exploit loopholes.
Maris and the others continued discussing, while Xu Huo’s companions, Dai Song and Li Kun, returned. With them was No. 42, Zhou Donghe, who had left the room in the middle of the night.
The three sat down, all looking grim. After a moment, Zhou Donghe spoke. “Someone knocked on my door last night. Since you’re all here, it must have been Zhang Zhaogang.”
The three at the table looked at him. He added with a hint of guilt, “I didn’t expect the knock to attract the restaurant staff.”
Dai Song and Li Kun, who had already lost their companions, said nothing. Xu Huo simply asked, “Don’t you know my room number?”
“Of course I do. You’re No. 172, right?” Zhou Donghe looked at him suspiciously.
“My room is right next to yours,” Xu Huo said with a smile. “Didn’t you see it when you came out last night?”
Zhou Donghe froze for a moment, then his face darkened. “What are you implying?”
“I won’t beat around the bush with you,” Xu Huo skipped the guessing game. “You entered the restaurant the day before yesterday, didn’t you? Where did you go after leaving your room last night?”
“Do I have any reason to trick you?” Zhou Donghe sneered. “I just wanted to gather a few people to look out for each other. Since you don’t trust me, let’s go our separate—”
Before he could finish, he tried to leave, but his body felt pinned down, unable to stand. This wasn’t a good time to fall out. He glared at Xu Huo with anger, only to find the latter had clasped his hands on the table, adopting a listening posture.
Dai Song spoke up then. “This restaurant is so small. Where can you run to?”
Facing the reality of being outnumbered, Zhou Donghe had no choice but to sit back down. “Every man for himself. Being tricked means your brain isn’t sharp enough. You can’t blame the trickster.”
“Well said. No wonder you kindly sent us multiple messages last night telling us to go to Room 42,” Li Kun said sarcastically. “Who do you think you’re fooling with that little trick? Only a brainless cannibal player would fall for it.”
Zhou Donghe was unperturbed. “So what? Trick one, count one.”
“Knocking attracts the restaurant staff, but the staff are always moving. Once they’ve been to a place, they’ll soon go elsewhere,” Xu Huo said. “That makes the places they’ve just visited relatively safer. But what’s the difference between the first knock and the second knock?”
“You were the one who knocked the second time yesterday, weren’t you?” Zhou Donghe snorted. “It’s an unspoken rule of the restaurant. That butcher won’t kill a second person shortly after killing the first one who knocked.”
“I see,” Xu Huo nodded. “No wonder you wanted to come out right after someone died. Where did you go after leaving the room?”
“The restaurant.” Even though he was using a silencing item, Zhou Donghe deliberately lowered his voice and slightly covered his mouth. “You can vote at night too.”
Dai Song and Li Kun hadn’t thought of that. Xu Huo had already heard that some players had entered the nighttime restaurant, so it wasn’t hard to deduce. “Not everyone can enter the restaurant at night.”
The disappearance of the passage to the restaurant was a form of screening.
“Of course,” Zhou Donghe didn’t hold back. “Only those who ate meat dishes during the day can enter the restaurant at night. But I advise you to clear the instance during the day. The nighttime restaurant is extremely dangerous.”
“Is that so?” Xu Huo said flatly. “Then you must know the voting rules for nighttime.”
Zhou Donghe’s face stiffened. “If I knew, I would have cleared the instance and left long ago. Why would I still be here?”
(Chapter End)