# Chapter 2360: Friendly Meal Time
There was no food left in the room, but there was a restaurant outside.
Xu Huo had observed earlier that the higher the floor, the better the living environment. The first floor had only one banquet hall, the tenth floor had five, and there were also several small restaurants. Looking through the windows, the buildings above hadn't been expanded, but when you were inside, you could clearly feel that the space had become larger.
There weren't many people eating breakfast, and there were still empty seats in the restaurant.
Those who dared to leave their rooms in the morning to eat were naturally not ordinary people. However, once outside the rooms, no one took off their masks. These masks couldn't completely conceal a player's appearance, so it was unclear whether this was an unwritten rule.
Xu Huo followed the crowd and stopped the Painting Woman from removing her mask, choosing the nearest restaurant to eat.
Of course, some players might have been forced out of their rooms. For example, a player who entered the restaurant right after Xu Huo and his companion—his clothes were tattered, and he was unkempt. As soon as he entered, he shouted for the waiter to bring food until his table was completely covered.
No one knew how long he had been starving. He didn't even use chopsticks, knives, or forks. He just picked up plates and bowls and poured the food directly into his mouth, swallowing after a rough chew. Before long, the only sound in the restaurant was the noise of him eating.
Because of this, some players in the restaurant left without finishing their meals.
"Reincarnated from a starving ghost?" a player who refused to back down sneered openly. "You pig-like thing, if you want to eat, get out and eat somewhere else!"
That player ignored the comment completely, not even lifting his head, leaving the speaking woman hanging.
The woman let out a cold laugh and, along with two companions beside her, stood up and walked toward that player.
Originally, they probably intended to throw him out, but unexpectedly, the two players couldn't even lift him. Instead, their hands were forcibly stuck to the eating man's shoulders. They pulled a few times and were about to turn hostile and attack when the eating man suddenly released them.
The two, stumbling back a few steps out of inertia, felt humiliated. The next second, items slid out from their sleeves.
"Everyone," a player dressed in formal attire sitting in the middle of the restaurant spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but it naturally drew everyone's attention. He slowly stirred the small dish he had just seasoned in his bowl and said flatly, "This is a restaurant, a place for eating. If you want to fight, I hope you'll take it outside."
When he said the last word, he looked up at the group on that side. His gaze shifted, and the two players who had tried to attack were immediately knocked out of the restaurant by an invisible force. Once outside, there was no movement, but they didn't come back either.
"Fine, you win!" the female player said, taking two steps backward while facing them before turning and running out. But even so, she couldn't escape the formal-attired man's attack. She was sent crashing through the restaurant door, rolling into the corridor outside.
The impending brawl dissipated. The formal-attired man picked up a piece of his self-prepared snack and put it into his mouth. The next second, the corner of his mouth twitched. He paused for a moment before reluctantly swallowing the food.
"His food looks really terrible," the Painting Woman typed to communicate with Xu Huo.
"Don't worry about it," Xu Huo signaled her to eat her own meal.
By the time they finished eating, the formal-attired player was still struggling with his snack. Anyone could tell that even he thought it was awful, which was why he was eating so slowly.
But the other players didn't meddle.
The curiosity-driven Painting Woman couldn't help but approach him and ask, "Since it's so bad, why don't you eat something else?"
The formal-attired player refused to admit it. "How do you know it's bad if you haven't tried it?"
The Painting Woman stared at the shapeless thing in his bowl, looking as if she really wanted to try it.
"Want to give it a try?" The formal-attired player took a clean small bowl from the side, intending to share some with her.
"No," the Painting Woman quickly refused. "Don't try to trick me into eating it for you."
The formal-attired player's hand froze, and he silently put the small bowl back.
The Painting Woman didn't leave either. She simply sat down next to him, rested her chin on the table, and watched him eat, adding another jab, "Wasting food is a shameful act."
The formal-attired player nodded in agreement, then continued eating his breakfast as if in slow motion.
It was obvious that the more he ate, the more painful it became, and the more the Painting Woman watched, the happier she got. She even called Xu Huo over to watch.
"My little sister doesn't quite understand social etiquette. Please forgive her," Xu Huo apologized first, to avoid a fight breaking out over an indescribable substance.
"Your sister is very cute," the formal-attired player complimented. "I wish I had such a cute sister."
The Painting Woman, pleased by the compliment, winked proudly at Xu Huo, then said to the formal-attired player, "Since I'm so cute, can you tell me what the most fun place in this building is?"
The formal-attired player thought for a moment. "The most fun should be the Carnival Day that happens once every ten days. On that night, all players are cleared out of their rooms. For three hours, no rooms are open to players. Everyone can only wander around the building, like homeless stray dogs."
The Painting Woman didn't like this analogy. "I'm not a stray dog. I can set up a tent."
The formal-attired player smiled. "Just an analogy. Actually, many people are worse off than dogs. Well, you're definitely different. You're much better than a dog."
This sounded a bit sarcastic, but the Painting Woman didn't catch it at all. She asked when the next Carnival Day would be.
"What a coincidence. It's tonight," the formal-attired player said. "If you think it's not fun, you can hide on the twentieth floor. There's a hidden little maze there. Hiding for three hours won't be a problem."
"There are many hidden surprises in this building that are never publicly announced. It's quite fun to find them yourself."
The Painting Woman nodded repeatedly, her eager expression showing her interest. Then she asked a second question, "I want to be a whale. How can I become a whale?"
Actually, the communication devices commonly used in the game now could simulate human tone and intonation. Even without judging the context of the sentence, they wouldn't sound as flat and boring as old robots. But the Painting Woman preferred this less intelligent-sounding voice, so the words she read out carried no emotion, just like the question she asked.
But the players in the restaurant all looked up, their expressions showing surprise, wariness, alertness, mixed with contempt and disdain.
The formal-attired player, however, was very calm. "The whale mask is so ugly. Why would you want to be a whale?"
"Whales can draw lots," the Painting Woman's reason was simple. "I want to be the one drawing the lots. I want to draw out all the masks except the mermaid and let them fight."
The formal-attired player stroked his chin. "That's not a bad idea. But the boss has a rule: you can only draw one mask at a time."