Fifteen lucky guests lined up in a row, eight of whom were line figures.
Besides Cheng Shuang and the white-haired youth, the girl who came in second to last was in her early twenties and was probably also a defender. She held her head high and glanced at the man and woman next to her who had embraced each other as soon as they came on stage with a look of disdain.
"Distinguished guests, the delicacies on our cruise ship are prepared by world-renowned chefs. After tasting these delicacies, your lives will be perfect, and you'll have no regrets even in death! Hahaha!"
The host told chillingly lame jokes, but the guests at Line were all laughing heartily.
"Now, tell me what ingredients were used to make the delicious food you're enjoying tonight."
The host accepted a fragrant, palm-sized hamburger from the hostess and said with a smile, "The final prize is a premium hamburger, plump and juicy, and only one person can win it. Dear guests, please be sure to savor tonight's delicious meal!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man standing in the first position began to roar.
"I ate so much, how would I know?" The man clutched his stomach, filled with grief, anger, and fear, and roared at the host, "Who are you? Why are you torturing me? I've been sick for so long, and I finally mustered the courage to free myself, and you dragged me to this godforsaken place. You all deserve to die! You are the ones who should be cursed!"
"I just wanted to enjoy a good meal, what's wrong with that? I haven't had a proper meal in ages, I just wanted to finish this meal and leave quietly. Why did all this have to happen?"
The man, his face ashen, let out a strange and shrill laugh.
"Hahaha! Since you won't let me live comfortably, then let's die together..." A resolute glint flashed in his eyes, and he bent down to crash into the host, but all his movements came to an abrupt halt when he hit an invisible wall.
The man exerted too much force and fell to the ground, his head bleeding profusely, and his sallow face lost all color.
The host, seemingly oblivious to the man at his feet whose fate was unknown, continued to speak with a smile, "First lucky guest, please state the ingredients of the food you will be eating tonight."
A bizarre scene unfolded. The middle-aged man's body trembled, and a chilling roar escaped his throat. A pearly white shadow struggled out of his mouth, first his head, then his shoulders, and finally his enormous belly. Both the body on the ground and the white shadow convulsed and grotesquely, silently howling in agony, clearly in extreme pain.
It was as if a silent tragedy was unfolding before our eyes. Someone in the audience let out a short, terrified sound, but quickly fell silent due to fear.
The illusory figure slowly drifted back to its original position, muttering incoherently, "I don't know, there's too much, I'm so hungry, I don't know!"
The man's body instantly dried up, his limbs stiffened, and his facial features became distorted.
"Distinguished guest, since you do not know, then you shall be deemed to have abstained," the host declared without hesitation.
"Abstain, I don't know, there are too many, I'm so hungry..." The pearl-white figure kept repeating this sentence as if unaware. Behind it appeared a thick, hard stone slab as tall as a person, with the two blood-red words 'Abstain' written on it.
The host slowly looked at the white-haired young man, "Next."
The young man, his narrow eyes crinkling, tugged at his bow tie. "There's flour, minced meat, tomatoes, black pepper... and basil leaves, fermented red wine, salt, sugar, and oil, I guess!" He shrugged, jokingly adding, "Well, as a single guy who can't cook, that's all I can guess. Looks like I'll have to learn some cooking skills." As he finished speaking, the heavy, hard stone slab seemed to rise up, revealing the names of all the ingredients he had guessed.
The host, not forgetting his duty, used the white-haired young man's words as a starting point to tell a short joke to create a lively atmosphere, which made the guests burst into laughter.
Perhaps feeling a great sense of accomplishment from successfully making the guests laugh, the host softened his tone considerably when he looked at Cheng Shuang, "Little friend, it's your turn!"
All the slightly bright eyes in the audience suddenly focused on Cheng Shuang. Even the little girl who didn't have trypophobia was stared at so intently that she froze.
She scratched her cheek, looked away, and gazed at the host, whose expression had instantly become friendly. "Uncle, do the ingredients include seasonings?"
The host was taken aback. "Not included."
The white-haired youth immediately clicked his tongue, his gaze towards Cheng Shuang becoming deep.
The little girl didn't hide her nervousness. She let out a long breath and said cheerfully, "Thank you, Uncle Host. I still can't tell too much about the seasonings!"
The host nodded and casually remarked, "The child is fair-skinned, chubby, smart, and adorable—truly a rare find! Now it's your turn to answer!"
Its description of "white and tender" was in the same tone as describing a hamburger as plump and juicy. Cheng Shuang instinctively shivered and, without further delay, hurriedly said, "Noodles, the noodles for sandwiches, tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, seaweed, rice, eel, crab sticks, and eggs." She thought back carefully, and thankfully, fearing there might be a problem with the source, she and her boyfriend had chosen relatively simple foods. It really was a case of being cautious and not making any big mistakes. "The fruit we ate was apples..." The word "salad" was swallowed back by the little girl. Since the seasonings weren't considered raw materials, wouldn't saying it mean giving the wrong answer?
The host suddenly pressed further, "Isn't there anything else?"
This seemingly ordinary question is full of traps; it all depends on one's psychological resilience.
Cheng Shuang hesitated for a moment, then shook her head firmly.
The host was not disappointed and calmly instructed the next person to continue.
People with lines are carefree, eat the most, answer with laughter, and don't care about winning or losing.
The next couple chose to give up from the start, ignoring the host's questions and only burying their heads in their hands, whispering something to each other.
The two were probably lovers before they died. After the woman cried for a while, they kissed each other without restraint, which made the girl next to them glare at them impatiently.
When it was the girl's turn, she confidently said, "Yogurt and avocado."
The last person was an unassuming, thin man. He stammered as he recalled the food he had eaten, which, judging from the ingredients, consisted of a rather elaborate spread of cold dishes, Caesar salad, and a fruit platter. He was flustered and distracted while eating, so it was inevitable that he would miss one or two items.
There's only one winner in this lottery, and nobody knows what the punishment will be.
When a man's mind is in turmoil, the more fearful and driven by the desire to win he becomes, the more panicked he feels.
Moreover, his eyes kept glancing involuntarily at the first white figure that resembled a soul, its face still bearing the grotesque pain of its death, inspiring fear.
Under repeated urging from the host, the man, who couldn't remember anything else, looked like the sky was falling. He timidly covered his face and sighed repeatedly until he finally cried and sobbed, clearly regretting his past behavior of focusing too much on his appetite.
There is a big difference between choosing one's own way to die and dying through torture; the former allows for a quick and painless death, while the latter is a double torment of body and mind.
He wasn't the first to break down, nor will he be the last.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
