Looking at the red-masked man who had unexpectedly approached from across the room, then at Lu Ce's movements, Kolk felt like his brain was cramping.
Was I hallucinating?
Did Mental Interference backfire on me?
Watching Lu Ce gulp down a can of strange canned food in the blink of an eye, he forced himself to accept what was happening before him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open.
: A meeting of the century!
: Hahahaha! I'm dying of laughter.
: I've been constantly switching between their perspectives. Honestly, such a terrifying atmosphere has somehow been turned into a comedy.
: Though it's funny... I have no idea how they're supposed to complete their mission... This is a hell game.
"What are you doing?" Kolk looked at Lu Ce in disbelief. He no longer cared about national pride and simply asked in Chinese.
"Eating? Isn't it mealtime?" Lu Ce replied as if it were only natural. "Do you have any food?"
Kolk opened his mouth, but he truly could not find the words. He had no idea what Lu Ce was doing.
He tried to interfere with Lu Ce's mind, only to find that the other's mind was already a complete mess. His little bit of interference had no effect at all.
It was like dropping a single drop of ink into a swamp and trying to pollute the entire swamp.
The instant he used his ability, he even felt a backlash. His face turned pale.
Kolk looked at Lu Ce with alarm in his eyes and thought:
Could this guy have gone through something? Has he already suffered mental damage in this hellish game?
In that brief exchange of glances, Kolk considered ten thousand possibilities, while Lu Ce's mind thought of ten thousand classic cuisines from around the world.
Then, a glint flashed through the corner of his eye, and he saw the small dish in Lu Ce's right hand.
There were still six pills on it!
Without time to think further, he hurriedly shouted:
"Give me the medicine!"
Lu Ce yawned. "What kind of bird language are you speaking? I can't understand you."
"Give me the medicine in your hand!"
"What medicine? This isn't medicine. It's my breakfast."
"Fine, fine, it's breakfast. Can you give me your breakfast?" Kolk began coaxing him patiently. He realized that Lu Ce was probably mentally unstable, so he began communicating with him the way one would communicate with a psychiatric patient.
"Why should I give you my breakfast? Are you begging for food?" Lu Ce replied, an annoyed expression appearing on his mask.
Kolk:?
Right, why would someone give me their food...
No! Why am I thinking about that?!
He shook his head sharply to calm himself down. Only then did Kolk realize that this hell game was a little difficult.
He patiently said to Lu Ce:
"Because I am a pitiful person. I have been hungry for a very long time and now need your help. For Christ's sake, please, my dear sir."
In his panic, Kolk even slipped into an English-translated tone.
"If you're hungry, eat food. You can't treat medicine like food, psycho."
Lu Ce replied, then picked up the dish in his hand, flipped it over, and swallowed all six pills.
Kolk:?
Wasn't I just going along with what you said? How did I become the psycho?
But as he watched Lu Ce eat the last pill, his heart sank to rock bottom.
It's over. How did a perfectly good game turn into this?!
A complete deadweight teammate! Can't this game be designed as a solo challenge?!
Red warning lights came on, forcing the two of them back to their rooms.
Kolk's gaze gradually turned cold. Looking at Lu Ce's retreating back, he said flatly:
"If you still have a bit of sanity, use the Exit Coin."
"At least your life can be saved."
Lu Ce did not even turn his head. It was as though he had no idea the words were directed at him, and he quickly returned to his room.
After Kolk returned to his room, his entire body tensed.
Long Liu was rolling around on the ground like a vicious ghost!
He had dug open the scars on his body himself, smearing blood everywhere. He had even gouged chunks out of the stone-tiled floor with his bare hands!
Is this even human?
The calm in Kolk's eyes slowly turned into wariness. He did not dare speak and stood pressed against the door.
"Medicine... medicine..."
"Where's my Yuxiang Shredded Pork?"
Faced with the other's clearly insane ramblings, Kolk swallowed and began trying to placate him.
"The food is still being made..."
The view returned to Lu Ce. He had also gone back to his room, facing his patient, who was as skinny as a monkey.
His situation was about the same as Kolk's. The patient, who had not eaten anything, was now rolling about everywhere like an Alien, just short of transforming outright.
Yet Lu Ce showed no fear whatsoever. He strolled straight over, sat down on the floor beside him, and casually asked:
"Ah, what a satisfying breakfast. Are you full this time?"
You didn't bring me back anything at all!
If the patient could still speak normally, he would have pressed himself to Lu Ce's ear and roared those words at him.
But he could not speak now. He could only make all kinds of meaningless sounds.
"Ah... ah...! You will become like me too..."
"You'll become just like me!"
He roared, the iron chains stretched taut. His fingers came down like blades and slashed a huge gash across Lu Ce's shoulder, blood pouring out.
But Lu Ce did not react at all. He merely sat against the wall and muttered:
"Ah... looks like you aren't full."
"Yeah, I'm the same as you. I'm not full either."
Patient:...
He had already gone mad, flailing his limbs wildly and leaving wound after wound on Lu Ce's body.
Chosen of Suffering! Pain Value +1!
Chosen of Suffering! Pain Value +1!
Lu Ce did not react in the slightest, allowing the other to keep hurting him as though he could not see it at all.
"All right, we've eaten more or less enough. What did you want from me?" Lu Ce turned around and spoke to the ghostlike face.
Patient: o_o ...
"Shouldn't it be... you who came looking for me?" Perhaps Lu Ce's thoughts were so chaotic that his condition seemed even worse than the patient's, because even the patient could not help but respond.
"Uh, I'm so hungry, but I also feel like I ate a little too much." Lu Ce rubbed his stomach and stood up. "Brother, that posture looks a little uncomfortable."
"You called me here because you wanted me to help you, right?"
As he spoke, he grabbed the arm swinging at him. That arm, which carried enough force to shatter bricks and crack stones, could no longer move after Lu Ce seized it!
Red light flashed. Lu Ce took Sharp Blade from his backpack.
Side effect of the Gluttony Mask—The energy from consumed food did not belong to the user. If it reached a certain limit and was not released, the user could possibly explode to death!
Then release it!
"Aaaahhh!" The patient whose wrist had been seized roared like a beast.
The next second, red light flashed!
24 points of Strength, plus Sharp Blade's threefold bonus, plus a certain degree of strength released by Gluttony.
Crack!
The sturdy chain, strong enough to restrain a dinosaur, snapped at once!
At the same time, the other's howl abruptly stopped. He stared blankly at the chain that had bound him for who knew how many years.
The madness and confusion in his eyes seemed to clear considerably at once, and the hand that had kept scratching and striking Lu Ce slowly lowered.
W-what was going on?
Before you continue