The system's voice faded, but the room remained silent.
Pei Yanchuan was the first to break the silence. He picked up a fried chicken drumstick from the table and took a vicious bite. "I'm starving."
The days and nights had cycled back and forth in the game, but only a few hours had actually passed. Still, those few hours without food had left them ravenous. The others began helping themselves to whatever they liked.
"So, what roles did everyone have?" Lu Rui picked up the kettle and poured hot water into everyone's cups. "I was the Hunter."
Su Fengzi raised his hand. "Me, the one and only genuine Seer in the whole game."
Pei Yanchuan chuckled, earning himself a punch from Su Fengzi. "You've got some nerve laughing. Nobody smeared my name harder than you did."
Pei Yanchuan blinked, looking innocent and wronged. "But I was a werewolf."
Wu You raised her hand too. "I was a werewolf as well. Sorry, Brother Fengzi."
"Ah, whatever." Su Fengzi waved it off. "It's a game. As long as we had fun."
"I was the Witch." Ye Chu introduced himself last, took a sip of hot water, and slumped on the sofa. After playing for hours, he was exhausted.
Whatever sides they had been on in the game, now that they were out, they were comrades who had faced life and death together. Before long, they were chatting.
"So the werewolves successfully wiped out the villagers last night?" Lu Rui asked. She had spent most of last night outside the action and had no idea what had happened.
"No, the Witch poisoned a villager last night and forced the game to end." Su Fengzi picked up a fried chicken drumstick too and tore into it.
Wu You and Lu Rui widened their eyes, seeing the same disbelief in each other's gaze. "The Witch wiped out the villagers?"
"Ahem." Ye Chu cleared his throat. "Let me explain. This game requires people to die, right? Under the rule where eliminating either group ends the game, at least three people have to die. So the way to minimize losses was for the Witch to help the werewolves eliminate one group. Otherwise, if we'd played normally, more of us would have died."
The room fell quiet when he finished. Everyone knew that if Ye Chu hadn't chosen to use his poison, the next person to die might have been them.
"Xiao Pei revealed himself as a werewolf last night. Gave me one hell of a scare." Su Fengzi spoke up, reviving the conversation.
Pei Yanchuan smiled. "I meant it at the time. If Ye Chu had said he was a villager, I would've killed you immediately, Brother Fengzi."
Hearing that, Su Fengzi looked at the grinning Pei Yanchuan in front of him and shuddered. "Why do you care so much about Ye Chu? Has your Brother Fengzi treated you badly?"
"It's not that." Pei Yanchuan tilted his head with a smile. "It's because Ye Chu graduated from Peking University. I figured we'd have a better chance of clearing the later games if we followed him."
"Oh, oh, that hurts. And you're supposed to be my fan." Su Fengzi clutched his chest, looking utterly heartbroken. "Oh, Pei Xiaohu doesn't care about me anymore."
Their back-and-forth instantly lightened the mood in the room.
"First, let me make it clear that I'm not putting anyone down to praise someone else. But in games like these, we can only try to keep the smart people alive. If we were all like Number Three, there'd be no point playing the later games. We'd definitely be wiped out," Pei Yanchuan said.
Ye Chu was a little surprised. He hadn't expected him to voice that thought so openly. After all, it sounded far too cold and ruthless.
Fortunately, everyone present understood, and nobody made any sarcastic remarks.
"What I'd really like to know is what you were thinking when I used the poison, Pei Yanchuan." Ye Chu took a bite of food and looked him in the eye.
Pei Yanchuan averted his gaze, looking evasive, and mumbled, "I..."
"Go on." Ye Chu raised one eyebrow. "I won't hit you." He had seen Pei Yanchuan take that step back. What would have happened if he had poisoned Number Eight?
The others watched as though enjoying a show, their eyes moving between the two as they ate.
"If I was going to die anyway, we might as well die together," Pei Yanchuan said, giving up on defending himself. Then he curled into himself, looking genuinely afraid that Ye Chu would hit him.
Ye Chu set down his chopsticks, and the room grew even quieter. Pei Yanchuan grabbed a cushion from behind him on the sofa and held it in front of himself. "Go easy on me, Ye Chu."
A tall young man over six feet hiding behind a little cushion looked rather ridiculous.
Ye Chu laughed. One second, he had been a murderous demon who wouldn't blink at killing someone; the next, he was a forlorn puppy.
"Who said I was going to hit you?" Ye Chu picked up his cup and drank some water. "I was just asking."
"Really?" Pei Yanchuan lowered the cushion a little, revealing his tousled head. "You're not angry, Ye Chu?"
"If I'd drawn the werewolf role, I would've done the same." Ye Chu patted the cushion, signaling for him to come out from behind it. "I wouldn't go so far as to be angry."
Pei Yanchuan rested his head on the cushion and blinked.
"But I am a little upset," Ye Chu continued. "You told me your strategy and where you stood, and you said I was smart. So why didn't you trust me?"
Ye Chu lowered his eyes, his long lashes trembling as he blinked. A few words immediately sprang into Pei Yanchuan's mind:
I'm such a bastard.
Su Fengzi struggled to suppress his laughter. If he hadn't noticed the corners of Ye Chu's mouth lifting, he might have believed Ye Chu really felt hurt and upset. Now, though, it was clear he was just messing with Pei Yanchuan.
Even funnier, the kid had actually taken the bait. Pei Yanchuan's big, round eyes were filled with guilt.
"Ye Chu..."
Su Fengzi finally lost the battle and burst out laughing. Wu You and Lu Rui turned away to hide their smiles too. Ye Chu shot them a glare. Don't ruin this.
Pei Yanchuan: ??
Ye Chu couldn't keep up the act either, so he simply smiled and confessed. "I'm not upset at all. I just wanted to tease you. Don't feel guilty about it."
Pei Yanchuan said, "...Oh."
Why did hearing Ye Chu say that somehow make me feel even worse?
"Oh, come on. One look at Xiao Pei tells you he's no saint," Su Fengzi teased with a laugh. "All five of us made it out of the last round alive. Obviously, not one of us is a good person."
"What are you talking about? You're the only bad one here."
"Hahahaha."
"Should we give our squad a name or something?" Su Fengzi suggested. "What should we call it?"
Pei Yanchuan immediately raised his hand. "All Villains."
"Too edgy. Pass."
Pei Yanchuan huffed and buried his head in the cushion again.
"How about 12789?" Ye Chu suggested. "To commemorate our first game after coming here."
"Sure, let's go with that!" Wu You clapped her hands in agreement.
"One, two, seven, eight, nine, our glory will forever shine." Lu Rui had said it offhandedly, not expecting it to rhyme. "That's pretty catchy. I'm all for it."
"Then it's settled. We're the 12789 Squad!"
"Yeah!"
After finishing their meal, they stared blankly at the mess on the coffee table.
Su Fengzi raised his hand and asked, "Um, do we have a dishwasher?"
Lu Rui came out of the kitchen. "No."
"How much do we have in tips now?" Wu You remembered what the system had said: their tip money could be used to buy facilities for this space.
At Wu You's words, the system automatically brought up an interface showing the previous game's livestream duration, viewer traffic, comment count, and tips.
The viewer traffic for Real Werewolf had been fairly decent. In particular, when the Witch poisoned a villager to end the game, viewership had soared, pushing the show straight onto the variety-show trending chart. The tips were considerable too, just under ten thousand-more than enough to buy a dishwasher.
"Let me confirm one more time. These tips can only be used to buy equipment for this space, right?" Lu Rui asked. "Don't tell us later that we could've bought physical stat upgrades or something..."
The system's affirmative voice rang out:
[Tips may only be used to purchase equipment for the house. Players, please rest assured.]
Reassured, Lu Rui immediately bought a dishwasher. "Then I'll clean up the table today. Everyone's tired after playing all day, so go get some rest."
They thanked Lu Rui and returned to their respective rooms. After the day they'd had, they really were exhausted.
Ye Chu had barely finished washing up and lain down before his eyelids began to droop. Soon, he drifted off to sleep.
Before you continue