Wait, How Did She Become the Banquet Host?!

[Host of this Blood Moon Banquet: Guest No. 701, Shen Niannian.]

[All participants, please obtain the approval of the banquet host, Shen Niannian.]

The blood-red words hovered above the banquet hall.

For a good dozen seconds.

Nobody spoke.

Zhou Hai stood rooted to the spot.

Wang Jianguo's mouth hung open.

Song Qiming even looked up at the bloody words, then down at Shen Niannian.

Then he looked up again.

As if checking whether he had read them wrong.

Shen Niannian herself pointed at herself.

"Me?"

(⊙▽⊙")

There was no response.

The words remained blood-red.

Their meaning was perfectly clear.

It was her.

The next second.

The livestream chat erupted.

"?????????"

"Wait! How did she become the banquet host?!"

"That can't be possible, right?!"

"Isn't the Blood Moon Banquet host supposed to be chosen from the anomalous guests?"

"I watched the Blood Moon Hotel livestream three years ago. The host back then was an A-rank hanged ghost!"

"The last public recording had a peak B-rank anomaly as the host too. I've never seen a human player chosen!"

"Let alone a newbie like Shen Niannian, who's in a dungeon for the first time!"

"Random, my ass! There are dozens of anomalies, including an A-rank, and they randomly picked a human newbie? You believe that?!"

"I don't!"

"Has this hotel stopped even pretending?!"

The chat comments almost completely covered the screen.

Everyone had originally assumed.

The Blood Moon Banquet was the final and most dangerous stage of this dungeon.

The players had to find a way to curry favor with a randomly selected high-rank anomaly.

Say one wrong word.

And they could die.

But now they were being told-

The banquet host they needed to curry favor with.

Was Shen Niannian?!

How were they supposed to play this?

Zhou Hai was silent for a long time.

Finally, he slowly said.

"I'm starting to suspect that 'random' means something different in this dungeon than what we understand it to mean."

Wang Jianguo wore a complicated expression.

"Brother Zhou..."

"What?"

"If she's the banquet host, doesn't that actually make us safe?"

Zhou Hai: "..."

That did seem to be true.

Song Qiming, however, frowned and warned them, "Don't celebrate too early. Her becoming the banquet host doesn't mean the rules have disappeared. There are still dozens of anomalous guests here."

Zhou Hai nodded.

That was the important part.

They had only gone from "currying favor with an unfamiliar anomaly."

To "obtaining Shen Niannian's approval."

But the banquet itself was still dangerous.

Meanwhile.

The anomalous guests' reactions were even more remarkable.

A B-rank anomaly that had just been licking its wineglass froze mid-lick.

The monster beside it, covered in eyes, quietly moved its chair half a meter back.

Several older anomalies who had clearly met Shen Niannian before.

Had already lowered their heads.

And started playing dead.

The livestream viewers quickly noticed.

"Wait, look at those ghosts!"

"Did that B-rank just move back to hide?!"

"Why are they more nervous than the players?"

"The doorman was afraid of her, the red-clothed ghost was afraid of her, and now even the guests in the banquet hall are reacting like this?"

"Just what did Shen Niannian do before?!"

Shen Niannian noticed it herself too.

The identity archive was full of status updates.

[Current status: nervous]

[Current status: afraid]

[Current status: pretending to be calm]

[Current status: hoping not to be noticed]

Shen Niannian: "..."

(￣ー￣)

Wasn't the last one a little too honest?

She was increasingly certain now.

There had definitely been something wrong with this body before.

But what the problem was.

She still couldn't say for certain.

Just then.

New blood-red words appeared once again.

[Banquet host rules have been generated.]

Shen Niannian immediately put those thoughts aside.

She could deal with the identity issue later.

First, she had to clear the dungeon!

[1. The banquet host may not expel official guests without cause.]

[2. The banquet host must propose one toast and accept a toast from at least one guest.]

[3. The banquet host may approve other participants during the banquet. Players who receive approval will obtain a Blood Moon Banquet Seal.]

[4. The banquet lasts fifteen minutes. If the banquet host remains conscious at the end, her hosting duties will be considered complete.]

[5. Upon completing the hosting duties, the banquet host automatically receives a Blood Moon Banquet Seal.]

Shen Niannian's eyes lit up at once.

(✧ω✧)

Got it!

Last fifteen minutes.

Propose one toast.

Then accept one.

Stay conscious.

And the third seal is mine!

Easy!

At least it looked easy.

Zhou Hai and the other two quickly finished reading the rules as well.

Then.

Three pairs of eyes turned to Shen Niannian in unison.

Shen Niannian: "..."

She suddenly felt like a homeroom teacher about to hand out certificates.

Wang Jianguo spoke first.

"Miss Shen."

His tone was more polite than ever.

"If I've offended you in any way before, please forgive me."

The corner of Shen Niannian's mouth twitched.

"Act normal. You're scaring me a little."

The livestream chat burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Wang Jianguo: enters a dungeon, suddenly discovers the final boss is a teammate."

"The tables have turned!"

"Earlier, he thought the special treatment Shen Niannian got wasn't normal, and now whether he clears the dungeon is in her hands!"

Zhou Hai, on the other hand, got straight to the point.

"Do you decide the conditions for approval?"

Shen Niannian glanced at the rules.

"I think so."

"Then what are you planning to do?"

Shen Niannian thought for a moment.

"As long as none of you suddenly go crazy and screw me over in the next fifteen minutes, I'll approve you all."

Zhou Hai was taken aback.

"That's it?"

"What else?"

Shen Niannian answered matter-of-factly.

"Am I supposed to come up with an advanced math test on the spot?"

(・ω・)

She didn't have a grudge against any of them.

If they could all get out together, that was naturally best.

Besides, Zhou Hai had saved Wang Jianguo and Lin Xiaoyu earlier.

At least he wasn't a bad person.

There was no need to use the rules to deliberately make things difficult for them.

[Banquet host approves player: Zhou Hai.]

[Approval confirmed.]

Zhou Hai's room card lit up instantly.

The third Blood Moon Seal slowly appeared.

He froze for a moment.

It had really worked.

Right afterward.

Wang Jianguo.

Song Qiming.

All received her approval.

The expressions on all three men's faces relaxed at once.

The livestream chat flooded the screen again.

"She just let all three players through!"

"This round actually turned into a freebie for the others!"

"Only because the banquet host happened to be Shen Niannian."

"So we're back to the question-what gives her the right to be the host?!"

Just then.

A sweet voice rang out beside her.

"Niannian."

Bai Feiyue approached with a glass of dark red liquid.

Smiling, she held the glass out to her.

"A toast to you."

Shen Niannian looked at the glass.

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

The color was suspicious.

Very suspicious.

"What is this?"

"Blood wine."

"Human blood?"

"No."

Shen Niannian breathed a small sigh of relief.

"That's good."

Bai Feiyue's smile grew even sweeter.

"It's the blood of an uncanny creature."

Shen Niannian: "..."

(°ー°〃)

What was the difference?!

The rules required her to accept at least one toast.

But they didn't say she had to drink wine.

Shen Niannian suddenly noticed some ordinary fruit juice on a nearby table.

She turned to Gu Changsheng.

"Can I accept a toast with a different drink?"

Gu Changsheng paused noticeably.

Then he nodded.

"The rules only require you to accept a toast. They don't specify the type of drink."

Shen Niannian perked up immediately.

"Then get me a glass of strawberry juice!"

The livestream chat:

"???"

"Strawberry juice at the Blood Moon Banquet?"

"The rules don't say she can't!"

Soon.

A glass of pink strawberry juice was handed to Shen Niannian.

Bai Feiyue looked at the blood wine in her own hand.

Then at Shen Niannian's strawberry juice.

She suddenly laughed.

"Still as picky as ever."

Shen Niannian didn't hear anything strange in that.

The two clinked glasses.

Clink.

[Accepted a toast.]

Next.

She only had to propose a toast herself.

Shen Niannian swept her gaze across the banquet hall.

Dozens of uncanny creatures froze at once.

Their eyes began darting about.

As if they were terrified of meeting her gaze.

Shen Niannian: "?"

(・◇・)?

She just wanted to propose a toast.

Why were they acting like a teacher was about to call on someone at random?

In the end.

Shen Niannian settled on Gu Changsheng.

Someone she knew.

At least he was relatively reliable for now.

"Manager Gu."

Gu Changsheng's body stiffened slightly.

Shen Niannian raised her strawberry juice.

"Thank you for the VIP service these past two days?"

Gu Changsheng was silent for half a second.

Then he raised his glass with utmost seriousness.

"It's what the Blood Moon Hotel should do."

The two glasses clinked gently together.

[Proposed a toast.]

[All basic duties of the banquet host have been completed.]

Shen Niannian's eyes lit up.

Now all that remained was-

For the fifteen minutes to end!

The countdown began.

Ten minutes.

Five minutes.

The final minute.

A few uncanny creatures did try to come over and strike up a conversation during that time.

But they saw Bai Feiyue sitting beside Shen Niannian, with Gu Changsheng standing nearby in person.

In the end, every one of them very politely chose to keep quiet.

The last ten seconds.

Shen Niannian stared intently at the countdown.

[3]

[2]

[1]

[The Blood Moon Banquet has ended.]

Hum-!

The black-and-gold room card suddenly grew hot.

The third empty crescent slot filled completely with a blood-red glow.

[Blood Moon Banquet Seal obtained!]

[All three hotel services have been completed!]

Shen Niannian looked down sharply.

Three seals.

All lit up!

(✧▽✧)

"Got them all!"

The livestream chat erupted instantly.

"The third one!"

"She really collected them all!"

"The Blood Moon Hotel's main quest is complete!"

"It's her first time in a dungeon, and it's an A-rank one!"

"Tomorrow, she just has to check out to clear it!"

Shen Niannian couldn't help smiling too.

Finally.

There was only one step left.

The third morning.

The front desk.

Get her checkout certificate.

Leave this godforsaken place!

But the very next second after the Blood Moon Banquet ended.

The entire hotel suddenly shook violently.

Boom-!

All the lights went out at once.

Immediately afterward.

An elderly voice, completely different from Gu Changsheng's.

Rang out over the hotel's broadcast system for the first time.

[Four guests detected who have met the checkout conditions.]

[The third day will begin early.]

[The Blood Moon Hotel's final checkout procedure-]

[Has officially begun.]

The smile slowly froze on Shen Niannian's face.

"..."

(￣ー￣)

She knew it.

This damn dungeon...

Would never let her walk out the front door in peace.