The exaggerated chewing sounds froze for a moment.
The woman who was reapplying powder froze.
"..."
Silence is the restaurant tonight.
"Pfft!" Ghost's joys and sorrows are not shared. Greed is in a state of self-isolation, struggling to suppress laughter despite his gluttony and lust.
"...The chubby guy I chose is still the best. His mood fluctuates a lot, but he doesn't have any particularly difficult abilities." Gluttony couldn't help but sigh, and then smacked his lips at the end, "Even half of his soul tastes good."
Lust also wanted to emulate Gluttony's "reflections," but when she thought about her experience that night, she couldn't bring herself to lie and exaggerate, even though she had no conscience. She could only sigh, "Although that player wasn't very capable or physically strong and didn't have many advantages, his soul power was still quite delicious."
"That's enough for you guys." Greed rolled his eyes and downed his coffee in one gulp.
When her alarm rang at seven o'clock, Mu Anqi was still very sleepy. However, after lying in bed for three seconds, she realized that if she stayed in bed any longer, the remaining players would break down the door and think she had died last night...
Mu Anqi nearly twisted her back as she sprang to her feet. She quickly went into the bathroom to wash up and change, and by the time she was all ready, it was 7:30.
With her backpack on, Mu Anqi pushed open the door and went out.
"Good morning." As soon as she opened the door, sure enough... the remaining four players were in the hallway. Even the aloof Shen Bufan, standing at a distance, was paying attention to her room.
"Good morning." Zhao Guogu's eyes lit up. "Let's go have breakfast together!"
"Ah, right, right, let's have breakfast together first!" Chu Zhongfei was both surprised and delighted when he saw Mu Anqi. He scratched his head, not knowing how to say anything nice, but he felt that it was quite remarkable that Mu Anqi had survived. He followed closely behind Shen Bufan, and after thinking for a long time, he managed to squeeze out, "Congratulations on defeating Greed!"
"...It wasn't a victory over Greed either." Mu Anqi didn't know if the man in the suit would show up tonight, after all, the guy disappeared too quickly and didn't seem injured or defeated. "Sigh, let's go to the restaurant and sit down first."
After everyone had taken their breakfast and sat down, Mu Anqi ate a couple of bites of hot dry noodles to fill his stomach before briefly recounting the various hallucinations he had experienced the previous night. "They really are the Seven Deadly Sins. Last night, I encountered ' Greed.' I think they use illusions to make people lose themselves. Like yesterday, I dreamt that I was on a golden mountain as exaggerated as Mount Everest, covered in gold and all kinds of pearls and gems, sparkling brilliantly. But maybe my subconscious thought it was too unreal, so Greed changed the dream and even erased my memories. Yes, it makes people forget their original memories, forget that they are still in the escape world."
"I came to the escape world… actually because of a car accident. The scene he set up for me was a hospital ward, and then he wanted me to make a wish to him so that I could get a lot of money." Mu Anqi took a sip of soy milk and said in a low voice, "At that time, I thought he was a liar and didn't believe him for a while. Later, because my ability was activated unintentionally, he… uh, revealed a flaw, and the illusion disappeared."
"After the illusion disappeared, I realized I was lying on a hotel bed, and the pink banknotes were still almost completely covering me. Yes, I felt tightness in my chest and shortness of breath throughout the illusion, and at the time I thought it was a side effect of the car accident..."
After a brief explanation, the players understood what Mu Anqi had encountered yesterday. None of them actively inquired about Mu Anqi's abilities; instead, they pondered the message Mu Anqi had conveyed.
"Not only must you maintain your true self within the illusion and resist temptation, but you must also break free of the illusion as soon as possible, otherwise your real self will also be killed." Wu Sansheng succinctly summarized and stated this.
Looking at it this way, the game doesn't seem too difficult after all...
Of course, when a person is truly deep in a dream world, and memories are blurred, it's not easy to remain unaffected by emotions or lose oneself. More importantly, simply holding onto your sense of self isn't enough; you must break free from the illusion, or you'll still inevitably die.
"Thank you," Chu Zhongfei said, then sighed, his head throbbing. If nothing unexpected happened, it would be his turn tonight? Laziness… laziness…
"Safe word," Wu Sansheng said calmly.
"Pfft—" Zhao Guogu suddenly spat out the milk she was drinking. She looked at Wu Sansheng in disbelief, but choked and could only cough incessantly, her face turning red. "Cough cough cough, what...did you say?"
"You can think of a safe word to remind yourself of the difference between illusion and reality." Wu Sansheng glanced at Zhao Guogu. Although her face was expressionless, for some reason, Zhao Guogu felt that Wu Sansheng's gaze was full of genuine doubt. "Or, you can carve words on your palm or arm… The wounds can be healed by spending points when you return to Nirvana Space."
"Of course, it's just a hypothetical scenario."
Zhao Guogu "…"
Seeing that Wu Sansheng was still looking at her, her face still flushed, she picked up the milk and took a sip to cover it up, then gave Wu Sansheng a thumbs up and said, "That's a great idea! I drank it too fast just now."
"Then I'll try it out. If it works, I can tell you tomorrow, and you can use this method then." Chu Zhongfei said, picking out a sharp knife from the cutlery cart and forcefully carving the words "escape" onto his left forearm. Blood seeped out, and he quickly wiped it with a clean napkin. He hesitated, worried that his hallucinatory self wouldn't even recognize the words, wondering if he should also carve "laziness" and cross it off. But the word "laziness" had too many strokes…
"...Why not just carve a '7'?" Seven Nights Hotel, the Seven Deadly Sins...aren't they all "7"? Besides, having a number scar on your body out of nowhere is quite noticeable. As soon as Mu Anqi finished speaking, Chu Zhongfei conveniently carved another "7". This guy didn't seem to feel much pain and even thanked him excitedly.
"Thank you! I'll definitely try my best to survive tonight!"
After a simple breakfast, Mu Anqi felt uneasy. She looked at Wu Sansheng and couldn't help but ask, "Do you think... Greed will come to see me again tonight?"
"No, that wouldn't be fair," Wu Sansheng replied.
Yes, if the survivors are constantly subjected to trials, then it's incredibly unfair to compare players who embody lust with those who embody arrogance. But...
"The condition for passing the level is to survive for seven days. I've already passed the corresponding difficulty, so there's no way I can go on vacation now." Mu Anqi was a little confused. "Why am I staying here...?"
Why...
Nobody knows.
"This hotel has a lot of facilities, right? I think… what if we could actually have a vacation?" Chu Zhongfei scratched his head. "Maybe you could go see a movie? Go swimming? Take a sauna or get a massage."
"...A massage? Was it a ghost giving me that massage?"
Chu Zhongfei's expression froze for a moment, then he thought about it seriously and replied, "Uh, maybe."
The players scattered; some returned to their rooms to rest and recharge, while others tried to find some handy weapons in the hotel. After all, if you were lucky, you might find some "one-time use" items in the dungeon.
Mu Anqi walked to the door of B403. To be honest, she didn't know if Greed was in B403 or B404, or if the Ghosts ' rooms were completely messed up. Fortunately, she didn't intend to knock. Mu Anqi used her ability to slip a hundred guansi into a red envelope, then cleared her throat and said, "I wonder if any Ghosts would be willing to answer a few questions for me?"
There was no response.
Mu Anqi pondered for a moment, then added, "Questions that cannot be answered do not need to be answered, but questions that can be answered must be answered, and lying is not allowed."
"Just a few questions, very simple."
"...Aren't there any ghosts at home?"
With no response, Mu Anqi sighed and was about to stuff the red envelope back into her backpack. Since she couldn't find the answer, she might as well try out the hotel's various special services; maybe she could find some clues there. If she hadn't thought yesterday that this ability could provide an easier answer, Mu Anqi wouldn't have been willing to spend a hundred guan to try.
However, at that moment, there was a knock on the door of room B403 from the inside.
The man in the suit spoke in a deep, magnetic voice, tinged with a hint of dissatisfaction: "One hundred is too little, you need to pay more!"
"...How much did you say?" Mu Anqi was taken aback, completely unexpected. She thought the ghost wasn't here, but it turned out it was complaining about the number of guansi ( official residences).
"Eight hundred!"
Mu Anqi took off running without stopping for a moment. Even as she reached the corridor, preparing to go upstairs to check out the other hotel facilities, she could still hear an exasperated shout coming from B403: "Come back! We can still negotiate! Seven hundred, seven hundred isn't enough!"
No Ghost would refuse additional benefits, especially Greed.
But precisely because he is Greed, he wants more.
However, nothing could be more cruel than watching his guansi leave him. Greed angrily flung open the door, staring at the empty hallway, further fueling his emotions…
Well, it's still recorded in his profit account. In a way, this could be considered self-production and self-consumption?
At the start of the game, the Ghost in rooms b401 to b407 is unable to leave. On the first night, the Ghost in b401 gains freedom, and regardless of whether it successfully eliminates the chosen player, it remains completely free for the remainder of the game.
It can choose to fish in troubled waters or "harass" other players to earn emotion points. Players who successfully complete the level also get free time before the game time ends. During this time, they can play around with Ghost to contribute emotion points and enjoy the hotel's various facilities. It can be considered a kind of alternative "level completion reward".