Last night, the vast majority of the Newcomer players actually rested quite well. They were completely unworried about safety issues; after all, the night raid that occurred last night was targeted at Zero, the player with the highest hope for the championship victory.
However, a few Newcomer players realized that due to the deaths of the Veteran players leading them, they would have to rely on themselves for the upcoming projects. Having picked their lives back up from the jaws of death last night and not being held accountable by Zero, they already felt deeply fortunate. But the moment they thought of the dangers the subsequent projects would entail, their hearts sank. They feared it would be very difficult for them to pass the projects that followed.
"Can't give up,"
"Don't panic,"
"Even without Storm, we can do it. At least we can successfully clear the level,"
...
They didn't want to give up just like this. Once they gave up, there really would be no hope left. They didn't want to die here.
Early morning, the sunlight was mild.
Everyone simply began eating breakfast. This was specially prepared last night; many players had purposely made a bit more while cooking last night to facilitate eating on the second day.
Lin Ye ate the cold meat and fruit, thinking nothing of it. With the Superpower: Devour in hand, there were no issues with his food intake.
Cold Frost took small bites, chewing slowly and swallowing. Erina Nakiri ate silently. Once upon a time, as an Eldest Miss, when had she ever experienced eating this kind of leftover food? She might be willing, but her God Tongue would not be willing. However, now she discovered that her God Tongue seemed to be willing as well, becoming able to accept cuisine of average taste. The requirements were lowering; she didn't even know how to evaluate it anymore.
Over ten minutes later, the Host Mask Man, who had disappeared upon leaving last night, appeared once again.
Bathed in the early morning sunlight, he wore a white suit today, with the same mask worn on his face, concealing his appearance.
"Good morning, good morning, respected guests, good morning!"
Good? What was good about it? They were here, living in fear every minute and every second, deeply afraid they might croak at any moment. They were not good at all.
"It seems the guests aren't feeling very good. Then it seems I must do something to make the guests feel better."
The Host Mask Man's smiling words made the hearts of numerous players tremble. This was likely not a good thing. He probably wanted them to pay some price!
"So, guests, good or not?"
"Good!"
"Very good,"
"Extremely good."
One player after another responded. They were dissatisfied in their hearts, but they still replied. Who dared not to reply? This Host frequently engaged in these terrifying segments. Although they didn't know if it was real or fake, they couldn't afford to gamble. After all, once they lost the gamble, their end wouldn't be anywhere near good.
Only a few Veteran players remained as steady as Mount Tai, completely unmoved. They chose to directly ignore the Host Mask Man's moves.
"Ay, ay, good is good, but Sir, you don't seem to feel good!"
The Host Mask Man's line of sight pierced directly toward Lin Ye; he was staring right at Lin Ye.
"I was attacked last night and almost lost my life; how could I be good? Your Organizer side was severely negligent in security and defense work. I am here strongly demanding your Organizer side take responsibility."
Lin Ye not only rebutted but also directly counterattacked, raising a demand for compensation from the Organizer. This attitude made numerous players shout out praise for Lin Ye's guts and valor.
In this moment, the entire venue's line of sight concentrated on the two of them again. No one dared to breathe loudly, deeply afraid of breaking this strange state between the two at this time.
"Isn't the guest fine?"
"Does being fine represent that you don't need to take responsibility?"
"Our Organizer is not responsible for security and defense work. We, the Organizer, do not govern conflict behaviors between guests."
They didn't intervene, didn't interfere. The Host Mask Man even wanted to shout 'very good' a few times. Last night, he had predicted that some players wouldn't be able to hold back and would make a move on Lin Ye. But what was pity was that those two Veteran players were counter-killed, completely useless.
This was the matter that made the Mask Man most annoyed inside. Trash. Absolute trash. Even a sneak attack could fail, not even scraping off a single hair. What use were those two!
"Your side truly is useless at all."
The Host's mouth twitched.
"Wait, that's not right, there is still a little use."
Lin Ye's smile instantly made the Host Mask Man realize what Lin Ye was referring to. It was the red fruits and vegetables. That large quantity of fruits and vegetables were all collected by them, and in the end, they were looted clean by Lin Ye to submit for the mission.
Realizing this point, the Host Mask Man hated him so much his teeth itched. He would rather Lin Ye expend untold hardships to find red ingredients than see Lin Ye snatch away the ingredients they collected to complete the task. The latter was completely and thoroughly a mocking behavior.
The Host Mask Man didn't know why Lin Ye would know, but based on guesses from Lin Ye's past performance, he felt Lin Ye likely had this conjecture through the point of 'them targeting him'. But a player who dared to do this in the final twenty minutes, there was likely only Lin Ye alone. In future Gourmet Sports Meets, it would also be very difficult for a similar player to appear again.
"As the coordinating organization hosting the Gourmet Sports Meet, our Organizer is naturally useful; please be assured on this point."
The Host Mask Man continued to speak with a chuckle, "The Gourmet Sports Meet's fourth project, which is also the final project, is now officially announced."
Final project? So fast.
Quite a few players had thought there were at least two more projects. The few Veteran players who attempted to make a final effort to take down the Gourmet Sports Meet championship realized their possibility of winning first place was almost zero. As long as Lin Ye performed normally and no major problems occurred, Lin Ye would definitely be first.
Eight hundred Strange Coins, gone! Their hearts were dripping blood. The Veteran players felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Named 'Cuisine'. How could a Gourmet Sports Meet not have a cooking segment?"
This did not exceed the players' expectations; they had basically all guessed the cooking project. It just came a bit early.
"Delicious cuisine is a precious experience and enjoyment. I believe the guests are now sharpening their knives, extremely excited, wanting very much to personally make delicious cuisine, but be patient and don't be impetuous."
He waved his hand, signaling the excited players to quiet down. The chefs among the Newcomers who had lived until now were very excited, very happy; they had an occasion to display their strength. Erina Nakiri didn't know how long she had waited for this day. She definitely had to make top-tier delicious cuisine and take down first place in one fell swoop. Otherwise, she wouldn't be a chef possessing the God Tongue.
"This cooking session has rules."
He raised his first finger.
"First, the time limit is two hours."
"Second, one cannot snatch other people's ingredients."
"Third, the theme of this cooking session is meat dishes."
"Fourth, the Organizer will randomly provide one type of ingredient; each group's dish must use this ingredient."
...
...
Aside from the second and fourth rules needing attention, the problems with the remaining two rules weren't very big. Time and theme were normal in any cooking competition. But what ingredient would the Organizer provide? It definitely wouldn't be a very normal ingredient. Numerous players thought this way.
Erina Nakiri, on the contrary, had her fighting spirit ignited.
"No matter what ingredient it is, I will definitely make delicious cuisine."
The golden-haired young girl resolved. On the stage, the Host Mask Man looked around a circle and slowly opened his mouth to speak, "Guests, if you have doubts, you can raise your hand to ask questions."
This time, the Host unexpectedly and proactively proposed that players could ask questions. Before long, a player raised their hand.
"How is the scoring for this cooking duel conducted? What is the standard?"
For the first three projects: the first and second were completion time, the third was quantity. Then what would the winning and losing score noun representation be for the fourth project's cooking? If the deadline was based on time, then they could completely disregard the taste of the cuisine and just directly make it successfully at the fastest speed to submit. This time, they had to know the judging standards.
"The scoring for cuisine is naturally taste."
The Host Mask Man continued to speak, "This time, the scoring will take the scores of seven judges as the standard. Each judge will be able to give 0 points, 1 point, or 2 points."
"And these scores are calculated into the total score."
"That is to say, for this round's project cuisine, guests can obtain a high score of at most fourteen points."
Fourteen points. This point value was so high! If some of them obtained fourteen points, and the score Lin Ye could obtain was only a low score of ten points or below, then they completely had the possibility to reverse the situation, counter-kill, and leap to become first.
Opportunity. It had come!
Many Veteran players became excited. They were very clear that Lin Ye was being targeted by the Organizer. For this kind of judging where human subjective consciousness was very high, the possibility of Lin Ye obtaining a high score was very low. But the possibility of obtaining a low score was very high, quite high. They even felt the Organizer would even give Zero a score of zero. To retaliate for Lin Ye's behavior up to now.
One could only say Lin Ye was still defeated in the Organizer's hands in the end. The Veteran players were endlessly happy; their opportunity. Among the Newcomer players, quite a few expressed regret for Zero.
Lin Ye naturally realized this point as well. Cold Frost and Erina Nakiri could also think of it. Unfair, extremely unfair. If it was really like this, then their defeat in this project was already set.
Erina Nakiri was endlessly resentful. Facing this reality, even if she could make Godly Cuisine, it was impossible to change their defeat in the fourth project. Having a place to use her skills in vain, but without any possibility of winning.
"I have a doubt."
Erina Nakiri immediately raised her hand.
"Please speak."
"How to guarantee fairness?"
Erina Nakiri stared at the Host. "The judges are all your Organizer's people. How do you guarantee your fairness, that you will treat us fairly and justly?"
This question, the Host had long anticipated. He gave a slight smile and spoke slowly, "Please rest assured, we will definitely make a correct evaluation."
Correct evaluation? Hehehe. Wasn't this just clearly stating they wouldn't be fair and just?
Lin Ye patted Erina Nakiri's shoulder. "Don't be angry."
"I am not angry."
But Erina Nakiri was huffing with rage at this time; she might explode from anger in the next second. "But the seven judges are all the Organizer's people. I absolutely do not believe they won't treat us differently."
"Guest, you are questioning our moral character."
"You guys have moral character? Just the first three projects, did you have fairness and justice?"
Completely none. Don't know about other groups temporarily, but their Group 26 had been targeted all along. If not for Lin Ye having strength and turning the tide, their Group 26 would have been eliminated long ago.
"Of course."
The Host Mask Man spoke with full confidence. This shameless appearance made numerous players shout 'shameless'. Not even a shred of shame. But thinking that the other party was extremely likely not of human identity, they actually understood. Not even humans anymore, where would there be moral character or knowledge of shame! Completely none.
"I am thinking about a matter."
Lin Ye's words immediately attracted everyone's attention. He had now already become the core among the players; his every move affected the players' hearts.
"Guest, what matter did you think of?"
"Up to now, you haven't said what the passing score is."
Lin Ye's words made everyone stunned. It seemed... there really wasn't one. But, this was already the fourth project, cooking, the final project; was there still a need for a passing score?
"The full score is 14 points. Below how many points will one be eliminated? Mr. Host, I think you need to answer this question."
"..."
"Players who don't pass will be eliminated, right! Your Organizer is preparing to eliminate all of us players, right!"
A single 'eliminate' immediately made all players panic. Even the Veteran players were the same. Their previous joy was built on the premise that the Organizer only targeted Lin Ye. But now, they vaguely sensed that the Organizer seemed to want to target all of them.
"Guest, you're overthinking it."
"I'm overthinking it?"
Lin Ye smiled. "First place is eight hundred Strange Coins. Even if I am not first place and am eliminated, there will still be a group that becomes first place and obtains eight hundred Strange Coins. And you guys, who don't want to have this loss, how can you reasonably, legally, and compliantly retain the eight hundred Strange Coins?"
Words reaching this point. Everyone suddenly saw the light. To want to keep the eight hundred Strange Coins, the best method was to eliminate all of their players! Several Veteran players exclaimed in surprise at how they hadn't thought of this point.
For the Organizer, rather than saying they were organizing a Gourmet Sports Meet, they were using the activity of 'Gourmet Sports Meet' to eliminate players. Eight hundred Strange Coins? I'm afraid the Organizer hadn't even thought about letting players take away one hundred Strange Coins.
In this instant, the whole venue fell into silence.
The Host Mask Man stared at Lin Ye. The corners of his mouth were raised, but his eyes had long since lost any smile; what existed was icy cold anger. This time, he was seen through again. Clearly, he hid it very well; clearly, he could have smoothly started the fourth project's cooking. As a result, these words of Lin Ye made everything change.
This guy, sure enough, was the most troublesome player; he should think of all methods to eliminate him.
"So, Mr. Host, what I want to say is that this project's 'Cuisine' actually doesn't need to be held. We won't participate. You just directly eliminate all of us!"
The players were stunned. Directly eliminate all? This was disregarding life, not wanting to live? Real or fake!
...
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