Chapter 57: Haruto's Outrageous Demands
The butler had long since vanished from the dining hall.
Despite this, only a few people were still eating. Even those who were, cautiously picked at some vegetables and fruits, their forks moving with deliberate slowness. No one dared to touch the tempting, delicious-looking steaks and meatballs that sat glistening under the chandelier's light.
Yotsuya Miko, noticing the strange atmosphere, stood up. She walked past Sister Kaguya and Lin Xuelao, leaning in to whisper to Xie Lin, who sat beside her.
"Why isn't anyone eating the meat? It smells so good, doesn't it?"
"Because they're scared," Xie Lin murmured back, his eyes fixed on the platter of roasted meat. "You never know what kind of meat you're eating in a place like this. Food that appears in these instances is often… unclean."
His choice of words was tactful, but the implication was clear.
At the mere mention of it, his teammates, Liu Haoran and Wenwen, seemed to recall some deeply unpleasant memory. Their faces instantly turned a sickly shade of green, and they looked as if they were about to vomit the vegetables they had just swallowed.
Miko watched their visceral reactions, and a piece of grim common sense she had frantically been studying about the horror world clicked into place. She finally understood what Xie Lin meant by "unclean meat." When she looked back at the fragrant steaks, the rich, savory aroma now seemed to carry a disgusting, cloying undertone. The deep red of the meat looked less like seared beef and more like something eerie and forbidden.
"Sister Kaguya, Haruto, you two…"
Miko instinctively wanted to warn them, but the words died in her throat. She found that the two of them were already stuffing their faces, not even bothering with knives and forks. They were simply grabbing chunks of meat and rice with their bare hands, eating with a gusto that was completely out of place.
Miko froze, unsure if she should interrupt them. In the end, it was Liu Haoran who couldn't hold his tongue any longer.
"Don't eat that!" he blurted out. "That meat might be human flesh! Just eat some vegetables!"
Clatter.
A half-eaten piece of steak fell from Haruto's fingers, splashing a fine spray of gravy across the white tablecloth. He smacked his lips, his chewing motion freezing mid-air as he stared at Sister Kaguya in disbelief. She merely met his gaze and gave a nonchalant shrug.
Seeing her reaction, Haruto let out a visible sigh of relief. He resumed chewing the steak still in his mouth, swallowed it with a satisfied gulp, and promptly picked up the piece he had dropped.
"Sister Kaguya, is there something wrong with this meat?" Yotsuya Miko asked, sitting back down, though her heart was still pounding with unease.
"What problem could there be?" Sister Kaguya rolled her eyes, dabbing her lips with a napkin. "Although I cannot tell what manner of beast this is, it is most certainly not human. If it were, how could I possibly fail to recognize the taste?"
"Oh, oh, right… you're right." Miko nodded subconsciously, her mind struggling to process the statement. She reflexively forked a meatball, but as she brought it halfway to her lips, her eyes shot wide open.
Right my ass!
Sister Kaguya hadn't bothered to lower her voice. Her shocking declaration had echoed clearly through the silent dining room, reaching the ears of every single person present.
In an instant, a dozen gazes filled with horror, suspicion, and utter disbelief all locked onto her.
She couldn't tell what kind of meat it was, but she was absolutely certain it wasn't human? Doesn't that mean she already has a point of comparison? That she's tasted human flesh before?!
Where in the world did this girl get that kind of experience?!
Everyone desperately wanted to believe she was making a sick joke, but her regal and utterly composed demeanor suggested she wasn't lying in the slightest.
Xie Lin and his two teammates stared at Sister Kaguya with expressions that were a complex mixture of fear and morbid curiosity. If it weren't for Haruto's earlier, seemingly selfless act of taking a risk for a stranger, they would have already decided to keep as much distance as possible from this woman for the remainder of the instance.
Aside from Haruto, Sister Kaguya, Yotsuya Miko, and Lin Xuelao, no one else dared to touch the platters of meat. The feast laid out on the table was almost entirely consumed by Haruto and Kaguya alone.
However, even after the two had eaten their fill and their plates were scraped clean, everyone remained seated. No one made a move to leave.
The reason was simple. They had questions that needed answers.
Even those who wanted to retreat to the relative safety of their rooms saw that no one else was standing up, so they followed the crowd and continued to wait in the tense silence.
Time ticked by, minute by agonizing minute.
Clack… clack, clack…
The crisp sound of footsteps descended from the third floor. A tall, straight-backed figure emerged from the shadows of the grand staircase. It was the butler.
He glanced at the assembled players, all sitting neatly at the table, and a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. He quickly masked it, however, and came forward, skillfully clearing the bowls and plates from the table, trip after trip. Just as he was carrying away the last batch of tableware, one of the players called out to him.
"Excuse me, where is your master?"
Every eye in the room focused on the butler. From the moment they arrived, they hadn't seen the so-called Lord of the castle. Since he had extended an invitation, it seemed terribly rude not to even show his face.
"My apologies," the butler said, bowing slightly. "The master is away on business and will not return for four days. During this time, I will be responsible for entertaining our guests."
Away on business? Such a coincidence?
Everyone frowned. To leave on a trip precisely after inviting guests to his home? This was a serious breach of etiquette.
"What kind of place is the third floor?" the same player asked again. "What's up there?"
"Everyone is free to explore the castle," the butler's voice suddenly turned cold, losing all its earlier politeness. "However, you are forbidden from going to the third floor. The master does not like others entering that area."
The player who had asked the question immediately shrank back in his seat, not daring to press the issue further.
Seeing this, the others steered clear of the topic, only asking a few simple questions about the castle's history and layout. It was only the first day of the instance; there was no need to anger a key NPC like the butler. No one knew what consequences provoking him might bring.
After a round of cautious questioning, they had managed to gather a few meager clues:
1. The master had invited many guests recently.
2. The master was looking to hire a new butler.
3. The only permanent residents of the castle were the Lord, the Lady, and the butler himself.
Just as everyone thought the information gathering had come to a rather anticlimactic end, Haruto spoke up, his voice casual.
"Can I go take a look at the third floor?"
All eyes instantly snapped between Haruto and the butler. No one had expected him to dare ask that question again.
The butler's body went rigid. He turned his head, his expression grim and thunderous, but upon seeing that the speaker was Haruto, his anger gradually subsided. He remained silent for a long moment.
"No," he finally said, his voice firm. "The master does not like others entering the third floor. You are all free to visit the rest of the castle, but please, do not go up there."
Seeing the man's unyielding attitude, Haruto simply shrugged, not insisting. If he couldn't go openly, he'd just go secretly later.
"Alright then," Haruto said with a sigh. "In that case, could you please make me ten or twenty servings of those Curry Fish Balls and some Fried Tofu? I'd like to take them back to my room for a late-night snack."
Ten to twenty servings?
If they hadn't personally witnessed the terrifying appetites of Haruto and Sister Kaguya, the other players would have assumed he was deliberately trying to cause trouble again.
"...Very well," the butler replied after a slight pause. He carried the last of the dishes away, his footsteps receding towards the first-floor kitchens.
Only when the butler's figure had completely disappeared did everyone in the dining hall finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Did anyone find anything?" a slightly overweight man who had earlier tried to trick a newcomer asked with a smile. His name was Zhang Katao, and he was a veteran of four instances.
No one responded.
He didn't seem bothered by the silence. After glancing towards the staircase, he continued, "This is a Death Game, and it's a team-based instance. We all have to cooperate. It's impossible to clear this with just two or three people. How about this: we'll split up and explore for a bit, see if we can find any useful clues, and then gather back here to discuss before returning to our rooms."
Everyone tacitly agreed to his suggestion. After all, they hadn't even found the blood-red words on the blackboard that typically served as the instance's main prompt.
However, just as the group began to disperse, Haruto quietly motioned to Sister Kaguya and Miko. While the others headed off to search the first and second floors, he led his team silently toward the forbidden third.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]