"Miss Nakiri,"
Lin Ye turned to the golden-haired young girl with a sincere smile — and the moment she saw it, she fell into a state of hesitation.
In the past, back when she was herself — how could Erina Nakiri ever hesitate? When faced with something she didn't want to do, she would refuse outright, without a single moment's wavering. Every extra second of hesitation was a waste of her time and energy.
But now — things were different. Faced with Lin Ye's request, she genuinely felt she couldn't say no.
Erina's gaze drifted toward the enormous white hamster being surrounded and attacked by the veteran players. Despite fighting back fiercely — snapping with its jaws, lashing out with all four limbs, and whipping its long, slender tail that had hardened into a spike, each strike tearing through the air with a piercing shriek — it was still losing ground against the players' coordinated assault.
Wounds kept accumulating across its body. And yet, even so, it hadn't fallen — a testament to just how tenacious its vitality was.
"Is that a no?"
"..."
You're saying it like that — how am I supposed to refuse?!
Erina couldn't help thinking that.
"I — I understand. I'll try. But there isn't much time left," she said.
Only twenty minutes remained until the end.
"No problem. Just throw something together — nothing fancy."
Lin Ye's standards weren't high. As long as it was cooked through and tasted decent, that was enough.
He wanted the meat, yes — but more than that, he wanted the attribute points that eating it would bring. That hamster was bound to give him more points than anything else.
Lin Ye was looking forward to it.
But still — why hadn't the hamster gone down, even after taking damage over and over again? It was clearly at a disadvantage, no match for Cold Frost and the other veteran players.
Perspective.
Lin Ye activated his Perspective Skill.
Quickly, the hamster's outer skin vanished from his view, revealing the state of its internal organs.
Intact… undamaged.
No — not undamaged. Repairing.
This hamster has an extraordinarily high self-regeneration ability?
But Lin Ye's instincts rejected that conclusion.
If it truly had self-regeneration on that level, it would be completely broken. The veteran players could pound away at it for hours and still might never bring it down.
Lin Ye made a decision. He jogged over to Cold Frost's side.
"Lend me your sword."
"Sure."
Without a moment's hesitation, Cold Frost immediately held out the blade in her hand.
"Watch out!"
The hamster's sharp tail came slicing through the air.
Cold Frost cried out immediately.
Lin Ye activated Time Stop, catching sight of the skewering tail mid-lunge.
He surged forward in a single stride, closed the distance to the hamster, and brought the blade down with every ounce of his strength — aimed at the joint where the tail met the body.
Thud…
The connection point was tough, but he drove the sword down again — and the tail came free.
That wasn't the end. It was only the beginning. In the same motion, Lin Ye drove the blade straight into the hamster's eye, then plunged it hard into the area of the heart.
Time Stop ended.
As time resumed its normal flow, the hamster let out a blood-curdling shriek.
The veteran players stood completely baffled — not a single one of them could tell what had just happened. How had this incredibly resilient hamster suddenly started wailing?
But when they noticed the wound in its eye, and the severed tail, the pieces clicked into place.
In a fraction of a second, Zero had struck — and left the hamster combat-ineffective.
That level of power was terrifying.
If he ever turned it on them, they'd be completely helpless.
They'd noticed that Lin Ye hadn't made many moves himself up until now — it had mostly been Cold Frost acting. But this wasn't because Lin Ye lacked strength. It was because once that power was unleashed, it would inevitably cause extreme damage — and using it probably came at no small cost, or was limited in uses or duration.
Whether it was a skill or a Strange object, they couldn't say.
Either way, every veteran player was envious. An ability like that — they all wanted one.
The hamster collapsed for the first time.
But in less than three seconds, it hauled itself back up. Its severed tail had reattached. Its injured eye had regenerated. The speed of its recovery left everyone gaping.
"How are we supposed to fight this thing?"
"Its regeneration is insane."
"Zero — just kill it in one shot."
Lin Ye watched the hamster steadily and said, "Even if I kill it, it might just come back to life."
It wasn't out of the question. The black bear earlier had already proven as much.
"Then what do we do?"
With regeneration like this, the longer they kept fighting, the more they'd be worn down — and they'd only end up losing.
Lin Ye didn't believe the hamster's regeneration was limitless.
He stepped back from the fighting and began to observe again, searching for clues and connections.
Why had the surviving small mice stopped charging?
He turned to look back at the cooking stations, and activated Perspective again.
Almost immediately, a cluster of hidden hamsters appeared in his field of view — crouched out of sight, chewing away at the ingredients and prepared dishes.
A certain idea surfaced in Lin Ye's mind.
"Kill them —"
"Prioritise killing those small mice!"
"Quick — there are mice hiding in the ingredients, and more outside! Kill every last one. Don't leave a single one alive!"
...
At Lin Ye's shouted orders, the players reacted — some faster, some slower, but they reacted.
Lin Ye's judgment had been proven time and again. No player was going to waste time questioning him at this point.
Act first.
Even if it turned out to be wrong, it was still better than standing there waiting.
One by one, the remaining mice were eliminated.
The hamster flew into a state of wild, frenzied aggression —
— and that reaction was exactly the confirmation Lin Ye needed.
With one final, thunderous crash, the hamster toppled to the ground, thrashed twice, and at last went still.
Dead.
Finally dead.
And Lin Ye immediately cut off the hamster's tail, grabbed it, and dragged it over to Erina Nakiri.
Erina's feelings at that moment were complicated.
You drag over a tail...
You're really fixated on tails, aren't you?!
Erina began instructing Lin Ye on how to prep the tail while she heated the pan and prepared the seasonings.
Lin Ye hadn't asked her to make it especially delicious — but she was going to do her absolute best regardless.
At that moment, the atmosphere on the Organizer's side had shifted.
Yet again, the players had breezed through another difficult obstacle.
At this point, if this wasn't considered breezing through it, then nothing would be.
With a veteran player of this calibre — someone with exceptional strength and sharp tactical intelligence — organising the rest of the group, there was genuinely no way to break them.
First place: eight hundred Strange Coins.
The Host Mask Man pressed his lips together tight.
He absolutely could not afford to fail.
If he did, he would be plunged into an inescapable hell.
...
Time finally reached the 120-minute mark.
The Host Mask Man clapped once more — clap, clap, clap…
"Congratulations to all our guests for making it this far."
"Having survived until now demonstrates your strength and your luck. I extend to each of you my most sincere congratulations and best wishes once again."
Every player's inner response was the same: Yeah, right.
If the Host Mask Man were genuinely sincere, he wouldn't have deliberately concealed information about the monster attacks.
The players had no doubt that the Organizer possessed that information. The other side had come in fully expecting — hoping — for everyone to fail, for all of them to die here. That was why there had been no warnings whatsoever.
Even after the monsters appeared, there had been no reaction from the Organizer — the whole group had retreated to the sidelines to watch, refusing to get involved in any way.
The players were now completely certain of the adversarial relationship between themselves and the Organizer. Their interests were in direct conflict, their goals at odds — which meant the Organizer could not be trusted.
"Hurry up and start the judging!"
"We can't wait to see the scores."
"Get on with it!"
...
The players were getting impatient.
They wanted the judging over, and the mission ended, as soon as possible.
The newcomer players especially were utterly drained, mind and body alike. They were already thinking of going home — back to the warmth and comfort of their own houses, back to ease and happiness and peace.
"Please, there's no need to rush," the Host Mask Man said, waving a hand to settle them down.
"First, let us invite the judges to take their seats."
Six newcomer players selected from the players' side came forward and sat down as judges.
Lin Ye, Cold Frost, and Erina Nakiri had all chosen not to serve as judges.
Both Cold Frost and Erina were at risk of being poisoned if they ate, while Lin Ye simply had no desire to serve as a judge. He'd already eaten every ingredient worth eating — and he genuinely didn't believe there would be any dish here that could surpass what Erina Nakiri had made.
Two of the Organizer's staff members took their seats as well.
One seat remained empty.
It was obviously reserved for the Host Mask Man.
"It is my honour to serve as a judge today. I look forward greatly to the dishes our guests have prepared, and I hope they will be to our satisfaction."
The Host Mask Man gave a slight smile.
"Then let us begin. Group One may bring their completed dish to the table. Please do not forget — tasting is required before it is served."
Group One's dish was a beef stew: black daikon and beef combined together, seasoned with spices, simmered in a single pot. The beef had been braised until wonderfully tender, and with the fragrance of the black daikon mingling through, it gave off a faint but enticing aroma.
The group's cook served a portion to each member of their team.
They had cooked and tasted the dish earlier — but back then, they hadn't yet added the one ingredient that had to be included. They'd only added it at the very end.
A safety precaution.
"Okay…"
"Trust in Brother Zero. We'll be fine."
"Brother Zero has never been wrong. Nothing's going to happen to us."
...
All three of them let out a slow breath, then each ate a piece of beef and black daikon, and took a small sip of the broth.
"The taste… isn't bad, actually," one of them said, genuinely surprised.
At least purely in terms of flavour, they could tell the dish was decent enough.
"Please —"
A bowl of braised beef and black daikon was set before each of the nine judges.
One of the player judges picked up their chopsticks and took a bite — and was mildly impressed. The dish really did taste quite good.
The other judges began tasting as well.
The Host Mask Man also took a bite. "Not bad. Normal flavour."
Nothing particularly remarkable about it — it had the taste of a simple homestyle dish. Edible, not unpleasant, but you couldn't exactly call it delicious either.
The scores came in quickly.
Nine judges submitted their ratings: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 1, 1.
Of the six player judges, two had given a 1; among the three Organizer judges, the scores were 0, 1, 1.
The former arrangement had been Lin Ye's suggestion.
The six player judges would give out 1s in rotation, to avoid a situation where every group received a 2 across the board.
It was purely a precaution based on guesswork — but you couldn't rule out the possibility that if a judge gave out 2s for every single round, all of that judge's scores might be disqualified entirely.
Rules like that had a way of existing when you least expected them.
As a preventive measure, Lin Ye had deliberately arranged things this way.
Some veteran players thought he was overthinking it — but no one objected.
Losing one point per round wasn't a significant impact.
What genuinely surprised the players was that two of the Organizer's judges had given 1s rather than zeros.
It seemed they really were intending to score fairly after all.
"Highest and lowest scores removed. Total score: 10 points."
They'd expected only eight — but the result was ten.
For Group One, this was incredible news.
"Congratulations," the Organizer's host said.
But hidden deep in his eyes was a shadow of gloom.
The moment the scores had been tallied, the Host Mask Man's expression had changed.
These people aren't following any normal pattern with their scoring either!
This has to be that Lin Ye character's doing.
This man is thoroughly unpredictable. He absolutely cannot be underestimated.
"Please bring up Group Two."
At another staff member's call, Group Two's players also began their mandatory tasting. They too had used Lin Ye's ingredients, and they too felt at ease — confident nothing would go wrong.
A few minutes later, Group Two finished their tasting.
Scoring began.
2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 0, 0, 0.
This time, the Organizer gave all zeros, while the player judges' total came to ten points. After applying the rules, Group Two received a final score of 8 points.
"Phew."
Eight points was a little disappointing, but it was still passing.
"Thank you, Brother Zero."
Without Lin Ye, they would never have gotten eight points. They'd certainly have failed here and been eliminated.
Everything they'd managed to get through in this mission — it was all thanks to Lin Ye. They would never forget that.
Third group.
Fourth group.
They came up one by one.
Scores of 8 points, 9 points, 8 points.
A ten would appear occasionally.
Going by the current trend, 12 seemed to be the maximum — though none of the Organizer's judges had given out a 2 yet.
"Please —"
"This dish is called…"
The cook glanced at Lin Ye, then continued, "Nine-turn Braised Intestines."
"Please, enjoy."
Their group had already tasted it — the flavour was decent.
Whether the Organizer's judges would approve was another question entirely, and one they genuinely didn't know the answer to.
After all, the rest of the group knew exactly what extra ingredient the cook had added at the end.
But since Lin Ye had said this was the way to go, they were willing to trust him. They believed this round could earn a high score.
The Host Mask Man looked at the braised intestines on the plate before him. He leaned in to sniff it — and his expression shifted, ever so slightly.
The hearts of the four group members clenched. They were terrified he'd noticed something.
But the Host Mask Man simply looked at the dish for a moment, and then began to eat.
The other two Organizer judges finished their portions — and their expressions changed.
"Delicious."
"The intestines are delicious."
"The flavour's really something."
...
For the first time, the two Organizer staff members had spoken up to express that a dish actually tasted good.
The group was completely dumbstruck.
So Brother Zero was right all along!
The Organizer's staff really do love eating sht!*
...
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