Chapter 17 of the Genesis Ship – 17

Chapter 17 of the Genesis Ship - 17

?

What was going on?

Qin Fei was utterly confused.

Was that guy targeting him, wanting to cling onto his coattails?

But such behavior, clinging onto someone else's coattails, was usually seen in players who were lacking in strength.

This monkey seemed quite capable, so why was he so willing to degrade himself??

There was no time now to analyze the monkey's psychological state. Qin Fei cast aside the monkey's voice of surrender and, with his long legs, sprinted forward.

The four fastest people swept out of the banquet hall like a whirlwind, but the players behind them weren't as fortunate.

The disparity between the number of NPCs and players on the second floor was truly significant. The players had just rushed out of the golden private room when they were surrounded by countless NPCs in the banquet hall.

In order to escape for their lives, everyone pulled out all the stops.

For a moment, the hall was in chaos, resembling a vegetable market, filled with the furious roars of pigmen.

"Who! Who opened the door to the banquet hall!!!"

The pigman looked at the mess on the ground, raging impotently. It was fine that the animals had escaped from the private rooms; it was his fault for not arranging things properly. But the door to the banquet hall was clearly locked.

The pigman didn't notice that the keychain around his waist had been stealthily transferred to Qin Fei's hands. He assumed there was an insider among the NPCs.

Most of the players who could reach the second floor were quite strong. In a short while, two more people escaped from the banquet hall.

Pigman Hadsay nearly went crazy with anger. A flash of insight crossed his mind, and he thought he had guessed the truth: "Molly Adams! You wait!!"

It had to be her, that foolish deer person.

Of the ten members of the cabinet, only she was a weak herbivore, and only she opposed this cruise ship plan.

Qin Fei, who had already run far away, stumbled slightly, almost tripping over the carpet when he heard the pigman curse Miss Molly.

He was truly sorry that an innocent NPC had taken the blame for him.

Princess Feifei, who had unintentionally done another immoral deed, silently lit a candle for Miss Molly in her heart.

Six players successfully escaped the banquet hall, while the remaining three were trapped inside as the banquet hall doors closed again.

The monkey glanced back, feeling complicated.

He knew that those three people would never escape alive under any circumstances.

And he...

He and the duck owed their lives to the NPC in front of them, who had saved them from this sudden disaster!!

The monkey was thoroughly convinced that the cat was definitely not a player. His gaze towards Qin Fei's back was hot and intense, as if he saw the system prompt for his successful completion of the level.

The monkey and the duck stuck closely to Qin Fei.

The two players who came out later, remembering that it was Qin Fei who first shouted "run," also suspected that this cat might have known something beforehand.

They were unfamiliar with the layout of the second floor, so out of safety concerns, those two also followed behind Qin Fei.

The NPCs who could enter the banquet hall were all of noble status and naturally couldn't recklessly chase after Qin Fei and the others within the cruise ship.

The ones pursuing the players were a group of blue-clad NPCs.

Behind the doors of the banquet hall, an incredibly long corridor stretched straight ahead.

On both sides of the corridor, a door would appear at regular intervals, each with a numbered sign hanging on it.

"It seems that apart from the banquet hall, the second floor is full of guest rooms for the NPCs," Mi Yang observed while running.

"Where's the staircase leading down?!"

None of the guest room doors could be opened; otherwise, they could at least jump out of the guest room windows.

The situation wasn't looking good. Although the players were already running very fast, the blue-clad NPCs were even faster.

Qin Fei rushed all the way to the end of the corridor, where two paths forked left and right, with guest rooms still on both sides.

If they continued running like this, they would soon be caught up by the NPCs, but there was nowhere else to go right now.

Qin Fei didn't even have time to stop and think. He directly turned and charged into the right corridor, which was closer to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the monkey, the duck, and the other two players following him.

Qin Fei: !!!

Are you guys okay??

A normal person would know that splitting up was the correct choice at this moment, but those players' brains seemed to be broken.

Their brains might be broken, but Qin Fei couldn't abandon them.

The ghost baby, dispatched by Qin Fei as a scout, now brought back some good news.

To the left ahead, a room had its door open.

Qin Fei ran in the direction the ghost baby indicated. The two players lagging behind continuously threw items behind them, buying everyone a little bit of time to save their lives.

Led by Qin Fei, the group rushed toward the corridor that might offer them a chance of survival in this desperate situation.

However, when they turned the corner and saw the corridor,

Qin Fei's expression froze slightly.

"What's wrong?" Mi Yang, who was closely following Qin Fei, keenly noticed the unusual atmosphere.

Qin Fei stared at the carpet in the corridor ahead.

Just like the game area on the first floor, the second floor was also carpeted.

Since the moment they ran out of the banquet hall's main doors, the carpet under the players' feet had been made of high-quality pure black velvet, with golden patterns along the edges.

But the carpet in the corridor ahead had abruptly turned pure white.

The change in color of the corridor

triggered some unpleasant associations in Qin Fei's mind.

After Mi Yang asked his question, Houzi and the other two eavesdropped. Qin Fei didn't answer; he continued walking without stopping, heading straight for the open door.

The white corridor was short. The players followed Qin Fei into the room en masse. Once all the players were inside, the door slammed shut as if by itself.

"What's happening?!"

The last player to enter was startled and reached out to push the door, but it wouldn't budge.

Qin Fei watched coldly. Judging from their reactions, these people probably hadn't encountered the threshold space when they were in the game area yesterday.

This was quite normal, after all, the rulebook clearly stated that one should stay away from abnormal corridors and report them to an NPC.

Even if someone encountered a threshold space, they wouldn't suddenly have the urge to explore it further.

The NPC pursuers soon caught up but were stopped by the door. The thin wooden door was pounded loudly from the outside, causing the players inside to tremble with fear.

After a while,

the players finally realized that the people outside couldn't seem to open this door.

At least not by force.

The banging on the door grew quieter, and the sound of the NPCs' footsteps gradually faded away.

"Are they looking for a key?" Houzi's voice was filled with panic.

But Qin Fei knew for sure that the NPCs wouldn't be able to find a key, even if they did, they wouldn't be able to open the door.

This room was no longer the original room.

Unless the people inside completed the task in the threshold space, they would be trapped here forever.

With the immediate threat temporarily subsiding, the players began to take a closer look at the room.

"There aren't any windows," Duck said regretfully.

The idea of escaping through a window had now become a hopeless fantasy.

The players moved around the room, their previously tense expressions gradually relaxing.

It looked very much like a smaller version of the banquet hall they had just left. In the center of the room was a large long table piled high with food and plates. The dishes looked rather familiar, identical to those in the banquet hall.

"Gurgle."

The sound of someone's stomach growling echoed in the air. The players awkwardly glanced at each other.

By the time calculation, it was now the time when the players should be having breakfast.

All the bodily signals that they hadn't felt during their frantic escape now came back to them with a vengeance. Their stomachs were empty and rumbling, almost unbearably so.

The food was right there, looking delicious.

Since they couldn't escape anyway, they might as well fill their bellies first.

This was the thought that simultaneously arose in the minds of the players.

But soon, they dismissed the idea.

The hierarchy on the cruise ship was clear, and the factions were complex. Although they didn't know who the food in front of them was prepared for, it certainly wasn't specifically for the players.

If they touched it rashly, it might not only fail to alleviate their hunger but could also bring about terrible consequences.

The two players who arrived later exchanged glances. The fox player stepped forward and addressed Qin Fei, "Hey."

"Do you know where we are?" The fox stared intently at Qin Fei's face as he asked.

Qin Fei raised his eyebrows in surprise.

What was this guy trying to do? Start trouble?

Qin Fei glanced at him and shook his head.

The fox's voice turned cold. "Stop pretending. We've all seen it."

"You must know something, don't you?"

As he spoke, he moved closer to Houzi and Duck.

The fox had seen it clearly.

The cat across from him had been on high alert ever since entering the golden private room. He was the first to flee, and after running out of the hall, his escape route was clearly pre-planned. Otherwise, with so many rooms in the corridor, how did the cat player precisely find this one with its door open, and which could keep NPCs out? The cat player must have obtained some deep information about the instance dungeon. Fox wanted to force it out of him. The factions in the room were now 4:2, with Qin Fei and Yang at a disadvantage. This move by Fox was originally quite good. It was an enclosed space, four against two, creating a significant sense of pressure. If Qin Fei was an ordinary player who accidentally stumbled upon the secrets of the instance, he would likely have been intimidated by Fox by now. Unfortunately for Fox, Qin Fei was no ordinary person. Moreover, Fox hadn't discussed this with Monkey. Monkey was taken aback by Fox's sudden advance and then opened his mouth in surprise. Dude, what are you trying to do by being so disrespectful to the NPC? Are you planning a rebellion?! Monkey quickly retreated, pulling Duck aside and raising both hands to signal that he wasn't on the same side as Fox. "Huh?" Fox was puzzled. Fox suspected that Monkey had lost his mind. "You... Wait, are you all in the same group?" Monkey shook his head, then nodded. They weren't in the same group, but he was willing to side with the NPC. The tense atmosphere that Fox had worked hard to create was ruined. "..." Fox realized that Monkey and Cat weren't in the same group, but Monkey seemed a bit off mentally, making it impossible to ally with him. Fox took a deep breath, gave up on persuading Monkey, and continued talking to Qin Fei. "Can we eat the food in the room?" Qin Fei, who had been ignoring Fox, finally looked at him directly. The gray cat's fur was as smooth as silk, shimmering with a cool hue under the room's lighting. Despite everyone wearing animal masks, the cat in a suit exuded an aura that set him apart from the rest. Every movement he made conveyed an inexplicable calmness. The current predicament seemed like a trivial matter to him. Like dust on his eyelashes, he could shake it off with just a blink. "Yes," came a slightly hoarse, low voice from within the cat mask, the tone nonchalant. Fox bit his lip hard. Was the cat telling the truth or lying? He couldn't tell. But the aroma of the food on the table grew stronger. The scent of cake, the fragrance of oranges and grapes, and the smell of the cream cocktail in the glass. Fox's eyes became unfocused. "Yes? Then - take a bite!" Fox was now using his willpower to fight against the debuff imposed by the instance. Fox didn't expect the cat to be so agreeable. After Fox spoke, Qin Fei casually picked up the wine glass on the table and poured it into his mouth. The clear stemmed glass soon emptied, and Qin Fei turned it upside down, indicating that he had drunk every last drop. "It tastes good." Like a demon's seductive whisper, Fox's last line of mental defense finally crumbled. He grabbed a piece of cake from the table and took a big bite, almost biting his cheek. Fox's teammate, stimulated by his vigorous chewing, also lunged towards the dining table. Like a virus spreading in the air, causing a chain reaction, Duck was also struggling to control the saliva building up in his mouth. He moved towards the dining table as if possessed, but Monkey held tightly onto the corner of his clothes. "Don't go." In fact, Monkey was almost driven crazy by hunger too.

Yet he still tried his best to restrain himself and persuade the duck.

The duck was puzzled. "Why?"

Didn't the cat touch the food herself?

The monkey covered his mouth with his hand; his saliva was about to drip from the corner of his mouth.

But he remembered that this live stream wasn't just being watched by unknown viewers from other dimensions.

Simultaneously, it was also being broadcasted to all players in Central City.

The monkey simply couldn't bear the thought of his drooling face being recorded by the system for posterity.

That would be too embarrassing!!

The monkey shook his head frantically. "But the sheep didn't eat!"

What good did it do if the cat ate? She was an NPC; could NPCs be compared to players?

Hadn't the sheep been dragged around by the cat the whole time?

The duck was convinced. For a moment, the only sounds in the room were the two figures at the dining table devouring their food voraciously. The remaining four people stood motionless against the wall like four immobile mushrooms.

The monkey's judgment was correct; Qin Fei was indeed deliberately luring the fox.

Qin Fei wasn't an NPC, so he hadn't drunk that glass of wine at all.

He used the hand wearing the black crystal ring to pick up the tall glass, and the moment his lips touched the glass, the liquid was all collected into the ring.

Just as the fox wanted Qin Fei to be the guinea pig and lead by example,

Qin Fei was playing the same game.

He didn't want to touch the food in the room, but he was very curious to see what would happen to the other players if they did.

Since entering the room, Qin Fei had been silently observing every inconspicuous corner of the room. Unlike "Cynthia's Toy Room," there were no prompts related to the threshold space here.

But this was definitely a threshold space; otherwise, the blue-clad NPC wouldn't have been unable to open the door.

Since it was a threshold space, they needed to complete the spatial mission.

Based on the description of the characteristics of threshold spaces he had seen in Cynthia's Toy Room, players needed to figure out the space's interests and preferences on their own, then cater to them until the space was satisfied.

This unknown threshold space was similar to Cynthia's Toy Room in having very obvious preferences.

It was a lounge with soft carpets, and each table, chair, and bench looked incredibly comfortable. The food on the dining table was particularly tempting.

Thus, Qin Fei deduced that if the players ate something in the room, it might trigger the condition to leave.

However, perhaps because the threshold space was a contaminated area in this instance,

When Qin Fei was inside the threshold space, he always felt as if he could see through the space's thoughts.

Unlike Cynthia's Toy Room, although this lounge appeared bright and splendid on the surface, Qin Fei felt a strong sense of discomfort when he was in it.

Especially when his gaze fell on the dining table.

The abnormally bright red apples, the crystal-clear wine, the soft and fluffy bread.

Each one triggered a fierce alarm in Qin Fei's mind. That overwhelming sense of insecurity wouldn't dissipate, making him hesitant to act rashly.

As Qin Fei remained still, someone had to move, or none of them would be able to get out.

Since the fox had offered herself up, Qin Fei felt that there was no need to be polite.

If not now, when?

Qin Fei was also very hungry, but the mental pollution in the room had no effect on him.

To him, the allure of the food was far less powerful than what the other players felt, so he could still stand calmly to the side.

Mi Yang was struggling.

To be fair, Mi Yang had never been a child who craved snacks, nor had he ever gone hungry.

For the first time in his life, he was being tormented by such intense hunger.

This experience was quite novel. Mi Yang felt as if there were worms crawling in his entire mouth and throat, causing an unbearable itch. He reached out a hand to grab his throat, forcing his eyes not to look at the dining table.

Oh God, when would they finally be able to get out?!

The hunger grew stronger, and by now, apart from the two figures at the dining table who had lost their minds and only knew how to eat and drink, the other players had realized something was amiss.

This shouldn't be happening.

No matter what, they shouldn't be this hungry.

Moreover, those two kept eating more and more, actually sweeping most of the food on the table into their stomachs like insatiable gluttons.

Mi Yang even began to silently pray in his heart that the NPCs would quickly come and pry the door open. He really couldn't hold out much longer.

"Uh... sorry."

A voice sounded behind him. The monkey somehow managed to shuffle over to Qin Fei's side.

"Can you help us? I can barely control him anymore."

The monkey was referring to the duck.

The duck's mental immunity was even worse than that of the monkey and the sheep. Although he hadn't eaten anything in the room, his self-awareness was clearly almost non-existent.

Thanks to the monkey's firm grip on his two arms, otherwise, he would have probably joined the fox's dining army long ago.

Qin Fei looked at the duck whose eyes were almost rolling back. "Are you sure you want my help?"

The monkey nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes!"

The duck's strength had become immeasurably great, and the monkey had almost failed to hold him back just now.

The monkey was dragged a few steps towards the dining table, barely able to resist.

"Alright." Qin Fei agreed very readily.

He was going to help immediately.

The tall and long-legged Mr. Cat took two steps around to the duck's back and, with lightning speed, raised his leg and kicked hard at the back of the duck's knee!

The tremendous force caused the monkey to subconsciously let go of his grip.

The player wearing the duck's headgear slammed heavily onto the floor.

"Bang!"

An adult man hitting the ground made a loud noise.

The monkey was startled and, upon closer inspection, noticed a small pool of blood flowing from under the duck's face.

...It was probably two streams of nosebleed.

Qin Fei didn't feel an ounce of pity for the duck.

In the character image of a "game player," there was always a pair of shiny high-grade leather shoes, and now, these shoes were stepping on the duck's back.

Mr. Cat seemed very skilled in this method. He only lightly stepped on one section of the other party's spine, as if not using much force, but the duck was completely unable to move.

The player on the ground wriggled like a captured worm, harmless.

The monkey was almost scared sober in an instant. Wasn't this NPC's method of saving people a bit too violent?

But even if it cost half his life, it was better than being contaminated.

The monkey had already tried earlier. The contamination in this room was quite sinister; mental replenishment agents hardly had any effect.

"Mr. Cat..." The monkey asked timidly, "When can we get out of here?"

Qin Fei smiled without mirth. "You ask me, who do I ask?"

Qin Fei also wanted to run away quickly, but the threshold space wouldn't let them leave, and he couldn't dismantle the room either.

What did this room want them to do?

Eating was a clear signal, and there was no way it could be wrong.

Could it be that having two people touch the food wasn't enough, and all players must eat?

But something was off about that table of food. If they really ate it, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance they wouldn't be able to leave.

Was this a dead-end situation?

Qin Fei gently wrinkled his nose.

The lights in the room suddenly began to flicker.

No, upon careful thought, the lights had already flickered several times before, but they weren't frequent, as if there was a brief fault in the circuitry.

Now, the fault was becoming more apparent.

"What's happening?" The monkey approached Qin Fei a little nervously.

Qin Fei didn't know why this guy could always find such a great sense of security in him, when they were both trapped in the same predicament right now.

"Pfft—"

"Pfft pfft—"

The flickering of the lights became faster and faster.

The electric light suddenly went out.

A few seconds later, it lit up again, then went out again.

The room fell into a long darkness.

This darkness was like solidified glue, trapping the players within.

The monkey felt every pore in his body was blocked. He wanted to raise his hand, but couldn't, and could only stand straight in place.

All he could hear were the sounds of those two eating.

And even that sound was getting smaller and smaller, disappearing completely after a few minutes.

Those two people seemed to have vanished as well, without a trace. In the darkness, only a few breaths remained.

No one knew how long it had been when the lights lit up again.

Suddenly transitioning from darkness to an overly bright environment, tears welled up in the monkey's eyes due to the physiological response.

When he finally managed to adapt to the light and wiped away his tears, he couldn't help exclaiming in surprise, "Huh???"

How had the room before him changed so drastically?

The once pristine white room was now a riot of colors.

The four walls were painted in lemon yellow, the wooden dining table at the center of the house was red, and beside it stood small green stools.

Toys were scattered everywhere in the room, giving it a distinctly cartoonish look.

Qin Fei gazed at the overly familiar scene before him, his eyes widening in surprise.

A line of text appeared in the air, a notification that originated from the room itself—a likability meter visible only to Qin Fei.

"Threshold Space-019-Cynthia's Toy Room: Likability 85%"

(Cynthia detests the vile Room No.004, that Threshold Space known as the Void Lounge, which always enjoys luring passersby with its devious tricks and forcing them to stay within the room permanently.

This time, it had set its sights on Cynthia's little friend, and Cynthia would not have any of it!)