Chapter 5 Sophia’s Castle (3)

Chapter 5: Sophia's Castle (Part Three)

Shi Wu gently closed his interface. Unlike the newcomers who had just entered the instance, he showed no panic. Instead, he observed everything before him with keen interest, even feeling an itch to act.

He recalled the rewards mentioned by the system earlier, blinked a few times, and spaced out for a moment.

Was it really possible to get any reward?

Suddenly, an aged, low voice sounded from above. It was Sullivan speaking.

"Esteemed guests, these dishes have been meticulously prepared for you by my chef."

He slowly raised the obsidian-textured goblet in his hand. An unknown liquid swirled within, shimmering with an eerie blood-red hue under the light.

"Every single course was personally overseen by me."

"But you all—" He paused for a moment, his voice not diminishing in the slightest, "are unwilling to eat?"

The hall fell abruptly silent.

"This makes me somewhat question the manners of my esteemed guests." Sullivan took a small sip from his goblet and gave a light chuckle. "Of course, if anyone feels unwell or dissatisfied, I will not insist."

Although he said he wouldn't insist, given the circumstances, even the slowest-witted person could sense the veiled threat beneath his words.

Just then, the system prompt sounded:

[System Prompt: The "Banquet Enjoyment" phase of the current instance has begun. Remaining time: 04:59.]

[Warning: Failure to complete this trial before the countdown ends will be defaulted as "Refusal to Participate," triggering the elimination mechanism.]

Everyone's expressions froze for a moment, and the atmosphere instantly plunged into an icy silence.

Shi Wu looked at the food on the table.

The food wasn't bizarrely shaped; on the contrary, it was quite exquisite, as if meticulously designed. Many of the desserts were styles Shi Wu had only seen in the book *Interstellar History and Culture*.

However, the "main course" placed before him was rather lackluster in comparison, yet also much more familiar. It was the insect egg roll he hated most. Just seeing this dish made Shi Wu feel nauseous and filled him with a faint sense of dread, though he had long forgotten why he detested this seemingly normal "delicacy."

"Ugh—"

A soft retching sound came from beside him. Shi Wu turned to see Qi Lan. On Qi Lan's plate was a black, gooey mess of unidentifiable origin, emitting a foul stench.

Qi Lan groaned in agony, "Why is it this? I was actually looking forward to it when I opened the lid. Why is it my most hated food? I'd rather die..."

After a few seconds, as if realizing how inauspicious that sounded, Qi Lan corrected himself, "Well, never mind. Maybe I love it now."

"What on earth is this?!" The haughty Lili Su exclaimed in disbelief. On her plate was a strange black cube of indistinguishable ingredients. Clearly, only she knew what the raw materials of that food truly were.

Shi Wu then glanced at Zhou Xun beside him. The food on Zhou Xun's plate appeared much more normal—a piece of meat of indeterminate shape. Perhaps due to the griller's skill, parts of it were slightly charred, but compared to the others', it could be considered complete in color, aroma, and taste.

Shi Wu propped his chin on his hand, his gaze sweeping past Zhou Xun and lazily settling on the four people opposite.

An Ze's face was dark. His plate held a dense clump of undeveloped Star Sand larvae. These larvae were usually quite fragrant when roasted, but who knew what they tasted like alive?

The acquainted man and woman had just lifted the lids of their food, their movements hesitant, as if they had already vaguely sensed something amiss.

Ino Fion merely frowned slightly upon seeing the food on his plate, his face still maintaining that refined, aristocratic demeanor.

The food before him was utterly unremarkable—just a regular meal from an ordinary household. The color was average, the portion moderate, with nothing particularly special about it.

However, given the prosperity of the Fion family, the most unpalatable thing Ino Fion had probably ever tasted was the food of ordinary households.

But Lysa, beside Ino Fion, froze the moment she lifted the lid.

Her fingers stiffened mid-air, her face visibly paling, her lips even beginning to tremble. Her food was also alive—a rare live fish.

It wasn't an ordinary fish, but a whole, still-twitching transparent long eel. Its body was crystalline, slowly writhing on the silver platter, almost crawling over the rim.

It had no eyes, but its mouth bore two rows of human-like teeth, grinning as it "clicked" its jaws at the air, as if "begging for food" from Lysa.

"Is it... laughing?" Qi Lan muttered under his breath but immediately regretted it.

As if hearing him, the fish suddenly lunged towards the plate's edge, its mouth opening even wider.

Lysa stared at it rigidly, her lips trembling for a long moment before she managed to utter a single word: "No."

The sight made even Shi Wu's scalp tingle. He didn't want to look anymore and instead turned to observe Bao Yan opposite him.

Unlike the disgusting or bizarre food of others, the food before Bao Yan was as cold and dull as the man himself.

Just a tube of silver-textured nutrient fluid.

Shi Wu glanced at it and averted his gaze.

But that was normal. Shi Wu had hardly ever seen this man eat, let alone consume normal food.

This person was like a machine. Ordinary people had some appetite for food, but he was perfectly satisfied with nutrient fluid day after day.

However, in this inexplicable instance, it worked to his advantage.

"Truly the instance's favorite son," Shi Wu muttered sarcastically under his breath, his gaze returning to his own insect egg roll, his expression growing complicated.

Time ticked by. The bright red countdown on the system interface continued to jump:

"02:43"

No one spoke in the hall anymore. The old man on the high seat merely watched each "esteemed guest" below with a smile.

Everyone stared down at their own plates. To eat, or to gamble and refuse.

It was ridiculous, but everyone unanimously chose to eat.

Eating offered a chance of survival; not eating might mean death right now. None of them wanted to end up like that "puddle" of a middle-aged man with white hair.

Bao Yan was the first to move. Expressionlessly, he raised the silver nutrient tube. With the precise efficiency of executing a daily task, he bit open the cap with a *click*, tilted his head back, and drained it in one go.

Without pause or a flicker of expression, he placed the empty tube neatly by the side of his plate after finishing.

Shi Wu slowly picked up his knife and fork, took a deep breath, and looked down at his insect egg roll.

He really didn't want to eat it. He even felt like kicking the plate away. But thinking of the words "elimination mechanism" in the system prompt, Shi Wu silently closed his eyes for a moment.

"Just for the reward," he consoled himself, gritting his teeth as he plunged his fork down.

The inside of the egg roll contained soft, half-cooked insect eggs. Under pressure, they even emitted a faint "squelch." Suppressing a wave of biological revulsion, Shi Wu forced himself to swallow.

"Fuck."

Across the table, An Ze looked quite young—it was unclear if he was even an adult yet, with cheeks still carrying a hint of baby fat, which was rather cute. But now, eating the live larvae, the contrast was stark—he devoured them with a ruthless, unblinking fierceness, even though his eyes were still red-rimmed.

Ino Feiang maintained a noble composure, cutting his ordinary meal into pieces with elegant, unhurried movements, without a trace of hesitation. After finishing, he even dabbed his mouth with a napkin, still wearing that gentle, mild expression, as if tonight's event were merely a private dinner.

Lysa, however, was clearly not so at ease.

She gritted her teeth, forced herself to spear a small segment of the long eel, closed her eyes, and swallowed it whole. Her face turned frighteningly pale, with sweat and tears tracing down her delicate, slender cheeks.

The fish was still squirming, yet she had no choice but to keep taking bite after bite.

She ate faster and faster, as if afraid that if she stopped even for a moment, she would break down completely.

Seeing this, Qi Lan couldn't help but mutter in admiration, "Now that's what I call a heroine among women!"

He too lowered his head with an utterly resigned expression, pinching his nose tightly, tears nearly welling up. But he kept his grumbling hushed, not daring to speak too loudly, "It stinks so bad, who the hell invented this thing…"

Then, he struggled to swallow it down in one gulp.

As for Miss Lili Su, she no longer put on any airs and quickly swallowed that unknown black cube.

But the strangest one was Zhou Xun.

His plate held what looked like the most normal food in the entire room—a piece of meat glistening with tempting oil, its aroma wafting through the air.

Yet it was this most "normal" dish that he hadn't touched.

Zhou Xun kept his head down, his back stiff as if propped up by iron rods. His fingers rested on the knife handle, unmoving.

He was trembling—ever so slightly.

Zhou Xun, who had given off a sense of safety and reliability since entering the instance, was trembling.

No one noticed the extremely subtle expression—hidden by his hair—that leaked from beneath his lowered eyelids: fear, hesitation, dread, and sorrow.

Shi Wu frowned, his gaze shifting from the meat on Zhou Xun's plate to his face.

That piece of meat… it really didn't seem to be just "meat."

"01:36"

The countdown kept ticking, but the air around Zhou Xun seemed frozen. No one made a sound.

Until he finally, slowly, lifted the knife handle.

His hand was still shaking.

But in the end, he cut off a small piece and raised it to his mouth.

"00:59"

"I'm sorry…" he murmured softly, as if speaking to someone.

Then he ate it, tasting nothing but wax.

The entire hall fell silent, save for the relentless "tick-tock" of the countdown, hammering against everyone's nerves.

"00:28"

The next moment, Sullivan revealed an inscrutable smile and lightly clapped his hands twice.

"What a splendid 'dinner,'" he said softly.

A glint of sharpness flashed in Sullivan's murky eyes. "The main reason I invited you all to this evening gathering is to ask for your help in finding my beloved child, Sophia."

"Sophia is the apple of my eye, the smartest and most endearing child." His tone was slow, and he even closed his eyes slightly, as if recalling a tender old dream. "But Sophia has gone missing—vanished in the 'world' I so carefully crafted."

"I invited you all because I believe that among you, someone can find where Sophia is."

At that moment, the atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Shi Wu clenched his jaw, his eyes darkening.

He knew all too well that such an "invitation" was never as simple as a dinner party—especially when the host was a madman. Or rather, a madman who controlled the instance.

Bao Yan remained sitting bolt upright, his expression unchanged. His palm rested lightly beneath the table, one finger tapping rhythmically against the edge.

"Find Sophia, and I will deliver the 'reward' I promised." Sullivan seemed to smile again, his voice hoarse. "But if you fail to find her…" He left the rest unsaid, but everyone knew what a brutal outcome that would be.

Sullivan suddenly coughed several times, and the butler who had been standing beside him like a statue hurried over to pat his back and offer medicine.

"Lately, my health has been failing more and more, and my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be." Sullivan caught his breath for a moment before continuing, "I'll leave the occasion to you young people now. At exactly eleven forty tonight, someone will escort you back to your rooms."

The butler pushed the wheelchair toward the staircase when Sullivan suddenly waved a hand to signal a stop. With his back to everyone, his expression was unclear. "Did you enjoy dinner? I spent quite some time digging up the most 'unforgettable' foods for each of you. I do hope you liked them."

A strange laugh echoed as Sullivan was wheeled away by the butler.

Author's Note: