Xiao Qing had a long, indescribable dream, filled with bizarre and chaotic scenes, where sounds and smells became more tangible entities—twisted ripples, lines, and colors. His Sanity was swept into an endless, tumultuous flow, and the torment and madness had a tight grip on his soul, offering no escape.
Xiao Qing couldn’t tell how long he struggled with this dream, or how he managed to leave it. He just faintly heard the laughter of a baby from a distance, as if it came from another world, grabbing his soul like a thread, leaping high, and then falling abruptly, and his soul landed heavily back into his body.
He woke up in a sudden shock, but his body felt heavy and stiff like a piece of wood. His viewpoint at that moment was odd, as he could even see himself lying in bed with his eyes closed as if he were looking down on everything from above.
It felt like sleep paralysis.
Xiao Qing saw his body lying on the bed, with his teammates thoughtfully covering him with a blanket. The doll from Sugar’s luggage was placed next to him as if to prevent him from feeling too lonely while unconscious. He wasn’t sure which teammate had the “brilliant idea.”
Since that moment, Xiao Qing couldn’t help but feel that he should have realized that his teammates were no longer the same innocent and kind people he had first met. However, his attention was entirely drawn to the abundance of food on the other side of the room.
His teammates were happily sitting together, sharing the food, and the enticing aroma of fried chicken and barbecue wafted into Xiao Qing’s nose. He couldn’t help but salivate, and just from the aroma, he could imagine the crispy, oily texture of the fried chicken and the deliciousness of the barbecued dishes, sprinkled with cumin and chili.
As he watched Tiantian finish the chicken wings and reach for the last grilled oyster on the table, Xiao Qing couldn’t contain his excitement and sat up from the bed.
“Save one for me!”
—But it was too late.
Tiantian slurped the garlic-flavored vermicelli from the oyster, turned to him with surprise and said, “Oh, you woke up just in time! Come over quickly, we’re about to finish!”
“Um…” Xiao Qing glanced at the table carefully and realized that if he had woken up a little later, he would probably only have chicken bones left to gnaw on. The amount of food left on the table was not much, clearly indicating that his teammates had a hearty feast while he was unconscious.
Indeed, the slogan of “eating well, drinking well, and enjoying the vacation” was first shouted by him…
Old Wang immediately understood Xiao Qing’s expression and said, “What do you want to eat? I’ll have the hotel send more.”
This was the same expression his child had when he found that the ice cream in the fridge was all gone. Although he said he didn’t want to eat, he was deeply disappointed, and it would take three good meals to comfort him.
Tiantian, having finished the oysters in three or four bites, picked up an egg tart and eagerly suggested, “Let’s order more snacks and drinks. It’s not even 1 o’clock yet, we can’t endure without something to eat.”
Since they knew that the hotel might have problems at night, staying up late and taking turns to rest throughout the night was undoubtedly the safest way to rest. They had already been discussing how to spend their time after Xiao Qing woke up, and also planned to discuss serious matters related to the instance, such as analyzing potential danger scenarios and response plans. There was also the matter of dealing with the obviously problematic hotel management to gather more information…and so on, many important topics.
But Xiao Qing had no interest in discussing serious matters.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“It’s truly you,” Huahua, swayed by Xiao Qing’s words, also developed a craving for hot pot and turned to Old Wang with the same desire for hot pot, “Can we also add handmade beef meatballs and fish roe fortune bags? Oh, and make sure they don’t forget the dipping sauces, including chili oil and sesame paste!”
Old Wang looked at the clock, which was already close to 1 a.m., and sympathized with the hotel kitchen staff who would have to work late into the night. However, he readily agreed, “Of course, we can. How about adding a tomato hot pot as well? A sweet and sour taste can be quite appetizing. Do you want rice? Or maybe some wide noodles? Add some noodles?”
“Everything, everything! Wide and thin rice noodles, potato slices, and vegetables, as well as seafood platters. More tiger prawns are always welcome!” Tiantian rattled off her order, then turned to Xu Yintang, the only one who hadn’t ordered anything. “What would you like to eat?”
“Anything is fine,” Xu Yintang produced his flawless, all-purpose response, showing no sign of ignorance about hot pot. “I’m not picky.”
“Oh my! Even if you’re not picky, you can still order what you want to eat!” Tiantian waved her hand in a relaxed manner. “The whole point of having hot pot is to cook and eat what you crave!”
Xu Yintang continued to smile, “Then, let’s order more meat, any kind will do.”
Seemingly offering an opinion but not directing it toward any specific choice, Tiantian waved her hand generously, saying, “Great! Meat platter for Mr. Sugar!”
Old Wang made an “OK” gesture and added the new order requirements to his phone’s notes, asking if anyone else had more to add to the order before calling the room steward.
He thought they should also get some drinks, like cola, milk, and coffee—basically a batch of everything they might need to keep them going throughout the night.
Some chocolate chips and such might be a nice addition, and if they couldn’t finish them, they could always take the leftovers back for the kids. After all, he couldn’t expect to get many items from this instance, so he might as well enjoy some good food and drinks and bring a little back home.
Old Wang could almost imagine the room steward’s expression as they received this lengthy order, likely filled with plenty of expletives under their breath. It’s as if they were continuously swearing, beep, beep, beep, without end.
You know, just thinking about it makes me feel quite delighted, like gulping down a bottle of cold drink in the middle of summer.
Before the hot pot arrived, Xiao Qing nibbled on half a pizza and a few pairs of chicken wings to fill his stomach. All the food he had eaten at dinner was contributed to Laura’s scenes. After several sanity checks, he was so hungry that stars appeared in his eyes, his stomach growled loudly. He had even reached the point where he couldn’t help but salivate at the sight of the tentacles that secretly emerged from Xu Yintang’s side.
Little Darling was cuddled up, hiding within a towel, and nestled behind Xu Yintang like a big pillow. Only one small tentacle tip protruded, rubbing against Xu Yintang’s side. The crystal clear and elastic texture of his skin looked tantalizingly crunchy, and the bright red color resembled delicious spicy squid legs, making Xiao Qing lick his lips and gradually transforming the horrifying smell that had stimulated his survival instincts into the enticing aroma of a grilled squid.
Xiao Qing couldn’t help but regret not ordering a few more servings of grilled squid and squid balls.
Gulp.
Xu Yintang, without any change in expression, adjusted his posture to block out the big child, Little Darling, who was acting as his pillow. “Do you want to check your Sanity level?”
Xiao Qing also found it quite absurd that he could have an appetite for Xu Yintang’s offspring. He rubbed his nose and, with a hint of dizziness, quickly opened the system interface to check. He was amazed and exclaimed, “I still have 28 Sanity left! I thought it would be close to zero by now.”
“Then you should thank the little one,” Xu Yintang said with a smile, stifling a yawn by covering his mouth. Second Treasure heard this and immediately poked his little head out. His eyes turned to Xiao Qing, and he touched his consciousness in a friendly manner.
The body was warm, and the soul was warm, too. Although Mom didn’t allow him to eat, a little pat was also very enjoyable.
Xiao Qing was touched by the slightly sticky and cold touch in his consciousness, and he thanked him with a slight tremor. He listened to the system prompt and noticed that his Sanity had dropped by one and then increased by two. He realized how he still had 28 Sanity points left.
“All right…” Xiao Qing, trying to overcome the dizziness and ringing in his ears, extended his finger to quickly touch Second Treasure. He forced a smile and said, “Thank you, Second Treasure.”
“You’re welcome,” Xu Yintang tucked Second Treasure’s little head back into his clothes. This child was different from his brother and enjoyed cuddling with his mother to strengthen their parent-child bond. The warmth of his mother’s body made him completely relaxed, and poking around a bit, even without teeth, he could smack and nibble on Xu Yintang’s skin, following his natural instincts to find a home for his soul.
He couldn’t suck anything, but that didn’t stop him from sucking enthusiastically.
Xu Yintang was slightly ticklish and felt a slight itch on his chest. He chuckled softly, “Mischievous little thing.” He spoke in a low and gentle voice, and Xiao Qing stared at the liquid in his cup, doubting if his nose was malfunctioning. “Have you been drinking?”
Although he smelled cola in his cup, he appeared as if he had been drinking heavily. In fact, it seemed like all of his teammates were in a state of cheerful drunkenness, making it hard for him to recall who had entered the instance nervously and cautiously just a little while ago.
Yes, he specifically called out Tiantian, who had her eyes glued to Xu Yintang’s chest, for straying from her cute and sweet character. While Xiao Qing acknowledged that Xu Yintang’s disheveled and slightly tipsy appearance was indeed alluring, the way she giggled and acted silly while looking at him didn’t fit her sweet and innocent persona.
Help! Was he still in a dream?
“I didn’t drink any alcohol, just a few colas,” Xu Yintang explained, tugging at the bathrobe that was slipping off his shoulder. He added after a moment’s thought, “I also had coffee, yogurt, and orange juice.”
He hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, he was just in a good mood from the cola.
Xiao Qing looked at Huahua, who nodded to confirm that Xu Yintang was telling the truth and even displayed an empty 2-liter bottle of cola that he had consumed on his own.
This had to be demonstrated. She had lived for a long time and had never seen someone finish such a large bottle of cola in one go.
Xiao Qing sighed, rubbed his forehead, and felt like he had been asleep for centuries rather than just a few hours. In this ever-changing world, only hot pot could provide him with a constant sense of warmth.
Speaking of which, he had finished a pizza and two boxes of chicken wings. Why hadn’t the hot pot arrived yet? This large hotel shouldn’t have any trouble preparing a hot pot, even at night.
—These people, without a sense of shame, were ordering hot pot in a vacation hotel. They didn’t realize that this wasn’t a Chinese-themed instance, and eating hot pot in the middle of the night was a genuine challenge.
The room steward who received their outrageous order was driven to a headache, and the hotel executives who listened to the whole process didn’t show any concern. After taking a deep breath and calming down for a while, the executive ground their teeth and said, “Give it to them! Find a way to prepare whatever they want!”
As long as they didn’t let this group of people leave the hotel, whether it was Chinese hot pot or Michelin three-star lobster and steak, they had to make it happen.
“Wait a minute,” the hotel executive suddenly changed their mind, and a wicked, malevolent smile appeared on their face. “Send 2232 over with their order. Since they love to eat so much, let’s add some premium ingredients.”
Hearing the number 2232, the room steward shivered slightly, as if they had heard something terrifying. “All right.”
Meanwhile, in the presidential suite where the hot pot was taking its time, Tiantian had started a new chapter.
“On this inauspicious night, under the dark moon and strong wind,” she raised her glass and cleared her throat, adopting the tone of a variety show host. “Let’s share some of our favorite ghost stories!”
“Everyone, please applaud!”
*Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.*
Author’s Note –
I also want to eat hot pot [crying] I haven’t had hot pot in almost two months! QAQ
Xiao Qing woke up, and his teammates all drunk fake wine, although his loss of Rationality didn’t really make a difference. However, these mischievous individuals managed to secure a presidential suite at the Fair Hotel and order hot pot. But they did pay the price of encountering the monsters early.
Therefore, it is highly recommended not to imitate this behavior for ordinary players [emphasis added].
The hotel’s buffet is already delicious, so there’s no need to risk your life for this meal. Of course, if you’re skilled, brave, and love seeking thrills, then forget I said anything.
Plus, a non-prize guessing game. Can Mother Xu Yintang actually handle spicy food?
Hehehe, hehehehe.
Mama Xu is learning about food. Why does that make me happy?
What is 2232?? It couldn’t be some sort of ghost disguised as meat right? 😭
For 2232’s sake, I hope not. I don’t think Mama Xu would stop little treasure in that case
Foodies 😂
I’m glad that Second Treasure is getting his cuddle time with he mother. Also, that suckling thing Second Treasure was doing is actually something that kittens will do sometimes and it is really freaking cute.
I love the family moments so much!
Also Tangtang’s happiness at finally being able to drink coca cola is so cute and heartwarming it brings a tear to my eye. I want him to experience everything beautiful through this game.
Cuties loves warm humans
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