PFRG: Chapter 58

They had just woken up when they heard the ‘bad news.’ Everyone’s mentality was somewhat broken.

Chi Ting saw everything. He opened his mouth and was about to say a few words of comfort at the right time. However, Yue Ren touched his shoulder and stopped him out of a rare sense of righteousness. “At this time, I suggest that you don’t speak. I’m afraid they will become more desperate.”

Chi Ting: “.”

Tu Shuhuai quickly adjusted herself. “It is useless to think about it now. Let’s complete today’s commission first. No matter whether we are dead or alive, the truth will be revealed when the last ghost is found.”

Yu Ren looked at her with surprise. “You think very clearly.”“No, I just believe that I am not the ‘ghost’ who is already dead. If I really lose in such an instance, I will really look down on myself.” Tu Shuhuai finished speaking and turned around to comfort the others who were still in shock.

Yue Ren whistled softly. “This sister is cool.”

“She is pretty cool.” Chi Ting stared at Tu Shuhuai for a while. Then another familiar figure couldn’t help appearing in his mind.

He remembered that there was once such a carefree woman who smiled and said to him, ‘If we can’t even handle these things, we shouldn’t be in this business, right Captain?’

Were they really in this unlimited world?

He could only say that he hoped they met again one day.

Chi Ting finally withdrew his gaze and walked toward the door.

Yue Ren narrowed his eyes slightly at this back figure. He wisely didn’t speak any longer. He followed with his hands in his trouser pockets.

Under Tu Shuhuai’s comfort, the players temporarily adjusted their mentality. They followed the other two people into the meeting room, ready to face a new day.

In the empty corridor, only the sound of footsteps remained for a while.

This was until someone raised his head silently. A cold and malicious gaze passed over Chi Ting, who had walked to the door. Then in an instant, the person was restored to their original appearance.

No one noticed this scene. Even the player didn’t care about the momentary distraction.

The players arrived at the door and stepped in under the gaze of the rabbit gentleman.

It was probably the quietest breakfast time.

Once everyone finished eating absentmindedly, they followed the rabbit gentleman to the place of today’s task, just as they had done the previous two days.

The new door led to a whole new environment.

Day after day, it seemed that new maps were slowly being revealed and gradually showed another world.

“It is actually a kitchen?”

The moment he entered through the door, Yue Ren heard Chi Ting’s voice coming from beside him. Chi Ting was obviously very surprised.

This made him blink. Suddenly, he remembered the time when they were in the Love Apartment and laughed. “It seems that you really like to cook.”

Chi Ting nodded. “In terms of preferences, if humans rank first, then food ranks second.”

Yue Ren looked at his hands. He stretched out one finger and then two. Finally, he stretched out the third one thoughtfully. It wasn’t known what he was thinking about.

After a long time, he said, “Oh.”

Chi Ting inexplicably felt that this response seemed to be full of elusive meaning, but he didn’t think much about it.

He walked into the kitchen, opened the door of the refrigerator, and confirmed the ingredients inside. “There are plenty of ingredients.”

No one said a word.

At this time, the players had already seen today’s task content from the virtual panel that appeared in front of him.

[Commission from Mr. Gentleman:

The gentleman is always worrying about recipes every day during meal time. Next, please prepare a sumptuous lunch for Mr. Gentleman!

Mr. Gentleman’s favorite taste (0/6).]

If they compared it to the previous day’s task, the number of times that had to be completed changed from ‘7’ to ‘6’ due to Tan Haobo’s elimination. This obviously corresponded to the remaining six players.

The size of this kitchen was more than enough for six people. It wasn’t crowded.

Outside was a dining room with very modern decorations. It looked like the most common dining room in many residential buildings. This made Chi Ting think of the Love Apartment he had first come to. It had the taste of home that he liked.

What made players most satisfied at this time was that there was no barrier from the inside of the kitchen to the outside dining room. Everything was visible, which added a lot of security.

However, what people didn’t expect was that Tu Shuhuai, who had always been very active, already had a bad face after the task was announced.

Fei Ying noticed this. She walked over and asked, “Sister Tu, what is wrong? Is there something wrong?”

Tu Shuhuai shook his head and said with a wry smile, “The biggest problem is that I can’t cook…”

This was a reminder to everyone.

In order to avoid having other novices in cooking, everyone quickly checked it. Finally, it was confirmed that it was only Tu Shuhuai. They all sighed with relief.

Chi Ting was a bit surprised by this result and looked up at Yue Ren. “You know how to cook?”

Yue Ren replied, “I can cook whatever you want.”

Such an understatement fell into Chi Ting’s ears and inexplicably made him more suspicious.

However, he didn’t say much. He took out the ingredients from the refrigerator, discussed them with other players, and quickly decided on the six dishes for today’s lunch.

Considering that Tu Shuhuai had never cooked before, everyone specially left the basic poached egg for her. They prepared to help her complete this surprise test together.

Fei Ying was the first to cook and made a soup. When it was served at the table, it was so steaming that the surroundings smelled good.

The rabbit gentleman sat at the table, scooped up a spoon and tasted it. He nodded. “It tastes good.”

[Mr. Gentleman’s favorite taste (1/6).]

Looking at the statistical change on the virtual panel, Fei Ying sighed with relief and gave up the kitchen to the next person.

Dong Zai walked in while everyone had worried eyes.

They didn’t expect that this man, who looked tall and thick, actually finished the dish in a decent manner. A plate of hot stir-fry was successfully approved by the rabbit. The task statistics jumped to(2/6).

Third place was Chi Ting’s turn.

The previous two people seemed to have very good craftsmanship. However, when he came out with a dish that was full of color and flavor, it had a sharp contrast with the other dishes on the table.

A faint light could be seen in the red eyes when the rabbit took the first bite.

Fei Ying felt the urge to use her chopsticks when she saw it. She gulped secretly, walked close to Chi Ting, and asked in a low voice, “Have you been a chef before?”

Chi Ting smiled and kept his character. “No, I was just a security guard.”

Fei Ying was surprised. “A security guard has such good cooking skills. Then why don’t you consider changing careers?”

She was about to say something, but she faintly smelled something. The tip of her nose moved, “Is this… huh? Why does it feel like something is burning?”

The others were obviously aware of it. The moment they all looked back at the door, they saw Yue Ren calmly walking out with a plate.

The burnt smell was obviously coming from the dark, unrecognizable thing on the plate.

The players: “……”

Chi Ting watched Yue Ren put the plate on the table and sit down next to him. He glanced at the dish and commented very fairly, “You shouldn’t live more than a few days in the apocalypse like this.”

Yue Ren didn’t take it seriously at all. “It is the apocalypse. Can’t we just eat anything?”

“I didn’t say you would starve to death. I just thought you could poison yourself to death.

“……” Yue Ren glanced at him in an angry yet amused manner. “Why didn’t I notice you were so vicious before?”

Chi Ting smiled. “I just hope that all food will be treated with the corresponding respect.”

“I have a lot of respect.” Yue Ren’s lips curved. He was about to make a few jokes. Then he suddenly thought of something and swallowed the words on his lips.

He didn’t know why, but let alone those humans, he vaguely felt that in this person’s mind, he might not even be able to compare it with food.

The sudden surge of unhappiness made Yue Ren slightly raise an eyebrow, but he instead showed a smile, “It doesn’t matter. You will know soon that my cooking skills can still be acknowledged.”

After saying that, he crossed his legs, turned around, and looked at the rabbit next to him. He made a gesture of invitation. “Mr. Gentleman, please give me justice.”

The rabbit gentleman: “.”

His gaze slowly fell on the black dish in front of him. His throat before the fur moved slightly.

He could feel the gazes of other players. For the first time, he didn’t see any awe or fear in such gazes, but was filled with a type of overflowing empathy.

The rabbit gentleman’s paws holding the knife and fork shook faintly.

Finally, under everyone’s eyes, he swallowed the cut ‘poison’ with a look of death on his face.

Yue Ren’s smile was extremely kind. “Is it delicious?”

It was quiet.

There was an incomparably subtle silence.

After the long silence, the rabbit nodded heavily. The players finally saw the statistics on the virtual panel change again.

[Mr. Gentleman’s favorite taste (4/6).]

Yue Ren’s smile finally became more genuine. “Very good. I really saw your effort this time.”

After saying such gentle and approachable words, the rabbit felt that the eyes that were like a knife finally moved away.

Yue Ren had already looked at Chi Ting with a smile. There seemed to be a hint of showing off in his tone. “See, I just say that my cooking skills are really good and can’t kill anyone.”

Chi Ting was silent for a long time before finally saying sincerely, “It is good if you are happy.”

The corners of Yue Ren’s mouth raised slightly. “Thank you for your recognition.”

Chi Ting was also shocked by how skillfully this man climbed up the ladder. Just as he was about to say something else, a sharp light flashed through his eyes when he sensed the danger. He turned around and quickly rushed into the kitchen to turn off the air source. He picked up the lit of a pot and suppressed the fire that was about to start.

On the other side, Tu Shuhuai also quickly walked into the kitchen. She grabbed the instigator, who was hiding to the side, and dragged him to a safe place before asking, “What’s the matter with you? Do you want to burn down this kitchen?”

Wen Weng had entered the kitchen after Yue Ren. He was obviously in a state of panic at this time.

His mind returned when he heard Tu Shuhuai’s scolding. He hurriedly said, “Sorry! I’m really sorry! I was a bit distracted just now… I didn’t pay attention and let the oil heat up a bit too much. I didn’t expect a fire to start like this. It is my fault, my fault.”

Dong Zai was very dissatisfied. “Distracted at this time? What if the task can’t be completed? Do you think there aren’t enough handkerchiefs at night?”

“I’m sorry… I was just thinking about what Chi Ting said earlier.” Wen Weng apologized repeatedly. He hurriedly wanted to clean up the still smoking mess, but was stopped by Tu Shuhuai again. He suddenly became even more panicked. “W-What’s wrong?”

Tu Shuhuai looked into Wen Weng’s eyes steadily. Then she asked a question that made his heart chill, “Are you sure it was because of distraction just now?”

After Chi Ting’s analysis just now, all the players present naturally understood the meaning behind Tu Shuhuai’s words. Was he sure he was distracted, or was it because a ghost occupied his body at that moment?

The coolness that spread all the way up from the soles of his feet made Wen Weng suddenly shiver. His face suddenly turned a bit paler. “It is because I was distracted. It’s just because I was thinking about other things that my mind was empty for a moment… No, not empty. I mean…”

The more he explained, the more confused he became. In the end, his expression was a bit dazed. It was as if he was also doubting whether he was still himself at this moment. “It should be, right?”

The others exchanged looks.

“So do you want to continue today’s lunch?” The rabbit gentleman opened his mouth in such a frozen atmosphere. He was about to glance past the players with a smile. This was until he glimpsed Yue Ren’s gaze. He immediately lowered his head.

“Of course, continue.” Chi Ting patted Wen Weng on the shoulder to signal for him to come back to his senses. “Isn’t there another pot?”

There seemed to be a different type of magic in such a calm and unhurried tone. This made Wen Weng feel slightly relieved. He calmed down and re-selected the ingredients.

Finally, Wen Weng and Tu Shuhuai’s two dishes were successfully served on the table.

Due to the unique existence of Yue Ren, even Tu Shuhuai’s poached eggs looked much more elegant. The dishes were instantly acknowledged by the rabbit gentleman.

[Mr. Gentleman’s favorite taste (6/6).]

Everyone sighed with relief when they saw that today’s task was completed.

Then they heard the cheerful voice of the rabbit. “Then these sumptuous dishes are your lunch today! Please be sure to eat them all! Children all know that every grain is filled with hard work. Wasting food is a very shameful thing!”

The smile that hadn’t fully appeared on the players’ faces froze. “……??”

Their eyes passed over the plate of black things that couldn’t be identified at all, and they suddenly seemed to understand where the rabbit’s joy came from.

So was it really not poisoning?

This was probably the day where all the players were most enthusiastic about returning to the guest room to rest since entering the instance.

After running all the way back, the audience in the live stream rooms of each player captured their heroic backs as they went straight to the bathroom one by one.

During the lunch break, the content of the barrage was full of pity.

[Hahaha, I’m going to die laughing. They didn’t die in the hands of a ghost, but were almost killed by their teammates.]

[What is going on with this rabbit? I remember watching this instance before. Everything that didn’t suit his taste failed. Could it be that today’s plate just looks weird, but it is actually pretty good to eat?]

[It looks like that. I don’t believe it if anyone says it isn’t poisonous. How could it possibly taste okay? Looking at the expressions of the players, it is quite subtle.]

[What does that player look like? The black screen bug disgusts me to death. My curiosity is about to explode!]

[He isn’t squatting on the toilet too, is he? Squatting together?]

The audience was speculating. What they didn’t know was that Yue Ren, the instigator, was resting quite peacefully.

From beginning to end, he had no interest in his craftsmanship. He shamelessly monopolized the plate of delicacies produced by Chi Ting.

Chi Ting was also very stable.

It was because Yue Ren distributed the black mass to the other players at lightning speed, leaving him no chance to take a bite and test the poison.

The peaceful afternoon passed quickly.

As everyone gathered in the meeting room again during the voting period, the faces of everyone except for Yue Ren and Chi Ting looked haggard like never before.

Yue Ren was rarely concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you all so worried about today’s voting that you didn’t get a good rest?”

The players who had been squatting in the bathroom almost all afternoon: “……”

They didn’t want to talk!

Chi Ting interrupted Yue Ren’s malicious intention of repeatedly jumping on the edge of death. He brought the topic back to the point before the players collectively went berserk. “Yes, let’s start discussing the votes first.”

According to the previous plan, the ghost couldn’t be in the remaining duo. The final ghost could only be among the four people who entered the instance alone.

Therefore, today’s vote would be between Tu Shuhuai, Fei Ying, Dong Zai and Wen Weng.

From the moment they entered the instance, Tu Shuhuai was the only one among the four who didn’t have any jealousy marks on his body. She should be the first choice for this vote. However, during the day, Wen Weng made a serious mistake that almost led to the failure of the task. It directly raised his level of suspicion to the extreme.

“Vote for me… I-I’m not sure myself.”

After Wen Weng went back, he obviously thought about the situation many times. The more he thought about it, the more blurry his memory became. He fell further into self-doubt. At this time, he felt a bit self-defeated. “I’ve had enough! Everyone, please vote for me! If I’m really a ghost, you can free me completely. It is better than continuing to be tortured about this!”

Chi Ting stopped and watched. Finally, he gave a low sigh.

In fact, he thought that when the two ghosts had been found, the last ghost hidden among them shouldn’t be so anxious that they would reveal their flaws. It was just that in the current situation, there were no clues at all. Judging from today’s performance, Wen Weng was indeed the first choice for centralized voting.

It could be seen that this newcomer uncle was indeed on the verge of collapse. Even if he wasn’t a ghost, he would continue to think wildly if his identity wasn’t confirmed. There might be more hindering actions.

This was how today’s vote was decided.

After deciding the voting, everyone subconsciously held their breath in the tense atmosphere while waiting for the results.

The contents of the virtual panel finally appeared.

[The third round of voting has ended. Wen Weng has 5 votes and Chi Ting has 1 vote.]

[The highest number of votes: Wen Weng (5 votes).]

[What a pity. You didn’t find the third ghost. You will be punished tonight!]

[Punishment content: Handkerchief’s jealousy mark x2.]

Such a result fell into their eyes. Everyone felt as if they were falling into an ice cave.

Just as the atmosphere of despair started to creep in, Chi Ting suddenly asked, “Uncle Wen, did you vote for me?”

Wen Weng’s emotions were obviously much more complicated than the others. On the one hand, he was worried about whether the handkerchief with two layers of marks would fall on him at night. On the other hand, he was secretly glad that he hadn’t become a ghost.

At this time, he heard Chi Ting calling him. He was stunned for a moment before realizing. “Huh? I didn’t vote for you… I just voted for myself.”

Chi Ting raised an eyebrow when he heard this.

If the person who voted for him wasn’t Wen Weng, was it the last ghost mixed among them?