Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Behind a clean glass door, a lamp illuminated an enclosed space with a warm, orange light. Under such lighting, the dinner table covered with a white cloth looked even more inviting, and the clear drinking glasses shined brightly like diamonds. Logically speaking, the door should have blocked the fragrance from the food, yet Lin Sanjiu was convinced that she could smell the delightful scent of the food within those four cloches.

  That was the dinner table!

  "Clang!" The item fell to the ground, and Lin Sanjiu found out that it was a steel needle.

  The red skirt woman wore a threatening expression and made a gesture as another steel needle appeared in her hand. The other young man also stepped forward, clenching his fist tightly.

  "You’re really quite unlucky!" Though the woman in the red skirt could only smile weakly, it did not cover up her viciousness. "We even got rid of our own extra member… Do you think we will spare an opponent like you!?"

  Despite knowing early on that the woman was not someone to be trifled with, Lin Sanjiu was still stunned. "There might only be four portions of food, but if everyone shared the food, we would still survive. Why do you have to kill?"

  Her question was answered by an attack coming from the young man. He held a sickle-like weapon in his hand and waved it toward Lin Sanjiu’s face. But before it even got close to Lin Sanjiu’s face, the young man was hit by a muscular arm. He flew backward hitting the black wall, and blood sprayed out from his mouth. When he slid down from the wall, both his eyes were tightly shut. He had lost consciousness.

  "What are you doing?" The long-legged woman was shocked. She stepped away from Hai Tianqing.

  "Why are you helping her?"

  "Sorry, she is actually our companion."

  Hai Tianqing did not say anything. Instead, it was Hu Changzai, who said that as he nodded apologetically. "We will try our best to end the game before you die of hunger."

  "You must be joking!" the long-legged woman roared angrily, but her legs were shaking uncontrollably. "Are you idiots? The losing team will lose everything… Which of you are willing to lose this Challenge? Companion? Companion, my as*!"

  Even though Hu Changzai was very pale, he was very composed. Hearing what that woman said, he looked at Lin Sanjiu and repositioned his spectacles. "Are you sure you have a way to deal with this?"

  "I am about pretty confident." Lin Sanjiu gasped and laughed lightly. Just then, a rabbit poked out from her pocket and greeted Hai Tianqing, "Hi, Executive Hai."

  "It feels like I haven’t seen you for a long time, Rabbit." Hai Tianqing looked relieved after he saw B.Rabbit. "Well, we are finally together again."

  The long-legged woman crumbled to the ground hopelessly as if she realized instantly that the advantage that she had was now gone. She mumbled something to herself, but it was inaudible to the rest.

  Lin Sanjiu couldn’t muster a hint of pity for the vicious woman that was before her, but she could not understand the despair which showed on the woman’s face. Just when she turned to Hu Changzai with a puzzled expression, the latter grimaced. "It isn’t that we don’t want to share the food, but… look."

  Lin Sanjiu looked at where he pointed and saw a few lines of words on the glass door:

  "A table laid out for four people should be for four people.

  Only four people can walk through this door.

  Throwing food out of this door is forbidden and punishable by death."

  Lin Sanjiu thought about it, feeling perplexed. She followed her companions and sat down at the table. Just a few minutes before, she was going up against her own team members within the dark confines of the maze, she had witnessed her team members poisoned, and then she was confronted by the White Team. Yet now, they found themselves in a clean, decorated space. They were sitting under a bright light, they were holding their cutleries and preparing themselves for a meal. This all felt very unreal to her.

  Lin Sanjiu lifted the cloche and smelled a warm, appetizing fragrance. Lin Sanjiu’s heart beat so fast that she thought that she might get a heart attack. She felt as though there was a monster in her stomach which was howling for her to gobble down the food in front of her.

  "Huh?" She hesitated, holding a ladle in her hand.

  All the dishes were covered with a plastic wrap. Whether it was that lavish-looking, warm red soup with floating slices of carrot, that soft like cotton bread, or that green, refreshing salad...

  A few eye-grabbing words were written on a piece of yellow paper attached to the top of the plastic wraps.

  Fourth game: [Among the four of you, who is Mr. Dot?]

  Chapter 86 - Who Do You Suspect?

  A warm, orange light lit up the dinner table, covered with a snow-white tablecloth. The cutleries and plates reflected the same warm, gentle light. Meanwhile, three people and a rabbit sat around the clean, elegant set-up with deadpan expressions. Fortunately, being in Hyperthermal Hell, they did not worry about the food getting cold. For some reasons, though all of them were almost starving to death, they only stared at the steaming food in front of them, while none of them moved.

  "I can’t. I can’t stand it anymore!" B.Rabbit shouted after some time. Being the most impatient among them, he was the first one to "break". He leaped onto the table and yelled out, "I don’t give a damn! Even if I become a ghost, I don’t want to die hungry!" With that, he scratched open the plastic wrap with his paws and threw it to one side. Before the other could stop him, the rabbit thrust his head into his bowl of soup, and then they heard weird gurgling sounds as he drank the soup noisily.

  Lin Sanjiu was so hungry that her limbs felt incredibly weak, yet she immediately pulled the rabbit’s hind legs, urging, "Calm down. Don’t eat that. Vomit it out!"

  While she said that, she forced herself to look away from the food as if afraid to see those steaming, tantalizing dishes.

  Hai Tianqing and Hu Changzai also helped pull the rabbit out of the bowl in a hurry; however, it was too late. B.Rabbit had finished drinking that bowl of red soup within five seconds, leaving the bowl totally empty.

  There was half a slice of carrot on his face, and its legs were held down by all three people. Even so, the rabbit tried to shake the carrot into his mouth. As he chewed, his words came out muffled, "Ahh… I finally got to eat… Ha…"

  The fur stuck on half of B.Rabbit face was wet and tangled into locks. Yet, B.Rabbit looked satisfied and did not show a single shred of regret. Lin Sanjiu was speechless when she saw him. After some time, she slammed a paper on the table and berated him with her weak voice, "You saw this letter, right? How can you act so rashly? You better wish that there is no problem with the food!"

  That piece of clean, thick paper shifted slightly, and the words on it seemed to appear much clearer under the light.

  "Dear contestants,

  "How are you? I am the host of the Red vs. White Challenge, Mr. Dot. I am very happy that I could sit here with all of you at this dinner table.

  "I think all of you must be shocked when you saw that previous hint. Actually, you don’t need to be shocked since there is little I can’t do in this place. I impersonated one of you here after the end of the first game, but you don’t have to worry. That person or rabbit is currently safe, and he is probably sleeping.

  "You might be wondering why I chose to infiltrate your group; that is because I discovered that all of you were companions much earlier. How should this game proceed? Well, please read my words carefully.

  "There is a piece of voting paper under each of your dinner plates, and you will find four pens in the cutlery holder. Please write down the name of the person you suspect is Mr. Dot. Next, flip your paper and place it in the middle of the table. Once everyone has finished voting, I will stand up and admit my identity if you’re correct. You have only one chance, and you cannot amend your vote.

  "Something you must note is that a person would only be effectively recognized as the ‘suspected impersonator, Mr. Dot’ if that person receives two votes. What d
oes that mean? Here is an example: If both Hai Tianqing and Hu Changzai from the White Team suspect that Lin Sanjiu from the Red Team is Mr. Dot, they will both vote for Lin Sanjiu. Once Lin Sanjiu receives two votes, she will be recognized as a suspect, and if she is the true Mr. Dot, this would be considered a win for the White Team.

  "However, if both voted two different people so that Lin Sanjiu and B.Rabbit each get one vote, there will effectively be no suspect. Under such circ.u.mstances, even if Lin Sanjiu was the real Mr. Dot, the White Team will not win.

  "After reading to this point, you might be wondering to yourself: What should I do if my team member is Mr. Dot? If you suspect that your team member is Mr. Dot, you will have to express your opinion and convince the members of the opposite team to vote for your team member. If you and the others voted for the right person, then you will also be treated as a winner. If you all voted for the wrong person, there will be no winners, and we will proceed to an additional fifth game.

  "Likewise, if there is no effective suspect chosen, we will also proceed to the fifth game. Alright, that is the end of the rules. The ‘one minute is equivalent to one day without food’ condition still applies, so please enjoy the delicious meal while you discuss!

  "Your sincerely, Mr. Dot.

  "PS: Out of the four portions, [Versu Poison], a special item, has been added to one of them. I am the only one who knows which dish is poisoned so you might want to eat only after knowing who is the real Mr. Dot."

  "He actually tried to gloss over such an important matter by adding a PS…" Lin Sanjiu grumbled softly. The churning acid in her stomach made her even have the urge to gnaw the table. The only thing that was definitely safe was that flask of clean water in the middle of the table. Apart from B.Rabbit, the others could only drink water continuously, attempting to trick their stomach.

  B.Rabbit laid beside his own dinner table, looking up. Somehow, he was now chewing on a piece of raw vegetable from his dish of salad, "It’s alright! I already considered the possibilities. There is only a 25% probability that the food is poisoned. I am willing to take that risk! Besides, if I don’t die, all of you can eat my leftovers. Temporarily, this is a way that you won’t die of hunger…"

  Even though he sounded quite righteous, from the speed that he was eating, he didn’t seem like he would leave them much food.

  When the smell of the food was not as strong, Lin Sanjiu heave a sigh of relief as she rested on the table. It was too late for B.Rabbit, whose stomach was slowly bulging. They only hoped that he hadn’t picked the wrong dish.

  They did not expect that even after finding this space, the risk of death by starvation was not dispelled; instead, it became even more traumatic. This game was very difficult for all of them. None of them knew who to suspect. After all, they were companions who had fought alongside each other.

  There was a stagnant atmosphere as none of them spoke for some time. The silence was broke with a hiccup. All of them turned to look at B.Rabbit who stared back at them with his big black eyes. He hiccuped again and rubbed his own stomach. "Umm… I am so full now. I don’t think my portion was poisoned. Do you want some?"

  There was still a large piece of pan fried butter fish fillet in the rabbit’s dinner plate.

  [That’s right, B.Rabbit doesn’t eat meat!] They had just managed to calm down, but now their eyes flashed with delight. At that point, no one wanted to say another word. They quickly cut the fillet and shared it among the three of them.

  Lin Sanjiu ate her fish fillet with large bites as she scanned the people around her. [Is Mr. Dot really among us? Is he really acting like he is as hungry as all of us? Is he eating ravenously like all of us?]

  After sharing, each of them didn’t have much fish on their plates. However, after swallowing that warm, tender, and juicy fish, Lin Sanjiu felt as if she suddenly came alive again. When her long empty stomach was filled with some meat, she suddenly felt waves of pain from her stomach.

  "Who the hell is Mr. Dot?" Lin Sanjiu said frustratedly as she pushed her plate, revealing a red voting paper beneath, which was probably prepared for the Red Team. She took the paper and asked, "How should we find him?"

  Hu Changzai who regained a little of his energy, pushed up his spectacles and looked at each of them carefully. He shook his head and said, "I have no idea, everyone looks the same. But I can tell if any of you lied, but then there is no way for you to verify that I am not Mr. Dot... After all, he mentioned in his letter that there is little he can’t do here."

  "Damn it!" B.Rabbit cursed, panting from being too full. "No matter what, I don’t want to join the fifth game! We must find Mr. Dot!"

  "Why don’t we each say something that could prove our identities?" Hai Tianqing suggested after being silent for some time. It was quite a good idea. "Mr. Dot probably doesn’t know what happened before we came here."

  "That makes sense… I’ll start first." Hu Changzai was the first to agree. He thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Jiu saved me once."

  Lin Sanjiu nodded and continued, "I was the one who suggested that we should take a bath."

  "Her Active ability is one of the most useless ability I have ever seen." B.Rabbit pointed at Lin Sanjiu with his paw, and she rolled her eyes.

  Hai Tianqing lowered his head and said softly, "I had a wife and two daughters in the past."

  After one round of "confession", the four of them looked at each other as none of them made a mistake. It was surprising that Mr. Dot didn’t expose himself.

  Hu Changzai gave a wry smile, "I can tell that none of you lied."

  All of them sighed. [What should we do? Does this mean that Mr. Dot knows his target’s entire history if he impersonates that person?]

  All of them couldn’t help feeling very confused. After a while, Lin Sanjiu looked at each of them. Somehow, they all lowered their heads avoiding eye contact. She paused and finally said what she had been thinking for some time: "If that’s the case, why don’t we reveal who we suspect is Mr.Dot?"

  Chapter 87 - The Voting Outcome

  Lin Sanjiu would never have imagined that she would be the first person to be suspected.

  "That’s why I feel that Xiao Jiu is the most suspicious." Hu Changzai turned his head away from Lin Sanjiu, trying to avoid her eyes. He continued, stammering, "No matter how I think about it, I don’t know how she can discover a way to prevent our abilities from being stripped…"

  Lin Sanjiu gaped at him, then she couldn’t help looking at both Hai Tianqing and B.Rabbit. Hai Tianqing suddenly focused his attention on the items on the table, he started playing with a fork as if he had never seen such cutlery before. Whereas B.Rabbit buried his head in his plate, showing only his furry little backside. "Actually, I think that you’re a little weird too…" he said with muted tone.

  "Now that you brought this up," Hai Tianqing, who had been silent all this time, finally nodded his head, "I agree. When we were recounting our experiences, she brought up an event which was closest to the time when we entered this pocket dimension."

  Hearing this, Lin Sanjiu was so anxious that she felt cold sweat would fall from her forehead any minutes. "Please don’t make such conclusions so quickly! I am really not Mr. Dot!"

  Once she said that, Hu Changzai narrowed his eyes and looked at her carefully before he slowly said, "She is not lying."

  Before Lin Sanjiu could let out a sigh of relief, B.Rabbit lifted his pair of black eyes and peered at Hu Changzai suspiciously, "Forget it… Isn’t your ability useless right now? Or could it be that you’re Mr. Dot? Maybe you said that on purpose so that she will let down her guard and we would acknowledge you at the same time…"

  Hu Changzai stood up from his chair, worriedly. "What do you mean? If that is so, aren’t you even more suspicious? You know that the food might be poisoned, yet you still chose to eat!"

  "Bullsh*t! That’s because I’m hungry! Besides, if I were really Mr. Dot, wouldn’t I avoid doing that!"

  "Well, not necessarily. Maybe yo
u just want to act like you don’t care because it is easier to get others to believe you that way…"

  "Since you are so experienced, then you are definitely Mr. Dot!"

  "Rabbit! How could you accuse him, then accuse me? Who do you actually…"

  As the squabbling got louder and louder, Hai Tianqing could no longer stand it. "Stop quarreling!" he shouted angrily as he slammed his hand on the table. This shook the silver cutlery and glassware, and a broken wooden placemat fell to the ground.

  "You’ll speak one at a time! Just point out your suspicion. Don’t bring up your baseless conjectures!" Hai Tianqing’s voice reverberated through the silent enclosed space, clearly portrayed his gruff Northern Chinese nature. "We all want to know who is the real Mr. Dot. So don’t get angry or anxious if someone else suspects you! Understood!?"

  No one said a word, and B.Rabbit finally broke the silence after a while: "I thought about it, and I think that Xiao Jiu can’t be Mr. Dot. You don’t know how many sh*theads tried to catch me and eat me up while I don’t have one of my Active abilities. Xiao Jiu was the one who saved me," while he said that, he stroked his own fur. "Mr. Dot would never choose to do such a unrewarding thing."

  "If that’s so, who is it?" Hu Changzai asked as he scratched his head, perplexed.

  Lin Sanjiu stared at him and suddenly said coldly, "Aren’t you the one?"

  Her words immediately drew the attention of everyone. B.Rabbit and Hai Tianqing turned their eyes to Hu Changzai.

  "Just now, I was in a hurry to prove that I wasn’t Mr. Dot so I didn’t think about this carefully." Lin Sanjiu held her own chin as she scrutinized Hu Changzai. She continued with an indifferent expression, "Let’s put it that way. If Mr. Dot chose to be anyone other than you, you would immediately discover his identity once he denies being Mr. Dot, right?"

  Hu Changzai nodded blankly, it looked as if he had not caught on to Lin Sanjiu’s track of thought.

  "According to Hu Changzai’s personality, he would definitely point out who Mr. Dot is once he discovered something… Even though Mr. Dot could say something to distract the others, this would be too risky," Lin Sanjiu explained to Hai Tianqing and B.Rabbit, "But if Mr. Dot chose to be Hu Changzai, there wouldn’t be this risk."