Seeing the red-masked man unexpectedly walk over, seeing Lu Ce’s movements, Kirk felt like his brain had cramped up.

Am I hallucinating?

Did the Mental Interference backfire on me?

Watching Lu Ce down a strange can of food in the blink of an eye, he forced himself to accept the reality in front of him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

【: Historic encounter!】

【: Hahahahaha! I’m dying of laughter.】

【: I’ve been flipping back and forth between their perspectives. Honestly, this horror vibe got turned into a comedy.】

【: Funny, sure... but I still have no idea how they’re supposed to complete their tasks... this is Hell Mode, y’know.】

“What are you doing?” Kirk stared in disbelief at Lu Ce. At this point, he couldn’t care less about national pride and just asked in Chinese.

Kirk opened his mouth, but no words came out. He had no idea what Lu Ce was even doing right now.

He tried using Mental Interference on Lu Ce, only to find the guy’s mental state was already a tangled mess—his interference had no effect at all.

It was like trying to contaminate a mud pit by dripping ink into it.

He even felt a backlash when activating his ability, his face turning pale.

Kirk looked at Lu Ce with some alarm in his eyes, thinking:

“Did this guy go through something? Has he already suffered mental damage in this Hell Game?”

In just a moment of eye contact, Kirk imagined ten thousand scenarios.

Meanwhile, Lu Ce’s mind was filled with ten thousand classic international dishes.

Suddenly, a flash of light at the corner of his eye—he saw the small dish in Lu Ce’s right hand.

There were still six pills on it!

No time to think more—he barked out:

“Give me the medicine!”

Lu Ce yawned and said, “What kind of bird-speak are you speaking? I don’t understand.”

“Give me the medicine in your hand!”

“What medicine? This isn’t medicine—this is my breakfast.”

“Okay, okay, it’s breakfast. Can you give me your breakfast?” Kirk started calmly persuading. He realized Lu Ce probably wasn’t mentally stable anymore, so he switched to the mental patient communication approach.

“Why would I give you my breakfast? You a beggar?” Lu Ce shot back, a displeased expression showing on his mask (*￣︿￣).

Kirk: ?

Right... why should he give me his food...

Wait, no! Why am I thinking like this?!

Shaking his head hard to calm himself down, Kirk finally realized—this Hell Mode Game really was kind of tough.

Patiently, he spoke to Lu Ce:

“Because I’m a poor man. I’ve been starving for so long. I need your help. For the sake of Christ, please, my dear sir.”

In his desperation, Kirk even broke out the translated English accent.

“If you’re hungry, then eat. But you can’t eat pills like they’re food, crazy guy.”

Lu Ce replied, then picked up the dish, flipped it, and swallowed all six pills.

Kirk: ?

Wasn’t I going along with your logic? How am I the crazy one now?

But as he watched Lu Ce eat the last of the medicine, Kirk felt like his heart had sunk to rock bottom.

It’s over. A perfectly good Game—how did it end up like this?!

A total pig teammate! Can this Game be solo mode, please?!

The red warning lights flashed, forcing both of them to return to their rooms.

Kirk’s gaze grew colder. Watching Lu Ce’s back, he said flatly:

“If you still have a bit of sanity, use the Exit Token.”

“At least your life can be saved.”

Lu Ce didn’t even look back, like he had no idea the words were aimed at him. He quickly walked back to his room.

Back in his own room, Kirk was completely tense.

Long Liu was rolling on the ground like a ghost!

He’d clawed open his own scars, blood smeared everywhere. Even the tiled floor had chunks gouged out by his bare hands!

This guy is not f**king human?!

The calm in Kirk’s eyes slowly turned into dread. He didn’t even dare to speak, pressing himself against the door.

“Medicine... medicine...”

“My... yuxiang shredded pork?”

Faced with the guy’s clearly insane mutterings, Kirk swallowed hard and started to negotiate.

“The food is still being prepared...”

Switching back to Lu Ce’s side, he had also returned to his room, facing his own patient who looked like a skin-and-bone monkey.

The situation was almost the same as Kirk’s: a patient who hadn’t eaten anything and was now rolling around like some kind of xenomorph, just one step from full-on transformation.

But Lu Ce didn’t feel afraid at all. He casually walked over and sat down next to the guy, naturally asking:

“Ah, that was a satisfying breakfast. Are you full now?”

You clearly didn’t bring me anything!

If the patient could still speak normally, he’d definitely yell that sentence right into Lu Ce’s ear.

But he couldn’t. All he could do was make various meaningless noises.

“Rrr... rrr...! You’ll be like me too...”

“You’ll become just like me!”

He roared, the iron chains stretched taut, his fingers slashing down like knives, leaving a huge gash on Lu Ce’s shoulder—blood flowed out.

But Lu Ce didn’t react at all. He just leaned against the wall and muttered:

“Ah... guess you’re not full yet.”

“Yeah, same here. I’m not full either.”

Patient: ......

He had gone completely mad, flailing his limbs wildly, carving wound after wound into Lu Ce’s body.

【Chosen of Agony! Pain Points +1!】

【Chosen of Agony! Pain Points +1!】

Lu Ce didn’t respond at all, letting the damage happen as if he didn’t even notice.

“Alright, we’ve just about finished eating. So—what did you come to me for?” Lu Ce turned to speak to the ghost-like face.

Patient: o_o ....

“Weren’t you... the one who came to me?”

Maybe Lu Ce’s thinking was so chaotic that it surpassed the patient’s own insanity—he couldn’t help but respond.

“Ugh, I’m so hungry... but I also kinda feel like I ate too much.” Lu Ce rubbed his stomach and stood up. “Bro, this position’s kinda uncomfortable.”

“You came to me... looking for help, right?”

As he said that, he grabbed the incoming arm—an arm strong enough to crack bricks and stone.

But once Lu Ce grabbed it, it couldn’t move an inch!

Red light flashed. From his backpack, Lu Ce pulled out his Sharpened Blade.

Gluttony Mask Side Effect — the energy from eaten food doesn’t belong to you. If it’s not released after reaching a certain limit, your body may explode!

Well then, let’s release it!

“RRAAARRRGHHH!”

The patient whose wrist had been grabbed let out a beast-like roar.

Next second—red light flashed!

24 Strength Points, tripled by the Sharpened Blade’s bonus, plus the partial energy release from Gluttony—

Crack!

That thick iron chain, strong enough to restrain a dinosaur, snapped instantly!

At the same time, the patient’s roaring stopped abruptly. He stared blankly at the chain that had held him for who knows how many years.

In his crazed and chaotic eyes, there was suddenly a strange clarity.

His wildly swinging arms lowered as well.

Wha... what just happened?