Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence that may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

[“Hannibal’s Dinner” Escape Room Live Stream]

Even after ten days, the live stream of “Ghost Bride” remained at the top of the virtual world’s trending charts, drawing in new viewers daily.

After Tong Yu signed the partnership agreement with Lan Hai Game Group, he immediately announced the news on the live stream and reopened backend reservations. In just ten days, the number of reservations skyrocketed from 100,000 to over 700,000.

As a result, when Lan Hai Game Group announced that the game’s points were fully constructed and ready for players, the “Ghost Bride” trending topic instantly exploded across the entire virtual world.

Zhang Xin struck while the iron was hot, releasing the Hannibal audition plan:

[“Hannibal’s Dinner” Audition Plan

The new “Hannibal’s Dinner” escape room script is complete, with an SS-level horror rating. We are now openly recruiting the first 8 experience players. Due to the extreme horror level, participating players must have a reserve of 200,000R energy and be in good physical and mental health with exceptional courage to ensure no psychological trauma. The company will not be held responsible for any trauma incurred. Those who meet these conditions and have the lowest time consumption value after completing the “Ghost Bride” dungeon will receive priority admission. Recruitment results will be announced in 48 hours.]

The announcement included a video showcasing partial scenes from the Hannibal dungeon, sparking immediate discussion among netizens:

[Holy cow, this is amazing! The first dungeon isn’t even fully out, and the second one’s already here. Lan Hai Game Group is truly a big deal!]

[Am I the only one worried about the quality? I haven’t played Escape Room myself, but I’ve watched the live stream three times. The game’s plot is crucial. Can something rushed like this actually be good?]

[Totally agree with the comment above. Boss Tong must be coerced by capital.]

[Exactly! Money’s important, but quality is even more so. We finally have an innovative game; let’s hope it’s not a one-hit wonder.]

[Did anyone else notice the new dungeon’s horror level? SS-class. I recall ‘Ghost Bride’ was only A-class.]

[Jumping two horror levels right away? I’m skeptical.]

[I watched the video. I have to say, Boss Tong’s scene construction is absolutely exquisite. Even if I don’t know the plot, the game scenes alone make it worth playing.]

[I noticed that too! The architectural style is completely different from ‘Ghost Bride.’ And this time, the NPC is a blonde, azure-eyed European. They say that in ancient Earth times, transportation wasn’t developed, so it took months to travel from China to Europe, leading to vast cultural differences. I’m guessing this architecture is from ancient European Earth.]

[What’s the use of pretty scenes? This game’s selling point is its horror level and its spiritual power consumption, not archaeology.]

[The name doesn’t sound scary either—’Hannibal’s Dinner.’ Are they going to fill the table with disgusting food?]

Netizens had a point; in the interstellar era, sufficiently unpleasant food, like Zhang Huai’s stinky tofu, could indeed consume spiritual power.

[Still, with such strict game requirements, there must be something to it.]

[It’s just promotion, all hype. Who knows what it’s really like inside.]

[If you’re skeptical, don’t bother applying. I’ll test the waters for you.]

[Upstairs, I can hear your calculations from across the planet.]

[You can argue all you want, but you need to be qualified to go!]

This comment was followed by a screenshot showing a 200,000R energy value.

Only those with over 200,000R energy were eligible to apply, a clear taunt!

Who gets mocked without fighting back? The ridiculed netizens suddenly began uploading screenshots of their own energy values. Ordinarily, people wanted this number to be as low as possible, as lower energy values indicated more stable spiritual power. But at this moment, netizens with energy values below 200,000 weren’t even qualified to upload their screenshots!

In that instant, many mentally stable Awakened individuals were inexplicably scorned by their contractors: “Can’t you use your brain sometimes? Your chaotic index isn’t even 200,000!”

Ah, the ingrained vice of competitiveness!

Tong Yu, quietly observing the drama unfold, sighed like a sage before taking a silent sip of his milk tea.

Zhang Xin sat across from him, holding a cup himself, drinking while monitoring the backend data. “As of now, the backend has received 29,876 applications.”

Tong Yu was surprised. “The first game hasn’t even finished yet, has it? Only 8,000 players have entered so far.”

The Ghost Bride dungeon takes at least three hours to play once, and it’s been less than two hours, right?

Zhang Xin: “You don’t have to play it to apply. The number of Ghost Bride reservations has already exceeded 800,000. These applicants are just the ones whose energy values meet the requirements, and it’s only just begun. More people will apply later.”

There are actually so many people with energy values over 200,000R?!

Tong Yu thought of Shang Letian, whose spiritual sea only stored a little over 200,000 spiritual power, and he was already suffering so much. He had thought this was a special case, but now it seemed almost normal.

Tong Yu couldn’t help but ask, “Are these people enduring spiritual torment every day?”

Zhang Xin paused, clearly a bit taken aback by the sudden jump in topic, but still replied, “It varies from person to person. If a contractor’s spiritual sea is broad enough, 200,000R isn’t much. But if the spiritual sea is too small, even 100,000R can be unbearable. You just recently formed a spiritual contract, didn’t you?”

Tong Yu nodded. In fact, he regretted asking the question as soon as it left his lips; it clearly revealed his lack of common sense once again.

Fortunately, Zhang Xin didn’t seem to suspect anything and even began to explain: “You obviously didn’t read the contractor’s manual carefully. After becoming a contractor, your spiritual sea will expand with spiritual stimulation. Normally, after one year of contract, your spiritual sea can hold 100,000R of energy. After five years, it can reach 200,000-250,000R. After that, it’s up to luck; if you can’t naturally awaken, 300,000 is the limit. Oh, right, what was your initial capacity? It must not be low, right?”

Without mentioning anything else, just the construction of these two game scenes would surely consume a lot of energy, so Zhang Xin was certain that Tong Yu’s capacity was very high.

Tong Yu had no idea what his own capacity was. He had formed the contract with Sheng Jing without much thought and had never had it measured. So, he casually made up a number: “Not much, 150,000R.”

Picking a midpoint between 100,000 and 200,000 should be safe, right?

Zhang Xin, however, was delighted: “You’re amazing! Your initial capacity is actually 150,000R.”

Tong Yu stammered, “Is that… a lot?”

Zhang Xin: “Of course! Most people’s initial capacity is only 60,000-80,000. You’ve directly doubled that. You’re truly incredible, Xiao Yu! I think you might even naturally awaken.”

‘Holy cow, the initial value is only 60,000-80,000! Why didn’t you tell me earlier, kid!’

Tong Yu felt that continuing this topic would be dangerous, so he quickly changed the subject: “How many people have made reservations now?”

“Let me see.” Of course, Zhang Xin was most concerned about the game, so he lowered his head to check the backend numbers.

Tong Yu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Two days passed quickly.

During these two days, the entire virtual world was buzzing about “Ghost Bride” and “Hannibal.” Although everyone knew the content of the Ghost Bride dungeon, watching it online and experiencing it firsthand were two completely different things. So, Zhang Xin’s worry about declining popularity didn’t materialize at all. On the contrary, due to excellent player feedback, the popularity actually climbed to a new level.

Some players even planned to play it three or four times to experience all the checkpoints Tong Yu had set. Others wanted to play with friends they knew and planned to wait until reservations weren’t needed before inviting their friends to play again.

And as “Ghost Bride” grew more popular, players’ anticipation for “Hannibal” also increased.

Finally, the time came to announce the list of live stream experience players.

Zhang Xin didn’t hold back, immediately having his staff upload the list of eight individuals. The list consisted of three items: name, energy consumption value in the Ghost Bride dungeon, and capacity.

1.Xia Zheng: -12,657R, 280,000R capacity.

2.Derek: -23,567R, 250,000R capacity.

3.Liu Mingjie: -39,876R, 240,000R capacity. 

…

8.Elena: -55,996R, 220,000R capacity.

As soon as the list was published, netizens exploded again.

[Xia Zheng, is that the Xia Zheng I know? Is it the famous actor Xia, the one who starred in Return to Earth?]

[Consumption of 12,657R, stored 280,000R. That’s almost 300,000R combined! Is this big shot about to awaken?]

[Holy cow, none of the people on this list have a capacity below 200,000R.]

Any contractor knows that for a normal person without a secondary awakening, a capacity of 250,000R is already the limit. Those who can exceed 250,000R are people who have a chance to awaken naturally, and breaking through 300,000R signifies a successful awakening. Some people on this list exceeded 250,000R, meaning they had the potential for natural awakening. Especially Xia Zheng, ranked first, who was already infinitely close to 300,000B.

“Was this actor arranged by your company?” Tong Yu asked Zhang Xin.

“How could that be?” Zhang Xin said with a strained expression. “The list was chosen by the virtual world’s intelligent AI; no one can fake it. Besides, even if I were to choose, I wouldn’t pick him.”

Tong Yu was puzzled. “He’s a famous actor, with such high visibility. What’s wrong with free publicity?”

“He’s famous for starring in horror movies. If I wanted to find someone for promotion, I’d definitely look for someone easily scared to get a good effect,” Zhang Xin explained.

“That’s true. He only consumed a little over 10,000 energy points throughout the entire game. These eight people are already the ones with the lowest energy consumption in the entire game, and this actor Xia only consumed half of what the second-place person did. He’s clearly a tank.”

“The most important thing is that this actor Xia has a very venomous tongue. If he plays it and feels the game doesn’t meet his expectations, he might trash us. His crazy fans are terrifyingly aggressive,” Zhang Xin worried intensely. “No, I’m contacting the public relations department now.”

Tong Yu wasn’t involved in operations and continued to quietly observe the drama.

[Derek, at second place, is a well-known game streamer with over 20 million followers. Any game he promotes goes viral.]

[20 million followers? Is that impressive? Our actor has a hundred million followers.]

[Crazy fans, stay off the game forums. Go back to the entertainment section.]

[Holy crap, actor Xia’s crazy fans are already here. It’s over, it’s over. My heart goes out to Boss Tong; he’s about to get flamed.]

Tong Yu was speechless. ‘What does this have to do with me?’

As soon as actor Xia’s crazy fans joined the fray, the two sides started a quarrel. Tong Yu watched for a while, and seeing that no one was discussing the game anymore, he decisively logged out. The experience was set to begin three hours after the list was announced. This meant the eight people on the list had to arrive at Tong Yu’s shop exactly three hours later; tardiness would be considered an automatic forfeiture.

Tong Yu took a break to eat offline, then calculated the time and arrived at the shop ten minutes early. By then, seven players had already gathered in the shop, being hosted by Zhang Xin and his colleagues. Seeing him log in, everyone’s gaze turned towards him.

“Let me introduce everyone, this is the game’s creator, Mr. Tong Yu,” Zhang Xin introduced Tong Yu to the group.

“Mr. Tong is so young,” the handsome blonde, blue-eyed man extended his hand to Tong Yu. “Hello, I’m Derek.”

Tong Yu said, “Ah!” “I know you, a very impressive game streamer.”

Tong Yu then greeted everyone else one by one and realized that everyone seemed to have arrived except for Xia Zheng, who was in first place.

“Where’s actor Xia?” Tong Yu quietly asked Zhang Xin.

“His assistant said he’s shooting an advertisement. It would be great if he couldn’t make it,” Zhang Xin whispered into Tong Yu’s ear.

Unfortunately, his wish didn’t come true. Two minutes before the game started, actor Xia still arrived.

Zhang Xin, who had been hoping actor Xia wouldn’t come just a second ago, instantly changed his expression and enthusiastically went up to shake hands: “Actor Xia, it’s truly an honor that you’d even consider our humble game.”

Actor Xia glanced at the time and said ungraciously, “Let’s start the game quickly; I have other things to do soon.”

Zhang Xin’s warm welcome was met with a cold shoulder. He couldn’t force the small talk anymore and quickly scurried aside.

Tong Yu stepped forward and led the group to the escape room entrance. “Welcome to Hannibal’s Castle. Mr. Hannibal invites you to dinner, and he wishes you all a beautiful evening.”

With that, Tong Yu activated the escape room entrance.

Xia Zheng, whether in a hurry or simply eager, was the first to step inside, and the others followed suit.

The moment they entered the room, the live stream on the StarNet simultaneously began. Originally, this live stream was only scheduled for the game channel, but because the actor Xia was one of the participants, many entertainment channels spontaneously re-broadcasted it.

[It’s starting, it’s starting! My male god is indeed there.]

[Ahhh, my male god is even more handsome!]

[This is a game live stream, can the crazy fans please shut up.]

[Wow, the scenery here is so beautiful. Paired with actor Xia, it’s a visual feast.]

The hardcore gamers, unable to out-argue or out-swear, simply stopped posting comments and moved to the game forums to discuss.

[The scene is so beautiful, completely different style from Ghost Bride. Can this even be scary?]

[Someone came out of the castle, looks like the butler.]

“Respected guests, welcome to Hannibal’s Castle. I am the castle’s butler, Duncan.” A gentleman in his fifties with a refined appearance bowed respectfully to the group. His words were sincere, his tone gentle, and his demeanor elegant, making him instantly likable.

Such etiquette was almost nonexistent on Shui Lan Star these days, leaving the few players somewhat stunned, unsure how to respond.

Finally, actor Xia was the first to recover, introducing himself in the butler’s tone: “I am Xia Zheng, thank you for your master’s invitation.”

Derek and the others followed suit, introducing themselves one by one.

[Ahhh, he’s truly my male god. That aura just now was absolutely incredible.]

[Incredible what? His aura isn’t even as good as that AI butler’s.] 

The hardcore gamers, fuming, lashed out at the crazy fans in the comments. ‘You won’t let me comment in peace, so I won’t let you fangirl in peace.’

After cursing, the hardcore gamer, knowing they couldn’t win, turned off the comments and moved to the game forums.

[This butler isn’t right either. In Ghost Bride, the butler came out, carrying a lantern, hunched over, face full of wrinkles, looking terrifyingly sinister. How come this butler looks so… elegant?]

[So far, not scary at all.]

[Yeah.]

[It’s just the beginning, let’s see what happens next.]

Inside the escape room, the butler led the guests into the living room. As the opulent hall appeared, the comments section erupted in gasps again. The camera panned, and the castle’s master, Hannibal, finally appeared in everyone’s sight.

Hannibal’s appearance had already been shown in the promotional video, but he was only a fleeting glimpse, without much dialogue or body language. But now, the Hannibal in the live stream was wearing a fitted tuxedo, a perfectly appropriate smile on his handsome face, gracefully pacing towards them. His azure eyes were like the purest jewels in the world. He moved past everyone to the only lady among the eight, took her hand, and kissed it: “My esteemed lady, your beauty is captivating. It would be the honor of my life to know your name.”

Elena’s pretty face flushed, and her voice became overly sweet: “Elena.”

In that instant, everyone’s gaze, both inside and outside the game, fell on Elena. The reason was simple: this Ms. Elena was a true tomboy, specializing in fighting games, and was one of the top ten players in the virtual world’s fighting game rankings. She had beaten thousands of men, and when she cursed, her voice was rougher than many male players.

But what did she just do? She actually used a cutesy voice?!

[Holy crap! Elena is blushing?]

[Elena, where’s your rough and bold voice? Why are you being so delicate!!]

[Elena, what happened to you? Are you possessed?]

[Could this be the true horror of this game? It can change people’s personalities?]

[The more I think about it, the scarier it gets!]

While everyone was busy complaining, Hannibal had already greeted the others one by one. Throughout, Hannibal’s elegant and noble demeanor even managed to overshadow actor Xia, capturing the hearts of many young girls.

[Excuse me, Lan Hai Game Group, do you sell the Hannibal program? I want to customize my own Hannibal.]

[Me too!]

Zhang Xin looked at these comments and snorted coldly. “In five minutes, you won’t want him anymore.”

Inside the escape room, Hannibal had already separated from the guests to attend to matters in the kitchen.

Xia Zheng and the others discussed as they toured the castle.

“What’s next? Has the plot started?”

“Yeah, nothing seems to have happened so far. We’re not really just here for dinner, are we?”

“What if the horror part only begins after dinner?”

Just then, a flurry of footsteps suddenly echoed from ahead: “Help! Help!”

The screams were piercing, just a short distance away.

‘It’s starting!’

Everyone grew excited and quickly ran forward, just in time to see a figure being dragged away, disappearing around a corner of the corridor, leaving a pool of crimson blood on the floor.

“Plot triggered! There might be a clue,” Derek was the first to say.

“Let’s follow and see,” Xia Zheng was the first to follow.

The eight individuals hurried through the complex long corridors, following the blood trail until they reached the outside of a room. The door was ajar, and inside, various kitchen utensils filled the space. A somewhat familiar figure stood with his back to them.

“It’s Hannibal.” Hannibal’s appearance was simply too distinctive; everyone recognized him at a glance.

“This seems to be the kitchen? The theme of this game is ‘Hannibal’s Dinner.’ Could the key be in the kitchen?”

Everyone started analyzing.

Just then, Hannibal, who had been facing away from them, suddenly moved to the side, revealing what he had been blocking. It was a cross, and a man was fixed onto the wooden frame in a kneeling position. His eyes were wide with terror, but his limbs were limp and powerless. His mouth opened and closed, struggling to make a sound, but nothing came out. Only silent tears streamed down his face.

The man’s gaze was so desperate that a single look sent shivers down one’s spine.

[What is this? Kidnapping? Murder? Hannibal is a murderer?]

[So this time the theme is a battle royale? Hannibal is going to kill the guests visiting the castle?]

Netizens began to guess the plot.

Just then, Hannibal brought over a tray filled with various seasonings. He half-crouched, gently observing the man bound to the cross: “Don’t be afraid, my child. It will affect the taste of the brain matter.”

Upon hearing these words, the players’ pupils instantly constricted.

[What did he just say? Did he say ‘brain matter’?]

[I… I thought I misheard!]

[No… it can’t be.]

*Szzzzzzzz!*

In the live stream, Hannibal found a drill from somewhere and drilled furiously into the man’s head. Amidst the whirring sound, bone fragments flew. When the drill bit finally pulled away from the man’s head, crimson blood still clung to it.

At this moment, the live stream’s comment section was filled with a single, unified [Holy crap!]

The energy levels of the eight players in the game began to drop significantly for the first time.

Hannibal tossed aside the drill and picked up a knife and fork, moving behind the man. The man was still alive, but his eyes were no longer shedding tears; they held a dead stillness of despair, a despair so profound it seemed to penetrate the screen and reach into the heart of every viewer.

Hannibal removed his blood-stained gloves, his long, beautiful fingers holding a knife and fork, as he deftly lifted the man’s skull.

“High-end ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods,” Hannibal said. He used the knife and fork to carefully scoop out a small portion of the brain, placing it on a pre-prepared plate. The moment it was placed on the plate, the crimson brain was still subtly pulsing. “My esteemed guests will surely be satisfied with this dish.”

“Ugh!” Someone couldn’t hold it in and vomited.

Hannibal, who was in the midst of preparing his “high-end ingredients,” suddenly looked up, his gaze unexpectedly meeting the eight players!

“Run!” Xia Zheng reacted the fastest, turning and fleeing!

That single word, “Run,” not only roused the other seven players but also all the viewers outside the video!

From the moment Hannibal began “preparing the ingredients,” the entire live stream had been in a deathly silence for a full nine minutes and eighteen seconds. Not a single comment had been posted. Everyone seemed paralyzed by fear, unable to move.

[RUNNNNNNNNN!]

[Ugh! I can’t take it, I’ve thrown up yesterday’s nutrient solution.]

[The guy above me, I threw up last week’s!]

[Demon, this is definitely a demon!]

[I’m watching from actor Xia’s perspective. When our eyes met Hannibal’s just now, I felt like I was already dead!]

[Holy crap, just that moment, my energy consumption dropped by over ten thousand. Damn, that’s too scary.]

[I dropped over twenty thousand.]

[At this rate, I’m going to get disconnected just watching a live stream.]

Tong Yu glanced at the energy consumption values of the eight players in the game. Elena had the fastest drop, losing 15,000. Xia Zheng and Derek lost the least, both around 8,000.

“Why did actor Xia only drop 8,000R?” Zhang Xin was clearly also monitoring the players’ energy consumption.

“How much more do you want? He only dropped a little over 10,000 in the entire Ghost Bride dungeon. Here, he dropped 8,000 right at the start. We’ve already succeeded,” Tong Yu said.

“True.” Zhang Xin stopped dwelling on it and continued watching the live stream; he didn’t know the rest of the plot either.

The eight players frantically fled through the castle, finally reaching the first checkpoint.

“What is this? There’s even a countdown?”

“There are instructions here.” Liu Mingjie found the instructions on the wall and quickly read them aloud, “Restore the Rubik’s Cube within thirty seconds, ensuring all identical colors are on the same side. If it cannot be restored within thirty seconds, one teammate will become Hannibal’s premium ingredient. You have three minutes of preparation time, starting now.”

‘Become Hannibal’s premium ingredient?!’ The image of the pulsing brain on the white plate flashed simultaneously in everyone’s minds.

“Who knows how to solve this Rubik’s Cube!” Xia Zheng asked.

Derek shook his head. “I’ve never played with this thing.”

The others also shook their heads.

At the same time, the comments on the live stream were also discussing the Rubik’s Cube.

[What is this Rubik’s Cube? Does anyone know?]

[Never seen it, but doesn’t it say to just put the same colors together? It should just be a puzzle game.]

Tong Yu asked Zhang Xin curiously, “Haven’t you guys played with Rubik’s Cubes?”

Zhang Xin shook his head. “No, isn’t this a toy you designed?”

“…” Tong Yu was speechless. ‘These people haven’t even seen a Rubik’s Cube. How are they supposed to solve it in thirty seconds?’

‘Could they all be wiped out in this first stage?’

“I’ll try.” A middle-aged man wearing glasses among the eight spoke up.

“You can?” Xia Zheng asked him.

“I can try to calculate it. It seems like a math problem,” the middle-aged man said.

“Then hurry up and calculate; there are only two minutes and fifteen seconds left,” Elena reminded.

At the same time, the comments were filled with shouts.

[Quick, quick, quick! Anyone understand this? Is it a math problem? Calculate it quickly!]

[Wait, I’ll build a model. I’ll use my light-brain to calculate it.]

[Damn it, where would actor Xia and the others in the escape room get the light-brain!]

Inside the escape room, the middle-aged man muttered to himself, occasionally gesturing with his hands, rapidly calculating. The other seven surrounded him, wary of pursuers from behind.

Three minutes passed quickly.

“Please begin restoring the imitation!” A mechanical female voice sounded, and at the same time, the thirty-second countdown began.

“It’s starting!” Derek yelled.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and began to restore the imitation. He quickly turned the Rubik’s Cube, but his calculations were clearly incomplete. Only one side of the Rubik’s Cube was solved when the thirty seconds were up.

“Restoration failed!”

“Defend yourselves!” Xia Zheng warned everyone to be on guard against castle inhabitants coming to seize them. But what they never expected was that the danger wasn’t behind them, but beneath their feet.

“Ah!”

With a cry, the ground beneath the middle-aged man with glasses gave way, and he plummeted. By the time the others turned to look, they only saw the floor had resealed.

The live stream fell silent once more, both inside and out. After a long pause, a single comment drifted across the screen:

[Do any of the remaining seven know how to solve it?]

Viewers couldn’t discern the psychological state of the seven players in the game, but they could clearly see their energy consumption values rapidly dropping.

At this moment, the scene cut to Hannibal.

In the enormous dining room, Hannibal gazed affectionately at the recently fallen middle-aged man with glasses: “I hear smart people’s brains are chewier.”

Swoosh! Energy consumption: -50,000.