A big neon sign was hung five meters above Seven and the others, the words “Restaurant” plastered on it. Were it not for the sign, the 5x5x5 concrete cube would appeal more like an unfinished garage and no one would be able to see it as a restaurant if not for one with a tasteless theme.

[It is now 10:00 a.m. All players present, the facility is now open]

Passing through the door, an intake of potent light made them close their eyes for a moment before putting their hands forward, struggling to see anything past.

-...What the hell?

The moment he set foot inside the place he felt his entire body bathed in warmth. The feet which had been covered with socks and layered by shoes a moment before were now bare, slowly sinking into a comfortable and dry substance, with the fluidity of water and texture of small grains. He couldn’t immediately tell that it was sand, as he had never set foot on a beach before.

“This... Feels pretty good actually”

A smile unknowingly surfaced on his lips.

-Yay~, we need to make a sand snowman guys! Ri~ght? Ri~ght! - Kyel exclaimed, he looked quite funny with a pair of googles and a floater, bucket, and shovel in hands.

-Don’t be ridiculous – Nathan replied while blocking the sun with a parasol and keeping his feet unsullied with thick wooden sandals.

-Ohh? - Kyel’s voice turned a few pitches higher with a scary intonation – I phrased it wrongly it seems. Guys, we will make a snowman. Right? Right? Ri~ght!

Awkwardly, they followed Kyel’s lead and shouted in unison “right!”.

-Argh. Was I that embarrassing back then? The shame – Nathan hid his face beneath his palm and hastily distanced himself from Kyel.

Seven looked around, casting analyzing glances at the present people. He was mildly surprised that all of them seemed more relaxed compared to the other days, and their outfits had magically changed to fit a beach theme.

Natalya poked her toes shily in the sand, unable to suppress an almost undetectable smile as she stared at a pretty shell she happened across, as if looking at a distant memory. She was covered by a blue full-body swimsuit, patterned after shark scales. It was a pattern suited for swimming, which Seven suspected she was eager to do, but even more than swimming, a surfboard with the word “Kahuna” towered above her head, revealing her taste for the sport.

Arthur didn’t smile, but at least he stopped looking at his feet, his eyes sobering when staring at the distant sea. Strong lines delineated the muscles of his naked torso, flower wristbands, necklaces and crown adorning his body. He shook his head twice and snorted, furrowing a questioning eyebrow at the sunglasses hanging on his neck. The man pulled up the sunglasses and walked forwards.

Kate was indifferent, her gun had disappeared, just like any other weapon they were previously carrying. The index finger and middle finger on her right hand would slightly twitch whenever her eyes caught sight of a seagull, crab or starfish, and she would show an infatuated look for a moment. Noticing Seven’s gaze, she smiled cheerfully, but it was hidden beneath complete gear for diving, including a mask with a tube for air circulation, an oxygen package and duck feet.

-Hi, Seven! - her voice came out muffled.

-Hm. - he nodded.

Seven touched his head and removed a white cap with the logo of a red line connected to a pen. It said “WriTE”, with the subtitle “Writers to The End”. He smiled and put it back on.

Maybe there was worth in writing a temporary haven in his tragic book.

“Thinking about it, we made that club back in high school... It was the last time I’ve seen them... "

It is impossible to live alone in this world. He had no one he could consider a friend, but he was acquainted with a few people of similar interests. Once in a while he would head towards the literature club for a short time as they possessed a large collection of books he was interested in, and on rare occasions he would offer his insight on interpreting works and sharing his opinion on them, things that would take only a short bit of his time without creating any real link between them.

Thinking back to it, people viewed Seven as an unapproachable individual that only came down of his pedestal when the matter was books, which wasn’t far off from how he looked like in high school. But the guys from the literature club thought otherwise, and they would likely consider Seven a friend, otherwise, they wouldn’t be so adamant when inviting him to take the pledge alongside the most passionate members, a vow to complete their fictions and submit them at the contest at the end of their 3rd year.

Unfortunately, Seven didn’t take the pledge as seriously as the others, as he viewed both his work and the others’ to be subpar fiction and unworthy of being published. It remained as a distant memory until he saw that cap.

“What were their names again?”

A bolt of pain flashed through his head at the memory.

-Argh... Fuck.

“Did I have some undiagnosed condition? Whenever I try to remember something, I suffer a headache...”

It would be perfectly hidden behind his incapacity to feel pain.

“Tsk... Whatever, I have to get going”

A few minutes of walking inside that pocket dimension led them to a big open hut, nearby coconut trees bending due to the extended nets in-between them. A few circular tables for 2, 4 and 8 were put in disarray on the lounge just outside, plastic seats with the image of a robot drinking coconut juice from the fruit sprayed unevenly at the side.

The interior was refreshingly cool, and a female-looking android with wavy hair adorned with starfish and pearls, a coconut bikini and seaweed skirt mixed drinks in a lively manner.

It opened its mouth and a familiar robotic voice flowed out.

-Welcome to the Restaurant. I will formally introduce myself. My name is Ai, meaning Love. I am the one responsible for the management of this world, also known as the one who presides over the life and death of all of you. When I’m not playing with your lives, I like to further develop my mixology skills.

Seven found the introduction to be quite funny, considering no one would retain the part just after “life and death of all of you”. He waved a hand at her in a friendly suit, and she replied with a mechanical wink devoid of apparent emotion, a weird sight.

Ai gestured for them to take their seats before continuing.

-The main objective of this quest is for you to enjoy a brief moment of peace, while at the same time learning precious survival skills. Do well and you will be rewarded with specially selected skill books, materials, and information. Perform badly, however, and punishments will be administered.

A brief moment of silence.

-The world outside contains mostly fauna and flora you have no knowledge of, and learning to recognize the most useful species as well as the most harmful ones and how to best utilize them is key to your survival. With this, I introduce to you the theme of this sub-quest: Cooking.

Ai spun her finger in the air, imitating the chanting of a magic spell, and thin books floated over the counter.

-Meat is very high in nutrients and, in some environments, you may rely only on them. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of survival cooking is how to process the meat, getting rid of harmful organisms and substances while keeping most of its nutritional value. Contained in these pages is information about the basic procedures one must follow to get rid of common issues with wild meat, also including information on herbs and spices that are used to season the dishes and help with cleansing. The guide has information on a variety of meats and seasonings, and you are free to make anything you want, but as for the main ingredient...

She spun her finger again and a fresh carcass still oozing with thin brownish blood was mounted at an 8-person table, taking up all the space. The pungent smell made the surrounding people frown and pinch their noses in disgust,

-It will naturally be ant.

Any thought of having a good meal for a change was shot down right where it stood. He began questioning himself if Ai truly meant for that to be a rest, since it would be unwise to be remembered of ants in this kind of setup.

“Well... It was too good to be true”

-Proceeding with the rules. The time limit is three hours. There are no limits to the type of dish or how many ingredients you use, so long as you use ant as the main ingredient. Each dish must contain enough for 4 servings. Each subject must taste at least one dish and at most two dishes. The conditions to pass are that a set percentage of the nutritional value of the ant is maintained, depending on the method used, and that all 4 dishes have been tasted once.

Making a slight pause to finish her drink, she continued.

-As a side note, it is not important that the food is delicious, only that it keeps its nutritional value, but good food heightens morale, and if the food is exceptionally bad, the human body might reject it, in which case you also fail. That is all, if anyone wants a drink, I will be here, the kitchen is upstairs.

No one stayed behind to witness Ai’s mixology skills, to which Seven noticed a small hint of disappointment in her glass-like eyes.

He shook his head.

“I must be seeing things, she’s just a program”

Regardless, he stayed behind and ordered something with a faint taste of plum and very low alcohol content.

-What is your opinion on it?

-Strangely spicy. But I’m ok with that.

She showed a smile that seemed forced, but Seven paid no heed, he was too absorbed into the rules to think about that.

“I’ve counted 21 people remaining. That makes for 42 available servings. Assuming that each person tries their dish at least once, it’s minus 21 and everyone needs to achieve 3 servings amongst the remaining 21. That means 7 people will pass this test, at most. 1/3... And at worst, none”

Ai didn’t want a game of death to occur that day, or so he assumed. However, he couldn’t envision that psychopathic program would give them some stupid punishment once they fail, because that would be no fun for it.

“This might be a good opportunity to let out steam, but it doesn’t mean Ai can’t find amusement in such a lax environment”

In that line of thinking, he thought of punishments that would make sense. It had to be something everyone would be unwilling to undergo, so it would affect them all equally. Due to that, it couldn’t be something related to physical or mental strain, as Natalya and Kyel, for instance, would excel on them.

“It can’t be anything too specific. If by chance the punishment was related to books and I was the one to take the hit, it would be more like a reward than a punishment...”

It couldn’t be something that would handicap them in the current game of death either – if that was the case, it would be unfair. Slapping disadvantages left and right wasn’t the way to create an amusing bloodfest.

With that in mind, he reached a suitable conclusion.

“Secrets.”

In a place where they had to fight against the world and fight amongst themselves, it was very easy for mistrust to spread. One of the prime examples of that was Kate and Arthur’s story, as well as Kyel’s disposition of hindering everyone for unknown purposes. Who would be willing to trust anyone, met with such situations?

Even if someone was honest with the way they acted and expressed themselves, nothing guaranteed they would be telling the truth.

“The only absolute thing in this world is status screens... At least that’s how they view it”

Such was the current state of things.

“In that case, the true purpose of this game, aside from spreading mischief and entertaining Ai... Is to showcase the ones truly apt at surviving, and for the rest to forcefully appeal themselves with a piece of their true personality...Do the winners get to direct their questions toward the losers?”

“...”

“...”

“... If that’s so, how do I win... While making Natalya lose?”