"You, yes I'm talking to you."
The Mad Spirit glanced at the female waiter and said coldly, "If you don't get up within three seconds, there's no need for you to continue living."
With that, he stretched out his fingers and made a "3" gesture.
A few minutes ago, people might have thought he was joking, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.
The great Apprentice Death God, Guardian of Nest City, a hero fighting for the common people, how could he do such a thing?
Even if he said it, people wouldn't believe it, thinking it was just gang rumors...
But now, they have no choice but to believe.
Because two bloody corpses stood before them: one with all bones shattered, the body in pieces... the other kneeling, with a head above the jaw crushed to pulp, only a tongue wobbling like melted jelly...
Facts are always more persuasive than eloquent words.
The female waiter lifted her head tremblingly, glanced at the Jackal pinned to the piano keys by beams of light, her legs quaking uncontrollably.
She knew perfectly well she couldn't clear this cyber game, as stepping on the keys meant only death.
No one wants to throw away their life in vain, so the waiter carefully turned around, hoping to use her eloquence developed at the bar to say something nice, perhaps urging the Apprentice Death God not to choose her, at least not so soon...
But as soon as she turned her head, she saw the mangled body of the bespectacled man, even the white steam rising from the corpse's mouth, slowly drifting to her face.
The waiter didn't dare speak anymore.
Because upon closer look, stepping onto the piano keys seemed better, even if it meant death... she might leave behind a complete corpse.
Thinking of this, the waiter dared not delay any longer, suppressing her fear, wearing a visible look of despair, and stepped onto the keys.
"Do~"
The piano sound appeared along with her footsteps.
Initially, the waiter walked very slowly, taking several seconds to deliberate each step, fearing a wrong move would result in instant death by beams from above.
Her cautious actions made the music under her feet fragmented and anything but a qualified composition.
Yet puzzlingly, despite the tune sounding so awful that even the suit-wearing robot frowned, it didn't kill the waiter immediately, but patiently listened to her play.
Seeing the robot not acting, the waiter thought she had earned its appreciation, feeling a brief sense of relief.
She no longer feared the piano steps and quickened her pace.
One step... two steps...
Soon, the female waiter walked past all the keys, successfully reaching the robot.
"Made it...!"
She excitedly lifted her head, revealing a difficult-to-contain smile.
"Now I can get back to the bar for the night shift..."
"Splat~!"
A beam suddenly fell, piercing through the waiter's skull from top to bottom.
The thoughts and expressions of the female waiter were frozen in place, devoid of sound.
She felt no pain, nor despair, just cleanly and swiftly died.
"Your tune was truly dreadful."
The suit-wearing robot lowered its head, gazing at the waiter's body, its tone devoid of any mockery, only warmth and calm.
"The first half was full of hesitation and indecision, scared of mistakes, unwilling to take risks. But the latter half was overrun by excitement, completely changing style to carelessness."
"You... don't understand art either."
"But the tune of you lower humans isn't without merit, at least the strong desire to survive leaves a deep impression on me, so sleep quietly, this is a mercy from an artist."
With that, the suit-wearing robot raised the baton, started to play again.
This time, the tune it conducted turned out to be the same the waiter just stepped out...
Looking at the steaming body of the waiter, people felt their limbs weaken, their hearts overwhelmed with fear.
They truly didn't want to step onto those keys, yet the Apprentice Death God wouldn't offer them a chance to retreat.
The Mad Spirit's fingers, like a death notice, pointed again at a blue-clad young worker.
"You, get on."
The electrician youth dared not refuse, gritting his teeth and stepping onto the piano steps.
However, he was much calmer than the previous waiter, moving with rhythm, producing a more rhythmic piece, though still unpleasant, it was at least a proper composition.
Unfortunately, the tune didn't sway the suit-wearing robot; as soon as he left the keys, a blinding light pierced his heart.
"The tune of an electronics factory worker, precise, meticulous, without major flaws but lackluster, unremarkable."
The robot offered another critique.
For some reason, Yun You felt that the robot's words contained subtle, barely noticeable sympathy.
Though it, like the Mad Spirit, was a callous killer, it didn't insult the losers, nor blindly demean people.
From this point, it seemed more "human" than the Mad Spirit, the Apprentice Death God...
But Mad Spirit evidently wasn't aware of this.
"You, go."
He continued to call names, urging people to go one after another to explore... or more accurately, to meet their death.
Thus, people were forced to walk onto the keys one by one... the frequent reviews from the robot announced their destined fates.
"The tune of a vagrant, chaotic and messy, though attempting to play out the unpredictability of life, lacks knowledge, able only to express suffering but unable to delve into its roots."
"The tune of a young office worker, predominantly sorrowful, only knows how to complain, not resist, though the rhythm isn't bad, listening to it is unpleasant... Adding a fierce melody of resistance might improve it."
"The exotic dancer's tune depicted her hardship and helplessness throughout but overdid it, appearing somewhat pretentious... You haven't truly experienced despair."
"..."
One review after another announced the deaths of consecutive challengers.
In mere minutes, more than half the survivors were killed or wounded, turning into human sculptures at the keys' end.
Originally large crowd, now only Mad Spirit remained, along with Yun You, a middle-aged woman named Meng Nan... and a long-haired, white-eyed child.
So far, no one received the suit-wearing robot's approval.
Which was expected.
Although Cyberspace divulged the game rules to everyone, it never mentioned the type of music the suit-wearing robot liked and approved.
Thus, people were like headless flies, trying blindly...
But remember, the piano has 88 keys, the combinations possible, Yun You couldn't even calculate them quickly.
Moreover, knowing the key order isn't enough, one must step the keys in correct intervals to maintain the tune's rhythm.
This further elevated the game's difficulty to unprecedented levels.
Worse yet... with time's passage, the piano steps to walk on kept shrinking, already reduced to one third of the original size.
At this rate, only failure awaits them.