Tears streaming down his face.
"My hand! My hand won't listen!"
Others tried to turn their chairs.
To face away from the windows.
But the chairs felt like they were nailed to the floor.
Heavy.
Immovable.
Or their bodies simply refused to obey.
Necks stiff.
Eyes darting involuntarily toward the glass.
Drawn by a fatal curiosity.
Don't look.
But I must look.
Just a peek.
What is making that noise?
Who is calling me?
The mental interference was stronger than gravity.
"Ahhh!"
A man near the center collapsed.
Clutching his head.
"Get out of my head!"
"Stop calling my name!"
He banged his head on the table.
Blood flowed.
But the voices grew louder.
Overlapping.
Screaming.
Whispering.
Crying.
Laughing.
"Eat..."
"Look at me..."
"Open the window..."
"Join us..."
Chaos reigned.
Sanity crumbled.
Suddenly.
A burly man slammed his fist on the table.
Bang!
"Fuck this!"
He roared.
Sweat pouring down his face.
Veins bulging on his neck.
"I can't turn the chair?"
"I can't close the curtains?"
"Fine!"
"Then I'll stand!"
"Can't I just stand and eat?!"
He kicked his chair away.
Standing up abruptly.
Turning his back to the window.
Holding his plate like a shield.
Shoveling food into his mouth.
"I won't look! I won't look!"
Elena watched him.
Her face pale.
"Does... does that work?"
She whispered.
Little Amy hugged herself tight.
Shaking her head.
"Sister Elena..."
"Look at their shadows."
Elena looked down.
The lights flickered.
Casting long, distorted shadows on the floor.
The man who stood up first.
He was facing the center.
Eating.
But his shadow...
His shadow on the floor...
Is moving.
The Dragon Country stream was flooded.
[Holy shit... this difficulty is insane!]
[These Chosen are all elites in their fields! Special forces, psychologists, top athletes...]
[And they are breaking down like children!]
[This isn't survival. This is torture.]
[Is standing up really a loophole? Can you exploit rules like that?]
[Look closely! The people sitting down are suffering, but their shadows are normal!]
[But the ones standing up...]
[Their shadows are detached!]
[Fuck! The shadow isn't mimicking him! It's moving! It's crawling up his leg!]
[Some rules aren't restrictions... they are protections!]
[Sitting in the chair locks your shadow in place! Standing up releases it!]
In the cafeteria.
Elena stared at the floor.
Her eyes narrowed.
The burly man was still shoveling food into his mouth.
"I won't look! I won't look!"
He muttered.
Thinking he had found a clever solution.
But behind him.
His shadow on the floor stretched out.
It didn't follow his movements.
Instead.
It twisted.
Like a snake made of ink.
Slowly climbing up from his heels.
Wrapping around his calves.
Thighs.
Waist.
It merged into his flesh.
Silently.
The man didn't notice.
He just chewed faster.
But suddenly.
His movements slowed down.
His frantic chewing became rhythmic.
His bulging veins smoothed out.
The sweat on his face evaporated.
His terrified eyes...
Turned dead calm.
He stopped muttering.
He turned around slowly.
Picking up his chair.
Placing it back in its original position.
Facing the window.
He sat down.
Back straight.
Expressionless.
Continuing to eat.
Elena covered her mouth.
"He's gone."
She whispered.
"The shadow took over."
"Standing up... is a death sentence."
She looked around.
At the other Chosen who were still sitting.
They were in pain.
Clutching their heads.
Bleeding from their noses.
Fighting the mental pollution with sheer will.
"So we have to tank it?"
Elena's face was pale.
"We have to sit here and endure this sonic attack?"
"But when does it end?"
"Ten minutes? An hour?"
"Or until we finish the food?"
"If we pass out... do we die?"
The stream exploded again.
[Scared to death! That shadow crawling into him gave me goosebumps!]
[So sitting is the only way? Hard resistance?]
[This cafeteria is a meat grinder!]
[And they have to come here every day? Three times a day?!]
[How long can a human mind last?]
[Most will go crazy within three days!]
[This is S-rank difficulty! No way out!]
[Wait... look at Brother Chen!]
[Everyone is dying, why is he still eating so happily?]
At the center table.
Chen Shi was indeed affected.
The scratching sounds drilled into his ears too.
Scritch... Scritch...
"Come here..."
"Look at me..."
But strange enough.
These sounds seemed distant.
Like they were filtered through a thick wall.
The mental pressure that drove others insane.
Was reduced to a mild annoyance for him.
Like a mosquito buzzing.
He looked at Annie beside him.
She was still unconscious.
But her body exuded a faint red aura.
An invisible field.
Protecting everything within a one-meter radius.
Including him.
Chen Shi chewed on a piece of steak.
Grinning.
Annie is too good and pretty!
This is the S-rank buff!
He looked at the suffering crowd.
Then at the calm, possessed puppets.
He shook his head.
"Poor people."
"They don't have a wife to protect them."
Chen Shi looked toward the corner.
Elena was pale.
Her hands clutching the table edge.
Knuckles white.
Amy was curled into a ball.
Trembling violently.
Covering her ears.
Tears streaming down her face.
Chen Shi frowned.
I have to help them.
Bring them over?
He looked at Annie's sleeping face.
And shook his head.
No.
Unreliable.
She doesn't kill me because I serviced her.
But that doesn't mean she'll forgive others.
Especially other women.
It might trigger a jealous rage.
Chen Shi was vexed.
Drumming his fingers on the table.
Just as he was struggling for a solution.
Beside him.
Annie moved.
Perhaps dreaming of the "deep cleaning" just now.
Her legs twitched rubbing against each other.
Then.
"Mmm..."
A soft, sweet moan escaped.
"Chen Shi... don't..."
"It tickles..."
The voice wasn't loud.
But it pierced through the noisy cafeteria.
Instantly.
Silence.
The scratching on the glass stopped abruptly.
The whispers in people's brains vanished.
The "Mom" calling for her daughter.
The "Grandma" crying for help.
All choked.