A Serenade for the Innocent - 137 Aight, F*ck It! Cooking Show Time!
Holy shit…
They know my name?
This is fucking insane!
I have to calm down; I have to calm myself… Fuck! I can’t! My hands are shaking while I clenched the door handle as firmly as I can. This is not working at all! There’s just supposed to be two pieces of white towels in this room, and then someone will fall down or some shit! It was supposed to be a super fucking easy area, but why the fuck is there like… a hundred rat people inside there!? THIS IS FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE!
Out of nowhere, I heard the sound of metal whirring inside of the room with a few metallic beeping. This was then accompanied by the agonizing screams, grunts, wailings of the many rat people inside of the room. Nevertheless, the sound continued as we all heard what sounded like bones cracking, people screaming, and… a person clapping?
“Alright, alright! That’s about done!” I heard the sound of someone speaking on the other side of the door. Based on what I’m hearing, the origin of this voice is not a part of the rat people. How could he be? He doesn’t sound like he’s dying to get a shower! “Now, people outside of the hall, our fair dungeoncrawlers! You may come inside, and no harm shall come in your way!” Now that I’ve heard more of the person’s voice, I am now much more inclined to believe that I know this person. His voice sounded like the familiar gentle voice that I have heard since I was young.
I then gently opened the door and peeked at it to see if there’s really no more danger lurking inside of the room. To my surprise–and I say these words in a highly positive light–the rat people who were once inside of the room are no longer present there. Then again, I can still hear the familiar moans and groans of those rat people. However, unlike earlier, they’re no longer screaming like their lives depended on it. I also noticed that the shit stain and bloodied piss on the ground are still there. Then again, since there are no more people squatting on the ground, I can now finally see just how fucking repulsive it is down there. I can even see some still fresh shit plastered all over the floor, so that means these people have just eaten something and shat on the floor right away without even thinking about human decency. I also noticed that the once sizable square room is now smaller and narrower. It’s now turned into a rectangular room that has the same width as the corridor we’re currently still in right now, which now makes it look like the place is just a dirtier extension to this corridor we’re standing on. The walls around also looked clean, which made me realize that maybe they’re newly placed there? Wait a minute… Based on the sound I hear right now… are the rat people inside of those recently set walls? A part of me doesn’t want to believe it, but maybe they’re all pushed on each side of the room forcefully using this newly placed wall, which explains the metallic noises and beeping earlier.
What also took my attention the most is the man standing in the middle of the room. The man is wearing the usual tuxedo uniform that I expected for him to wear while still giving off that warm smile. He’s always laidback and nonchalant, but he’s just as serious about his work as everyone else.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.” The servant of the Antonova family uttered as if he had just seen me for the first time. “My name is Christopher, and I am your chef for today.” He said as I finally noticed that he’s standing between two tables with a small stove and a myriad of kitchen equipment, ranging from a knife, a spatula, a wok, a cauldron, a pan, and a few other more that I’m too much of a man to understand. Cooking had and will always be a woman’s job, so I never really took the time to learn how to make any dish at all. However, Christopher is a special case, so he can cook even if his body is that of a man.
“Christopher…” I said as I looked at him with awe. Finally, a familiar face. I then changed my relaxed and loose expression swiftly once I realized that I’m becoming too much of a fucking reckless bitch. I have to take this place seriously, or else these people will know who I am. I can’t stop this shit now; I already started this! If I fail here now, then how can I possibly call myself an Antonova? I then cleared my throat as I continued, “What are you doing here?” I then pointed at the tables beside him with my chin, “And what’s with all that.”
“Why don’t you all come towards me, come closer! I won’t bite you or anything!” Heh. Cheeky bitch. I then walked closer towards him, which then prompted the others to follow suit. “Now, I am to believe that you, the priest, are today’s seventh seal sacrifice, correct?” He said with a bow as he placed his right hand on his back.
“That’s right,” I said a bit nervously while listening to the weakened agonizing moans of the rat people trapped around us. It seemed that the others already got the hint because they all started to look at the walls with apparent distraught painted on their stupid sweaty faces. Well, all of them, excluding the police who’s still grinning away like a creepy little bitch.
“I see.” Then, Christopher raised his body quickly and pulled something placed on his back pocket. He then pointed his hand at me while holding the object that he had just taken from his pocket. Wait a minute is that… “Then, excuse me.” He said as he clicked the trigger of his stun gun, zapping me from my stomach until I started to convulse uncontrollably. When the electricity coursing out of my veins finally stopped, I instantly fell onto the floor, making me feel a wet and smelly object hit my face.
The vision then started to get clouded. I opened my eyes and what I saw were a few people shouting and screaming. My sight darkened once more, and when I started seeing things again, I am now seeing my companions eagerly listening to whatever it is that Christopher is saying. It sounded all too muffled to me, but I could still hear it clearly. The nurse is standing beside the policeman who’s intently listening to whatever it is that Christopher is explaining. Meanwhile, the salesman knelt beside me, not really listening to the conversation anymore, and is just checking if I’m still doing okay.
Amid all that, I heard Christopher’s obscure words coming into my head.
“We will be doing a cooking contest! One of you must volunteer, and I mean it. Compliance is required, and there must only be one volunteer. If you don’t comply, all of you will stay here with these disgusting people in this room until the next batch of dungeoncrawlers arrives. If you comply, then the volunteer must make a meat dish using the ingredients and equipment we prepared for you at the table. Whoever wins will die, but whatever happens, you will get to move on to the next area. The judge of the contest will be…”
However, before I could listen more, my visions got clouded again until finally, I saw nothing else but black.
…
darkness.
…
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
When I woke up, I was already sitting behind the people who are both preparing themselves to cook a dish on their respective tables.
“It looks like our judge is up!” The policeman said as he wore an apron that’s placed on the table for him.
“Indeed, he is.” Christopher chuckled without looking at me, probably too embarrassed with the mistake he had made.
So I am to be the judge… haa…
I then noticed that my hands are strapped on the chair I’m sitting on. Wait, my waist and my feet are also tied tightly on the chair; I also feel some kind of bowl-like thing hanging on my head.
“Wh… what is happening to me? What did you do to me? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, CHRISTOPHER!?” I screamed out loud, finally breaking the benevolent character I have kept wearing for the entirety of this dungeon game. I could still feel a damp sensation on my cheeks, making me smell the stench coming from it.
“Hmm? Oh, don’t worry! It’s not plugged in!” Christopher replied as he finally looked at me with a wave of his hand.
“…what?”
“You’re sitting on my master’s favorite silla electrica, but don’t worry about it! Like I said, it’s not open!”
What… ha… hahaha… I’m sitting on… an electric chair?
I WANTED TO SCREAM!
LET ME OUT! GET ME OUT OF HERE! GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF THI FUCKING THING!
But I can’t! FUCK! Not yet!
The people around me didn’t seem to have understood that I broke character earlier, so I’m still off the hook. I need to remain calm.
“Hey, so Christopher…” I heard the policeman say as he looked at the things under his table. There, I saw a myriad of vegetables placed neatly for the user’s convenience. “We’re making meat, right?”
“Indeed, we are!”
“Then…” The policeman said with a confused tone but still with the same excited grin on his face. “Where’s the meat?” Wait, indeed! He’s right! There’s no meat under the table at all! It’s only filled with fruits, veggies, spices, and all that jazz.
“What are you talking about?” Christopher chuckled as he sharpened his blade. “We have a lot of meat!” He said while pointing both his hands towards the newly placed walls on each side of the room.
Then, as I heard the many groans and muffled moans of the people trapped inside of those walls, I saw what seemed like perfectly camouflaged doors in each center of the room.
Holy shit!
I get it now!
This is gonna be so fucking fun!