Chapter 5

By early evening, Henry's and my hunger meters had already risen to a dangerous level.

At that moment, the poolside snack bar on the eighth floor opened for service.

The pool area was open access and did not require card checks, while the bar itself only scanned cards at checkout.

Henry winked at me and said, "Time to put on a show."

A group at one table looked like they had finished eating and left the outdoor pool area, and a lot of half-eaten food was still sitting there.

While the server was not paying attention, Henry casually sat at that table and pulled the fruit platter toward himself. He frowned and complained in a voice just loud enough for nearby people to hear.

"Where did she run off to? I told her not to wander around."

Then, he stabbed a piece of watermelon and popped it into his mouth, waving at me in the distance. "Hey, Julia! Take a seat. I ordered everything!"

I immediately slipped into character and hurried over to take a seat.

A server glanced our way when he heard the commotion. However, he naturally assumed we were friends of the previous guests and paid us no more attention.

Right under the server's nose, we brazenly polished off all the remaining food. Henry even grabbed a few plates of food from other tables the servers had not cleared yet.

After a full meal, our hunger bars shot back down, and we quietly slipped back downstairs. We headed to the karaoke bar as usual to rest, but just as we reached the entrance, five burly figures burst out and instantly pinned us against the wall.

It was the scarred man and his four buddies from last night, the ones Henry had chased off with his illusion.

"So it was you two–you tricked me! I was wondering how the hell a fire started on the ship! Get them!"

Henry was slammed to the ground as the men kicked and punched him. Yet, all he could do was curl up to protect himself while muffled groans and cries of pain kept escaping him.

I tried to help, but two people held me down tight.

"Search them! Take everything valuable they've got!"

All the food we had stolen from the restaurant, and even the bottled water in our backpacks, was stripped away.

"Listen up, punk! If you try to mess with me again, I'll throw you overboard to feed the fish!" the scar-faced man snarled, kicking Henry one last time before leaving with his crew.

I quickly helped Henry up. "Are you okay?"

His face was bruised, his lip was split, and the skin at his temple was scraped raw. Deep in those eyes, I caught a glimpse of something bloodthirsty, like a predator just before the kill.

"I'll live..." He wiped the blood from his lip, his gaze still frighteningly cold. "Julia, you go rest inside the karaoke bar. I'll be there in a bit."

"You're badly hurt! Where are you going?" I tried to grab him, but he firmly pushed my hand away.

"Getting some medicine. Don't worry about me." Henry insisted on leaving.

With no other choice, I entered the karaoke bar and found a couch to lie down on. Just as I was drifting off, the system broadcast suddenly rang out.

"Players 22, 37, 48, 55, and 63 have been eliminated. They now have a one-million-dollar debt!"

I jolted wide awake, no longer feeling drowsy.

I remembered that the scarred man was Player 22.

Five people were all eliminated!

What the hell had happened?