"You can't fully control this restaurant," Shiller sighed lightly and said, "The ceiling is your territory, which proves you quite likely live in the room above the restaurant, seizing some of the restaurant's control by polluting the ceiling."
"But you haven't completely erased the true rules of the restaurant. The restaurant only asks that people finish seven courses. No dawdling, no leftovers, perfectly in line with Western dining etiquette. Those who finish can leave, and the rest become ingredients."
"If I'm not mistaken, the original dining experience wasn't very smooth either. There may have been some disruption during the ordering or eating process, but nothing as cruel as you."
"The kitchen and the waiters are still under the restaurant's control, while you can use the monster on the ceiling to slaughter the diners at will, then revive them, trapping them in a terrifying and desperate cycle. How many rounds of such games have you played in these 20 days?"
Narrowing his eyes, the chef said, "You know more than I expected, but I must remind you, no one can leave this restaurant alive."
Shiller had no desire to waste words. He ate the food on his plate as quickly as possible, then suddenly looked up and said, "How about a competition?"
"A competition? Do you have a new idea?"
"You'll know soon enough."
As soon as the words fell, Shiller began to eat with intense focus, and his speed now was more than double that of before.
As the opening moment arrived, the chef had to return to his original position. Jerome watched Shiller and said, "Do you have a plan? Perhaps we could cooperate to get out of here."
"That won't be necessary." Shiller still had the leisure to talk. He said, "If all the anomalies in the hotel started 20 days ago, then the creature on the ceiling wouldn't have become like this much later than the restaurant. Invading the restaurant might take some time, but not that long."
Jerome did not offer an opinion, merely listening quietly.
"Before the ceiling monster invaded, the restaurant would send away everyone who followed the etiquette and finished seven courses, leaving those who didn't. Considering most here are wealthy, the number who could leave alive wouldn't be small."
"From another angle, the uncontaminated restaurant would need enough ingredients to ensure a plentiful supply, meaning they would need a substantial number of people to stay, but not too many, as the storage would become critical."
"Judging by the portions of these seven courses, the part that truly requires diners as ingredients isn't much. So out of a hundred guests, at most only thirty would stay behind, possibly even fewer."
"Assuming that one day, 20 days ago, the restaurant and the ceiling monster underwent the anomaly at the same time, and it took the ceiling monster three days to invade the restaurant, then the restaurant operated normally during those three days, meaning at most only 90 people stayed behind."
"After the restaurant was invaded, it seems that the ceiling monster lost the ability to attract guests from the outside, hence it created this cycle, making the last batch of guests before the invasion endlessly play the role of diners in a game of despair."
"This cycle isn't really a cycle but an illusion of one, created by the hallucinations. Their bodies are likely already stored in the cold room, which means that after the restaurant was invaded, there were no new ingredients coming in."
"But these games he played in the remaining days all consumed real ingredients."
Jerome seemed to realize something and said, "You're not planning to consume all the ingredients in the restaurant, are you?"
"You're finally catching on." Shiller wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked at him, "So don't disturb me. I hope there's enough ingredients left for me to have one last full meal."
Shiller's eating pace stepped up another notch, and now Jerome could hardly see how Shiller was managing to shovel the food into his mouth, beginning to wonder if there was a black hole in Shiller's stomach.
The chef seemed to realize what Shiller was planning to do, and he seemed to no longer bother keeping up appearances. The dishes being served started to become more genuine – taking on the horrific style of human heads.
This was clearly an attempt to slow down Shiller because no one could stomach these ghastly dishes, some of which were too avant-garde even for this monster of a chef.
But Shiller ate everything.
Not only was he fast, but he was also elegant. The waiter controlled by the restaurant couldn't find any fault in his dining process, standing dazed behind him, clearing away all obstacles.
One plan failing to take effect, another arose. The heads on the plates began changing into people Shiller cared about, but Shiller continued eating without hesitation. The swallowing process looked less like eating and more like the terrifying Abyss absorbing something, deeper hunger signifying deeper madness.
Jerome chose to avert his gaze, for he did not want to look directly at the madman, fearing he himself would be tainted. The chef stared intently at Shiller as the world underwent changes he couldn't comprehend.
The light of the red candles flickered.
The chef seemed to realize that the candles were the problem, but he simply couldn't get close to Shiller, because Shiller kept eating nonstop.
The restaurant would protect every guest who savored its food—that was the true rule of the establishment. Fast or slow had no meaning; you had to want to eat, love to eat, even be crazy for the food, otherwise, no one could leave.
Shiller displayed an unmatched love.
Shiller was eating too fast, waiters lined up to serve him dish after dish, the line still moving swiftly.
The chef could only watch with an ashen face; he had exhausted all his imagination for revulsion to create the most terrifying dishes in the world, but nothing could stop Shiller.
Clang.
As the last dish from the final waiter was consumed, Shiller put down his utensils.
The waiter gave him a smile.
"Sorry, sir, we are running low on ingredients and cannot offer you any more food."
As he spoke, all the waiters moved to the front and lined up, the chefs also emerged from the kitchen and stood in front of the cooks, with the main chef only able to stand by and watch them.
"We know you are not yet sated, it's our sin, a restaurant that cannot fill its customer is pointless, we are deeply sorry."
"No need to apologize," Shiller wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "The meaning of food is not just to fill the stomach. If it weren't for some people's interference, I believe I would have tasted the most perfect delicacy here."
Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at the chef.
Then they slowly turned back and, with the same smile, said to Shiller, "We thank you for your generosity, but a restaurant with no ingredients can only close its doors, unable to continue its business. Thank you all for coming, goodbye."
In unison, they lifted knives to their throats.
Schlick!
Blood spurted simultaneously, and everyone fell almost in the same moment, like piano keys pressed at once.
At the same time, diners bustling around the table began falling one by one, some impaled with knives in their chests, others with their throats slit, frozen in the final moment of their lives before Death.
Shiller stood up, removed the napkin from his neck, and gently blew out the candles. He turned to look at the chef, his gaze chilling to the bone.
Just as the chef thought Shiller was about to declare victory, Shiller suddenly shifted his gaze from his face to Jerome sitting across from him.
"Do you still have an appetite?"
The sinister implication behind that foul smile was unmistakable.
Jerome chuckled and picked up his aperitif, saying, "The night has just begun."
Shiller took out another match, lighting it while saying, "I'm not a good chef, but I can get one to come over. You're right, the night is still long."
Both men turned their heads towards the chef at the same time, and in their eyes, the chef saw only hunger.