A damaged puppet approached, creaking as it moved.
"I am the manager of the east door of Fierce Ghost Restaurant. All three of you performed well today, at least you all survived."
"xjbxd44012 performed the best, earning two satisfied ratings and one average, awarded as the best employee of the day. Here is your reward."
xjbxd44012 was John's employee number.
A stack of Ghost Coins appeared in John's hand, totaling 300 Ghost Coins!
Jessica and Asher also received Ghost Coins, amounting to 100 and 20, respectively.
In thriller world, they could feel hunger and fatigue, and Ghost Coins allowed them to buy food, though it wasn't the only way.
"Hard work today, please follow the directions to your rooms to rest. A new day awaits tomorrow, continue to work hard!"
After saying this, the puppet creaked away.
"I'm so hungry, let's grab something to eat first," Jessica said, clutching her stomach eagerly.
"There's a vending machine around the corner, let's go." John was also hungry, feeling as though he had done a day's worth of physical labor after just three rounds of delivering dishes.
On the corridor, the vending machine had a scary ghost face, showing the food and prices inside.
"Beef jerky, compressed biscuits, cola... they actually have these?" Jessica was drooling, finally seeing something normal in the Thriller World.
John bought a portion of beef jerky for 50 Ghost Coins.
Jessica bought a burger for 80 Ghost Coins.
Asher, with only 20 Ghost Coins, could only afford a piece of biscuit.
However, when the food dropped out, they were all dumbfounded.
The beef jerky was a moldy piece of rotten meat the size of a baseball.
The burger was already stinking, even sporting a broken fang on top.
Only the biscuit was somewhat normal, though it was the size of a table tennis ball, much smaller than expected.
"Why only 20?"
John's face turned sour.
He had inserted a 100 Ghost Coin but only got 20 back, losing 30!
Jessica also lost 20.
Defective products were one thing, but to also scam them?
Already in a bad mood after losing his genital, Asher was furious at the sight of the barely snack-sized biscuit.
He kicked the vending machine twice: "You piece of junk!! Dare to scam me, believe I'll dismantle you?"
The next second, the vending machine suddenly came to life, its ghostly face writhing menacingly, opening terrifying bloodshot eyes, glaring fiercely at Asher and the others.
"Insignificant vermin, dare to yell at me?"
The vending machine suddenly speaking startled Asher to the point of paralysis; he was so terrified that he couldn't utter a word.
Thinking about it, it wasn't surprising in Thriller World, where anything could be a ghost. A vending machine providing human food being normal? Unlikely.
The vending machine snarled but didn't attack.
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John, mustering courage, said, "We are employees of the restaurant, the money is earned by us. Why treat us differently?"
"To have food is already good. Previous vermin had to kneel on the ground and beg me to feed them. Do you understand?"
Jessica whispered, "Should we talk to that puppet?"
"It won't help. Let's go." John didn't argue further.
The vending machine ghost was right; in Thriller World, humans were the lowest beings, and surviving was what mattered most.
Of course, that was until one had the power.
Once powerful, John vowed to make this vending machine spit out his food double!
"Bring more money next time. If you bring too little, you'll only get to eat dead rats!"
This statement clearly meant the ghost intended to scam them for profit in the coming days.
Although John and his companions were angry, they couldn't fight the ghost and had to leave.
Following the directions, they arrived at the so-called dormitory, a dark and gloomy building.
In the lobby, a faceless ghost with only a mouth sat at the front desk, wearing a sinister smile.
"We are restaurant employees."
The faceless ghost handed over a key, with a voice echoing in their ears: "Don't go out after midnight. If you open the door and something happens, we're not responsible."
John took the key and nodded.
The dormitory building was long abandoned, with signs of decay everywhere. The long corridor was empty, ending in darkness like an abyss.
The building seemed to have over a hundred rooms.
They wondered which room Karl was in, with other people likely staying here too.
Their room was on the fourth floor. Turning the old door knob, they were greeted by a damp, musty smell.
The room had only one bed, which made Jessica, the only female, uncomfortable.
"All three of us can barely fit on one bed. Of course, if it's inconvenient, you can sleep on the floor," John said, turning to Jessica.
Jessica was stunned. Wasn't that statement a bit backwards?
Asher didn't care much and directly lay down on the bed.
Now in thriller world, where their lives were at stake, who cared about chivalry?
The damp floor was not only likely to cause illness due to the moisture but also home to unidentified poisonous insects. Lying on it for a day might not lead to death, but it could certainly affect their ability to work the next day, by which time it would be too late.
John found a blanket in the room and placed it beside Jessica. Seeing the relatively clean blanket, she nodded in acceptance.
However, Jessica didn't rush to lie down but instead went into the bathroom to wipe down her body.
Asher pulled out the compressed biscuit he had and began to stave off his hunger.
John also took out his piece of beef jerky and started chewing on it.
Eyeing the not-so-large piece of beef jerky in John's hand, Asher found the biscuit stuck in his throat becoming even more tasteless.
"Give me a piece, I'll return it tomorrow!" Asher directly asked, his tone carrying a hint of command.
"I don't have enough for myself." John said this but kept a large piece, stuffing it into his pocket.
"Can't we help each other out as classmates?"
"If it were you, would you give it? I wouldn't be foolish enough to hand over my lifesaving food to someone else!" John retorted.
Asher angrily responded, "Don't be ungrateful."
"You've already lost your testicles, don't overdo it and end up ruining your penis as well!"
Asher's face twitched at John's cold sneer.
He suddenly realized that John, who had taken a whole year off, wasn't someone easy to bully!
Asher could only swallow his anger, turn away, and go to sleep.
Inside the bathroom, the smell of sweat and stench was unbearable for Jessica.
The bathroom's condition was terrible, so she quickly wiped her body and came out.
On the bed, John and Asher were already snoring, sleeping soundly.
After eating, Jessica filled her stomach and lay down next to John on the floor.
In the deep of the night, a chill wind blew.
Half-asleep, John thought he heard some noises.
Then, it felt like a hand was placed on his leg.
Slowly, the hand began to wander, gradually moving up.
John abruptly opened his eyes.
Asher on his left was still sleeping deeply, his snores continuing uninterrupted.
Was it Jessica's hand?
What was this woman doing, touching around instead of sleeping?
John was momentarily stunned, wondering if, under these circumstances, she was actually in the mood?
The hand became increasingly bold, directly touching his groin area.
John suddenly sat up, causing the bed to creak loudly from his sudden movement.
Asher, startled awake, saw John sitting up and grumbled with a sleepy annoyance, "Are you sleepwalking or what?"
Jessica, also groggily rubbing her eyes, asked, "What happened?"
John, looking at her just-awakened appearance, inquired, "What did you just do?"
"I didn't do anything, just sleeping the whole time."
John glanced at Jessica's hands and suddenly believed her because that hand was still under the blanket touching him!
"Damn it!! You've got this kind of fetish? Not touching Jessica, but touching me? Get lost!!"
Suddenly, Asher pulled a hand out from under the blanket, glaring fiercely at John.
John looked at him, then stretched out his own two hands.
Jessica saw John's hands, then looked at the pale hand Asher was holding, her pupils trembling, covering her mouth tightly.
Asher's face instantly drained of color, holding that hand, not knowing whether to throw it away or keep it.
He gently lifted a corner of the blanket, only to see a head with its crown split open, a cleaver still stuck in the skull.
"Damn it!!"
Asher quickly pulled away, kicking the blanket off the bed with one foot, and threw the severed hand out as well.
The head rolled out, laughing eerily at the three of them.
How could there be a ghost in the room?