Chapter 77
A Happy Home
The dizziness from the spatial displacement disappeared, and Shi Mo found herself standing in a rather cozy living room. There was a beige sofa, floral curtains, a potted plant on the coffee table, and several landscape paintings and a wall clock hanging on the wall.
Everything exuded the warmth of an ordinary family. If it weren't for the omnipresent, cold sense of being watched (live stream) and the clear rules of the instance in one's mind, one would almost forget where one was.
There were four other people in the living room at the same time as him:
A middle-aged man (Old Wang) who looks to be in his forties, with a calm expression and wary eyes;
A young man (Kobayashi) wearing glasses, pale-faced, and trembling slightly.
A stylishly dressed young woman (Xiao Mei) with exquisite makeup is nervously looking around.
There was also a burly young man (A-Qiang) wearing a vest, revealing his tattoos, and looking impatient.
The cold notification sounded again in the five people's minds, clarifying their respective roles. Shi Mo was assigned the role of "son".
Just then, a kind-looking middle-aged woman wearing an apron came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with several small paper cups and water on it.
With a concerned smile on her face, her gaze swept over the five people, and when it finally landed on Shi Mo, she seemed to pause for half a second, a barely perceptible emptiness flashing deep in her eyes.
"Children, what are you all doing standing here? Go back to your rooms and rest." "Mother's" voice was gentle, but carried an undeniable air of authority. "You're not in good health, you can't overwork yourselves."
She walked up to each person, picked up a small paper cup from the tray containing several different colored pills, and handed them a glass of water: "Here, take your medicine first, and then get a good night's sleep."
The live stream chat instantly became lively:
[It's starting! It's starting! I'm so nervous! This mom seems pretty normal, doesn't she?]
[The rules state that we must maintain the image of being sickly and weak; this medicine is key, right?]
[That white-haired guy is so handsome! My god! Is this face even real? Heterochromia! Is he wearing colored contacts or is it natural?]
[Stop swooning! This is a live stream of bizarre rules! But to be fair, their looks are undeniably striking, top-tier even in the entertainment industry.]
That tattooed guy (Ah Qiang) looks so arrogant, is he going to cause trouble?
Shi Mo remained completely unmoved, even finding this childish game somewhat laughable.
But the system was frantically spamming his mind with messages like, "Take your medicine! Host! Take it now! Act weak! Please!" To keep quiet, he could only expressionlessly reach out and accept the medicine cup and water cup from his "mother."
Old Wang (the middle-aged man) appeared very cautious. He carefully examined the pills in the paper cup and then observed "Mom's" expression, his eyes filled with weighing options.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he seemed to think that the risk of breaking the rules for the first time was too great, so he finally tilted his head back and swallowed the pill, and took a sip of water.
Xiaolin (a college student) was clearly very flustered; his hands were shaking so badly that he almost knocked over his water glass.
Under his "mother's" gentle yet undeniable gaze, he closed his eyes, shoved the pills into his mouth haphazardly, gulped down a mouthful of water, choked and coughed, and his face turned even paler.
Xiao Mei (an online celebrity) rolled her eyes and forced a sweet smile: "Thank you, Mom."
She took the medicine cup and water, pretending to tilt her head back to take the medicine, but cleverly used her palm to cover it, hiding the pill between her fingers, and then took a sip of water to conceal it. She thought she had done it perfectly.
Ah Qiang (the thug) scoffed, turned his face away, and said rudely, "What medicine?! I'm not sick! I'm perfectly healthy!"
The live stream chat immediately exploded:
[Holy crap! Ah Qiang refused outright! Isn't that just asking for trouble?]
[The rules clearly state that you must maintain the image of being sickly! How can you fake illness without taking medication?]
[Oh no, I have a feeling something bad is going to happen!]
[It seems Xiaomei didn't actually take her medication; she hid it! Is this okay? Will she be found out?]
Old Wang and Xiao Lin did eat, and so did that handsome white-haired guy, but his expression was so indifferent; he didn't seem like a patient at all.
[The key point is his face! This sickly, aristocratic young master persona is practically tailor-made for him! He's convincing just by standing there!]
The smile on "Mom's" face froze instantly. She looked at A-Qiang, who refused to take his medicine, her lips still curved in a smile, but her eyes suddenly lost all warmth, becoming empty and cold, and her voice sounded as if it had been pulled from an ice cellar: "Child, how can you get better if you don't take your medicine?"
The temperature in the living room seemed to drop several degrees instantly, the original warm atmosphere vanished, and an invisible, chilling pressure descended.
Old Wang and Xiao Lin were so frightened they dared not breathe, and Xiao Mei's hand, which was hiding the medicine, froze, her face turning pale. Even the comments in the live stream dwindled for a moment; everyone held their breath.
The seeds of conflict were sown at this moment.
Shi Mo simply stared down at his empty paper cup, seemingly oblivious to the eerie atmosphere around him. Only the system whispered in his mind: "Host, remember to cough twice later, try to make it look convincing..."