Chapter 37
Chapter 37
The earliest risers discovered that Song Xue had indeed spent most of the night lying on a sofa in the hotel lobby. The elderly Liu Dashan walked over and woke her.
“Young lady, it’s morning. Go back to your room and rest for a while. Today is your home round.”
Song Xue sat up, her hair loose around her shoulders. She nodded, thanked him, and returned to her room to wash. In daylight, she was no longer as frightened. Golden dawn and the blue sea beyond her window dispelled the terror in her heart.
At eight twenty, Song Xue arrived at the buffet restaurant on the second floor. She ate more than usual for breakfast and drank two cartons of yogurt.
Shortly before nine, she returned to the lobby. Everyone else was already waiting there.
Once Tina saw that all of them had arrived, she said,
“Today’s game will take place in the Sky Garden on the tenth floor. Everyone, follow me to the elevators!”
The eighteen players divided among four elevators and rode up to the tenth-floor Sky Garden. Many had visited it before. It was arguably the most beautiful place in the entire hotel.
The Sky Garden had both indoor and outdoor sections. The indoor portion resembled the cafe in the first-floor lobby, complete with enormous floor-to-ceiling windows facing the sea. From the hotel’s highest floor, however, the view was naturally better, encompassing a wider and more spectacular expanse of ocean. An enormous terrace extended outside and formed the outdoor section, the Sky Garden’s greatest attraction. Tropical plants and colorful flowers filled the terrace. Guests could lie on loungers, sunbathe, listen to music, and sip drinks, or gaze down over the magnificent ocean and admire the enchanting view. Either would have been wonderfully relaxing, provided they did not have to worry about surviving the day.
They entered the indoor section, which served wine and liquor as well as coffee. After the previous day’s preparations, it looked more like a nightclub. The staff had drawn the curtains and lit scented candles on every table to create the right atmosphere. Soft, dim light made the room resemble a bar after dark.
Tina directed the other seventeen players to split into groups and sit at different tables. Song Xue, the day’s Featured Player, sat behind the bar facing them. Servers distributed elegant glasses according to the number of people at each table and brought out snacks to accompany the drinks.
“Whatever we’re playing today, doing it while we drink doesn’t sound half bad. You chose well.” Hong Long addressed Song Xue, then called to a server. “Since the glasses and snacks are here, bring us two bottles of beer!”
“Mr. Hong Long, I suggest you wait before you start drinking,” Tina said.
“Why? You’ve already prepared the glasses and snacks.”
Che Dongming shook his head with a wry smile. “Try using your brain once in a while. After walking into this arena, can you really not guess what today’s event is?”
Hong Long thought for a moment. “A drinking contest?”
“Most likely. Let’s hear Tina explain the rules,” Che Dongming said.
“All right, I’ll now announce the rules of our third game! This game is called Dionysus!” Tina declared.
“Diony-what?” Hong Long had not understood the name.
“Dionysus is the god of wine in Greek mythology,” the well-read Shu Yanjun explained. “He’s also one of the twelve Olympians.”
“I don’t care about any of that!” Hong Long waved one massive hand. “It’s a drinking contest, right?”
“It isn’t that simple. Dionysus was also an extremely clever god in Greek mythology. This game will require intelligence too,” Tina said.
Hong Long clicked his tongue and fell silent. The moment intelligence entered the equation, his enthusiasm died.
“The object of this game is to compete over who can drink the most while getting as little drunk as possible. If that person happens to be Ms. Song Xue, she wins. Otherwise, she loses.”
“Compete over who can drink the most while getting as little drunk as possible…” Che Dongming considered the phrase. “What does ‘as little drunk as possible’ mean? How will you measure it?”
“There are four specific rules.
“First, every drink must be finished in one go. You may not split it into several attempts.
“Second, whether deliberately or accidentally, you may not spill any liquor from your glass.
“Third, anyone who vomits, goes to the restroom, or clearly states that they cannot drink any more is considered to have withdrawn.
“Fourth, a round counts toward your total only if you finish all the liquor served in that round. Before the game ends, anyone who has not vomited, gone to the restroom, passed out completely, or withdrawn will have a valid total and may take the final sobriety test. The person who drinks the most and also passes the sobriety test will win this game!” Tina explained.
“What’s the sobriety test?” Chen Nuo asked.
“That’s a secret for now. Once you reach the final stage of drinking, I’ll tell you!” Tina gave them a wicked smile. “Incidentally, even Ms. Song Xue doesn’t know what the sobriety test involves!”
Everyone looked at Song Xue. She turned to Tina.
“The event I proposed yesterday was only a test of alcohol tolerance. There was no sobriety test.”
“That’s true, but the organizers felt that simply seeing who could drink the most would be too monotonous, so they added this little piece of entertainment. It was their decision, and there’s nothing I can do. But Ms. Song Xue, if you have the highest alcohol tolerance here, you’ll still possess an advantage!”
“So to win, I have to drink more than anyone else and pass the sobriety test afterward?” Song Xue asked.
“Not necessarily. Someone may drink more than you but fail the sobriety test while you pass it. Then you would still win. It all comes down to one thing: among the people who pass the sobriety test, whoever drank the most is the winner!” Tina said.
Song Xue considered her words. Chen Nuo’s mind was racing too.
This was the most unusual of the first three games because it introduced an unknown variable.
In the previous two games, every player had known exactly what they needed to do to win. This time, the uncertainty of the final stage had transformed a straightforward drinking contest into a psychological battle.
They had to drink as much as possible while remaining sober enough to pass the test afterward.
The critical problem was that no one knew what the test would be, yet passing it was a prerequisite for winning.
Anyone who blindly drank too much might fail the final test, making everything they had consumed meaningless. But anyone who held back to pass the test might find that several people passed and lose because they had drunk less.
Finding the right balance, and predicting what the sobriety test involved, would decide the game.