Apart from Alakdo, the calmest one here was probably Sarah.

However, from the frequency of her cat ears twitching and her restless demeanor, it seemed the only thing restraining her hunting instincts was her respect for Lord Demon King himself.

A skeleton wearing an apron stood beside the dining table, with its fingers entwined together, exhibiting a shy and bashful appearance.

As a chef, nothing made her happier than seeing her guests salivating over the dishes.

But speaking of which, this game's cooking system was incredibly lifelike.

She had been somewhat worried that she wouldn't be able to replicate the effects from the real world but soon discovered that her concerns were completely unnecessary.

What's more,

the cooking appliances and utensils powered by magic made many originally complicated tasks much simpler than they were in reality.

Out of curiosity about the game's technical capabilities, and wanting to know the limits of its "cooking system," she inadvertently made too much.

Upon seeing the Demon King entering the dining hall, she approached him and said timidly,

"Respected Lord Demon King, as per your order I have prepared the banquet's food. Since I was unsure about your and the guests' appetites, I made a bit of everything in various styles. I hope it has not caused you any inconvenience..."

"Inconvenience? It's perfect!"

Looking at the player named [Little Fish Cake Juice], Luo Yan laughed heartily and gave a thumbs-up, saying, "Nice job! Thanks!"

As he spoke, he signaled Youyou to distribute the mission rewards.

[Joss Paper +10000]

[Contribution Value +100]

[Favorability +10]

Seeing the series of pop-ups flash before her, Little Fish Cake Juice felt a surge of joy, especially with that Favorability +10, which even made her real-life self blush.

What's going on?

I didn't know NPCs could add to your favorability?

Or is it that accumulating more favorability unlocks hidden quests?!

Not only were the players confused, but Youyou was also puzzled and asked softly,

"Lord Demon King, what is this favorability parameter?"

Luo Yan replied in a voice that only Youyou could hear,

"It's a hidden attribute, for my reference only, not really of much use... Wait, don't write this into the players' system."

Youyou chuckled mischievously,

"Don't worry, Lord Demon King, I'm the worm inside your stomach! Now that you've mentioned it, I know you plan to freeload off them."

This guy got it quite right.

Luo Yan glanced unexpectedly at the air beside him and nodded in appreciation.

"Good that you understand."

As she was still a low-level skeleton soldier, Little Fish Cake Juice couldn't yet taste her own delicious cooking, and seeing there was nothing left for her to do after completing the task, she hummed a cheerful tune and left.

A ten thousand Joss Paper windfall!

That's practically like mining ten thousand kilos of coal!

Plus the contribution and Lord Demon King's favorability.

As expected of a storyline quest—

The rewards were simply unbeatable!

Seeing the guests who couldn't hold back any longer, Luo Yan didn't keep them waiting, walked directly to the main seat, and then signaled Bond standing by to pour grape wine for himself and the guests.

When the cups were filled with the wine as red as fresh blood, he gestured for Bond to step aside, then solemnly raised his glass and said,

"Let us toast to victory!!!"

Every guest present, including Alakdo who held up the glass with a pair of front limbs, lifted their glasses excitedly.

"A toast!!!"

The celebration of victory—

had officially begun!

...

While Luo Yan and the guests were feasting on delicious food at the banquet, a group of people were starving in the labyrinth.

A maze is called a maze because of its complicated pathways that are very deceiving, and inexperienced people find it difficult to locate the exits once inside.

Monsters and traps are just extra challenges for the adventurers and bait to lure them down to explore.

Generally speaking, even experienced adventurers wouldn't venture too deep into unfamiliar territories, let alone rashly enter unfamiliar entrances.

The proper way to explore a labyrinth is to join the local adventurer guild, get a map of the corresponding level according to one's adventurer rank, and then explore a bit more from the known areas into the unknown areas standing on the shoulders of predecessors.

At the same time, if any changes are discovered in the labyrinth, immediately report the updated situation to the adventurer guild.

This is also why many labyrinth entrances become unpopular or even abandoned.

The fewer people there are to explore, the smaller the chances of survival. Although it's possible to discover treasures overlooked by others, if you can't bring them back, they're meaningless.

At this very moment, Sordo was facing a situation almost identical to those of the overeager newbie adventurers.

He and his subordinates not only entered an unknown entrance and area but had also lost track of how long they had been walking inside.

Initially, he tried to find the Weaving Shadow Nest, but soon realized that the path, which was once clear from the flood, had been sealed by Earth Cave Spiders using earthwork.

Then he tried to find other adventurers, but instead of adventurers, they didn't find a single monster!

The unintelligent monsters were swept downstream, while the clever ones had fled as soon as the flood started.

Later on, Sordo sent out Scouts around, but as their numbers dwindled, he ultimately had to give up.

Now he had truly shot himself in the foot.

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