8th ingredient, dining out at a restaurant

After the vending machine footed the bill, Nick went back to sleep early.

Pinocchio had said that the punishment would be announced tomorrow, and based on his guess, it was definitely related to tomorrow's work.

Regardless, it wouldn't be easy for him!

With the worst expectations, Nick fell asleep.

The next morning, he was awakened by the alarming scream of the alarm clock ghost doll.

Just as he got up, he saw that Ada was already awake.

Nick noticed she looked tired and asked, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"I had a bad dream... I dreamed that... you wouldn't come back today, and I'd be left alone sleeping in the dormitory," Ada said, hugging her knees.

It wasn't that she had feelings for Nick, but in this terrifying world where she had no one to rely on, Nick had become her only support and pillar of strength.

"You must have had a hard time sleeping too, right? Especially since Pinocchio is going to punish you today," Ada said. It was like the last night of a death row inmate; who could sleep?

"No, I slept quite well," Nick said, stretching.

"..."

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Nick got up to open it, but there was no one there. He looked down and saw that it was Pinocchio.

"Let's go," Pinocchio said.

"Where to?" Nick asked.

"Just follow me," Pinocchio replied directly and turned to leave.

Ada stood behind, hesitating to speak. Nick nodded at her and followed Pinocchio without saying much. He was also feeling anxious.

What happened yesterday was indeed quite a big deal, but the main conflict wasn't really his fault.

Nick realized it now. They just needed someone to take the blame.

And that scapegoat seemed to be him, a humble human.

Following Pinocchio, they soon arrived at a room in the kitchen. Pinocchio handed Nick a piece of paper.

Nick took it and opened it to find an address and the name "Ingredient No. 8" written on it.

What did this mean? Nick was confused.

"This is your punishment and your task for today," Pinocchio said.

"You need to leave the restaurant, find the supermarket at this address, and bring back the ingredient called No. 8."

"By doing this, you can make up for your mistake and also receive a generous reward."

 Nick looked up and asked, "Am I going alone?" "Yes, you are," Pinocchio nodded his wooden head.

Nick suddenly sneered, "Honestly, how dangerous is this task?"

"Previous employees who caused losses for the restaurant had to buy ingredients to make up for those losses," Pinocchio replied. "You're the 55th one. Of the 54 who went before you, only 5 came back alive."

Less than a 10% survival rate! "What if I refuse?" Nick asked.

"You'll be killed immediately," Pinocchio said.

"I advise you to choose the former. If you resist with the little ghost power you have, you have no chance of survival. By following our restaurant's rules, you at least have a hope of coming back alive! Ingredient No. 8 is very important to us."

"That's an essential ingredient for the menu of a distinguished guest on the second floor!"

"If you bring it back, your employment period will end early, and you'll be promoted to a position above supervisor, receiving protection from the restaurant."

This reward is incredibly tempting!

But the more tempting it is, the more dangerous and difficult it represents!

"What can I do besides giving my full consent?" Nick shrugged.

Refusal means death now.

Agreeing feels like a delayed death!

Bang!! Just as he finished speaking, the door opened.

It wasn't yet time for the restaurant to open for business, and outside was a gray, blurry world, with piercing cold wind rushing in.

"Let me go," Nick said, holding the piece of paper. "It says here that I can take the bus to get to my destination. Does the restaurant not reimburse bus fares?"

Pinocchio didn't respond.

"Alright, I'll have to pay for it myself." Wrapped in a thin shirt, Nick stepped out the back door of the restaurant.

The moment he came out, the door slammed shut.

Nick looked up at the gray sky. Come to think of it, he hasn't seen what the world of horror looks like in person, has he?

It was still very early, and since he exited through the back door, Nick didn't attract much attention from the ghosts.

But to be safe, Nick put on the killer's raincoat in a alley.

His human scent was concealed, turning him into one of the ghosts in the horror world.

If he had left the restaurant as a human, he would have been like a rat crossing the street; he probably wouldn't have made it to the bus stop.

The killer's raincoat was Nick's greatest protection!

Emerging from the alley and onto the street, Nick finally saw the face of this so-called horror world. The tall buildings were not much different from those in the human world.

However, the empty streets and roads were filled with abandoned car wreckage, and the roadside was piled with decaying flesh, emitting a foul odor.

A large number of crows and vultures circled in the sky and on the roadside, tearing and pecking at those rotten corpses.

It had the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world.

Nick walked along the roadside, encountering either vague, shadowy figures or zombie-like ghosts.

When they saw Nick, their eyes carried a certain confusion, but after sensing the foul ghostly aura on him, they averted their gaze and walked away.

"If I didn't have this outfit, I would have been dismembered by now," Nick thought to himself.

Following the guidance of the road signs, Nick found the bus stop for his destination.

Nick sat down on a bench, and next to him was an old man who seemed to be waiting for the bus as well.

The old man leaned on a cane, looking sleepy.

From his appearance, Nick couldn't find any trace of ghostliness on the old man.

But he knew in his heart that this old man was definitely not human! He just hadn't discovered it yet.

Perhaps like that little girl, he was a half-ghost.

Speaking of the little girl, Nick had the idea of asking her for help.

But when he looked at the address she left, goodness, it was more than twenty stops away by bus, seven more stops than his current destination, quite far.

To avoid giving himself away, Nick didn't strike up a conversation with the seemingly normal old man.

Soon, a woman and child arrived, with the baby in her arms and a bag of vegetables in her hand.

The baby's skin was dull, and it played with a human head in its hands, giggling.

The bag of vegetables in the woman's hand contained chopped-up limbs, and one of the fingers still had a ring on it.

Nick suddenly realized. The horror world was perhaps not much different from the human world.

Ghosts also have their own lives and jobs. The difference is that what's chopped up on the cutting board and sold at the market is not poultry like chickens and ducks, but humans.

Ding ding. The bus arrived, number 404, the one Nick had been waiting for.

He quickly stood up, and the old man and woman also stood up, all getting on the same bus as Nick.

"Purgatory Village has arrived. Passengers, please exit from the rear door. The next stop is Blood Vendetta Cemetery. Passengers needing to exit, please prepare!"

The old man and woman got on the bus consecutively and dropped ghost money into the fare box.

Nick calmed his nerves and followed them onto the bus, dropping the pre-prepared ghost money into the fare box. Just as he was about to leave, the ghost bus driver suddenly called out to Nick in a eerie voice, "Hold on!!"