My Questrewarding System

Chapter 008 - Becoming A Server

Williams was astonished and couldn't react for a while.

'System, please tell me you're joking?'

His heart began to beat rapidly in his chest, and the blood in his body started to flow backward. He did not even want to contemplate the potential consequences he might face if he ever proposed something like that here, not especially after he had eaten meals of such a substantial sum of money.

[Would the host like to accept or decline the mission?]

The system's voice was filled with indifference as it repeated its question in Williams' mind, displaying no interest in any of Williams' concerns, causing Williams' lips to twitch repeatedly.

'This system doesn't seem to be joking...'

"Mister?"

"Ah... yes, yes."

Williams' train of thought was abruptly interrupted, and he regained his composure.

"Are you paying by card, transfer, or biometric method?" He heard the lady ask him anxiously.

At this point, the restaurant had already fallen completely silent for reasons unknown to Williams.

Everyone stared at him so intently that he was certain they had observed every move he made even before he made it.

He swallowed hard, and without realizing it, sweat had already covered his forehead.

'I have enough money to cover the bill, but... should I take the risk after all I've been through?'

This thought crossed Williams' mind when suddenly, he made up his mind, his eyes flashing with determination.

'Worst-case scenario, I might end up in jail and face torture like never before.'

With this resolution, Williams took a deep breath.

"I... was I the one who consumed a meal of that magnitude?"

"What?!"

Everyone unconsciously exclaimed loudly, their faces filled with disbelief.

As for the lady in front of Williams, she momentarily went blank, and then her heart skipped a beat.

"You... you..."

She felt afraid, and Williams immediately felt sorry for her, knowing that she had bent the rules for him. However, now was not the time to worry about her feelings.

"I... I must have thought I was dreaming while I was eating, and it must have been because of my deep hunger. I... I don't have that much in my account..."

Williams was already overwhelmed with embarrassment before he finished speaking, and he could only wish the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

The entire place fell into complete silence, with everyone looking at Williams in disbelief.

'He thought he was dreaming as he devoured plate after plate of food like a beast?'

'He didn't realize he had consumed that much because of his intense hunger?'

'Is this for real?'

'Is he for real?'

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, including the lady in front of Williams.

Her face had turned completely pale as she had lost all color in it.

She was filled with regret to the brim.

"Didn't I warn you not to help him earlier? Look at where your misplaced kindness has led you..."

Williams and the lady heard one of the lady's colleagues mutter, while the others chuckled mockingly, a feeling Williams had grown accustomed to from his time working as a security guard.

'I promise to repay you for this if I ever get out of it...'

Williams silently vowed to the lady as he sensed her deep fear.

Then, everyone began to regain their senses and started clamoring wildly, speculating that Williams might not be able to pay for the meals he had eaten.

"What will happen to him now?"

"Do you think they'll let him go?"

"Never! Who would let someone owing such a massive sum of money off the hook?"

*

"Look at him; he suddenly looks so pitiful!"

*

"He mustn't have eaten in days, I believe, which was why he unknowingly ate beyond his financial capacity."

*

"It's the fault of those who allowed him in! Maybe he wouldn't have gotten himself into such debt if he had been turned away to a cheaper roadside restaurant!"

*

"My goodness! I didn't even want to come here today! Is this how I'd have missed witnessing such a spectacle?"

The more the crowd talked, the paler the lady who had helped Williams became.

"Sir, I implore you! I beg and beseech you with everything you have and your entire life to settle this debt now! I beg you!"

Tears suddenly welled up in the lady's eyes, making Williams feel as though he was being stabbed all over with daggers.

"I..."

He wanted to change his words, to tell her that he was only joking, that he could pay the money. However, a flashback to all the hardships he had endured in the past made him hesitate greatly.

"What's going on here?"

A deep voice suddenly rang out amid the chaos, and immediately, the noise subsided significantly.

"That's the manager of this place," someone whispered to the people next to them.

"I heard he's extremely ruthless and cruel."

"I heard he once had a staff member beaten to a pulp because she dropped a plate of food worth two thousand dollars!"

"Wow! Things are getting more interesting."

....

Williams' heart trembled slightly when he heard the crowd's comments. Then, he looked back at the man approaching him—a middle-aged, pot-bellied man with a round face.

As for the lady in front of Williams, if there was something paler than pale, it was her complexion at that moment.

The tears she had struggled to hold back suddenly flowed, cascading down uncontrollably.

"I was informed that someone ate without being able to pay, is that correct?"

He stepped forward, and the lady who had taken shelter behind him followed suit.

However, as soon as the employee who had served Williams saw the lady, her face displayed disbelief, and she couldn't react.

"Sir, it was him. This person ate a meal worth fifty thousand dollars and refused to pay," The other staff members pointed their fingers at Williams simultaneously.

It was as if they were all afraid of being punished.

"And how did he eat beyond his means? Wasn't his meal card checked when he arrived?"

With this question posed, the gazes of everyone present turned to the lady who had attended to Williams.

"I... I..."

With tears streaming down her cheeks, the lady stammered, struggling to form words.

For reasons unknown, an evil gleam suddenly flashed in the manager's squinted eyes as he looked at the lady, but he quickly averted his gaze to Williams' face.

"I won't blame you too much for this, as it was one of my staff members' negligence that allowed someone like you in here. However, that doesn't mean you won't face consequences."

Williams' face grew even paler.

"Guards!"

The manager suddenly shouted, and in the blink of an eye, three burly men in uniforms appeared.

"Take these two to my office," he ordered, ignoring the crowd, and left in the same direction from which he had come.

Williams wanted to resist, but when he saw the lifeless expression on the lady's face, he stopped and allowed himself to be roughly escorted.

"Prepare for your doom!" the lady who had reported the situation sneered mockingly as Williams and the now-lifeless lady were roughly dragged past her.

Only after they had left did the place return to being chaotic.

"Do you think they'll be fed to the sharks?"

*

"That manager does look as evil as they say!"

*

"I suddenly can't help but pity that guy. I would have helped him pay the bill if I weren't just an ordinary bronze cardholder here."

"I would have helped him too if what he ate were within my budget. But even I don't eat half of what he consumed in a single sitting in a year."

The crowd began to make various comments and justifications, but Williams and the lady were long gone, so they were unaware of what was happening.

....

"I told you to yield to me, to let me have even a single taste of your body, but you refused. What are you going to do now?"

Inside the manager's extravagantly decorated office, the portly man was presently ignoring Williams as if he couldn't feel his existence at all while wearing a wicked smile directed at the pale lady.

"Do you know the consequences of your actions?" He asked with a playful smirk that appeared to be funny due to his excess fat-filled face. But without waiting for any response which might not even come in the first place, he answered his question.

"Allowing someone without a meal card to dine here could be viewed as an attempt to defraud the company and embezzle its funds."

"I..."

For the first time since her arrival, a single word escaped the lady's lips, and she trembled so much that it seemed as though she might collapse, though she managed to hold herself upright.

'This was all my fault!'

Williams couldn't bear it any longer. Then with his thought, he rushed forward.

"Please spare her. I will take full responsibility for my actions. Just give me three days. I will work as a server here for the time being. If I can't pay the money I owe after three days, even with interest, you can do whatever you want with both of us."

The fatty, “_”

The lady, “_”

“You sure about this?”

The manager abruptly smiled coldly.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Williams’ heart began to tremble with joy.

“What about you?”

The portly man raised an eyebrow and then faced the still-lifeless lady and asked.

But she shot Williams a hateful and disgusted look before she responded, which Williams correctly interpreted. However, he couldn't do anything about it for now.

According to the system's self-explanation earlier that day, Williams wasn't allowed to give anything away before or after any mission, and he mustn't let anyone know of its existence. So, Williams could only give the lady a reassuring look and nodded his head.

"I... I accept, sir," Laura Taylor said.

"Perfect!" The manager suddenly burst into laughter, as if he had just won the lottery.

Without paying any further attention to the two of them, he grabbed his telephone and called someone, instructing them to bring a server uniform for Williams.

After the uniform arrived, Williams was ushered into a small room to change, and just like that, he became a part-time server, a role he had never planned for.

"Remember your words, both of you. If the money for the meal isn't paid after three days, I will do as I please with you both, clear?"

"I..."

"Yes, sir."

Both Williams and Laura Taylor responded, each with different emotions.

"Also, don't even think about trying to escape, or else..."

...

With that, Laura and Williams finally left the office. However, as soon as they stepped out, Laura came to a halt and fixed Williams with an accusing glare that seemed to pierce his soul.

"Do you think you've found a way out for both of us by making such a deal? That man is a devil, and now you've successfully made me your pawn to him."

Williams, unable to respond, remained silent.