Darryl looked at the screen as it showed the second Death Watch scene. The man shown there was built like a soldier, tall and buff. That was the only positive thing about his situation. He wore no pants or shoes, his legs and especially feet were bright red from hypothermia, he was unarmed and holding a cat, and he walked past a sign labelled 'Da Tutorial Guild' that seemed to have him completely fooled.

“Live.” Ben said. “That guy looks so stupid and done for that this can't be anything but reverse psychology.”

“Same.” Elise said. “For all we know you might be talking about the cat, and I can see her abandon him as he gets shivved by whatever obvious trap he's running into.”

Thomas and Darryl nodded and the Maestro called for the scene to be played.

Elise's confidence seemed to waver when she saw the massive drill machine driven by some small green guys, and bent over Darryl to whisper to Thomas directly. “You sure? I mean, we don't exactly have plot armour. None of us. Sometimes we die no matter how dire it looks.”

“Too late now.” Thomas whispered. “But while I agree about the plot armour, the people running this show get to choose from millions of people. They can pick the surprise survivors.”

His words turned out to be true when the man managed to find a Tutorial Guide and the cat squeezed itself in after the door was opened a bit. The screen froze with the dozer so close to the man that he couldn't possibly survive, showing a 'Live!'

“Ha! I knew you were talking about the cat!” Elise shouted. “Called it!”

“Yes, yes. Don't forget that you guys still need one more win before your entire party gets to go have assisted suicide by Borough Boss.” The Maestro smugly said. “Now, for our next-”

“Die.” Darryl said the moment something appeared on the screen. “Call it a gut feeling.”

Elise pretended to study the scene of an African couple wearing European medieval fantasy gear over tribal African garbs, and then agreed with Darryl's assessment. Die. The others agreed, and the Maestro seemed to be getting slightly miffed about the quick answers and lack of arguments between the party.

The video played off, the couple ran into a group of large cockroaches, the man pulled out a stick of dynamite, and the scene froze. Or, as it became clear a few moments later, froze down. A percentage counter appeared above the stick which gradually ticked down as the man slowly threw it. It hit zero before it left his hand.

There was a bright flash followed by both the cockroaches and the couple splattered into unrecognisable bloody swats on the wall. 'Die!' appeared in the corner.

“So! Now we get to the interesting part!” The Maestro belched out. “Will you guys drag this cute little psychotic critter with you, or will you be kind enough to answer wrong for once!?”

A scene appeared, and Ben said “Die!” after but a second of pretend contemplation.

“Well, let's see if you're correct.” The Maestro said with a dark grin that didn't bode well.

The laugh turned out to be a poor bluff. The audience cheered for the tentacle monster as it stuffed the old man further and further into its gullet. The man's face sank into the jaws, the teeth effortlessly tore through the arm reaching out and after a few seconds the creature burped. 'Die!' appeared in the corner of the screen.

“Look at that, you got it right!” The Maestro said. “Amazing, you guys will be so happy with the new addition to the team, assuming you survive the next five minutes. Which you won't.”

“Because!” The Maestro loudly said when Ben tried to say something. “Now we finally come to the main course of the show!”

The audience cheered and a new scene appeared on screen. A violent shot of the Big Bad Woolf eviscerating Jean as Mr. Geruet was halfway through casting something and Raphael just finished a much less visceral slash into the Woolf's calf.

Something was wrong with the Woolf, that much Darryl could tell with but a glance. It looked different from before, less hairy and more frantic. No, Darryl realised, its hair was just tangled in messy knots and less voluminous with inexplicable bald spots. The wide-eyed desperation of the creature was nothing like the zealous madness it had before, and its outfit was tattered nigh beyond recognition.

“What's...” Thomas said.

“Okay, I admit it's big and scary and really screwed over that poor sap there, but I think we can take it.” Elise said. “Right?”

“Holy shit, it worked.” Ben said.

“What did?” Darryl asked.

“The meth, of course!” The Maestro interrupted. “While you guys were cowering and coming up with one of the lamest escape plans ever which backfired to boot, just ask Darryl's fapping arm, this little kid managed to sneak one past the big hairy granny!”

The scene switched over to the 'tea party' that they had with the Woolf in Volos's room, zooming in on Ben eating from a bucket of large chicken nuggets and then stuffing some meth into one of the chunks after cutting it open with his knife. Bag and all, which was quite clever considering the Woolf could probably smell the chemicals but would eat these chunks in a single bite. Ben threw it back in and placed the bucket away after a few more nuggets, where it was 'forgotten' when they teleported out.

The screen froze and the small bag was shown with a description of the status effect. The bag was smaller than the ones they looted off the Llamas, and called 'Trailer-trash quality meth – First hit'. The free sample that the Dealer had given them, Darryl realised.

Trailer-trash quality meth – First hit

When consumed either by injecting it with a syringe, or much easier by equipping it in your quick slots, one dose of this drug will grant you +25% pain resistance, +3 Energetic, +3 Dexterity and +3 Constitution for an hour. If the user has a starvation effect active, it will decrease by one degree for the duration of the drug's effect.

There is a 20% chance that the user will become addicted to meth. When they have gone without the meth high status effect for 24h, they will gain the Withdrawal debuff. All kinds and quality grades of meth, including meth from the surface, can remove the withdrawal effect. Meth addiction that predates the dungeon transfers over to this effect.

Hidden effect: Bad Llama Dealers are a savvy lot and remorseless to boot. Taking this batch of meth actually has a 100% chance of triggering addiction. Taking this first hit when you already have meth addiction, there's instead a 50% chance of upgrading to Severe Meth Addiction.

Underneath there was additional information, Darryl saw, added by the producers of this show where the AI normally wouldn't give any further information.

Trailer Trash Meth is the worst kind of meth with the highest rate of addiction and the lowest boons granted for it. The system goes: Trailer Trash, Florida Swamp Militia, Slum Connoisseur, Breaking Bad, Chemist-approved and pure meth. Each quality increase improves the effect by -5%, +5%, +1, +2 and +2 for an additional half hour high each.

Meth can be stacked up to three times by taking it again while still high, this will not elongate the duration of previous hits. This grants the same increase of stats and doubles the odds of addiction triggering upon taking the second dose, or triple for the third dose.

Meth Withdrawal: Level 0.1 Fear spell effect (continuous), Level 0.2 Rage spell effect (continuous), +10% pain resistance, 1% chance of triggering Vicious Illusions, and the inability to get the Well-Rested buff. Decreases Dex by 2, Int by 3 and Wis by 1. Non-mechanical: Loss of appetite, increased heart rate, dilation of pupils.

It takes 7 days for the Meth Withdrawal to end, leaving the crawler with no more cravings and issues whatsoever. The withdrawal will become Severe Withdrawal on the 7th day but have no further consequences if no meth is taken. Your addiction will automatically become Severe Meth Addiction if meth is taken on the 7th day. Odds of meth addiction triggering are reduced to a fifth when addicted, increasing the crawler's status to Severe Meth Addiction when triggered.

Severe Meth Withdrawal: Level 0.3 Fear spell effect (continuous), Level 0.5 Rage spell effect (continuous), +15% pain resistance, 2% chance of triggering Vicious Illusions, and a Tired debuff which can decrease further but not be removed. Decreases Dex by 2, Int by 5 and Wis by 2 (Cannot go below 1). Non-mechanical: Lack of appetite, increased heart rate, nausea, vertigo, dilation of pupils and short attacks of violent shivers.

It takes 15 days for the Severe Meth Withdrawal to end, reducing the status to regular Meth Addiction. The withdrawal will become Extreme Meth Withdrawal on the 15th day but have no further consequences if no meth is taken. Your condition will automatically become Extreme Meth Addiction if meth is taken on the 15h day. Odds of meth addiction triggering are (again) reduced to a fifth when addicted, increasing the crawler's status to extreme meth addiction when triggered.

Extreme meth withdrawal: Level 0.9 Fear spell effect (continuous), Level 1.5 Rage spell effect (continuous), +30% pain resistance, 5% chance of triggering Vicious Illusions, 1% chance of triggering a Heart Attack effect when adrenaline or stress peaks, and a Very Tired debuff which can decrease further but not be removed by sleeping. You lose the ability to eat unless you're high. Decreases Dex by 2, Int by 10 and Wis by 3 (Cannot go below 1). Non-mechanical: Nausea, vertigo, dilation of pupils and sudden attacks of violent shivers.

It is impossible for Extreme Meth Withdrawal to be removed without a Restoration Spell, a Cleansing Carbon item or becoming a race that cannot have the Meth Addiction status. Odds of Meth Addiction triggering remain the same (after previous reductions), instantly killing the crawler when triggered.

“Oh shit, now I actually feel kind of bad for her.” Ben said.

“Don't be. This is a kill or be killed situation and your action will make it somewhat easier for us to not die, good job.” Thomas said. “Have some ready for a distraction if required.”

“Enough strategy, crawlers!” The Maestro said. “The audience is getting restless and we're losing money for every moment that we keep this part of the dungeon frozen! So get going aaaaand...~”

“Live or die!” The audience shouted.

The next moment, Darryl blacked out for a moment and found himself in the frozen scene standing just in front of Jean's splattering remains and the Woolf's claw. The world remained frozen for a few moments, his HUD reappeared before his eyes and then things exploded in a flurry of movement and chaos.