Chapter 54: Eating |
On March 13th, Qi Si was up at the crack of dawn.
He wasn't sure if it was an aftereffect of the "Flesh Eating" instance, but he found his appetite had grown considerably—so much so that he'd been woken by hunger.
Considering that every last bit of food in his apartment contained at least a trace of meat, he had no choice but to pull on a white shirt and reluctantly head out the door. Within five minutes, he was slipping through the bustling morning market.
The smog was still thick, and the usual cacophony of the crowd was enough to give anyone a headache. A tinny, static-filled sound came from an old radio, its muffled voice droning out the news:
“The Federation is set to pass a new Curfew Act. Barring special circumstances, no one will be permitted outdoors between one and four in the morning.”
“The Public Security Bureau has launched a severe crackdown on the Balance Church, having recently dismantled all of its strongholds in Min Province.”
“Following an investigation, the so-called ‘Weird Invasion Incidents’ circulating online have been confirmed as rumors. The individuals responsible for spreading these falsehoods have been arrested for promoting feudal superstitions.”
“...”
Qi Si, wearing headphones, navigated his way to a familiar breakfast stall on the corner. The smell of grease and sweat, carried on a wave of hot steam, hit him instantly.
Qi Si had no interest in the lives of others. He walked up and stated simply, “One egg wrap.”
“You got it!”
The woman deftly slapped a round of dough onto the griddle, cracked an egg over it, and then placed a sausage on top.
“I don’t eat meat,” Qi Si said.
The woman clearly didn't believe him. “A big young man like you, why’d you suddenly stop eating meat?” she chattered on. “Last time you were here, and the time before that, and all the times before that, Auntie remembers. Like clockwork, you always ordered the sausage egg wrap.”
The “sausage egg wrap” was just an “egg wrap” with an extra sausage, and it cost three yuan more.
Qi Si’s tone hardened. “If you have any respect for consumer rights, I suggest you leave out the meat.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. You youngsters are always pinching pennies on your meals. Let me tell you, your body is your greatest asset. You can skimp on anything but food...”
Ignoring him, the woman folded the wrap, sealing the sausage inside. “Auntie won’t charge you extra. It’s on the house. You’re a regular, why are you being so distant? Next time you come, I’ll give you half off!”
“My good-for-nothing son is about your age, and the sausage egg wrap is his favorite, too. He eats it every day and never gets tired of it.”
“Sigh, it’s not easy for you young people, with jobs so hard to find...”
Listening to her ramble on, Qi Si quickly realized she had mistaken him for an unemployed youth and was overcome with a wave of maternal pity.
He mulled it over for a moment, then took out his phone to search for the news report about his specimen exhibition.
The air was freezing, and his fingers were stiff and slow. Before he could pull up the article, the woman had already bagged the sausage egg wrap and handed it to him.
Qi Si gave up. He scanned the QR code with his phone, sending nine yuan, then took the plastic bag and turned to leave the shop.
“Hey! Six is enough! Auntie isn’t going to overcharge you!” the woman shouted after him, her voice straining.
Qi Si pretended not to hear, quickening his pace and melting into the crowd as if fleeing a plague.
He turned a corner and saw an overturned trash can. The juice from leftover food had spilled all over the ground, releasing a foul, rotting stench.
A black dog with patchy fur was pawing at the edge of the can, its head down as it nudged at the scraps spilling out.
Catching the scent of fresh food, it shakily raised its head and panted at Qi Si, its pale tongue lolling out. A greedy light gleamed in its amber eyes.
Qi Si casually tossed the egg wrap into the trash can, where it landed right in front of the dog’s snout.
The dog lowered its head, snatched the bundle of dough and meat in its mouth, and its tail began to wag cheerfully.
...
At eight in the evening, in the auditorium of a hidden base in the suburbs of Jiang City.
Mu Dongxu, Director of Division One of the Jiang City Branch of the Weird Investigation Bureau, stood before a large screen, delivering a work summary.
He wore a dark green military uniform. Beneath a mess of hair was a square face full of integrity, its light wrinkles neatly arranged, chiseled by time and experience.
He wasn’t a career soldier, but due to the special nature of the Weird Investigation Bureau, its investigators were equipped with various uniforms and credentials to facilitate their work in any environment. Broadly speaking, every investigator could be a military officer, a police officer, a public servant, or even a member of an archaeological team...
“Last year, Jiang City experienced a total of five weird invasion incidents, with the highest ranked as A-level and the lowest as D-level. That’s two more than the previous year, and the overall danger has escalated across the board.”
Mu Dongxu flipped through the documents in his hand, his expression grave as he continued. “We still lack the ability to effectively resolve B-level or higher incidents, and our response methods have shown no improvement compared to ten years ago. Meanwhile, the game's infiltration of reality is growing stronger. If this trend continues, we will eventually lose the fight against the Weird Game.”
An old man leaned over and whispered to the young man beside him, “Only five? I remember there were a full eight back in ‘23.”
Mu Dongxu pretended not to hear, his face grim as he pressed on. “We eradicated the Sila Guild’s presence in Jiang City, cutting off the largest source of contamination that channels these weird phenomena. So why have the incidents increased instead of decreasing? Did the Sila Guild, entrenched for thirty years, truly have no foothold in the real world? Could they really have been uprooted so easily? Is it possible their retreat was merely a smokescreen?”
The three questions hung in the air, and the lighthearted expressions vanished from the faces of everyone present. They waited for an answer.
Mu Dongxu let out a long breath.
“Fewer and fewer freelance players are willing to explore new instances. Even when they’re forced to match into one, they lack the initiative to decode the worldview. More and more people are simply getting used to the existence of the Weird Game, preferring to coexist with the weird rather than strive to escape the instances. At this rate, the hope of triggering the Final Instance is becoming increasingly slim.”
“The Kyushu Guild’s approval rating has dropped even further, reflecting a decline in cooperative thinking and the rampant spread of a zero-sum game mentality. Within the instances, more and more players are adopting the game’s dog-eat-dog principles, their minds becoming twisted and crazed. Soon, it won’t just be the weird we have to fight.”
A young investigator raised his hand. After receiving a nod of acknowledgement, he stood and asked, “Director, aren’t you being a bit too pessimistic?”
“It’s only human nature to seek advantages and avoid harm. Since the Weird Game designed mechanisms like investments, it’s natural that some people will use them just to survive. Even if these people continue to enter new instances, the probability of them triggering the Final Instance is minuscule. They do nothing but get in the way.”
“Almost every player on the leaderboards has some kind of psychological issue. To survive, you have to adapt to the game’s rules. The game doesn’t strengthen a player’s body, so no matter how much of a force they are inside, in reality, they’re nothing a single bullet can’t solve...”
Mu Dongxu raised a hand, making a gesture to cut him off. “Last week, a prophecy from the Listening Wind Guild contained the image of a ‘door.’ The greatest weird phenomenon in history has already descended. It will open a door between the Weird Game and reality, triggering an unprecedented disaster.”
“Headquarters and the Listening Wind Guild both suspect that ‘It’ is connected to the Twilight of the Gods from twenty-two years ago.”
“The weird will eventually walk the earth, and the supernatural will descend upon our world. Soon, the technical problems the Sila Guild spent thirty years trying to solve, the methods the Balance Church is still desperately seeking, will be effortlessly achieved. The barrier between the game and reality will be broken. Weird events will be channeled into reality by ‘It’.”
Mu Dongxu took a deep breath and let it out, his dark gaze slowly sweeping over everyone in the hall.
As he looked toward a corner, the corner of his mouth twitched. “Chang, are you listening?”
At his words, everyone’s attention shifted to one spot.
There, in a corner of the auditorium, a young man in a black hoodie sat bolt upright in his chair. He held a giant chicken leg in both hands, his head bowed as he gnawed on it with a quiet, almost devout concentration.
“Chang!” Mu Dongxu called out again.
The young man suddenly looked up, his black eyes as deep and still as a pool of water. His mind was clearly elsewhere.
Mu Dongxu sighed. “Chang, you manage to clear the *Rose Manor* instance with a True End, yet you can’t answer a single question about how you did it. How can you even have an appetite?”
The young man grunted, “Mm,” and went back to gnawing on the chicken leg. After stripping the meat clean, he began to suck the marrow from the bone.
Mu Dongxu’s voice rose. “Have you looked at the stele in the Sunset Ruins? Your rank on the Newcomer List? Have you no shame?”
“Mm.”
“Is ‘mm’ the only thing you know how to say?”
“Oh.”
Losing all patience, Mu Dongxu raised his voice. “Bringing food into a meeting! That’s one demerit!”
At that, the young man’s expression finally turned serious.
He looked up at Mu Dongxu and said earnestly, “The contract says work ends at six. It’s eight o’clock now. According to regulations, seven is dinnertime.”
Mu Dongxu was speechless.
So were the other investigators.
After five long seconds of silence, an enraged shout echoed through the auditorium:
“Chang Xu! If you dare bring food in here again, your meal allowance is halved next month!”
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