The First Serving

So, was he going to check it out or not?

The light was like a moth lamp, its flickering glow luring in anything that came from outside.

And Zhou You was faced with a difficult choice.

If he went, that bright light suddenly appearing in this ghost town was almost certainly a trap. Anyone who'd seen a horror movie knew they often used bright lights to lure in victims.

But if he didn't, the thing was right in the middle of the road. There was no way to get around it without being noticed.

After thinking it over for a long while, he checked how many revivals he had left and finally made up his mind.

First, he tied on the Brass Bell Building Four had given him. He'd kept it tucked in his shirt until now in case a sudden scare provoked a startled reaction. Then he took a deep breath and walked toward the light.

He didn't have any Infinite Coins left, but he still had plenty of revivals, and the bell could warn him. It should be fine...

Right?

Only when he got closer did he realize the light came from a small food stall.

Back in the city where Zhou You had grown up, stalls like this had been common. They were the last remnants of the old heavy industry, usually run by laid-off workers. The owners would set up a cart, put a stove or two on it, and turn it into a tiny food stand.

Zhou You lifted the greasy cloth curtain and was greeted by a weathered face.

The man wasn't all that old, perhaps in his forties, but the years had left deep marks on his face. His whole body was hunched, his back bent like a heavy ear of wheat. He was even missing a few fingers. At first glance, he looked less like a middle-aged man and more like someone in his sixties or seventies.

The middle-aged man stared at Zhou You with a dazed look and said, "Young man, you're here to eat, right?"

Zhou You had only meant to check things out, but since the man had already asked, he had no choice but to sit down.

But just as he was about to take his seat, he suddenly froze.

A mechanical female voice rang in his ear.

"Esteemed player, you have triggered a side quest: Drink Soup."

"Quest requirements: Obtain a bowl of normal soup from the shop owner."

"Reward: A special enhancement effect that can only be used in this instance, and one green-quality consumable."

...This instance had side quests, too?

"—Customer, is something wrong?"

Hearing the owner's slightly impatient greeting, Zhou You ignored the prompt and looked up with a polite smile before sitting down.

Grease coated both the stool and the counter, making them unpleasantly sticky. Unlike an ordinary snack stall, there was no grill or assortment of braised snacks. Instead, two large pots sat on the cart, bubbling and steaming.

The pots were covered, so he couldn't see what was cooking inside. But from the occasional waft of aroma, it didn't seem to smell too bad.

As he breathed in that tempting scent, Zhou You somehow swallowed involuntarily. At that moment, it was as if something stirred in his heart, urging him to have a bowl. But in the end, he forced down the inexplicable urge and smiled at the hunched man.

"Thanks for your hard work, boss. You're still out here selling this late?"

The cart owner gave him a completely numb smile.

"What else can I do? My whole family depends on this business. If I don't set up, we'll all starve, so no matter how late it gets, I have to keep going."

Zhou You fell silent for a moment, but continued the conversation as if making small talk.

"But, boss, you picked a pretty bad spot. There's no one around. Who are you going to sell to?"

"No one? This place is usually pretty lively." At that, the cart owner looked up and scanned the area. His already sour expression grew even gloomier. "Ah, maybe a crowd just cleared out. But I still have to stick it out. The young folks will be coming out for a late-night snack in the second half of the night. It'll pick up then. Anyway, customer, what would you like?"

No. In this creepy, inexplicable place, how could I possibly eat your food?

Zhou You smiled and was about to politely refuse, but—

"I'm not hungry right now."

The words hadn't even left his mouth before they caught in his throat.

The owner had already lifted the lid off one of the pots. Milky-white broth bubbled inside, with bright-green leaves and red-and-white chunks of meat mixed together. At first, the aroma had been faint, lingering just out of reach, but it soon grew rich and fragrant. The savory meat and fresh green vegetables kept teasing his senses. Within seconds, Zhou You felt ravenous, almost desperate to swallow down the whole pot.

But just then—

"Jingle, jingle."

A bell suddenly rang.

It wasn't loud, but it was enough to clear his thoughts.

In an instant, Zhou You came back to his senses.

When he looked at the pot again, there was no salted meat or vegetables inside.

Only a head, boiled white.

"Customer? Customer?"

The hunched owner stirred the pot and called to Zhou You with the same kindly expression. But compared to before, his voice had grown even more sinister, and his face was beginning to warp and rot...

"Plop."

Half the rotten flesh on his face fell into the pot, but the owner acted as if he hadn't noticed and continued speaking.

"Customer, what's that thing in your hand that keeps ringing? Sounds kind of nice."

Zhou You stared at the pot for a moment, then smiled. He casually placed his hand on the table so the owner could see the brass bell, still stained with blood.

"It's nothing special, just a Hand Bell a friend gave me a while back. It rings when the wind blows. Maybe the wind's just stronger than usual tonight, so it's making more noise. Sorry for disturbing you."

Seeing Zhou You's unfeigned expression, the owner tilted his head. But he didn't suspect anything. He took a porcelain bowl from a compartment in the cart, ladled soup into it, then pushed it in front of Zhou You.

"Customer, you took so long to order, so I went ahead and served you something. Drink it while it's hot. It won't taste as good when it gets cold."

No, if I drink it, I'll be the one who gets cold for good.

Staring at the bowl of strange soup, Zhou You began to carefully consider what he should do.

Should he activate Wuwo Ruding and tank the attacks as he ran?

Zhou You glanced at the dark street outside the stall, then at the owner's increasingly rotten body. He shook his head slightly.

He had no idea what lay ahead. Besides, he didn't know the area. In such darkness, even if he ran, he probably wouldn't get far.

Then should he drink the soup?

No matter how he looked at it, it would kill him instantly. And with rotten flesh and pus floating on top, drinking it was out of the question.

But the owner had no intention of waiting much longer. When he saw that Zhou You still wouldn't take a sip, his face twisted further. The head in the pot bobbed back to the surface, its boiled-away mouth opening as it burst into a mocking laugh.

"If you don't drink it, you'll end up just like me."

"If you do drink it, you'll still end up just like me."

"No matter what, you can't escape! Hahahahahaha!"

...Zhou You didn't respond.

He had two very obvious traits. First, he was petty—extremely petty. If someone crossed him, he'd find a way to get even.

The second was that he stayed calm. The more dangerous things got, the calmer he became. Even when his life was on the line, he could keep a straight face and carefully weigh ten different ways to escape.

So now, faced with a snack stall on the verge of turning into a ghostly hellscape, he still had the presence of mind to think.

"From a game's perspective, if it set up this scene for me, it can't just be so a ghost can jump-scare me and make me waste a Resurrection Coin."

"So there must be a clue here."

"But I shouldn't have said anything wrong. The proof is that he didn't turn into a ghost at first. There must have been something important I missed."

"So what exactly did I miss...?"

..

"Oh, right. The newspaper!"