Carnivore (8): Scarcity

"Breakfast is ready! Come and eat!" In the courtyard, Granny Su called the players to breakfast with the very same words she had used before dinner.

They'd seen three dead people that morning, and their appetites had long since vanished. But they still had to obey the NPC's instructions.

The players drifted toward the round table in the middle of the courtyard.

Zhao Feng dragged his feet, his gaze shifting between the two bodies in the room.

Human flesh was still meat, and three people had just died. There was certainly no shortage of it...

More people would probably die later. Even if this meat wasn't enough, there were other ways...

Zhao Feng had little sense of morality, and in the real world, he often outwitted the Public Security Bureau. What worried him was that everyone was stuck in a confined space, constantly running into each other. Behavior that violated social norms would quickly erode other people's trust and goodwill. If someone tried to guilt-trip him, he'd be at a disadvantage.

Qi Si had stepped forward and said all that, effectively playing the role of an ally and sharing the risks and moral burden.

When the time came to sacrifice someone, he could simply push Qi Si forward to take the blame for him.

Qi Si saw right through Zhao Feng's thinking. That was precisely the message he wanted to send.

For a partnership without a moral foundation to work, the other party had to believe they stood to gain more.

When a plan was carefully laid, a scoundrel was far more useful than a good person for doing the dirty work.

The other players had already gone ahead. Zhao Feng crouched beside the bespectacled man's body and felt around, trying to figure out which part of it he could cut without anyone noticing.

Feeding human flesh to monsters was justified under the principle of necessity, and no one could truly blame him for it. But he still saw himself as a human being, and deep down, he felt the idea was beneath him.

Qi Si watched without any intention of changing his tool's outlook. He took a blade from his custom wristband and casually tossed it onto the ground.

"A weapon-type item, and one that can be disassembled and put back together..." Zhao Feng picked up the blade, his expression complicated. "You're really lucky. My first instance was set in a medieval church, and all they had were crosses."

Qi Si laughed, looking perfectly sincere. "Really? I thought everyone got a weapon. Don't tell me you didn't get one?"

"..."

Since he owed Qi Si, Zhao Feng could only suppress the urge to curse. He took the blade Qi Si had given him and tested it against the corpse's side.

Qi Si nonchalantly slipped his hands into his pockets and headed for the middle of the courtyard, taking his usual seat by the round table.

The table held steamed buns made from white flour and pickled mustard greens. Compared with last night's lavish feast, the meal was much simpler. Three seats were empty, but Granny Su seemed not to notice. She sat down beside A-Xi, beaming at the players.

Everyone kept glancing around, more or less discreetly. The iron basin that had held the God Meat was nowhere to be seen, an ominous warning in itself.

Qi Si remained fairly calm. The portion of God Meat the bespectacled man hadn't eaten lay quietly in his pocket. In theory, he could still use it to get through one bout of hunger—he was quite happy to "live on with the dead man's hopes."

He calmly picked up a steamed bun with his chopsticks and put it in his bowl, split it open with the tips, then added some pickled greens and took a bite.

Without that basin of God Meat sitting there in plain sight, he had a much better appetite than he'd had yesterday. The simple country cooking was hearty and well made, with a pleasant texture and flavor.

Yang Yundong suddenly stood and went straight over to Granny Su. "Granny Su, why isn't there any God Meat today?"

After what had happened last night, the players were all counting on the God Meat to save them.

Granny Su sneered. "Letting you outsiders try it once was enough. You can't expect me to serve it every meal. There isn't any. I don't have any God Meat left."

Seeing the displeasure on Granny Su's face, Zhu Ling hurried over and spoke gently. "Granny Su, you know that once you've tasted the God Meat, you can't forget it. Could you tell us what we need to do for you to give us more?"

Granny Su shook her head over and over. "There's none. This old woman has no more meat to give you."

The players exchanged glances, their faces grim.

They'd assumed they would have to complete some dangerous side quests to earn more God Meat. They hadn't expected Granny Su to deny them even the chance to do so!

Qi Si had already finished his steamed bun with pickled greens. Perhaps the Eerie Game had gone out of its way to make the food seem better, but even these country-style buns were light and fluffy, with a sweet aftertaste that left his mouth watering.

Resisting the urge to eat another, he smiled at Granny Su. "The village chief is still in the village, staying at the 'Village Chief's House,' right?"

Granny Su froze and opened her mouth as if to explain, but no sound came out. In the end, she could only grit her teeth and say, "Yes."

The players all remembered the "Village Chief's House" marked on the map in the Travel Guide. Did it have some special significance?

Qi Si spoke again, his voice chilling. "Granny Su, yesterday you told me the village chief had become a god. Is he the same kind of god as the one who gave you the God Meat?"

Granny Su said nothing, but the answer was plain enough. The players exchanged glances, already making plans.

—They knew where to find the God Meat.

In the room, Zhao Feng held the blade and hacked at the corpse in a frenzy.

He watched as the flesh he cut away turned into specks of light, scattering through the air and fading away like a drop of ink dissolving in a spring.

[The deceased's body has undergone some degree of mutation]

[Please note: mutated flesh cannot be used]

Lines of prompt text appeared. Reason told Zhao Feng that the instance's rules wouldn't let him use dead people's flesh as a substitute, and trying again would be pointless. But emotionally, desperate and out of options, he couldn't bring himself to give up.

He futilely thought, Just one more try. Just one more...

Zhao Feng cut away another piece of flesh. Before it could even hit the ground, it vanished in his hand.

All he could do was watch helplessly.

"Why? Why is this happening?" Zhao Feng completely panicked.

When you were trapped in a desperate situation and chose what you thought was a way out, how absurd was it to be told, "This way is blocked"?

Footsteps sounded behind him. Zhao Feng whipped around and saw a young man in a white shirt standing by the door, backlit by the morning sun. An inscrutable smile played on his lips. "Looks like things aren't going too well for you?"

That smile looked so much like a taunt that Zhao Feng nearly punched him. But he managed to stay calm, knowing this man was his only ally.

So he described what had happened. His emotions made his account disjointed and confused, but he still managed to explain the situation.

"As I thought." Qi Si pressed down the corners of his mouth and narrowed his eyes.

The Eerie Game really wouldn't let the players get away with such an easy shortcut.

He'd had his suspicions for a while now. The players were outsiders to the entire backstory. If eating the God Meat alone could link them to "Sin," that seemed like a stretch.

Now he had a new theory about how the instance worked. It remained unconfirmed, but he was sixty or seventy percent sure.

Qi Si chuckled and muttered to himself, "Could it be that the rule is 'everyone is guilty'?"

Zhao Feng thought he was about to say something profound and perked up his ears. Instead, Qi Si made an ill-timed joke. "Looks like the monsters in this instance care a lot about food safety. They don't want anything that isn't fresh."

"You bastard..."

"Fine, then let's give them fresh food. Made to order, killed on the spot. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

Qi Si's smile was radiant, his eyes crinkling. Yet in their dark depths, malice and bloodlust churned, making him frightening to behold.

Zhao Feng instinctively straightened and stepped forward. "What do you mean?"

Qi Si backed out of the room, his smile fading slightly. "I mean exactly what I said. I gave you a knife. Do I really need to spell it out?"

Zhao Feng instinctively tightened his grip on the blade, his face twisting for an instant.

It wasn't just because he could see the decision he'd have to make coming. It was also because he realized that when he faced it, he felt not the slightest guilt or hesitation.

I spent all day moving dorms yesterday, and it was already late by the time I got settled. Then I fell asleep at my desk while writing. When I woke up and checked the time, I was jolted wide awake...