I'm No Longer Human

"Yeah, Little Dove doesn't eat raw food."

Mr. Li gave the maid a fond look.

"Young man, surely you won't refuse such a small request of mine."

He said with a smile.

Liu Zheng looked at him, then at the maid.

One was shriveled and hunched over, while the other was soft and delicate. Even injured, he could take either of them down easily.

Yeah, right.

Dai Lego couldn't casually make a move against Restaurant staff, yet Mr. Li could directly call the Restaurant owner.

Neither of these two was human.

"I have one condition."

After a brief silence, Liu Zheng spoke.

"As long as it isn't too excessive, you can name any condition you like."

Mr. Li said generously.

With his status and wealth, money, positions, real estate, and women were all beneath notice.

As for what counted as excessive, only he himself knew.

"I want chopped chili peppers, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar."

Yet Liu Zheng's answer caught him by surprise.

"It'd be even better if there's scallion oil."

Liu Zheng sniffed.

"Hahaha, what an interesting young man. Come in and sit down. Little Dove, go fetch the guest what he asked for."

Mr. Li laughed heartily.

"Yes, Master."

The maid went to the kitchen, while Liu Zheng followed the old man into the living room and sat down.

The interior decor was not complicated. On the contrary, it was quite simple.

There were no crystal chandeliers, no resplendent gilded ceilings, and no rosewood furniture favored by the elderly. The overall palette was black and white, making the entire hall feel very empty.

However, the greenery scattered everywhere softened much of the cold, desolate feeling.

Interestingly, after the two sat facing each other, Mr. Li did not strike up a conversation with Liu Zheng. Instead, he simply read the newspaper by himself.

That let him breathe a sigh of relief.

It wasn't because he was somewhat socially anxious.

All right, he really was a little socially anxious.

But more importantly, this meant Liu Zheng would not need to worry about discussing anything related to the Restaurant.

Although Mr. Li seemed quite familiar with the owner, that rule should still apply.

He curiously glanced at the newspaper, but the print was too small. He only made out words like "descent," "suppression," and "lowering citizen rank."

"Master, I've brought the things the guest requested."

After a while, the maid came over carrying a large tray.

On it were the seasonings Liu Zheng had requested, along with a pair of chopsticks and a bowl.

"Thank you for your trouble. Young man, the things are here. Start eating."

Mr. Li put down the newspaper as he spoke.

Liu Zheng looked at the sheep eyeballs in the glass jar, swallowed, and let out a long breath.

Eat it, then. At least it was free loot.

A piece of Ascension Hair Moss of the same excellent quality had cost him two thousand yuan.

He put all the seasonings into the bowl, then mixed them evenly.

The pungent aroma rushed straight into his nostrils, whetting Liu Zheng's appetite.

"This dipping sauce would taste good even with shoe insoles."

He could not help feeling smug.

But when he looked at the jar of sheep eyeballs, he could not help sighing again.

"It'd really be better to dip shoe insoles."

Liu Zheng picked up a sheep eyeball with his chopsticks, rolled it hard through the bowl several times, then closed his eyes and shoved it into his mouth.

At first, it was all the taste of the dipping sauce. Aside from the somewhat strange texture, it was fine.

But when he bit down and burst it, an overwhelmingly fishy stench rapidly filled his entire mouth.

His head, which had been groggy from his injury, instantly cleared up, only to crash from the excessively violent signals fed back by his taste buds.

"Is it good?"

Mr. Li asked.

"It's quite fresh."

Liu Zheng evaluated it as objectively as possible.

"If it's good, eat more. Finish it all."

Mr. Li said with a beaming smile.

Like a kind elder watching a young person with an especially good appetite.

"Okay."

He nodded with difficulty, then picked up another eyeball.

To be fair, once he got past that first hurdle, this thing was not actually that hard to eat.

Right?

Under this kind of psychological suggestion, Liu Zheng stuffed sheep eyeball after sheep eyeball into his mouth.

The dipping sauce in the bowl grew scarcer and scarcer, so Mr. Li thoughtfully had the maid prepare a fresh bowl.

"Can we change the song?"

Liu Zheng suddenly stopped and asked.

"Young man, we aren't playing any music."

Mr. Li looked at him strangely.

"No music? Then what am I hearing?"

Liu Zheng raised his head. The music was getting louder and louder.

So loud that he could no longer hear what Mr. Li and the maid were saying to him.

"Am I hallucinating?"

Liu Zheng suddenly remembered that he had drunk some Hell Rock Cola.

"But this isn't rock music either?"

The music was long and ethereal, mixed with many soft murmurs he could not understand, like insects crawling through humus.

It sounded nothing like rock music. It sounded more like—

Gospel.

"Shub-Niggurath!"

He suddenly uttered a string of strange syllables.

"No!"

Upon hearing those syllables, Mr. Li let out a shrill scream, then exploded.

His scattered flesh and blood seemed to be drawn by a magnet, flying into the maid's gaping mouth.

Immediately afterward, the maid tore a shield-shaped pendant from around her neck. It bore a mark resembling a fishbone.

"By the name of N'tss-Kaambl!"

She shouted loudly, her voice ancient.

An invisible force dispelled that distant, unreachable malice.

"Hell Rock Cola? Should I say your luck is too good, or too bad, young man?"

The maid smiled helplessly, but Mr. Li's voice came out of her mouth.

In her pupils, Liu Zheng's figure was rapidly distorting.

Warning: Sanity decreasing.

Warning: Sanity decreasing.

Warning: Acquired the "Flesh Mutation" status.

Warning: Maximum Sanity permanently decreased.

Acquired temporary madness: "Irritability."

A string of system prompts jolted Liu Zheng awake.

He shook his head and felt much clearer.

"Am I better now?"

He instinctively raised his hand to touch his wound, only to see a tentacle.

Liu Zheng abruptly flipped off the sofa and retreated all the way to the wall, only to find that the tentacle followed him like a shadow.

He had no choice but to realize that it was his own arm.

"What happened to me?"

Liu Zheng asked, trembling slightly.

"Young man, don't be nervous. Your appearance has merely changed a little."

The maid soothed him.

"Mr. Li? You possessed the maid?"

He noticed the maid's voice.

"No, child. I have always been Mr. Li."

The maid shook her head, her tone gentle and kind.

"Won't you take a look at your new appearance?"

She pointed at the full-length mirror by the entryway.

Liu Zheng walked up to the mirror and came face-to-face with the monster inside.

That monster had four tentacle-like arms and powerful goat-hoof-like feet. Tumor-like lumps of flesh spread from its feet all the way to its head.

And most hateful of all was its face. Its ears, nose, and lips had all vanished, leaving only pitch-black eyeballs and a mouthpart packed with sharp teeth.

Liu Zheng fell silent for a moment, then smiled at the monster.

The monster likewise opened its mouthpart, spraying out a powerful stench of rotting vegetation.

"System, how long will this status last?"

He asked.

"After the instance ends, it can be removed by spending game points."

The system replied.

"That's good."

Liu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief.

If he had to live looking like this from now on, that really would be worse than death.

"Young man, are you going to eat the rest?"

The maid asked.

"Of course."

He moved his new hooves and walked toward the dining table.

I'm not human anymore anyway, so I might as well fucking eat.