Chapter Summaries

After appearing in Ren Nesser’s video, Ren Suo reassured his family and reviewed his new bond ability from helping Gu Yueyan train. At midnight, he opened the World Store expecting a free game, but found only a plus sign.

• Ren Suo reassured Ren Ma and Ren Xingmei that he was safe after they saw him healing the Charred Remains Magician in Ren Nesser’s video.
• Ren Suo checked an Internal Network discussion about locating the Second Secret Realm and upvoted a researcher’s answer.
• Ren Suo reviewed his bond abilities and recalled how Gu Yueyan trained her moonlight power while he healed her, earning the Waxing and Waning ability.
• Ren Suo tested Waxing and Waning, then considered buying a similar offensive spell to disguise its use in public.
• At midnight, Ren Suo opened the World Store and found no free game, only a huge plus sign.

Ren Suo learned that Level 4 players could claim a free game by spending a seasonal promotion, then used the Start of Autumn promotion to obtain the four-star supernatural business game Late Night Street Vendor. He started the game and reached a prompt to choose the city where he would sell food.

• Ren Suo read the rules for This Month's Free Game and learned he could spend a promotional opportunity to obtain a free game upgraded to his level.
• Ren Suo spent the Start of Autumn Seasonal Promotion and drew Late Night Street Vendor, a four-star game with a possible reward of 325 Merit Points and the exclusive reward Desire Detection.
• Ren Suo equipped the Truth-Seeking Correction Hat and the Goddess of the Luo River Jade Pendant, then entered the game.
• The opening scene showed a street vendor setting up a food stall before a mysterious customer in a black trench coat arrived.
• Ren Suo chose Start Street Vending and was prompted to select a city.

Ren Suo began The Seasoning of Life as a female food-cart owner in Kowloon, where customers paid for meals with their lives. After a troubled actor ate noodles seasoned with Happiness and Love, he transformed into a hungry phantom and attacked, leaving Ren Suo facing a battle with only 50 health.

• Ren Suo chose Hong Kong and designed a Female Shopkeeper to run a food cart for the game's ten days.
• The Female Shopkeeper opened her stall in a secluded Kowloon park, where a melancholy man in a tracksuit appeared and ordered Spam and Egg Noodles with mineral water.
• The man described his failed acting career, the mask of cheerfulness he wore, and the relationships that ended when others saw his real self.
• Black smoke formed a clown-like phantom above the man, who revealed that he was hungry and wanted to eat people's faces.
• Ren Suo seasoned the noodles with Happiness and Love, but the man said they tasted unpleasant and that he was still hungry.
• The man said he had no life left to pay for another bowl, transformed into a purple-suited phantom, and began a turn-based battle against the Female Shopkeeper, whose health was 50/50.

Ren Suo discovered that the Female Shopkeeper could calm mutated customers by seasoning their food to match their needs, then learned the game required collecting 10,000 portions of desire in ten days. He started a new save in Hong Kong City and wondered what would happen if the game’s footage were broadcast to the world.

• Ren Suo sent the Female Shopkeeper to a rural village, where she watched Cross My Corpse until a hungry child named Jia Zhu approached her stall.
• Jia Zhu revealed his hunger and jealousy had awakened monstrous traits, so Ren Suo seasoned his Red Eggs with parental love and friendship to calm him.
• Jia Zhu returned to normal, gave the Female Shopkeeper a Lonely Milk Candy that strengthened her, and left.
• The game revealed that Ren Suo had nine days left to collect 10,000 portions of desire, prompting him to start a new save.
• Ren Suo began again in Hong Kong City and wondered what would happen if the game’s footage were broadcast.

Ren Suo found evidence that unrecognized half-awakened people under severe pressure could suddenly fall into demonization, and warned Yu Kuangtu that more might be at risk. Dong Chengling reminded him that no lone protagonist would save the world, while Ren Suo decided to continue Late Night Street Vendor despite the panic its footage might cause.

• Ren Suo and Li Dan reviewed three cases of ordinary people who suddenly became demonized, and Ren Suo argued that they may have been half-awakened people crushed by life's pressures.
• Yu Kuangtu acknowledged Ren Suo's explanation but sent him away without a clear plan, keeping Li Dan behind.
• Ren Suo cultivated that afternoon, then described his concerns to Dong Chengling, who said people would have to face any crisis together rather than rely on a protagonist.
• Ren Suo returned home and continued Late Night Street Vendor, believing its footage should expose the danger and spur action despite the risk of public panic.

Ren Suo tested the Pure White Little Holy Grail to reveal customers’ desires and served several customers at the Ghost Stall. The chapter left him watching a young couple encounter an old man he recognized as the stall’s next ghost customer.

• Ren Suo used the Pure White Little Holy Grail to make holy water, which revealed keywords in the sportswear man’s story; the man rated his noodles as so-so and gave the Female Shopkeeper Xiao Qiang of 48 Years Old.
• Ren Suo served nine customers with holy water and discovered that the game’s four-hour night passed in real time.
• Du Liwei and Xiao Hui arrived at the stall and asked for barbecue pork rice, while the Female Shopkeeper asked what they wanted to eat.
• An old man in padded clothes arrived coughing, and Ren Suo recognized him as a ghost and the stall’s next normal customer.

The Female Shopkeeper served an old ghost and two ordinary customers, and Ren Suo learned that Ghost Stall meals could improve people’s aptitude and Awakened Spells. As a murderous demon arrived near closing time and threatened the shop, Ren Suo prepared to use the Stall’s darkest seasonings against him.

• The old man recounted how he had frozen to death, and the Female Shopkeeper served him yangchun noodles that restored his ordinary appearance; he left her a piece of chalk wrapped in candy paper.
• Ren Suo seasoned barbecue pork rice with maximum happiness and love, and Huang Mao and the wine-red-haired girl ate it, gaining aptitude while Huang Mao’s Awakened Spell advanced.
• The Female Shopkeeper warned that each person could eat a Desire Set Meal only once, and Ren Suo used Data Stream to confirm the meal’s effects on the couple.
• After the couple left, a red-hatted man carrying a black umbrella arrived, refused to tell his story, and threatened to eat the Female Shopkeeper after his meal.
• Ren Suo recognized the man as a murderous demon and decided to use the Ghost Stall’s black seasonings against him.

Ren Suo used the Female Shopkeeper’s seasoned steak meal to defeat and restore the troublesome customer, who then agreed to turn himself in. After the first day of ghost hunting ended, Ren Suo posted a paper claiming that eating shit could save demonized people.

• Ren Suo studied how memories affected demonized people and prepared a steak meal seasoned to exploit the troublesome customer’s weaknesses.
• The troublesome customer ate the steak, suffered severe negative effects, and was unable to fight back as the Female Shopkeeper attacked him with Happiness and Love Crescent skills.
• After the troublesome customer’s health was depleted, he surrendered his bloodstained red tie, and Ren Suo confirmed that his humanity had been restored.
• The troublesome customer said he would turn himself in and atone for his sins, then fled the shop.
• Ren Suo ended the first day of Hong Kong City Ghost Hunting with 1,031 portions of desire collected and posted a paper titled “Eating Shit Can Save Demonized People.”

At Tianjing Third Underground Research Institute, Li Wenxin struggled to find a way to restore demonized criminals to humanity. After reading a forum post and studying one subject’s past, she proposed attacking his ingrained habits rather than relying on physical torture or persuasion.

• Li Wenxin recorded that Subject No. 1841 remained irrational and defiant after an experiment, and learned he had burned his spiritual energy to launch an attack.
• Li Wenxin and her colleague discussed how demonized people acted on their impulses and why researchers were trying to find their weaknesses.
• After reading a forum post about childhood experiences, Li Wenxin asked her colleague to find adult material that could be altered to feature No. 1841.
• Li Wenxin proposed disrupting No. 1841’s habits and personality to awaken his humanity, and her colleague agreed to try the approach.

Ren Suo trained his ability to uncover the regrets behind customers’ stories while running the Ghost Stall in Mumbai, then cleared the city after a difficult night. He went out alone for a late-night meal, preparing an excuse for his nighttime walks.

• Ren Suo checked the internal network for reactions to his research post, then continued cultivating with the Goddess of the Luo River Jade Pendant.
• Dong Chengling told Ren Suo that the academy was preparing an entrance ceremony using dangerous Heaven-Stealing Awakening tests, and Ren Suo claimed he liked taking late-night walks into the city.
• Ren Suo repeatedly ran the Ghost Stall in Mumbai, where many customers were demons, and practiced identifying their hidden regrets while the Female Shopkeeper fought them.
• After comparing his guesses with the customers’ true regrets, Ren Suo learned that their deepest motives often differed from the reasons they gave aloud.
• Ren Suo cleared Mumbai after midnight, invited Zhao Huo to get barbecue nine kilometers away, then walked there alone and posted a photo to his social feed as an excuse for his nighttime outings.

Ren Suo advanced his strategy in “Late Night Roaming Monsters” and sent the Female Shopkeeper to New York, where she served a dangerous customer before the Little Nine-tailed Fox arrived at the stall. The fox watched the shopkeeper without placing an order, leaving Ren Suo eager to meet her.

• Ren Suo decided to progress through cities with lower Stealth Concentration before attempting the more dangerous stages, and selected New York as the eighth city.
• Ren Suo sent the Female Shopkeeper to open her stall in Manhattan Central Park, where an enormous Half-Demon truck driver became her first customer.
• The Female Shopkeeper served the truck driver a chocolate tart, but his desire for love transformed his fat into the upper bodies of blonde Pretty Girls.
• A new customer frightened the truck driver into giving the Female Shopkeeper a USB drive before he hurried away.
• The Little Nine-tailed Fox arrived, watched the Female Shopkeeper from the table, and licked her paw without ordering anything.

The Little Nine-tailed Fox recognized the Female Shopkeeper’s connection to the Supreme Overlord and joined the Ghost Stall, helping Ren Suo serve demon customers. A Red-Clothed Man arrived seeking bloody food, then surprised the Female Shopkeeper by asking her to be his girlfriend.

• The Little Nine-tailed Fox sensed the Struggle Warrior’s mark on the Female Shopkeeper, offered to help the Ghost Stall, and accepted the name Xiao Jiu.
• Ren Suo accepted Xiao Jiu’s help, and she intimidated demon customers while he served them.
• A Red-Clothed Man arrived at the food truck and asked for something bloody.
• The Red-Clothed Man explained that his assassin organization had forced Killers through awakening attempts and that he had escaped using Blood Control.
• After eating pig blood curd, the Red-Clothed Man offered the Female Shopkeeper a gold ring and asked her to be his girlfriend.

Ren Suo’s Female Shopkeeper rejected Sterly’s confession but accepted his Golden Ring of Revenge, just as Cards assassins arrived to capture him. When the assassins attacked the Ghost Stall, the Female Shopkeeper stopped their bullets and made them sit down for food, leaving Sterly to realize she was no ordinary shopkeeper.

• Sterly confessed his love to the Female Shopkeeper and gave her the Golden Ring of Revenge after she rejected him.
• Cards assassins surrounded Sterly and attacked him, revealing themselves as an Extraordinary Warrior unit.
• The assassins fired at the food cart, but the Female Shopkeeper stopped the bullets and ordered them to eat before fighting her.
• Sterly questioned why he had come to the Ghost Stall, and Ren Suo explained that its influence drew nearby monsters and demons there.
• After recognizing the Little Nine-tailed Fox and recalling the effects of the food, Sterly asked if the Female Shopkeeper was the God of Cooking.

Ren Suo watched the Ghost Stall force the Black Cloaks to eat, then season their meals with emotions that transformed them. Spade K and his squad decided to betray Cards, and Sterly began removing their body bombs as they prepared to change their lives.

• The Female Shopkeeper suppressed the Black Cloaks and made them order food, while Sterly recognized the powerful beast flesh she cooked.
• Ren Suo reasoned that the Ghost Stall’s game settings forced intruders to eat, then seasoned the Black Cloaks’ meals with happiness, compassion, trust, justice, and love.
• After eating, Spade K and the Black Cloaks resolved to betray Cards and help Sterly by diverting the organization’s pursuit.
• Spade K asked Sterly to remove the bombs in their bodies, and Sterly agreed before asking what the killers would do after leaving Cards.
• Spade K vowed to use his killing skills to protect people, saying he hoped “I’m here” would mean a target’s safety rather than their death.

Ren Suo ran the Ghost Stall in New York, where Zach arrived as the final customer and received a salad seasoned to help him overcome his fear of the Handsome Monkey King. After the stall closed, Sterly and Little Nine-tailed Fox parted from the Female Shopkeeper, while Zach’s report would spread her identity as Immortal Palace’s God of Food.

• Ren Suo learned the Ghost Stall’s barrier kept ordinary people from noticing its fights, then cleared the New York stage with Little Nine-tailed Fox and Sterly assisting the Female Shopkeeper.
• Several demanding Half-Demons appeared, and Ren Suo and his companions subdued them when his seasonings failed to satisfy their needs.
• Zach arrived at the stall, and Little Nine-tailed Fox and Sterly recognized him as a formidable opponent.
• Ren Suo seasoned Zach’s salad with Confidence, Justice, Compassion, and Passion, helping him resolve to face the Handsome Monkey King again; Zach left a revival-granting cross as a gift.
• Zach apologized for reporting the Female Shopkeeper to the Federation, confirming that her God of Food identity would reach the authorities.
• Sterly revealed his plan to sabotage Cards and gave his name as Sterly Gule, while Little Nine-tailed Fox agreed to seek Ren Suo in Lianjiang if she could hide her tails.

Meifala learned that Karen’s ritual had ended and the Second Secret Realm had been found, while Ren Suo gathered intelligence and advanced his standing as a researcher. On the fifth night of his street-vendor game, the Female Shopkeeper met Dai Yuxing, an agent from Shenhai’s Countermeasures Bureau.

• Meifala learned from Yuffie that Karen’s ritual was over and the Second Secret Realm had been found.
• Ren Suo read reports identifying Cards as a century-old assassin organization and learned that its killers had appeared in his games.
• Ren Suo gained Research Points as his theories about supernatural factions were confirmed, earning a reputation as an expert at making things up.
• Ren Suo began his fifth strategy run in Shenhai City after handling more than two hundred customers in Seoul.
• Dai Yuxing of the Shenhai Countermeasures Bureau approached the Female Shopkeeper and greeted the Immortal Palace’s God of Food.

Dai Yuxing visited the Ghost Stall and revealed how a lifetime of pleasing others had left her feeling unseen and exhausted. After the Female Shopkeeper served her food, Dai Yuxing found the courage to ask whether she could like her.

• Dai Yuxing tried to order foods the Ghost Stall could not make and tested whether she could leave, but the stall's power kept her seated and drawn into conversation.
• Dai Yuxing told the Female Shopkeeper how she had spent her life pleasing her mother, classmates, friends, and colleagues while hiding her own wishes.
• Dai Yuxing explained that the Countermeasures Bureau had tracked the Ghost Stall through reports from people who encountered it and sent her to watch a park at night.
• The Female Shopkeeper told Dai Yuxing to stop smiling, then served her crab-shell cake, xiaolongbao, and milk tea.
• Dai Yuxing ate, wiped her tears, and asked the Female Shopkeeper whether she could like her.

During her night patrol in Century Park, Dai Yuxing encountered the Immortal Palace Food God's food truck and ate there, but her memory of the encounter was suppressed until she noticed a missing signal flare. She reported the Food God’s appearance and described her as a kind, approachable fairy before the chapter ended.

• Dai Yuxing told Captain Mei she had missed a scheduled check-in and requested to leave night duty and take compensatory leave.
• Dai Yuxing patrolled Century Park, where she noticed a suited man, an elderly woman, a dog, and crowds moving through the park at night.
• Dai Yuxing saw the Female Shopkeeper slap a diner who had apparently tried to leave without paying, but felt no desire to approach the food truck.
• Dai Yuxing realized a signal flare was missing and recalled that she had visited the food truck and eaten there, though she had ignored the memory until then.
• Dai Yuxing reported encountering the Immortal Palace Food God and described her to Command Center as a beautiful, kind, and approachable woman.

Ren Suo served the final customer in Shenhai City's "Pillar Life Experience" and discovered that the bald child was an earth spirit trapped inside a pillar who cared only about novelty and play. After seasoning cement with Creation, Joy, and Freedom, Ren Suo sent him away excited to cause strange pranks, leaving Shenhai City at risk from the spirit's dangerous games.

• Ren Suo served a bald child who ordered cement and revealed that he was an earth spirit trapped in the Coiled Dragon Pillar beneath Yan'an Road.
• The child described how construction had driven a pillar through him and how he had awakened a year earlier, but no keywords appeared while he recounted his misfortune.
• Ren Suo realized the child did not care about his imprisonment or humiliation and feared boredom more than anything.
• Ren Suo had the Female Shopkeeper season the cement with Creation, Joy, and Freedom, which delighted the child and inspired him to make the pillar's sculptures fly and frighten drivers.
• The child gave the Female Shopkeeper his remaining old mud, and Ren Suo watched him leave, worried about the chaos he could unleash in Shenhai City.

Ren Suo advanced through the sixth day of Ghost Walk in Mexico City while his cultivation slowed near the Second Cycle. After dinner at Dong Chengling’s home, Gu Yueyan moved in with her, gave Ren Suo a photo album from their trip, and kept a photo bearing the words “There’s no turning back.”

• Ren Suo sent a clone to buy midnight snacks, cultivated through painful stagnation, and posted speculation about Immortal Palace members on the internal network.
• Ren Suo guided the Female Shopkeeper through Mexico City’s True Demon customers, then defeated the drug lord after reloading a failed fight.
• Ren Suo met Gu Yueyan at Dong Chengling’s home, where she explained that her family was away and agreed to stay with Dong Chengling until her roommate returned.
• Gu Yueyan gave Ren Suo a photo album from their Xiang City trip, then removed one photo before handing it over.
• Ren Suo found foreign-language writing behind the photos and wondered if it contained confessions, while Gu Yueyan kept an intimate photo inscribed with “There’s no turning back.”