Chapter 13: The First Bowl of Soup

So, should he go take a look or not?

That light was like a moth lamp, flickering uncertainly as it lured all foreign things toward it.

And Zhou You found himself trapped in a dilemma.

If he went, then in this ghost city, a bright light appearing out of nowhere was probably a trap.

Hadn’t horror movies frequently used bright lights to lure victims?

But if he did not go, the thing was sitting right in the middle of the road.

There was no way to bypass it without being noticed.

After pondering for a long time, and after glancing at his remaining revival count, Zhou You finally made up his mind.

He first tied on the brass bell from Building Four. Previously, for fear that it might alert whatever was behind a jump scare, he had kept it hidden inside his clothes.

Then he took a deep breath and walked toward the source of the light.

Although he no longer had unlimited lives now, he still had plenty of revivals left.

And he also had this warning bell.

It should be fine... right?

Only after approaching did he discover that the light came from a food stall.

This had been very common in the city where Zhou You grew up.

They were among the last remnants left behind by the heavy industry era.

The owners were often laid-off workers.

Typically, they would set up a cart, place one or two stoves on it, and that alone would become a tiny food stand.

Lifting the greasy curtain, the first thing Zhou You saw was a face weathered by hardship.

Judging from appearance, the man was not especially old, probably only in his forties.

Yet time had carved far too many marks into his face.

His body was hunched over.

His waist bent deeply like a heavy stalk of wheat.

Several fingers were even missing from his hands.

At first glance, he looked less like a middle-aged man and more like an old man in his sixties or seventies.

At that moment, the man stared at Zhou You with somewhat vacant eyes and spoke.

“Young man, you’re here to eat, aren’t you?”

Zhou You had only intended to investigate the situation.

But since the other party had already spoken, he could only sit down first.

Yet just as he was about to take a seat, his body suddenly froze.

A mechanical female voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

“Dear player, you have triggered a side quest: Drink Soup.”

“Quest requirement: Obtain a normal bowl of soup from the shop owner.”

“Reward: A special enhancement effect exclusive to this scenario, and a green-quality consumable item.”

There were side quests in this scenario too?

“Customer, what’s wrong?”

Hearing the owner’s somewhat impatient question, Zhou You ignored the notification, raised his head, revealed a polite smile, and sat down.

The stool and counter were covered in greasy grime.

They felt sticky and unpleasant.

Unlike ordinary snack stalls, there were no grills or braised foods on display.

Instead, two large pots sat atop the cart.

At this moment, they were bubbling vigorously and releasing steam.

Although the lids prevented him from seeing what was cooking inside, the occasional aroma escaping from within suggested that whatever was inside did not smell bad.

As he inhaled the enticing fragrance, Zhou You suddenly found himself swallowing unconsciously.

At that moment, it felt as though something deep within him was stirring, urging him to have a bowl.

But in the end, he forcefully suppressed that inexplicable impulse and simply smiled at the hunched man.

“Business must be tough, Boss. You’re still out here working so late?”

The cart owner merely displayed a smile that had long since become numb.

“What choice do I have if I don’t work? My whole family depends on this business. If I don’t come out, everyone will starve. So no matter how late it gets, I have to keep going.”

Zhou You fell silent briefly.

Still, he continued the conversation casually.

“But Boss, isn’t this location a little bad? There isn’t a single person around here. Who are you selling to?”

“No people? This place is actually pretty lively.”

The cart owner raised his head and swept his gaze around.

Then his already gloomy expression darkened further.

“Maybe a crowd just dispersed earlier. But even if nobody’s around, I still have to endure it. Once those young people come out for late-night snacks after midnight, business will pick up. By the way, Customer, what would you like to eat?”

In a place this bizarre, how could I possibly dare eat your food?

Zhou You smiled.

He was about to politely decline.

However...

The words “I’m not hungry right now” never made it out of his mouth.

They became stuck in his throat.

At that moment, the owner had already lifted the lid from one of the pots.

Milky white broth rolled and boiled within.

Green vegetables mixed together with red-and-white slices of meat.

At first, the fragrance was faint, merely teasing the senses.

Yet it quickly grew rich and overwhelming.

The heavy scent of meat.

The freshness of leafy greens.

Every note tugged relentlessly at his nerves.

In just a few seconds, Zhou You felt ravenously hungry.

He even had the urge to devour the entire pot.

But at that exact moment...

Ring, ring, ring.

A bell suddenly sounded.

Though not loud, it was enough to jolt his thoughts awake.

In an instant, Zhou You regained his senses.

When he looked back at the pot, there were no vegetables or salted meat inside.

Only a boiled human head, cooked until it had turned pale.

“Customer? Customer?”

The hunched owner stirred the soup pot.

He still called to Zhou You with a kindly expression.

But compared to before, his voice had become increasingly sinister.

His face also began to distort.

Rot.

Splat.

Half of the rotten flesh on his face dropped directly into the soup.

Yet the owner seemed completely unaware as he continued speaking.

“Customer, what’s that thing that’s been ringing in your hand? Sounds pretty nice.”

Zhou You stared at the pot of soup for a moment.

Then he suddenly smiled.

Without hesitation, he placed his hand on the table, allowing the owner to clearly see the brass bell stained with blood.

“It’s nothing special. Just a handbell an old friend gave me. It rings whenever the wind blows. Maybe the wind’s strong tonight, so it’s making more noise than usual. Sorry for disturbing you.”

Seeing Zhou You’s perfectly natural expression, the owner tilted his head.

But he seemed unconcerned.

Instead, he took a porcelain bowl from a compartment beneath the cart, scooped out a ladleful from the soup pot, and pushed it in front of Zhou You.

“Customer, since you’ve been sitting here without ordering anything, I took the liberty of choosing for you. Drink it while it’s hot. It won’t taste good once it cools down.”

No, if I drink it, then I’ll be the one who’s completely cold.

Looking at the horrifying bowl of soup, Zhou You carefully considered his options.

Activate Selfless Meditation and run away while tanking the attack?

Zhou You glanced at the pitch-black street beyond the stall.

Then he looked at the owner’s increasingly rotten body.

Finally, he shook his head gently.

Whatever lay ahead was still unknown.

Moreover, he was unfamiliar with the area.

In such extreme darkness, even if he tried to run, he probably would not get very far.

Then what about drinking the soup?

No matter how he looked at it, that seemed like an instant-death effect.

Not to mention that the floating chunks of rotten flesh and pus alone ensured that option would never enter Zhou You’s considerations.

Unfortunately, the owner had no intention of giving him that much time.

Seeing that Zhou You still refused to drink, the stall owner’s face twisted more and more.

The head within the pot floated back to the surface.

Opening its mouth, already cooked to the point of disintegration, it suddenly burst into mocking laughter.

“If you don’t drink, you’ll become just like me.”

“If you do drink, you’ll still become just like me.”

“No matter what you do, you can’t escape! Hahahahahahaha!”

Zhou You ignored it completely.

He possessed two extremely obvious personality traits.

The first was pettiness.

Extreme pettiness.

If someone offended him, he would definitely find a way to get even.

The second was calmness.

The more dangerous the situation became, the calmer he grew.

Even at the brink of death, he could carefully consider ten different escape plans without changing expression.

Thus, despite standing before a snack stall that was rapidly becoming a ghostly domain, he still had the leisure to think.

From a game design perspective, if they specifically arranged a scene like this, it can’t be solely for the purpose of having a ghost jump out and cost me one revival.

That means there must be some clue here.

But none of my dialogue choices seem to have been wrong. The proof is that he wasn’t a ghost at the beginning. There must be some crucial detail I missed earlier.

So what exactly did I overlook?

Right, the newspapers!