CHAPTER 244: CHAPTER 244: DESIRE HOLY GRAIL

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

The shop owner had only three options: "Skill," "Defense," or "Attack."

Under "Skill," there was nothing, so Ren Suo tried clicking "Attack."

The man’s Health Points: -15.

The man used "Bone-Chilling Wind." The shop owner’s Health Points: -175. Defeated.

The screen returned to the world map. Ren Suo blinked, still not comprehending what this game was about.

Clearly, this game didn’t encourage player combat. Instead, it hoped players would meet "customers’" needs through a "seasoning" process, thus avoiding combat and achieving objectives.

But mastering seasoning was a challenge. Ren Suo had no idea what kind of "flavor" the man wanted. After mulling it over, Ren Suo reopened the list of cities and continued to sort by "Concealment Concentration."

However, this time he sorted from low to high, unlike the previous high-to-low sorting.

Ren Suo randomly picked a village in Mysterious Country where the "Concealment Concentration" level was only a single drop of blood and started Ghost Walking.

The screen instantly changed to a village night scene with terraced fields all around. Clouds obscured the moon, and there were no streetlights on the village road. The shop owner walked under the moonlight, set up her food cart by the roadside, and then pulled out a tablet to watch videos.

Watching videos?

Ren Suo adjusted the perspective, focusing on the tablet, and quickly recognized it—the TV series "Over My Dead Body"!

Moreover, Ren Suo could zoom in. From the corner of the screen, he could see the shop owner’s pale neck and rosy cheeks. He realized she was watching the first episode: the story of the three Ren brothers.

It’s quite good. Even though this is a rewatch, I’m getting hooked, Ren Suo thought. Ren Naiser’s production and editing skills are truly brilliant.

After watching three full episodes, the shop owner paused the video. Only then did Ren Suo hear the shuffling and tapping of footsteps outside.

"HUFF. HUFF."

A child climbed onto a chair. His little face was dirty, with what looked like dried snot. He looked at the shop owner and flashed a big smile; the large gaps from his yet-to-grow-in front teeth made him look particularly comical.

The shop owner patted the notice on the left side of the food stall. "What would you like to eat? Just tell me your life story, from childhood until now. It’s free."

"Red eggs!" the child immediately said. "Hot red eggs! Three of them!"

While the shop owner boiled water, the child gnawed on his fingernails and began his story. "My name is Jia Zhu! Grandma said she chose that name hoping I’d become the main pillar of our family! I’m in elementary school!"

Then, the child tilted his head. "There’s not much else to tell, huh? Are the eggs ready yet?"

The shop owner said, "Not yet. You must have other things to talk about. For example, why are you hungry?"

"Because I’m hungry," the child said gloomily. "Mom and Dad haven’t been back for a long, long time..."

"I usually live with Grandma, but her cooking isn’t good, and she doesn’t have money to buy me snacks..."

"I really crave red eggs. Two years ago, Mom and Dad came back for my birthday and cooked me a red egg. It was so delicious."

"I haven’t had red eggs in so long, so I’m really hungry..." the child said. "And other classmates have money for snacks. For Xiao Qiang’s birthday, his parents bought him a cake. He brought it to class but only shared it with Xiao Min and the others..."

"I’m not jealous! I don’t even like cake! I like red eggs!"

"But when you’re hungry for a long time, you start thinking... thinking about eating other things... Cake would be okay too..."

The child’s voice turned harsh and raspy. Where his baby teeth hadn’t yet grown in, long, pointed canines suddenly sprouted. The fingernails he was chewing turned blood-red, sharp, and slender. His eyes became bloodshot, and a clashing metallic noise came from his mouth.

"But Xiao Qiang didn’t share his cake with me, so can I just take some myself? I don’t mind if he’s already eaten some. I’ll clean it up when I dig it out of his belly... I’ll piece together a whole cake..."

The shop owner’s expression remained unchanged. The red eggs were ready, and she moved on to the seasoning phase.

The flavor this child needs is quite clear, Ren Suo thought. He first chose "Father’s Love" and "Mother’s Love," then added a bit of "Friendship." He maxed out the first two and filled "Friendship" to one-fifth.

Then, the shop owner took out two seasoning bottles of crystals—one with orange-yellow crystals and the other with bright yellow ones. She uncapped them and poured them generously into the bowl of red eggs, as if they were free, then added a scoop of sky-blue crystals.

"Here are your red eggs."

The child, ignoring the heat, used his sharp nails to peel a tender white egg. He stuffed it whole into his mouth and chewed, making soft whimpering sounds.

He gobbled down all three in one go and then burped. "So yummy! It tastes just like Mom and Dad used to make, and there’s a little bit of cake flavor too... Thanks, Big Sis!"

The child’s sharp fangs, claws, and bloodshot eyes instantly receded, and he changed back into a dirty little kid.

He bowed deeply to the shop owner. She sat down and said, "You’re welcome."

The child dug around in his trousers for a while and finally pulled out a white milk candy. "Big Sis, Grandma gave this to me. I couldn’t bear to eat it, so I’m giving it to you."

I thought the shop owner would decline, Ren Suo mused. But she accepted it immediately, "Okay."

With that, the child jumped down from the high chair and trotted away. The shop owner looked at the milk candy, and information popped up:

"Lonely Milk Candy: Upon consumption, shop owner’s Health Points +15, Attack Power +7, increases error tolerance when making egg-based food."

So the protagonist can actually get stronger by treating people to food... No wonder her initial Health Points are only 50.

Then, Ren Suo continued to watch "Over My Dead Body" with the shop owner. They went through three or four more episodes until the sky began to show a faint blue at dawn. The shop owner stretched lazily and began to pack up her food stall.

She was set up all night and only got one ’customer’!?

The game screen transitioned back to the world map interface. The "Days Remaining" in the top left corner changed to 9, indicating that Ren Suo had completed one-tenth of his gaming journey.

At that moment, the Gold Cup icon for the "Desire Collection Number" suddenly enlarged. Two drops of blood-red liquid fell from the top of the screen into the cup, swaying slightly.

"Desire Collection Number: 9."

A game prompt popped up: "Please collect 10,000 Desires within ten days."

You have to play for one day before the game completion conditions appear. Of course, there’s also an implicit condition: the shop owner must not Ghost Walk herself into being ’eaten’ by a ’customer’.

However, looking at the "Desire Collection Number" in the Gold Cup always reminded Ren Suo of the Holy Grail from "Mage Under the World Tree."

By now, dawn was nearly breaking. After pondering for a moment, Ren Suo decided to start a new save file.

I’ve essentially figured out how to play this game, Ren Suo thought. Understand the ’customers’’ Desires, provide the corresponding seasoning, and fight if that fails. Although the game doesn’t force players to go to any specific city, collecting 10,000 Desires in 10 days is nearly impossible without visiting major cities with high "Concealment Concentration."

That means I can’t afford to waste a single day.

Starting in smaller places is certainly simpler, and the Desires there are easier to understand, like that of the latchkey kid just now.

The two ’customers’ I’ve met so far both seem like Awakeners whose minds have been corrupted by Spiritual Energy, much like the ’Demon’ I thrashed on the subway once.

But unlike that ’Demon,’ they still retain some rationality. They can restrain their destructive Desires due to concerns for other things. Their bodies have already started to mutate, but ordinary people can’t tell when they don’t show it.

Whether it was the clown-like man or the latchkey kid, from their words, I know they no longer feel Sympathy for other humans. It wouldn’t be surprising if they snapped at any moment.

I’m starting to get a little scared myself—even though I can tell who the Awakeners are, I can’t tell who’s about to go completely insane!

He chose to continue playing from Ben Gang City. But as Ren Suo watched the shop owner push the food cart along the park path, passing a homeless man sleeping on a nearby park bench, a thought suddenly struck him:

If this game were uploaded and the videos broadcast, what... would become of this world?