119. So I Was a “Player” Who Arrived Late

Inside this "Gourmet City," the architecture remained as skewed and irregular as it appeared from the outside. The interlacing of black and white gave the entire place a chaotic feel.

In reality, however, it was not chaotic at all, for every zone was clearly and distinctly demarcated.

Chen Sheng followed the little ghost girl. Before long, he encountered a crowd of people in a banquet-like setting, frantically gorging themselves. Even though they were clearly in agony, with tears streaming down their faces, they continued to shove food into their mouths as if desperate to eat until they burst.

At first, Chen Sheng was puzzled. Was such exaggeration really necessary just to fit the theme of a "Gourmet City"? Even if they were using hyperbole, there should be some internal logic, as eating like that would kill a person. Although this was a "game world," this healing game had always been meticulous about details. This left Chen Sheng somewhat bewildered.

However, he soon understood why it was so extreme.

A bell rang, and everyone at the banquet was forcibly forbidden from eating further. Then, figures dressed in chef’s attire, holding a meat cleaver in one hand and a scale in the other, rushed out to weigh the remaining food in front of each person. Whenever a scale emitted a red glow, the chef would strike with their blade, carving pieces of flesh directly from the body of the person whose scale had lit up.

For some, it was only a slice or two, but for others, it was an entire arm or a leg severed right up to the thigh. The scene was so bloody and cruel that Chen Sheng couldn't help but twitch.

"If this healing game can pass censorship, its backers must be truly powerful!" Chen Sheng muttered. The scene was so vivid it felt like a real world.

Then, another possibility crossed his mind. "Perhaps the version played with VR glasses is vastly different in detail and plot from the PC version. And as for those playing with glasses—aside from me, who just tagged along—the other players are likely not ordinary people."

Thinking this, it seemed perfectly normal for the game to pass censorship. Poverty limits one’s imagination, but wealth can also limit it—one sets the ceiling, the other the floor. Otherwise, one wouldn't hear "Why only eat rice? Is the meat spoiled?" or "It's the modern era, surely everyone has been abroad," echoing the historical callousness of asking why the starving didn't just eat cake.

Perhaps, from a certain level of society, such bloody imagery was merely trivial.

Chen Sheng decided to ignore it. If he kept watching, he wouldn't be able to maintain his composure; someone had just been sliced in half at the waist, a sight that sent a chill down his spine. Honestly, he was genuinely disgusted.

As they continued, Chen Sheng kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. Beyond the banquet, there were other scenes involving "gourmet food" that were equally gruesome. There was a rotating restaurant, much like a carousel, where guests could dine while spinning. Yet, as it spun, a human head would suddenly fly off. In other areas, which seemed more primitive, there was a tribal setup within the irregular buildings, where people floated in a large black cauldron filled with white broth.

That sight was, naturally, even more nauseating.

"Are we there yet?" Chen Sheng, feeling his sanity being eroded, couldn't help but ask.

"Almost! Look, Master, it’s right there! Just a few more steps!" Sensing her "living space," the little ghost girl grew exceptionally excited, her short legs skipping with every step.

Chen Sheng glanced at her, thinking to himself: *Can NPCs just ignore such disgusting scenes? That’s unfair! The least she could do is gag a few times so I could pretend to be calm and make a joke to steady my nerves!*

"Speaking of which, why aren't those people black and white?" Chen Sheng asked curiously. Whether it was the banquet, the rotating restaurant, the primitive tribe, or the person shouting in the irregular building earlier, they all possessed vivid colors. If they hadn't, he wouldn't have been so disturbed; after all, if everything were just black and white, no matter how bloody or tragic the scene, it wouldn't be quite as revolting.

"Aren't you not black and white, too?" the little ghost girl replied without hesitation. Her point was that they were living people, just like Chen Sheng, which was why they had color. In this place called "Mo," only the dead appeared in black and white.

But Chen Sheng misinterpreted her. In a game, when an NPC says something like that to a player, it usually implies that those people are also "players."

Chen Sheng nodded and didn't ask further. Meanwhile, a lingering question in his mind was laid to rest: why, after he had taken out the "elite monster" guarding the entrance, no other "Gourmet City mobs" had come to stop him.

The scene before him provided the best explanation. With so many players here, the "Gourmet City mobs" had likely been cleared out and hadn't respawned yet. This was a common occurrence in old-school online games where, due to technical limitations, there were often more players than monsters in a single area, leading to mobs being instantly killed the moment they "spawned." Latecomers would arrive at the quest site only to find not a single monster in sight.

Chen Sheng felt like one of those "late-arriving players."

"I didn't think it would be this crowded. I wonder how many players have encountered the equipment quest for the torture instruments..." With a sigh, he abandoned hope for the "equipment quest" he had anticipated. The competition was simply too fierce.

"This is it!" The little ghost girl stopped suddenly and pointed to a spot only about half the size of a table.

Chen Sheng looked, his expression turning strange as he realized she was pointing at a single floor tile.

"How do we take it? Do we just dig it out?" Chen Sheng asked.

"It’s not that complicated. I just need to stand on it and communicate with the World of Mo for a few minutes," the little ghost girl said excitedly.

She stepped onto the tile. Chen Sheng, surprised by how smooth it was going, felt a flicker of oddity: *Why does this look like she’s stepping on an eye?*