Youth

It turned out to be a conference room.

Six horrifying creatures sat rigidly around the long meeting table. Three of them were dressed neatly in white chef’s uniforms, with chef hats perched squarely on their heads.

Beneath the hats, only a single, long proboscis extended outward, layered with pale gray wrinkled skin.

The other three wore bright yellow uniforms, with thick, long spikes protruding from the tops of their heads.

They looked like people who had died under brutal torture—

Zhu Yan couldn’t be sure, because the heads were horribly deformed: the eyeballs were completely squeezed out, and the lower jaws had shrunk to an extreme degree.

From this perspective, they seemed more like rotten goldfish wrapped in human skin.

Seeing the “Porcelain Doll” and the Doppelganger, these monsters waved politely.

Zhu Yan noticed that their movements had a strangely slippery quality, as if there were no arms inside the sleeves of their uniforms.

The Doppelganger pulled out the last two chairs at the edge of the meeting table.

“Come on,” it said.

Zhu Yan, imitating the Porcelain Doll’s somewhat stiff movements, slowly sat down.

These frightening creatures weren’t particularly high-level. At least, the Level 13 military blade could easily cover them.

But they seemed to each have their own roles.

Zhu Yan’s gaze swept over them one by one.

From this perspective, he couldn’t just kill them all recklessly—

The “Kitchen” was clearly the place that supplied ingredients or food to the “Monsters’ Feast.”

If he wiped them out in one go, Zhu Yan would likely be unable to handle the supply items, exposing himself before entering the “Monsters’ Feast.”

If that happened, everything would be ruined.

He calmly averted his eyes and looked down at the gleaming tabletop.

The Doppelganger, on the other hand, lifted its gaze and stared at the strange clock on the wall.

About five minutes later, the clock chimed ten times.

Zhu Yan glanced sideways and noticed the Doppelganger had straightened up quite solemnly.

“Hello? Hello hello?”

A voice came from above Zhu Yan’s head.

Surprisingly, this voice sounded very young, no more than eighteen or nineteen years old at most.

Its timbre and tone were also much more natural than those of other horrifying creatures, carrying a hint of laziness and playfulness—like an ordinary high school boy raised in human society.

“Is everyone doing well? Oh, if no one speaks, I’ll take it as a yes.”

The Doppelganger quickly stood up.

It looked around, fumbled, and pressed a switch on the wall.

With a click, Zhu Yan heard the rustling airflow of a microphone picking up sound.

“All good,” the Doppelganger said in its eerie tone. “Boss, feel free to continue.”

“Oh—”

The young boy’s voice on the other end drawled out.

“Alright. I’ve found out about the ‘Hunter,’ so I’m here to give you a heads-up.”

“As you all know, the ‘Hunter’ is also a player.”

“So, everything a player does, he does. He’s not on our side—and he’s not easy prey to digest.”

The Boss let out a cold laugh.

“The latest news is that the ‘Hunter’ has killed ‘Fog’ and obtained the third key fragment.”

Zhu Yan secretly observed the reactions of the other horrifying creatures present.

None of them showed surprise, which meant that aside from the Doppelganger, all the key staff here already knew this news.

This news, which for some reason had lagged behind by several hours.

“His next target is definitely the Print Shop.”

A young boy — an unknown, horrifying creature — let out a lazy yawn.

"I already told the print shop not to accept any customers. The Print Shop Owner’s level is high, and she’s fairly smart too."

"Forty minutes ago, she was still safe."

"Unless the Hunter’s disguise ability has reached level 13, it won’t be able to deal with her quickly."

Oh, crap.

Zhu Yan immediately made a mental note of this.

So the "no customers" policy at the print shop was this thing’s idea?

It had made things a hell of a lot harder for him.

Thankfully, Key Fragment No. 4 was already in his hands.

Even though, for some reason, the female voice broadcast hadn’t sounded this time, Zhu Yan was certain that thing was definitely Key Fragment 4.

The broadcast paused for a moment — it seemed the young boy had gotten distracted.

"If enough time passes, though, it won’t stay that way."

"Once the print shop falls, he’ll have to get through the Kitchen to reach me. That’s a guaranteed checkpoint."

Great.

Zhu Yan offered a hollow cheer in his head.

He was walking straight into a guaranteed checkpoint — enemy-certified, no less.

"After I finish this round, I’ll immediately call the Slacker Crafts Shop."

The young boy let out a laugh.

"We’ll have surveillance installed everywhere. Every single move in the Kitchen will be under my control."

"I repeat: until further notice, none of you may leave the Kitchen. You must also ensure that none of the scaries under your command wander into the hallway outside."

"If any creature or player behaves suspiciously, report it immediately."

"Oh, and one more thing." The young boy yawned again. "I’ve already stationed heavily equipped scaries to guard every exit. As of now, none of you can leave the Kitchen."

"All right, dismissed. Return to your posts and await my emergency summons."

With a sharp crackle, the young boy’s voice faded away along with the faint electrical buzz.

Zhu Yan remained seated, his mind racing.

Dragonfly had spoken to him earlier, saying it didn’t want anything more to do with the menu.

If that thing called Dragonfly again — given its personality and what it had been through — it would definitely spill that the Modified Menu had been stolen.

And then, Zhu Yan would inevitably fall under suspicion from that bizarre creature.

His best bet was to resolve the Modified Menu issue before it could say "after I finish this game."

Oh, and by the way —

Zhu Yan thought of Yang Zhanbai.

That guy should have already arrived at the Slacker Crafts Shop.

Perfect timing to get the intel and see what the situation over there was.

With that thought, Zhu Yan turned to the Doppelganger beside him.

"What about the Modified Menu I grabbed?" he asked in a low voice, cutting straight to the chase.

The screech of chairs scraping against the floor rang out one after another as the scaries rose to return to their posts, following the broadcast’s orders.

The Doppelganger was no exception.

Hearing the "Porcelain Doll’s" question, it looked a bit confused.

"After I checked it, I handed it over as per procedure. I’m the head of the handover department."

"Once I confirmed everything was in order, I passed it to the Head Chef. Then, after the Head Chef prepared it, it was sent upstairs. What’s the problem?"

Zhu Yan understood.

This means that the head chef had a way to "send things upstairs," and if he wanted to go to the Feast of Monsters, Zhu Yan first had to find the Head Chef.

This was a crucial piece of information, but Zhu Yan had no idea how to locate the Head Chef.

Could it be the three monsters wearing chef hats in the room?

Zhu Yan didn’t think so.

He followed the Doppelganger out of the broadcast room and decisively activated his ability, Glory to the Ancestors.

“I have no problem with that, Dad,” Zhu Yan said smoothly. “I mean, I want to go with you to meet the Head Chef.”

“Dad, what does the Head Chef look like? What rank is he? What’s his ability?”

The Doppelganger paused mid-step.

Dad?

It turned its head sharply, eyeing Zhu Yan with suspicion.

Hmm...

It didn’t remember having a son.

But, well, whatever—it had a son now!