Chapter 19
Chapter 19
[Your internal organs became external organs. Killer: Noodle Shop Owner.]
[Strength permanently increased by 1.2.]
[You tasted the most delicious meat broth in the world. Unfortunately, it was made from your own flesh. Killer: Noodle Shop Owner.]
[Constitution permanently increased by 0.7.]
[Your kidneys were turned into stir-fried kidney slices. Killer: Noodle Shop Owner.]
[Constitution permanently increased by 0.3.]
Outside the shop, Qin Lan released his crowbar with a dark expression.
“Fuck me. Why is this guy a 2-Star too?”
Fresh from tasting the benefits of his enhanced Talent, Qin Lan had cheerfully prepared to slaughter another anomaly, only to meet his Waterloo.
The founding emperor had died halfway through his campaign… Fortunately, this emperor could die halfway through it repeatedly.
The owner was a gaunt-faced man with pale skin and withered arms.
He looked frail, yet all three times Qin Lan challenged him, the owner hacked him apart within a few strikes.
By Qin Lan’s estimate, the noodle shop owner was nearly as powerful as subway security.
His Strength and Speed were probably above 7.
As for the exact values, Qin Lan could not estimate them. He had never forced the owner to reveal his full power.
With a sigh, Qin Lan abandoned the combat route.
He would follow the proper sequence and search for the rules.
“Still, even for a 2-Star anomaly, these attribute gains are enormous. One death to subway security didn’t grant nearly this much.”
“Is it because my Talent grew?”
Qin Lan considered the possibility.
If so, choosing [Talent Deepening] had truly been correct.
As his Curse Seed became stronger, each death would produce greater gains.
The stronger the anomaly, the faster Qin Lan died.
The faster Qin Lan died, the more his attributes increased.
The more his attributes increased, the weaker the anomaly became.
The weaker the anomaly became, the slower Qin Lan died.
Thus, the stronger the anomaly, the weaker the anomaly; the faster he died, the slower he died.
Perfectly reasonable.
“Customer, what kind of noodles would you like?”
The owner continued chopping meat as he questioned Qin Lan.
This anomaly’s rules had never been taught in class, so Qin Lan knew nothing about them.
In truth, every student who entered [Road to the Netherworld] during the examination had suffered because of Qin Lan.
College entrance examination instances were usually placed near Safe Zone exits. The vast majority were 1-Star, and only a terribly unlucky few entered 2-Star instances.
Yet [Road to the Netherworld] was not only a 2-Star instance, but contained multiple 2-Star anomalies, including the special Hitchhiker Ghost.
All because of Qin Lan’s Talent.
[Effect 1: You have an exceptionally punchable face. The probability of anomalies attacking you is permanently increased by 1,000%.]
The description seemed vague, but its meaning was simple: Qin Lan was far more likely to encounter difficult instances and dangerous anomalies.
Xue Chuan, for example, should have entered a 1-Star instance during his licensing exam.
Because he teamed with Qin Lan, they somehow encountered the 3-Star [Terror Subway] only a short distance from the Safe Zone exit.
Now Qin Lan sat properly at the table and tested the owner.
“I’d like noodle soup with a fried egg. Is that possible?”
“No.”
“Then… noodles with three delicacies?”
“Don’t have them.”
“Mutton noodles?”
“Can’t make them.”
“…What can you make?”
“I serve only beef noodles.”
Qin Lan looked pained.
“You fucking… If you only make beef noodles, why bother asking?”
The owner ignored him.
“I will prepare three bowls, but one will contain human flesh.”
“You must choose one bowl and finish it. Otherwise, I will turn you into noodles — literally.”
The owner’s voice turned sinister.
“If you eat beef noodles, you may leave alive. If you unfortunately choose the human-flesh noodles… you will be made into noodles as well.”
Qin Lan frowned.
“One chance in three. Is this purely a game of luck?”
Rules based on luck were among the most troublesome.
Most people had no solution. They could only pray that fate favored them.
For Qin Lan, however, this was simple.
“Ha-ha-ha! Chicken soup is served– No, beef noodles are served.”
The owner emerged with a tray holding three steaming, fragrant bowls of noodles.
They were identical in both appearance and smell.
The meat had been finely minced. No one could distinguish human flesh without tasting it.
Qin Lan narrowed his eyes and studied all three bowls.
Then he abruptly seized his crowbar and struck the owner’s face.
“Aha!”
“I refuse to eat!”
[You were divided into two symmetrical halves. Killer: Noodle Shop Owner.]
[Speed permanently increased by 0.1.]
“Fine. A surprise attack doesn’t work either.”
Qin Lan was out of options.
Working within his one-minute-thirty-second reset window, he chose a bowl at random and slurped down the noodles.
Beneath the owner’s sunken eye sockets, cold eyes watched him without blinking. Then the man smiled cruelly.
“You… chose wrong!”
This death produced no attribute increase.
Qin Lan was not discouraged. It was merely bad luck. If he hit the thirty-three-percent chance, he would accept it.
He casually selected another bowl and slurped once more.
“You… chose wrong!”
The gleaming cleaver fell again as Qin Lan stared in disbelief.
“?”
After resurrecting, Qin Lan looked incredulous.
“What is this? I chose a different bowl!”
At the table, the owner held his cleaver and stared aggressively.
“Choose. Why are you standing there?”
Qin Lan regarded him suspiciously. Wondering whether two bowls contained human flesh, he chose the final one.
“You… chose wrong!”
“Fuck your monkey!”
Qin Lan finally exploded.
The bastard owner had been playing with him.
All three bowls contained human flesh.
“I understand… It’s wordplay.”
Qin Lan’s mouth twitched.
“The owner said he would prepare three bowls and that one bowl contained human flesh. He never said the other two did not.”
“He said I had to choose and eat one bowl, but that was a separate piece of information. He never said I had to choose from the three bowls he brought out.”
Qin Lan rose irritably and walked straight toward the kitchen.
“What are you doing? Are you refusing to eat?”
“If you don’t eat, I’ll kill you!”
The owner’s expression turned cold. His cleaver trembled eagerly, but he did not attack.
Qin Lan rolled his eyes and ignored the threat.
He lifted the kitchen curtain and, sure enough, found a bowl of noodles waiting on the stove.
“Just as I thought. It’s a scam.”
“These days, even a noodle shop run by an anomaly can’t guarantee food safety. What a disgrace.”
Without hesitation, Qin Lan seized a pair of chopsticks and finished the bowl completely.
“Uh… Burp.”
The beef noodles were surprisingly delicious.
Apart from the lack of chopped scallions, they were perfect.
The objective [Finish the noodle shop’s beef noodles and survive] was marked complete in his mind, proving his reasoning correct.
Behind him, the owner approached with an unwilling expression.
“You were clever enough… Leave.”
“Hmph. Next time… Next time, I’ll devise a better method and keep you here as noodles…”
The owner gripped his cleaver tightly, but the rules forced him to let Qin Lan go.
His resentful, hateful stare remained fixed on Qin Lan.
Qin Lan set down his chopsticks and glared back.
“You expect a next time?”
“When I come back, I’ll smash this place down and turn it into a public restroom.”