52 Level 4

 

The woman’s last sentence caused Han Fei’s heart to quiver. The woman gave the statement openly to put Han Fei at ease, not anticipating the alarm it would raise within Han Fei. ‘How did she know human meat is not delicious? Has she eaten them before?’

Under the woman’s scrutinizing gaze, Han Fei slowly picked up the chopsticks. He reached for the bloody guts and picked some onto his plate. Then he pretended to carelessly brush his finger against it. The system had the power to determine if an in-game object Han Fei touched was unique or not. The perfect example was the cursed table knife. He wanted to repeat the same experiment to identify the food on his plate. If the system provided an item description, then it would mean the food was a ‘unique’ item and the system would tell him if it was edible or not. If the system did not respond, then the food was probably just horrid looking but perfectly normal.

As his finger scraped against the guts, the robotic voice soon answered. “Notification for Player 0000! You have discovered Grade G Food—Cursed Bovine Heart!

“Cursed Bovine Heart: This heart was soaked in malice and hatred not long after it left its living body. Players who ingest it for the first time will have 95 percent of being cursed and 5 percent of obtaining a random Attribute Point.”

Delicious food was a big selling point in Perfect Life. The game promised to replicate delicacies from around the world. Players with cooking ambitions could even participate in their creation. There were many cooking-related professions in game like chefs, food critics and sommeliers. This was a common feature in an Iyashikei game but until now Han Fei did not have the pleasure to enjoy it. After all, he was too busy evading the fate of being made into other people’s food.

Studying the bovine heart and sniffing its aroma, Han Fei decided to trust the system. Furthermore, it was not like he was spoilt for choice. If he only gave praise and did not touch the food, Han Fei did not think the lady would be happy with him. To endear himself to the tenant of Room 1052, Han Fei had to steel his stomach. He swallowed a mouthful conspicuously and then took a cautious bite of the heart. His taste buds danced in joy. It was as if the food had put a spell on him. The young man put down the chopsticks and used his hands to feast on it directly. “It’s delicious! Delectable! Flavourful! Sweet but not overly so! It’s soft with some bite!” Han Fei gave all the praise he knew. Seeing Han Fei wolf down the food, the woman smiled bigger. Her red eyes lingered on Han Fei.

Han Fei finished the bovine heart soon. The system notification returned: “You have gained a random attribute point from ingesting the cursed bovine heart for the first time. Your Charm decreases by 1!” When he heard that, Han Fei was so stunned that he forgot to chew. ‘Charm decreases by 1? I thought my -10 point is already at rock bottom but there are still ways to go?! Is this a reward or a curse anyway?!’

Based on Perfect Life’s official website introduction, one’s charm would directly affect the in-game NPC’s attitude towards oneself. In a normal game, the higher the charm, the friendlier the NPCs would be. However, Han Fei noticed that in his version of the game, his Charm attribute was quite distinct. His charm did not work on living humans but instead on various monsters and ghosts. The lower his charm, the kindlier the ghostly NPCs reacted to his presence. Noticing the -11 Charm value, Han Fei figured he shouldn’t be too hung up over it. That was his own unique charm after all.

“How’s the food?” The woman’s gaze never left Han Fei. She used the cursed knife to carve a small piece of meat and placed it in her mouth. Her table manners were much better than Han Fei’s. However, after a quick chew, the smile on her face gradually disappeared and she spat out the meat. “I still can’t get used to eating these. Compared to them…” The woman picked up the chopsticks to fish some strand of hairs from another plate. “I prefer to feast on ghosts.”

Then what happened next shocked Han Fei. A soft wail evoked from the strands of hair. Hearing that, the smile returned to the lady’s face. This was the brightest she had smiled all night.

‘She suffers from allotriophagy?’ Han Fei was curious about the woman’s death. Her behavior was too suspicious. Han Fei’s interest was piqued.

“This is the best meal I’ve had! Can I come to share more meals with you in the future? I will bring big sister more presents of course.” Han Fei blinked pleadingly at the woman. He looked too sincere to bear a rejection.

“Naturally you can. I’m glad that you’ve enjoyed my cooking so much.” The woman nodded. She was very satisfied with Han Fei.

“By the way, what is big sister’s name?” Han Fei still did not know her name. While he was there, he might as well get that information.

“I have many names.” The woman bit on her right finger and blood stained her lips. “But recently I’ve been using the name, Xu Qin.”

“Notification for Player 0000! You have gained Xu Qin’s approval! Xu Qin’s friendliness increases by 10! Forming a peaceful neighbourly relationship is the first step to a perfect life.”

Using this break, Han Fei glanced at the mission interface.

“You have completed the Grade G Hidden Mission, Do not Turn Your Head Around! You have obtained the basic reward—1 Free Skill Point!

“Warning! Different completion rates for the hidden mission will offer different levels of reward! You not only did not turn your head back in the allotted 15 minutes, you’ve successfully made use of your environment to eliminate the non-locals who tried to infiltrate into the apartment building! You’ve gained double the EXP and a unique reward! Congratulations for unlocking a potential hidden profession, Midnight Butcher.

“Midnight Butcher (Hidden Profession): To become the midnight butcher, you have to eliminate 10 non-locals that infiltrate into the apartment building before reaching level 10.

“Notification for Player 0000! Hidden Professions have their own unique profession skills and specialties! They are extremely rare!

“Notification for Player 0000! You have successfully reached level 4! You’ve obtained 1 Free Attribute Point!”

Like usual, Han Fei entered the skill point into acting and the attribute point into stamina. As his level continued to increase, Han Fei could sense clear changes to his acting skill and physique.

In terms of acting, he could now utilize the smallest expression to manifest the deepest emotion while the change to his physique was observable by increased strength.

However, there was a deeper reason why Han Fei focused on levelling his stamina. Earlier when he came into contact with the cursed table knife, he was almost overwhelmed by the curse. His physique was still too fragile so he wanted to get strong as fast as possible. When he could lay actual claim to the knife without falling for the curse, then he would finally have some offensive measures against the ghostly threats.