Chapter Eleven: I Refuse to Be Human Anymore

"Indeed, little鸠 doesn't eat raw food."

Mr. Li looked at the maid with a gaze full of affection.

"Young man, you wouldn't refuse to satisfy this small request of mine, would you?" he said with a smile.

Liu Zheng looked at him, then at the maid. One was withered and hunched, the other delicate and luscious; even if he were injured, he could easily take them down... or so he thought.

Hardly.

Even someone like De Gaulle couldn't just lash out at restaurant staff, and Mr. Li could call the restaurant owner directly. These two were certainly not human.

"I have one request," Liu Zheng said after a brief silence.

"Any request is fine, as long as it's not excessive," Mr. Li replied generously. Given his status and wealth, money, positions, property, and women were not even worth mentioning. As for what constituted an "excessive" request, only he himself knew.

"I want minced chili, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar." To his surprise, however, this was Liu Zheng’s response. "If you have scallion oil, that would be even better."

Liu Zheng sniffled.

"Haha, interesting young man. Come in and sit. Little鸠, go get the guest what he needs." Mr. Li laughed heartily.

"Yes, Master."

The maid went to the kitchen, and Liu Zheng followed the old man into the living room to sit down. The interior decoration was not complex; on the contrary, it was quite minimalist. There were no crystal chandeliers, no gilded ceilings, and none of the rosewood furniture favored by the elderly. The overall color scheme was dominated by black and white, making the hall appear quite spacious. However, the greenery visible everywhere managed to diminish much of the cold, desolate feeling.

Interestingly, once they were seated facing each other, Mr. Li did not strike up a conversation but instead buried himself in a newspaper. This made Liu Zheng breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he had social anxiety—well, okay, he did have a bit of it—but more importantly, this way he didn't have to worry about accidentally discussing anything related to the restaurant. Although Mr. Li seemed quite familiar with the owner, that rule should still apply.

He curiously glanced at the newspaper, but because the text was so small, he could only make out words like "Arrival," "Suppression," and "Downgrading Citizen Rank."

"Master, I have brought what the guest requested." After a while, the maid returned with a large tray. On it sat the seasonings Liu Zheng had asked for, along with a pair of chopsticks and a bowl.

"Thank you for your trouble. Young man, the things are here. Start eating," Mr. Li said, putting down the newspaper.

Liu Zheng swallowed hard as he looked at the sheep eyeballs in the glass jar, then let out a long breath. Just eat it, he told himself; at least it was a free item. Even a similar high-quality "Ascension Hair Moss" had cost him two thousand.

He put all the seasonings into the bowl and stirred them together. The pungent, spicy scent rushed into his nasal cavity, whetting his appetite.

"With this dipping sauce, even a shoe insole would taste good," he couldn't help but boast. But as he looked at the jar of sheep eyeballs, he couldn't help but sigh. "Actually, a shoe insole would probably be better."

Liu Zheng picked up a sheep eyeball, rolled it thoroughly in the bowl, closed his eyes, and shoved it into his mouth. The initial taste was just the dipping sauce; aside from a slightly strange texture, it wasn't too bad. But when he bit down and it burst, an extremely thick, fishy smell instantly occupied his entire mouth. His head, which had been dazed from his injuries, cleared instantly, only to crash again as the feedback from his taste buds proved too overwhelming.

"Is it good?" Mr. Li asked.

"Quite fresh," Liu Zheng evaluated as objectively as possible.

"If it's good, eat more. Eat it all," Mr. Li said with a beaming smile, like a kind elder watching a young man with a hearty appetite.

"Right." He nodded with difficulty and picked up another eyeball. To be fair, once you got past that first hurdle, this stuff wasn't all that hard to eat. Right?

Under this psychological suggestion, Liu Zheng stuffed the sheep eyeballs into his mouth one after another. The dipping sauce in the bowl began to run low, and Mr. Li thoughtfully had the maid bring a fresh bowl.

"Can you change the music?" Liu Zheng suddenly stopped and said.

"Young man, we aren't playing any music," Mr. Li looked at him strangely.

"Not playing music? Then what am I hearing?" Liu Zheng raised his head; the music was growing louder. It became so loud that he couldn't hear what Mr. Li and the maid were saying to him.

"Is it an auditory hallucination?" Liu Zheng suddenly remembered the Hell Rock Cola he had drunk. "But this isn't rock music, either."

The music was long and ethereal, mixed with many low, unintelligible whispers, like the sound of insects crawling in a layer of humus. It sounded nothing like rock music; it sounded more like... a gospel.

"Shub-Niggurath!" he suddenly chanted a string of bizarre notes.

"No!" Hearing this sequence of notes, Mr. Li let out a high-pitched scream and burst apart. His scattered flesh and blood were sucked into the maid's gaping mouth as if by a magnet. Immediately after, the maid tore a shield-shaped pendant from her neck, which bore a mark resembling a fish bone.

"In the name of N'tss-Kaambl!" she cried out, her voice now aged. An invisible force dispelled the unreachable malice.

"Hell Rock Cola? Should I say you're too lucky, or too unlucky? Young man." The maid smiled helplessly, but the voice that came out was Mr. Li's.

In her pupils, Liu Zheng’s figure was rapidly deforming.

"Warning: Sanity decreasing."
"Warning: Sanity decreasing."
...
"Warning: 'Flesh Aberration' status acquired."
"Warning: Sanity cap permanently reduced."
"Acquired temporary madness: 'Irritability'."

A series of system prompts woke Liu Zheng up. He shook his head and felt much clearer.

"Am I better?" He instinctively raised his hand to touch his wound, but what he saw was a tentacle. Liu Zheng lunged off the sofa and retreated against the wall, only to find the tentacle following him. He had to realize that this was his own arm.

"What... what has happened to me?" Liu Zheng asked, trembling slightly.

"Young man, don't be nervous. You've just undergone a slight change in appearance," the maid reassured him.

"Mr. Li? Did you possess the maid?" He noticed the maid's voice.

"No, child. I have always been Mr. Li," the maid shook her head, her tone kind and amiable. "Why not go take a look at your new appearance?" She pointed to the full-length mirror in the entryway.

Liu Zheng walked to the mirror and stood face-to-face with the monster in the glass. The monster had four tentacle-like arms and strong, goat-hoof-like feet, with tumorous flesh spreading from its feet all the way to its head. The most hideous part was its face: ears, nose, and lips had all vanished, leaving only pure black eyeballs and a mouth filled with sharp fangs.

Liu Zheng was silent for a moment, then smiled at the monster. The monster similarly opened its maw, spewing a strong, putrid scent of rotting vegetation.

"System, how long will this state last?" he asked.

"After the instance concludes, it can be removed by spending game points," the system replied.

"That's good." Liu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. If he had to live the rest of his life looking like this, it would truly be worse than death.

"Young man, are you going to eat the rest?" the maid asked.

"Of course." He moved his new hooves and walked toward the dining table. If I'm not human anymore, then damn it, I'm going to eat, eat, and eat!