Chapter 1942: After the Rewind, Love You Again 18

The heavy, dragging footsteps sounded in the dining hall.

Each squad, still whispering and discussing with teammates, became alert, and upon seeing the cook's appearance they were as if facing a great enemy.

The cook looked even less human than the little boy just before.

His tall body hunched, his skin deathly pale with a greenish tinge, his eyes deeply sunken, his apron stained with dried blood and unknown liquids, and beneath the worn rubber gloves his rotting, ulcerous skin was faintly visible—truly enough to kill one's appetite.

The bloody smell that Gao Kai detected came from the iron bucket the cook was holding, which was filled with meat mince and reeked of strong odor.

For a moment, all the players' faces looked grim.

The game rules say you cannot question the cook, so does that mean we can only eat this ghostly stuff in the game?

Who knows whether eating it will kill you or turn you into a monster like the cook.

"Damn, this is an outright insult to cuisine." Gao Kai, who had been a chef for several years, spat in disgust, yet dared not speak loudly—who knows if this thing that's neither human nor ghost will eat people.

However, the situation was slightly better than they had imagined.

The cook also held another iron bucket, in which the ingredients were still visible—this was their dinner, even if it was harder to swallow than leftover rice.

But compared to that meat mince, the players for the first time felt their tolerance for food could be this high.

However, this only applied to those who were not picky about food.

Ruan Fu lowered her eyes to look at the soup in the bowl, her brows slightly furrowed, and she hesitated to move.

"Don't eat that." A low voice beside her made Ruan Fu's body tense slightly, and then she saw Jin Chen pull out two clean, fluffy slices of bread from his light-brain space, even with milk.

It was obvious they had been prepared in advance after leaving the novice zone.

But the light-brain space is tiny, and the portion the game allows to be used is even smaller; players usually store items exchanged for gold coins, or compressed biscuits sufficient to fill the stomach.

Jin Chen even tore open the packaging and brought the bread to Ruan Fu's lips.

The aroma of meat floss and cheese quickly spread to her nostrils, which happened to be Ruan Fu's favorite flavor.

Ruan Fu watched Jin Chen warily and suspiciously; seeing his insistent, grinning expression that would not let up, after a few seconds of eye contact she lowered her gaze and awkwardly took the bread.

"You didn't put weapons in your space?" Ruan Fu's tone softened a bit.

"I did," Jin Chen said after tasting the strange flavor, thinking it would be good for slimming Zero Egg, and seeing Ruan Fu's downcast, appeased look, he smiled again: "Isn't it because you're here, Ruan Xiangxiang little bro."

Ruan Fu: "…… "

Goddamn Ruan Xiangxiang.

Ruan Fu clenched her fists around the bread bag, lifted her eyes and stared at Jin Chen, "What random name is that."

"How nice-sounding." Jin Chen hummed softly, and then he saw the other four teammates at the table showing various expressions.

"You don't like eating it either?" Jin Chen asked, while secretly making calculations.

At least each villain must have their Blackening Value reduced by 5 before we can eat!

In fact, he had overthought it.

"I'm just a bit full," Ji Luo rolled her eyes, "those who don't know would think Ruan Fu had a brain tumor."

Jin Chen raised his eyebrows, going along with the joke, "I'm called…" "Love love love, I know, you love him so much, shut up, big brother." Ji Luo made a stop gesture.

"…Sigh." Jin Chen sighed, feeling wronged as he poked Ruan Fu's fingers back and forth, "There's no captain more miserable than me."

Yun had already been silent, head down drinking soup, with a sort of "out of sight, out of mind" attitude.

Looking again at Gao Kai, he spat out the food in his mouth, yet when hunger struck he ate faster than anyone.

"You… hello." Just as Jin Chen was about to observe Cheng Chuan, a sudden voice beside him interrupted, and he turned his gaze.

A young person in a hoodie approached, fingers tightly gripping the hem of their clothes, looking very nervous, their gaze darting about so they dared not look at Jin Chen.

"Do you have any more bread? I… can I buy it with points?" They even spoke somewhat incoherently.

If it weren't for Jin Chen's good hearing, he might not have caught what this person was saying at all.

Jin Chen thought it over, calculated that the remaining bread and food would last them a few days internally, and finally said, "5 points per loaf of bread, milk not for sale."

The young person dared not haggle, hugged two loaves of bread and headed back, only to bump head‑on into the cook returning with the iron bucket.

Perhaps from being too nervous, they stumbled back a few steps in fright, the bread in their arms slipping and falling, then being picked up in a flustered hurry.

But it had already drawn the cook's attention.

The meat‑smelling cook strode over, his short, rotting fingers grabbing the young person's collar in one grip, and as he spoke the bloody stench shot straight into their nose.

"What dissatisfaction do you have with the food I made?!"

"…No, no, I'm very satisfied!"

The young person hurriedly nodded, face turning pale from fright, trembling as they lifted their bowl and poured its contents into their mouth.

The cook was then satisfied, and again Youyou glanced toward Ruan Fu, who was still eating bread.

"Is my food not tasty?"

Game Rule 9: Do not urge the cook to hurry with meals, or question the dish's flavor, unless you want to become the cook yourself.

No one wants to become that.

Just as Ruan Fu lifted the untouched bowl of soup, Jin Chen snatched it away in an instant, before she could react, and then he gave her a full‑blown scolding from head to toe.

"What are you eating? I haven't even filled your man, who let you eat stuff?"

Jin Chen looked very angry.

Ruan Fu hesitated, voicelessly expressing confusion and bewilderment.

The four teammates hoped: "…… " How deep does Jin Chen's brain tumor really go?

Other players: "…… "

One can still play like this?

This person isn't afraid of ghosts at all!