Chapter 4 Monster Dessert Please choose your favorite meatball first.

"Sister, is the show over?"

Chen Ye's voice came from the side. Cecilia turned her head and met the girl's lively eyes. She was surprised to find that she was back to her original seat.

The puppets on the stage and the audience nearby seemed to have left long ago, leaving only the two of them in the huge viewing hall.

"I think I fell asleep in the middle of the show."

Chen Ye yawned and spoke to himself, "Usually these side quests provide clues to the players. Sister, have you found anything?"

It seems that she has no memory of becoming a puppet...

"The clue has been obtained."

Recalling the novel experience just now, Cecia's eyes flashed with interest, "It's a pity that you missed a wonderful drama."

"Really?" Chen Ye scratched his head in confusion, "Then why was I so bored that I fell asleep..."

Seeing her getting up and preparing to leave, Chen Ye didn't care about anything else and hurriedly chased after her.

"Sister, I have a special item given to me by a friend that can randomly teleport to other mission points."

Chen Ye pulled out a door handle from his system backpack and handed it to her as if he was presenting a treasure.

"This will save us time on the road and help us clear this instance as quickly as possible."

Special items? Never heard of this word before.

Her eyes flickered, and she did not show her ignorance. Instead, she imitated Chen Ye's actions and put her hand on the handle.

As the door handle turned, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly. When the environment stabilized again, the two had arrived in front of another building.

The thin moonlight shone through the sparse clouds and onto the outer wall of the wooden house, casting mottled shadows. It was quiet and windless, but the shadows were swaying, as if countless unknown creatures were spying on them in the dark.

Unlike other colorful buildings in the park, the outermost black wooden boards seemed to have irregular bloodstains, and some parts had even decayed and rotted.

It stood alone in the corner of the paradise, as if waiting for their arrival.

"Sister, look..."

Chen Ye's slightly trembling voice came from behind her. The girl shrank her neck and pressed closely behind her.

The two of them were surrounded by densely packed eyeless people, who still maintained their exaggerated smiles and were wandering around aimlessly.

"Don't be afraid."

Cecia deliberately lowered her voice and made a gesture to keep quiet, "They can't see it, so just don't make any noise."

Patting the girl on the back to comfort her, she walked to the entrance of the cabin and was about to raise her hand to push the door open when a shrill alarm sounded right above them.

"Warning! It has been detected that visitors have not collected all five park stamps. Please stay away from the park's core facility, the "Octagonal House" immediately! Warning..."

Damn it.

She cursed inwardly, turned around, immediately picked up the bewildered Chen Ye, and started running in the opposite direction of the octagonal house.

But the source of the alarm did not seem to be in the cabin, but was following Cecilia and the others like a ghost.

The alarm sounded three times before it stopped, attracting almost all the eyeless people nearby.

With Cecia's current physical condition, she could shake them off by herself, but she couldn't hold on for too long while carrying Chen Ye at high speed.

No, I can't give up on Chen Ye. She may not be a human being. It's more important to save my own life...

Cecia hesitated and went around a flower bed. Just when she was about to abandon Chen Ye and run away, something on the side of the road suddenly lit up.

"Two lovely ladies, would you consider purchasing a monster dessert?"

The red and white car body is painted with patterns of ice cream of different flavors, and next to the front of the car stands a person dressed in pure white with an unclear face.

The other party was recommending desserts to them in a weird tone: "You can taste any kind of dessert here, but I recommend ice cream——"

"After all, it's a good time to cool down after exercise."

"Uh, sorry."

Chen Ye was carried and bumped repeatedly. Forget about eating dessert. He even felt like vomiting. "It's not convenient for us..."

Before she could finish her stumbling words, she had already slowed down, changed direction without hesitation, and walked towards the person next to the ice cream truck.

"Look carefully at the eyeless man next to you."

She said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Ever since you started talking to them, it's like they've lost their target and started going in different directions."

"The last time I escaped the Eyeless Man, it was because I entered a puppet show facility. Perhaps they can't sense the players entering the amusement facility."

Because the moonlight was not bright enough, they could only see vague human figures from a distance. When they got closer, they realized that the person next to the ice cream truck was not a human at all.

"Welcome, this is the only facility in the park that sells food. I am the owner of the ice cream truck and the inventor of the greatest monster dessert of this century. You can call me "Mr. White."

He - or it would be more appropriate to call him "it", was excitedly introducing himself to Cecia, his figure, which was estimated to be at least two meters tall, twisting left and right.

Mr. White's face has no other facial features except his mouth. When he opens and closes it repeatedly, you can see a mouth full of shark-like sharp teeth.

Its body seems to be made up of a kind of fluid colloid. If some parts accidentally fall off when it twists, they will bounce back to the body by themselves.

Cecia had never seen such a creature before. She squatted down and picked up a body part that had not yet had time to "go home" under Chen Ye's horrified gaze.

It feels very soft, like cotton, and sticky, and seems to have a sweet scent...

The white colloid struggled violently in her hands. As soon as she loosened her grip, it ran away and returned to Mr. White's arms impatiently.

"It's integrated into your body?"

She took two steps forward, and even if Chen Ye tried his best to pull her back, she was almost close to the other's sticky body.

“…”

Mr. White's excitement was interrupted, and he distanced himself from Cecia imperceptibly, adding a touch of cunning to his high-pitched tone.

"It's just a doll costume. Every staff member in the park wears a different doll costume."

"They too?"

Cecia pointed to the eyeless man who was gradually moving away.

"Of course." It shook its head up and down and brought the topic back to the topic, "So, do you want to taste the most delicious dessert in the world?"

Cecia did not comment on this lie. Although the other party was a little weird, it was the only creature in the dungeon that could communicate normally, and it seemed to know a lot.

"Monster dessert, sounds good."

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she looked at the other party: "What do you need me to pay?"

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in money, you just need to give me something insignificant."

It took out the recipe for the monster dessert and handed it to Cecia.

“The monster desserts I developed are not only delicious, but also can provide customers with a sufficient sense of experience. Therefore, I do not sell the finished products directly, but require customers to make the food by themselves.”

“In the process of making it, the customer needs to inject some emotion into it—any emotion.”

"Through the emotional connection, I will take away something small from the other person, and he will hardly feel anything... At most he will feel uncomfortable for a few days?"

There seemed to be something hidden in Mr. White's inflected ending voice.

"It has no effect on me?"

Hearing Cecia's question, Mr. White became confident again: "Of course, I will not let customers have any uncomfortable experience."

"Then let's have a monster dessert." She looked through the recipe, "I'll have the ice cream you recommended."

Hearing this, Mr. White's whole body trembled with excitement. If he had eyes, he would probably stare at her with bright eyes.

"You have such great taste! Dear lady, please choose the meatball you like first."

As it spoke, it opened the trunk of the ice cream truck and pulled out a large bag filled with cricket pupae.

When the bag was untied, the little meat balls that had been trapped inside for a long time jumped out one after another.

They come in various shapes, are flesh-colored, and have textures similar to human skin.

Maybe it was because they hadn’t seen customers for a long time, most of the little meatballs were full of energy, jumping and dancing around Cecilia and Chen Ye.

Some of the balls are square with an eye in the center, some are round and rub against people, and some seem to be afraid of people and hide behind Mr. White and dare not come out...

“These little guys are the ingredients for making monster desserts and have a big impact on the taste, so make sure to choose the one you like best.”

As Mr. White explained, he pulled out the trembling ball of flesh from behind him and gently placed it in front of Cecilia.

"Raw materials?" Chen Ye seemed to be more afraid of those strange meat balls. "Should we eat them? They seem to be living creatures..."

“They do have life.”

Mr. White smiled inexplicably. "But are there any foods whose ingredients are inanimate?"

Chen Ye was speechless.

Meanwhile, Cecia made her choice quickly and neatly, grabbing a small triangular thing and handing it to Mr. White.

"Next, please choose the flavor you like, and I will prepare the rest of the ingredients."

Mr. White pointed to the flavors listed on the menu and said, "I recommend the volcano flavor or the air flavor. These are more suitable for customers with lighter tastes."

“Volcano flavor is fine.”

She again complied with Mr. White's recommendation, which further agitated the other party.

“You must be a great gourmet!”

Mr. White exclaimed as he prepared the rest of the ingredients.

With its help and guidance, Cecia made the monster dessert step by step. Finally, Mr. White asked her to inject her emotions for someone into the dessert.

“This is a crucial step!”

Mr. White exclaimed, "The stronger the emotion, the better. If it doesn't meet the minimum standard, then the dessert making can only start all over again."

The feeling I have for someone, the strongest feeling can only be for that person...

Gently stroking the blood-red rose on her collarbone, her eyes were filled with intense hatred.

The lingering smell of blood for years seemed to linger around him again, and the scenes he didn't want to recall kept flashing through his mind until he was interrupted by Mr. White's surprised cheers.

"It worked in one go! You are the best customer I have ever met!"

She suppressed her emotions, but the skin on her collarbone was scratched by her fingertips without her knowing when. The blood that flowed out of the scar made the rose even more scarlet.

Wait a little longer, I'll find you soon.