Chapter 073: Eating Watermelon at the Food Court (1)

[What the hell! Why can’t I choose?! ]

Liu Tang roared like a groundhog in his heart while clicking the exclamation mark after the option.

[Since you have seriously violated the rules for boss entry, this option is disabled at this time.]

Liu Tang: “…”

Mo Qianhe, who was standing by, heard Liu Tang's thoughts and got a general idea of what was going on. He turned his head and asked about the details.

Liu Tang told the truth, but was criticized by Mo Qianhe again: "I told you not to choose the 'player' identity, and you are planning to disobey me, right?

"Forgot I can hear your thoughts?"

Liu Tang felt even more guilty. He spent 10 points to draw an identity while praying that the copy would be drawn quickly so that Mo Qianhe would have no energy to talk about him.

Mo Qianhe didn't stop at blaming Liu Tang, but instead thought: "The system doesn't want you to use boss abilities at will. It wants to strengthen its control over you, so it won't let you become a player...

"It seems that within the restrictive system of rules, the player identity is the most flexible and also the easiest to exploit."

This speculation is consistent with the fact that Liu Tang gradually recovered his memory after becoming a player.

The system announced: "We are about to load the dungeon 'Chongju Hell Rensan Food Court'. Please prepare yourself."

The scene in front of him darkened and then brightened, and Liu Tang appeared in the copy.

A system notification sounded in my ears:

[Your chosen identity is: NPC Xiaolongbao Breakfast Shop Owner.]

"The identity description this time is quite specific." Liu Tang received the information about himself and looked around the space where he was. He found that this was a well-equipped, bright and tidy bun shop with clean windows and tables.

The outermost area is the dining area, which has six simple dining tables that can accommodate 24 people if all are occupied.

Further in is the area for steaming buns, with kelp and pork ribs soup and black rice porridge also being served on the side.

"Wow, there are all kinds of food and drinks." Liu Tang smelled the fragrance of the buns and wanted to have one for himself first.

Further inside is the workbench for making dumplings.

There is also a storage room at the back for storing food raw materials.

"The space is quite large. Can I use it all by myself?" He was thinking when he heard the system announcement.

[Please recruit enough players to operate the bun shop stably and avoid being investigated and having your business license revoked.]

[If your business license is revoked, you will lose your NPC status and be expelled from the instance.]

Liu Tang was surprised: "As an NPC, I actually have to ensure the operation of the store?

"That's good now. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to run out and eat melons."

When Liu Tang thought of this, he couldn't help feeling a little melancholy.

[Players are about to log in, please be prepared to welcome them.]

Hearing the system sound, Liu Tang looked out the door expectantly: "Wow! Boss Mo, come work for me!"

[Special Warning: Due to your previous violations, please do not attempt to reveal your true identity to other players in any way during this mission. If you violate this rule twice, you will be expelled from the dungeon.]

Hearing this, Liu Tang was a little confused.

"What do you mean by 'don't reveal your identity to the players'? They'll recognize me the moment they see my face..."

As Liu Tangzheng was speaking, he turned his head to look at the reflective glass in front of the store, and then he couldn't help but let out a groundhog roar again.

"Ahhhhhh! Holy shit, what the hell is that on my head!"

"Ahhhhhhhh! My hand, what is this in my hand!"

Liu Tang saw that in his reflection, he had no head at all.

Where the head should appear, there is a bun projection that is the same size as the head.

His hands did not look like those of a human, but rather a pair of simulated robotic hands, reflecting a pure white, cold light in the bright room.

Liu Tang pulled open the white chef's uniform he was wearing and found a headless mechanical body with a circular platform at the neck.

"Okay, okay, let's play it this way, huh?" Liu Tang put on his clothes again, reached out and curiously touched the round surface above his collarbone, and smiled contemptuously with his chubby face projected in the air. "Boss Mo can hear my inner voice. I'm not afraid of anything when I'm cheating!"

The bun in the reflection was given an abstract expression, which scared Liu Tang himself.

He took a few steps back and decided that from now on, he would not show any expression and just be a bun living a peaceful life.

[The player has logged in and the instance has begun.]

[00:00]

Liu Tang walked out of the store and looked into the distance.

Outside the bun shop is a sunken circular square. At this moment, a group of players have appeared at the center of the circle, looking up and around.

Perhaps due to restrictions of the rules, Liu Tang could not clearly see the appearance of the players in the distance.

He immediately used his mind to call out to Mo Qianhe:

[Boss Mo, come to the bun shop! ]

However, as soon as Mo Qianhe heard the first word, a howling sound similar to that caused by the microphone and speaker being too close rang in his mind, making him tense up and clench his teeth.

At the same time, Liu Tang felt as if an electric shock had passed through his body. He felt the pain of being pierced, and his body fell uncontrollably to the ground.

Two red hearts lit up in the upper left corner of his vision, and one of them slowly went out.

The system voice sounded again:

[Again, warning: Please do not attempt to reveal your true identity to other players in any way. Repeated violations will result in immediate expulsion from the dungeon.]

Mo Qianhe waited patiently for the howling to end without making any big movements.

Past experience in dungeons told him that it was best not to show his weakness in front of other players.

A system announcement rang out in his mind:

[The item "Yan Wang's Ear" has been disabled.]

It turns out that the reason why I can hear Liu Tang’s inner voice is because there is such a prop that is always in use?

Looking at the name that is extremely similar to "Eye of the King of Hell", and considering its incredible authority that can last across copies, Mo Qianhe couldn't help but suspect that this item is some kind of variant of his innate skill.

But at this moment, Mo Qianhe didn't have the mind to think too much.

What made him even more worried was that at this moment the connection between him and Liu Tang was blocked by something.

Did the player use a special item? Or was it the dungeon rules?

No matter which possibility it is, their situation is not very good.

This means that they were either targeted by players or by dungeons.

Liu Tang lay on the ground for a long time before he put himself together and stood up again.

"It seems that I can't cheat this time." Liu Tang sighed, returned to the bun shop, and stood in the open kitchen where buns were steamed.

"Players, please work hard to earn wages and pass the level!" After listening to the system's rules announcement, the players also had a general understanding of the current environment of the dungeon.

The entire replica is a circular plaza with a diameter of one thousand meters.

The center of the square is concave, forming a spherical surface.

The place where they were seemed to be the center of the entire depression.

The square is surrounded by a circular flat area, on which a circle of non-adjacent restaurants are located.

In the spaces between the shops, there are some small stalls selling snacks.

It seems to be a false prosperity that no one cares about.

Only one building stood out from the crowd, with a large plaque on it: "Part-time Staff Dormitory."

"The dungeon mission requires us to apply for part-time jobs at these restaurants. It seems that the dormitory will be where we rest at night." One person said.

Mo Qianhe looked back and saw that the person who spoke was the president of Poshan Guild - Jiang Minxu.

What a coincidence.

As he was thinking this, he looked around and found that there were quite a few familiar faces among the players this time.

Liu Tang would probably be very happy to see this.

Thinking of this, Mo Qianhe shifted his attention away from other players and took the lead in walking towards the edge of the square.

Judging from Liu Tang’s thoughts before entering the dungeon, it is very likely that Liu Tang has become an NPC, perhaps a shop owner or stall owner in this food street.

So Mo Qianhe’s first task now is not to find a job, but to find Liu Tang first, and then find a part-time job in Liu Tang’s store or stall.

Seeing that Mo Qianhe couldn't wait to set off, the others briefly explained a few words to each other and quickly dispersed.

The audience in the live broadcast room has already started discussing:

"Finally, there are no mosaic players this time, and the viewing experience won't be affected."

"I still haven't seen my Tangtang. I miss him!"

"In front, I'll show you the way to 'Nie Jing Ding Ba'. Liu Tang is always here."

"Am I the only one who thinks this instance feels a bit star-studded?"

"It's not so bad. Only Liar Mo, President Jiang, and Pavilion Master Ji are pretty powerful."

"Isn't there a Boss Zhou who is in the top ten of the rich list?"

"Well, if you can call a lot of ghost money a 'star'."

When Liu Tang finally recognized Mo Qianke's appearance with his virtual bun head, he saw that the direction he was heading towards was not the bun shop where he was, and he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

However, there are so many shops in this copy, and it is indeed a bit difficult for Mo Qianhe to choose his own location at the beginning like telepathy.

The first group of players to enter the bun shop were Feng Xiansu, an old acquaintance whom they had met before in "Wanjing Garden" and "Tianti Apartment", and her biological father Zhou Youwei.

Liu Tang was a little surprised to see this combination.

After all, these two people don’t seem to have high IQs. If they want to team up to go into a dungeon, it’s better to have a smart teammate to lead them.

Feng Xiansu's adoptive father Feng Wenbai must have understood this, but he still made such an arrangement, probably because he had no other choice.

After experiencing the loss of her brother Zhou Songyang, Feng Xiansu is now much more depressed, and even her previous madness has subsided a lot.

However, Liu Tang still observed suppressed negative emotions in her eyes, like a madman ready to attack.

Zhou Youwei looked the same as always. Even though his son died, he didn't seem to show any particularly strong sadness.

He first said to Liu Tang, "Boss, are you hiring here? Do you think we meet the requirements?"

Liu Tang listened to the other party's indifferent tone and acted like a big boss.

Those who don’t know might think they are here to consume, not to look for jobs.

It seemed that the copy rules were combined with Liu Tang's own boss skills. At this time, two resumes quickly appeared next to Feng Xiansu and Zhou Youwei.

However, the content of the resume was not an introduction to their cooking skills, but rather clips of their past food-related videos.

Liu Tang studied the video carefully and said, "This Miss Feng, in order to diet, bought food, took photos, and then threw it away. She also bullied a classmate by knocking over his food and pouring it on his head... It seems that she doesn't meet our recruitment requirements."

When Feng Xiansu heard Liu Tang's words, she felt a gust of cold wind in front of her.

She took a half step back and looked at the NPC with a bun-shaped head in front of her with some panic.

This feeling of having the past recounted is so familiar, as if I had seen the reappearance of my past in the mirror in the "Wanjing Garden".

At this time, Zhou Youwei also looked at his daughter with some reproach and criticized: "How can you waste food like this, child?"

Liu Tang turned to look at Zhou Youwei and said calmly, "Mr. Zhou, you've previously acquired a fresh fruit tea brand, right? Your brand has been repeatedly exposed for using spoiled fruit as cuts and adding them to your fruit tea, as well as using expired jam and other ingredients.

"Neither of you has a basic respect for food and is truly unsuitable to work in this restaurant."

Zhou Youwei's face flushed red as he dragged Feng Xiansu out, shouting, "You know shit! I'm just saving food!"

Liu Tang felt a little helpless. There were always new surprises every time he met the Zhou and Feng families.

"Xiao Xianyu, is that you?" At this time, a voice came from the door.

Liu Tang looked up and saw Boss Mo, whom he had been waiting for, standing there.