Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 198 Empty Streets and the Aura of the Gluttonous Beast
"On streets of extreme hunger, even your shadow will try to bite you."

"You want to live? The price is... can you eat it?"

The wind blows across the quiet street corner, swirling up a pile of tattered flyers and black-and-white photographs, which dance in the absurd air like memories out of control.

In the distance, the metal Ferris wheel creaked and groaned slowly, each sound like the mournful groan of rusty joints, the grinding of metal.

Like a cry on the verge of collapse, it echoed mournfully under the empty sky.

The dim streetlights lit up haphazardly, one by one, casting dappled and unstable light onto the haphazardly pieced-together street.

The paving stones rose and collapsed, and at the end of the intersection was a precipice, while the high-rise buildings, still lit up, seemed to be imitating the shape of a "city."

But it has long lost its "human" soul, like a corpse still dressed and sitting at a banquet, its smile stiff.

Vera stood in the dim light, a gentle breeze ruffling her golden-brown hair. Her eyes were calm, and her expression serene as she surveyed the faces of the crowd.

At that moment, she was like a shepherd, watching over a flock of nameless lambs who had just emerged from purgatory.

After confirming there was no immediate threat, she gently patted her trench coat, her voice soft yet carrying an undeniable, calm strength:
"We need to take action."

"No matter how absurd the structure of this city is or how bizarre its rules are, the first thing we need to ensure is survival."

She turned around, slightly raised her hand, and her voice clearly reached everyone's ears:

"From now on, the first priority is to find three things: clean water, edible resources, and shelters that can be sealed off."

"Form teams and maintain formation. Anyone who leaves the team without permission will be considered to have abandoned the group and will not receive any protection."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone trembled slightly; some looked frightened, while others lowered their heads in thought. But no one objected.

Si Ming leaned against a dilapidated bench on the street, like a passerby waiting for a bus, when he heard Vera speak.
He only yawned slightly, his eyes half-open: "That makes sense. It would be too undignified to starve to death outside the dungeon."

Zhuang Yege didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, and walked discreetly to the back of the group, moving close to the ground like a shadow.

Just as everyone began to organize their equipment and adjust their ranks as Vera had instructed—

Wang Yichen quietly pulled Duan Xingzhou's elbow.

“Hey,” he said in a low voice, “we need to talk.”

He pulled Duan Xingzhou behind a moss-covered broken pillar, glanced around to make sure the three mystery masters weren't paying attention, and then quickly whispered:

“Brother Duan, you and I both understand, these people—” He turned his head, his gaze sharp as needles as he pointed at Vera and Zhuang Yege.

"They're different. They have special abilities and authority over the world. Do you think they'll give up their resources to us when resources are scarce?"

Duan Xingzhou did not answer, but frowned and silently rubbed his cuffs with his fingers.

"Don't wait to break up. By the time you want to break up, you're finished," Wang Yichen continued, his tone rapid and anxious.
"We won't rob, we'll 'defend.' First, we'll organize the ordinary people, establish internal understanding, and control water and food supplies. Only with resources in hand can our formation remain stable."

Duan Xingzhou hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "...I'll keep an eye on them."

Afterwards, Wang Yichen met with Liu Jingyu and Eileen separately, offering words of comfort and strategic analysis.

His rationality is convincing, and his eloquence is enough to win people's hearts.

Although the two hesitated, they ultimately agreed to follow his plan.

A calm and hidden crack slowly opened up in the ruins.

Meanwhile, in front of the fountain ruins, Vera had completed the initial reorganization of the team.

The front group – the outer perimeter search – consisted of Rudolf, Lin Wan'er, Mu Sisi, and Wang Yichen, while Si Ming was assigned to this group for “observing the path”.

The rear guard – internal security – consists of Eileen, Fujimiya Sumire, and Duan Xingzhou, with Zhuang Yege bringing up the rear and Vera directing operations from the center.

When the division was made, no one questioned it, not even Wang Yichen said much. His eyes just became more serious, and the smile on his lips was stiff and unnatural.

Vera could see it clearly, but she simply smiled quietly.

Because she knew that ordinary people like Wang Yichen, who were good at manipulating people's hearts, were often the most vulnerable to the "backlash of fate."

And fate never fails the most enthusiastic audience members offstage.

As the group slowly passed through the park's iron fence, each step felt like stepping from a dream into a waking illusion.

Outside, there was a completely out-of-control urban ruin.

The streets meandered and twisted, the asphalt cracking and bulging like dark veins.

The ground was raised high by the roots of some kind of giant plant, and a bus was upside down, embedded in the broken wall of an office building.
The wrecked rear of the car was still slowly spinning at an unnatural rhythm, creaking and rattling.

The sky above was no longer the normal dome—the gray-blue clouds were torn into a spiderweb pattern, like bandages spat out by some decaying god, covering the entire city's dome.

The electric arc fell silently, tearing twisted white streaks through the clouds, but never bringing thunder, as if even sound had been cut off from this world.

They advanced along the main road, crossing three broken side streets, the ridge of broken bricks and glass crunching under their feet.

As she walked through a section of the burned-down shopping mall corridor, Mu Sisi suddenly stopped.

"...Can you smell something?"

Everyone stopped immediately.

A strange aroma drifted through the street corner, carrying an intensely rich and tantalizing scent—grilled meat, cheese, bell peppers, tangerines, and caramel.
There was also a kind of almost fishy-sweet floral fragrance... layer upon layer, intertwined, like the materialized release of a hungry illusion.

Rudolf's expression changed drastically, and he pointed ahead, "There's a light over there."

The group quickened their pace and passed through a collapsed brick wall—before their eyes came an indescribable street.

It was a street that looked like a festival had just begun. Signboards gleamed, neon lights reflected the orange-red light of the waves, and red and white flags fluttered in the wind;
The stalls were filled with tempting food: charcoal-grilled steaks were spinning, candies were piled high, and juices, noodle soups, and cream cakes were neatly arranged.

The sausages sizzled and dripped oil, the milk tea steamed, and the popcorn bucket was overturned on the floor, as if a child had just knocked it over.

But there was no one there.

The entire street was deserted.

It was as if time had frozen five minutes before the festival began, and all the "people" had been suddenly removed.
Only the smell, the light, and the sound continue the performance.

"Welcome home—welcome home—"

A loudspeaker played a loop at the street corner, the voice sweet but with a mechanical distortion.
It's like a little girl repeatedly reading into a toy microphone, her laughter masking a twitching, broken feeling.

Vera stood at the front of the group, her expression tense, a sharp glint in her eyes: "Be careful. Something's not right here."

Wang Yichen stared at an automatically rotating fried chicken stand, golden oil dripping from the heating lamp.
It was like a tempting invitation: "Could it be... a new instance?" His response was a system notification, echoing simultaneously from every wall in the city, as if the entire city itself were proclaiming a command:
[Instance Opens: Gluttonous Food Exhibition]

[Limited Theme: Providing what you need, giving you what you ask for.]

[Instance Mechanism: It only begins when you are hungry.]

As the notification tone faded, the entire street seemed to awaken from its slumber, the temperature suddenly rose several degrees, and smoke curled up, rising in the air like an illusion.

It's not that the light is enhanced, but rather that the "information" is amplified: the smell becomes more intense, and the colors seem to have been saturated.
The sounds overlapped, syrup flowed past my ears, the sweetness of cream lingered on my taste buds, and the aroma of meat seemed to burn against my nose.

Fujimiya Sumi instinctively stepped back, desperately covering her nose, but she could still feel the salty aroma of grilled meat and the oily smell of sweets surging deep in her nasal cavity.

She whispered in terror, "...But I'm not hungry at all."

Mu Sisi stared blankly at the candied hawthorn stall. The sugar coating was crystal clear, like rubies and glass, and each fruit was so plump that it looked almost sickly.

"This isn't right...this color...it's not a natural color," she murmured to herself. "It looks like a picture with an overly strong filter."

The longer she stared at it, the "self" reflected on the sugar-coated fruit seemed to slowly open its mouth and chew on itself.

Lin Wan'er leaned on Rudolf's shoulder, her voice trembling: "We can't go in...we shouldn't go in..."

Eileen, her voice trembling and her expression panicked, said, "I...I'm really hungry."

She looked down and realized that her fingers were clenched into fists, her knuckles were white, and she felt nothing.

That's not her choosing what to eat.

It's a copy, and in choosing who to take the first bite.

Rudolf grabbed Eileen, his tone calm and resolute:
"This street is abnormal. It's not just the smell, but the sight, hearing, smell, and touch—all of them are being forcibly activated."

It is using multi-sensory stimulation to create the illusion of 'hunger'.

He raised his head, his eyes sharp as a scalpel: "And the most terrifying thing is—it succeeded."

Eileen froze for half a second, looking down at her still trembling fingertips, her throat feeling as if something was blocking it, and she couldn't make a sound.

Si Ming stood at the street corner, one hand in his pocket, the other slowly twirling the unbound die.

A cryptic smile flickered across his face, as if he had just finished watching a dark and absurd drama that had just begun.

"Using taste as a hook and smell as a fuse, this is a very sophisticated scheme."

He spoke slowly, his voice low yet chillingly calm, "And right now... we haven't even figured out how to 'start' the instance."

"This isn't bait, this is feeding them." His gaze swept over the slowly rotating column of meat at the barbecue stall at the end of the street.
His eyes were icy. "Are we hunters? Or just the dish being served?"

Vera's expression suddenly hardened; she remained motionless, yet her voice pierced the mist like a bell:
"Everyone—stop moving!"

She glanced around, her tone deliberate and unyielding:

"The instance has been activated, but it hasn't revealed how it was triggered. This means that the countdown may have already begun the moment we 'entered the street corner'."

She paused, gazing at the empty stalls, the neon signs seeming like a signal seared into her soul:
"Don't touch."

"Don't eat it."

Don't try to understand it.

"We haven't figured out yet—whether we welcome 'humans' or 'food' here."

In short, it was like a needle piercing the most sensitive spot in everyone's nerves.

Wang Yichen fell silent. He stared at the slowly rotating barbecue pole in the middle of the street, the meat bulging and the muscle definition clearly visible.
Each rotation produced a faint clicking sound, like "bone cracking," or a corpse groaning softly as it was being roasted.

He swallowed hard, his lips dry, and he murmured in a hoarse voice:
"We...are standing in the dream of a starving madman."

And that dream has no intention of ending.

The unattended stalls stood quietly, red and white lanterns hanging high, like swollen eyeballs embedded in the night, dripping imperceptible tears.

The floor tiles are like a damp tongue; with each step, it feels as if you're stepping into the stomach of a silent person.

The further you go in, the stronger the aroma, the richer the colors, and the more chaotic the sounds become.

The sounds of frying pans turning, syrup dripping, and hot oil sizzling filled the air, as if the entire street was being used to construct a nightmare maze built by smell and hunger with "food".

On all the stall signs, only one sentence was flashing:
"Feedback is welcome."

"You won't know who you are until you taste it."

A murmur drifted on the wind.

It doesn't belong to any particular voice, it's neither male nor female, it's neither human.

The sound seemed to seep slowly from the cracks in the floor tiles, perhaps an echo from deep within a throat, or perhaps the "breathing" of the space itself.

"...Are you hungry?"

The next second, a system notification suddenly rang out, directly invading everyone's eardrums and the depths of their consciousness:
[Instance now open: Gourmet Food Exhibition]

[Rules not yet determined.]

Please explore freely.

[The copy is now officially in effect—from the moment you "take action."]

The light and shadow shifted, the streetlights flashed collectively, and then with a "snap," it was as if an invisible fuse had been lit.

The air suddenly became heavy, as if the walls of the world's stomach were slowly closing.

Fujimiya Sumi's throat went dry. She wanted to call for help, but all she could hear was the sound of her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

She could no longer tell whether she was just too hungry or the whole city was too eager to devour her.

They don't know,

This is a feast that even chopsticks shouldn't be touched.

"And some people have already smelled their own scent."

(End of this chapter)