Chapter 43: Did You Become Beautiful Today?

When Chen Shijin came to his senses, he was standing in a room with no one else around.

Clearly, unlike the previous times when everyone landed in one place, this time the devourer's world seemed to intend for them to operate solo.

This room must be his residence in the City of Beauty.

Chen Shijin thought as he surveyed the house, finding the one-bedroom, one-living-room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom setup quite spacious. The living room had only a sofa, the bedroom beside it had just a bed and a wardrobe, the bathroom had only a towel and a set of toothbrush and toothpaste, utterly lacking any other appliances, decorations, or miscellaneous items.

But stranger than these areas was the kitchen—aside from a kettle and a glass cup, it literally had nothing else. No pots for cooking, no basins for washing vegetables, nor any common seasonings, dishes, or utensils.

If it weren't for the brand-new gas stove, Chen Shijin would doubt whether this was a kitchen at all.

"So, does the City of Beauty not eat? Is thinness considered beauty?"

Chen Shijin raised an eyebrow and muttered.

As he muttered, he checked his golden gemstone mobile phone but didn't see any world mission pop up.

This was somewhat unusual.

Just then, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door.

"306! The resident of 306! Are you ready? The beauty trendsetter of the week is about to be announced at the square, we need to catch the trend at the first moment and then make changes right away! Otherwise, our community's honor of the Star of Beauty is at risk!"

The knocking was so loud it hurt Chen Shijin's ears, but he managed to pick up some information from the knocker's words. Thus, he responded and slightly altered his facial features and aura before opening the door.

He was then greeted by an enthusiastic auntie standing at the door, along with a few faces behind her, some familiar and some not.

The familiar ones were too familiar.

The unfamiliar ones were completely unknown to him.

"Bro, is that you, bro!" Lyu Jun recognized him in two seconds, his face lighting up with joy: "Just by looking at those eyes, eyebrows, and body outline I knew it was you! I live right across from you! Just like at our mom and aunt's old home!"

Chen Shijin didn't know what to say to this green tea (slang for someone who pretends to be innocent) for a moment.

Recognized him in just two seconds, should he say it's the bond of blood?

No, it must be a conditioned reflex triggered by his stare.

He walked past the green tea to a visibly exhausted Zhou Mo.

After hearing Lyu Jun's words, Zhou Mo knew this slightly altered-faced person was the powerful boss he was hoping for. His expression brightened a bit, intending to greet him, but his face fell again upon hearing Chen Shijin's next question.

"What's 3+7 now?"

Zhou Mo sullenly replied: "It's still 3, but now with an added 'strike' status. It allows me to make a chosen target angrily go on strike. However, anger can not only cause a strike but might also trigger an explosion or even provoke the target's berserk state."

So, this skill is still... a mix of opportunity and potential trouble.

Chen Shijin inexplicably felt pleased.

After all, he wasn't the corporate drone.

"Alright, alright, you young folks stop chatting and hurry up with me to the Beauty Square! Our district must keep the honor of the Star of Beauty this week, and if anyone drags us down, don’t blame me for not letting you into the community to sleep."

Chen Shijin's eyebrows lifted slightly, clearly recognizing this as a condition for survival.

Lyu Jun and Zhou Mo took the initiative to follow behind Chen Shijin, and besides them, Chen Shijin noticed one man and two women also moving closer to them. Their slightly panicked and cautious demeanor stood out from the rest of the relaxed crowd, likely also exiles who had been devoured and brought here.

Chen Shijin thought about Bai Ling, who had exploded all her energy to attract a dominator-level devourer, as well as the forty-one other mutual aid society exiles besides himself.

Bai Ling, having expended all her energy, must be in a very weakened state now and might not survive, while the others, although not killed by a single word from him,

would need at least ten minutes and at least 100 energy points to break free from his "Do not leave" word spirit effect.

Missing these 10 minutes and 100 energy points would likely directly affect their actions and missions in this world.

Thus, there's no need to worry about those forty-two people, he believed...

"The wicked have their own grind."

Saying so, Chen Shijin followed the enthusiastic aunt and dozens of people from the community towards Beauty Square.

Beauty Square is the largest gathering place in the City of Beauty, featuring a shiny golden platform in the center and a large screen behind it, seemingly a spot for announcing important matters.

At this moment, the platform was unoccupied, displaying only the time on its screen.

As the clock on the screen ticked from 7:59:59 to 8:00:00, the figures of a man and a woman appeared on the large screen.

Chen Shijin's first reaction upon seeing the large screen was that these two were quite thin.

Lyu Jun, whispering behind him, critiqued: "Aren't these two way too skinny? How much do they weigh? Does the guy even hit 120 pounds? And the girl, does she make it to 90?"

As he made his remarks, the man and woman on the screen started moving, their bodies gracefully dancing and leaping with the wind, set against the backdrop of floating clouds and agile swallows, indeed presenting a semblance of beauty.

Then, the word "Slim" slowly appeared on the large screen.

A mechanical voice also began to speak: [This week's beauty trend in the City of Beauty—Slim is Beautiful.]

[Please strive to become beautiful, making the City of Beauty even more splendid!]

Following the mechanical announcement, Chen Shijin felt his golden gemstone mobile phone vibrate. Opening it, he indeed saw the belated world mission.

[Survival Task in the City of Beauty: Maintain "beauty" within the mission period. Do not be judged as "ugly" by more than three people, or you will be killed for being too ugly.

Mission Duration: Four weeks.

Mission Reward: Gain the recognition of the City of Beauty and survive successfully.]

[World Mission: Become universally recognized as beautiful. If everyone in the City of Beauty is astonished by your beauty, your fame will reach the city's ruler. The ruler will grant the beautiful the highest honor.

Mission Reward: Gratitude from the citizens of the City of Beauty. Devourer Core × 1.]

[All exiles are encouraged to strive towards beauty, wishing you won't become a devoured delicacy.]

Chen Shijin, upon seeing this world mission, immediately spotted the huge pitfall hidden within.

Should one say it's worthy of a dominator-level devourer? Both the survival and world missions lack concrete criteria for completion, being highly subjective.

And once the evaluation becomes subjective, many unexpected possibilities can arise. Not only do all citizens of the City of Beauty need to be carefully treated, even appeased, but attempting to initiate the world mission is nearly impossible—

Standards of beauty vary greatly from person to person; it's almost impossible for everyone to agree on who is beautiful. Not to mention the City of Beauty changes its beauty trendsetter every week, to meet the trend and be considered beautiful by everyone would require a celestial being, wouldn't it?

Chen Shijin put away his phone and remained silent. In this world, his abilities were hardly effective.

Even if he were to adorn himself with a celestial halo, if someone prefers a little devil type, then the world mission remains untriggered.

Could it really come down to saying, "Everyone thinks I'm super beautiful"?

But that would mean controlling the entire population of the City of Beauty, essentially going against the dominator-level devourer of the City of Beauty.

He simply didn't have that much energy.

Tsk.

It's a bit troublesome, but luckily there's plenty of time to think it over.

At this moment, Chen Shijin noticed the citizens of the City of Beauty on the square starting to get restless, shouting something as they turned their heads towards the beauty salons on the street outside the square.

"Oh no, this week it's about being slim! My figure is totally not up to par! I need to at least get down to 90 pounds, no, no, no, maybe 80 pounds. 80 pounds should be pretty enough." This was said by a female citizen who was about 160cm tall.

The female citizen beside her, who was a bit shorter, was even more frantic.

"If you're going for 80, then I need to be 70 to even show my face outside! Hurry, let's rush to the beauty salon for liposuction, if we're late we'll have to wait in line for ages!"

Chen Shijin watched these two not-at-all-fat female citizens walking arm in arm towards the beauty salon, struggling to keep a straight face.

If a 160cm tall woman needs to be 80 pounds to be considered beautiful, then what about him, a 180cm tall male? 100 pounds?

Then, Chen Shijin heard a manic laugh nearby.

"Hehehehe hahahaha! Finally, this week's trend is slimness! Of course, skinny people are the most beautiful! It was worth it eating only one meal for three consecutive months! Just one bun per meal! Now I am the most beautiful man!"

"A man as beautiful as me, everyone who sees me should bow down! They must all praise my beauty and satisfy all my demands! Hahahaha, this week I am the invincible handsome man!"

Chen Shijin looked at this madly laughing "invincible handsome man," his face frozen in disbelief.

This man was about half a head shorter than him, around 175cm, but he was so skinny that he was practically skin and bones.

From the open collar, one could see his sharply defined chest bones, and the arms he excitedly waved around resembled two flesh-colored sticks. What's more shocking was his face, with sunken cheeks and his eyes, nose, and mouth protruding abnormally, a large head frame with thin limbs, making him look bizarre.

Yet, he was laughing proudly.

Damn, this man couldn't possibly weigh more than 60 kilograms in total.

"An invincible pretty boy?!"

Zhou Mo's voice drifted from behind, eerily: "If I looked like that, I truly wouldn't be able to crack a smile."

Chen Jia and Lu Jun nodded in agreement.

However, this man, as thin as a skeleton, suddenly turned to look at the three of them. His appearance was so shocking that for a moment, Chen Jia considered claiming self-defense if he ended up killing him.

Yet, this skeletal man merely scrutinized them from head to toe, especially Chen Jia in the middle, before showing an expression full of disdain and triumph:

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk."

"You guys really are hard on the eyes right now."

"A real man shouldn't weigh more than 80 kilograms. Look at yourselves, what have you become? Better start losing weight now!"

Chen Jia, with a sturdy build weighing 130 kilograms, was speechless.

Lu Jun, slightly underweight and petite at 120 kilograms, was also speechless.

Zhou Mo, with a frail figure weighing 130 kilograms: "..."

They never imagined they'd one day be attacked over their physiques.

And now they need to lose dozens of kilograms!