Chapter 48: Have You Become More Beautiful Today?

After the announcement about the change in the beauty standard was broadcasted on the large screen, the citizens of Beauty City gathered in the square finally shifted their attention away from Chen Jinken and the others, eagerly anticipating the beauty standard for tomorrow.

"Oh, the beauty standard is changing tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder what the new beauty direction will be?

Personally, I think a high nose bridge and big eyes are more attractive than just being thin. I hope it's one of those two options tomorrow!"

"High nose bridges and big eyes are such outdated beauty standards. In my opinion, the taller, the better. It doesn't matter how you look; as long as you're tall, you won't be ugly!"

"No, no, no, it's definitely about being pale! So pale that you glow! So pale that you're translucent! So pale that there's no hint of blood color! One's paleness can cover a hundred flaws! As long as someone is pale, they will look good no matter what, but once you're dark, nothing can make you look good!"

"Why are you all arguing here? Just come here at 8 AM tomorrow, and you'll know, right? Anyway, I don't have much of an opinion. I think whatever the beauty standard considers beautiful is beautiful, I will always follow the beauty standard!"

The townspeople, discussing among themselves, gradually dispersed with faces full of anticipation and ease.

However, hearing their discussions, the exiles couldn’t feel at ease; their expressions uncontrollably turned grave—

"Good heavens, we're doomed. I can't even imagine, with Beauty City's extreme standards for beauty, that being skeletal is considered the epitome of beauty. If paleness is prized, do I need to become as white as paper?"

Lu Jun, touching his own face, was deeply unsettled: "Is that even human?"

Zhou Mo chuckled, cracking a dark joke: "Snow White was white as snow."

"But Snow White was born that way. I heard there's a bleaching technique that can turn a black person white. It just might cause skin cancer."

Imagining that scenario, everyone fell into collective silence.

"Be grateful, if whiteness is the beauty standard, the worst we'd have to do is tweak our skin. If, as another townsfolk suggested, height or shortness became the standard..." Seal Fire chuckled, "We'd either have to saw off our leg bones or add extension plates."

"Then, everyone would either be 2.2 meters tall or 1.1 meters short."

The exiles: ...

"Thanks to Mouth Bro!"

Thankfully, this extreme aesthetic standard shifted from seven days to just two, or else it's unimaginable how grotesquely they might have ended up.

Yet, even so, they can't relax now, as the new Beauty Direction will be announced tomorrow. For today, they must adhere to the thinness standard to reach the basic requirement to enter the residential area for rest.

Moreover, they're genuinely famished, truly in need of sustenance now.

Then, Chen Jinyin generously provided verbal slimming to the remaining exiles out of brotherly love.

To be safe, Chen Jinyin adjusted each person's weight by ten to twenty-five pounds according to their body proportions.

After this round of verbal slimming, the entire battalion of exiles looked like uneven stalks of corn, all deviating from healthy weight, ranging from lean to extremely gaunt with sunken cheeks.

"Good heavens, we now look like a bunch of refugees," sighed Afly.

"I think anorexic patients is a more fitting description," Lv Jun said grimly. "I absolutely won't look in a mirror today; it's too hideous. Plus, I feel like my strength, defense, speed, and agility have all decreased, along with my life force."

Chen Jinyin did not deny Lv Jun's statement, because in fact, after this round of weight loss, everyone's five major attributes had indeed dropped.

Of course, he was the exception. He used the energy values he had reclaimed and his daily recovery to add 0.3 to his own strength.

But clearly, the thinner the body, the worse its condition becomes. Perhaps, in the pursuit of ultimate beauty, an exile's attributes might drop to their lowest.

Ultimate beauty = Ultimate fragility

This is probably an invisible rule hidden within the City of Beauty.

"Alright, alright, let's not waste any more time. Let's go fill our stomachs and then head to bed. I truly feel so weak now; I hope tomorrow comes quickly and stops me from getting any thinner!" Brother Xiong roared, echoing everyone's sentiments.

So, the group of acquaintances hurried off to have lunch, managing to blend in with their skinny appearances. However, compared to those exiles or townsfolk who had lost thirty or even forty to sixty pounds, they received no enthusiastic welcome but were merely allowed a simple meal.

But this was enough to soothe their intense hunger.

Afterwards, they used their faces to get a bread or a pack of instant noodles for dinner at the supermarket, then headed back to their respective neighborhoods, looking pallid.

Inside the supermarket, Chen Jinyin and his group of about thirty ran into Lu Lu and other exiles who had left earlier. As they had said, these dozens of exiles went straight to the beauty salon to lose weight. Now, they looked as if they could be blown over by the wind, pale and more gaunt than Chen Jinyin and his group.

If Chen Jinyin and his group were still somewhat sturdy stalks, then Lu Lu and her companions were like straw, frail no matter how you looked at them.

Chen Jinyin noticed their life values and attributes hovering dangerously around one-fifth.

Yet, even so, when they saw Chen Jinyin and his group, they still carried a sense of smug satisfaction.

"Hah, in the end, you guys also had to lose weight, huh? But you really didn't push yourselves hard enough, did you? Just losing a mere ten or so pounds, how do you even dare to shop at the supermarket?"

"Brother Liu, they can't compare to us! We can freely choose anything we want in the supermarket, get whatever we want, but look at them, each limited to one item only!"

"That's the difference! So much for 'Mouth Brother,' his power of words isn't all that impressive."

Chen Jinyin didn't even bother to respond to them.

He could already predict the expressions on these people's faces tomorrow.

Given the devourers' nasty, ferocious, and shameless nature, it's highly likely that tomorrow's beauty trend will be the most provocative one.

Those who laugh today might cry even harder tomorrow.

And indeed, Chen Jinyin's prediction was not wrong.

Or rather, these devourers delight in toying with human emotions, witnessing the transition from joy to despair in humans, feasting on the various negative energies that humans release in their desperation.

When the next morning came, and Chen Jinyin and his group were again led by the neighborhood auntie to the Beautiful Plaza, the giant screen displayed the figures of a man and a woman from afar as they approached.

The two individuals on the screen contrasted starkly with the slender, lightweight man and woman from two days prior.

They were very fat, very round.

With each step they took, the fat on their faces and bodies jiggled, and then the two of them leisurely lay on the grass bathed in warm sunlight, caressing their round bellies with fat hands, their faces bearing lazy, slack smiles.

[In these peaceful times, a broad heart and a plump body! Nothing is more comforting and beautiful than being plump! The beauty trend for today and tomorrow—fat is fabulous!]

[Citizens of the City of Beauty, let's get moving and beautify ourselves together!]

Jin Chen, looking at the man and woman on the big screen who could barely walk, finally had an expression that was hard to describe.

He never wanted to get fat like that.

At this moment, a neighborhood auntie spoke up: “Oh my, these days fat is considered beautiful! This beauty trend is changing quite fast, isn’t it?”

“But I also think skinny people really don't look good. Look at those thin arms and legs, like they could be blown over by the wind, tsk tsk tsk, being plump is definitely better, it signifies prosperity!”

Saying so, the neighborhood auntie disdainfully looked towards Jin Chen and others: “Oh my, look at how thin you all are now! How can you be so skinny! You're almost skeletal!”

“You can't even bear to look like this, at least you haven't gone mad being skinny as a rail! Otherwise, it would be truly ugly!”

“The beauty trend is being plump! Let me tell you, you can't even enter the community looking like that! Today you must gain twenty pounds, and it would be better if you could put on another thirty pounds by tomorrow!”

Jin Chen: ...

Lyu Jun's expression was almost numb.

"Is this damned City of Beauty deliberately messing with our minds?! Is it intentionally messing with us?! Just yesterday and the day before, we crazily lost twenty pounds, and today we're supposed to gain it back in one day?! Are they treating us like human balloons?!"

Everyone's morale was breaking, but what really shattered it was something Jin Chen said:

"Folks, I just tried to increase my weight," Jin Chen revealed a forced smile. "Adding 5 pounds requires 100 energy points."

The exiles: ?!?!

"Oh, this damned City of Beauty! Why are the costs for losing and gaining weight not the same?!"

Jin Chen: "So, I suggest we all go to the beauty salon. I'm going too."

The people: ...

We understand going to the beauty salon, but why are you, who clearly can afford it, being so stingy?!

Just when everyone was feeling quite terrible, feeling tricked and played, several disturbances suddenly occurred in the Beauty Square.

First off, there was a group of citizens from the City of Beauty to the right and in front of Jin Chen and his companions, forming an intimidating circle around one person, all pointing and cursing at them.

"My goodness, look at how ugly he is! I've never seen someone so ugly, it's truly an eyesore!"

"Exactly, how can someone be this skinny? Being a bit thin is already unhealthy, but look at him, he's become a skeleton, a living skeleton! Can this even be considered human?! Too ugly, too ugly!"

"Of course, he can't be considered human looking like that, let alone beautiful. Ah, I saw this person swaggering around various restaurants and malls just yesterday, how could he have the nerve? Truly, ugliness begets audacity! Ugliness begets audacity!"

"So ugly! Just go die!"

"Really ugly, a gust of wind could blow him over, what a disgrace!"

"Such a skinny person doesn't deserve to live in this world, why haven't you died yet?"

Jin Chen and the others approached the encircled area and saw, beyond the crowd, the "skeleton" being accused by the citizens.

Jin Chen recognized the person's appearance and clothing at a glance; it was the "invincible handsome man" who had nearly met the target effortlessly after the announcement that thin was beautiful on the big screen in the square the day before yesterday.

The man who, just two days ago, was envied, praised, and confidently accepted various forms of flattery from everyone.

And now, he was surrounded by those who once envied, praised, and flattered him, pointed at by countless fingers, cursed at by countless mouths, standing in shock, clutching the skin on his body tightly.

"I, I, I,"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be this thin! But I was born unable to eat much..."

"I'm so sorry, so sorry, so sorry, so sorry, my ugliness has tarnished the beauty of the City of Beauty! I'm guilty, I'm guilty, I deserve to die!"

As he uttered those last words, a glimmer of light flashed across his gaunt, skeletal face.

He stretched out his hands and strangled himself, his expression manic: "This ugly creature doesn't deserve to live in the City of Beauty!"

Snap.

With that shout, the skeletal, invincible handsome man directly broke his own neck.

Perhaps because there was no flesh on his neck, the sound of the bone breaking was particularly clear.

！！！！

All the exiles who saw this couldn't help but gasp.

Chu Tiankuo's voice was icy cold: "If being thin is considered beautiful for seven days, each of us would end up like him."

He didn't continue, but nearly everyone understood his meaning—

If being thin as the beauty standard continued for seven days, they would all constantly lose weight every day to meet the daily slimming beauty criteria. By the seventh day, the standard for being thin would be extremely stringent, making each of them skeletal. Then, when the new beauty trend is announced on the eighth day...

All the exiles who became skeletal would probably be immediately surrounded and criticized in Beauty Square.

Then, countless fingers would be pointing at their faces, and countless mouths would be scorning their ugliness.

And then, they would die directly.

"Damn it, truly damn it!" Chen Qiang cursed.

The other disturbances around the square were similar to that of the skeleton man, all because they were too thin and were pointed out by the citizens, leading them directly to death without a chance to change.

Then, these citizens, who were already very thin, almost indistinguishable from skeletons, began frantically running towards the beauty salons outside the square.

[The text "山瘐～息～督～迦Ｌ" seems to be either garbled or in a language/format that's not directly translatable or understandable in the given context.]

Panic that was hard to articulate was written all over their faces—hurry, hurry, hurry up and become beautiful!

How can they be so thin now?

Being this thin, how can they even live!

Thus, long lines formed again outside the countless beauty salons, where people who once sought to lose weight and have liposuction now sought to inject even more fat or fillers into their bodies.

Chen Shijin and his friends approached a breakfast shop next to the Royal Dreamy Beauty Salon, where the loud owner announced, "Men must weigh over 140! Women over 120 to enter the shop! That's the bare minimum! Men over 180 or 200, come eat whatever you want! Women over 160 to achieve a plump and beautiful look!"

Chen Shijin chuckled, "Heh."

He turned his head to look at the Royal Dreamy Beauty Salon, where the familiar tailcoat-wearing beautician stood at the door.

At this moment, he held a large plate in his hands, topped with a calorie-dense fried chicken burger and a cream cake, alongside a table filled with various high-calorie foods.

As Chen looked his way, the tailcoat-wearing beautician smiled, "Mr., we meet again."

"Are you here for a weight gain treatment?"

"We offer two types of weight gain: one involves injecting synthetic fats and fillers into the body, allowing you to gain dozens of pounds in a short period."

"The other is a more natural method, consuming specially prepared weight-gain food. The pounds you eat are the pounds you'll gain!"

Chen first looked at the table of food that seemed quite appetizing, then asked, "Why synthetic fats and fillers?"

"Didn't these beauty salons remove those infamous fats and flesh before?"

The tailcoat-wearing beautician laughed, "Do you really need to ask? You should have guessed the answer, right?"

"Beauty salons aren't charities. Real and fake, good and bad, they're not priced the same."

"But rest assured, even though they're synthetic fats and fillers, they won't pose any life-threatening risks to our clients."

As he spoke, a couple, a man and a woman, walked out of the beauty salon, their faces vaguely familiar. However, compared to their extreme thinness a few days ago, they now appeared significantly overweight—

Their hollow cheeks were filled with synthetic fats and fillers, wobbling slightly as they walked. Their once flat bellies were now protruding, and their slim limbs had become round and plump.

They looked like two walking footballs.

Chen gazed at their faces, still smiling with the belief they had become more beautiful, with no doubt that tomorrow they would transform from footballs into soccer or basketballs.

But through Chen's slightly glowing celestial eye, the man and woman who appeared to have gained weight were, beneath their stretched skin, still as fragile as ever, their organs and bones easily shattered.

Just like Lu Jun said, they didn't resemble people but rather balloons, arbitrarily tossed around.

Chen remained silent.

"Sir, would you prefer rapid weight gain or food-based weight gain?" the tailcoat-wearing beautician asked with a smile.

Under the watchful eyes of others, Chen reached for a small cake on the table and put it in his mouth.

Then, his expression contorted.

"Ugh! What the hell is this dreadful taste?! How could this possibly be a Black Forest cake?! This beauty salon wouldn't be scamming us with fakes, would it?!" Lu Jun, witnessing Chen's almost transcendental expression, widened his eyes in shock and began to retch uncontrollably, clutching his throat.

Similarly, other exiles who had chosen to eat, holding their fried chicken, burgers, chocolate, and cheese, all wore faces of disbelief.

Something was off about the taste!

Eating it, there was no hint of sweetness; in fact, forget sweetness, it was as if it had no taste at all.

It felt like taking a raw bite of lard.

Not just one type of food, but all the food shared this taste.

The tailcoat-wearing beautician watched their expressions of dismay with a very pleased smile.

"Ah, did I not mention? This is specially formulated weight-gain food."

"You didn't think ordinary food would suffice to gain the desired weight, did you?"

Chen Shijin remained silent.

This damned City of Beauty.

The exiles remained silent.

This damned City of Beauty!!

As if feeling the current level of excitement wasn't enough, the smile on the tailcoat-wearing beautician's face grew even wider:

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't be picky eaters. At first, you might find the taste bland and not very appealing, but after a while, you'll fall in love with the feeling of fullness.

Just like that person over there."

Everyone looked in the direction the tailcoat-wearing beautician pointed, only to see someone squatting in the corner of the Royal Dreamy Beauty Salon, voraciously eating bite after bite without stopping.

He incessantly stuffed his mouth with those special cupcakes, drumsticks, butter, and fatty meat, eating while showing a supremely satisfied smile and shaking his head.

"Ah! So delicious!"

"Ahahaha... I've gained another round of weight!"

"Indeed, skinny is the ugliest, fat is beautiful! I want to be the most beautiful one! The most beautiful one!"

Even though his mouth was greasy and his eyes glazed over as his stomach turned into a sphere, he kept crazily stuffing food into his mouth.

He suddenly looked up, his gaze meeting Chen and the others. For a moment, his eyes seemed to clear, but then the lucidity quickly faded.

With a grin, he said to them, "I want to be the fattest and most beautiful person!"

Chen recognized him; he was Cai Haitao, the exile who had lost thirty pounds yesterday and then ate freely at the restaurant.

But this Cai Haitao no longer recognized anyone.

He seemed more like a citizen obsessed with "beauty."