Chapter 44: Did You Become Prettier Today?

Chapter 44: Did You Become Prettier Today?

The skeleton-like invincible handsome man's verbal assault momentarily left Chen Shijin at a loss for words, because this guy genuinely believed he was a super handsome man and truly thought the three of them were unbearably fat.

Not a trace of insincerity, just genuine critique.

It's hard to judge.

So, all Chen Shijin could do was watch as this skin-and-bones "invincible handsome man" turned and shakily, bones clacking, strutted off the square with a flamboyant and proud air.

Astonishingly, the citizens of the City of Beauty he passed by cooperated by showing him looks of envy and admiration, with some girls even making heart gestures with their hands, and some boys whistling and clapping.

When he reached his destination, a breakfast shop by the square, the shop's manager and staff actually all came out to line up and bow in welcome.

Chen Shijin: …

What kind of absurd aesthetics and world is this?

Seeing the breakfast shop's sign, Chen Shijin's stomach also began to clamor with hunger, it being just after eight in the morning, indeed breakfast time.

Lyu Jun and Zhou Mo, in unison, suddenly clutched their stomachs: "Cousin, let's go have breakfast, this meal's on me!"

Lyu Jun looked at Chen Shijin with hopeful eyes, but before his dear cousin could reply, the enthusiastic auntie from the neighborhood chimed in with her disapproval:

"Oh my, look at yourselves, how fat you all have become! How dare you even think of eating? Today, you must lose 5-10 pounds to be allowed into the community. People who are too fat and ugly can't come in!"

Lyu Jun's eyes widened in disbelief: "Auntie, you must be joking, right? How can anyone lose 5 pounds in a day?"

Even if he didn't eat or drink for a day, he'd at most lose a pound or two of water weight by evening. How could a normal person lose 5 pounds of flesh in one day?

The neighborhood auntie, with a matter-of-fact face: "How can you not lose 5 pounds in a day? There are so many beauty salons outside the square. Just a simple liposuction surgery can easily shed 10-20 pounds!"

"But of course, losing 10-20 pounds certainly won't be enough to be beautiful. In my opinion, each of you losing 50 pounds would make you handsome young men!"

Lyu Jun's face turned green, and Zhou Mo, looking at his own arm, solemnly said, "By then, I might as well just die."

"Oh, just hurry up and line up for surgery! If you haven't slimmed down to that extent by today and I don't find you somewhat attractive, you won't be allowed into the neighborhood tonight."

The expression of the neighborhood auntie suddenly became serious and eerie.

"Remember, the ugly have no right to live in the City of Beauty."

After saying this, the auntie left with other people from the neighborhood, most of whom headed straight for the beauty salons around the square with clear intent.

Chen Shijin and his companions exchanged glances, and Lyu Jun quietly asked, "Cousin, are we also going for liposuction?"

"I've looked into this procedure before; it's somewhat dangerous. If it's not a professional hospital, there's a high chance of ending up disabled or disfigured."

Chen Shijin looked at this green tea (someone pretending to be innocent) with an indescribable gaze. Was he really going all out just to attract Liu Da?

Lyu Jun quickly sensed the subtlety of his gaze and immediately shook his head: "I'm not trying to attract that guy! I just showed a bit of interest, and he came over on his own! That guy is no good!

Cousin, you're right not to be interested in him. His phone's WeChat has at least a hundred hook-up contacts; he's made passes at pretty much every slightly attractive man and woman in the company!"

"If it weren't for his decent looks and a bit of money, not to mention he's your fiancé, I wouldn't even bother with him. Plus, I was planning to hook him and then make him wear a few green hats."

"Anyway, I inquired about those beauty procedures because I'm naturally fond of beauty," Lyu Jun earnestly explained while cradling his face.

Chen Shijin thought it would be better if he just kept his mouth shut.

"Let's eat first."

Changing the subject, Chen Shijin spoke and started walking towards the edge of the square. When leaving, he took a moment to observe the remaining people on the square; there were no other exiles nearby, at least not in their vicinity.

However, the square was so large it could accommodate over a hundred thousand people, so it was normal that more than a hundred exiles couldn't gather in one place immediately.

Thinking this, Chen Shijin took out his golden gemstone mobile phone, hoping to see if he could use the shake feature to lock onto the positions of other exiles.

He found that all three icons on the phone were grayed out.

His eyebrows lifted as the phone automatically popped up a message: [Due to the dominator-level force, the mobile phone is suppressed. Please ensure the phone is kept safe and not misplaced, to prevent it from being devoured.]

Chen Shijin's expression turned somewhat serious, realizing that the dominator-level devourer might indeed be quite challenging to deal with.

He put away the phone, and by that time, the three of them had already reached the breakfast shop at the edge of the square.

By the time they arrived, there were already six people standing at the entrance of the breakfast shop, all of whom had rather unpleasant expressions.

Lyu Jun and Zhou Mo's faces darkened even further upon seeing these six individuals.

"Zhao Yujun! Talk about a small world."

The six, upon noticing Lyu Jun and Zhou Mo, immediately became defensive. Chen Shijin noted their appearance and recognized them as six of the forty-two from the mutual aid society.

Their energy levels seemed very low at this moment, and they appeared to be in poor condition.

"Lyu Jun! Zhou Mo!" Zhao Yujun also called out their names with a stern face, giving Chen Shijin a serious look. He only relaxed and became somewhat indecisive upon realizing that Chen Shijin was not the person he thought he was.

He seemed inclined to start a confrontation, given the six-to-three advantage and the fact that he was a Level 3 traveler.

However, being cautious, he noticed Lyu Jun and Zhou Mo facing the six of them without showing any signs of fear, even appearing somewhat provocative, which made him hesitate to act rashly.

Lyu Jun is a classic green tea (someone who appears innocent but is manipulative), embodying the "bully the weak and fear the strong" stereotype.

If it were just him and Zhou Mo, he wouldn't exhibit such a fearless demeanor seeking revenge; hence, the young man standing behind them might be a formidable character.

Consequently, Zhao Yujun suppressed his urge to attack them, opting for verbal persuasion instead.

"...I know you're at odds with the mutual aid society, but now that we're all in the devourer's world, instead of fighting amongst ourselves, it's better to focus on surviving here first before anything else."

"This is a dominator-level City of Beauty. The chances of an exile surviving in this world are less than one in a hundred, and no one has ever successfully initiated a world mission.

In such difficult circumstances, we could help each other out, share information, and maybe even band together to overcome the challenges.

Without saying anything else, I can swear on my soul that I will not harm you in the devourer's world."

Upon hearing this, Lyu Jun scoffed right away: "With your brains and your habit of backstabbing and profiting from others' work, what useful information could you possibly find? It'd be better to just kill you off and convert you into energy points for our benefit."

The five people behind Zhao Yujun showed dangerous intentions at these words, thinking that despite their current poor state and low energy levels, six against three should be an easy win, right?

However, Zhao Yujun stopped them with a hand gesture, focusing on Chen Shijin, who had been silent, and bit his lip: "How about this, we act together. If there's any danger, we can be the cannon fodder to explore and complete the tasks. How does that sound?"

Lyu Jun and Zhou Mo were stunned.

Chen Shijin narrowed his eyes.

Zhao Yujun really was ready to take risks.

But if they were willing to be cannon fodder, that might not be such a bad thing.

Finally, Chen Shijin spoke up.

"Let's agree on that then. But remember, breaking the promise you made will result in something very terrible happening."

Chen Shijin said this with a smile, yet it made Zhao Yujun, who had been paying close attention, suddenly sport an extremely ugly expression.

There's no need for doubt now; this guy, whose face looked completely unfamiliar, was indeed Lyu Jun's troublesome cousin.

"You're Chen Shijin."

Chen Shijin, with a smile: "Ah, you've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Chen Buyan."

"Let's not fuss over names. Why aren't you going in to eat? Can't get in?"

Zhao Yujun's lips twitched, thankful he hadn't acted impulsively. He nodded towards Chen Buyan, "Yes, we can't get in because the owner finds us unattractive."

Chen Shijin blinked.

Lyu Jun, speaking up for his cousin, said, "What's going on? Can't we eat because we're ugly? Won't paying with energy work?"

There was no need for Zhao Yujun to answer; at that moment, the store's proprietress came out. After sizing up the new arrivals from head to toe, she shook her head: "Ah, these three young men do look a bit better than the six over there. But still too fat!"

"All the restaurants in the City of Gastronomy do not accept energy as payment, only beauty. Beautiful people can dine on their looks and figures, while the ugly might as well starve."

Lyu Jun and Zhou Mo were flabbergasted.

Chen Shijin had now seen a world that truly epitomized 'surviving on one's looks'.

So, the entire City of Beauty was forcing exiles to become beautiful as per its standards.

If you're not beautiful enough, you can't eat; if you're not beautiful enough, you can't sleep. Normally, skipping a meal or losing a night's sleep wouldn't be an issue.

But Chen Shijin, feeling his increasingly aching stomach and growing hunger, realized that the City of Beauty had significantly intensified their need for "food and sleep".

Only through such measures can the exiles be coerced into becoming "beautiful" as demanded.

It's just uncertain whether skipping a meal would lead to irrational hunger as it does in the City of Gastronomy.

Chen Shijin thinks skipping one meal probably won't lead to that extreme, but if it's for several days, then it's hard to say.

Because they didn't meet the restaurant's "beauty standards," Chen Shijin, Zhou Mo, and Lyu Jun, along with Zhao Yujun's group of six, all missed out on breakfast.

Worse yet, Zhou Mo discovered that all food categories in the guide's marketplace were locked, and in the City of Beauty, they couldn't convert energy into food either.

"They're just trying to starve us into losing weight and submitting!" Lyu Jun fumed, deciding to resist: "So what if we skip a meal? The longest I've gone without food during a diet was five days, just drinking water! I lost 17 pounds in those five days!"

Thus, Chen Shijin gave his green tea cousin another one of those inscrutable looks.

In a way, this green tea cousin is truly something.

Clearly, on the first day, restrictions on food and sleep were not enough to make the exiles submit.

Consider it a natural weight loss regime.

Nevertheless, Chen Shijin and his group decided to check out a beauty salon to assess the situation.

Although reluctant, Zhao Yujun's group of six followed Chen Buyan's veiled threats obediently.

"Remember, breaking a promise might get you struck by lightning, huh."

Zhao Yujun: ...

I should've been called Zhao Shutup!

Next to the breakfast shop, there's a beauty salon named "Royal Dream Beauty".

Though the name greatly discouraged Chen Shijin from entering, it had the shortest queue, prompting him and the other eight to line up there.

"Honghong, how much weight are you planning to lose?"

A couple ahead of Chen Shijin conversed.

"Let's start with losing 30 pounds? I'd like to lose 50 straight away, but I'm concerned my skin might not adapt well."

"Exactly, let's both start with 30 for today, and come back tomorrow for another 20. Then, we'll be the most beautiful couple~"

"Of course, we aim to be the beauties of the City of Beauty!"

Listening to this made Chen Shijin's stomach churn.

People in line before him entered the beauty salon one by one, emerging transformed.

Chen Shijin calculated that each person needed about an hour for the liposuction procedure, and the "Royal Dream Beauty" salon could accommodate ten individuals at a time.

Everyone coming out of the salon looked drastically different, visibly slimmer by 20-30 pounds.

But there was more to it.

The couple in front of Chen Shijin had relatively well-proportioned bodies.

Chen Shijin estimated that Honghong, the girl, was about 5'3" tall and weighed around 220 pounds.

This height and weight were actually quite healthy and standard, even slightly thin in Chen Shijin's eyes. Yet, such a girl aimed to lose 30 pounds at once, which liposuction alone wouldn't achieve.

Chen Shijin watched as the girl and her boyfriend cheerfully entered the salon, heading straight into the beauty room.

Then, he saw the chief beautician of the "Royal Dream Beauty" salon—

An unsurprisingly dressed man in a tailcoat white lab coat.

"Dear guest, are you here for beauty treatments? Our 'Royal Dream Beauty' salon is a renowned establishment in the City of Beauty, serving even royalty in its earliest days!"

"Your skin seems not very delicate; we offer hydrating and softening treatments here. And your eyes appear somewhat narrow, not quite enchanting. How about an eyelid surgery for rounder eye corners?"

"Oh my, and your lips, not vibrant enough and too thin for that full, sensual look. Why not opt for a lip augmentation and coloring here?"

This tailcoat beautician began by scrutinizing and nitpicking, recommending aggressively until Chen Shijin finally had to smile and say "Shut up" to put an end to it.

After the beautician abruptly fell silent, Chen Shijin could finally ask, "You offer liposuction for weight loss, right? Can you explain how it's done?"

The beautician smiled again at this, his grin containing a hint of eager malice: "Of course! I can even give you a tour of the weight loss process!"

"Our 'Royal Dream Beauty' boasts the most advanced cosmetic technology and equipment. You'll surely be satisfied after seeing it."

Saying this, he extended his hand toward the beauty room, inviting Chen Shijin and the others for a tour.

Lv Jun, somewhat apprehensive, tugged at Chen Shijin's sleeve: "Bro, there isn't a catch, right?"

Chen Shijin disdainfully pulled his sleeve back: "We're just looking. With so many of us, can they really force us to do anything?"

Then he led the way into the beauty room, with the others quickly following.

Coincidentally, the beauty room was currently servicing the couple that had been standing in front of Chen Shijin earlier.

The beauty room was set up to accommodate two people at once, so they were treated together.

Both were lying in a square, transparent beauty capsule, each wearing an expectant smile on their faces.

The tailcoat beautician explained with a smile, "Our crystal beauty capsule releases a charming, soothing fragrance once the client enters, allowing for a pain-free beauty treatment."

Chen Shijin offered a forced smile.

Then, five mechanical arms, each with a syringe that had a large barrel and a long, thin needle, extended above the capsule. To the sound of calming music, these arms mercilessly plunged into the limbs and torso of the man and woman lying in the capsule.

Subsequently, light yellow fat was gradually extracted.

At this moment, the expressions on the faces of the man and woman still bore smiles, and the liposuction technique of this crystal beauty capsule was evidently much simpler than those on Earth, requiring no incisions to locate the fat, just a single puncture to suction out excess fat.

However, Chen Shijin quickly noticed a problem—

As the fat was being extracted from the bodies of the man and woman, their flesh began to shrivel.

The smiles on their faces seemed to fade, and what should have been pale yellow fat started to turn a slight red.

"Why is it turning red?"

Unable to contain his concern, Lv Jun asked, "Are they extracting blood as well?"

Chen Shijin looked up at the numbers displayed above the crystal beauty capsules, which showed only 15 pounds of fat had been extracted.

"…It seems they don't have 30 pounds of fat," Chen Shijin commented.

The tailcoat beautician laughed.

"What's the problem with that? If there's not enough fat, flesh and blood will do."

As his words fell, Chen Shijin saw the five mechanical arms increase their suction strength and emit a buzzing vibration. The syringes, initially filled with pale yellow fat, began to show crimson blood and flesh bits.

Lv Jun and Zhou Mo turned pale, covering their mouths as if they were about to retch.

Meanwhile, Chen Shijin observed the once painlessly smiling young man and woman, whose smiles had now twisted in agony as they trembled with pain, unable to escape the horrific procedure.

Once the large syringes had filled with blood and flesh, the young couple's bodies visibly displayed protruding bones.

Facing the couple who had woken up, barely able to stand, the tailcoat beautician applauded with praise:

"Oh my, congratulations on your successful weight loss! You both look truly beautiful now!"

Thus, the couple, with their cheeks hollowed and still trembling slightly, exchanged glances, revealing happy smiles of being complimented.