Chapter 51: Have You Become Beautiful Today?

Chapter 51: Have You Become Beautiful Today?

[The Standard of Beauty] represents a beauty trend entirely distinct from [Beauty in Fatness] or [Beauty in Thinness], and is a more perilous, almost unchangeable benchmark—

As Chen Shijin once said, contrast creates beauty. Everyone's concept of beauty varies, hence the existence that matches one's aesthetic is deemed beautiful, while that which doesn't is considered ugly.

In such cases, there is often room for maneuver.

For example, in the past few days, with the trend of beauty in fatness, those who weighed over five hundred pounds made the ones around one hundred and seventy or eighty pounds seem like ugly thin people.

But compared to slightly more normally thin citizens, their weight could barely pass, qualifying as beautiful.

This ensured they could avoid extremes, dodge danger, and carefully cling to life.

But now, this [Standard of Beauty] outright blocks the path they had for surviving like the last few days—

All those who don't match [The Standard of Beauty] are considered ugly, even if just one feature differs, it’s immediately noticeable.

Chen Shijin furrowed his brows.

Lü Jun protested incredulously from behind him, "The Standard of Beauty? What does that mean? Does beauty only apply to those who look like that deadly appearance on the big screen? My God!"

"Huge double eyelids, a nose bridge and tip as if reaching for the sky, lips no different from sausages, and a chin sharp as a cone!"

With each descriptor, Lü Jun's refugee companions' faces darkened further, and he himself, in a burst of despair, clutched his shoulders and screamed, "Even if I die, if I jump from here, I refuse to turn into that ugly sight!!"

Then, Lü Jun was sharply slapped on the shoulder by a neighborhood auntie.

"What nonsense are you spouting, young man!"

"Are you blind? How can you find that beautiful face on the big screen ugly?! Quickly throw away your terrible taste! The face on the big screen is the epitome of beauty!"

"Look at those bright, big eyes! Look at that handsome, tall nose! And those full, sexy lips and the sharp chin that makes the face look smaller, oh my! The more I look, the more beautiful and enchanting it becomes!" The neighborhood auntie said as she caressed her own chubby round face.

"Just thinking about soon becoming that beautiful excites me!"

"Alright, I won't waste my time with you kids who don't appreciate beauty. I'm off to secure a spot at the beauty salon!"

"Oh, and tonight, you must possess 60% of the beauty of the face on the big screen to enter the community. Otherwise, you'll be spending the night outside in the cold!"

After saying this, the neighborhood auntie hurriedly turned and ran off, leaving the refugees looking at each other in bewilderment.

"What does having 60% of that face's beauty mean?" Zhou Mo slowly asked, "It can't be what I'm thinking, can it?"

Zhao Xiaofeng coldly shattered his illusion: "It's exactly what you think. We need to resemble the face on the big screen by sixty percent."

"In that case..." Feng Tianhuo stroked his chin, revealing a thoughtful expression: "Does that mean after today, we could play a game of face matching? If they're similar enough, do they disappear together?"

Everyone: …

Don't say such demoralizing things!

"God, I feel like I'm going insane. We can't go on like this; we need to think of a way to break this!"

Lei Hu, with his bushy eyebrows and big eyes, a face full of an elder brother's demeanor, truly didn't want to turn into that cone-faced, sausage-lipped, bulb-eyed character on the big screen!

His lifetime of reputation couldn't be destroyed by that face!

"But when the beauty trend was announced on the big screen, I looked around it—front, back, left, right, and saw nothing unusual," the [Fiery Eyes] guy from the Thunder Squad couldn't help but express his frustration.

"Except for that moving remote control, there was nothing."

Chen Shijin didn't say anything either; he had also used his heavenly eye to carefully observe, and indeed, there was nowhere around the big screen to tamper with.

The crowd fell silent for a moment, "Do we really have to undergo collective plastic surgery?"

Chen Shijin thought for a while, "Let's first go check out the situation at the beauty salon."

If there's nothing more to be found from the big screen in the square, then we'll search elsewhere. We might find the key.

Moreover, when it comes to standard beauty, the longer the time, perhaps the safer. If all else fails, we can always extend the beauty trend's deadline to seven days.

The thing about remote controls is that they're meant to be pressed repeatedly.

Of course, we must first see what this 'standard beauty' looks like.

The group arrived in front of the Royal Dream Beauty Salon.

The tailcoat-clad beautician was no longer surprised by their spectating and even welcomed them with a faux smile of seeing an acquaintance.

"Are you here for a visit again? Standard beauty is different from gaining or losing weight. But relatively speaking, it's safer and simpler."

"All it requires is making oneself as beautiful as the face on the big screen. Some people are naturally more beautiful and need less modification."

"However…" The tailcoat beautician scrutinized Chen Shijin's face with a critical eye, "Sir, your face would require quite a bit of work."

Chen Shijin: "Me?"

The tailcoat beautician clicked his tongue twice, "Just four days ago, I thought there was a unique charm to your face, unconsciously drawing people's attention.

But looking at it now, I feel your appearance really doesn't cut it.

Your eyes are not small, but they're not double-lidded, and the corners slightly uplift, giving a somewhat sharp gaze. The bridge of your nose is a bit too low; it should be higher by a centimeter to look good, and your lips are too thin, giving a somewhat heartless appearance. Most importantly, your chin, how come it's not pointed at all?!"

"Sir, you should hurry to our salon for a free plastic surgery. The more I look at your face, the more displeasing it becomes."

At this moment, the colorful parrot perched on Chen Shijin's shoulder shook its head frantically, "I think it looks good! Looks good, looks good!"

The tailcoat beautician paused upon hearing this.

"Ahem, esteemed official, although Mr. Chen possesses a unique beauty and aura, he does not meet the standard of beauty set these past few days."

"We must adhere to the standard."

The colorful parrot ignored him, instead rubbing its head against Chen Shijin's cheek, "Beautiful person! Beautiful! Looks good!"

The tailcoat beautician: "…"

He turned with a dark expression to look at the others, "What are you mediocre-looking folks staring at? At least that gentleman has his own unique features, which you all lack. Hurry up and come for plastic surgery!"

The exiles: .

So, you're bullying the weak and fearing the strong, huh? That's it, isn't it?

Everyone stood their ground, not moving an inch.

They had no intention of undergoing plastic surgery.

Not to mention the potential risks of postoperative complications or accidents from having surgery on one’s face, just the sight of those who walked out of the beauty salon was enough to send shivers down everyone's spine —

They watched as townsfolk of all different appearances entered the beauty salon with hope, only to come out, regardless of gender, age, old or young, with the exact same face!

Regardless of gender! No matter the age! Everyone who came out had double eyelids with super large eyes, noses so high they seemed to touch the sky, lips that puckered like sausages, and chins so sharp they could pierce holes!

What kind of horror movie rated for adults only is this!

These beauty salons were like assembly lines, transforming different townsfolk into the same face.

And when those with the identical faces came out, making the same or different expressions of happiness, anger, sorrow, or joy, it was simply too horrifying for words.

People could no longer distinguish who was who by their “faces”, just as Feng Tianhuai said, it was like a large-scale, deadly game of “Match the Faces” or a real-life “Spot the Difference”.

！！！

"Help me, help me, help me, help me, help me! My eyes! My eyes! My young soul!" Lu Jun covered his face and screamed in a whisper.

"My goodness, don’t these people find it terrifying?! The person opposite looks almost exactly like oneself! How can they still manage to smile at each other?!"

Chen Shijin tugged at the corner of his mouth, watching a person with the standard face, dressed in men's clothing, anxiously calling out at the door: "Xiao Hong, Xiao Hong! Where are you, Xiao Hong?"

Then, a slightly shorter standard face dressed in women's clothing turned around in surprise upon hearing the voice:

"Xiao Qiang, Xiao Qiang! I'm here! I'm the one in the floral dress!"

Chen Shijin: "…So starting from today, these townspeople have to rely on their clothes to distinguish each other?"

"Polka dots, stripes, what if there's an outfit clash?"

"Pfft."

"Guffaw!"

Feng Tianhuai and the colorful parrot on Chen Shijin's shoulder couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Thus, what was initially a horrifying scene to everyone now oddly felt like a mix of horror and comedy.

"What's this! It would be better to stick name tags on their foreheads!"

Initially, the exiles found the spectacle of identically faced townspeople calling out and looking for each other both horrifying and hilarious, but as time passed, their laughter faded—

Because as more and more townspeople underwent surgery to achieve the standard face, those who hadn't stood out more and more, becoming increasingly conspicuous and out of place.

Like a white lamb among a flock of black goats.

So conspicuous, so... glaring.

Thus, the looks of rejection, suspicion, and disgust grew from a few to many, following them like shadows.

"What's the matter with you people, not following the standard at all? Don't you think you're not beautiful enough as you are?"

"The standard has been set, and the beauty salon is right there. Why haven't you acted? You must understand that ugly people can't survive in the city of beauty! Hurry up and become beautiful!"

"Move aside, you ordinary people are blocking my way! Seeing someone as beautiful as me and not making way, don't you feel ashamed?"

The townspeople's expressions grew more ferocious, and their words became less polite. Chen Shijin had no doubt that by 6 p.m., these people would be openly criticizing them for their ugliness.

"Yikes! This is dire. Boss, should we go for plastic surgery?"

"Plastic surgery, my foot! Look at their horrifying faces! Your boss, I absolutely refuse to let myself become like that!"

"But if we don't change, we'll die!"

Lei Hu clicked his tongue and fell silent.

Everyone glanced at Chen Shijin, intentionally or unintentionally.

Chen Shijin really wished he could cast an invisibility spell on himself.

Hmm, if he could turn invisible, then he wouldn't need plastic surgery, right?

But he couldn't just ignore these followers and townsfolk calling him boss.

Chen Shijin gritted his teeth.

"First, let's extend the deadline. Make it seven days at most."

This way, the requirement for standard beauty on the first day wouldn't be a 60% similarity. Maybe just one feature needs to match, and it could buy some more time.

Besides, he had no plans to return home tonight.

Upon hearing Chen Shijin's words, everyone understood he was employing a delaying tactic, and their eyes lit up immediately.

And when the big screen announced that the duration of the beauty trend was extended from two days to seven days, the exiles keenly noticed the townspeople's glances becoming more tolerant.

Zhou Mo specifically used his skills to return to the neighborhood to inquire, and the auntie's requirement for them dropped from 60% beauty to just 10%.

Even some exiles who naturally had large eyes, high nose bridges, thick lips, or sharp chins qualified that day without needing surgery.

For someone like Chen Shijin, who stood out with his unique beauty and was entirely different from the face on the big screen, staying in the neighborhood at night would now require at least one feature to be altered through surgery.

Lu Jun, batting his sparkling big eyes, cooed at his cousin over tea, "Cousin~ Although I really love your phoenix eyes, for your safety, you should still consider getting plastic surgery! Don't worry, cousin, no matter what you look like, you'll always be Jun Jun's hero, ah!"

Chen Shijin kicked Lu Jun away.

"No need for your comments. Shut up."

Lu Jun obediently kept quiet.

Then everyone heard Chen Shijin say, "Tonight, I plan to stay outside the neighborhood to see what the city of beauty looks like at night."

"Together?" Feng Tianhuai's eyes gleamed with a madness ready to erupt.

Lei Hu, Yun Xia, Jiang Hong, Chu Tiankuo, Chen Qiang, along with Brother Yu and A Fei, all looked up at once, quickly indicating their desire to follow.

Chen Shijin shook his head at them, "I can make myself invisible, and Feng Tianhuai has powerful combat abilities to escape if necessary, but that might not be the case for the rest of you."

"Plus, I'm just scouting tonight, not planning to do much, so the fewer, the better."

"Once I find out if there are any deadly dangers at night, or if there's any hidden way to break the situation, I'll call on everyone for help. Don't worry, I won't be shy about asking then."

That's when everyone nodded in understanding.

Then, Lei Hu and Brother Xiong, with their burly faces, desperately asked, "So, do we really have to get plastic surgery?"

They were quite satisfied with their own faces and truly didn't want to become a part of this matching game!

Chen Shijin was silent for a while, "How about taking a selfie first? That way, after this wave passes, I can restore you to your original look."

Lei Hu, Brother Xiong, and everyone else facing the prospect of surgery: …

Their silence was deafening.

Then, all at once, they took out their phones to take selfies of their faces from every possible angle.

Never before had they been so serious, fearing that after this wave of standard beauty, they might never return to their former selves.

Then, those who had no choice but to undergo plastic surgery entered the Royal Dream Beauty Salon with resignation, emerging with pairs of watery, Kaslan big eyes.

The transformation suited the delicate and gentle-looking girls quite well, but for those rough men whose fierce gaze had been their hallmark, it was just…

"Hahahahaha!" Lu Jun: "Oh my God, hahahaha! Brother Xiong, I'll remember this look for a century! Your eyes are just too beautiful!"

The stark contrast of a rugged man's face suddenly adorned with Kaslan big eyes was intense.

After the procedure, Brother Xiong hadn't looked in a mirror yet. Hearing Lu Jun laugh, he immediately raised his fists in challenge: "Come on, green tea, laugh one more time for me, will you?"

Lu Jun: "..."

He really despised those who resort to violence when out of words.

"Gagagagaga!"

Brother Xiong glared around, only to see the colorful parrot holding a phone, snapping photos while laughing.

Brother Xiong: "…"

A good man doesn't fight with animals.

Lu Jun rolled his eyes inwardly, daring anyone to put a big pot helmet on that parrot!

And so, dozens of people, all sporting sparkling big eyes, made their way back, leaving Chen Shijin, Feng Tianhuai, and the still laughing colorful parrot behind.

Witnessing Brother Xiong and the group emerging with identical big eyes, Chen Shijin instantly felt a sense of camaraderie with He Lefeng.

He joyfully shared his amusement with this deity of mirth.

Consequently, the parrot, already bobbing and swaying in merriment, burst into laughter even louder than usual, clearly finding more joy in this spectacle than in its typical antics.

Chen Shijin also slightly curved his lips upward: "How does it feel?"

The jubilant parrot cawed again: "Tonight, if there's danger, I'll lend you a hand."

Feng Tianhuai, who had been laughing at the departing exiles, whirled around in shock upon hearing the colorful parrot on Chen Shijin's shoulder suddenly speak human language!

"You, you, you, you! Holy shit! He Lefeng!!"

He Lefeng rolled its deep blue parrot eyes and mimicked, "Me, me, me, me! Holy shit! He Lefeng!"

"Surprised or not, unexpected or what?"

Feng Tianhuai's face turned green, finally understanding why Chen Shijin had inquired so thoroughly about He Lefeng earlier.

But Feng Tianhuai was still puzzled: "How did you two get together?!"

You should know that He Lefeng has always been a loner, acting on whims, capable of wiping out several devourers when in the mood, or even enticing a group of exiles to slaughter each other when feeling down.

If it weren't for his innate "Mad Intuition" ability to precisely locate any target based on intuition alone, he would never have found He Lefeng in the first place.

Moreover, due to He Lefeng's special ability "I Am Everything," Feng Tianhuai even felt the presence of He Lefeng everywhere in the land of exile.

This made him perceive He Lefeng as an extremely dangerous entity.

Now, this extremely dangerous entity was perched on Chen Shijin's shoulder!

To think he had even spoken on Chen Shijin's behalf during the day, coercing that tailcoat beautician to begrudgingly admit attractiveness!

Feng Tianhuai's gaze towards the colorful parrot turned wary, but ultimately, that wary gaze settled on Chen Shijin's face.

"…What did you use to make him help you?"

Chen Shijin found Feng Tianhuai's look somewhat indescribable, and before he could think of how to respond.

Feng Tianhuai answered himself with conviction: "You must have done something!"

Chen Shijin almost choked, while He Lefeng, sensing his mix of embarrassment and annoyance, had its blue eyes sparkle with amusement.

This feeling, oddly enough, was also quite interesting.

"Something my foot! It was all about appealing to emotions and reasoning!"

Feng Tianhuai immediately flashed a 'yeah right, as if I'd believe that' look deserving of a smack.

Chen Shijin took a deep breath: "Alright. It's a different kind of deal. What kind of deal you don't need to worry about. Now, immediately, hide and get ready for a night exploration of the beauty salon!"

After Chen Shijin finished speaking, the previously bright sky visibly darkened in an instant.

And the townspeople with the identical standard faces, who hadn't left the square, quickly turned towards Chen Shijin and Feng Tianhuai in the darkness and started running towards them.

"Holy shit! Hostile approach! Jin, cast your big spell now!"

Chen Shijin grabbed Feng Tianhuai: "Invisible and silent!"

In an instant, their figures vanished from the spot, leaving the townspeople, who ran towards them like zombies spotting the living, without a target, standing there bewildered and stagnant.

They really were like zombies without self-awareness or a goal.

Only the colorful parrot stood arrogantly on a townsman's head, its deep blue eyes fixed on where Chen Shijin and Feng Tianhuai were hiding.

"Shh, they don't seem normal," Feng Tianhuai whispered in a very low voice.

Chen Shijin responded in a breathy voice: "The townspeople in the Devouring World are never normal. Keep watching."

At this moment, lights gradually lit up in the beauty square, but these dim lights made the already eerie square even more terrifying.

About ten minutes later, those townspeople of the City of Beauty who hadn't gone home from the square finally began to regain self-awareness and started heading towards their homes.

However, many more townspeople entered the beauty salons in the darkness of the night again, and when they came out, their bodies, which had ballooned due to the previous days' beauty standard of being overweight, were mostly returned to a normal range of weight.

Yet, their faces remained the same standardized pointed faces.

Feng Tianhuai: "Huh, they finally came to their senses and realized that being that overweight wasn't practical?"

Chen Shijin, however, observed each of the townspeople coming out of the beauty salon, successful in their weight loss and wearing smiles, and slightly raised his eyebrows.

"It might not necessarily be impracticality that drove them to lose weight; perhaps they have their own sense of aesthetics."

Feng Tianhuai shook his head: "Given their crazed behavior during the day, how could that be? They've long been brainwashed by the City of Beauty's big screen, forever following its beauty trends."

"Too bad we can't destroy the big screen; that would directly end the survival mission."

Chen Shijin watched the smiling townspeople without saying a word. After a while, he spoke, "If we can't destroy the big screen, we can destroy something else."

Feng Tianhuai: "What?"

"Let's check out the beauty salon."

Saying this, Chen Shijin approached various beauty salons around the square.

He first glanced at the Royal Dream Beauty Salon with its large signboard but eventually turned around and headed towards the back wall of the Dream Special Beauty Salon.

The Dream Special Beauty Salon, known for its unscrupulous practices, was closed. Chen Shijin and Feng Tianhuai sneaked in through a window in the back wall, feeling an eerie similarity to shady hospital workshops upon entering.

"Hiss, that's why I hate places like hospitals. They're not scary during the day but add a touch of horror at night. Beauty salons are no different," Feng Tianhuai grumbled.

Ignoring him, Chen Shijin activated his Heavenly Eye in the darkness, easily locating the place within the unscrupulous beauty salon where energy was most concentrated—

It was three glass tubes, still bubbling and gurgling despite the shop being closed, refining essence.

Connected to these three tubes were three large glass columns filled with an unknown substance.

"What the heck is this!" Feng Tianhuai lit a small flame: "Evil magic reagents?"

Chen Shijin smiled at these objects.

"No, it's devourer's fodder."

"But now, it's mine."

Saying so, he reached out and took one of the tubes, not drinking the liquid directly but instead pulling out a brightly shining energy strip from it and stuffing it into his mouth.

It tasted like Zinc Gluconate Oral Solution.

Energy value N+10000

This energy value is quite impressive!

Then, Chen Shijin felt two pats on his shoulder and arm at the same time.

Turning around, he saw He Lefeng's gleaming bird eyes and Feng Tianhuai's eager gaze.

"What did you just drink? Share some with me."

"Caw!"

Chen Shijin: …

In the end, Chen Shijin firmly drank another bottle himself before sharing one with He Lefeng and Feng Tianhuai.

The three accomplices, having shared their spoils, shone with a gleam in their eyes in the dimly lit unscrupulous beauty salon:

Chen Shijin: "Are we doing this?"

Feng Tianhuai: "Do it, do it, do it! Let's take everything we can tonight! They won't even notice…"

Right after Feng Tianhuai finished speaking, the beauty salon's alarm blared shrilly.

Chen Shijin: "You must be the jinx!"

"Let's go, move quickly!"

Thus, that night, all the exiles in the neighborhood heard the piercing alarm from the square, each of them on edge.

The next day, they and the townspeople received the dreadful news that ten beauty salons had started charging fees.

"Some despicable thief snuck into the beauty salons last night and stole energy! Some salons can't continue and have to start charging energy now!"

"But rest assured! Starting tonight, we will guard next to the energy tubes layer by layer! We won’t let the thieves steal again! Everyone can still visit the free salons that weren’t burglarized for their beauty treatments. No need to worry."

Chen Shijin stood in the crowd, head bowed, radiating with glory.

Although they nearly got caught by the tailcoat beautician and others last night, they still managed to steal from ten beauty salons, netting 300,000 energy points!

Feng Tianhuai was as spirited as he was, rubbing his hands together excitedly, "What are we doing tonight?"

Chen Shijin revealed a smile.

"We're not doing anything tonight."

"But in five days, we'll pull off a big one."

Feng Tianhuai's eyes widened.

"How big?!"

"Big enough to gradually bring down the entire City of Beauty."

Additionally, if things go smoothly, it might also ensure the final world mission is triggered.

He Lefeng, the colorful parrot perched on Chen Shijin's shoulder, at that moment, felt the intense and crazy emotions of the person it was touching.

Ah, another kind of enthralling flavor.