Becoming a God Starts with Acting
Chapter 144: Warning for sensitive stomachs! [The Corpse Collector] (20)

Chapter 144: Warning for sensitive stomachs! [The Corpse Collector] (20)

"Come on, Silvanus, eat it—it’s delicious."

Bryan brought the piece of meat closer to Silvanus, his smile strangely twisted—enthusiastic yet chilling. His eyes squinted into crescent moons, a hint of madness flickering as he stared at Silvanus.

Silvanus felt as if his entire soul was being pulled into Bryan’s deep, dark eyes, unable to escape. Everything around him seemed to blur—the starving faces of the villagers, Lucian and Ryan’s mildly uncomfortable and concerned expressions—vanished from his world. All that remained was the piece of meat, releasing an irresistible aroma, and Bryan’s inviting gaze.

It was as though something was bewitching him. Eat the meat. Eat the meat. It would lead him to a whole new Chapter of life.

If it had been anyone else, they likely wouldn’t have been able to resist and would’ve taken the meat from Bryan’s chopsticks. Unfortunately, this was Silvanus. He was utterly unaffected by Bryan’s tricks.

Silvanus smiled, his eyes still clear. "I’m not that hungry, Bryan. I worked with Silas today, and I had a lot of fish."

Bryan’s gaze grew several times colder—shifting in just a split second.

Silvanus could feel the atmosphere changing, growing far more frigid. The energy surrounding Bryan was shifting—he no longer seemed interested in hiding his true self.

Was he planning to deal with his whole team? Or the entire village with this meal?

"Just one bite. It’s just a taste. It has nothing to do with whether you’re full, Silvanus." Bryan tried to keep his smile, but its stiffness made him look more like a puppet pretending to act normally.

Silvanus wasn’t swayed. He replied calmly, "I feel you’re a bit obsessed with me. Why don’t you offer some to Ryan and Lucian? They haven’t touched their food either."

Lucian, sitting nearby, raised an eyebrow and looked over at Silvanus, seemingly surprised by his words.

Ryan nodded emphatically at Silvanus, eyes gleaming, clearly satisfied with how Silvanus handled the situation.

[Ryan’s expression is like a proud dad watching his toddler take their first steps hahaha]

[It feels like they’re willing to endure anything—as long as Silvanus stays safe...]

[Lucian does not look like someone "willing" to endure anything hahaha]

[Seriously, he looks like he’s ready to burn the whole village down]

[Alright, now guess: between himself eating the meat and Silvanus eating it, which would Lucian choose? The answer’s obvious, right? He’s just a classic tsundere hahahaha]

[Oh god, this is why I love Lucian the same way I love Captain Drake]

[Amazingly, these fangirls are trying to turn a gruff man into an adorable tsundere...]

[It’s just the truth, okay?]

Bryan narrowed his eyes, looking over at Lucian and Ryan. He furrowed his brows, seemingly hesitating, calculating something in his mind.

For some reason, he couldn’t quite explain, Bryan felt that Lucian and Ryan had changed—they seemed different from before. But when he tried to recall, he couldn’t remember their personalities or even their faces. It was as if they had always been like this and never changed. As if everything was just an illusion.

Yet instinctively, Bryan didn’t want to touch Lucian and Ryan. He still wanted them to be consumed by the village, just as he’d originally planned.

Yes—he didn’t dare confront Lucian and Ryan directly.

Lucian furrowed his brows, looking coldly at Bryan. "What? If someone doesn’t want to eat, they don’t want to eat. What’s your deal, trying to force people? Is there something in that meat? Or is it special in some way?"

Lucian picked up his plate as he spoke, looking like he might hurl it right at Bryan’s face. "If you’re that hungry, go ahead and eat mine. I’m not hungry."

Then, without hesitation, he tossed his plate onto Bryan’s—the bright red sauce splattered across Bryan’s clothes. Before Bryan could speak, Ryan quickly said, "Lucian, could you please stop behaving like that? Bryan was just trying to be nice!"

Then he turned to Bryan, smiling. "Thanks, Bryan, but we’re not that hungry. The atmosphere here is a biuncomfortable. Let’s head back, Silvanus."

He looked at Silvanus with eyes full of concern.

But clearly, their attitude did not please Bryan in the slightest.

He clenched his chopsticks so tightly that they trembled—the piece of meat dropped to the ground, and immediately, a nearby child snatched it up and devoured it hungrily.

The child’s eyes darted around rapidly, and his thin, starved appearance made him look like a tiny demon.

His mother quickly pulled him back, unwilling to let her child get too close to these outsiders.

Bryan’s chopsticks snapped in half from how tightly he was gripping them.

At that moment, the sound of retching suddenly rang out—

"Urgh... blegh—what the hell...?"

Ciel clutched his neck, his face contorted as he vomited uncontrollably, as if something was lodged in his throat.

He opened his mouth, saliva and chewed meat spilling onto the ground.

"I... I can’t breathe... help—"

He tried to scream, but all that came out were choking, gasping noises.

Strangely, the villagers continued their celebration, oblivious. It was as if they no longer saw the outsiders—as if they had become invisible to them.

Ciel’s face turned from bright red to a disturbing shade of purple from the distress.

Ultimately, he shoved his fingers into his mouth and pulled a long, curly hair out of his throat.

Ciel’s eyes widened in horror, revulsion, and disbelief written across his face. Realizing something, he pressed a hand to his throat, unwilling even to swallow his saliva as it dribbled out of his mouth.

Then, panicking, he yanked at the hair with all his strength.

But it didn’t stop there—pulling on that strand of hair caused more strands to emerge.

"Urgh!"

The tugging made Ciel retch violently. Tears welled up from physical strain and sheer terror, mixing with cold sweat streaming down his face, dripping heavily onto the ground.

"Urgh!"

He gagged again, using both hands to drag the hair out of his mouth, pulling and pulling without pause, until finally, he yanked out a whole clump of hair from his throat and flung it violently onto the floor.

Splat!

The tangle of hair, drenched in saliva and flecks of meat, slapped against the ground. The strands curled slightly as if they were alive.

Ciel’s face was utterly horrified.

[Ewwwww]

[I’m starting to feel sick myself...]

[Urgh, I just threw up. That’s disgusting.]

[Honestly, amazing Ciel didn’t just go insane on the spot, pass out, or throw up his entire stomach. That was nasty.]

[That curly hair... is anyone thinking what I’m thinking? I hate my theory, but it makes too much sense.]

[Don’t let Ciel find out what kind of meat he just ate, lol]

Even Silvanus couldn’t help but frown slightly, clearly disgusted by the sight. If even an outsider felt this way, how much worse must it be for Ciel?

After freezing for a moment, staring at the clump of hair on the ground, Ciel suddenly shot to his feet. He flung his plate of meat aside, opened his mouth, and began dry-heaving, furiously wiping his tongue with his hands.

"Puh! Puh!"

He spat repeatedly, then roared furiously, "What the hell was in that food?! How filthy are these people?! Fucking hell, goddammit!"

He cursed loudly, spewing out a string of profanities, as though he had forgotten an undeniable fact: he should’ve noticed while chewing if there had been that much hair in the food. Instead, it had slid down his throat before he realized. Maybe he didn’t want to accept the truth.

Just then, something suspicious rolled out from the plate Ciel had thrown—short, divided into three segments, tumbling across the ground. At a glance, it could have been mistaken for a chubby chicken foot.

But Ciel’s eyes widened suddenly. His pupils shrank.

He recognized it. Aboli had worn a ring on his pinky finger—and the thing rolling on the ground was wearing that ring.

Ciel’s mind was spinning, but for once, crystal clear.

He thought of everything: Aboli’s disappearance, the villagers starving for days only to suddenly "hunt" a large animal and throw a feast...

Just as Ciel’s mind spiraled into horrific realizations, a child suddenly ran up to him, bent down, and picked up that finger. The child gnawed on it ravenously. Bright red sauce smeared across the child’s mouth as yellowed, chipped teeth bit through bone, chewing slowly and deliberately.

Sensing Ciel’s horrified gaze, the child suddenly looked up.

For a split second, the child—thin and emaciated, with a bulging belly—seemed to shift in appearance. The once-bulging eyes turned into deep, empty black hollows.

The child stared directly at Ciel and then slowly grinned—a grin that stretched to its ears. Inside its mouth was nothing but a pitch-black void, and from it oozed a thick, black slime that seemed to flood toward Ciel, suffocating him.

"A... Aaaaaaaaaa! Demons! You’re all demons! Monsters!"

Ciel suddenly screamed, shoving the child aside and bolting in panic.

The child knocked to the ground, began bawling loudly. The piercing cry tore through the night, shrill and unnervingly eerie—but not a single soul paid attention. Not even the boy’s parents.

Silvanus leapt to his feet. "We have to stop Ciel! It’s too dangerous out at night!"

Without another word, he sprinted after him. Bryan, too, dropped back into his role as the ever-dutiful squad leader and quickly followed suit, chasing after Ciel to restrain him.