Everyone's playing hide-and-seek: This crazy beauty has maxed-out third eyes.

Lin Sui'an glanced down at the cat food can in Li Yu's hand, then at her own cat paws.

She meowed and tilted her head to the side.

"Not eating?" Li Yu held up the can of food and brought it close to her cat's face.

Lin Sui'an took a step back, raising its front paws to block, its meaning clear—no!

She's not a real cat.

Even if cat food smells delicious, it's still cat food. Lin Sui'an is only interested in human food, hmph.

Li Yu took the can back, a little regretful: "I thought I could use it to calm my nerves."

Lydia leaned against the shelf, about to say something, when the mall's loudspeaker came on.

Attention all players.

[The half-hour treasure chest rain is about to end.]

Players who fail to grab the treasure chest will receive a reward—24 hours of bad luck.

[Countdown: 30, 29, 28...]

"We're doomed! We're doomed! We're doomed!" Li Yu squatted on the ground, covering her face with her hands. "We didn't even get a single treasure chest! What kind of bad luck is this?! Mom, please protect me!"

Lina touched the shield item: "Bad luck... 24 hours." She didn't know if the shield could hold.

"Wait," Lydia's voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Lydia reached into her backpack, rummaged around for a bit, and pulled out something; a blue light emanated from her hand.

"I found a treasure chest."

Li Yu's mouth opened into an "O" shape.

Lina blinked twice: "When did you...?"

"I stepped on it while I was looking for the orange cat with Lin, and picked it up on a whim." Lydia placed the blue treasure chest on the ground, the light reflecting off her face.

The broadcast was still counting down.

[24, 23...]

The shopping mall outside started to stir again, with footsteps, crashes, and screams. Players who hadn't managed to grab the treasure chest were fighting desperately in the last thirty seconds.

Lina crouched down, staring at the treasure chest: "Lydia, open it! There are only twenty-odd seconds left!"

Lydia rested her hand on the chest lid, lowered her eyes, thought for two seconds, then looked up at everyone: "The game doesn't stipulate that only one person can open a treasure chest, right?"

Lina was taken aback.

Lydia glanced around at everyone present: "If the five of us open it together, maybe this box will belong to all five of us."

Lina's lips moved slightly, but she shook her head: "Lydia, hurry up and drive. If it doesn't count, you'll be in trouble too, that would be really bad luck."

"I can afford it, let's all do it together." Lydia's hand didn't leave the lid of the box.

"No need, just drive!"

"Since we are comrades-in-arms..."

[18, 17...]

"Stop pushing it back and forth, or we'll never open it again!" Li Yu plopped down next to the treasure chest and slammed one hand on it.

"Fifteen seconds left on the countdown! Let's go!"

She looked up at Lina, a wide grin spreading across her face. "I'm the lucky charm's daughter! I just prayed to my mom for a miracle, and the box appeared, so it's guaranteed to work!"

Lina's hand hung in mid-air, not falling.

[13, 12...]

"Lina! You're so slow!" Li Yu said impatiently.

Lina bit her lip, squatted down, and placed her hand on the treasure chest.

[10, 9...]

Sergei didn't hesitate and covered it with his large hand.

[7, 6...]

Lin Sui'an jumped down from the counter, her four legs landing on the floor without making a sound. She walked to the treasure chest, raised her right front paw, and placed it on the lid.

Four hands, one claw.

[4, 3, 2...]

With all five people working together, the lid of the box was opened.

Heat wafted out of the treasure chest, carrying five different scents that filled everyone's noses.

A bowl of borscht, with bits of red pepper floating on top, the steam melting half of the cream on the rim of the bowl.

A steamer of xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), the skin so thin it's translucent, with soup sloshing inside.

A roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) with a crispy crust that's layered and a generous amount of minced meat oozing out.

A serving of chevapi, a flatbread rolled with onions and minced meat, with sauce dripping onto the bottom of the plate.

A tree cake, with its layered, concentric cross-sections exposed, showcasing a blend of egg yolk and caramel colors.

Five portions of food were neatly arranged in the treasure chest.

Li Yu took a deep breath: "It smells so good!"

Lydia stared at the bowl of borscht, swallowing hard. "This...this is so lavish?"

Lina's gaze swept over the five dishes: "Does this count as a success?"

Sergei's attention was entirely on the tree cake, and his voice faltered slightly: "Tree cake...it was my favorite when I was young."

The countdown on the radio has reached zero.

The treasure chest rain has ended.

The following players did not receive the treasure chest:

A string of names was read out.

Lin Sui'an's ears darted around, but the names of the five of them were not on the list.

It worked!

[The above players have received the bad luck reward; the cats will prioritize tracking down players with bad luck.]

Best of luck to you.

The blue treasure chest's outer shell turned into specks of light and then dispersed.

The food was left on the ground.

The five people stared at the five steaming dishes, but none of them took a bite; their minds were still reeling.

Do you want some?

Lin Sui'an didn't care about any of that. She cheered inwardly, leaned her head over, and picked up a small steamed bun with her mouth.

The dough broke, and soup splattered onto her cat whiskers.

good to eat.

Li Yu watched Lin Sui'an eat with gusto, chuckled, and reached out to grab a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).

"Believe it or not! I'm the lucky charm's daughter!"

She took a big bite, her cheeks puffed out, crumbs falling onto her collar, and mumbled, "One serving each! We did it! Mmm, so delicious! A million times better than nutrient solution!"

Lydia glanced at Lin Sui'an and Li Yu as they happily ate, then bent down, picked up the borscht, and took a sip.

Sergei picked up the tree cake, broke off a piece, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and his facial muscles relaxed.

Lina was the last to make a move. She picked up the chevapi, looked at the sauce on the flatbread, and said in a slightly softer voice, "Even the food here corresponds to our country's specialties."

No one responded; everyone was eating, some happily, some reminiscing. The beauty store fell silent, with only the sound of chewing remaining.

After finishing the third xiaolongbao, Lin Sui'an licked it twice with its front paws, its cat face full of satisfaction.

Li Yu stuffed the last bite of the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) into her mouth, and as she chewed, her eyes suddenly widened: "Calm down, calm down."

Lin Sui'an's ears perked up.

"Something's not right with this food," Li Yu said in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the panel in front of her.

Lydia put down the borscht: "What's wrong?"

Li Yu's lips trembled, not from fear, but from excitement.

"My three fire points."

"It's gone up."

Lina leaned closer: "How much?"

"23, 23, 23."

Lin Sui'an squatted on the ground, her cat-like eyes narrowing slightly. When she first entered the game, Xiaoyu's three fires were 22, 22, 22. Now, all of them have increased a little, even more than Sister Jiang Lai. Is it because of the game items and food?

She opened her attribute panel, which was still marked with an asterisk, but after the Heavenly Fire value, there was a parenthesis that said +3.

It went up.

Lin Sui'an's tail slowly curled up.