Filtering through all the information isn’t an easy task, especially since Xu Huo doesn’t know much about the "Gourmet," requiring him to use this information to determine which one might truly be the "Gourmet."

He spent the entire morning on it, stopping only when Yuan Yao and the others returned from fishing.

"Look at our catch today!" Yuan Yao raised his bucket from a distance, filled with fish, not big but plenty in number.

"I’ll cook today," said Gu Yu. "I’m pretty good at cooking fish."

"We can’t finish so many fish. Pick some smaller ones to dry into fish jerky," suggested Shen Xin, the life skills expert. "It makes a great snack and tastes amazing."

Xu Huo and Nie Xuan went out to help; besides fish, there were vegetables and fruits to prepare.

"This venue prop of yours is really nice," Yuan Yao commented to Gu Yu while gutting the fish. "I’d like to buy one like this too, but it’s too expensive, so I’m making do with a camper."

"A camper’s not bad," Gu Yu replied. "Having too high-level props can easily attract attention."

"That’s true." Yuan Yao nodded, tossing the cleaned fish into a bowl. "Last time in the game, I encountered a maniac who chased me with an axe. I thought we had some deep-seated grudge, but he said he hated me because I looked rich. Who do you complain to about that?"

"Why do you always meet such quirky people in games?" Liu Jia asked curiously. "Even your game instances are odd."

Yuan Yao chuckled, "A bit strange is fine, as long as it’s thrilling but safe. Compared to your instances, I think mine isn’t so bad."

"I’ve been to an interesting instance," Nie Xuan suddenly showed interest. "It’s a folklore horror instance."

"I rarely encounter horror instances. What makes it interesting?" Xu Huo inquired.

"The uniqueness of this instance lies in gender-swapping," Nie Xuan smiled. "It’s amusing to talk about, but experiencing it feels like a nightmare."

"Gender-swapping, does that mean men become women and women become men?" Zhou Ning asked.

Nie Xuan nodded slightly. "It’s a closed instance. Those who enter will gradually exhibit bodily traits of the opposite gender over time. The most obvious change happens to men, who initially develop breasts, then experience muscle atrophy, progressively taking on more feminine characteristics."

"What about women?" Liu Jia couldn’t help but ask.

"Women mainly grow beards; as for developing other traits, I’m not sure," Nie Xuan replied.

Yuan Yao couldn’t help but glance at Nie Xuan’s chest, wanting to say something but then held back.

Nie Xuan met the inquisitive gaze, kept calm, and said, "Later, it turned out that the instance boss was blending with the players who cleared the instance, mixing enhanced hormone drugs into everyone’s food."

The people present gasped in shock. The effects of hormone drugs in the game are nothing like those in Zone 014.

"Why would this instance boss do such a thing?" Zhou Ning didn’t understand. "It’s not actually preventing players from clearing the instance. Is it necessary?"

"Because he himself was a victim," Nie Xuan explained. "He happened to acquire the instance by accident, got immersed in the joy of having his own instance, and unknowingly transformed into a woman... partially a woman."

He amended his wording, "Perhaps being in a half-man, half-woman state twisted his mind, so he committed to ensuring that all players entering became like him. It didn’t matter if they died; transformation was the key."

Yuan Yao shivered at this, then remarked, "That instance doesn’t sound so interesting..."

In fact, it’s somewhat revolting.

"The interesting part isn’t the instance holder but the fact that every player entering this instance develops a Water Ghost mentality. Once they fall into the trap, they try to drag others down as well," Nie Xuan explained. "Driven by the fear of radical body changes, they become more desperate than any other instance’s people to drag others down with them. This leads to even ordinary people and players all becoming accomplices to the instance boss. During the clearance process, some players even shield the instance."

This was unseen in any other experiences they’d had.

"Have those people gone mad?" Shen Xin said, "Why not just clear the instance and get out to cure themselves? Turning others into monsters doesn’t improve their situation in any way."

"Rational thinkers would agree with you, but the players entering this instance are all somewhat irrational, all short-lived," Nie Xuan concluded.

Without further thought, they could predict the fate of those people. Yuan Yao moved aside, putting some distance between himself and Nie Xuan.

"You consistently achieve high-rated clearances. The tickets the game gives you should be more challenging than for ordinary players. Do you have any particularly memorable instances?" Nie Xuan asked Xu Huo.

After a brief thought, Xu Huo recounted the instance involving the Ember Girl.

Concealing the identities of the key figures, he summarized the clearance process of the entire instance. When he reached the part about the girl sealed in Amber, everyone fell silent. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"No matter how much technology advances, the greatest harm is to regular people," Zhou Ning said. "An innocent individual gets caught in a group of innocents."

"I hope it won’t be like this for us in the future."

Xu Huo patted Nie Xuan’s shoulder. "It’s up to the nation’s elites for that."

Nie Xuan glanced at Xu Huo’s wet hand but didn’t push him away, instead saying, "Currently, the greatest harm to ordinary people comes from random instances. You should strive to acquire a Super Dungeon in the future."

"That’s quite an ambitious goal." Xu Huo withdrew his hand and continued washing the vegetables.

"Right back at you." Nie Xuan resumed his activities as well.

"Ha ha!" Yuan Yao suddenly jumped up, laughing, "Don’t be modest, you two. You might actually achieve it one day! We’ve witnessed history today. When I write my memoirs, I’ll definitely include today!"

The others agreed with him, and Gu Yu cupped her face with a look of longing, "Major historical turning points often sprout from trivial matters, it might just influence the future of Zone 014!"

"For such a special day, we must have a drink!" Yuan Yao wiped his hands, ready to fetch the liquor.

Liu Jia stopped him, "You just want to drink, don’t forget we have important things to do tonight."

Yuan Yao looked sheepishly caught out, "Forgot, forgot, let’s drink tonight instead."

The afternoon was spent recharging by Nie Xuan and the others, while Xu Huo continued searching for information on the "Gourmet."

So far, he has narrowed it down to four candidates. These four are all advanced players, somewhat famous within small circles, and each claims to be a "Gourmet." Quite a few people know or have heard of them, with two even appearing on leaderboards, though they’re no longer ranked now.