It’s hard to pick an outfit much less a body

Pero sighs with bemusement. [I really don't know what extravagant television show some of these people watch. At the very least, from what I scanned from the world, there's nothing about actually kidnapping people off the street and giving them such an elaborately planned adventure. Even if there was, they'll still ask for some consent in some capacity, otherwise won't the crew be sued?]

'There's a term for this sort of thing.' Jia Hyson comments mildly. 

[Oh?]

'Natural selection.' The zombie emperor jokes.

Pero clearly found it quite funny as soft, laughter seems to tickle into Jia Hyson's ears, making him subconsciously rub them a little awkwardly. It's already a fairly intimate thing to hear someone talk so close to him like this, but with such a handsome voice as well… sorry, it's been a while, it's a little stimulating ah. 

The chuckling didn't last long and quickly it was back to business. In order to act a bit less rigid and more natural, Jia Hyson takes a few more looks at the group of players that were starting to disperse before causally walking a random direction. Anyway, Pero has mentioned to him beforehand that this cruise lasts for roughly two nights and three days before reaching the island, so it's better to explore now.

In a way this instance was quite kind. The three days allowed players to acquaint themselves with NPCs and the background of the island, allowing them time to not only increase NPC favorability, but also to gain a general understanding of the various 'factions' in this instance as well as plan in advance some survival tactics. 

At the very least even if you don't do any of that and you die on the island, you can at least have the memories of enjoying a luxury cruise to comfort you. 

While Jia Hyson wasn't a player, the benefits of this pre-instance period was also roughly the same. Already he had picked out a few 'favorites' and it was a matter of getting to know them first before determining his prey. 

'Pero, can you pass me information for these four people?' Jia Hyson questions before listing off a few key traits of each person he had been eying. 

The first was a very eye-catching man with a strikingly handsome, angular face. However among the good looks in that group of players, he was neither the worst nor the best, but what really caught people's attention was that other then the face, every other bit of exposed skin was covered in tattoos. 

Jia Hyson was interested just on that alone. 

To be honest, he actually didn't like tattoos much. Not because they couldn't be beautiful or anything like that- though it's undeniable there's some rather questionable tattoo choices out there- but simply because he dislikes the permanency of it. 

Back when he was a human he couldn't recall keeping a lover for more than a year, and it was difficult for him to be serious to one person. Such a fact alone already illustrates his fickle and capricious personality.

His dating style is very comfortable and almost addicting for the other party, but it was a short lived dream that ended once Jia Hyson's boredom began to take root. This personality trait does not only lie in romantic aspects, even in mundane things like food he can crave the same thing for weeks, happily eating it every other day, until suddenly he felt a sense of rejection and will not touch or think of the food for a long period of time. 

So things like tattoos naturally do not seriously interest him. It's ok to admire on someone else's body, but not forever on his own. Even temporary tattoos were a bit of a pain, after all, decent ones can last for as long as a week or two and if you want them to come off you have to scrub at it pretty hard. 

Of course now that his lifespan has increased significantly, Jia Hyson's sense of time and thus his sense of patience with this small things has also changed as a result. As such, since the tattoos on the body are not permanent, why not try them on for size?

Well, it's less the permanency of the tattoos though and more the permanency of the body with those tattoos. :3 

The second man was a cold, reticent iceberg beauty type with glasses, the sort with thin lips, long lashes and would look extremely suitable as an emotionless competent secretary shou in any BL. Of course with his tall figure, broad shoulders and sharp gaze it's also possible to play gong as well… 

Jia Hyson choose this man partly because of his appearance which had three to four points similarity with his original body, but also because this man was one of the first to leave the group, strongly showing off a cold lone wolf aura. Either the man had a very unpleasant temperament, or simply had the arrogance to do things in an instance by himself. Of course these two things weren't mutually exclusive either.

The third man was probably the youngest based off appearances alone. He had dyed purple short curls, and had a very awkward and nervous demeanor. It's hard to tell if that's his natural personality or just that he was a new player. Either way because of this he seemed fairly excluded from the group. 

If one could pinpoint why the third young man caught his eye, Jia Hyson just felt the other also had an almost childlike innocence in his gaze, that attracted him. For someone like himself whose latter half of his life was embroiled in the apocalypse, it was undeniable to be greedy for that sense of naivety and cleanliness in some shape or form. Whether it was in the form of a lover, toy or an identity, how could Jia Hyson not be tempted? 

After all, even in his original human life, it had been a long time since he had retained such a purity.

Finally the fourth man was muscular, dark-skinned, with a scar on his chin. However even if he had that sort of cool appearance, with his gold-rimmed glasses and suit, and dark hair tied neatly in a short ponytail, the other also radiated a mature and steady big shot aura. 

Despite his calm though, Jia Hyson had noticed he was very nervous. The way the other was constantly looking around, clenching the straps of his bag and biting the inside of his lip were very telling if you observed closely. The contrast between a rough and scary muscular man dressed in gentleman's clothing, and the contrast of calmness and nervousness, was really… 'gap moe'*. 

*A cuteness formed generally by the differences in appearance and personality. 

Pero who picked out all the players for this instance naturally had their information on hand. The system also silently noted down these four preference choices, and was a little happy. The taste was quite varied which will make this quite fun if everything works out according to plan. After all, while not necessarily important, long term entertainment value was still highly welcome. 

Quickly, it compiled up a short summary of each person.

[Hu Xuan. 32 years old. Dream is to break into the Western music world with rap. 

Family disowned him due to his alternative lifestyle and extreme appearance that their conservative views couldn't stand. Originally the talent was not bad, and was offered a job in the USA, but was coaxed into drug addiction by a good buddy who was jealous. Died by driving and causing a car crash while under the influence. 

Has survived two instances with minimal participation.]

[Ren Qichuan. 28 years old. Worked as a secretary for an inhuman boss that liked to emotionally abuse, manipulate and overwork. 

Eventually he used the same tactics on his coworkers and subordinates in order to rest easier, and was much more skillful in showing off his ability while stepping on others. On the day he was about to be promoted and replace his boss, the boss angrily pushed him down a flight of stairs. 

Survived six instances. Had several teammates, none lasted more than two instances.]

[Xiao Yi. 19 years old. Has a mild learning disability, resulting in him having to repeat years, and experienced school violence by students jealous of his popularity with girls. 

Died due to suffocation from a plastic bag wrapped around his head as he was beaten by his bullies. 

Currently on his first instance.]

[Song Weizong. 34 years old. A self made big boss, who climbed out of the pit of poverty with ingenuity and a steady heart. 

His company values cheapness and quality, providing bulk daily goods like detergents and hand soaps, that are just as cheap or even cheaper than the average supermarket prices. However he doesn't have a capitalist heart and while the brand is increasing in popularity the profit is actually much worse then most companies on the same level resulting in some people's dissatisfaction.

Died from a car accident that was organized by his own father and younger brother. This is also his first instance.]

Just from the summary, Jia Hyson could grasp a deeper understanding of the people immediately. The first two were pitiful in their own ways but ultimately were not good people. 

To be honest Hu Xuan is not to be a bad person, but the end result can only make bystanders curse him as a villain. After all, driving in public under the influence of drugs endangers many innocent people and it can't be excused just because the origins of the addiction were not something he chose. 

Is being tricked into drugs terrible? It is terrible. In the modern world, addiction was scarier than ghosts, haunting peoples lives and bringing others into hell. However it is not a lost cause and drug users are not all criminals and mentally ill people like many media may suggest. 

However many hard drugs will change a good person into a twisted shadow of themselves and the result undeniably harms themselves as well as many others, whether due to losing control under the effects and becoming violent, or something more indirect like stealing a loved one's money in order to supplement the addiction, or even something more sinister like tricking friends to also join them in order to get discounted prices from a dealer by introducing them to 'new clients'. Once these things happen, the sinned becomes the sinner regardless of the past. 

The second person is similar but arguably much worse, after all his transformation is more active. 

There are different types of people who endure terrible work conditions, there are those who endure it, those who decisively leave, those who do their best to adapt to make the situation easier on them, those who will choose to righteously report the problems and so on. Sometimes the situation makes it very hard to leave a bad job, and standing up for yourself may sound good but it's really scary, especially in an environment where such behaviour is not encouraged. 

However you can still choose to be a decent person in the workplace. Turning from the aggrieved to a source of grief is indeed a way of adaption and survival but not everyone had the sort of character to do so. Simply put it is the mentality of the bullied turning into a bully. Because you were harmed a hundred times, it is only fair to harm a thousand times in order to protect yourself. 

The last two in contrast, were objectively good people. One was a teenage victim harmed by school violence and the other was a rare good businessman who died because of other people's greed. 

Jia Hyson fell into contemplation for a moment. 

If he went for pure personal preference, he would like to be ex-secretary Ren Qichuan. The face was a few points similar to his own original one, and the manipulative character was a little similar albeit weaker, then his own. However the other had gone through six instances, and was a professional backstabber, it's not easy to let the other's guard down, plus there may be a few pitfalls in his identity. 

The drug addict… Jia Hyson is willing to try a body with tattoos but he had lost a lot of interest knowing the other's body was ruined with drugs. Even though he knows the body is not the same as the original world, emotionally he still feels some rejection. At the very least, between an organically grown fruit and a fruit grown with pesticides, one would subconsciously feel biased toward the organic one. 

The zombie touches his nose thoughtfully. 

This left the two fresh little newbies. 

As he continues walking, he realised he was heading toward the direction of the dining area, his nose picking up the scent of food and subconsciously leading him there. The cruise ship was fairly large and luxurious, so naturally there were multiple restaurants also present on the ship. Jia Hyson could see a cute cafe, a sleek Japanese sushi place, an Italian restaurant, a dim sum restaurant and the cruise buffet area. 

Jia Hyson pauses for a bit, before decisively moving toward the buffet area. He used to be a rich and successful writer back in the day, and had a wide range of experiences thanks to the power of money. At the very least he had some understanding of cruises.

Generally, the cruise buffet area comes with the cost of the ship ticket and depending on the restaurant one would usually have to pay for the food. Therefore, most players would choose to gather toward the free buffet area first if they want to eat.

Food is a necessary survival, and in many instances, there should probably be a lot of difficulties to get palatable food. After all, many horror stories take place in hospitals, poor orphanages, backward villages, or other places like jungles or caves where there's limited rations. 

Now that there's a place where good luxury meals are available for free, how can players not be attracted?

Not to mention… Jia Hyson touches his stomach which was also deeply moved by the array of foods available. Well, he was also quite attracted too.

He likes to eat humans for sustenance but since he had become a Level 9 zombie he had already regained a more complex sense of taste. Unfortunately by then most of the world's food supply was depleted. It was almost a curse to have tastebuds at that point. 

Sure, he could enjoy the fruits and vegetables produced by plants, he could roast, boil and even fry meat, and he could taste the intricate flavor of energy in crystal nuclei, but can this compare to the taste of MSG in instant noodles?!

No, don't even talk about something like instant noodles, even rice and bread were something he hasn't tasted for so long. After all, Jia Hyson did not know the exact procedure to process rice and the internet had long become inaccessible, he doesn't know the recipe to make all these things. Even books were useless, as many people in the apocalypse had long used them as kindling to keep themselves warm. 

As the zombie walks around the not too busy buffet, his eyes brighten more and more. Lobster, fried noodles, baguettes, deep fried wontons, mini burgers, crispy curly fries, pork belly, oh, there's even tiny cake slices! It's so beautiful!

Pero who was watching Jia Hyson wander around the food, admiring with teary eyes but not daring to reach out for the food, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. When reaching out to eat his Boss NPC there was no hesitation but these little cakes and finger sandwiches worth barely half a baby's fingernail worth of data were treated so preciously. As a system he both understands and doesn't understand.

Either way, Pero couldn't let his chosen partner in crime look so pitiful. 

In the buffet area there were naturally waiters and waitresses around. However since the cruise was just starting there really wasn't a strong need for staff as most people will be exploring the area or finding their rooms. Thus, there was only one male and one female server waiting on call. They were just casually being background boards with a professional smile but suddenly their eyes glazed momentarily as they received a message from the system god. 

[Feed the Special NPC Liu Hyson to his satisfaction throughout the three-day cruise period. Failure results in Class-A Lab punishment.] 

NPC servers: …

In the next moment, the waiter NPCs immediately grabbed a large plate each and began to put food onto the plate. Whenever Jia Hyson's eyes gazed for a second longer, one would quickly pick it up. 

These NPCs still had their smiling faces on, showing their strong professionalism as servers but inside their hearts they were screaming and their backs full of nervous sweat. My God! Who is this big ancestor?! 

Jia Hyson, naturally was not unaware of the sudden change. Glancing at the two servers who both had plastered on smiles, he raises an eyebrow and mentally prods Pero. 'What did you do? They were ignoring me the entire time I entered until now.'

[It's just a small order.] The Metempsychotic system dismisses casually, before explaining, [You must remember Jia Hyson, unlike what the players think, most NPCs are not made of pure data, but are just souls wrapped in data… In that regard they're very similar to players except all of them have incredibly poor virtue when they were alive. In short they're all villains and scum.]

Jia Hyson glances at the servers again who were devoutly putting more food on the plate, even thoughtfully trying to make sure certain foods of clashing tastes won't touch as they do so. No matter how you looked they didn't look like bad people.

Then again he didn't look like one either when he was alive too.

[Generally these sort of souls will be forced into hell to suffer until their sins have been cleansed and they can enter reincarnation. However I've also grabbed a few here and there for my own uses.] Pero chuckles, [They cost less data, easy to control, and as long as I let them go when they've suffered enough, no one will notice. It's a fairly perfect system.] 

Abusers, scum, those with lives on their hands, and those pure malice in their heart- many people would think that no good deed goes unpunished but the tragic fact is that many bad people actually do fairly well in life, some can even be considered incredibly successful. This is the unfairness of life.

Thus there also needs to be an unfairness in death too.

To punish those people whose sins can't be simply forgiven through death, and let them endure constant cycles of suffering until some sort of 'justice' can finally be redeemed. Like a washing machine from hell, the dirty souls can only leave when they're finally clean.

[This male waiter was a cruel and selfish phoenix man* who cheated on his rich wife, orchestrated the murder of her parents and two older brothers in order to take over the company, and incited his legitimate son to suicide by blaming the previous deaths on him. He divorced his wife by blaming their son's suicide on her, and sent her to the asylum when she broke down and attacked him. 

The mistress produced two sons and they lived a relatively good life, though his children grew up a bit ungrateful and the man ended up cheating many times, they had enough money both to cater to the children and satisfy the other mistresses so it wasn't an issue.] 

*Phoenix men are men from poor birth that rises from the 'flames' like a phoenix and becomes rich. In modern day now it's considered a derogatory term because how they rise is typically via marrying a rich woman and relying on her family to succeed. 

[The female waitress had a poorer outcome in comparison. In her life she could be considered a talented and beautiful woman, with a good job and a good background. Unfortunately she had the type of personality who couldn't stand others being better than her. Because of this she caused a lot of mental stress and depression to many people from middle school to the workplace. 

It only took a few words, some evidence, emotional manipulation and fake tears, and those she disliked would be ostracised, bullied or feel forced to move schools or change jobs. While she didn't harm anyone or caused anyone's death directly, the strong emotional damage she contributed to people's lives in her own selfishness was enough to warrant severe punishment in the afterlife.]

Jia Hyson's smile twitches as he glances at the pair again.

Whether it was legal or illegal in human society, the harm they caused was real and thus they are punished. It's as simple as that. 

It seems he will be destined for worse things when it's his turn though. 

[You probably don't need to worry.] Pero thoughtfully adds, [Your soul ultimately belongs to your world and most worlds will not have a complex system of the afterlife. A few have heaven and hell, with varying ways to discern who gets into where, or there's a strong control over fate, or even have many gods residing around, but most generally just go straight into a gacha machine of reincarnation. It's more cost-saving that way.] 

After a moment of thought, the system also adds, with a little disdain, [Your world should be the gacha type, after all if they could afford to have the energy to make something better they wouldn't have ended up the pathetic way they have.] 

Pero: To summarize in two words- too poor. 

Jia Hyson: '…' I feel both relieved and inexplicably a little offended. 

By now the food on both plates have become a carefully arranged mountain, and Jia Hyson, worried about his meal, hurried to find a nearby table to sit in. 

The two servers place the food onto the table before standing straight with perfect posture and a wide smile. "Can we get you anything else?" The male waiter asks.

"Our beverage menu is on the table but if you desire any specific alcoholic cocktails or non-alcoholic mocktails please don't hesitate to ask~" The female waitress spoke sweetly and while her face kept the same rigid professional smile there was a faint sense of flirtation in her eyes. 

Jia Hyson was momentarily stunned before his eyes curve up and he nods lightly with his own gentle smile. "Thank you very much. Just a coke for now… but I'll be sure to think of you should I need more." 

The waitress' eyes lit up while the waiter looked a little gloomy. The word 'satisfaction' was key here and they're both fairly experienced NPCs. It wasn't easy to get a good gig like this where most of their 'self' was also unlocked, so they had to do their best to keep it! 

Not to mention the Class-A Lab Punishment… the waitress NPC shuddered. While she had never experienced it herself, after entering this hellish world they all got a rundown of what all the instance jobs were. Class-A meant the level of the instance was A, and usually A-level instances meant their memories were completely sealed, following a fixed identity as victim NPCs in a lab-based instance. 

It's fairly common to get an identity which completely sealed their memories and sense of self, but for A-level instances it's almost guaranteed.

Because no one would remain calm or sane knowing what would lie ahead.

Only when they were tortured and finally given the sweet mercy of true death in that instance could they finally wake up, and then relive all the experiences that befell them before they are forced to go through the entire process again once the instance reopens. 

What's even more heartbreaking is that going into an instance with completely sealed memories means you're classified as a full-time worker! The type that can't take on other NPC jobs on the side, meaning you get triple the pain for only the salary of one job! And no matter what class punishment you have, it's all pretty much the same amount of points earned! It's too cruel! Too fucking cruel!

Only when an instance completely closes or goes under maintenance can they leave that cycle of torture, in hopes of getting assigned to a better place.

The waiter naturally also understood what was at stake and felt a little panicked inside. The system god was a real piece of shit. This mission sounds easy on the surface but the system god had failed to specify what constitutes as a 'failure' and what 'to his satisfaction' meant. Given the fairly brutal nature of this world there was a good chance either this special NPC's tastes would become difficult to satisfy or that only the person who can satisfy the special NPC the most will not be punished.

At the very least, he couldn't be worse than his coworker. 

"W-well," The waiter speaks up with a faint blush on his cheeks, body slightly hunched and nervous as if he was summoning all his strength to talk, "I- I hope you will think of me too, young master!" His voices raises but it wavers at the end, as if breaking under his own shyness. 

With an embarrassed look, the waiter hastily bows before running off, glancing back bashfully one last time before heading to the kitchen hurriedly.

Waitress NPC: '…' It turned out my coworker is such a person.

Jia Hyson: '…' Wow, what a skilled Phoenix man, not only can he climb up on women, but turns out when it's needed he can climb up men too. 

Little Theatre:

Waiter NPC: I learned this technique from my fourth lover UwU