When the dumplings were finally done cooking, Chuntao couldn't help but think of something. How would Tiantian even go about eating the dumplings? Would she use the same mouth she used for eating spirits? Could she actually not eat at all?

Now she was curious.

Tiantian looked to be more drawn to the fried dumplings, reaching out to them first when they were placed on the table with her tiny hands. That brought another thought to Chuntao's head.

Could Tiantian use chopsticks? The quick answer was no.

When Chuntao had gave the doll a pair of chopsticks, she had stared at the sticks and then stared back at Chuntao with clear confusion in her little black eyes. This had gone on for a full minute before Tiantian put down the chopsticks and reached for the dumplings with her bare hands again. Which was not good.

"Tiantian, we don't eat dumplings with our hands." Chuntao coaxed Tiantian into picking the chopsticks back up so she could show her how to use them.

There was a lot of fumbling. The chopsticks had fallen onto the table five times and onto the floor once. At that point, Chuntao just gave up for now and decided to feed Tiantian herself. It wasn't because she was pampering the little girl, it was because it would be much quicker than just teaching her how to hold the chopsticks for now.

She could always buy a set of silverware from the System Store but she felt like she had been bothering Mifan a lot.

With practiced movements, Chuntao picked up a fried dumpling and held it up to Tiantian's mouth. She was expecting the jagged pieces of her mouth to come out and reveal her real mouth, but instead the painted smile on her porcelain face opened up like a normal person's mouth would and she took a bite of the dumpling. Her little black eyes lit up in an instant, going in for the kill to finish off the other half of the dumpling.

Chuntao fed herself one of the steamed dumplings while Tiantian chewed with a blissful expression on her face. Chuntao ended up taking on the exact same expression as she bit into the dumpling and let out a soft moan as the flavor of the dumpling spread within her mouth. The succulent and savory mix of pork and shrimp, the extra flavor brought about by the melted down pork fat, the freshness that the scallions and herbs that wrapped around it all perfectly...

Wasn't this what heaven was like?

Chuntao was snapped out of her food induced haze with tugging on her sleeve from Tiantian, opening her mouth expectantly for a steamed dumpling as well. Seeing Chuntao's happy expression made her eager to have one as well and she was satisfied when one was put to her lips again.

Mifan would surely call Chuntao's expression happy, but not in the way Tiantian had.

The two apparitions would've spent the entire afternoon in dumpling bliss if it weren't for the sudden opening of their door and the tumbling in of around six very much alive humans.

One of them being the protagonist, Bai Yue.

The two ghosts sat at the table patiently as their uninvited guests caught their breaths, still not noticing the house had already been occupied and was still currently being occupied. They must've been especially tired since they couldn't even smell their delicious dumplings despite being so close by.

"Holy shit... If we hadn't gotten into this house, we would've been goners." A man who was balding, reminding Chuntao of a soft boiled egg, panted out with his hands on his knees. The rest of the group agreed with him with groans or some other sound of affirmation.

"I feel like throwing up."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to move again in my life."

"Same."

While the players talked amongst themselves, somehow still not noticing Chuntao and Tiantian, a black book appeared in Chuntao's hands and she opened it up curiously as Tiantian began picking up dumplings with her hands to eat.

The black book was full of names and pictures, some of them looking familiar as the people in them were standing by the door still regaining their breath and getting their wits about them. Was this an attendance list?

[ Correct, Host! As not only a helper to the players but to the moderators, it's your job to keep attendance of any players that visit your protected area! Just cross out names if you don't see them there. ]

"But I don't have a pen."

[ You don't need one. Just imagine their name disappearing or being crossed out. ]

Chuntao nodded and began to diligently flip through the pages of the book, crossing out names as she went and leaves others untouched as they had yet to visit her area or simply were here. When she reached the final name in the book, Bai Yue, a scream pierced the air and little Tiantian almost fell out of her chair, Chuntao almost diving to catch her.

"A-another ghost! We're screwed!" The soft boiled egg man, whose name she had found out was Gao Zihao from the book, had been the one who screamed and was pointing quite rudely at her with sweat going down his face in rivers. The other players excluding Bai Yue weren't fairing any better.

Instead of reacting violently or becoming terrifying all of a sudden like the players had expected, the ghost righted the child-sized doll in the chair beside her with great care before letting out a sigh of relief. The ghost then turned to the group with a blank face before raising up a hand, causing the knees of the players to turn into jelly. Was this ghost going to kill them with just one hand?!

Slowly, the ghost's thin hand pointed a finger out and used it to trace around the crowd, stopping on each person before moving on. It finally stopped on Bai Yue and all the other players thought for sure that the girl was a goner, having been chosen by a ghost for something. However, the girl showed no fear and stood tall.

What all of them were expecting, however, did not happen. The ghost opened her mouth and spoke two sentences that shocked them all to their cores.

"Player Bai Yue is also here. Since you're the only one who didn't behave rudely, you're welcome to join me for lunch."

The players: (⊙_⊙)？

Bai Yue: (ㆆ_ㆆ)

[ Yay. ]