The warm, humid sensation tightly enveloped Jiang Yan, who had not been dreaming but rather had fallen into a long, deep sleep.
When Jiang Yan opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in the room he shared with his "husband"—still the same room with the large windows, filled with all sorts of monkey plush toys.
He had slept particularly well this time, and the nervous headache that had arisen from not taking his medication had eased significantly.
The sunlight outside the window was blocked, and the entire room was instantly cast into darkness.
Jiang Yan instinctively turned over and looked toward the window—only to see a pitch-black monster stuck to the glass. Its enormous body covered the entire window, and a graffiti-like mask with a pale, deathly aura smiled at Jiang Yan from the wall.
Startled, Jiang Yan jumped. The monster, seeing he was awake, spoke in a strange, mechanical voice, “Yan Yan is awake?”
Black tentacles reached through the glass, and its whole body squeezed in along with them.
Jiang Yan didn't know how to react; he simply stared at it with a blank expression.
The creature pushed through the transparent window and onto the bed, its inky body pressing down on Jiang Yan, wrapping him entirely in its embrace.
Jiang Yan didn’t feel suffocated; it felt like a thick blanket covering him.
It dragged its entire body onto the bed and then used its tentacles to extract its “wife,” whom it had swallowed into itself, placing her back on top of itself.
Jiang Yan lay on the monster, and looking at the eyes it had drawn in green, he remembered the figure that resembled Yu Xiu standing by the sea from yesterday’s half-dream.
He reached into his pocket, where a note with a poem lay quietly.
“Did Yan Yan come here with your friend because we had a fight?” the monster suddenly asked.
Jiang Yan looked up in disbelief: “Fight?”
“Because I don’t like your friend very much,” said the monster.
It lay on the bed like a puddle of ink, while Jiang Yan nestled against its belly, creating a stark contrast between the jet black of the monster and his snow-white form.
One of its tentacles wrapped around Jiang Yan's ankle, deliberately caressing it, creating an ambiguous atmosphere as if they truly were a newlywed couple.
Jiang Yan lowered his head and said nothing, trying to pull his foot back, but the tentacle tightened its grip.
The room fell silent, with sunlight streaming through the window and bathing the bed, yet the monster’s massive black body seemed unaffected by the light, as if the sunlight deliberately bypassed it, or as if it shone on nothingness.
Sitting on the creature, Jiang Yan’s translucent white skin glowed in the sunlight. He lifted his head to look at the crudely drawn paper mask in front of him, its blue eyes gleaming like glass beads.
In this place resembling a chapel more than a typical hospital room, the two of them—one large, one small, one black, one white—quietly stared at each other.
Eventually, Jiang Yan lowered his head again, observing his ankle wrapped in the tentacle, which climbed up his smooth foot, patting it gently in a seemingly affectionate manner...
After a while, Jiang Yan finally spoke in a flat tone, “Monsters are best at lying.”
_
Last night, the deity selected its new bride among them, which made the believers feel honored and reassured.
They decided to go to the cemetery early this morning to pray to the deity, seeking the deity's protection.
Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng also followed among them.
As they walked through the crowd, Cao Youfeng lowered his voice, worried, and asked Tao Shi, “Jiang Yan didn’t come back last night. Do you think something happened to him?”
“He’s the key to the entire instance. Even if all the other players are in trouble, it shouldn’t affect him,” Tao Shi replied. “Rather than worry about him, you should be more concerned about ourselves.”
“I’m not talking about that,” Cao Youfeng explained.
Tao Shi looked confused. “Is there anything more serious than losing your life?”
“I mean…” Cao Youfeng coughed lightly and lowered his voice even more. “According to the director's logic, that monster from yesterday came to take a wife, and it took Jiang Yan away. Do you think Jiang Yan might…”
Tao Shi suddenly realized, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Jiang Yan… he seems like the kind of person who wouldn’t be particularly interested in anything. He probably wouldn’t care about something like that.”
Cao Youfeng: “…”
How could he not care?!
Cao Youfeng kept his voice low. The people passing by might not hear him clearly, but the players on the game forum heard every word:
[My God… This is the first time I feel that a real NPC is so dangerous.]
[What can I say about the character Jiang Yan got? I don’t know if I should say he’s lucky or unlucky.]
[Ha, the lucky one is clearly that monster.]
[Shit! I actually feel a strange jealousy toward a system NPC.]
At that moment, Jiang Yan was lying alone in his room. His husband had just taken a monkey plushie without saying anything and left.
He chose not to meet up with Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng right away; instead, he opened his control panel to look at the various data and the “Zhang San Card” lingering in the item bar, asking his personal system, “663, why is my instance script different from Tao Shi and the others?”
“You are an NPC, Jiang Yan,” 663 replied. “The instance script you received is based on your current character design.”
Jiang Yan's gaze fell on his two key clues: 1. He was insane; 2. Don’t accept it.
Recalling everything that happened yesterday, Jiang Yan’s eyes dimmed.
These two key clues were not so much key clues for the players as they were for him, this NPC.
At that moment, Jiang Yan also felt the incongruity of being a real NPC in the instance.
He looked out the window, where his “husband” had just left. Beneath the glass window lay a photo waiting to be picked up—just like in his dream.
Jiang Yan stepped barefoot onto the floor and slowly approached to pick up the photo.
The photo was the same as in his dream, depicting him and Yu Xiu.
Jiang Yan looked up at the window. The director and the old woman were standing with a group of so-called “believers of the deity” in the cemetery.
They reverently gazed at the tall structure they had built for the deceased, yearning for the deity to bless their already departed loved ones and themselves, who were fortunate enough to survive.
Jiang Yan silently clenched the photo in his hand, knowing what would happen next. They didn’t wait for their deity but for a group of invaders.
Sure enough, he stood high above, peering through the glass window, and saw a group of people carrying guns and wearing leather boots walk in.
“Bang!”
Jiang Yan turned and dashed out of the room, running straight down the stairs.
The gunfire echoed around him, sending chills down his spine.
“What are you doing?” 663 was surprised for the first time to see Jiang Yan run so fast.
He was astonished that Jiang Yan could run this quickly!
“They’re already dead,” 663 said. “You should know that it’s 1942 now; the events from 80 years ago have already occurred.”
When Jiang Yan reached the entrance of the outpatient building, he gradually came to a stop.
The gunfire was mixed with screams and curses. They were powerless to resist, and those who had the ability to fight back had all perished in the previous massacre.
Jiang Yan was panting, and his pupils slightly trembled.
“You’re not going to save anyone, are you?” 663 asked.
Jiang Yan: “…”
“It seems I’ve discovered another virtue of yours,” 663 said with a smirk. “But why do you think you can save them all by yourself?”
“Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng are still outside,” Jiang Yan replied.
“I advise you to go back to your room. You’re shaking, and your mental state is unstable,” 663 said, his tone becoming slightly serious. “You’re not suffering from PTSD, are you?”
Jiang Yan didn’t respond. He felt his mind starting to go a bit haywire again, and he was also feeling discomfort in his lungs.
But did Jiang Yan from 80 years ago have tuberculosis?
He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. “By the way, can you help me choose a different instance next time? I’d rather not have such an unstable mental and physical character design.”
“Big star! Do you think real NPCs have the right to choose their instances?” 663 said helplessly.
In the game, players have the right to choose which movie to watch after reaching a certain level of points and mental capacity, except for the initial few instances.
Real NPCs, on the other hand, serve the system.
In simple terms, players are like “customers” who have the right to choose which movie to watch, while real NPCs are “actors” who signed a contract to sell themselves. They can only follow arrangements for “performances” and have almost no right to choose their roles.
However, it’s said that the few real NPCs ranked at the top in terms of points and mental capacity do have such rights.
It’s just that those top-tier real NPCs are prevented from helping their guild members cheat. In the instances, their names and appearance features are altered, making it nearly impossible for anyone to recognize them.
“So I’m really curious,” Jiang Yan pointed out what he always felt was odd, “what is your role? Or what is the role of the personal system for real NPCs? Just watching the show?”
“Let me rephrase the question: do all real NPCs and players really have personal systems?”
Suddenly, the gunfire in his ears ceased, and the empty hall was left with only Jiang Yan’s slightly rapid breathing.
At that moment, a chaotic sound of footsteps approached from afar. Soon, a group of people pressed against the entrance—dressed in matching military-green uniforms, brandishing rifles with bayonets, and leading three disheveled and injured individuals into the outpatient hall.
Those three individuals were covered in dirt, and one of them, wearing a white coat, was the most severely injured, needing to lean on another boy wrapped in bandages to move.
The three were none other than Tao Shi, Cao Youfeng, and the severely injured director who survived the gunfire.
When the director saw Jiang Yan standing barefoot in the hall, he froze, then fearfully signaled for him to run quickly.
The director must have been too injured to think clearly, as there was no way Jiang Yan could escape now.
Behind them, the group of people with rifles also froze.
The leader, wearing leather boots, said something to his skinny subordinate with round-framed glasses, which Jiang Yan found familiar but couldn’t fully comprehend. Soon, the subordinate grinned at him in a flattering manner.
Then, the thin subordinate with round glasses shouted loudly at Jiang Yan, “You! Who are you?”
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly and said to 663, “I thought all traitors were pretty fat.”
663 seemed to forget their earlier topic and replied, “That’s just a stereotype.”
“Hey! I’m asking you! Who are you?!” the man continued to shout.
“A patient from the hospital,” Jiang Yan answered flatly.
The leader murmured a few words in the man's ear. The man nodded with a smile and turned to Jiang Yan, shouting, “Why are your eyes blue? Are you a foreigner?”
“Natural, I’m not a foreigner; it’s a condition,” Jiang Yan replied, his voice steady and even.
The man smiled again and translated their conversation to the officer next to him, who was wearing leather boots.
After listening, the booted officer laughed a few times and then walked over to Jiang Yan.
No one spoke, and the sound of the boots echoing in the hall was particularly harsh.
The man stood in front of Jiang Yan, grabbed his chin, and lifted his face up. His fingers rubbed against Jiang Yan’s skin as he made a satisfied “tsk tsk” sound.
Jiang Yan disliked being touched, especially in such an offensive manner. He slapped the man’s hand away and took a step back.
“Get lost,” Jiang Yan frowned.
“Click!”
Suddenly, dozens of guns were cocked in the hall, and all the bayonets pointed at Jiang Yan, creating a tense atmosphere.
Yet the officer who had been pushed away wasn’t angry; instead, he chuckled a couple of times and then muttered something to his subordinate with round glasses.
Before the bespectacled man could react, Tao Shi exclaimed in surprise, “No! He’s a guy!”
All eyes turned to Tao Shi. Cao Youfeng, who had a gun pointed at him, showed no sign of panic; instead, he asked Tao Shi in surprise, “Boss, you can understand Japanese too?”
Tao Shi gritted his teeth and said, “I can’t understand it, but I understood the three words he just said.”
“What three words?”
“Delicate.”
Cao Youfeng looked shocked. He turned to Jiang Yan and saw him wearing a loose blue and white patient outfit, barefoot on the floor, with black hair slicked down on his forehead. Those blue eyes made him appear pale and insipid, giving him a somewhat fragile look.
Perhaps because Jiang Yan was so fair and slender, he looked much younger than his actual age, and no one could tell he was a man who had been divorced once.
The officer couldn’t understand what Tao Shi was saying, nor did he care about the content.
With a wave of his hand, he shouted, and two soldiers with guns approached Jiang Yan.
“No…” The old director struggled to get up from Cao Youfeng’s shoulder, looking at Jiang Yan with red eyes. “You can’t touch him!”
But Jiang Yan stood there without fear, like a deer surrounded by wolves, blissfully unaware and still munching away on grass.
As those two men got closer to Jiang Yan, the dean turned back and pleaded with the bespectacled man, “He…he’s my son… please let them go! He has a mental illness; let them spare him…”
Cao Youfeng tightened his hold on the dean, worried he might fall off his shoulder, and disdainfully glanced at the bespectacled man. “Don’t beg him! We’d rather die than plead with a traitor.”
After saying that, he spat at the man.
The bespectacled man merely frowned, saying nothing, his gaze fixed on the gradually encroaching Jiang Yan.
The young man with beautiful blue eyes stood still, surrounded by hungry wolves inching closer to him.
As the three men drew closer to Jiang Yan, he seemed completely oblivious to the danger.
“Boss…” Even Cao Youfeng began to feel nervous.
Tao Shi’s expression darkened; he said nothing but quietly watched Jiang Yan.
The bespectacled man opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but ultimately just frowned and closed his mouth.
He knew what was about to happen; he had seen such scenes countless times before.
“I beg you… he’s my son… I’m old; please have mercy…” The old dean knew they couldn’t understand him, but at this moment, all he could do was plead.
Finally, they had backed Jiang Yan into a corner, and their eyes began to glint with greed, their smiles turning grotesque.
【Get lost!!! Damn it, stay away from him!】
【Run! Why isn’t Jiang Yan running?!】
【What’s he supposed to do? Don’t forget Jiang Yan’s character is mentally unstable.】
【Just because he’s mentally unstable doesn’t mean he can’t run! Don’t mentally ill people run faster?!】
Ultimately, the officer reached out to Jiang Yan again. He grabbed Jiang Yan by the collar, lifting him off the ground.
The fragile patient outfit made a sound like tearing fabric. Jiang Yan looked at him blankly, as if he were staring at a corpse.
The officer wore a greedy smile, and then, like tossing a rag doll, he slammed Jiang Yan down onto the ground!
Jiang Yan stumbled a few steps, his collar torn a bit.
He looked coolly at the three living beings in front of him, staring at him with disgusting eyes, and softly advised, “I told you, I’m a patient.”
The three men couldn’t understand what Jiang Yan was saying, and those who could understand were confused by his nonsensical remark.
【What? Does he think saying that will make people go easy on him?】
【Is he trying to put on an act before dying?】
【Death is fine; what’s scary is living worse than death.】
【Run! It’s exhausting… why not struggle a bit?】
【At least throw them a punch! Can’t a mentally ill person hit someone?】
The three men didn’t care what the delicate beauty was saying, or rather, they were entirely indifferent; to them, Jiang Yan was just a new prey they had found.
A gun with a bayonet was thrust in front of Jiang Yan, the sharp tip prying open the first button of his patient outfit.
The officer laughed even louder, “Hahahahaha… cough, cough cough…”
It was unclear if he was choked; he started coughing as he laughed.
“Ugh…!”
After just a couple of coughs, he suddenly spat out a pool of blood.
Watching the bright red blood on the floor, the officer froze.
Not just him; the two soldiers beside him started to cough violently, eventually hacking up blood from their mouths.
The previously silent guard was in an uproar. They spoke in a language Jiang Yan couldn’t understand, seemingly inquiring about the officer's condition, yet none dared to take a step forward.
“Cough cough cough… cough cough cough… cough…”
“Cough cough cough… cough cough cough—!”
The harsh sound of coughing echoed in the outpatient hall, and the three men could no longer stand.
They collapsed helplessly to the ground, large amounts of blood spurting from their mouths and noses, causing them to choke and cough even harder.
Tao Shi and the others were dumbfounded at the scene before them.
Then, Tao Shi let out an excited chuckle and said to Cao Youfeng, “I told you, Jiang Yan must have a hidden item.”
“What kind of item is this? One that can make someone cough up blood and die instantly?!” Cao Youfeng was greatly shocked.
He quickly activated his “Number Hide Card,” intending to see what item Jiang Yan possessed.
The “card” rotated in front of Cao Youfeng’s chest, emitting a pale blue light, and countless numbers began to converge into the card.
He saw the officer sprawled on the ground, barely alive, staring fixedly at Jiang Yan, his mouth filled with blood froth, sputtering out a few syllables.
But unfortunately, Jiang Yan couldn’t understand, or rather, he didn’t care what he was saying.
In the end, he spat out another large pool of blood, his booted legs kicked out, and the next second, he breathed his last.
Jiang Yan simply picked up the button that had fallen to the ground and coolly stated, “I told you, I’m a patient.”
After a moment, when the “Number Hide Card” displayed the data it had collected on Cao Youfeng’s item panel, it returned to his inventory.
“What’s his personal item?” Tao Shi asked excitedly.
Cao Youfeng looked at the data from the “Number Hide Card,” incredulous. “Nothing? Just an illness?”
“Hmm?” Tao Shi was puzzled.
Cao Youfeng looked at Tao Shi in shock. “The Number Hide Card didn’t collect Jiang Yan’s item. Those three men coughed up blood because… of tuberculosis.”
“And they contracted tuberculosis just a minute ago, which rapidly worsened and led to their deaths.”
“Tuberculosis?? It doesn’t kill that quickly?!” Tao Shi was quite shocked. “Infected just a minute ago?”
In one minute, tuberculosis couldn’t cause death!
Tao Shi glanced at Jiang Yan, who stood clean and angelic in front of the three corpses twisted in pain.
He gritted his teeth and stubbornly asked the director, “Dean, does our hospital have any registered tuberculosis patients?”
The director had just sighed in relief after Jiang Yan had escaped from danger. He covered his chest wound and gasped slightly before saying, “There is one.”
“...It’s Jiang Yan.”
Before Tao Shi could process this, Cao Youfeng exclaimed, “Boss! There’s an anomaly in the individual data of the instance!"
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