[What the hell? Public reprimand??]
[I thought I misheard. Does this game actually have such a punishment option? It’s not even deducting points, just a public reprimand?]
[Never seen anything like this! I’m really curious about what this NPC was talking about with his system.]
[Unbelievable! Haha! Jiang Yan, right? He’s going to be immortalized in the game’s history of “Jian”!
[Oh my! A server-wide public reprimand. Hahaha! The players in his instance must be utterly confused hearing this punishment!]
[I just came over from the instance next door! What’s going on? What kind of situation leads to a server-wide public reprimand?]
[Oh my god! Let me see which genius triggered the main system's bizarre punishment mechanism? Oh, it’s a pretty boy. Never mind, all is forgiven!]
[I’m even starting to suspect the main system is captivated by his looks. First, it’s asking for a kiss, and now it’s issuing a server-wide reprimand. Hahahaha...]
Jiang Yan was genuinely angry.
He let out a cold laugh and said to 663, “Your main system even knows our conversations?”
663 broke into a cold sweat. While cursing the shameless main system internally, he explained, “I’m your personal system. Our communication interface is fully open to the main system, so it knows all our exchanges.”
“Can you tell me what part of our conversation was unrealistic or harmful? Was it my divorce being unrealistic and harmful, or my second spring?” Jiang Yan stood up from the ground, brushing off the blanket on him, his face devoid of much expression.
“Maybe it was your second spring?” 663 guessed tentatively. “By the way, what was the reason for your divorce?”
The light in Jiang Yan’s watery blue eyes visibly dimmed, turning cold. He didn’t like people bringing up his divorce in front of him.
Both his marriage and divorce had felt abrupt to his family and friends. It was as if he got married out of nowhere, gave everyone a quick notice, and then silently got divorced just as suddenly.
No one knew what exactly had happened. Jiang Yan didn’t want to talk about it, and naturally, others didn’t press for details.
663 rarely felt Jiang Yan's anger, and immediately tried to make amends.
"Sorry, just pretend I didn't say anything," it said quickly.
Jiang Yan didn’t reply, silently peeling another chestnut and popping it into his mouth.
Whenever he was upset, he liked to eat something.
Having something in his mouth helped him control his expressions and prevented him from blurting out hurtful words.
He always avoided conflict, knowing that resolving disputes was troublesome.
“Jiang Yan?”
A man’s voice came from behind him.
Jiang Yan turned around and saw a tall, thin man dressed in a tattered gray and white striped suit. The cuffs and pant legs of the suit hung loose, making the man resemble a bamboo pole propping up oversized clothes.
The man was somewhat handsome, but the dark circles under his eyes, combined with his haggard appearance, made him look like a shriveled zombie. He was the "Corpse Driver"—Ding Wangyu.
Though they had been living in the same house for five days, this was their first meeting.
One had stayed upstairs all the time, lounging in bed regardless of day or night, while the other slept during the day and went out at night to "transport" corpses. They had no chance to cross paths.
If Jiang Yan hadn’t come downstairs tonight, it was entirely possible for them to go through the entire instance without ever meeting.
The performance of the rookie players was subpar, so Ding Wangyu had planned to just coast through, find a way to pass the "key clues" to the players, and scrape by with two or three hundred points after ten days.
He hadn’t expected Jiang Yan to seek him out.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Jiang Yan had recently been docked 100 points and was probably desperate.
Initially, Ding Wangyu had felt unlucky when assigned the role of the Corpse Driver.
Especially when comparing his situation to Jiang Yan, who was pampered with good food and lodging on the second floor, while he had to brave the wind and snow each night to gather corpses. It was hard not to feel resentful.
But, after hearing the reason Jiang Yan was penalized, Ding Wangyu realized that “collecting corpses” was still better than “kissing the Hunter.”
When he saw Jiang Yan, Ding Wangyu quickly guessed why the main system had assigned him this character.
The young man, wrapped in a blue velvet blanket, stood by the fireplace. His black hair lazily draped over his forehead, and his bright blue eyes sparkled under the firelight, resembling those of a cat.
"I'm here to see you," Jiang Yan said, quickly composing himself and smiling amicably.
“I know.” Ding Wangyu studied the young man before him and asked, “You’re here to ask about my key clues, aren’t you?”
“I won’t tell you.”
“Key clues” were tied to their points. If one NPC’s key clue was revealed to the players by another NPC, the revealing NPC’s points would be halved during the final evaluation.
Frankly, given the current state of the players in this instance, there wasn’t much entertainment left for the NPCs.
Even so, no one would willingly hand over their points.
[This pretty boy is clearly out of his mind. Does he think any NPC would willingly reveal their "key clue"?]
[Exactly! This instance is just pathetic. Both the players and NPCs are a disaster.]
[Honestly, the newer generation of players and NPCs just keeps getting worse. Back in our day, were we ever this stupid?]
[That’s because people this foolish never survived back then.]
663 also found Jiang Yan’s idea absurdly naive. He thought this kid had been too sheltered by his family.
With competition in "the game" being this brutal, how could anyone possibly think someone would give up their points willingly?
But Jiang Yan’s next words left everyone dumbfounded.
He smiled and said, “I’m not here to ask for your key clue. I’m here to give you mine.”
[????]
[What?? What did he just say???]
[Is he crazy??]
[Really? An NPC willingly giving away their key clue? That’s half their points gone!]
[Has he given up on life?]
[It’s not that bad! It’s just a 100-point penalty. Sweetheart, think it through!]
[Unbelievable! Unbelievable! What can you even say to someone racing toward their own demise?]
[With intelligence like that, if he doesn’t die in this instance, he’ll surely be done for in the next one. What a waste—such a pretty face, too.]
663 was equally stunned. “What are you saying? Are you insane? Did our earlier conversation mess you up?”
“I made this decision very calmly,” Jiang Yan replied.
“Calmly? Are you serious? Your calm decision is to give away half your points? You just lost 100 points! And now you want to lose another 100?” 663 was utterly baffled.
Jiang Yan didn’t respond to 663.
Even Ding Wangyu was thrown for a loop. He looked the boy up and down, trying to figure out if there was something wrong with him mentally.
From his outward appearance, though, Jiang Yan seemed perfectly sharp.
“Why?” Ding Wangyu asked warily.
He suspected Jiang Yan might be trying to set him up. “Are you trying to propose a clue exchange? If so, I refuse.”
Clue exchanges could only happen between NPCs. However, if an NPC intentionally gave players the wrong key clue, they would face a point deduction.
Many NPCs had used this loophole to frame their "colleagues."
“No,” Jiang Yan answered calmly. “I just genuinely want to give you my clue.”
Jiang Yan noticed Ding Wangyu's doubt and explained:
"Look, based on the current competence level of these players, we'll definitely have to exhaust ourselves spoon-feeding them the key clues. Even so, if they fail to clear the instance, the overall point payout at the end won't be high.
"I’ve thought it through. Even if I rack my brains trying to hand my key clue to the players, my final points will probably only be around 200.
"So, why not just give my key clue to you? That way, you’ll have two key clues in hand. You'll be motivated to pass both to the players and earn more points for yourself.
"As for me, after splitting my 200 points with you, I’ll still have 100. That way, the 100 points the main system deducted earlier will be offset."
Everyone was stunned by his words.
[What… kind of logic is this?]
[Well… it does make a strange sort of sense.]
[What sense? Nonsense! Who gives away their points for free? Impossible!]
[I’m betting he’s just waiting for the Corpse Driver to let down his guard, then he’ll trick him into revealing a fake key clue to the players. That way, Jiang Yan can earn even more points!]
[Turns out the pretty boy who looks so innocent has quite a devious streak!]
[Let’s be real, no one who gets into this game is truly naïve. And Jiang Yan has already survived two instances.]
[But there’s no way the Corpse Driver will believe this excuse, right? You’d have to be an idiot to trust him!]
While most doubted Jiang Yan’s sincerity, only 663 believed him.
If possible, 663 would have loved to hang a banner above Jiang Yan’s head that read: Fck You!
Not for any profound reason—simply because, after two instances together, 663 knew just how lazy this person was.
It was entirely possible for someone to lack ambition so thoroughly that it made others question their intelligence.
The Corpse Driver, naturally, wasn’t buying such an absurd excuse. "Then why didn’t you tell me this earlier? Why wait until after you got penalized to come find me? If you’d told me at the start, you’d still have your 100 points, wouldn’t you?”
"At the start? I was lounging upstairs comfortably. Do you think I’d come down in the middle of the night just for 100 points?" Jiang Yan said matter-of-factly. "I’m the type to go with the flow. If I hadn’t been penalized tonight, I’d have happily lazed around until the instance ended with zero points."
"Are your points enough to fulfill your Obsession?" Ding Wangyu asked, confused.
Jiang Yan shook his head. "Originally, I had 200. Now it’s just 100 after the deduction."
Ding Wangyu’s eyes widened in disbelief before he sneered. "Do you take me for a fool? If that’s the case, don’t you want more points?"
"Nope." Jiang Yan yawned and said lazily, "Anyway, my key clue is 2/3. Believe it or not, that’s your choice. I’ve delivered the message. Goodnight."
He shrugged nonchalantly, as if what he’d just shared wasn’t the lifeblood of an NPC but a trivial remark.
Ding Wangyu watched the boy walk away, socks scuffing against the dirty floorboards, utterly baffled. "Your acting isn’t bad, but you’re not very smart. Nobody in this game doesn’t care about points."
"That’s because I’m an unlucky guy who got dragged into this by mistake," Jiang Yan replied, munching on another chestnut.
"The main system doesn’t make mistakes," Ding Wangyu said calmly.
"If you didn’t have a desire strong enough to stake your life on, it wouldn’t have pulled you in."
Jiang Yan’s steps halted instantly.
Outside, the wind and snow howled even louder, snowflakes rattling against the glass windows with a rhythmic "taptap." Inside, the fireplace crackled and popped, filling the living room with warmth.
Ding Wangyu watched as the boy, wrapped snugly in a blue velvet blanket, stood frozen halfway down the staircase.
After a long silence, Jiang Yan slowly turned his head. The crimson glow of the fireplace reflected in his blue eyes, giving them an eerie violet hue.
He shrugged nonchalantly and gave a carefree smile. "Who knows? Whatever you say, sure, let’s go with that."