[What the hell? Public reprimand??]
[I thought I misheard. Is there really such a punishment option in this game? Instead of deducting points, it's just a public reprimand.]
[I've never seen this before! I'm curious about what this NPC and his system talked about.]
[Unbelievable! Hahaha! Jiang Yan, right? He'll definitely be recorded in the history of “Jian”!]
[Oh no! A public reprimand for the whole server. Hahaha! Other players in different dungeons must be dumbfounded by this punishment!]
[I just came over from the adjacent dungeon! What’s going on? What the hell is a public reprimand for the whole server?]
[I’m here too! Let me see which god triggered the main system's bizarre punishment mechanism? Oh, it’s a little beauty, never mind!]
[Now I’m starting to suspect that the main system is coveting his beauty too, with the kisses and the public reprimand for the whole server. Hahahaha…]
Jiang Yan was genuinely a bit angry.
He coldly laughed at 663 and said, “Can your main system really know what we talked about?”
663 was sweating profusely, grinding his teeth and cursing the unscrupulous main system in his heart while explaining, “I’m your personal system, and the communication interface between us is open to the main system, so it knows all our conversations.”
“May I ask what false and harmful information we exchanged? Is it that my divorce is false and harmful, or is it about my second spring?” Jiang Yan stood up from the ground, dusting off the blanket on himself, with not much expression on his face.
“Maybe it’s about your second spring?” 663 ventured, “By the way, what was the reason for your divorce?”
The light in Jiang Yan’s water-blue eyes visibly grew colder; he didn’t like others mentioning his divorce in front of him.
His marriage and divorce came as a surprise to his family and friends, who felt he got married out of the blue, informed everyone, and then quietly divorced.
No one knew what exactly happened, and since Jiang Yan was unwilling to talk about it, they naturally wouldn’t pry too much.
Feeling Jiang Yan's anger for the first time, 663 quickly made amends, “Sorry, pretend I didn’t say anything.”
Jiang Yan remained silent, quietly peeling another chestnut to put in his mouth.
He always liked to eat when he was angry, as having something in his mouth helped him control his expression and prevented him from saying anything hurtful.
He usually avoided conflicts with others because resolving disputes was a very troublesome matter.
“Jiang Yan?” A man's voice came from behind him.
Jiang Yan turned at the sound to see a tall, thin man dressed in a worn-out gray and white striped suit, with his sleeves and pant legs looking empty, making him look like a bamboo pole holding up the clothing.
The man was somewhat handsome, but his dark circles under his eyes and shabby appearance made him look like a gaunt zombie. He was the “corpse driver” — Ding Wanyu.
Although they had been living in this house together for five days, it was their first time meeting.
Previously, they had been living on different floors; one always stayed in bed day and night, while the other slept during the day and “transported” corpses at night, leaving no opportunity for them to meet.
In fact, if Jiang Yan hadn’t taken the initiative to come downstairs tonight, they could have gone through the entire dungeon without meeting.
That group of new players had such poor qualities that Ding Wanyu initially planned to just muddle through, find a way to tell the players the “key clues,” and earn a couple of hundred points in ten days.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yan would actively seek him out.
Thinking about it, it made sense. The man had recently lost 100 points due to the main system and was surely anxious.
When Ding Wanyu was assigned to the “corpse driver” role, he lamented his bad luck, especially compared to Jiang Yan, who was being spoiled upstairs with food and drink while he had to endure the wind and snow to collect corpses every night. It was hard not to feel a bit imbalanced.
However, considering the reason Jiang Yan lost points, Ding Wanyu felt that “kissing the ‘Hunter’” was more fitting for him than “collecting corpses.”
Upon seeing Jiang Yan, he quickly adjusted his emotions and smiled friendly, “I’m here to find you.”
“I know,” Ding Wanyu said, looking at the youth in front of him. He had a rough idea of why the main system assigned him such a character.
The boy, wrapped in a blue velvet blanket, stood by the fire, his black hair lazily falling over his forehead. His blue eyes gleamed in the firelight, making him look just like a cat.
“You came to ask about my ‘key clues,’ right?” Ding Wanyu asked. “I won’t tell you.”
The “key clues” were tied to their rare points; if his “key clues” were revealed to the players by another NPC, then the player’s points would be halved during settlement.
To be honest, given the current state of the players in the dungeon, this dungeon was no longer fun for the NPCs.
Nevertheless, no one would be willing to give up their points easily.
[This little beauty doesn’t seem too bright; how could he think an NPC would willingly reveal their “key clues”?]
[Seriously, this dungeon is just too lame! Players and NPCs are both lame!]
[These new players and NPCs seem to be getting worse with each generation. When did we ever act this foolish?]
[That’s because those who make such foolish mistakes don’t survive.]
663 also found Jiang Yan’s idea naive to the point of being ridiculous; he felt that this kid had been too well protected by his family.
With the internal competition in “Jian” being this ruthless, how could anyone be willing to forfeit their points?
However, Jiang Yan’s next words left everyone shocked.
He said with a smile, “I’m not here to ask for your ‘key clues’; I’m here to share my ‘key clues’ with you.”
[？？？？？]
[？？？？？？？]
[？？？？？？？ Is he okay in the head??]
[What?! Can NPCs really share their “key clues” with others?! That’s half of the points!]
[Is he planning to self-destruct?]
[Not to that extent! Not to that extent! It’s just a deduction of 100 points, sweetheart! You need to chill a bit!!]
[This is insane! What else can we say? You can’t stop someone who’s rushing to their own death!]
[With this level of intelligence, if he doesn’t die in this instance, he’ll definitely perish in the next one. What a pity, such a beautiful person!]
663 was also dumbfounded: “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Were you stimulated by our previous topic?!”
“I calmly made this decision,” Jiang Yan replied.
“Calmly?? Are you sure? Your calm decision resulted in giving away half of your points to someone else? You just had 100 points deducted! Now you want to give away another 100?!” 663 was utterly perplexed.
Jiang Yan didn’t answer 663.
Ding Wanyu, standing in front of him, was also baffled. He looked Jiang Yan up and down, seemingly trying to determine if the other person had lost their mind.
But at least on the surface, the youth in front of him still looked quite clever.
“Why?” Ding Wanyu asked defensively.
He suspected Jiang Yan was trying to harm him: “Are you looking to exchange clues with me? I refuse.”
Clue exchanges only occur between NPCs. However, if an NPC reveals incorrect “key clues” to a player, they will face point deductions.
As a result, many NPCs have used this method to trap their “colleagues.”
“No, I simply want to share my clue with you,” Jiang Yan replied.
He noticed Ding Wanyu’s doubts and explained: “You see, given the quality of those players, they will surely try every means to deliver ‘key clues’ to us. Even so, since the players haven’t cleared the level, the overall points settlement after this instance won’t be very high.”
“I thought about it. Even if I racked my brains to send the ‘key clue’ to the players, I’d still end up with around 200 points after the settlement.”
“Since that’s the case, why don’t I directly send my ‘key clue’ to you? This way, you’ll get two sets of ‘key clue’ information, and you will definitely do your utmost to send both sets of key clues to the players. This way, you can earn more points.”
“And after splitting my original 200 points with you, I’ll still have 100 points left. This way, I can make up for the 100 points I was just deducted by the main system.”
Jiang Yan’s words left everyone stunned.
[This… what kind of logic is this?]
[Although, it sounds somewhat reasonable.]
[What kind of reasoning is that?! Is he really giving away his points to others? How is that possible!]
[Geez! He’s definitely waiting for the corpse driver to let down his guard, then he’ll have the corpse driver reveal the wrong key clues to the players, allowing him to earn even more points!]
[Who would’ve thought this beautiful little one looks like a pure flower but has a dark side inside!]
[Those who can get in here, who is innocent? Besides, Jiang Yan has already gone through two instances.]
[But the corpse driver wouldn’t possibly believe such a ridiculous reason, right? Who would be foolish enough to believe him!]
No one believed that Jiang Yan truly wanted to give his “key clue” to the “corpse driver,” except for the silent 663, who believed his reasoning.
If he could, 663 would love to hang a banner above Jiang Yan’s head with four big characters—“As expected of you!”
For no other reason than that he had guided Jiang Yan through two instances and understood the lazy disposition of this person very well.
The “corpse driver” naturally wouldn’t believe such a ridiculous excuse: “Then why didn’t you tell me earlier, instead of coming to me after you got your points deducted? If you had told me from the beginning, you could still have earned 100 points!”
“From the beginning? I was doing just fine up in my room. You want me to come down in the middle of the night for 100 points?” Jiang Yan replied frankly, “I’m quite laid-back when it comes to things. If it weren’t for being deducted 100 points today, I wouldn’t have cared even if I ended with 0 points at the end of the instance.”
“Is your score enough to fulfill your desires?” Ding Wanyu asked, confused.
Jiang Yan shook his head: “Originally, I had 200, but after the deduction, I’m left with 100 now.”
Ding Wanyu widened his eyes in disbelief, then sneered: “Do you think I’m a fool? If that’s the case, don’t you want more points?”
“I have no such thoughts,” Jiang Yan yawned, “Anyway, I’m telling you now, my ‘key clue’ is—2/3.”
“Believe it or not, I’ve said what I needed to say. Goodnight.” Jiang Yan shrugged indifferently.
It seemed he was not discussing a crucial piece of information viewed as life itself by NPCs but was instead merely sharing a trivial remark.
Ding Wanyu turned to look at the youth in socks, clumsily trudging on the dirty floor, and asked in confusion: “Nice act, but not very smart. No one in this game disregards points.”
“That’s because I’m just a miserable guy who was mistakenly dragged in.” Jiang Yan stuffed chestnuts into his mouth as he walked.
“The main system doesn’t make mistakes,” Ding Wanyu stated.
“If you don’t have a wish worth risking your life for, it won’t drag you in.”
Jiang Yan’s footsteps suddenly halted.
Outside, the wind and snow were fiercer, snowflakes tapping against the window, while the fire in the living room’s fireplace crackled and popped.
Ding Wanyu watched the youth wrapped in a blue velvet blanket, who stood silently at the staircase for a long time without moving.
After quite a while, the other finally turned back. The orange light from the fireplace illuminated Jiang Yan’s blue eyes, giving them a slightly purplish hue.
Jiang Yan shrugged and replied nonchalantly: “Who knows? You say whatever you want.”
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