[Damn, that’s some god-tier cheat right there!]
[This is... too much... I don’t even know how to describe it. Someone take over!]
[I always thought Jiang Yan was only fit to play the delicate role of a bride, pampered and adored by others but who would’ve thought?!]
On the game forum, players were heatedly discussing Jiang Yan.
Inside the dungeon, at this moment, all the players and NPCs were also focused on Jiang Yan.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan was staring at the mutated "husband" coiled around his wrist, confronting his personal system in his mind.
"What will happen if I fail to complete this outsourced task from the main god?"
"..."
After a long silence, 663 finally replied.
"Host, I remember showing you the consequences of mission failure on the system panel on your very first day in the game."
"Ding!"
As 663’s voice fell, Jiang Yan’s personal system panel instantly transformed into a collection of small screens.
On each small screen, scenes of murder, human experimentation, and dismemberment played one after another in an endless loop.
"Corruption, eternal entrapment in the sub-dungeon, becoming one of the game’s system NPCs you already knew this, didn’t you?"
Jiang Yan didn’t respond. The blue data chains scrolling in the background of his personal system interwove with the grotesque scenes playing on the small screens, reflecting in his calm and expressionless blue eyes.
"So?" Jiang Yan pressed further.
"This is the consequence for failing a main task assigned by the main system. But what about this non-negotiable side quest issued by the Divinity System? What’s the penalty for failing that?"
663 hesitated: "..."
Not waiting for 663 to respond, Jiang Yan continued questioning:
"Or, let me ask another way."
"I’ve seen players and real NPCs corrupted within the system before. Most of them end up becoming system NPCs of the dungeon tied to their failed mainline task."
"But this Divinity System bestowed by the main god clearly isn’t fully bound to the mainline tasks."
"For dungeons where the mainline task isn’t completed, the final outcome is becoming part of the system NPCs tied to that mainline dungeon."
"So, what happens if I fail the task of gathering faith for the main god as assigned by the Divinity System? What’s the ultimate fate?"
"Would I remain in the mainline dungeon at that time? But if I complete the mainline task given by the main system and clear the dungeon without finishing the side quest from the Divinity System, then what?"
"Would I still remain in that mainline dungeon? Or—"
Jiang Yan’s blue eyes darkened slightly.
"Would I be divided into fragments by the main god, randomly scattered across various dungeons, and become a wandering NPC in the game?"
663: "..."
663 couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
He crossed his legs and spun his chair at his workstation, staring at the expressionless Jiang Yan on the main screen.
He could still recall Jiang Yan’s initial shock and fear when he first saw those scenes—resembling a startled deer that had accidentally wandered into a hunting zone, only to find itself staring down the black muzzle of a hunter’s gun.
But now...
Heh.
Over the course of these few dungeons, it was becoming increasingly clear what Jiang Yan was doing.
Disguising himself as prey to deceive the hunters in the dark forest, baiting them into firing, and using the "gunshots" to pinpoint their positions.
663 glanced at the emotional fluctuation values of his host on the system panel—practically flat—and clicked his tongue in amusement.
A person devoid of emotions can convincingly perform any emotion.
A god devoid of emotions can deliver truly impartial judgment.
Compared to others whose emotional responses had been honed to the extreme, Jiang Yan seemed almost inherently suited for this game.
At this moment, 663's gaze fell on the tendrils coiled around Jiang Yan's wrist and then shifted to the figure of Jianhou standing in front of him.
Alright.
Maybe Jiang Yan does have a sliver of emotion.
But just a sliver.
663 spun his chair around twice, then spoke with a tone tinged with schadenfreude.
"Apologies, host. Your question is beyond my authority."
Jiang Yan’s long eyelashes fluttered slightly.
As expected.
It was no surprise.
For one, 663 was at the end of the day, just an ordinary personal system. If he wasn’t outright lying, then it made sense that topics concerning the main god were beyond his jurisdiction.
Even if 663 knew the truth, as a subordinate of the main system, he had no reason or permission to reveal it to Jiang Yan.
However, even without confirmation from the personal system, the clues Jiang Yan had gathered were enough for him to infer a plausible, logical answer.
"Jian," a horror game that exists only in legend.
Both players and NPCs need to harbor strong obsessions to be selected by the game and enter into a contract to participate.
Yet Jiang Yan’s own entry into the game was a complete accident.
He hadn’t signed any agreement with Jian’s main system.
Before this dungeon, 663 had frequently emphasized how "special" Jiang Yan was.
But...
Jiang Yan’s blue eyes shifted to the distant scene, where he could see the terrified expressions of the rookie players.
These people too hadn’t signed any agreements with Jian’s main system. They were dragged in by accident.
When accidents pile up, they’re no longer accidents
They become inevitabilities.
Jiang Yan recalled 663 explaining the game’s creation when he first arrived.
This game’s purpose was clear.
To provide the main god and main system with a constant supply of energy through the players and NPCs.
Human joy, sorrow, anger, fear, greed... as well as faith and life. These were the nourishment for the main god and the system.
But now...
The main system had begun violating the game’s established rules, pulling in players who hadn’t signed contracts.
The main god had started issuing outsourced tasks to NPCs, instructing them to harvest faith.
What kind of necessity could drive Jian’s main system to abandon its contractual agreements and indiscriminately absorb newcomers into the game?
And why had the main god suddenly handed him an unavoidable, coercive task without disclosing its consequences?
There was only one logical answer Jiang Yan could think of.
Something had gone terribly wrong with Jian’s main god or main system.
But...
Why him?
Why did the main god choose him?
The tentacle around his wrist tightened slightly, and the tiny suckers left a trail of ambiguous red marks on Jiang Yan's pale skin.
He furrowed his brow and glanced at the strange pattern on his wrist.
Could it be because of Yu Xiu?
If the main god’s previous chosen one was Yu Xiu and Yu Xiu for some unforeseen reason managed to complete the main god's "outsourced side task," then he had become what he was now.
Was it because of Yu Xiu that the main god had selected him next?
Jiang Yan's gaze shifted back to his personal system interface. The godhood system was located at the top right corner of his personal system panel, glowing with a faint multi-colored light.
It seemed the only thing he could do now was obediently complete the tasks assigned by the main god and the system.
On the godhood system, a black-haired boy in a blue and white school uniform winked at him.
Even though the person who killed him was clearly dead, the boy still hadn't disappeared.
Could it be... because his death hadn't been resolved yet?
Before Jiang Yan could finish this thought, a notification popped up on the godhood system.
Ding!
[Godhood Upgrade System: S]
[Judgment Task Completion Progress: 20%]
[Faith Accumulated: 7%]
[Divine Value Accumulated: +2%]
[Task Tip: Reconstruct the faith of the follower Lu Wei, complete his judgment, and gain faith and divine value!]
Lu Wei?
There was a player with that name among the new players. This had to be the same person shown on the system panel.
It seemed Jiang Yan’s hunch had been correct. But piecing together this "symbolic logic" felt like a relief yet it also made him feel more agitated.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Or perhaps, since the moment he entered the game, there had been too many strange things happening.
It felt like someone was constantly pushing him forward.
In a daze, Jiang Yan saw the blue digital chains intertwining with the black tentacles of Yu Xiu, forming a massive spiderweb.
He felt like a butterfly paralyzed by spider venom, crawling toward the light along the threads. He thought it was the way out, but in reality, it was the dangerous, hungry glow of the spider’s compound eyes, stacked together in an eerie, gluttonous pattern...
“Yan Yan, be careful!!”
A loud shout from behind snapped Jiang Yan back to reality.
He saw the previously quiet giant rat swarm suddenly boiling with activity for no apparent reason.
“Squeak!!”
A decaying giant rat, its mouth full of sharp teeth, lunged directly at Jiang Yan!
[What the hell?! What’s going on?!]
[Wasn’t it said that after sacrificing a sinner, the rats would fall into a slumber?]
[Yeah!! What’s happening here? Is the main system bugged?!]
[Am I the one bugged?! The whole thing just now is really hard to explain if it wasn’t a bug! ]
[Could it be that the main system found Jiang Yan’s bug and decided to fix it?]
Drip.
The rat's saliva dripped from its sharp teeth onto the ground near Jiang Yan. His expression still remained unchanging.
“Jiang Yan! Run!!”
At the critical moment, the black tentacle, which had been wrapped around Jiang Yan's wrist, suddenly surged, growing to a meter wide and several meters long!
The tentacle wrapped tightly around Jiang Yan's body and with another tentacle, grabbed the foot of the player behind him, Jian Hou, before leaping out of the rat swarm.
As the tentacle threw him into the air, Jian Hou who was still holding his cap couldn’t help but shout foul language:
“Yu Xiu! Damn you!!”
With a loud thud, Jian Hou landed outside the rat swarm, falling hard on the ground, still cursing.
The tentacle, unfazed, carefully placed Jiang Yan on the ground, then shrank again, wrapping around his wrist and gently caressing the tip of his ring finger.
Jiang Yan glanced at him with a bit of disdain, then his gaze shifted back to the rampaging rat swarm in the distance.
The giant rats, instead of chasing after him, had begun tearing apart the body of Ma Bin. Their sharp teeth and claws feasting on the remains.
“They’re...?” Jian Hou started.
“Eating the body, completing the sacrifice and punishment,” Jiang Yan replied expressionlessly.
"Yes!" Jiekhe replied. "So, my suggestion is for you all to hurry up and find what you're looking for, or you'll run out of time."
With that, Jiekhe pointed toward the sun beyond the clouds in the distance.
"I don't know if you all remember, but when the sun reaches a certain position..."
"You will be trapped here forever."
Ding!
[Main System Notice: Please complete the main quest as soon as possible.]
[Jiekhe Town Time Limit: 40 minutes]
[Countdown starting: 39.99, 39.98, 39.97...]
The countdown appeared in the sky above the distant sun, gripping everyone's hearts tightly.
"What... what should we do?!" A young girl with teary eyes asked.
"Find it! We're supposed to look for the body parts, right?! Find them!" The chef sounded frustrated.
"But this town is so big... so messy! How are we supposed to find anything?!" The middle-aged man gripped his head in desperation.
Several new players were in a panic, running around.
The veteran players were calmer, but still, they didn’t have any solid leads.
"Damn! Only 40 minutes! Where do we even start?!" Cao Youfeng said.
"To be exact, there's only 38 minutes and 48 seconds left." Jiang Yan replied.
He glanced up at the sun, which had transformed into a multi-colored clock face. His frustration was becoming harder to control.
He took several deep breaths, trying to push aside all the chaotic thoughts about the main system, the main god, the game, Yu Xiu and his own tangled situation. Right now, his priority was to complete the main quest given by the system.
This was something he as an NPC had to do; there was no escaping it.
He felt so tired...
After all the confusion, all he wanted now was to lie down and get some rest.
He started to miss the firm embrace of his giant husband from last night. Though he was certainly startled by that guy's size, at this moment, he couldn't help but long for the solid arms that had tightly wrapped around him...
Wait?!
Arms?!
Jiang Yan suddenly opened his eyes, alarmed, and asked, "Has anyone seen the arm of my giant husband that I brought with me?"
[37.99, 37.98, 37.97...]
"Damn! It was so chaotic just now, I didn't notice! Where did you throw it?! Don't tell me we lost it again!" Cao Youfeng said, starting to panic.
The group began looking around, clearly worried.
"There! Is that it?!"
Jian Hou pointed towards the giant rat swarm, which was violently and leisurely consuming the corpse of the giant king.
At this moment, the arm of the giant king was standing upright on the ground, palm down, slowly moving towards the center of the rat swarm.
Its severed stump was being gnawed by small rats like maggots but there was no sign of it stopping, looking rather strange.
"It... What is it doing?" Jian Hou asked.
Jiang Yan's gaze darkened: "According to normal game logic, it must have sensed the presence of its own body. So, we just need to catch up to it and follow it now!"
Ding!
[Real NPC Jiang Yan, Polluted Countdown: Ten, Nine, Eight...]
Damn!
Jiang Yan glared fiercely at the sky and when he turned back, switched to the expression of the pretty elven prince looking pitifully and said: "Please, everyone, help me find my husband."
Everyone: "..."
Jian Hou: "Pfft."
Jiang Yan: "..."
What the hell!
[35.39, 35.38, 35.37...]
"Time is running out! Everyone, follow my husband's arm!!"
Jiang Yan gave the order and the group rushed towards the giant king's arm.
"But... but... these rats..." The young girl looked horrified, her eyes wide as the giant rat swarm approached.
"Don’t be afraid, sinner! They won’t judge you now!" Jiekhe said, his short legs constantly moving as he tried to keep up.
With that, the players rushed into the rat swarm.
They began weaving between the giant rats' massive hind claws, as if traversing through a demonic, decaying orange grove.
They had to be careful not to be crushed by the giant rats, while also dodging the falling rotten flesh, maggots, and baby rats, and enduring the stench coming from the rats.
"Ugh!!!"
"Damn! Biological attack!"
"Ugh... I really..."
For a moment, the players' screams, complaints and curses filled the air. What had once seemed like a short distance now felt incredibly long.
Not only that, but the baby rats falling from the giant rats increased dramatically. What started with a few had now turned into a downpour, as if raindrops were falling.
"Squeak squeak squeak..."
"What... what do we do?! These things are multiplying!"
Jian Hou kept swatting away the rats falling on him while shouting.
"Oh my god! Don’t let these things bite you! Who knows if they’ll infect you with some virus!" Jiang Yan with red eyes and a scared expression reminded them.
"Boss! This isn’t working! They’re multiplying!" Cao Youfeng said.
Ding!
[Item: Divine Staff]
Tao Shi raised the magnificent golden staff, and the holy light of the gods spread like a large umbrella, shielding the players from the rain of falling rats.
Seeing this, Jian Hou let out a long breath, patting Tao Shi on the shoulder and saying, "Good thing you’re here! My student isn't so bad afterall"
With that, he turned to look at his good friend beside him.
However, Jiang Yan, who had been there just a moment ago was now nowhere to be found leaving behind only a trail of rose petals.
"Yan Yan?"
Jian Hou followed the direction the petals led and—
He saw Jiang Yan surrounded by a group of white mice that seemed to have appeared from nowhere, being dragged away towards the distance.
His mouth was stuffed with rose petals, and both his hands and feet were bound with ropes made from the white baby mice's tails. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and despite his colorful wings flapping continuously, he couldn’t fly. He could only be dragged away by the white mice.
"Yan Yan!!!" Jian Hou exclaimed in terror.
"What the?! Jiang Yan!!" Cao Youfeng said, shocked.
"Mmm!" Jiang Yan struggled to respond.
Ding!
[Item: Medical Bandage]
A white bandage flew towards Jiang Yan, but it was already too late.
Jiang Yan felt his feet give way, and suddenly, he stumbled, almost falling.
"Yan Yan!!"
"Jiang Yan!!!"
In the instant he fell, Jiang Yan finally spat most of the rose petals out of his mouth, shouting.
"Don’t worry about me! There’s no time! Find my husband first!!"
"Yan Yan!"
Jian Hou tried to chase after him but was held back by Tao Shi.
"Teacher Jian! Let’s go find the corpse pieces first."
"But Yan Yan..." Jian Hou said worriedly.
"Don’t worry! That guy has cheats!" Yu Jia said impatiently, "If the main quest isn’t completed, whether he lives or dies is uncertain, but if we fail, we’ll all turn into rat dung!"
Jian Hou gritted his teeth and turned around.
The players continued to make their way toward the severed arm of the giant king with great difficulty.
---
Thud—
The expected pain didn’t come. Jiang Yan discovered that he had landed in a pile of goose feathers.
Yes, goose feathers.
"Cough… Cough!"
Jiang Yan spat out the goose feathers that had flown into his mouth. He realized he was in a soft “nest” made of golden grasses, snow-white goose feathers, and scarlet rose petals.
He looked up at the exit above, which was dozens of meters high, then lowered his gaze to examine his hands.
He attempted to use an item but unsurprisingly the item bar in his personal system was grayed out, just like when he was bound by the white young mice that appeared out of nowhere.
Real NPCs in the dungeon face lower levels of danger than players but they also have more restrictions.
As for items, players can use them at any time and place however they wish, in the dungeon.
But real NPCs are subject to certain restrictions on item use. The system only provides a vague answer: "To maintain the dungeon’s storyline, the item usage by real NPCs is restricted."
However before this, the use of [Lost Rose] had never had such a restriction. Why now...?
Jiang Yan stood up, looked at the round exit above and shook his wings.
Why not try flying out?
No items? That’s fine. He was now a winged elf. What did he need the rose vines for?
Thinking this, Jiang Yan began flapping his wings, ready to fly out.
However, just as his body started to rise and his feet left the goose feather and rose petal-covered nest, countless small white mice surged toward the exit, completely blocking it.
Jiang Yan was startled and fell back onto the goose feather and hay pile.
Then, a strange scene unfolded—
The mice blocking the exit suddenly started fighting each other. They tore into each other’s flesh and began greedily chewing on each other’s internal organs.
They used their tails to make ropes, weaving the skins of their eaten companions into a net of mouse skin, and stuck it to the exit as if to completely seal it, preventing Jiang Yan from escaping.
One by one, they devoured each other, and one by one, they were devoured, with layer after layer of bloody mouse skin covering the exit. And still, they continued to rush in...
[What the heck... what’s going on?]
[Wait, is this another side quest for Jiang Yan?]
[Are they trying to trap Jiang Yan here?]
At this moment, Jiang Yan sat in the hay and goose feather nest, watching the bloody scene above him. He felt completely passive.
Right now, he had no weapons, and his items couldn’t be used. Clearly, he couldn’t fly out either. All he could do was...
Jiang Yan looked down at his abdomen.
There, his strange husband was curled up.
"Hey..." Jiang Yan patted his waist.
A slender black tentacle extended from beneath his black robe, its petal-like mouthparts twisting in front of Jiang Yan as if it were dancing.
[Wow! Amazing.]
[I almost forgot, he still had this cheat]
[I really don’t understand, what exactly is this thing?!]
[Isn’t this the husband Jiang Yan had at the hospital?]
[Please! Taking a dungeon NPC out of the dungeon, is that even scientifically possible?!]
[Seriously, have the things happening to Jiang Yan ever been "scientific"?!]
Jiang Yan reached out and tapped the tentacle’s mouthpart in front of him, saying, “Hurry up! Get me out of here.”
But unexpectedly, the tentacle in front of him swayed and then retracted back under his robe.
[Huh?? What’s going on?]
[Hah! Is this unscientific thing not working anymore?]
Jiang Yan furrowed his brows. He reached down to touch the tentacle wrapped around his waist.
What’s going on with this guy?
Before, when he didn’t want to come out he would always stay hidden but whenever Jiang Yan encountered trouble, he would be the first to pop out. So why now...?
Could it be that this place not only restricts item usage, but also affects... Yu Xiu?
"Squeak squeak squeak—!!"
At this moment, the little white mice at the entrance seemed to have completed their task of covering the hole, and about ten mice had survived.
After eating the thick layer of rat skin at the entrance, along with the extra scraps and entrails, they jumped down.
"Squeak squeak squeak."
Jiang Yan watched as the ten young mice approached, slowly retreating.
"Squeak!"
One of the young mice, having somehow appeared behind Jiang Yan, sealed off his retreat.
At this point, Jiang Yan could only stand still.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the young mice started to swell and grow larger. In no time, they reached the height of a grown man. The fresh blood on their sharp beaks and claws made them look even more terrifying.
They began to tighten their encirclement of Jiang Yan, moving slowly and deliberately, as if they were teasing the prey that had fallen into their trap.
A cold sweat slid down Jiang Yan's forehead.
He had nowhere to escape.
[Oh no! This is bad.]
[No items, no weapons, and the tentacle cheat is malfunctioning... it looks like Jiang Yan is really in trouble this time.]
Finally, the giant white mice, seemingly bored, lunged directly at Jiang Yan.
"Ah!"
[It's over! It's really over this time!]
[The main system decided to manually fix the bug!]
Jiang Yan instinctively let out a scream and fell back into the soft hay and goose feathers.
One giant rat's plush body pressed on top of him, and another blocked his retreat from behind. His hands and feet were held tightly by the giant rats.
The terrifying, bizarre sensation gave Jiang Yan goosebumps. He tried to struggle, but it was all in vain.
It’s over...
This time, it really seems over...
Could it be because he had uncovered the secret of the main god and the main system?!
Jiang Yan closed his eyes in despair.
Just when everyone, including Jiang Yan, thought he was about to be torn apart and devoured by the ten giant rats, and finally turned into a salted human skin, accompanied by a soft "sigh," a burst of white smoke, glittering with golden dust, spread out as if a fairy godmother had cast a spell.
The ten giant rats that had bound him suddenly transformed into ten identical, tall, handsome adult men.
With black hair, green eyes, broad shoulders, and narrow waists, they wore gentlemanly, elegant black suits and vests, and on their heads, each sported a pair of fluffy, white mouse ears. They looked... incredibly strange!
"Prince, your little mice are now here!" The men, wearing faces so handsome it was almost criminal, said in unison.
Jiang Yan: "..."
[.....?]
[... No, what does this plot mean for the dungeon?]