For a moment, the atmosphere in the banquet hall became strange.
Due to the system bug, Jiang Yan was voted out, and the main system announced that a bug in the system NPC had occurred, starting a new round of re-voting.
If it were other players or real NPCs experiencing this situation, it could barely be considered an accident. The system bug likely wouldn’t have a major impact on the result of the re-vote.
However, this was Jiang Yan.
Now, almost the entire game world tacitly assumes that Jiang Yan must have some subtle connection with the main system or the main god.
Although the main reason Jiang Yan was voted out in the previous round was indeed the fault of the system NPC, after the new round started, the NPC in charge of the vote was replaced by Jiang Yan's "husband."
The main system implanted inexplicable memories into everyone, except Jiang Yan.
[It’s obvious that the main system wants to divert players' attention from Jiang Yan! How dare Lu Sha??]
[Lu Sha’s actions in this dungeon are really impulsive…]
[His character has always been like this, right? The owner of the “Flame Sword” has a fiery personality just like his weapon.]
[But even if Lu Sha's character has always been more direct, he’s never acted like this before!]
[Anyone with a brain can tell the main system is clearly trying to protect Jiang Yan! Though there’s a guild task at hand, the only way to kill Jiang Yan now is for someone to do it themselves in the dungeon. It’s absolutely impossible to rely on the system to kill Jiang Yan!]
[Even the "Divine Descent" system, which is always considered a game gimmick, has been given to Jiang Yan by the main system. And they still want to use the main system to eliminate him?? Ha! The people from the Valen Church are really losing their minds now!]
[Are you sick? Which guild are you from? Don’t let me run into you in the next dungeon!!]
[Hahaha! I actually find this pretty interesting! I’m looking forward to seeing how Jiang Yan is really voted out this time. What excuse will the main system come up with to save him?]
[Just a bug probably? In the same dungeon, with a real NPC about to be executed, the system bugging twice in the same situation? Hahahaha…]
[Impossible! Jiang Yan being voted out last round was because the system NPC, a maid, temporarily joined the player voting. This round, the system NPC is Jiang Yan's husband! Even if the votes don’t change, Jiang Yan definitely won’t be voted out this round.]
[So Lu Sha is dumb! It’s obviously a guaranteed loss!]
[Upstairs, you must be crazy! The maid’s vote from last round was compensated for this round! If no one changes their vote, Jiang Yan will definitely be voted out this round!]
[Hmm... Looking at it this way, it seems Lu Sha has a bit of a chance. Honestly, if he doesn't vote for Jiang Yan, who else could he vote for?]
As long as no one changes their vote this round, Jiang Yan will definitely be voted out again.
Lu Sha understands this logic, and the middle-aged man understands it as well.
So, when meeting his son's confused gaze, he whispered, "Vote, we must vote him out."
This game is dangerous, and in this game, such a special character as Jiang Yan is even more dangerous in his eyes.
Although he is now older and needs to hustle for a living every day, when he was younger, he often enjoyed playing games at internet cafes.
Although online games are very different from this life-and-death game, games are still games, and there are always some similarities.
For example, reporting cheaters or being the first to pick up something means that the chances of victory become equal for the remaining players.
If the cheater isn’t removed in advance, the chances of victory for these honest players will become almost negligible.
In online games, you can restart after a failure, but if you lose in this game...
The middle-aged man closed his eyes.
So, for him, voting Jiang Yan out of the game is not a guaranteed victory for him and his son.
But if Jiang Yan stays alive, the probability of them dying will be amplified.
They must vote him out...
Thinking this, the middle-aged man tightened his grip on his son's arm and prepared to raise it.
[Looks like there's a chance now??]
[What?? Could it really be Jiang Yan??]
[Wow!! Everything is getting exciting now! Hahaha!]
[Honestly, I’m thinking, why don’t we players and real NPCs team up? In the future, whenever we encounter Jiang Yan in the dungeon and there’s a voting phase, we can all vote for him! Let’s see how many excuses the main system can come up with to save Jiang Yan!]
The middle-aged man’s son with colorful braids watched as his father and he exchanged quiet words, holding his breath. He looked at the bandaged hand that his father was about to raise and silently shouted in his heart,
No...
Jiang Yan... he might really get out of this!!
Players and real NPCs inside and outside the dungeon were also nervous.
However, half were worried that Jiang Yan would be voted out, while the other half were worried that Jiang Yan wouldn't be voted out.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan, who was curled up in the giant's arms playing the "kitty" role, looked completely calm.
663 asked, "Host, are you afraid?"
Jiang Yan: "Afraid of what?"
663: "If you are voted out again this time, what are you going to do?"
Jiang Yan's mouth slightly curled upwards: "I am very much looking forward to seeing what excuse the main system will come up with to pull me out."
663: "Oh?? The host is so confident??"
Jiang Yan answered calmly: "I didn't have this confidence before, but now I do."
663: "Why?"
Jiang Yan smiled: "The main system choosing me means there must be a reason for it. I must have something irreplaceable to it. If I can be taken out by just one round of voting... it means the system has not done its job well!"
663: "....."
However, in the end, the colorful-braided head did not cast his vote for Jiang Yan.
The colorful-braided head shook off his father's grip and said seriously, "Dad, it's useless."
The middle-aged man tightly grasped his son's hand and stared at him, his eyes not allowing rejection.
In that moment, their usual father-son dynamic reversed.
The son, who usually took the lead, became the one being controlled, and the father, who had always indulged his son, now showed an irrefutable dictatorship.
The colorful-braided head, no longer as arrogant and impulsive as usual, persuaded: "Don't you understand? This system has clearly shown it won't let him die... If we go directly against the system, who knows what might happen..."
In reality, his refusal to vote for Jiang Yan wasn’t just because of this reason.
He couldn't let Jiang Yan die.
The person he had wanted since entering the dungeon, he had to have.
He voted for Jiang Yan in the previous round because his father told him that once Jiang Yan became a system NPC, as a player, he could use that to possess him.
However, this round, at the beginning of the voting, the giant demonstrated what would happen to those who were voted out.
Would Jiang Yan be used by that strange moth as a breeding tool?
He absolutely refused!
Jiang Yan must be his!
He spoke to his father: "Think about it, father! Clearly, more people are on Jiang Yan's side. If we target him, and if they turn against me... If Geng Hui and that chef go with the flow, I’ll be in danger."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man slowly released his grip on his son's arm, lowered his head, and remained silent.
The colorful-braided head smirked, raised his hand, and said, "I vote for Geng Hui."
The others acknowledged.
The giant laughed lightly and announced: "Geng Hui, one vote. Jiang Yan, two votes."
[Oh no! There’s one defector, Jiang Yan is safe.]
[To be honest, Geng Hui does have some suspicion, her implanted memories are different from everyone else's!]
[Yeah! And according to everyone’s memories, she seems to have been the mastermind behind last night’s murder]
[Looking at it this way… her suspicion is indeed the biggest!]
[This kid's quality is really not bad.]
Geng Hui was first stunned, then trembled and said, "No... It’s not me! It’s not me!! Why would you vote for me... It’s really not me!"
The colorful-braided head shrugged: "I don’t know who else to vote for! Your memory doesn’t match ours, so it has to be you."
Geng Hui, with red eyes, said: "No... no, it’s not!!"
The colorful-braided head said: "Also, last night you did invite us and said you were going to kill a white sheep, and today, Lu Chen’s body is placed here. When Lu Chen died earlier, it was also you..."
"Not!!!"
The colorful-braided head was halfway through speaking when Geng Hui interrupted him with a scream: "No! No!! It’s not me!!!"
"It’s you!!" The chef slammed the table and stood up, now sweating all over. He raised his hand, trembling, and said to the giant, "Geng Hui! I vote for Geng Hui!"
The giant announced: "Geng Hui, two votes. Jiang Yan, two votes."
Jiang Yan watched as the "worm girl" collapsed and sighed deeply, then stretched his wings and yawned.
He and Jian Hou were safe now.
Sure enough, the players and real NPCs silently cast their votes.
Cang Rou: "Geng Hui."
Ding Wanyu: "Geng Hui."
—
Geng Hui, with her antennae moving and her eyes trembling, collapsed and sobbed: "No... It’s not me! It’s really not me!"
However, everything was already beyond changing.
Yu Jia: "Geng Hui."
Tao Shi: "Geng Hui."
Cao Youfeng: "Geng Hui."
"No!!!" Geng Hui screamed.
[There’s no way around it. It has to be her.]
[No clues, and no one wants to be the first to vote for an innocent person. Jiang Yan and the others don’t dare to vote, and the kid took the lead making this girl the target. Everyone’s votes are surely going to hit the target.]
[To be honest, she has already become like this… It’s unclear whether she can recover once she leaves the instance.]
Jiang Yan looked at Geng Hui with a gaze full of pity.
Everyone at the long table knew she wasn’t the real killer, but in this world, a vote without any clues, in essence, is just a murder of the weak.
On this table, after Jiang Yan, this "special case," was taken out, with no real allies and having lost her human appearance, Geng Hui became the "weak."
The giant announced: "Geng Hui, 7 votes, Jiang Yan, 2 votes."
After speaking, the giant looked down at the little spirit in his arms and said, "Yan Yan, it’s your turn."
Jiang Yan watched as Geng Hui's faith value in the god system began to rise, each time a player's name was called, her belief in the god strengthened.
This confirmed 663’s previous statement.
At this moment, Jiang Yan only needed to cast the vote for her, and Geng Hui’s faith power would rise a little more. Right now, Geng Hui’s votes were way ahead.
Although she was innocent, her death was already determined. Jiang Yan’s vote for her could not be considered as “executing the death sentence,” but...
"Your Highness?" The giant asked.
"Host?" 663 asked.
The black insect slowly crawled over the boy’s body, leaving thin red traces like spider silk, as if a light red hair had fallen on a white plaster sculpture.
Jiang Yan quietly watched the red traces continue to grow.
[Hmm?? What’s going on with Jiang Yan?]
[Did he bug out again??]
[Probably... still struggling with who to vote for??]
[Hah?! What’s the point of hesitating at this point?? Who else can he vote for other than Geng Hui?? Even if he doesn’t vote for Geng Hui, Geng Hui is already doomed to be out!]