"Jiang Yan!"
Cao Youfeng knocked on the door again.
Not long after, the towering door, over ten meters high, was slowly pushed open by the giant.
Jiang Yan leaned against the giant's chest. He was dressed in a somber black robe with a black veil draped over his head, which made his pale porcelain-like face stand out even more. His sapphire-like eyes shimmered under the veil, exuding the same detached and indifferent light they always did.
Cao Youfeng froze for a moment.
[Damn! Although the timing isn't great, Jiang Yan really suits this 'widow mourning his husband' look.]
[Yeah! Normally, you'd think his features are too understated, but add some white flowers and a black veil, and it's absolutely perfect for him!]
[No wonder he's a guy who can rely on his looks alone to gain popularity!]
[Although the main system often has logical bugs in its plot design, it does have some serious expertise in wardrobe and styling.]
[....]
In reality, this wasn’t the main system’s doing. It was purely because Jiang Yan looked so "pitifully battered" that no other clothes could fully cover him. In desperation, the giant pulled out a set of mourning clothes he had prepared for him.
The black robe and veil covered him entirely. After being dressed like a "mourning doll," Jiang Yan was finally presentable.
However, no one knew that under this somber attire lay a body covered in the heated, frenzied marks left from the previous night.
Seeing that Cao Youfeng had been silent for a while, simply staring at him, Jiang Yan felt a little awkward. He tugged at the black veil on his head and, remembering that the boy had mentioned something had happened to Jian Hou, asked anxiously, "What happened to Jian Hou?"
Cao Youfeng snapped out of it at this point. He coughed lightly, his gaze wandering as he avoided looking at Jiang Yan directly, and stammered, "Teacher Jian... Teacher Jian and our boss had an argument in the dining hall."
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Seeing that Cao Youfeng didn’t appear too concerned, it didn’t seem like anything life-threatening had happened.
But... what was going on with the boy today?
Looking at Cao Youfeng’s shifty demeanor, Jiang Yan felt particularly puzzled.
He couldn’t figure it out and didn’t want to overthink it. Still leaning against the giant, he said, "To the dining hall."
"At your command, my prince," the giant replied.
Following that, the giant carried Jiang Yan toward the dining hall.
Jiang Yan leaned lazily against the giant’s chest, closing his eyes for a short nap.
Thanks to the main system’s bug, he finally didn’t have to walk on his own!
After running around all day yesterday, being chased by giant rats, he was almost exhausted to death!
If he had to go through another day like that, he wouldn’t need the players to vote him out or the main system to step in and eliminate him—he could just die in the dungeon of his own accord.
Before long, the giant stopped and said, "Your Highness, we’ve arrived."
"Jiang Yan!!! Get out of the way!!"
A loud roar from Tao Shi startled Jiang Yan so much that he snapped his eyes open.
In front of him was a two-headed monster moth the size of a person, with infant-like faces on its heads. It emitted the cries of a baby as it flew straight at him!
"Yan Yan!!"
In Jiang Yan’s sapphire eyes, the two pale and twisted infant faces of the monster moth grew larger and larger.
"Ding!
[Item: Star Time]"
"Ding!
[Item: Medical Bandage]"
"Ding!
[Item: ...]"
However, the monster moth seemed to have some kind of awareness. It flapped its wings and dodged every item thrown at it with incredible speed, continuing its relentless charge toward Jiang Yan!
[What the hell?! Is this thing really that agile?!]
[This is way overpowered... completely breaking the scale!]
[Why is Jiang Yan still just standing there?! Use your items already!]
[It’s over! It’s over! It’s over!!]
"Yan Yan!!" Jian Hou screamed.
"Squawk!"
At the critical moment, the giant holding Jiang Yan reached out and grabbed the monster moth's body.
The monster moth struggled desperately, but its size was no match for the giant. It could only be held in his hand like a toy, flapping its wings in vain and emitting baby-like wails of "wah-wah."
Seeing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
[As it turns out, our worries were unnecessary.]
[Indeed, being carried in the arms of a giant seems to be a pretty reliable strategy.]
[Yes… To actually worry that such a system NPC could imitate Jiang Yan? It's truly laughable…]
[...]
"Yan Yan! Are you okay?" Jian Hou ran to the giant's side and looked up to ask Jiang Yan.
"I'm fine!" Jiang Yan replied.
After saying this, he sized up Jian Hou. At this moment, Jian Hou was still in pajamas, wearing a pointed nightcap. Though the outfit looked a bit odd, it didn’t seem like there was any danger.
Jiang Yan silently let out a sigh of relief and said, "What happened? Xiao Cao came to the door saying something happened to you."
He looked at the struggling moth in the giant's hand and asked, "How did this thing suddenly appear in the dining room?"
Jian Hou sighed lightly and said, "This... is Geng Hui."
Jiang Yan froze, looking incredulously at the monstrous moth in the giant's hand.
Geng Hui…?!
"It's all you! It must be you!!"
Before Jiang Yan could figure out what was going on, the chef pointed at him in horror.
"I said it yesterday! It must be him! He’s the real culprit!!" The middle-aged man shielded his son behind him, his eyes bloodshot as he pointed at Jiang Yan.
"I want to vote! The murderer who dismembers bodies is him!" The chef looked at the butler, pointing at Jiang Yan in agitation.
Jiang Yan, leaning in the giant's embrace, was completely confused.
"What... me?" Jiang Yan asked in bewilderment.
"Yan Yan! Where were you just now?" Jian Hou asked anxiously.
"I... was in my room!" Jiang Yan answered.
"Impossible!! You're lying! You were clearly in the dining room!"
The chef shouted excitedly, "You tricked all of us into coming here! You want this moth to eat us all! To turn all of us into tools for laying monstrous moth eggs, so that in the end, you can win the game alone!!"
Jiang Yan felt even more baffled.
After yesterday’s vote ended and he returned to his room, he had been pinned down by Yu Xiu, playing with a cat tail until just now. He had never gone to the dining room.
At this moment, he noticed a massive, uncovered black coffin placed in the center of the dining room, with red rose petals spilling out from its edges.
This is…?
"Old Jian?" Jiang Yan looked at Jian Hou in confusion.
Jian Hou sighed, pointing at the black coffin.
"Go take a look."
The giant carried Jiang Yan to the black coffin. Jiang Yan lowered his head for a look, and his pupils suddenly contracted—Yu Xiu?!
To be precise, it was Yu Xiu's missing torso and legs, neatly stitched together and laid in the wooden black coffin filled with red roses. A bundle of white roses was inserted into the severed neck, making it look like a "delicate" gift.
"How... could this be?" Jiang Yan said in shock. "Why would it appear here?!"
"You should ask yourself!" said the multicolored-braided man. "Weren't you the one who brought it back?"
"Me?" Jiang Yan asked in confusion.
"Yan Yan, where were you just now?" Jian Hou asked.
"I’ve been in my room. I didn’t go anywhere," Jiang Yan explained. "Until Xiao Cao knocked on my door, saying something happened to you. That’s when I came here with him."
Cao Youfeng shrugged and said, "Wasn’t I just afraid that if I didn’t mention Teacher Jian, you wouldn’t come over?"
"You’re lying!!" the chef shouted. "It’s you!! You brought all of us here! You’re lying!!"
"Me?" Jiang Yan ignored the chef and instead looked at Jian Hou.
Jian Hou nodded seriously. "It’s you."
"Ha?!"
Jian Hou explained that early this morning, just after he woke up, he heard Jiang Yan knocking on his door. Jiang Yan told him there was an urgent matter in the dining room, so he didn’t even have time to change clothes before following Jiang Yan there.
No matter what Jian Hou asked along the way, Jiang Yan didn’t answer.
The moment the dining room door was pushed open, he saw the massive black coffin placed in the center of the room.
Jiang Yan said he would notify the others and told Jian Hou to guard the dining room. Before long, the other players entered the dining room one after another.
Then, Jiang Yan asked everyone to help open the coffin, saying there was an important clue inside. When asked what the clue was, he refused to say.
With no other choice, everyone had to work together to open the coffin. The moment it was opened, they saw Yu Xiu lying amidst the rose blossoms, as well as Geng Hui, already halfway hatched and stuck to the inner wall of the coffin lid.
"I was so scared I screamed out loud at that moment," Jian Hou said. "Then, everyone realized you were missing."
"But I’ve been in my room the whole time," Jiang Yan furrowed his brows and said.
"Then how could it…"
Before Jian Hou could finish his sentence, Lu Sha interrupted him, saying, "Hmph! No matter what, the murderer in this case is already very clear! It couldn’t be anyone else but you!"
"Yes! It must be you!" the chef echoed.
"I’ve been in my room this whole time," Jiang Yan furrowed his brows and retorted.
"We all saw it! One person might make a mistake, but all of us saw you very clearly! It was you who knocked on our doors and brought us to the dining room! And you still want to deny it?!" the middle-aged man said.
[Interesting! Who was just in Jiang Yan’s live stream? Was he lying?]
[Jiang Yan’s live stream went black since last night and only just came back online. It was completely inaccessible!]
[So, it’s not impossible that Jiang Yan is lying.]
[It’s not just "not impossible"—he’s definitely lying! I was just watching Cao Da’s stream, and it really was Jiang Yan knocking on the doors!]
[But Jiang Yan looks genuinely confused right now!]
[All I can say is, his acting skills are on par with an A-list actor. No wonder he’s considered the most promising real NPC.]
"I was in my room the entire time," Jiang Yan said firmly.
Jian Hou hesitated and said, "If Yan Yan has been in his room the whole time, then could it be… someone impersonated Yan Yan to lure us all here?"
"Nonsense! Absolutely impossible! You’re all in on it!" the chef shouted. "Who could possibly mimic him?? Just look at him—skinny arms, skinny legs, like a little dough figurine! And those blue eyes—who could impersonate that?!"
[It really was Jiang Yan, no doubt about it. I saw it very clearly. No one can replicate his widow-like expression of half-dead despair.]
[Exactly, and those pale blue eyes with emotions so faint they’re almost nonexistent… The color can be faked, but the emotions can’t.]
[So, Jiang Yan is definitely lying.]
[But… why would Jiang Yan do this? Lure everyone to the dining room, plan to use the moth to wipe everyone out, fail, and then run back to his room pretending nothing happened? That’s just ridiculous!]
[Yeah, that sounds far-fetched… but I’ll bet anything that he’s the culprit.]
[Right? Who else would put a body in a coffin surrounded by roses? It has to be Jiang Yan, no doubt about it!]
[I’ve been convinced from the start that he’s the murderer! Yesterday’s memory implant by the main system feels like it was deliberately set up as a smokescreen to cover for Jiang Yan.]
"It wasn’t me," Jiang Yan said coldly, looking at the group. "I didn’t leave my room."
"We all saw you! And you still want to deny it? It’s useless!" the middle-aged man said.
"Maybe it really is a misunderstanding?" Jian Hou tried to explain.
"If it was really someone else impersonating him, wouldn’t Teacher Tong, as Jiang Yan’s close friend for over twenty years, notice something was off right away?" Yu Jia said, holding a chocolate stick in a cigarette-like pose. "If even you didn’t notice anything wrong, doesn’t that prove it really was Jiang Yan?"
Jian Hou wanted to continue arguing, but said, "But…"
"Actually…" The Elven Queen, Cang Rou, who had been in the background this whole time, suddenly interrupted the quarrel.
Everyone turned to look at the speaker.
They saw the Elven Queen, with her sunlit golden hair, looking at Jiang Yan as she slowly said:
"I’ve never had the chance to mention it before, but perhaps due to the influence of the evil god’s bloodline, this child has been sleepwalking every night since the moment he was born from the Mother Tree."
"Ding! [Real NPC Cang Rou, key clue—The Elven Prince has a sleepwalking condition.]"
"So! The murderer is him!!" Lu Sha pointed at Jiang Yan.
[Oh no! He’s completely exposed now.]
[No wonder Cang Rou has been acting invisible in this instance. She wanted to protect Jiang Yan!]
[But now she can’t protect him anymore! When Jiang Yan chose to lead everyone to the dining room, he completely gave himself away.]
[Right! How could he make such a stupid move?]
[Feels like even the main system won’t be able to save him this time!]
✨ Update: December 27, 2024 ✨
Hi everyone! I wanted to give you a quick update on my progress.
I’ve been working hard on editing chapters 1 to 35, and as of today, I’ve already finished chapters 1 to 5! I’m aiming to have all 35 chapters fully re-edited by next week (9 Jan 2025). 🎉
For those who were confused by chapters 35 and 36, you’ll be able to reread them starting next week once the edits are done. Hopefully, this will clear up any confusion!
Just to clarify back in September, the author re-edited the first 35 chapters, so I’m making sure my translations align with those updates. Since the author has been on break since September, the story is currently stuck at chapter 137 for now.
"Pretending to Have Amnesia and Competing with My Arch-Enemy in Acting" is my new third translation project novel after "The Widower NPC in the Infinite Deployment Game" and "After Losing My Memory, My Archenemy Became My Boyfriend" in this blog. I’m currently stuck in my “enemy-to-lover” phase, so please bear with my taste haha! ❤️ ^^
Feel free to check it out, but updates might be a little slow while I finish these edits. Thank you so much for your patience and support—you’re the best! 🥰
Sincerely,
Chy