"Wow, wow, wow--"
The double-headed axe in the giant’s hand kept crying out. The sweet, overpowering fragrance from the black coffin in the restaurant wafted out. The ornate, gold-engraved giant doors had closed at some point, turning the entire restaurant into a "courtroom."
Wearing a black robe and veil, Jiang Yan was held high in the giant’s arms, facing the players who were beginning to rise below.
Amnesia, sleepwalking, the wife of the victim... Adding up all the conditions, if Jiang Yan were to judge for himself, he would think he was the murderer.
"It wasn’t me," Jiang Yan said.
Cang Rou sighed and said, "Child... you’ve lost the memories of your school life. I don’t know what exactly happened at the academy back then, but since then, you’ve developed a habit of sleepwalking. Every time you wake up, you lose the memory of your sleepwalking."
"That’s it! That’s it!" The middle-aged man said excitedly. "So! We all had implanted memories yesterday, but he didn’t! Maybe he had memories implanted too, but because of sleepwalking, he forgot!"
"Why would Jiang Yan kill his husband on their wedding night?" Jian Hou rebutted.
"Isn’t he the reason?" Yu Jia pointed to the giant holding Jiang Yan.
"But he is...," Jian Hou stopped mid-sentence.
In his eyes, the king was Yu Xiu, the steward was also Yu Xiu, and it made sense for Yu Xiu and Jiang Yan to be together. It was their divorce that had left him stunned.
This made him forget that, in this game, Yu Xiu was a "system NPC."
Yu Xiu was the king, and Yu Xiu was also the steward.
But the elven prince Jiang Yan was just the king’s pawn.
Yu Jia bit a chocolate bar and said, "Last night, the steward left with Jiang Yan in his arms, and now he’s appearing with Jiang Yan again. It’s clear they must have shared a room last night!"
"Of course, sir," the giant smiled and admitted.
He walked against the morning light, surrounded by the fragrance of roses, holding the black-veiled elven prince in black mourning clothes, as if reverently holding a statue of the Virgin Mary.
But everyone present knew that beneath the prince’s black veil was the damning evidence of his relentless demands.
Yu Jia teased, "A wife and a steward teamed up to kill the husband? This kind of case isn’t even worth airing on the legal programs anymore!"
[The game is broken! There’s no more playing for Jiang Yan]
[Sleepwalking is unsolvable! Maybe Jiang Yan doesn’t remember, but everyone can see he’s the one who killed him!]
[Hurry up and end it! I’m really looking forward to the main system’s reaction after Jiang Yan fails the game!]
[The main system must be regretting adding a "sleepwalking" setting for Jiang Yan, hahaha...]
[The sleepwalking setting from the main system feels so strange. If Jiang Yan is the culprit, this directly blocks his path!]
[Yeah... it feels like they’re intentionally trying to corner Jiang Yan.]
[Last night, during the live stream from Jiang Yan’s perspective, the screen went black the moment he entered the room, and it only came back on when he exited. Could it be true, as Jiang Yan said, that he never actually left the room?]
[How is that possible? The player who brought everyone to the restaurant was definitely Jiang Yan!]
"Am I right, Prince?" Yu Jia bit down on a chocolate bar and smiled at Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan curled up in the giant's arms, silent.
He didn’t refute it. At the moment, it seemed he couldn’t.
"Old Jian."
The golden glow from Jian Hou’s pocket spread along the pattern of the roses, and Jiang Yan's voice came to his ear.
"Yan Yan?" Jian Hou responded in his heart.
"Was it really me you saw back then?" Jiang Yan asked.
Jian Hou answered, "Yes... are you sure you didn’t sleep last night? Didn’t sleepwalk? But... I could never fail to recognize you."
"Yes, you wouldn’t fail to recognize me," Jiang Yan answered.
"If what you saw was really me, then it must be true," Jiang Yan’s voice was calm, with no emotion.
"This is a premeditated murder I planned with the steward after we had an affair to run away together and kill my husband."
"Sleepwalking, lost memories, the identity of a wife, and this morning, knocking on everyone’s door and leading them to the restaurant with the corpse and strange moths... all of this points to one answer—I am the murderer."
"Yan Yan... was it really you?" Jian Hou’s voice began to tremble.
"If all of this is true, could the murderer possibly be anyone else?" Jiang Yan asked in return.
Jiang Yan could feel the malice—the malice coming from the main system.
He was certain he hadn’t sleepwalked, yet he had genuinely appeared in front of the players. This could only be the main system’s doing.
First, let’s rule out the possibility that "he" is a system NPC.
From the very first day he entered the game, 663 had told him that only when real NPCs are corrupted do their genes get added to the main system’s database. The system then creates a bunch of identical system NPCs and distributes them to different copies.
If this were done while the real NPC was alive, it would cause confusion and would make it difficult to calculate that NPC's results.
If this person isn’t a system NPC, and Jian Hou is sure that person was him, then the only possibility left is memory implantation
The main system once again implanted a new memory in the players' minds.
The purpose of this memory was clear.
It wanted him dead.
In the copy, Jiang Yan felt a strong sense of detachment.
The actions of the main system felt like a stark contradiction.
On one hand, it chose him and gave him divine status, providing him with protection during the game’s progression; on the other hand, it seemed to want him dead as soon as possible!
The earlier bug with the system NPCs, who inexplicably cast the key vote was like this. Now, the memory being implanted into the players was the same.
It was full of contradictions...
The more Jiang Yan thought about it, the more his brow furrowed.
"663," Jiang Yan called.
"Here, host," 663 replied.
"How many main gods are there?"
663 fell silent.
Jiang Yan didn’t press further, quietly waiting for a response.
After a long pause, 663 finally answered with a smile: "Of course, there is only one, dear host. Please don’t doubt the authority of the main god."
Hearing this, Jiang Yan sarcastically smiled and said, "Then your main god must be sick. Is it trying to mess with me?"
663 fell silent again.
After another moment, it replied, "As you guessed, the main god has encountered some difficulties recently. But the current plot of the game has not deviated from the main system's outline."
"That doesn’t make sense... It’s not adding up," Jian Hou continued to argue. "Then what about that child with black hair? The murder implanted in the memories of everyone?"
"These are just side quests to confuse the main story!" Yu Jia casually waved a chocolate bar, patting Tao Shi’s shoulder. "I don’t have the energy for side quests right now. I just want to finish the main story and clock out."
Tao Shi frowned. Yu Jia grinned at him proudly: "Besides, no matter what the result of the side quests is, Jiang Yan’s main story quest is already a failure. This is an undeniable fact."
Tao Shi's expression darkened.
"Tao Da, you lost," Yu Jia said with a smile.
Tao Shi chuckled deeply. "The murderer for the side quest needs to be voted on. Do you think Ding Wanyu and Cang Rou will vote for Jiang Yan? It’s impossible to kill Jiang Yan using the main system’s rules!"
"Why wouldn’t they?" Yu Jia asked softly in response. "Ding Wanyu was from your Dawn Guild, so he’ll follow the guild's tasks, but Cang Rou isn’t part of your Dawn Guild."
Tao Shi was taken aback.
Yu Jia continued, "It’s true that Jiang Yan once saved her, but she’s already done everything she can to help him. She’s reached the limit of her loyalty."
Cang Rou, brushing her blonde hair, looked at Jiang Yan with regret in her eyes.
Jiang Yan met her gaze, his face expressionless, only mocking 663 quietly: "Is this what you meant by not being out of control?"
663 replied, "Cang Rou’s personal feelings and grievances with you, as a real NPC, are outside the scope of the main system’s control."
Jiang Yan: "...."
"As for whether we can use the main system's help to eliminate Jiang Yan," Yu Jia continued, "I’m looking forward to seeing what punishment the main system will impose on Jiang Yan after declaring his failure."
"After all... don’t forget, the main system had the system NPCs cast that critical vote for Jiang Yan. It’s only a small step away from the main system directly killing him."
"The main god may care for Jiang Yan, but the main system's bugs happen more frequently, don’t you think?" Yu Jia grinned as he bit down on his chocolate bar.
The brown chocolate crumbs fell to the ground, reflecting in Jiang Yan’s blue eyes.
"Host," 663 said, "I think you shouldn’t give up. The body lying in the black coffin is your husband's torso. Now only the head remains, which clearly comes from the murderer, and the head is likely in the hands of the killer right now."
"You just need to find the murderer before midnight tonight and locate your husband's head to complete the game and win!" 663’s tone was formal and serious.
However, when this guy got serious, it felt like he was deliberately mocking him.
The important thing wasn’t the tone, but the content. With all this standing and speaking without care, Jiang Yan couldn’t help but feel that 663 was deliberately mocking him.
Jiang Yan’s voice turned sarcastic: "Me?"
"Thanks to your system NPCs, I was chased by those rotten giant rats for hours in Jiekhe’s town yesterday. It drained every last bit of my energy and stamina. Right now, I don’t even have the strength to stand."
He used the little remaining strength he had to wrap his arms around the giant’s neck and keep his eyelids open, fighting the urge to collapse into sleep.
"Dear host!" 663’s voice grew more sarcastic. "The correct way to quickly restore your energy after strenuous activity is to rest, not indulge in lust."
Jiang Yan: "...."
Wasn’t this supposed to be the responsibility of your damn system NPCs?!
Thinking of this, Jiang Yan, in a mix of frustration and embarrassment, punched the giant hard.
The giant chuckled. To him, this punch was no different than a kitten swatting with its claws.
The giant then took Jiang Yan’s hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it twice, saying, "Baby it seems we’re going to be burned as offerings.
Lu Sha crossed his arms, his red eyes glaring at Jiang Yan, a nearly ferocious smile on his face.
"According to the laws of the Giant Kingdom, anyone who violates the sanctity of marriage shall be sentenced to be burned at the stake."
Ding!
[Real NPC Lu Sha, Key Clue: Anyone who violates the sanctity of marriage shall be sentenced to be burned at the stake.]
---
Attention,
The author uploaded a new chapter, Chapter 138. But I didn't have time to translate it yet. They left this note. The chapter was uploaded on January 10
Translation- I'm back! I'm really sorry for the long hiatus! The main reason was health issues, but I'm feeling better now! However, I still need to go back to the hospital on the 11th and 12th (for two different appointments). If everything goes well, updates should stabilize again afterwards