Npc 135

After everything ended, Jiang Yan lay soaked on the desk, too exhausted to even lift a finger.

The giant tidied up the crumpled, damp blue-and-white school uniform thrown on the ground, cleaned up all remaining traces, and wrapped the little elf on the desk in a platinum-colored robe before carrying him out of the storage room.

Jiang Yan, nestled in the giant’s arms, instinctively began to squirm. He muttered weakly, “No… no more…”

The giant chuckled softly. “No more, let’s go take a bath.”

At the mention of a bath, Jiang Yan settled down, obediently letting himself be carried.

Soon, he felt himself lowered into warm water with a rose fragrance. He didn’t move, passively allowing the giant to clean him.

After being thoroughly washed, the now-clean, fragrant little elf was tucked into a soft goose-down quilt.

Using the last of his strength, Jiang Yan turned over and found a comfortable spot to snuggle into in the giant’s arms, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

Just before fully succumbing to slumber, Jiang Yan vaguely heard Yu Xiu’s low voice in his ear: “Yan Yan, don’t be afraid. Ignore those people. As long as I’m here, they won’t hurt you.”

Jiang Yan slept deeply, as though the world had been turned upside down. He thought he’d wake up to darkness but instead found the sunlight so bright it hurt his eyes.

He tried to turn over but realized his legs wouldn’t move. Just as he wondered why, he heard someone excitedly exclaim beside him:

“Boss! Jiang Yan’s awake!”

“Jiang Yan? You’re awake? Are you okay?!”

Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng?

Jiang Yan frowned, sensing something wasn’t right. He forced his eyes open.

There was no giant, no school uniform. He wasn’t in the storage room, the dormitory, or the castle bedroom. He was in… a hospital?

Jiang Yan stared at the IV bag hanging above him, its surface refracting light like lemon soda, and the blue-and-white curtains fluttering slightly.

This was… a hospital?

The next moment, Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng’s faces appeared in his field of vision, blocking the blinding sunlight.

“Jiang Yan, how are you feeling?”

“Are you okay?”

Jiang Yan blinked. When he tried to speak, his throat felt as though it was being pricked by a thousand needles. He coughed violently.

The coughing was so intense it felt like his lungs might come out. The two by his bedside were startled.

Tao Shi quickly helped him sit up against the headboard, patting his chest to soothe him. “Take it easy, don’t rush!”

Cao Youfeng turned to pour a glass of water, bringing it to Jiang Yan’s lips. His voice was trembling, mixed with fury. “Damn it! Those bastards actually made you eat sand?”

Sand? No wonder.

As Jiang Yan gulped down water, he furrowed his brows and began piecing together the five times his perspective had shifted.

The first time he opened his eyes, he was surrounded and stoned to death by a group of people.

The second time, he saw himself from a third-person perspective, a student council president.

The third time, he was sitting behind a desk in class.

The fourth time, he was pinned down by Yu Xiu in the school’s storage room.

The fifth time, he woke up in the infirmary. From Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng’s words, it seemed he had just been forced to eat sand by a group of students—another case of bullying.

[Wait… what exactly is going on? Wasn’t Jiang Yan just sitting in the classroom with Teacher Jian? How did he suddenly teleport here?]

[What do you mean with Teacher Jian? Tao Da and the others just said they saw him being surrounded by a group of delinquents and forced to eat sand.]

[Huh? Jiang Yan is here? Wasn’t he in the school cafeteria? I just came from the chef’s live stream.]

[What chef? Wasn’t he behind the school in the grove talking to that colorful braided emo kid?]

[…]

For a moment, the game forum was in chaos.

Looking at Jiang Yan’s pale face, Cao Youfeng grumbled:

“You’re such a grown man, how can you still let a group of underage kids bully you? They told you to eat, and you just obediently ate? I know second-level instances don’t allow tools, but what about your tentacles? They’re not tools or system NPCs, so you should have been able to use them, right?”

After drinking some water, Jiang Yan felt much better. He lay on the bed, catching his breath as he said, “Thanks.”

Tao Shi patted his chest again, replying, “No need.”

“Speaking of which, the main system hasn’t opened a second-level instance in years. We’re only in here because of you.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yan chuckled. “Years? And how old are you now?”

The implication was clear: Tao Shi wasn’t even 20 yet. How many years could a teenager like him have spent in the game?

As a real NPC, however, Jiang Yan had to stick to his character settings. He couldn’t say anything outside of his designated role.

“It’s been many years,” Tao Shi replied.

Jiang Yan froze.

[Many years? Didn’t Tao Da just enter the game a few years ago?]

[Four years, right? I think that’s it.]

[No, no, no! Tao Da entered the game at sixteen. It should be four years.]

[So, three years? Tao Da is only 19 this year.]

[He’s clearly 20! Tao Da and I graduated from the same high school.]

[…]

“It’s been many years.”

Jiang Yan looked at the boy before him, his hair dyed a vibrant blue.

Leaning against the bedside, Tao Shi stared out the window. The golden sunlight bathed him, but it couldn’t hide the melancholy emanating from his figure.

“663,” Jiang Yan called out, his curiosity piqued. “How many years has Tao Shi been in the game?”

663 replied, “According to official data, it’s been two years.”

Jiang Yan understood.

Teenagers at this age often wallow in sentimentality, lamenting the passage of time and indulging in their own brand of “youthful angst.”

It’s a uniquely “extravagant” experience reserved for the young.

Tao Shi quickly collected himself, turning back to ask Jiang Yan, “You’ve been here longer than us, haven’t you?”

"When I saw those little bastards forcing you to eat sand just now, the soil nearby looked freshly dug and filled in, like they had just buried something. Did you see what they buried?"

Buried?

Jiang Yan thought about the "himself" that had just been stoned to death.

However, if what they buried was him, it shouldn’t just stop at feeding his current body sand.

Cao Youfeng angrily exclaimed, "Good thing we arrived in time. Who knows what horrible things they would have done to you otherwise!"

Tao Shi seemed to understand and asked, "I heard them call you the student council president. Do you have any memory of that?"

Hearing the words "student council president," Jiang Yan's heart tightened.

If nothing unexpected happened, a school should only have one student council president.

So, his current perspective must be the version of himself he saw during the second perspective jump, using a third-person view from mid-air.

If that's the case, then what did those kids bury?

Could it really be his corpse?

But, if it was truly a corpse, would they only force the insider—him—to eat sand?

Jiang Yan felt something was off.

Seeing that Jiang Yan remained silent, Cao Youfeng suggested to Tao Shi, "Isn't it possible that Jiang Yan, as the student council president, might have strictly enforced rules or made excessive demands on students, which provoked those delinquents from the magic academy into retaliating?"

[What kind of nonsense is this? Sometimes, Cao Da really does have the logic of an elementary school kid.]

[How is that elementary school logic? Honestly, stuff like this happens in schools all the time.]

[In my high school, a girl who was a discipline officer once shouted, "Quiet!" during class, only to get slapped by delinquents during the break.]

[Plenty of people use their student council or class officer status to bully others too!]

[Bullying has nothing to do with status.]

[Kids always think school drama is the end of the world. Wait till they get out into society—then they'll see how trivial this stuff really is!]

[Easy for you to say. It's not happening to you, huh?]

[Wait, hold on. Jiang Yan is here? Wasn't he just with Teacher Jian on the rooftop? How did he suddenly end up in the infirmary? Did he jump off the roof or something?]

[Haha! Here's another one.]

[What are you all talking about? How could Jiang Yan possibly be in so many places at once?]

Seeing Jiang Yan remain silent, Cao Youfeng asked worriedly, "What's wrong? Is your throat still hurting badly?"

Jiang Yan shook his head.

Cao Youfeng continued, "Do you want another sip of water? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?"

Jiang Yan smiled faintly at him. "Thank you, but no."

Cao Youfeng seemed a little disappointed, but he still held onto the cup without putting it down. He told Jiang Yan, "If you feel like drinking more, just let me know. I'll help you."

Jiang Yan smiled lightly and replied, "Okay, thank you."

Seeing Jiang Yan smile at him, Cao Youfeng asked again, "Do you have any external injuries anywhere?"

Tao Shi: "...."

"You…"

Seeing that Cao Youfeng still wanted to say more, Tao Shi grabbed him and yanked him aside. Leaning close to his ear, he muttered angrily, "Enough! Look at you—acting so cheap!"

Cao Youfeng shrugged indifferently and whispered back, "Isn't this the only chance to flirt him when his husband isn’t around, and no NPCs are causing trouble? I need to seize the opportunity."

Tao Shi gritted his teeth and replied in a low voice, "You do remember he has a husband, right?"

Cao Youfeng corrected, "Ex-husband."

Tao Shi: "..."

Jiang Yan looked at the two kids standing by the door, whispering about who knows what. After thinking for a moment, he finally opened his mouth and said, "Actually…"

The moment he started speaking, Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng immediately rushed back to his bedside.

Cao Youfeng beamed brightly, "Did you remember something?"

Tao Shi: "..."

Jiang Yan said, "Actually, I just woke up on this bed not long ago."

Tao Shi thought for a moment and replied, "Entering a secondary-level instance might cause a time delay. Since you're an NPC, the main system probably already wrote your role into the script. It’s normal for us to see the fabricated memories the main system created for you—to keep the storyline moving forward."

Jiang Yan responded, "I was just sitting next to Jian Hou listening to a lesson."

Tao Shi pondered for a moment. "Time-space disarray? Teacher Jian isn’t in the same timeline as us right now."

Jiang Yan replied, "No, he’s right here at this school. Just now, he and I were standing outside the classroom, being punished together."

"What?!"

Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng exclaimed in shock simultaneously.

[What the hell?! What’s going on?!]

[Could there really be more than one Jiang Yan in this instance?]

[How is that possible?! Jiang Yan is a real NPC, not a system NPC. How could there be more than one Jiang Yan in a single instance? This is insane!]

[Hey, hey, hey! Don’t stir up confusion in the forum! This instance is already chaotic enough!! It’s messy, convoluted, and too damn long...]

[It’s giving me a headache just trying to follow it.]

"Bang!"

There was a sudden, violent crash at the door, and the infirmary’s door was kicked open with a loud bang.

Standing in the doorway was the chef, gripping a cleaver. His eyes were bloodshot with rage as he charged into the room, shouting at Jiang Yan:

“Monster! Monster!! You must die!!”

The three people in the infirmary were still in shock when the chef raised his cleaver and lunged straight toward Jiang Yan, aiming to strike.

“Watch out!”

“Jiang Yan!!!”

Next Chapter NPC 136