CH 41.1

Chapter 41.1

Fourth Floor (19)

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

It Is in My Best Interest to Choose You over Anyone Else

The silence is abrupt.

Lin Yi takes a deep breath, before taking the piece of paper in front of him. He has basically acknowledged what Jiang Yiyi was saying.

He observes the info that countless would try to get their hands on no matter the cost——There isn’t much to observe really, as it is written in Nianluo’s unique code. Without the ‘key,’ no one can decrypt what it is saying.

So he quickly stops looking, and instead turns to Jian Si, who is standing behind Jiang Yiyi, and asks about other matters.

“I really want to know what happened between Black Glove and you.” He is truly confused here, “why did he believe you?”

Jiang Yiyi picks his book back up, disinterested, and continues reading.

Jian Si summarises briefly, “he appears to believe I work for the Captain.”

Lin Yi immediately latches onto the key here, “and why did he believe you worked for the Captain?”

Jian Si takes a few seconds to think about this question, and notes Jiang Yiyi’s inquisitive gaze that settled on him once more.

“Because…” Jian Si pauses after this.

Jiang Yiyi closes his book yet again, smiling at Jian Si, “I am starting to grow curious.”

Of course, Jian Si knows he will never be able to fool Doctor——About all these strange things on himself. Though he does desire for Doctor to discover them as late as can be.

And it is definitely out of the question to lie and deceive Doctor——That is practically suicide.

Thus, after his hesitation, Jian Si speaks up once more, “before all this happened, on the day you arrived on this floor, I had a conversation with Black Glove.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Nothing I can remember.” Jian Si’s heartbeat is increasing, because he still cannot bring himself to believe what he is about to tell them, and he dreads to imagine Doctor’s reaction to this, “he said later, I told him something at the brink of him killing me.”

Before Lin Yi can ask, he hears that sentence.

“Redcloud and Old Coyote are traitors.”

Lin Yi’s hand moves to his dagger by reflex, but the great emotional fluctuation does not show at all in his tone, “how did you know?”

Before Lin Yi talked to Black Glove, and even before Lin Yi put anything into action, he already spoiled the biggest, most hidden secrets to Black Glove——This is suspicious no matter what you think about it.

Lin Yi reflexively turns to look at Jiang Yiyi.

Jiang Yiyi still has his business smile on and not much else but pure intrigue watching Jian Si. He does not seem surprised——True. He really knows better than to expect a look of shock from Doctor.

Lin Yi laughs at himself a little, before looking back at Jian Si.

Meanwhile, Jiang ‘the Stoic, Unsurprised’ Yiyi is wondering – who is this ‘Redcloud’ fellow?

Jian Si takes a deep breath, and then answers, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Then why would you say that?”

Lin Yi reminds him, “you do know what it is that you said?” He glances at Jiang Yiyi, then piles on some borrowed psychological stress without delay, “it is not a good idea to lie in front of Doctor.”

“I know. So I wasn’t lying,” Jian Si also shifts his eyes to Jiang Yiyi. His tone is genuine, “I do not know how or why I said that, because I didn’t know Old Coyote then, and I haven’t even heard of ‘Redcloud’ at all.”

Though taking everything into context, especially how Lin Yi reacted, it is quite clear who Redcloud is now.

Jiang Yiyi has his answer now, so he immediately moves on to the next question.

Why would Jian Si know about things he should not?

Jiang Yiyi, who knows of the game, has far more options than the others to pick from.

Like the factor of a player, or the game’s background settings, or the true ending of this game no one has ever seen yet.

Jiang Yiyi takes a few seconds to consider the possibility this Jian Si is another player——There are no signs of such, so Jiang Yiyi is more leaning towards him being the actual protagonist as the game.

Though if he is good enough at acting to even fool Jiang Yiyi, it is not impossible that he is another transmigrated player.

However, their reaction to the NPC not found in the game——Referring to Jiang Yiyi——Being completely natural and believable, either makes him an Oscar-winning actor; or, even worse than Jiang Yiyi, he hasn’t so much as heard of this game ever; or, the most likely, he is not another player.

His being a player or not, however, is largely irrelevant here.

Because he is too weak.

Weak enough that he would have been dead a long time ago by the hands of Jiang Yiyi without his plot armour.

While Jian Si has changed for the better since then, it is not much different for Jiang Yiyi.

A player will eventually let slip sooner or later, and it makes no difference to Jiang Yiyi.

As Jiang Yiyi will have to keep him around anyhow.

For the possibility of figuring out what mysteries there are surrounding Jian Si, finding key clues he might have, and winning this game, learning about the true ending.

“Are you not curious why you are able to talk about things you do not even know of?” Jiang Yiyi’s questions are always an arrow aimed precisely at bullseye through the hazy fog.

“Given the circumstances back then,” Jian Si chooses his words carefully, “it was more important I do what I needed to than consider this matter.”

Jiang Yiyi raises his brow.

Jian Si continues, “it was more important to finish Doctor’s task.” He’d die if he didn’t. Who would have time to think about anything else?

“I suggest you think about it now, then.”

Jian Si blinks, and after a few seconds of thought, concludes, “I think it is strange for it to be me.”

He looks at Jiang Yiyi, “I was made to take the fall for a crime through an elaborate scheme, that ensured I ended up on the fourth floor. I do not know what it is they want to achieve, but I feel like this must be related to why I would know what I should not.”

“My life thus far has been nothing but mundane, but now, I am doubting how much of that was real.” Jian Si is quite sharp right now, “I am currently implicated in a massive conspiracy.”

“Given the efforts required, they must be looking at a reward potentially beyond what I can even imagine.” Jian Si, staring at Jiang Yiyi, “and if you, the Doctor…”

“Are the mastermind behind all this, you would not have needed such elaborate, roundabout schemes. You would have won already.”

Jian Si pauses, and, seeing Jiang Yiyi not adding anything, continues, “therefore, I can conclude you are not related to this matter. Then, it is in my best interest to choose you over anyone else.”

Truly, a transformation; reborn.