Huh? Isn't This A Galgame?-Chapter 140 - 137: The Peach Blossoms Still Smile in the Spring Breeze

Perhaps it was due to the limitations of the game's system, or perhaps it was because of his own personality, but Yang Mingzhong didn't explicitly state the problem, though Wen Nan wasn't foolish.

When the topic reached this point, he had long realized the implication — this instance probably had some sort of bug.

Wen Nan agreed on this matter as well.

For instance, the hidden door that suddenly disappeared on the wall of the third floor of the Erin Group Headquarters Building...

However, this issue was quite complex, and he couldn't even determine whether it was a quest clue or a real bug. Simply chatting here with Yang Mingzhong would never unravel it completely.

Therefore, Wen Nan returned to Yang Mingzhong's question, seizing upon an obvious contradiction related to the golden glyph—

"You say that if a player completely disappears from this game world, their character's golden glyph would also vanish. But you didn't disappear; your former guild leader saved you, right?"

Yang Mingzhong froze at his words.

He had tried his best to brush over this matter earlier, but unexpectedly, the other party had precisely identified the issue and brought it up directly...

He knew this new guild leader was extraordinary but didn't expect to underestimate the other party's acuity.

It seemed like trying to muddle through was impossible.

Yang Mingzhong chuckled lightly and replied, "Hmm, because the golden glyph I got from the previous guild leader was fake."

"...Fake?"

Yang Mingzhong tried to correct himself, "Perhaps, it can't be considered fake, much like a drug that hasn't been approved for the market yet, not meant to be used by patients. At that time, I was desperate and happened to become the other party's guinea pig."

Wen Nan pondered for a moment and boldly guessed, "Was your car accident also because of this?"

This time, Yang Mingzhong's expression of shock became more apparent.

He suddenly felt a bit regretful, regretting not meeting Ye Jiu earlier. If they had met sooner, maybe Ye Jiu could have helped him see through that man's conspiracy earlier so that he wouldn't have impulsively signed that gentleman's agreement full of lies and deceit.

But there's no turning back in life, no "what ifs."

Now, walking down this dead-end, every step was his own choice.

Yang Mingzhong took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and recalled the past:

"Only much later did I understand the rules of this game world deeply enough to gradually realize how rare the golden glyph truly was.

"If it were so easy to create, that person would have used it for themselves and wouldn't have kindly exchanged it with me.

"Any tool capable of creating a golden glyph out of thin air could likely be compared to the legendary Divine Staff Fragments.

"That person didn't have it, but they used some means to create a counterfeit glyph and gave it to me.

"The item they wanted, which I drew for the glyph, was real. However, from the start, the person never intended to help me.

"He just wanted to use me to see what consequences would come from using that fake glyph—

"I nearly died in this instance, and that was the price.

"That man learned his lesson from me and never touched the technology for creating fake glyphs again."

At this point, Yang Mingzhong smiled bitterly.

All of this only became clear to him much later when he had risen to the position of elder.

By then, the entanglement with the guild had deepened so greatly that it was impossible to cleanly sever ties, unless...

He abandoned everything and deleted his account to start over.

...

...

[In the Ghost Control Master Alliance, the illustrious Boss Ye had such a tragic past?]

[I remember hearing about a legendary brotherly relationship between him and that guild leader, their life-and-death stories were widespread across the six major guilds, but it turns out it was false propaganda?] freewēbnoveℓ.com

[*Short and Fat*: Uh, I also find this odd]

[*Short and Fat*: I know Elder Yume had quite a story in his younger days, but wasn't it said the guild leader heroically saved the beauty in those stories? It turns out to be breaking up the lovers?]

[*Short and Fat*: Now that I think about it, it fits the guild leader's nature, being a truly sinister and vicious person]

[?]

[Chang Wei, you've stopped pretending?]

[So you were indeed with the major guilds before, and you worked under the guild leader of the Ghost Control Master Alliance?]

[*Short and Fat*: Hehehe, who I am isn't important, let's continue watching Boss Ye's live stream]

...

...

Wen Nan clutched the coffee cup, elbow on the table, waited for a while, and seeing no response from the other side, asked, "Finished?"

"Yes." Yang Mingzhong nodded.

Wen Nan lowered his gaze, thought for a moment, and asked, "Did you intentionally have me deliver that rose to Li Shuyi?"

Yang Mingzhong was taken aback, then laughed, "Yes."

After a pause, he explained, "We used to always meet at this café. She would always wait for me at the table by the window, and when I arrived, I'd always hand her a red rose. Seeing the red rose, she'd always smile happily."

Talking about this, a trace of loneliness appeared in Yang Mingzhong's eyes.

Wen Nan spoke truthfully, "That rose, when I gave it to her last time, she didn't even glance at it, just tossed it aside."

"I know." Yang Mingzhong smiled bitterly.

Wen Nan thought for a moment but couldn't help asking, "Why not go find her proactively? Why didn't you clarify to me sooner? If I knew you had such a past with her, I would never..."

Yang Mingzhong interrupted by shaking his head and said:

"She isn't the lover I am looking for.

"And I am no longer the husband Li Shuyi deeply loved three years ago.

"Wei Junjie's wife should have completely disappeared from this world a long time ago. Staying in a place she shouldn't be would only cause her pain. When I saw her news and came back, it was not to reminisce with her, nor to reconcile. I just..."

He just wanted to help her end this endless pain.

But when he reached this familiar yet unfamiliar map, he found himself unable to do it.

Until not long ago, he discovered someone had already acted on his behalf.

Wen Nan paused in silence, then took out the storage ring from the equipment spare section, "Did you make this ring?"

The letters engraved on the back of the ring, after clearing out the garbled text, formed an acronym—

[F. M. W. S.Y.]

[L. Y. F.]

[F. J.J.]

Wen Nan guessed it might be a sentence—[For my wife Shuyi, love you forever, your husband Junjie].

Yang Mingzhong nodded, "Before deleting my account, I used some means to send this ring over in this way. I initially... wanted to take some of her hair as a keepsake, but standing here, I realized it was all meaningless. I was no longer me, and she was no longer her."

Wen Nan nodded and put the ring back in the equipment spare section, "I'll keep the ring. In exchange, I think you might want to take this."

As he said this, Wen Nan pushed a brooch in front of Yang Mingzhong.

It was a diamond-studded, bullet-shaped silver brooch.

The instant he saw the brooch, Yang Mingzhong's heart trembled.

Clenching the brooch tightly in his palm, Yang Mingzhong's eyes reddened instantly. He closed his eyes forcefully, as hot tears fell from the corners of his eyes.