ATFBETIBM Chapter 677.1

The hall which had been bustling with noise just yesterday was now much quieter.

Aside from Glasses’ death, a few other players also failed the game and exited last night.

Ji Nansheng walked around the hall and quickly identified the pattern of deaths.

Everyone who chose incorrectly in yesterday’s lion-cheetah battle had died.

Suddenly, half of the people were gone, yet the guests on the ship seemed completely unaware.

They continued to have fun in the hall, laughing and enjoying themselves.

Only one person was an exception.

A man with disheveled hair was slumped by the window, gazing melancholically at the thick fog outside.

From time to time, he wiped the corners of his eyes, and occasionally he took out a pocket watch to glance at.

A girl whispered, “His actions are different from everyone else’s. He must be an important NPC, right?”

Muscular man: “I talked to him earlier. He just kept repeating the same thing, like a broken record: ‘My wife and brother are both dead. They were so cruel, leaving me alone in this world.'”

“No matter what I said, he kept repeating that one line.”

“I didn’t give up and stayed nearby, watching. Several players approached him, trying to trigger a plot, but all he said was that same line over and over again.”

“Could it be we’re missing some sort of prop to trigger his plot?” the girl speculated.

Muscular man: “Then finding that prop would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Where should we even start looking?”

Ji Nansheng thought of the diamond ring that had suddenly appeared on the deck yesterday. “Let’s try searching the deck.”

Since Glasses had failed the game, their group of five had become a group of four.

The four exchanged glances and decided to check the deck.

They easily found the railing where the couple had jumped into the sea.

Fog filled the air, and everyone walked cautiously.

“I found a tie clip!” The blonde player suddenly shouted. From the edge of the railing, he pulled out a small object—a black tie clip inlaid with white diamonds, understated yet elegant. “Isn’t this something that man dropped?”

For such an obvious prop, it is most likely true.

Not daring to linger on the deck for long, the four immediately retreated back to the hall and went straight to the man.

The blonde player held the tie clip out in front of the man. “We found this on the deck. Is it your brother’s?”

The man’s melancholic gaze flicked briefly to the tie clip, and his dialogue changed.

He shook his head. “I’ve never seen this tie clip before.”

Then, he turned back to gaze at the white fog outside the window. “My wife and brother are both dead. They were so cruel, leaving me alone in this world.”

The four looked at each other in confusion.

Was it not this? Did they find the wrong prop?

Ji Nansheng sharply caught the change in the man’s expression. He lowered his voice and said, “We were on the deck yesterday. We saw your wife and your brother acting more intimate than a couple.”

The melancholic man suddenly raised his head, his lips trembling and his pupils dilating.

He snatched the tie clip from the blonde player’s hand and said in a low voice, “Follow me!”

The four were overjoyed.

The plot was finally triggered!

They eagerly followed the melancholic man into a lounge on the second floor.

The man locked the door from the inside before turning to face them. “Who else knows about this?”

Muscular man: “Just us. You’re not planning to kill us to keep it quiet, are you?”

Upon hearing this, the man suddenly knelt down, covered his face with one hand while clutching the tie clip with the other, and began sobbing loudly. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t pushed them so hard, they wouldn’t have died for love. If I hadn’t cared so much about societal expectations and had annulled the engagement with Sophia, none of this would’ve happened. Sophia was even pregnant… pregnant with my brother’s child! Three lives lost in one tragedy—it’s all my fault!”

The four looked at each other.

They knew the important part of the plot was starting.

Ji Nansheng: “Can you tell us the whole story?”

The man leaned back against the wall in despair, the hard tie clip pressing deep into his palm.

“Sophia and I have been betrothed since childhood. She was my fiancée. But as she grew up, she gradually fell in love with my brother. Eventually, I found out about it, but if I annulled my engagement with Sophia and she married my brother, I’d become a laughingstock in the eyes of the world. In the end, Sophia married me.”

“After she married me, Sophia, who was once lively and cheerful, became withdrawn and silent. I tried to improve our relationship, but it was all in vain. At the time, I was also very busy with work and couldn’t bear to face Sophia’s accusatory eyes, so I moved out and started living at the company.”

“During that time, Sophia and my brother couldn’t suppress their feelings for each other and rekindled their relationship.”

“At first, they hid it well. Maybe out of guilt, Sophia started treating me better. She’d prepare my clothes and make tea for me. I really thought she had forgiven me. As for my brother, he all but disappeared from my sight during that period. At first, I thought he was avoiding suspicion, but later I realized he simply felt too ashamed to face me.”

“Then one day, I found a box containing a diamond tie clip in Sophia’s bedroom. The black clip set with diamonds was clearly a men’s accessory. My birthday was coming up in a few days, so I assumed it was a surprise gift she was preparing for me. I put the box back.”

“On my birthday, I came home early. But there was no cake, no champagne, no candles, and no gift. Sophia didn’t even remember it was my birthday.”

“Soon after, I saw that very tie clip on my brother.”

“And then I found the tie clip in my own bed, the bed I shared with Sophia.”

“That’s when I realized I’d been a fool all along. Sophia and my brother had never really separated. Sophia may have been my wife, but both her body and heart had betrayed our vows.”

“I couldn’t take it anymore. I confronted them both at home and accused them of their betrayal.”

“One was my wife, who was supposed to spend her life with me, and the other was my own brother. That day, they both knelt in front of me, begging for my forgiveness and asking me to let them be together. Sophia cried so pitifully, saying she was forced into marrying me, that she had always loved my brother.”

“I was devastated. Anger consumed me, and I said something I’ve regretted ever since.”

“I said, ‘I will never divorce you. The only way out is if you die. Otherwise, don’t even think about it.’”

“But instead of driving them apart, my words only made their bond stronger. Even though I was Sophia’s legal husband, she treated me like a stranger. She didn’t care anymore and was openly intimate with my brother in front of me. She mocked me for being a slave to society’s expectations. I wouldn’t divorce her because of societal norms, and I didn’t dare expose their affair for the same reason.”

“Their behavior became worse, and eventually, Sophia got pregnant with my brother’s child.”

“She was pushing me. Either I had to claim that child as my own, or I had to divorce her.”

The muscular man muttered quietly, “Any real man would’ve divorced her by then, right?”

The man bit his lip. “I didn’t choose divorce. I agreed to accept the child and raise it as my own.”

“At that moment, Sophia burst into laughter, mocking me and saying I wasn’t even a man.”

“I looked at Sophia and suddenly didn’t recognize her anymore. She had become so crazy, nothing like the innocent, lively girl I once knew. She seemed like a madwoman driven to the brink. But why should she be the one to go mad? Shouldn’t it have been me? I was the one who was betrayed! Hadn’t I sacrificed enough? I had silently tolerated her affair with my brother, and I even accepted their child!”

“That day, Sophia broke many things in the house, and she declared that she and my brother would die together.”

“I thought she was just talking nonsense, given that she was pregnant with my brother’s child. How could she possibly want to die?”

“Later, we received an invitation from the Count.”

The man rubbed his face. “It turned out she wasn’t bluffing. She really wanted to die. And she dragged my brother down with her.”

The man pounded the wall angrily. “Damn it, why did it turn out like this? If only we had annulled the engagement from the beginning, maybe I would have married someone who truly loved me, and we would have lived a happy life, had children together. Sophia could have married the man she loved. This tragedy never needed to happen.”

“It’s all my fault.”

“It’s all because of me.”

After hearing the man finish his story, the girl asked curiously, “Since she didn’t want to marry you, couldn’t Sofia have requested to annul the engagement or divorce you?”

The man raised his head blankly, “Heavens, of course not. How could a woman have the right to decide her own marriage? In our country, women are handed over to their husbands by their parents, becoming the husband’s property. She must serve her husband wholeheartedly. The country doesn’t allow women to divorce; only the husband can decide the marriage.”

“Fuck, that’s twisted!” The girl couldn’t help but curse.

The muscular man: “The empire’s feudal system is messed up, but Sofia wasn’t right either, was she? Since she married him, she should’ve been loyal to the marriage.”

The girl: “I’m not saying she was right, but she was forced into the marriage in the first place. She had no right to choose her husband or her love. That’s probably why she went crazy and jumped into the sea later on, right?”

The blonde player sighed, “It’s really hard to judge.”

The man sighed deeply, “Now I have received my punishment. I’ve told you the truth. The dead are gone. For the sake of their peace, I beg you not to tell anyone about my wife and brother’s affair, please.”

Ji Nansheng asked, “Do you know how to leave the Siren’s Territory?”

The man’s eyes widened, “God, how would I know how to leave the Siren’s Territory? Why are you asking me that? Is this place the Siren’s Territory?”

…

The man left the lounge in a hurry, leaving Ji Nansheng and the other three behind.

The girl rubbed her head, “Is that it? No task? No trigger? A single prop for a plot? Huh?”

The other three were also puzzled.

The muscular man: “Did we miss something again?”

Ji Nansheng: “Could it be that he lied?”

The girl:, “Which part did he lie about? Not knowing how to leave the Siren’s Territory?”

Ji Nansheng: “Maybe.”

The muscular man: “Should we follow him? He told us so much, it can’t just be to tell us some stupid story, right?”

Ji Nansheng: “Alright.”

The girl: “Now I finally understand why the Countess had to marry the Count after her fiancé disappeared. She didn’t have a choice. The Countess is also a pitiful woman.”

The four of them were too conspicuous as a group, making them unsuitable for following someone.

In the end, Ji Nansheng was chosen to follow the man.

Ji Nansheng secretly watched the man from the corner of the hall. After staring out of the window for a while, the man stood up and left.

Ji Nansheng quietly followed him. The man turned at the staircase and surprisingly went to the deck.

Fortunately, the surrounding fog was thick, and the man didn’t notice Ji Nansheng behind him.

The man arrived at the spot where the woman had jumped into the sea yesterday and stared blankly into the fog, muttering to himself.

“Sofia, forgive me.”

“It’s all my brother’s fault. Don’t blame me.”

“Now the three of you are reunited. Live well over there.”

Ji Nansheng: “…”

A gust of sea wind blew, and the fog around them suddenly swirled, enveloping the man’s body.

Suddenly, Ji Nansheng heard the man’s terrified cries.

“No, don’t come any closer!”

“Sofia, spare me, I beg you!”

“Help! I don’t want to die!”

“Help! I don’t want to die yet!”

Ji Nansheng’s heart skipped a beat, and he rushed forward. He saw the man already climbing the railing.

It looked like he had climbed up by himself, but his expression was filled with terror.

A few rays of sunlight pierced through the thick fog and fell on the man.

In the faint light, Ji Nansheng saw a vague humanoid figure in front of the man.