CHAPTER 333: CHAPTER 333: BLENDING IN, ALMOST BECAME THE VILLAIN_1

"It really is Ye Tian, but he’s actually turned into an Erroneous Sin."

Wang Linchi returned the way he came and indeed found him. Moreover, it wasn’t just Ye Tian; that fellow Linghu Sen was also there.

Have the Fallen Players and the NPC rebellion joined forces? Wang Linchi could vaguely see that these two Erroneous Sins showed signs of merging.

Of course, this trend was naturally centered around Ye Tian. After all, he was the protagonist.

But their arrival is too much of a coincidence, isn’t it? Wang Linchi felt a headache coming on.

Ye Tian and Linghu Sen were currently in the Muyan Tribe. Coincidentally, the Hei Zhuo Tribe and the Cliff Waterfall Tribe happened to launch an attack.

What followed was self-evident. Ye Tian stepped forward, helped the Muyan Tribe resolve the crisis, and through certain events, pacified the imminent conflict among the three tribes. He even analyzed the situation, concluding that someone had deliberately instigated the incident.

If this continues to develop, I’ll seem like the villain... A corner of Wang Linchi’s eye twitched. He knew without thinking that Ye Tian was about to start investigating.

Although his methods were covert and included clean-up, actions inevitably leave traces. Who knew if he had overlooked anything?

Fortunately, he had the blessing of luck. Even if he couldn’t contend with Ye Tian’s Protagonist’s Aura, doubly potent due to the Fate Devil God, ensuring his own survival wouldn’t be a major problem.

Wait, if I use Ye Tian’s Protagonist’s Aura, can I collect the complete Elemental Giant Bloodline? Wang Linchi had no intention of killing Ye Tian directly.

After Ye Tian transformed into an Erroneous Sin, Wang Linchi could no longer kill him.

The main reason was that these two Erroneous Sins, the Fallen Players and the NPC Rebellion, were quite special. They weren’t individual types but faction-based. To completely eliminate them, one would have to exterminate all their members.

However, the infectiousness of these two Erroneous Sins was extremely potent, and Wang Linchi couldn’t deal with it at his current stage; after all, they had already snowballed into a major force.

So, the best method was to cooperate with them.

For making contact, I’ll use the Calligraphy Linchi alias; he happens to have a connection with Ye Tian.

I can’t use my Player identity anymore; I was gone when the game merged with reality. It’s best to use the identity of an Erroneous Sin.

Disguising himself as an Erroneous Sin wasn’t difficult. However, he would only have the aura of an Erroneous Sin, not its power.

Hold on, I still need to take some protective measures.

Just as he was about to act, Wang Linchi suddenly realized something. When Ye Tian and his group entered the underground world back then, they had suffered a severe blow.

The fact that they were safe and sound now indicated they definitely had some measures in place.

Wang Linchi naturally had to ensure his own safety as well. Otherwise, while it was true he could recover ten seconds after being hit, the enemy would also have to *allow* him those ten seconds to recover. If they attacked continuously, although he wouldn’t die, he would be severely injured and require a much longer time to heal.

With their precedent, I can just imitate it.

Observing Ye Tian, Wang Linchi quickly figured out why Ye Tian hadn’t been subjected to a second attack.

A rule invasion... I originally thought it was a case of ’a massive dike collapsing from an ant hole,’ but now it seems they just forced their way in directly. Wang Linchi was also somewhat surprised. The other party hadn’t used any disguise, but rather overwhelming power.

They directly caused the surface world to forcefully intervene in the underground world.

This meant that entity had been directly hit with a dimension-reduction attack. Even if it was still alive, it probably couldn’t make another move against Ye Tian.

In that case, I can’t imitate it. However, it’s not like there’s no solution. Wang Linchi couldn’t manage to crush them with overwhelming power, but he could borrow some of that momentum.

Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a waste of this excellent situation Ye Tian had created out of thin air?

「...」

"I wonder who did it. They acted so covertly that not a single trace can be found." Ye Tian was investigating the location of the bodies of the two Elemental Giants, Luo and Xi; the surroundings were naturally a mess.

Linghu Sen stood to one side, his brows tightly furrowed; he truly couldn’t think of a reason.

After seeing Ye Tian mediate the conflict among the three Giant Tribes, he could also perceive that these Elemental Giants weren’t very bright. Such a scheme was simply unsolvable in the eyes of the Elemental Giants.

Of course, they also couldn’t find the culprit.

As for the language barrier, for an Erroneous Sin, this was fundamentally not an issue.

"Could it be the entity that attacked us before?" Linghu Sen asked. Otherwise, he really had no other suspects.

"Unlikely. With their strength, if they really wanted to act, they wouldn’t resort to such methods," Ye Tian denied it without hesitation. "It’s like someone wanting to crush an ant but instead luring three other ants to do it; that’s simply too troublesome."

It couldn’t be ruled out that the other party had such idle inclinations, but the probability was too slim.

"Then the clues are cut off. Besides, so much time has passed, and the scene wasn’t preserved. We wouldn’t be able to find anything even if we wanted to," Linghu Sen said, feeling helpless. Previously, as an NPC, all his abilities were focused on management, economics, and related aspects. He possessed strength, but investigating these matters was indeed asking too much of him.

"It’s highly likely an inside job, but that doesn’t explain the Hei Zhuo and Cliff Waterfall Tribes," Ye Tian was also completely clueless. It was extremely difficult for him to pursue something with absolutely no leads or traces.

Just as Ye Tian was pondering, a voice drifted over.

"No need to guess. I was the one who did it."

At these words, Linghu Sen immediately became vigilant. That feeling... it was another Erroneous Sin.

He hadn’t expected there to be other Erroneous Sins in this underground world. If they themselves hadn’t possessed sufficient means, they wouldn’t have been able to enter at all. How could another Erroneous Sin be here, safe and sound?

Ye Tian, however, rose and looked gravely at Wang Linchi. "Calligraphy Linchi?"

"It seems you still remember me, Demon Slayer. However, your appearance in reality is much more handsome than in the game," Wang Linchi said, slowly walking over.

"No wonder you, the number one on all leaderboards, disappeared when the game merged with reality. It seems the first person to transform from a human into an Erroneous Sin was likely you," Ye Tian quickly connected the cause and effect and reached his own conclusion.

Wang Linchi had anticipated this and nodded calmly. "If there were no accidents, it was indeed me."

"Back when the Game System arranged for me to deal with Erroneous Sins, I sensed there was a problem with the Game System itself. I originally wanted to give you a heads-up, but later the Game System detected the issue and forcibly threw me into an instance."

"I had no other choice. Being number one on all leaderboards was merely being a puppet of the Game System," Wang Linchi briefly summarized.

"I see. Then how did you get here?" Ye Tian asked.

"Some fortunate coincidences. How did you end up here?" Wang Linchi asked in return.

"The reasons are also quite complex. Essentially, this City Lord Linghu of Wanxuan City and I had a confrontation with the Game System. We lost and then had to find another path," Ye Tian explained vaguely.

Wang Linchi had anticipated this outcome. He just hadn’t expected them to be able to retreat completely unscathed after losing. However, this matter had nothing to do with him; it was just that the fiercer their struggle, the faster the world would come to an end.

"I haven’t asked you yet, why did you kill the giants from the Muyan, Hei Zhuo, and Cliff Waterfall Tribes?" Ye Tian asked, his voice grave.

"As Erroneous Sins, isn’t engaging in slaughter a perfectly normal thing?" Wang Linchi couldn’t help but quip.

This made Ye Tian’s heart grow even heavier. He felt that Wang Linchi had been influenced by being an Erroneous Sin; otherwise, he wouldn’t say such things.

"It’s just like Players killing monsters to level up. There’s fundamentally no logical issue with that," Wang Linchi added.

Ye Tian, who had been about to speak, couldn’t help but pause; he had never imagined Wang Linchi would think this way.

"But this is the real world, not the God-given World," Ye Tian said.

"You’re right about that, but what I killed weren’t humans, just a bunch of things that look like humans," Wang Linchi said with a shrug.

"I’m afraid that won’t do. These giants possess a special power. They can, to a certain extent, slow down Erroneous Sins, or even cause them to ’crash,’ thereby preventing them from harming our world." Ye Tian’s implication was that Wang Linchi should stop his actions.

"Really? But are you sure you want to do this? After all, our current identities are not human, but Erroneous Sins." Wang Linchi hadn’t expected the Elements of the Elemental Giants to have such an ability, and he was even more surprised that Ye Tian would actually entertain such a thought. Isn’t he afraid of dragging himself down too?

"We are Erroneous Sins, that’s true. But if the errors multiply and the world perishes, what then shall we do? So, the best way is naturally to first eliminate the vast majority of Erroneous Sins." Ye Tian’s allegiance was neither to humanity nor to the Erroneous Sins, but to the world itself.

"Interesting..." Wang Linchi appeared as if he had been swayed by Ye Tian. "I wonder, are you still short on people?"

"We are!" Ye Tian affirmed with a nod, without hesitation. He felt that Wang Linchi had been persuaded by him. After all, he had fought alongside Wang Linchi for a period and had some understanding of his character. At the very least, back when they were resisting the Abyss, Wang Linchi had fought with all his might. Based on this point alone, he was willing to let Wang Linchi join.

Moreover, Wang Linchi might be the first Erroneous Sin transformed from a human; perhaps he held even more intelligence.

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