Death Progress Bar

o not want to kill their youngest brother as much as the novel said.” Shi Jin sat on the sofa with the towel on his head, pulled out a tissue and blew his runny nose.
“From what I know about Shi Weichong, I feel that if he really wanted to kill me, he wouldn’t have personally stayed outside the clubhouse in order to meet me, and said so many unnecessary things.
I think that perhaps he was actually moved by my giving up the inheritance and suicide attempt, and started to care about me.”

Xiao Si was hesitant.

“Maybe, maybe not.
I just don’t want to let ourselves to be too limited in our thinking because of the original plot and ignore the true lethal factors.” Shi Jin threw away the wet tissue, pondered quietly for a moment, then said, “Xiao Si, let me see the original book again, I need to confirm something.”

Shi Jin spent three days examining the novel, which was rather short, word by word.
He finally determined one thing, though it made him quite vexed—in the story, there was no clear and direct evidence the original ‘Shi Jin’ had been killed by his five brothers; even the original ‘Shi Jin’ had no real proof.

‘Shi Jin’s’ process of death was really long and painful.
He had been abducted soon after Shi Qingrui’s death, and although he was rescued, his face became disfigured and he lost two fingers.

After that, his ownership of Ruixing was taken away by the five brothers and he was “imprisoned” in Li Jiuzheng’s private hospital, not being able to leave at all.
By that time, the original ‘Shi Jin’ had already firmly believed that it was his brothers who harmed him.
As for the reason—his brothers did not love him as much as before, his brothers robbed him of his legacy, his brothers mocked him, his brothers were all hypocrites and liars!

Shi Jin: “…” Kid, while your brothers were indeed hypocrites and liars, isn’t your way of determining who had killed you a little too rash and subjective…

The “imprisonment” lasted for half a year.
Six months was enough time for ‘Shi Jin’s’ injuries to heal almost completely, so Shi Weichong brought him home again and sent him back to school, but because of the scars on his face, ‘Shi Jin’ suffered severe discrimination there.
He felt very miserable and thought Shi Weichong made him go back to school to humiliate him!

The flames of hatred in the original ‘Shi Jin’s’ heart burned higher.
Unable to bear it, he contacted Shi Xingrui’s trusted subordinates and tried to hinder Shi Weichong, who had just taken over the Ruixing Corporation at that time.
And yet, he didn’t even manage to truly begin doing this when inexplicably, he got into a car accident and was critically injured.

It took him one year to die.
‘Shi Jin’ had become confined to the hospital bed, suffering and unable to move.
He could neither eat normally nor speak properly.
Full of misery, the only thing he could do was listen to the doctors and nurses discussing his come-down in the world and his current pitiful state.
Finally, full of hatred for his brothers, he died of organ failure.

The book was written from the perspective of the protagonist, so it was easy for the readers to identify with the original ‘Shi Jin’ and unconsciously follow his way of thinking.
When Shi Jin read it for the first time, the story made him choke from the righteous anger and hate the five brothers so much his teeth itched from wanting to bite them to death.
Now that he went over it again while leaving aside those subjective emotions, the plot was unclear in too many places.

Whether it was the kidnapping or car accident which directly lead to the death of the original ‘Shi Jin’, there was no evidence his brothers were involved, although it’s true they had the motive and were the most suspicious.

“We were too caught up in the plot,” Shi Jin concluded at last, letting out a long sigh.

The plot provider Xiao Si silently reduced its sense of existence.

“The five brothers might’ve disliked the original ‘Shi Jin’ and hoped that he’d disappear, but they wouldn’t necessarily do anything.
It’s like when someone thinks he wants some bastard to die, but he doesn’t really try to kill him.” After saying this, Shi Jin took one last look at the sheet of paper where he’d written down the results of his analysis, then soaked it in water and tore it to shreds to destroy all the possible traces.
He picked up the cucumber pillow sitting beside him, which looked the worse for wear after all it was through, and said, “Well then, we should verify whether this conclusion is correct.”

Xiao Si immediately recovered.

“I’m going to find Rong Zhouzhong, who has the worst temper out of all my brothers, and quarrel with him!” Shi Jin’s expression was earnest and full of confidence.

Xiao Si:

An hour later, Gua Two drove Shi Jin, who had no driver’s license, to the gate of a villa district in B City.

“Are you sure he’s at home?” Gua Two asked, holding a cigarette in his mouth.

Shi Jin nodded.
“Yeah, I checked with his fans.”

Gua Two went slack-jawed, almost dropping his smoke.
“The fans even know whether their idol is at home?” He asked, horrified.

“Normal fans wouldn’t, but there’s one kind, most hated by the stars, that would—the stalker fans,” answered Shi Jin, unfastening his seat belt.
“Thanks, you can go back now.
Drive carefully.”

Gua Two was a little uneasy.
“You really don’t need me to go with you?”

Shi Jin was always ready to follow well-intentioned advice: “I guess I’ll take you up on your offer then.”

Gua Two: “…”

Translator’s Notes:
“…deceived by the plot” – the word used here is 坑, ‘pit’.
You might’ve read about “being pitted” or “digging pits”, and what it means is being deceived, framed, cheated, set up, screwed over, etc., or doing this.
Imagine maliciously digging a trap for someone to fall into.
“Stalker fans” [私生饭] – lit.
sasaeng fans.
I always have fun reading your comments – some of you nailed it (or almost nailed it).
I won’t say who though~
┬┴┬┴┤･ω･)

I think the tenses are a mess in this chapter, is any grammar nazi reading this? If there is, please check… ╥﹏╥