Death Progress Bar Chapter 2 - Running Away

Chapter 2: Running Away

s.h.i.+ Jin was pacing nervously around the room.

Xiao Si was so anxious that it began to gnaw on its metaphorical nails. it suggested.

s.h.i.+ Jin completely rejected its proposal. “In the story, when the brothers learned ‘s.h.i.+ Jin’ inherited everything their hearts turned completely cold and they started their abuse! If I accepted it, the progress bar wouldn’t rise just by half a point!”

Knock knock knock.

Both of them paused and looked at the door in unison.

“Young master, the eldest young master is calling.” The butler’s voice sounded from the outside.

s.h.i.+ Jin’s brows furrowed and he whispered: “The murderer no. 1 is on the phone, should I answer it or not?”

Xiao Si’s voice trembled: With only 0.5 points left until filling up the progress bar, there really wasn’t any room for error.

s.h.i.+ Jin hesitated, “Will I die immediately after the progress bar is filled?”

s.h.i.+ Jin’s eyes brightened.

Xiao Si sounded as if it was going to cry, adding,

This is way scarier than immediate death!

s.h.i.+ Jin felt he was about to go insane. He scanned the room, then approached the desk and pulled out the utility knife inserted in a penholder, ejecting the blade and drawing it across his wrist.

Blood started to flow.

Xiao Si instantly became mad:

“I’m saving myself, of course. This phone call can’t be answered; if I pick it up and say the wrong thing, increasing my brother’s enmity, then everything will be over.” Conversely, in the face of imminent crisis, s.h.i.+ Jin calmed down instead. After cutting his wrist deeper, he quickly searched for all the doc.u.ments and cash of the original. Then he picked up the cuc.u.mber pillow on the bed and went to the bathroom to fill the bathtub with water.

Xiao Si was greatly alarmed by his actions. Cutting your wrist and filling the bath with hot water, isn’t this a standard suicide setup?

s.h.i.+ Jin has already got in the bathtub. Withstanding the dizziness caused by blood loss, he carefully unst.i.tched the part of the cuc.u.mber pillow, putting all the doc.u.ments and cash into it. Then he lay back, holding the pillow and closing his eyes: “It’s a retreat in order to advance, it will buy some time… This place is too dangerous to stay in, we have to find an opportunity to slip away.”

The youngest of the five brothers in the family was nine years older than the original ‘s.h.i.+ Jin’. All of them have already made successful careers with the support of their mothers and they pretended to dote on ‘s.h.i.+ Jin’. s.h.i.+ Xingrui was gradually deceived by this illusion, inadvertently allowing them to put a lot of traps and snares around s.h.i.+ Xingrui and ‘s.h.i.+ Jin’. The current s.h.i.+ Jin was powerless and lacked connections, it was impossible for him to win; still, his top priority was simply saving his life.

The water in the bathtub was soon red with blood. If Xiao Si was human, its face would be completely pale. It called out with a quavering voice:

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing”, s.h.i.+ Jin consoled it. Hearing the faint sound of the opening door, his heart loosened. After making Xiao Si promise to help him hold on to the cuc.u.mber pillow, he felt rea.s.sured and let go of his consciousness.

The smell of disinfectant filled his nose. s.h.i.+ Jin opened his eyes and looked drowsily at a tall figure sitting beside the bed.

Xiao Si provided a timely reminder.

s.h.i.+ Jin rea.s.sured himself, his arms tightening around the pillow. He looked at the man beside the bed and called out weakly, “Big Brother.”

The man turned his head. His long and narrow eyes, similar to those of s.h.i.+ Xingrui’s, were full of disapproval and worry. He asked gently: “Xiao Jin, why?”

s.h.i.+ Xingrui’s genes were very good; all of his sons were very handsome, with only the little fatty s.h.i.+ Jin being the odd one out. s.h.i.+ Weichong was s.h.i.+ Xingrui’s eldest son and he resembled their father strongly. Clear eyes under straight eyebrows, thin lips, straight nose—with his refined features and calm temperament, he was the very definition of a handsome mature man. In addition to s.h.i.+ Jin, he was the only child allowed to take the s.h.i.+ Xingrui’s surname and also the brother who supposedly loved s.h.i.+ Jin the most.

s.h.i.+ Jin looked away from him, secretly pinched himself under the quilt to get a sour nose and red eyes, and whispered, “I know that none of you likes me.”

After those words, the air became tense.

s.h.i.+ Weichong did not speak, the gentleness in his eyes diminished slightly. His look became thoughtful and scrutinizing, as if trying to judge whether s.h.i.+ Jin’s feelings were feigned.

<998 points! Wah, JinJin!> Xiao Si screamed in panic.

s.h.i.+ Jin’s eyelashes trembled and the tears gathered in his eyes have flowed down. His lips tightening, he turned back to s.h.i.+ Weichong and hesitantly grabbed his hand. “Big Brother… If, if there is a next life, then I hope I would become the older brother of all of you… Then I would be able to repay you, return everything I owe to you…”

“Xiao Jin.” s.h.i.+ Weichong pulled his hand out of s.h.i.+ Jin’s hold and put his hand back on the bed. “Don’t talk nonsense, your elder brothers will always be your elder brothers.”

<998.5! It has risen again! Waah, JinJin, don’t die!>

What an impregnable defense! This older brother is much more difficult to defeat than I expected.

s.h.i.+ Jin knew things went south. He decisively abandoned the idea of softening s.h.i.+ Weichong with words and closed his eyes pretending to be exhausted, whispering, “Big Brother, I’m tired…”

Fortunately, the progress bar did not rise again. s.h.i.+ Weichong covered him with the blanket and left the ward.

Over the next two days, s.h.i.+ Jin’s eldest brother came several times. The absent brothers also made a lot of calls. s.h.i.+ Jin remained completely silent, neither speaking nor answering the phone. He stayed in the ward all day and just looked out of the window like a puppet who had lost his soul.

During this time, s.h.i.+ Jin tried to hurt himself again, this time with a fruit knife. The nurse found out and told s.h.i.+ Weichong about it. s.h.i.+ Weichong, like a normal older brother, became worried and angry and scolded s.h.i.+ Jin harshly.

s.h.i.+ Jin pinched his thigh and cried silently facing s.h.i.+ Weichong’s anger. “Xiao Jin.” s.h.i.+ Weichong was helpless. He moved closer and grasped s.h.i.+ Jin’s shoulder, asking gently, “Tell me, what is wrong with you? Look, you even lost some weight.”

s.h.i.+ Jin managed to smile at him—this was what he wanted to hear, missing several meals was worth it.

s.h.i.+ Weichong looked at this smile and the emotions on his face suddenly faded away, leaving only expressionless, unfathomable mask.

This was the first time s.h.i.+ Weichong showed this expression to s.h.i.+ Jin. s.h.i.+ Jin stopped smiling, lowered his head and hugged the pillow tightly. His heart was full of vigilance—here it comes, s.h.i.+ Weichong is going to tear off his mask of kindness.

“Xiao Jin, dad’s lawyer called me today and said that the inheritance had been divided up as you wished, into five parts, without your part.” s.h.i.+ Weichong said abruptly, his tone vague, missing its earlier gentleness.

s.h.i.+ Jin looked up at him, and there was no smile on his face—he didn’t force it out this time. He said, “I told you, I would repay my brothers everything I owe them.”

s.h.i.+ Weichong looked at him keenly, saying, “The change in the distribution of inheritance requires your signature.”

s.h.i.+ Jin nodded: “I will sign it.”

Silence fell once again. s.h.i.+ Weichong did not say anything more, turned around and left the room.

After dinner that day, s.h.i.+ Weichong brought over several doc.u.ments. s.h.i.+ Jin did not read them, he signed them directly and then gathered the blanket around himself.

s.h.i.+ Weichong gathered the doc.u.ments, then stood beside the bed for a moment. “Why?”

“I just want to make my brothers happy,” s.h.i.+ Jin replied, hugging his last trump card—the cuc.u.mber pillow.

s.h.i.+ Weichong’s eyes swept over the blood that had dried up on its surface and asked: “Why do you hold it all the time?”

s.h.i.+ Jin’s heart skipped a beat. He pinched his thigh frantically, looking back at s.h.i.+ Weichong with reddened eyes and saying in a barely audible voice: “This is the last gift I have gotten from my brothers… I can’t lose it, if I lose it… it would be completely gone.”

Xiao Si applauded hard in s.h.i.+ Jin’s brain, praising his quick thinking and acting skills.

s.h.i.+ Weichong apparently did not expect to hear such an answer. He stared at him for a few seconds and frowned, suddenly unable to look directly into those eyes full of trust and dependence. He turned his head slightly and said, “You should rest. Your second brother will arrive tomorrow, he has already boarded the plane.”

That’s really bad news.

s.h.i.+ Jin was so dejected that he hung his head down, burying his face in the quilt.

s.h.i.+ Weichong took a step forward and hesitated. He turned back and gently touched s.h.i.+ Jin’s hair, the look in his eyes changing briefly. Then, for some unknown reason, his expression became cold. He turned around to leave.

Xiao Si’s voice was a little weak:

“It’s down to 950?” s.h.i.+ Jin was surprised. He lifted the quilt and got out of bed. Checking the progress bar, he was very pleased with himself. “Now then, the problem of inheritance was resolved, so it’s time to run away.”

Xiao Si was puzzled.

s.h.i.+ Jin’s voice was placid: “I only have a margin of error of 49 points. Do you think it would be enough if I say a wrong thing to those murderous people?”

<…> Xiao Si was unable to refute, but its heart was full of misgivings.

“Don’t worry.” s.h.i.+ Jin’s tone was confident. He checked the doc.u.ments and cash in his pillow and said, “In order to empty the progress bar, I have to reduce the lethal factors. Distance from the brothers should also be considered a lethal factor. What if I hide in a place where my brothers won’t be able to find me? Do you still think the progress bar will be filled up?”

Of course, if they’re unable to find him, the five brothers will be unhappy, but even if they decide to kill their younger brother directly… If their target is missing, they won’t be able to either make any plans or start implementing them. Immediate danger was a key part of the lethal factors. As long as the progress bar wasn’t filling up and his brothers were far away, s.h.i.+ Jin would be able to slowly decide on his long-term course of action. It would be different from the current dangerous situation, where he had no freedom of action an could only adapt to circ.u.mstances.

Xiao Si raised its thumb and squealed:

“…Shut up.”

Imitating the handwriting of the original, s.h.i.+ Jin left a message: “Without me, brothers will be happier. Xiao Jin hopes brothers will be happy.” Then he asked Xiao Si to help him avoid the people in the hospital and holding the cuc.u.mber pillow, he silently slipped out during the night.

More than a ten hours later, s.h.i.+ Jin stepped onto the soil of B City, China. He was still wearing hospital clothes, and he was still carrying the cuc.u.mber pillow in his arms. That and a little bit of money left over after buying a plane ticked were his only possessions.

“I hate rich people who have the habit of having credit cards instead of hard cash.” s.h.i.+ Jin’s face was full of tears, cursing the previous owner of his body.

Xiao Si suddenly panicked:

s.h.i.+ Jin’s ‘chrysanthemum’ tightened. He stared at the progress bar, which was going up and down crazily, with wide eyes.

980… 990… 930… 990… Progress bar fluctuated madly, finally stopping at 910.

s.h.i.+ Jin let out a long sigh of relief and sat down on the ground outside the airport.

Xiao Si’s voice relaxed.

s.h.i.+ Jin looked over his meager belongings, his expression full of vicissitudes of life: “First, let’s find a job to support ourselves…”

Translator’s Notes:

“…dumb blondes will love you!” – again, not literal. Originally 伦家超爱你的.

s.h.i.+ Jin’s ‘chrysanthemum’ tightened – I just had to leave it in ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).