Chapter 19
Chapter 19: The Scarecrow's Diary
The crimson-black Tribulation Flame slowly dissipated.
As the flames died out, that unreal Wheat Field vanished completely, revealing what lay beneath.
A scorched, barren plain, covered in criss-crossing fractures.
Guo Shuai stood amid the ashes, staring blankly at the ground.
The one who had once fought back-to-back with him...
Yang Wei, in the midst of transforming into a Scarecrow.
At that moment, he too turned to dust alongside the Wheat Field—indistinguishable and unrecognizable.
Trembling, he bent down, reaching into that warm pile of ash.
He picked up a compass.
It was the thing Yang Wei had treasured most in his life.
"Old Yang..."
Guo Shuai gripped the compass tightly and instinctively looked in the direction of the needle.
The needle wobbled and spun several times before settling firmly, pointing forward.
Toward the man standing at the center of the wasteland, his back turned.
Jiang Nan.
At that moment, Jiang Nan was treading across the scorched earth, walking toward him.
Watching that figure silhouetted against the firelight—like some demonic god—Guo Shuai's heart clenched violently.
'An Imposter... come to kill me?'
Guo Shuai let out a bitter laugh.
He didn't resist. He didn't run.
Against a terrifying existence capable of one-shotting a boss, any struggle was futile.
"Come on then... make it quick."
Guo Shuai closed his one remaining eye and quietly waited for death—or assimilation—to arrive.
However.
The anticipated agony never came.
Instead, there came the roar of an engine, and an extremely excited, gravelly voice.
"Boss!! That was insane!!!"
Guo Shuai snapped his eye open.
A black RV was barreling toward him, kicking up a trail of dust.
From the cab, Wang Meng was leaning out, waving frantically in their direction.
But.
The moment that "insane" left his lips.
Wang Meng was like a duck with its throat squeezed shut—his mouth wide open, not a single sound coming out.
The engine noise vanished instantly as well; only the tyres could be seen still turning.
Absolute Silence Field.
Jiang Nan walked up to Guo Shuai, glanced at this survivor whose face was etched with despair, and said nothing.
He pulled out the Notepad from his pocket, scrawled a line, and held it up for Wang Meng—who was still shouting into empty air—to see.
【Didn't I tell you not to come in?】
Inside the cab, Wang Meng froze, then scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
No need to think about it—that silence was definitely his boss's doing.
He quickly grabbed a notebook from beside him and wrote back in lopsided characters:
【We saw the black flames shooting into the sky from outside and thought something had happened to you, boss!】
【I figured even if I'm not strong, at least I could take a bullet for you or something... so I drove in.】
Reading those words, something stirred faintly in Jiang Nan's chest.
'A little stupid, but these tools have some conscience after all.'
He wrote back on the Notepad.
【I'm fine. That was my move.】
【Next time, don't worry. As long as I'm not dead, none of you will die.】
With that, he snapped his fingers and deactivated the Silence. Long-duration Word Spirit skills like this could be switched off.
Just then, the car door opened.
Chen Tong, Liu Yuqing, and Yu Shishi all jumped out.
The moment Chen Tong saw Jiang Nan was safe and sound, her eyes went red instantly, and without a second thought she charged over.
She threw her arms around Jiang Nan in a suffocating face-wash-cream hug.
"You scared me to death! All that fire... I thought I'd never see you again!"
Jiang Nan, buried in that soft embrace, rolled his eyes but didn't push her away.
To one side, Liu Yuqing pushed up her glasses and began surveying the surroundings, her eyes filled with shock.
Yu Shishi was the most sycophantic of them all. Noticing that Jiang Nan was covered in ash, she came hurrying over.
She immediately activated her Cleanse ability, helping to clear the dust from his clothes.
"You worked so hard, boss! Here, boss, have some water!"
Watching this scene so full of everyday warmth.
Guo Shuai, standing off to the side, was completely stunned.
"This... what's going on?"
"Face-wash cream? Wiping down clothes? And that chubby guy driving the car..."
Guo Shuai rubbed his eyes hard, watching the natural interactions between these people—the kind of emotional exchange only the living could have.
'Could it be... Jiang Nan isn't an Imposter?!'
There was no other explanation.
These people looked nothing like monsters. If anything, they had more life to them than the students who'd been on the run.
If a cop showed up right now, by comparison, he—half his face charred, with only one eye—was the one who looked like a monster that had slipped in among the crowd!
"Heh heh... hahahaha..."
Guo Shuai clutched his head and suddenly burst into self-mocking laughter—laughing until tears ran down his face.
"Old Yang, you absolute idiot..."
"Next life, stop guessing at things... even I believed you, and we mistook the real big shot for the boss..."
"We were... holding a golden rice bowl and begging for scraps!"
By then, Wang Meng had also noticed this survivor who looked neither fully human nor fully ghoulish.
He walked over with the notebook and wrote:
【You're Guo Shuai? Where are Yang Wei and the others?】
Guo Shuai hadn't even noticed Jiang Nan had lifted the restriction.
On instinct, he took the pen and wrote a single line.
【They're all dead. Every last one. Only I survived—Jiang Nan saved me.】
Wang Meng read it and let out a sigh, a flash of sorrow crossing his eyes.
Say what you will, they were classmates after all. And Yang Wei, reckless as he could be sometimes, wasn't a bad person.
【So what are you going to do next?】 Wang Meng continued writing.
Guo Shuai fell silent.
He touched the half of his face that had lost all feeling, then looked down at Yang Wei's keepsake in his hand.
Blind in the left eye. Disfigured. His closest friend dead.
To him, this world had already gone grey.
【I don't know.】
He wrote those 3 words, his gaze hollow.
Wang Meng, looking at the state of him, felt an uncomfortable weight in his chest.
Guo Shuai had always been the peacemaker in class.
The reason someone with Yang Wei's prickly personality had managed to coexist peacefully with the student council for so long was entirely thanks to Guo Shuai's mediation.
While the 2 of them carried on their silent exchange via pen and paper.
Over on the other side, Jiang Nan had finally extracted himself from Chen Tong's embrace.
He straightened his collar and didn't immediately head back to the vehicle.
Instead, he walked straight toward a metal hatch at the centre of the wasteland.
It was the heart of the former Wheat Field—the Scarecrow Overlord's lair.
He kicked the hatch open.
Beneath it, a gloomy, dark cellar entrance was revealed.
Jiang Nan didn't hesitate for a second and dropped straight down.
The 3 girls exchanged glances. Frightened as they were, they had no choice but to steel themselves and follow.
The cellar was pitch black, the air thick with a nauseating reek of rot and blood.
Liu Yuqing switched on a flashlight, its beam sweeping across the surroundings.
The next second.
"Urk!"
All 3 girls clapped their hands over their mouths almost simultaneously, their faces drained of colour.
This was no cellar—it was a torture chamber!
The walls were lined with rust-spotted implements of all kinds.
Saws, boning knives, even racks designed to stretch limbs apart.
And in a large vat in the corner, heaped full of dark reddish, foul-smelling chunks of flesh.
Jiang Nan walked calmly up to the vat.
Scenes like this, for someone who had spent a past life regularly walking through violent crime scenes—
Who had even encountered more depraved serial murder cases—were barely worth noting.
He reached into the vat and pulled out a strip of flesh.
He examined it carefully.
‘Stripped human muscle tissue?’
‘Probably an adult male, somewhere in his twenties. The skin and bone have been removed, the cuts clean—very professional technique.’
Jiang Nan tossed the strip aside and moved to the torture bed nearby.
Spread across it was a complete human skin.
Even worn by the passage of time, it was still clearly recognizable as the skin of a man.
"Urk!"
At the sight of that skin, Liu Yuqing finally lost the battle—she turned and braced against the wall, retching violently.
Yu Shishi and Chen Tong both squeezed their eyes shut, unable to look any longer.
Seeing this, Jiang Nan shook his head.
He pulled out the Notepad, wrote a line, and held it up in front of the 3 of them.
【This is something you have to go through.】
【In this world, dead people are the most common thing there is. Throw up if you need to—but no closing your eyes!】
【Go and call Wang Meng and that survivor down here.】
Ruthless. Cold.
But all 3 of them knew it was for their own good.
If they couldn't get used to this, they'd sooner or later be scared to death.
Yu Shishi forced down her revulsion and ran up to fetch the others.
Before long, Wang Meng and Guo Shuai came down as well.
The 2 men's reactions to the scene weren't much better than the girls'—they immediately threw up on the spot.
Once everyone had mostly finished retching.
Jiang Nan pointed to the human skin on the torture bed, looked at Liu Yuqing, and wrote.
【Appraise it.】
"Huh?" Liu Yuqing's face had gone white. "Appraise... human skin?"
But under Jiang Nan's unwavering gaze, she could only shuffle over trembling, and activate her skill.
However.
The next second, her eyes lit up!
"This... this is a treasure?!"
【Item】: Watcher's Cursed Hide
【Grade】: S-Grade
【Type】: Material
【Info】: The last human skin stripped by the S-Grade Cursed Object, the Watchful Scarecrow, while still alive!
Though it no longer possesses the strength of its original body, it still retains that suffocating aura of dominance and fear.
Liu Yuqing wrote the information down and showed it to Jiang Nan.
Jiang Nan gave a satisfied nod.
'I was just worried that the bonfire had burned the big one to ash with no hide left to use as a vehicle wrap.'
'Well, this works out. A ready-made S-Grade material.'
'Hand it to Wang Meng later—slapping it on as a coating should be no problem.'
After that, Jiang Nan moved to a decrepit table at the far end of the cellar.
On it sat a dust-coated leather diary, and a jar covered with a black cloth.
Jiang Nan picked up the diary and opened it.
It was written entirely in archaic English, the handwriting starting out neat and gradually devolving into frantic, erratic scrawl.
In his past life as a top student, a minor reading challenge like this was no obstacle.
【Anno Domini 1156, The Diary of Fit Albert】
Day 1: My name is Fit. I am an apprentice wizard.
Just a short while ago, our village—along with the entire stretch of land—was suddenly transported to this godforsaken place.
A voice from the sky told us to survive.
Tonight, those crows came...
Oh, my God. The Church's knights were like paper dolls before them!
A village of 500—half of them dead.
Day 2: That voice gave us fruit.
I awakened Grade A 【Elemental Resonance】!
I am the chosen one!
I used my magic to rescue the villagers and knights who were about to be eaten.
Day 3: The voice from the sky came again.
It said that as long as individuals kill monsters each day, they can receive rewards based on the leaderboard!
I ranked 5th—heh heh!
And I've been elected as the new chieftain, guardian of the village.
I am extremely happy—this is the first time in my life I've led others, so I've begun dedicating myself fully to studying magic.
......
Day 10: The village has been rebuilt. Wheat has been successfully planted.
The voice recognized our village as a Shelter!
Because of that, we receive a certain amount of supplies every day—this is wonderful!
Everyone likes me. They call me Fit the God!
Everything is getting better, and I've begun to think of myself as divine.
Day 20: The village is thriving.
My childhood sweetheart Cecilia, who used to look down on me, is now showing interest in me—but I turned her down.
That gold-digging woman. She used to despise me for being poor, and now that she sees I have power, she comes crawling over? Disgusting.
Day 27: As I expected—after being rejected by me, Cecilia immediately started cozying up to my subordinate, Tug.
The 2 of them even got married right under my nose!
Day 28: I'm furious. I didn't sleep all night!
Not because I still have feelings for that woman, but because Tug knew full well that was my shame!
What's more infuriating is that at the wedding, they actually told the story of me wetting my pants as a child—as a joke to entertain the guests!
Unforgivable!
Day 38: I endured for 10 days. I've made up my mind.
I'm going to kill them.
Even if they were my childhood playmates!
But the price of humiliating a god is only death.
Day 51: I made my move.
While the 2 of them were on night watch in the Wheat Field, engaging in improper conduct, I used my magic to strangle the pair of them.
To avoid exposure, I hid the bodies in the cellar.
Day 52: The villagers panicked, thinking a monster had crept in.
I stepped forward and lied, saying the 2 had eloped.
No one suspected me—because I'm the strongest person here.
Killing people... it turns out all it takes is a nod.
Day 60: A trial has come!
The voice said that passing the trial allows you to return to Blue Star!
My heart stirred—but I failed... just one move short!
Damn it! Why is there a penalty for failure?!
Hordes of monsters attacked the settlement. Many people died.
The villagers began to blame me!
These foolish mortals—the heavens are deliberately driving a wedge between us!
Day 61: In the early hours of the morning I caught the stench and remembered there were still bodies hidden in the cellar.
I went to the cellar to deal with the bodies—only to find that the pair of them had become Wandering Corpses!
I burned them to death with fire, but that drew the villagers.
They discovered my secret and started hitting me with Moral Coercion.
I was absolutely furious! Since when does a god have to be judged by mortals?!
I killed off every last dissenter!
Not a single one left! The village now has only 50 obedient elderly, sick, and weak people remaining.
......
Day 70: The voice appeared again! It declared that the 2nd trial is about to begin!
This time, it gave 10 days of preparation time.
My heart stirred—I might even say I was overjoyed!
The reason I failed last time was purely due to insufficient preparation—those damned rules caught me off guard.
This time, I will prepare thoroughly!
What happened with the pair turning into Wandering Corpses gave me a tremendous insight.
Corpses can undergo mutation under certain conditions.
So... what if I artificially intervened in that process?
For the sake of returning to Blue Star!
I must find a way out.
And so, I began to stop at nothing.
Under the cover of night, I dug up the bodies buried outside the village.
Those villagers I had killed—every last one of them.
The experiments began.
Day 73: Just as I theorized.
When those bodies came into contact with a special magic array and the air, they did indeed rapidly transform into Wandering Corpses.
But... the fusion experiments failed.
I tried planting an iron sword into their arms, tried embedding stone into their skin.
The result was that they simply rotted into a pile of meat paste—they couldn't even hold together as Wandering Corpses.
Why? Is it because the bodies have already lost their vitality and cannot bear the rejection of foreign objects?
Could it be... that implantation can only succeed while the person is still alive?
No... that's too cruel.
I may have killed people, but I'm not a demon. I can't do that.
Day 75: The day of the trial draws closer and closer.
My mind is on the verge of collapse.
Last night I had a nightmare—the opponent in the trial was overwhelmingly powerful.
With only my current elemental magic, I have no way to break through its defences.
I'm going to lose... I'm going to die here... No!
I cannot lose!
For the greater good, for the sake of returning home with this glory...
What does sacrificing a few people amount to?
I need new power... the power of the living.
Day 76: I've decided.
For the greater good, sacrifice is necessary.
Under cover of night I kidnapped an old man who used to scare me as a child, telling me he'd turn me into a Scarecrow.
Very well—I'll grant him that wish!
In his screaming, I made him into a Scarecrow!
I succeeded!
In just 3 hours, he transformed into a powerful monster!
It has no vision—only hearing!
It even nearly killed me!
At this point, inspiration surged within me!
I found myself wondering: if I fused individual limbs with objects, could they become weapons?
And so, new experiments began...
Day 79: The experiments succeeded!
Living people can be transformed into more powerful instruments!
I began turning the remaining villagers one by one into materials... legs, scythes, lanterns...
Day 80 (Morning): One hour remains until the trial.
I have succeeded!
Using the last several dozen lives in the village, I refined an artificial eye comparable to a Grade A ability—【Eye of Calamity】!
It can see through an enemy's weaknesses and HP bar!
The price was my own left eye.
But I don't care! I will definitely win!
Day 80 (Afternoon): Liar! Liar! Damn it!
Why?!
Why wait until after the trial was cleared to tell me—returning to Blue Star only allows you to stay for 1 day?!
What use is 1 day to me?!
I've killed everyone!
I've turned myself into a half-human, half-monster!
Just to go back for a single glance?!
I hate this world! I hate that voice!
If I can't go back, then I'll make every person who comes here become part of my collection!
I will turn myself into the most terrifying monster of all!
……
The diary ended abruptly there. The last few pages were nothing but frantic scrawling and bloody handprints.
Jiang Nan closed the diary and let out a quiet sigh.
So this was the origin of the boss, the "Scarecrow."
A pitiful wretch driven mad by power and obsession.
'The Eye of Calamity, hm...'
Jiang Nan didn't find anything resembling the so-called artificial eye near the diary.
His gaze fell on the jar sitting on the table, covered by the black cloth.
He reached out and pulled the black cloth off in one motion....