I Really Am a Good Person

In that situation just now, this was the only method Wen Yiqian could think of.

Although his acting was a bit clumsy, his fear of death overpowered his shame, so he didn’t care about that.

After all, the other person was just a character he had created. Figuring out their psychology wasn’t too difficult.

Having written so many similar scenes before, he could pull it off with surprising ease. It even felt authentic.

If this were writing a novel, Wen Yiqian would have had more time to think, plan, and revise, so he could have handled it better and more perfectly.

But in that life-or-death situation just now, being able to come up with this method was already a burst of potential.

Wen Yiqian looked at his bloodied right hand with a pained expression.

Truly, pride makes fools of us all.

If he had to grab a knife bare-handed again, he definitely wouldn’t have the courage.

Because it really hurt.

Calling the police was undoubtedly the best choice now.

Although Wen Yiqian was covered in blood and holding a knife, making him look more like a deranged serial killer than the woman tied up on the floor with her eyes covered.

…

Ditan City [1] Police Station, Interrogation Room.

“Why is it you again?”

“Maybe I’m just unlucky.”

Wen Yiqian scratched his head as he looked at the two police officers, one male and one female, in front of him.

It was his first time in a police station, and being stared at by two officers was pretty unnerving.

The male officer looked to be in his forties, with a dark complexion, sharp features, and rough skin that resembled the surface of the moon.

The female officer appeared to be in her twenties, with delicate features and fair skin. Even without makeup, she was stunningly beautiful, with the fresh, warm quality of a first love.

With such distinctive characteristics, Wen Yiqian could easily guess their identities.

The man was most likely Li Weiguo, captain of the Ditan City Criminal Police Team.

The woman was his assistant, An Zhi, a supporting female character in the book.

In the earlier plot of the book, the male protagonist had been framed as a murderer and sent to jail after a high-stakes game with a high-intelligence psychopath.

Although the male protagonist later cleared his name through his own methods, he left a deep impression on these two.

“So, what did you do this time?”

“Um… well… actually, I’m the victim.”

“Right, you were the one who called the police. When we arrived at the scene, the murderer you mentioned was tied up, blindfolded, lying face down on the floor, and even had her backside sticking up…”

“No, Officer, let me explain!”

…

In this incident, Wen Yiqian was indeed the victim.

Although explaining it was a bit complicated, the police weren’t stupid. After some investigation and evidence collection, they finally figured out the truth.

By the time the statement was taken and his name was cleared, it was already evening.

An Zhi escorted Wen Yiqian out of the police station.

“To be honest, I think it’s pretty impressive that you could come up with that method to deal with that psychopath in that situation,” An Zhi said with a smile, glancing at Wen Yiqian. “But if you weren’t so handsome, that method might not have worked.”

“Um… yeah.”

Wen Yiqian was a socially awkward shut-in in real life and had never actually spoken to such a pretty girl before. For a moment, he felt nervous and didn’t know what to say.

“Um…” An Zhi pursed her lips. “How about… we exchange WeChat?”

Wen Yiqian was about to nod when he suddenly remembered something.

Earlier that day, when he had called the police, he had borrowed his neighbor’s phone.

When writing a novel, no matter how detailed the author is, they generally wouldn’t bother describing trivial things like the protagonist’s phone passcode.

Take Wen Yiqian, for example. At most, he would write something like “xx unlocked the phone screen” without specifying the actual passcode, as doing so would serve no purpose other than padding the word count.

But now, he deeply regretted it.

The male lead in the book was cautious by nature and indeed had a passcode on his phone, but even Wen Yiqian, the author, didn’t know what it was because he had been too lazy to come up with one while writing.

Similarly, due to laziness and a lack of attention to such details, the male lead’s phone didn’t even have fingerprint unlock.

Now, Wen Yiqian was in trouble. He couldn’t even unlock the phone, let alone add anyone on WeChat.

Thinking of this, he could only shake his head and say, “Forget it.”

“So aloof,” An Zhi couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.

Hearing this, Wen Yiqian’s brow twitched. Although he really wanted to explain, he felt it would be strange to do so.

Asking her to write down a phone number felt too embarrassing.

As both the author and the male lead, he still had a bit of an idol complex.

“I’ll just walk you this far, okay?” An Zhi stopped, took out her phone to check the time, and pointed in a direction. “The bus stop is over there. If you want the subway, you can go that way. At this time, both should still be running.”

She’s way too nice, and so pretty too.

Wen Yiqian sighed silently to himself. Unable to resist, he glanced at her, only to find her looking back at him. He quickly averted his gaze and hurried away with his head down.

If he had to evaluate his own performance just now, it would probably be something like: socially inept loner, all talk online, ridiculously awkward, and pathetic.

“Was it really necessary to reject me like that?” An Zhi watched Wen Yiqian’s hurriedly retreating figure, then looked down at herself and pouted in frustration.

…

“Just a supporting female character.”

“Nothing more than a plot device.”

“I’m not interested anyway.”

Fully committed to convincing himself he hadn’t just been rejected, Wen Yiqian kept muttering to himself as he hurried to the bus stop.

What’s the most important thing when writing a dark-themed novel?

Of course, it’s not having a female lead.

After writing novels for so many years, Wen Yiqian had not only never written a proper female lead, but even ordinary female characters in his stories rarely met a good end.

He was notorious for “killing off little sisters to prove his path,” to the point where his readers suspected he had some kind of grudge against women.

A supporting character like An Zhi was nothing more than a tool in the book: there to advance the plot, get brutally murdered by a psychopath to stir up hatred, and then her role would be complete.

But now, after seeing An Zhi in person, Wen Yiqian’s feelings were somewhat complicated.

She was so beautiful, so cute, so real: completely different from the two hollow Chinese characters on the screen when he was writing the novel.

If one day she were to be brutally murdered by some psychopath, he felt he wouldn’t be able to accept it.

In fact, he wouldn’t be able to accept anyone being brutally murdered.

Despite writing dark-themed novels, Wen Yiqian had extremely upright values in real life. He was genuinely kind-hearted, an absolute pushover.

He was someone who loved darkness on paper but couldn’t stomach it in real life.

Shaking his head, Wen Yiqian pushed the chaotic thoughts out of his mind.

He patted his pocket, finding only a phone.

In this day and age, with mobile payments so widespread, who still carries cash when going out?

Should I go back now and borrow some money for the bus?

Wen Yiqian thought for a moment, then shook his head decisively: he really couldn’t bring himself to lose face like that.

Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair and looked around with a pained expression.

Speaking of which… where exactly is the place I live?

Even though I’m the author of this book and now the protagonist, could things get any worse?

Boom!

A flash of light tore through the night sky, followed by a sudden clap of thunder that startled Wen Yiqian.

It’s raining?

He reached out his hand, and a raindrop landed in his palm.

Wen Yiqian’s favorite weather was rainy days.

Every time it rained, it created a very comfortable atmosphere.

He had written many rainy scenes in his book, and every single one of them inevitably featured a serial killer.

Since I’m right next to the police station, it should be fine, right?

To reassure himself, Wen Yiqian turned his head to glance at the nearby police station.

Only then did he realize that from his current angle, he could no longer see that reassuring building.

(End of Chapter)

[1] Ditan City (弟谭市): The name may be a deliberate play on 哥谭市 (Gotham City), reflecting the novel’s dark, crime-ridden setting.