DSMC Chapter 145.1

Uh… sorry for the sudden hiatus. Mae was being fucked over by IRL stuff……………. anyways, as a compensation, I’ll upload until the end of this arc (chapter 148). See you next week <3

After cautiously leaving the apartment building, Yan Jiyun jumped out of Qi Feng’s arms. This time, he decided to lead Qi Feng back to the classroom building, and Qi Feng simply followed along.

Although he didn’t know whether the system had done something to his cat, it seemed to know exactly what it was supposed to do. He stopped overthinking it.

They both had systems, or perhaps the game had given Caramel a special game guidance system designed specifically for cats?

Different species couldn’t be judged by normal logic. For once, Qi Feng was genuinely stumped.

It was currently break time between classes. As soon as they reached an area crowded with people, Yan Jiyun burrowed into Qi Feng’s arms.

Qi Feng knew their destination was the classroom building, so he carried him upstairs. As they passed other classes, he spotted Lan Mo, Qiu Xi, and Gu Wenzhu. The three were standing in the corridor, pretending to chat with NPCs while actually fishing for information.

With so many people around, Yan Jiyun had no idea how to get Qi Feng to question Han Ruibai. He knew Han Ruibai while in human form. As a cat, communicating with him was extremely inconvenient. 

Qi Feng wasn’t assigned to an ordinary college-prep class. He had entered the elite honors class. For the time being, he didn’t know why Caramel wanted to return to the classroom building. This was the first time he and Caramel had entered the same instance together. He still didn’t fully understand how the cat functioned within the instance. Rather than keeping him locked inside the backpack, he wanted to learn more — whether Caramel was completing missions like him or simply following the game’s storyline.

Qi Feng returned to his classroom. He was playing the role of an honors student. Once seated, the teacher would practically keep him under constant surveillance.

At this point, Yan Jiyun had nothing left to complain about. Veteran players clearly faced even greater difficulties than he did. For now, he stayed inside Qi Feng’s backpack because he had spotted Han Ruibai’s stepbrother, Xue Ping, who happened to be Qi Feng’s desk mate.

Yan Jiyun had never encountered Xue Ping in Instance B. Did that NPC not exist over there, or had Yan Jiyun simply not spent enough time there to meet him? Or perhaps Xue Ping was a roaming NPC rather than a major character, meaning he didn’t appear in Instance B at all?

Qi Feng looked down at Caramel inside the backpack and noticed those emerald-green eyes staring fixedly at his NPC desk mate, Xue Ping.

At the moment, Xue Ping was resting his chin on one hand while working through problems on a sheet of scratch paper.

Noticing Qi Feng’s gaze, Xue Ping looked up.

Shortly after entering the game, Qi Feng had played basketball with Xue Ping, allowing this NPC to become acquainted with him. They were now classmates who could chat casually.

Xue Ping suddenly lowered his voice. “Qi Feng, can I ask you something?”

Qi Feng nodded. “Go ahead.”

Xue Ping glanced around carefully. After confirming no one was paying attention, he finally spoke. “It’s like this. I have a friend who’s been acting a little strange lately.”

Qi Feng understood immediately.

Yan Jiyun understood too.

Whenever someone started with “I have a friend”, it was almost certainly their own story.

‘Friend, please hurry up and tell us your story so we can enjoy it!’

Yan Jiyun poked his head out of the backpack and leaned against Qi Feng’s leg. Qi Feng scratched beneath his chin. The cat now wore the expression of someone listening to juicy gossip with utmost seriousness.

They sat in the back row due to their height. The honors class was exceptionally quiet. Xue Ping lowered his voice further. “My friend’s family situation is kind of complicated. His parents divorced a long time ago, and he stayed with his dad. His family is pretty wealthy. His father has a bit of money, and there have always been women around him, but he never brought any of them home to meet my friend. Then one day, my— uh…. my friend’s dad brought home a very beautiful woman. She was pregnant with his child. And she also had a son from her previous marriage.”

Qi Feng immediately grasped where this was going. “So you’re talking about your— I mean, your friend and his stepmother’s son?”

Xue Ping coughed awkwardly. “Yes. Keep your voice down. My friend is a low-profile person and doesn’t want others knowing.”

Yan Jiyun: “…”

Hadn’t everyone already known about his relationship with Han Ruibai?

Liu Yu and the others who drugged Han Ruibai and dumped him in the music building had known about it long ago.

Still, judging from other details, Xue Ping’s family was clearly very wealthy, whereas Han Ruibai and his mother were probably in a less favorable situation.

From Yan Jiyun’s observations, Han Ruibai never seemed insecure. In fact, he appeared eager to improve his relationship with Xue Ping. Xue Ping, meanwhile, acted awkward and distant. Yet whenever something happened to Han Ruibai, Xue Ping was always the first to rush out and defend him. That meant the brothers’ relationship wasn’t actually bad.

So why was Xue Ping suddenly consulting Qi Feng?

Qi Feng rarely spent his patience listening to other people’s gossip. Right now, he only hoped Xue Ping would stop dragging things out and get to the point.

“So what exactly are you asking? How to improve your relationship with him?”

The tips of Xue Ping’s ears quietly turned red. He hesitated before answering, “It’s just… my friend said some unpleasant things before. Now he doesn’t know how to make it up to him.”

Yan Jiyun thought, ‘You’re just trying to make amends. Why are your ears red enough to boil tea? Yesterday you were still giving Han Ruibai the cold shoulder.’

Wait a second. This friend was obviously Xue Ping himself.

But Han Ruibai was a guy.

Wasn’t reconciliation between guys pretty simple? Maybe Xue Ping really was asking on behalf of a friend?

Yet—

Before Yan Jiyun could fully convince himself that Xue Ping couldn’t possibly have those kinds of feelings toward Han Ruibai¹T/L: Yan Jiyun you are in a danmei novel pls, Qi Feng calmly replied, “Just apologize. Guys aren’t usually that vindictive. People our age can be impulsive. And your friend’s family situation is complicated, so he should think carefully about the consequences. But regardless, even if you’re not brothers, you can still reconcile. The other person probably won’t blame you.”

Hearing such straightforward analysis seemed to calm Xue Ping considerably. “Really? He won’t hold it against my friend for saying those awful things?” 

Qi Feng continued reassuring him. “As long as the apology is sincere, it’ll be fine.”

Xue Ping stubbornly insisted, “It’s my friend. Not me.”

This was the first time Yan Jiyun had encountered such awkward sibling dynamics in the game. Honestly, he was a little shaken.

He kneaded the backpack lining with his paws. Who would’ve thought Xue Ping actually had feelings for Han Ruibai?

Qi Feng asked, “Fine. Then how does the other person feel about your friend?”

Yan Jiyun was surprised by the question. ‘Wasn’t the victim of the apology the passive party here?’

Thinking back to Han Ruibai’s attitude yesterday afternoon, their relationship really was awkward. If they just talked things through, family life would probably become much more harmonious.

Xue Ping hesitated. “I think…? I’m not sure. I mean, my friend isn’t sure.”

Qi Feng didn’t expose his final shred of stubborn pride, he merely gave him a look.

Faced with that knowing gaze, Xue Ping finally broke. “Fine. It’s me. I honestly don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore. I’ve tried avoiding him, but it doesn’t work. No matter what, I always end up worrying about him. Yesterday somebody bullied him, and I got really angry.”

Yan Jiyun immediately thought, ‘Xue Ping is a good big brother!’

Qi Feng asked, “Need help? Which class is your friend in?”

Xue Ping instantly straightened up. “Of course! We already agreed to beat those guys up after school today. A bunch of trash. I haven’t even bullied him myself, and they actually dared bully my person!”

Yan Jiyun: …

Wasn’t he agonizing over his feelings a moment ago? How had he already firmly reestablished Han Ruibai as his little brother?

Youth really was something else. They worried less, and honestly, that wasn’t such a bad thing. At that age, youthful romance was one of the best things possible.

Yan Jiyun had unexpectedly run into Han Ruibai, while Qi Feng just happened to share a desk with Xue Ping. Could this relationship be another storyline within the instance? Han Ruibai’s name was also on the roster. Was he connected to the “Mermaid” music score incident?

Whether he was connected or not, he might very well be the next victim.

Crap. Han Ruibai could also be one of the murderer’s targets.

Just as Yan Jiyun was pondering whether Han Ruibai had caught the mysterious culprit’s attention, he heard someone calling Han Ruibai’s name. A student informed him that Teacher Qu wanted him to come to the music building to discuss competition-related matters.

But Teacher Qu had only just returned to the teachers’ apartments. At this time, he definitely wasn’t in the music building. 

Someone was using Teacher Qu’s name to lure Han Ruibai away. Clearly, this had been planned in advance.

In broad daylight, what was this person planning to do to Han Ruibai?

Yan Jiyun realized he’d nearly been misled by all the romantic tension. If someone was deceiving Han Ruibai into going somewhere, it was obviously for malicious purposes.

Han Ruibai absolutely must not go.

Yan Jiyun deliberately scratched at the backpack, creating a loud scraping noise.

Based on their interactions in the real world, whenever he scratched at a bag, Qi Feng knew he didn’t want to stay inside. If Qi Feng didn’t let him out, he would eventually figure out how to unzip the bag himself, or even open cabinet doors.

Qi Feng knew Caramel hated confined spaces.

There was still a little time before the teacher arrived, so Qi Feng grabbed the backpack and left the classroom.

Yan Jiyun immediately thought, ‘My pooper scooper is so sensible!’

Xue Ping followed him out. “What are you doing? Aren’t you attending class?”

Qi Feng casually made up an excuse. “I didn’t eat enough at lunch. My blood sugar’s dropping. I’m going to buy some biscuits.”

Xue Ping gritted his teeth. “I’m coming too. I can’t focus in class right now anyway.”

Before Qi Feng could refuse, Xue Ping had already grabbed his phone and followed him out.

Their unusual behavior attracted the attention of the other students. The class bell had already rung and the teacher would arrive any second. Were they seriously planning to skip class?

Their homeroom teacher was terrifying, and they still dared to ditch?

Qi Feng and Xue Ping successfully skipped class.

Yan Jiyun hadn’t expected that by dragging Qi Feng away, he’d end up bringing Xue Ping along too. NPCs really did have a lot of autonomy.

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  T/L: Yan Jiyun you are in a danmei novel pls