DSMC Chapter 171.2

He followed Director Jiang from Mirror Lake back to the music building. However, Director Jiang seemed rather unfamiliar with everything here, making it clear that he really was a personality who had only just been released.

Yan Jiyun felt that the entire campus was unusually quiet. Where had Qi Feng, Gu Wenzhu, and the others gone? He couldn’t even hear the ever-chatty He Yuanle.

What was going on?

Could it have something to do with Director Jiang saying that he wanted to resolve this world?

After changing into a new outfit, Director Jiang tidied himself up until he looked neat and clean. He even combed his hair back.

He muttered to himself, “This is what I really look like. I’ll keep looking like this from now on, too. Little cat, don’t you think I’m handsome?”

This personality of Teacher Qu was incredibly narcissistic.

Yan Jiyun became even more certain that he wasn’t the main personality. He was a little too greasy!

Since he wasn’t the main personality, Yan Jiyun had to continue searching for the main personality among the other members of the film crew.

The greasy Director Jiang finally made his move.

Yan Jiyun quietly hid himself in the shadows once again. Director Jiang didn’t seem to care where he had gone and simply went about his own business.

He still hadn’t seen any sign of Qi Feng or the others moving around nearby. Were they all resting?

That was highly likely. They had completed two missions that morning and hadn’t gotten any proper rest before that. They really should take a good break.

There was plenty of food and drink available with the film crew, so nobody should be going hungry. In that case, he wouldn’t have to steal meat to feed his cat owner.

The sun soon sank below the horizon.

So far, there hadn’t been any sudden rain or thunder in this instance. That meant Teacher Qu probably hadn’t encountered anything particularly sad or painful. In other words, the players’ discovery of the mystery behind Su Xiran’s death hadn’t touched the core of the matter? Was her death only connected to the film crew?

That didn’t make sense.

Su Xiran had also once been a student at this high school. What about the second female lead’s information?

Yan Jiyun remembered that the second female lead was a pure and beautiful girl with a sweet smile and two particularly adorable little canine teeth. She had been a student at this high school too, right? Otherwise, how would she know where the archives room was?

Where was the second female lead now?

Yan Jiyun realized that he had been so focused on the male NPCs that he knew very little about the female NPCs. He would have to turn back into human form and return to the team to ask Qi Feng and the others for some information.

But first, he would see what big move Director Jiang was planning.

Director Jiang had switched personalities now. What would he do?

Director Jiang didn’t leave the music building. Instead, he headed toward their Group B filming area.

Group B was filming the supporting characters’ scenes. The fourth male lead, Si Hao, for example, had set up a tent here to rest.

When greasy Director Jiang appeared, Si Hao was once again complaining to his assistant about how many mosquitoes there were here. Two of them had bitten him right on the face.

From the side, Yan Jiyun noticed that his nose looked slightly crooked, which made him want to laugh. Apparently, the plastic surgery wasn’t all that great either. One punch and tens of thousands of yuan worth of nose work had gone down the drain, and he’d have to get it redone. How tragic.

But Yan Jiyun certainly wasn’t going to feel guilty. Who told him to have such a foul mouth and insist on spreading rumors about him and Qi Feng?

Director Jiang walked up to Si Hao. “Si Hao, come with me for a moment. I need to go over a scene with you.”

The moment Si Hao heard that the director was giving him more screen time, he immediately abandoned his assistant and followed Director Jiang to the secluded area behind the teaching building.

Yan Jiyun remembered that behind the teaching building was a laboratory building, with classrooms for the third-year art students on the first floor.

Director Jiang didn’t take Si Hao very far, and Yan Jiyun could still hear their movements clearly. So he ran toward the laboratory building.

The first floor was still the art wing. The classroom he’d entered before looked exactly the same. Even those sculptures were still there. There hadn’t been any changes at all?

That confirmed it. The location really was an upgraded version of the Mingya High School instance. Seeing this art room made him feel much more at ease.

Teacher Qu No. 2 was the real main personality.

But who exactly was Teacher Qu No. 2?

Yan Jiyun ran through all the NPCs he remembered in his head, but none of them seemed to fit.

Had Teacher Qu No. 2 become this low-key in this instance? It was understandable, though. He could only leave if he kept himself well hidden.

Director Jiang was still pretending to discuss the script with Si Hao.

Meanwhile, Yan Jiyun had already climbed through the window into the office of the old art classroom. He found Teacher Qu’s original desk.

The desk had been cleaned spotless. Did Teacher Qu often come here?

Could this be the hiding place of Teacher Qu No. 2? Was there some important clue hidden here?

Previously, he had heard the recording Teacher Qu No. 2 found in the office. What about this place?

Yan Jiyun was just about to rummage through the desk when he heard the clicking sound of leather shoes.

The voices of Director Jiang and Si Hao had already stopped. Only the sound of leather shoes remained, getting closer and closer.

In the [Mermaid] instance, that familiar sound of leather shoes had been one of the signature cues for Teacher Qu No. 1’s appearances. But this time, the footsteps sounded slightly different in weight and rhythm.

It wasn’t as if everyone wearing leather shoes had to be Teacher Qu No. 1.

The person’s footsteps stopped at the office door. He paused briefly, seemingly checking whether anyone had entered through the main entrance.

Yan Jiyun had come through a window that was slightly ajar. At most, he’d left behind two faint cat paw prints. Surely those wouldn’t make it onto the list of suspicious species.

The person didn’t hesitate any longer and pushed the door open.

It was probably evening now. The other NPCs had finished resting and were preparing dinner and their evening work. Nobody would be wandering around aimlessly, and the sky was growing dark. That was probably why this person dared to come over at this time.

Strange.

Wasn’t he afraid of running into Director Jiang?

Anyone who came here had to be connected to one of Teacher Qu’s personalities. Other than Teacher Qu No. 2, who else would have a reason to be aware of this place?

Yan Jiyun decided to crouch beneath the desk and keep watching.

He wanted to know exactly who had come!

He watched a pair of polished leather shoes walk toward the seat where he was crouching, eventually stopping as the man sat down.

The man crossed one leg over the other, blew the dust off the desk, and picked up a student’s drawing from the tabletop to examine it.

Then Yan Jiyun heard him pull a pen from the holder and write a score and comments on the drawing.

It was exactly the same as what Teacher Qu No. 2 had done when Yan Jiyun encountered him at Mingya High School.

This person seemed more like a combination of Teacher Qu No. 1 and Teacher Qu No. 2.

Back in the Mermaid instance, hadn’t Teacher Qu No. 2 and Teacher Qu No. 1 been completely at odds with each other? They had even used him as an excuse to get into a fight.

And the [Innocence] instance had been triggered through Teacher Qu No. 1. Why?

Had Teacher Qu No. 1 initiated the [Innocence] instance in order to eliminate the main personality?

But they hadn’t made the Little Class Monitor disappear. Teacher Qu No. 1’s plan had failed, and as a result, Teacher Qu No. 2 and Teacher Qu No. 1 had merged.

They were originally the same person, so did that mean the current Teacher Qu No. 2 was now closer to a complete version of Teacher Qu?

What had he come here looking for?

Was there some important clue hidden in this office?

Yan Jiyun decided to test his theory.

He poked his head out from beneath the desk and looked up at the man leaning back in the chair.

Yan Jiyun took the initiative to greet him. “Meow?”

The man froze slightly and lowered his head.

Yan Jiyun saw the person clearly. It was the man he’d suspected.

Ci Shen.

Yan Jiyun wasn’t surprised.

Among the important figures in the film crew, Ci Shen had always been one of his suspects. He fit all of Teacher Qu’s characteristics remarkably well.

No wonder he’d gotten into an argument with Director Jiang on the bus.

The main personality and the secondary personality were naturally in conflict with each other. It was perfectly normal for them to disagree.

It was like having a little angel and a little devil inside someone’s mind. Whenever a person was struggling over a decision, the little angel would kindly offer good advice, while the little devil would constantly interrupt and suggest the worst possible option. The two sides would pull against each other, leaving the person unsure which one to listen to.

Judging from the final script Director Jiang had insisted on, Teacher Qu’s consciousness had always been controlled by the secondary personality.

And even worse, the secondary personality had already awakened.

Now he’d found Teacher Qu’s main personality.

But was Teacher Qu awake or still asleep?

After the [Mermaid] and [Innocence] instances ended, Teacher Qu No. 2 and No. 1 had merged, clearly making him stronger. Since he could return here again, that meant he still retained some impression of this place.

Yan Jiyun didn’t know whether he remembered him.

Ci Shen kept staring at him.

He was waiting for an answer.

Hadn’t seeing Yan Jiyun crouching here so obediently triggered some memories? For example, Guoba, or Wuyun?

Either way, they were all names associated with things that were pitch-black.

Ci Shen stared at Yan Jiyun for a long while before finally speaking. “Wuyun Guoba?”

Yan Jiyun: “…” He remembered!

He’d just combined the two names together.

The system detected the intense signal coming from Yan Jiyun’s brainwaves and issued a prompt.

[Would the player like to confirm this as one of Teacher Qu’s personalities?]

Without hesitation, Yan Jiyun answered: Confirm.

[Teacher Qu personalities: 4/?]

[Would the player like to confirm that this personality is Teacher Qu’s main personality?]

When facing Director Jiang, Yan Jiyun had still hesitated somewhat. But when facing Ci Shen, he didn’t hesitate in the slightest. He was absolutely certain.

The way Ci Shen looked at him and the way he treated him were completely different.

Based on his previous gaming experience, the final answer would usually be revealed at the most crucial moment. But Yan Jiyun didn’t need that.

From the moment he’d entered the [Mermaid] instance and the [Mingya High School] instance, he had already found Teacher Qu’s main personality.

The search for Teacher Qu was merely a red herring.

Yan Jiyun answered the system without hesitation: “Confirm. He’s Teacher Qu’s main personality.”

[Congratulations, player! You have successfully found Teacher Qu’s main personality. Please assist Teacher Qu in finding his other personalities and resolve his emotional fixation.]

Although Teacher Qu’s host personality had been found, the knot in his heart had not yet been untangled.

That meant the storyline of [Mingya High School 2.0] wasn’t over yet. 

“Meow.” Yan Jiyun deliberately jumped onto the desk in front of Ci Shen.

Now that he’d found Teacher Qu’s main personality, all he had to do was find every other personality scattered throughout this instance, and they would be able to clear it successfully.

Ci Shen held out a hand in front of Yan Jiyun.

Yan Jiyun placed his paw on it.

Not bad. Teacher Qu was quite good at reading the situation.

The sky darkened quickly, and Yan Jiyun turned around and jumped to the floor.

Next, he needed to take Teacher Qu to find Female Ghost No. 1. Perhaps only Female Ghost No. 1 knew what Teacher Qu’s emotional fixation was.

When he looked Ci Shen directly in the eye, he could see the confusion and bewilderment in his expression.

Ci Shen felt that the cat in front of him was unusually intelligent. “Where do you want to take me?”

Yan Jiyun had no way to explain. After turning back into a cat, he couldn’t speak at all.

He simply turned around and left the office, occasionally looking back to gesture for Ci Shen to follow.

When they reached the bottom of the teaching building, Group B had already begun filming today’s scenes.

The place was extremely lively. At first glance, it looked just like an ordinary film set.

As for Group A, nobody even knew where Director Jiang had run off to, let alone where the main actors were.

Ci Shen asked the assistant director in charge of Group B, “Where’s Director Jiang?”

The assistant director replied, “Upstairs, filming Si Hao’s scenes.”

Director Jiang was even more impatient than they were.

Was he trying to lure Female Ghost No. 1 out, then devour Female Ghost No. 1 and No. 2 at the same time?

Yan Jiyun, the protagonist in all this, was leading the producer of their film crew upstairs.

When he reached the staircase, he realized that he hadn’t gotten much rest over the past few days, and his cold had left him physically exhausted.

So he stopped in front of Ci Shen and simply refused to move.

Ci Shen exchanged a glance with the black cat. Somehow, he understood what the cat meant.

He looked down at his dark-colored suit, sighed, and then expertly scooped the black cat up from the floor and into his arms.

Yan Jiyun had successfully obtained a free ride upstairs.

A mature NPC should know how to serve as a cat taxi~