DSMC Chapter 199

The monsters that appeared in an instance were the very essence of that instance.

The notification in his master-pet panel had remained unchanged since before he entered this instance. This showed that as long as he and Qi Feng were in the same instance, the system wouldn’t report each other’s situation to them.

That aside, he still hadn’t seen the monster in this instance. What exactly was it like?

The entire building continued to rumble with loud thuds, and it was still shaking.

Chu Mo said, “Are there even more of them this time than before?”

Wen Ye replied, “Their numbers and sizes might be different from the first time.”

Qi Yunchu said, “They’re getting closer and closer to us.”

Xu Xian said, “But it’s strange that it has never attacked us.”

Su Qiuming said, “How do you know it hasn’t attacked us? Aren’t the copies its handiwork?”

Xu Xian probably wasn’t as quick-witted as the others, so he chose to remain silent.

Yan Jiyun was even quieter. It wasn’t just that monsters had appeared in addition to the copies. Rather, the copies themselves had come into existence because of this unknown monster.

He made a guess. Could this instance be about finding a Christmas present for the monster?

However, they still hadn’t seen the monster, and without knowing the details, there was no point in speculating.

Qi Feng and the others headed toward Buildings A and B. The first floors of the two buildings were connected, and through the mall’s floor-to-ceiling windows, they could see something moving outside.

He wondered where they were going to confront this monster.

No wonder they had been so meticulous when distributing the equipment. It turned out that the enemies they had to deal with weren’t just copies, but an even more powerful monster.

The group reached the entrance of Building A’s first floor as quickly as they could. The scene here was even more gruesome, like a mountain of blood and corpses. Bodies were piled all over the ground, though they weren’t human. They belonged to one bizarrely deformed monster after another. Looking closely, one could still make out traces of animal features in them.

The notification panel had said that Qi Feng was dealing with a Mutated Santa Claus. Yet, looking at the corpses around him, Yan Jiyun saw nothing but grotesque monsters. None of them resembled humans.

The corpses in this instance didn’t disappear, so Qi Feng’s previous battles should have left traces too. Yet Yan Jiyun couldn’t see anything now. Perhaps the evidence simply wasn’t here.

Anyone would go crazy after spending several days in these buildings.

Moreover, in the few hours since entering, he hadn’t seen any players or copies leave the mall. So, compared with the terrifying copies, the monsters outside were actually even more frightening.

Xu Xian said, “The weapons we have now should be more than enough to deal with that monster, right?”

These players who had been dragged into the game hadn’t brought any items with them. All the equipment they were using had been scavenged from the mall. Most of them normally carried weapons on their person, so they could use whatever they had brought in. If they hadn’t brought anything, then they had nothing to use.

Qi Feng was the first to walk out of the mall.

Yan Jiyun’s expression grew tense. They were about to face the monster directly, and he was extremely nervous. The last time he had encountered a monster in an instance was during the Peak Tournament. That monster had genuinely eaten players.

The others also filed out through the mall’s entrance and stood beside Qi Feng.

Now, the rumbling sounds were much more distinct to Yan Jiyun.

Outside the mall, everything was pitch-black. The thudding sounds soon turned into whispers, as though something were chanting in an ancient language.

The darkness outside wasn’t an obstacle for Yan Jiyun. He could see a pair of enormous eyes hidden in it.

They were deep blue. Judging by their proportions, they looked like an enlarged pair of human eyes, though he couldn’t see their full shape.

But one thing was certain now: everyone inside the mall was being watched by a pair of enormous eyes.

Where were those earthquake-like thuds coming from? Was the monster pounding the ground with its hands?

Judging by the proportions of those eyes, if their owner were human, it would have to be a giant.

Was this giant asking them for Christmas presents before Christmas arrived? And what exactly was the Christmas present?

Yan Jiyun remembered that Qi Feng had been hunted by other players because of a key item. How had Qi Feng managed to become so friendly with Su Qiuming and the others just a few days later?

This was a question he had almost overlooked.

He turned to look at Qi Feng. Just then, Qi Feng happened to be looking down. From head to toe, right down to every strand of hair, this Qi Feng was unquestionably his human servant. There was no way he could mistake him for someone else. But what about the hostility between Qi Feng and the other players at the beginning? Why had it disappeared?

No. He should trust Qi Feng, not the system’s vague and ambiguous notifications. He had almost been misled by the game.

Yan Jiyun realized that, apart from the players, there were no copies around them.

Or rather, perhaps they were the only ones who dared to come out at this time. The other players might still be fighting their copies.

Yan Jiyun hadn’t encountered any danger yet, so he could keep observing. If they really needed to fight later, he could always look for an opportunity to turn back into a human.

He didn’t know whether the others could see the enormous pair of eyes hidden in the darkness.

In the instant Yan Jiyun was distracted, the giant eyes disappeared. It seemed like something from beyond this world. Qi Feng and the others probably already had their own guesses about the instance’s final boss.

Yan Jiyun raised his head and looked above them. He felt that there was something up there.

Qi Feng followed his gaze and looked up. The sky was pitch-black, and he couldn’t see anything either.

Chu Mo asked Qi Feng, “Your cat was staring up there just now. Is there something there?”

Qi Feng felt immensely proud that someone trusted his cat. “We could go over and take a look. That sound keeps appearing, but we still haven’t seen the monster.”

Su Qiuming spoke up to stop them. “Wait. Someone already looked over there before, and they didn’t find anything. Besides, it’s pitch-black. You can’t see a thing.”

Qi Yunchu asked, “Don’t you want to know what that thing is?”

Qi Feng said, “Qi Yunchu is right. We have to exchange our lives for the Christmas present before handing it over to this unknown monster. No one would be willing to accept that.”

Wen Ye added, “I’m not willing either. And even after we give the monster its Christmas present, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to leave. No one can promise us that.”

Yan Jiyun didn’t think there was any need to agonize over it. They just needed someone to scout ahead, and he was perfectly suited for the job.

He struggled out of Qi Feng’s arms, dropped to the ground, and ran back into the mall, meowing several times.

Qi Yunchu and the others were still cautiously moving forward. They all assumed that, unlike humans, the cat couldn’t sit still and simply wanted to run off and play.

Before long, Xiao Huang and Xiao Lv appeared with No. 7, 8, 9, and 10. 

Chu Mo remarked, “Could Caramel want to go outside and play, but be too scared to go alone, so it decided to call its friends over?”

A fancy way of saying it wanted some company to work up its courage.

Qi Feng understood his cat better than anyone. “It’s not calling its friends over. Those are all its underlings.”

Yan Jiyun wanted to roll his eyes as he listened to their conversation. ‘Underlings? They were nothing more than tool cats provided by the instance.’

Apart from Yan Jiyun, the other cats had already rushed out of the mall.

While he had been thinking just now, he had realized that he didn’t actually need to control the copy cats. Instead, he could use some kind of power to transfer his consciousness into the other cats and see through their eyes. This should be easier than controlling another copy of himself.

Yan Jiyun obediently stayed beside Qi Feng and curled back up in his arms.

Normally, his cat would have been curious enough to run outside. But this time, it hadn’t gone out at all.

Qi Feng glanced at his cat and patted its head without saying anything.

Yan Jiyun lay in Qi Feng’s arms, while his consciousness had already shifted into No. Nine. Xiao Huang and Xiao Lv had a fearless spirit of adventure, and they kept charging ahead.

He saw other creatures in the darkness. They made no sound, but three hundred meters away from the mall, countless pairs of glowing green eyes were staring in its direction. There were so many of them that the sight made his scalp tingle.

Yan Jiyun’s entire body broke out in goosebumps. He saw everything.

At that moment, his fur stood on end. Qi Feng happened to look down and witnessed the entire process of his cat’s fur standing up.

Humans couldn’t sense danger as well as small animals. Qi Feng immediately told the others, who had been eager to move forward, “Fall back. There’s danger ahead.”

Xiao Huang and Xiao Lv stopped moving forward too. All of them lowered their bodies and slowly began retreating.

The glowing green eyes were moving closer.

The little cats could sense that the creatures were far larger than they were. Without another thought, they immediately ran toward the mall.

Through No. 9’s nose, Yan Jiyun caught a peculiar smell coming from the green-eyed monsters. They were running toward the mall!

The little cats dashed inside just as Qi Feng retreated into the mall. All of them managed to squeeze through before the doors were shut!

The moment the mall’s doors closed, a monster nearly a meter tall pressed itself against the glass door.

Yan Jiyun’s consciousness had just returned to his own body when he came face-to-face with the monster’s glowing green eyes. Fortunately, he was still in Qi Feng’s arms, so he didn’t fall.

What were these things? They looked a little like reindeer that had been drained of all their flesh and blood.

After the Mutated Santa Claus, had Mutated Reindeer arrived too?

How terrifying!

He had to inform the players who were still online about the method of controlling copies. Otherwise, they would never be able to defeat these things.

With this method, they wouldn’t need to fight the copies anymore. Instead, they could use the copies to deal with these monsters that had appeared from who knew where.

Yan Jiyun jumped out of Qi Feng’s arms again and immediately ran off in a direction where Qi Feng wouldn’t easily spot him.

Qi Feng once again watched his cat disappear in the blink of an eye. Had it really been frightened this badly?

Not only had Caramel disappeared, but the other little cats had followed it too. The group of black cats that had appeared just moments ago seemed almost like an illusion.

Yan Jiyun found an unoccupied corner and used a trial card. Xiao Huang, Xiao Lv, and the other cats followed him over.

He rubbed his nose. “Isn’t following me around like this a bad idea? You’re going to expose me.”

The newly spawned copy cats had never seen him before, after all.

Yan Jiyun listened carefully. Qi Feng and the others hadn’t come this way. He turned to the cats and said, “Whatever happens, don’t follow me later. You have to treat me like a stranger, understand? Let’s pretend we don’t know each other.”

Yan Jiyun prepared to head out, but all six cats insisted on following him.

With no other choice, he crouched in front of them, stretched out both arms, and pushed them back a little. Putting on the stern expression of their boss, he said, “You can’t follow me. Keep a little distance from me, all right? Understand?”

The six cats looked up at him and answered in unison, “Meow~ Aow.”

‘You’re meowing way too loudly!’