DSMC Chapter 102.1

“What kind of thing is the ‘Peak Competition’?”

Yan Jiyun remembered that when he had previously asked the system about the game rules, it had mentioned that after the Easy-level instances, there would be various competitions and events from time to time.

And in three days he would be entering an unknown arena. That was too rushed.

He had absolutely no concept of the “Peak Competition.”

Around him were players who had just come out of the instance. They were no longer paying attention to Yan Jiyun pretending to be an NPC inside the instance. Instead, they were all discussing the entry tickets for the Peak Competition. Even the guild players standing at the instance entrance, who had been planning to recruit a few newcomers into their guilds, had chosen to pause their work for the day.

Yan Jiyun heard people around him asking their companions whether they had received entry tickets.

Ding.

Two unread messages appeared in his friends list.

System prompt: [You have two unread friend messages.]

Yan Jiyun opened them. They were messages from Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi.

Gu Wenzhu: [Out of the instance? Could we meet and talk? I have information about the Peak Competition.[

Qiu Xi: [Did you get a Peak Competition entry ticket?]

Yan Jiyun told them the time and place to meet.

He first returned to the house he had rented to open the gift pack.

Every time he finished a Newcomer instance, the rest time given to him had been quite sufficient. He could even meet with his pooper scooper and confirm that the other party was doing well.

But this time he had never expected that the moment he came out he would face such an unknown situation.

Previously he had been busy searching for information about instances and had forgotten that after the Easy-level instances, there would be an event once every month. Moreover, the system had not given him any detailed information about the event.

After returning to his personal space, Yan Jiyun immediately asked the system about the detailed situation of the Peak Competition. The system went around in circles, only reminding him that the Peak Competition could provide good rewards and could improve a player’s combat ability.

Yan Jiyun asked, “Will there be deaths?”

Young man: “Death is not certain. It depends on the rules of the arena you enter. If you are lucky, you might enter an arena where all participants can survive. If your luck is a bit worse, then you might enter an arena where only one person can clear it.”

Yan Jiyun: “Is it a PvP competition?”

Young voice: “Not necessarily. Some are team battles, some are individual battles, and some are PvE battles, meaning you can clear it by defeating NPCs.”

Yan Jiyun: “……”

After all that talk, the system still had not told him what format this Peak Competition would take.

Based on the information he had gathered before entering previous instances, all the information he had bought had ended up being useless. He was starting to feel like giving up and no longer searching for information.

He opened the entry ticket in his prop inventory. It was black, and in the bottom-right corner was the system game’s exclusive symbol: a little raccoon.

He asked the system, “Are everyone’s entry tickets the same?”

Young man : “No. There are seven colors of entry tickets in total. Players with the same color will enter the same match.”

Yan Jiyun: “Then how many people are in each match?”

Young man: “Different gameplay modes have different numbers of players. This question involves instance secrets and cannot be disclosed.”

Yan Jiyun asked a few more detailed questions afterward, but the young man’s replies were all the same: cannot be disclosed.

Three days. There wasn’t much time left for him.

After staying in his personal space for a while, he put on a mask and hat and went out. On the road there were many players dressed the same way as him, so mixing among them did not look strange.

Inside instances, players fought over resources and points, and various conflicts could occur. Dressing like this was also a way for players to protect themselves.

This time after coming out, Yan Jiyun didn’t have time to check the Easy-level instance rankings. All unimportant matters were set aside for now. First he would meet with Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi and ask whether they had any information about the Peak Competition.

Before Yan Jiyun entered the instance, Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi had already advanced to the Easy-level instance. They should now be in the rest period between the Newcomer instance and the Easy instance, and have not yet cleared an Easy-level instance. He had actually moved a step ahead of them.

He arrived at the agreed place at the agreed time.

This time, they had chosen a rather remote and quiet restaurant.

Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi had both already arrived early. Yan Jiyun had thought he was early, but the two of them were even earlier than he expected.

Some time had passed since they last met. Both Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi had changed quite a bit — the former was more cheerful, and the latter more confident.

As soon as Yan Jiyun arrived, he praised them. “You both look pretty good.”

Gu Wenzhu poured him some water and said with a light smile, “You look like you’ve put on a bit of weight since last time.”

Yan Jiyun touched his own face: “…”

Did he get fat?

No, right!

At the zoo, he had been eating normally, six meals a day. That wasn’t much, was it?

Gu Wenzhu continued, “Thanks to your method, I’ve now found a way to deal with my leg problem. I try not to drag my teammates down.”

Qiu Xi pointed to his throat and made a sound that surprised Yan Jiyun: “Me too.”

Yan Jiyun wasn’t too surprised. It was within his expectations. What surprised him was that the two of them had adapted so quickly, and so well.

Gu Wenzhu had said that deliberately for him to hear. He was probably inviting him to form a team.

The three of them worked fairly well together. If Yan Jiyun chose teammates for an instance, he would choose them. But for now, he still couldn’t enter instances with them. He needed to first go through the Peak Competition.

Yan Jiyun knew the two of them could be trusted, but fearing that the walls might have ears, he asked quietly, “Did you get the Peak Competition entry ticket?”

Both of them shook their heads.

Gu Wenzhu immediately understood what he meant. “You got one.”

Yan Jiyun really liked talking with Gu Wenzhu. He understood things instantly, just one sentence and he could guess the other person’s meaning. Talking to him wasn’t tiring.

Some people were simply that comfortable to be around. He used to think he would never meet such a friend, but now he had met Gu Wenzhu.

Yan Jiyun admitted to them frankly, “Yes, I got one. I will enter the Peak Competition in three days.”

After Qiu Xi demonstrated his speaking ability to Yan Jiyun, he stopped using it, because the feature had to be exchanged with points.

The restaurant owner knocked and brought in the dishes they had ordered, and the three immediately stopped their conversation.

All the dishes were served at once. The owner didn’t disturb them and left right away.

Yan Jiyun noticed there was a fish on the table. All the dishes were quite light. Apparently the two had ordered according to his tastes.

Gu Wenzhu said, “Last time I saw you only eating fish, so this time I ordered one for you. I asked around, and found this restaurant cooks fish the best. Before entering the instance, the owner was a chef at a five-star restaurant. Every time he enters an instance, a group of foodies protects him, afraid they won’t be able to eat his cooking again after the next run.”

Yan Jiyun naturally wouldn’t reject his goodwill and said, “Life is nothing more than eating and drinking. No matter how much money you earn, the first thing you satisfy is still your appetite.”

Qiu Xi nodded vigorously beside him.

Too true.

The topic had drifted off, so they returned to the main subject.

While picking up food with his chopsticks, Gu Wenzhu said, “While I was asking around about Easy-level instance information these past few days, I happened to hear some information related to the Peak Competition.”

Yan Jiyun: “What did you hear?”

Gu Wenzhu: “The Peak Competition randomly selects players from Easy-level instance level and above to enter the arena.”

Yan Jiyun paused slightly while eating fish. “You mean players from Easy, intermediate, Hard, and even Top-level arenas might all enter the Peak Competition together?”

Gu Wenzhu nodded. “Top-level arena players don’t participate. With random selection, it prevents guild players from forming groups.”

Yan Jiyun shared what he knew: “Not necessarily. I asked the system. The entry tickets come in seven colors. If guild players get the same color ticket, they could still enter together.”

Gu Wenzhu shook his head. “You can only say there’s a chance. Think about it. Players with the same color ticket might only enter the same gameplay type, not necessarily the same arena. There will definitely be further subdivisions.”

Yan Jiyun: “Makes sense. The system is always treacherous.” 

Qiu Xi wrote in his notebook: [This time will really be hard for you. You’ll have to face many high-level players.]

Yan Jiyun suddenly felt the fish in his mouth had lost its taste. He sighed, “Yeah. I’ll just have to fumble blindly.”

Gu Wenzhu comforted him: “Don’t be so pessimistic. Qiu Xi and I haven’t entered the Easy-level instance yet. We still have three days, so we can help you gather information about the Peak Competition. Maybe there will be a turning point.”

Yan Jiyun also shared what he had learned from his Easy-level instance experience: “Let’s think of it that way for now. You two enter the instance in three days, and I enter the Peak Competition in three days too. By the way, Easy-level instances are harder than Newcomer instances. When you go in, don’t be misled by certain missions. It’s best to observe the NPCs more. Some missions might be traps…”

Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi carefully noted everything down.

This meal was very important to them. Every gathering was rare, and the next time they met, someone might be missing.

He didn’t like this atmosphere of parting, but he had no choice but to face it.

After finishing all the delicious food, the three parted ways before nightfall.

Yan Jiyun had secrets, and Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi tactfully didn’t ask him about them.

The sudden Peak Competition had disrupted his rhythm.

The information Gu Wenzhu brought was very important, but it also made him anxious. He had never expected himself to be so unlucky as to receive an entry ticket.

A newcomer like him entering together with a group of high-level players who might have gone through hundreds of instances… it was no different from delivering himself as food.

The small bit of happiness from just exiting the instance had all turned into gloom.

The apartment he rented was not far from where Qi Feng lived. From the master-pet interface, he could see Qi Feng’s status.

[Current Status: Online.]

The last time Qi Feng came out of an instance was when Yan Jiyun entered his first instance. This time, Qi Feng had gone in five days before Yan Jiyun entered the Easy-level instance. Qi Feng’s instance runs usually lasted around half a month. Only ten days had passed this time before he came out. It was rather quick.

In fact, every time Yan Jiyun went to see Qi Feng, he treated it as if it were the last time he would see him.

The instances Qi Feng entered were all Hard levels or above.

Taking advantage of the falling night and the darkness everywhere, Yan Jiyun turned back into a cat and slipped to the entrance of the private bar that was not open to the public.

Logically speaking, since his shit-shovel officer had already come out of the instance, the little bar should have its lights on tonight. But unexpectedly, it was pitch black. There wasn’t even a single person around. Lan Mo wasn’t there either.

Since receiving the Peak Competition entry ticket, Yan Jiyun’s low mood had only continued to drop further.

Where was everyone?

Could it be that they had gone out to look for him?

He glanced at the Peak Competition countdown.

[Time until the Peak Competition begins: 02 days 20 hours 03 minutes 05 seconds.]

He could still spend more than two days with his master, eat some more of the little fried fish he made. Life would be considered complete. He could die without regrets.

He crouched outside the small bar and waited for Qi Feng, but for some reason the lights in the bar never came on, and no one came out either.

Yan Jiyun found another corner to squat in and continued waiting. He had already slapped several mosquitoes to death, yet Qi Feng still did not appear.

After waiting another half hour, more than a dozen people suddenly rushed over from another corner of the street.

He heard them murmuring about information related to Qi Feng.

A short man about 1.65 meters tall said, “Vice President Fu, our people blocked Qi Feng at the Newcomer instance exit area. This is their foothold!”

The vice president was of medium build, with an appearance that would not attract a second glance in a crowd. He wore a brown tight leather jacket and said in a deliberately casual tone, “They snatched our NPC in the instance. Blow this place up first! I don’t believe they won’t come out!”