DSMC Chapter 110

Qi Feng had offended so many people that even writing their names down in a notebook wouldn’t be enough. With the most sincere and straightforward tone, he could easily make Fu Guangming furious.

If they had met recently in a dungeon, he might have remembered, but he had no impression of this person at all.

Fu Guangming took a deep breath. “I’m from the New Forces Guild. My guild leader is Yu Zhe. In the last instance, you people stole our guild’s quest.”

Qi Feng remained calm and indifferent. “Oh? So what?”

Fu Guangming’s hostility intensified, the anger in his eyes flaring. “So I’m here to settle the score with you.”

Qi Feng thought for a moment. “When I entered that instance, I don’t recall you being in Yu Zhe’s team.”

That made Fu Guangming even angrier. He felt Qi Feng was mocking him for not being good enough to be chosen to enter the instance  with the guild leader.

Thinking of his destroyed branch base, he said, “My guild’s business is my business. And don’t forget, your people destroyed my branch. It’s only fair I come after you.”

After leaving the dungeon, Qi Feng had been worried about his Caramel. He hadn’t responded to the New Forces Guild’s provocations, but that didn’t mean he knew nothing about their branch being blown up. Still, it wasn’t done by his side.

He had no intention of explaining. The other party had already decided it was them. Any explanation would be pointless and unnecessary. There were plenty of people who wanted trouble with him anyway.

“Oh? And how are you so sure it was my people?” Qi Feng said. “Your guild probably has plenty of enemies.”

Fu Guangming replied, “Because I blew up your tavern. So you came for revenge.”

Yan Jiyun scoffed. “You blew up someone else’s tavern first, and you don’t allow retaliation? That’s bandit logic.”

Qi Feng glanced back at Yan Jiyun and pulled him behind, clearly not wanting to waste more words. “If you want to compete with me, fine.”

Yan Jiyun had originally planned to just stay behind his “owner” quietly, but the one who destroyed the New Forces guild branch was actually him. If something had to be borne, he’d take responsibility. It wouldn’t hurt to draw some fire away from Qi Feng.

But it was obvious the other party was deliberately targeting Qi Feng, thinking he had no guild and would hide like a coward. Otherwise, why blow up only Qi Feng’s tavern instead of attacking other guilds? In the end, it was just bullying the weak. If they couldn’t win, they’d run.

Fu Guangming saw no fear in Qi Feng’s eyes, but he himself began to lose confidence. Someone all the major guilds wanted to recruit wasn’t someone he could deal with, and Qi Feng was ranked first in points. Even dragging things out would exhaust him.

The moment Qi Feng accepted his suicidal challenge, Fu Guangming hesitated.

The surrounding players started jeering.

“What, scared? Qi Feng already agreed.”

“Yeah, he’s number one. Take him down and all his points are yours!”

Someone who knew Fu Guangming shouted, “Fu Guangming, kill him! We’re all rooting for you~”

The more he listened, the more wrong it felt. These people just wanted him to die in Qi Feng’s hands, to use him to wear Qi Feng down.

Of course he wouldn’t play along. Even if he killed Qi Feng, these same people would turn on him next. Risking his own points to weaken Qi Feng would bring him no benefit. It would only benefit the crowd.

He suddenly changed his mind, using their jeering as an excuse to back down.

“Heh, I won’t give you what you want. Let’s go!”

Fu Guangming left with his group, looking somewhat like he was fleeing in defeat.

Qi Feng didn’t even need to act. His presence alone crushed them.

They would meet again eventually. No one could avoid it.

With no spectacle to watch and no advantage to gain, the surrounding players quickly lost interest and turned their attention back to Angel City. No one cared about the aftermath of player conflicts. It was all just for entertainment.

Qi Feng turned to Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo. “You’ve seen it, my reputation isn’t great. I have quite a few enemies. From here on, I’ll act alone to look for a way out, so I won’t be teaming up with you for now.”

Yan Jiyun wanted to keep teaming with him, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Their relationship could only be described as a chance encounter.

Qi Feng noticed. “What did you want to say?”

Yan Jiyun shook his head. “Nothing.”

Qi Feng said, “Thank you for saving me. From here on, I won’t treat either of you as enemies in any battle. I wish you both success.”

Chu Mo nodded. It was understandable.

A temporary team didn’t mean a permanent one. Sooner or later, they might become opponents. The game’s mechanics would only get more brutal.

At the end of the day, Qi Feng simply didn’t trust them. His guard was higher than anyone’s.

Yan Jiyun respected his decision. He checked his Human Form Time Card. He had around 20 minutes left. 

Qi Feng led the Pegasus into the crowd and quickly disappeared. Yan Jiyun glanced after him, thinking regretfully: ‘What a great carry.’

Then Yan Jiyun and Chu Mo stood facing each other.

Chu Mo spoke first, pointing ahead. “I’m heading off too. Hopefully we won’t end up as enemies.”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “Alright. See you again.”

Chu Mo clasped his fists. “See you.”

—

Yan Jiyun wasn’t exactly sad. This was something he had to get used to.

Not all players would stay in teams forever. The longer they stayed in the game, the colder they became.

New players were still satisfied just having someone to rely on. Veteran players didn’t think that way.

Chu Mo might have seemed lively the whole time, but if it came down to choosing between his life and a teammate’s, he would definitely choose himself.

As for Qi Feng, he had been in the game for nearly three years. He must have seen far more cold-hearted situations. There was no reason to blame them for “using him and discarding him.”

In the Demon Forest, they had helped each other. He saved Qi Feng, and Qi Feng had pulled him back from danger multiple times. Chu Mo had even let him open the point boxes.

No one owed anyone anything.

All three of them understood that clearly.

This was a brutal survival game. One wrong decision could determine life or death.

Yan Jiyun took a deep breath and, like most players, headed toward the bustling main street of Angel City.

He needed to quickly adapt to the pace of the peak competition, learn to clear stages on his own, and not trust others easily.

And there was one more thing he needed to start planning: He needed to form his own team.

Night fell, and the city lights came on.

Angel City truly lived up to its name. There were angel statues everywhere, big and small.

But aside from the statues, it was an incredibly prosperous city.

Except for the players, all NPCs were dressed in a typical fantasy RPG style. The women wore dresses closer to modern fashion, while the men were dressed like gentlemen in three-piece suits.

The streets were filled with shops for food, drink, and entertainment. Though the setting was medieval fantasy, the venues themselves were no different from modern ones.

Now that he had entered Angel City, the first thing to do was rest.

After running all day in the Demon Forest, his entire body was exhausted.

After entering the main street, Yan Jiyun could no longer hear his shit-shovel officer’s footsteps. A veteran player was still a veteran player. His speed at disappearing was faster than expected.

Moreover, he would deliberately vary the rhythm of his footsteps. That kind of thing would never happen in the real world. Yan Jiyun had never heard him change his walking pace before.

Qi Feng was doing it intentionally. His vigilance had reached a certain extreme.

Yan Jiyun felt troubled. Trying to approach him in human form and gain his trust would not be easy.

Chu Mo seemed to have stopped somewhere as well, but Yan Jiyun didn’t bother figuring out what he was doing.

He turned his attention to the various shops. Nearly four hundred players had dispersed across the area.

Surprisingly, the place with the most players gathered wasn’t a hotel or inn, but a casino.

A notice board was set up outside the casino, listing its entry rules.

[To all players]

1. Players must pay 50 points as an entrance fee the first time they enter the casino; no fee is required for subsequent entries;
2. Players with fewer than 50 points are not allowed to enter;
3. Players may choose to play games with NPCs or with other players;
4. Once inside the casino, players must abide by all its rules; violations will result in point deductions;
5. Points earned in the casino will not be reclaimed by the system and will go directly into the player’s account.

Friendly reminder: Take a gamble! turn your bicycle into a motorcycle. Players, why not try your luck? What if you win big?

Many players standing outside reading the notice, like Yan Jiyun, were hesitating whether to enter or not. The phrase “what if” was extremely tempting. Some bold players had already rushed in.

Yan Jiyun thought differently. He definitely wouldn’t rush into a casino with unknown rules. He would rather have fewer points than take unnecessary risks. After noting its location, he continued forward.

Besides the casino, the entertainment district had other options. There were even foot massage, spa, and bathhouses, thoughtfully offering separate services for men and women.

He paused at the entrance of a Thai massage shop and noticed another notice board. This one was straightforward, listing prices clearly and even boldly stating: “No harassing the masseuses, or you will bear the consequences.”

Skipping that, he continued on. He saw script-killing venues, escape rooms, haunted house challenges, all with rules posted outside. Entry required points, and completing the games within the time limit rewarded points.

So the points they earned in the Demon Forest were meant to be used here?

The game claimed there was “no time limit,” yet Angel City had a strict time constraint. After earning points here, what other traps were waiting?

What exactly counted as winning the Peak Competition?

With the prop store now closed, the inventory panel had also turned gray and couldn’t be opened. That meant all players’ needs in Angel City had to be met by spending their current points.

His back hurt a bit. He needed to buy some medicine.

Using his sense of smell, he located a pharmacy tucked away in a corner of the main street. The shop had all kinds of medicine, from internal, external, oral, to topical. He chose medicine for superficial wounds. It wasn’t cheap. He spent 500 points for just a small bottle.

The middle-aged doctor in a white coat said, “Don’t think it’s expensive. It’s limited supply every day. If you can buy it, you’re lucky.”

Yan Jiyun added, “Give me two more bottles. And bandages, saline, and painkillers. Get me some of those too.”

The doctor praised him, “Good eye, young man. You’re definitely making a profit.”

The man sounded like a pharmaceutical salesman.

Yan Jiyun wasn’t sure if he was profiting, but he knew it was better to be prepared. The 24 hour “rest period” in Angel City probably wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

He realized that in Angel City, everything required points. Players not only needed to rest, but also had to earn points through entertainment activities.

Most players were still observing. The aggressive ones had already started playing games. The cautious ones were gathering information, while some chose to rest first and recover their stamina and mental strength.

Players in teams had an advantage. They could act in shifts.

Yan Jiyun, however, was a solo player. But he had an advantage others didn’t: he could stay nearby and gather information.

The only issue was that staying in inns or high-end hotels in the busy district was expensive.

Inns cost 100-500 points per hour, while hotels cost 500-1000 points per hour.

He double-checked to prove he hadn’t misread it. The cost of resting for just one hour was high. This was a straight-up daylight robbery!

Inns were far from the main street, at least two kilometers away, making it hard to gather information.

High-end hotels were close to the entertainment district, convenient for gathering intel, but extremely expensive. Staying 10 hours could cost 10,000 points.

He only needed 6 to 8 hours of rest. During that time, he also needed to conserve his experience card. Earning points required him to be in human form, so while resting, he would have to revert to his cat form.

After comparing several options, Yan Jiyun finally chose a mid-to-high-end hotel.

Its price was reasonable, meals were delivered directly to the room, and it wasn’t far from the busy area. It was partially blocked by another building, making the lighting dim, and the nearby streets were quite dark, perfect for moving around in cat form without being noticed.

Other players didn’t have his concerns. Those with plenty of points could stay in hotels near the main street, while those with fewer points could opt for smaller inns. The game provided plenty of resting options. whether players could actually sleep peacefully was another matter.

Yan Jiyun asked for a ground-floor room. After entering, he immediately checked the windows and told the staff to bring the meal quickly.

Before the food arrived, he reverted to his cat form and flopped onto the bed, spreading out like a pancake, unwilling to move.

As soon as he lay down, he tried to roll over, but it pulled at the wound on his back.

Hiss—

He jumped onto the sink to check his back. Sure enough, the fur there had clumped together, most likely from blood.  He hadn’t noticed earlier while standing and busy, but now that he relaxed, the pain became very obvious.

It hurt so much that he couldn’t even stretch his front legs forward. Any movement of his back caused pain, so he could only tuck his forelegs and lie still.

Ding-dong.

The room service had arrived.

Yan Jiyun endured the pain in his back, jumped up to open the door, then returned to the bathroom and turned on the faucet.

The sound of running water filled the room, and the server assumed the guest was preparing for a bath.

“Sir, your meal has been delivered. I’ll place it on the table.”

Receiving no response, the server left with some confusion and closed the door behind him.

After coming out of the bathroom, Yan Jiyun didn’t use his time card. Since the wound was on his back and he couldn’t apply medicine himself, he simply jumped onto the table and ate the chicken and fish. Once he finished eating, he had the energy to think again.

He lay on the bed, carefully listening to the footsteps around him, but he didn’t hear any sign of his shit-shovel officer.

What reassured him was that his shit-shovel officer was wary of everyone, which meant a high chance of survival. What frustrated him was that his vigilance level was so high that Yan Jiyun couldn’t locate him for the time being.

From the pet interface, he could see that his shovel officer was in the same Peak Competition system. That meant his shit-shovel officer could probably see him too.

Qi Feng avoided teaming up with people due to his wariness of strangers. But what if it was him in cat form?

No… that wouldn’t work. If they teamed up, wouldn’t that expose his true identity? Better to stay cautious.

Even if they couldn’t team up, finding his shit-shovel officer to get some medicine applied shouldn’t be a problem.

But if he showed himself in front of Qi Feng and then disappeared again, would it affect Qi Feng’s mindset? For example, worrying about whether he could survive the game?

After thinking it over, Yan Jiyun ultimately gave up on looking for him. He would just endure the pain and deal with his injuries himself.

He used a five-minute time card to enter the bathroom and clean himself. Then, facing away from the mirror, he awkwardly reached behind to apply the medicine. Thankfully, cats were “liquid,” and his human form was quite flexible, so he could barely manage it.

The process, however, was extremely painful.

“Hiss—”

“Ow—”

“That hurts, hurts, hurts—”

“I’ve never suffered like this in my life.”

“Trash game. One day I’ll destroy you!”

By the time he finished applying the medicine, he was sweating all over. But the medicine worked well. It provided pain relief and even had a sleep-inducing effect.

Once the time card expired, he reverted to his cat form and lay on the bed, listening to the surroundings.

What was Qi Feng doing?

Qi Feng wasn’t doing much. He had simply noticed that in the master-pet status panel, it said: [In game.

Why had Caramel entered another instance again? Hadn’t it just come out?

He still remembered what Qiu Xi had mentioned about the new owner. Could it be that this person had taken Caramel into another instance again?

Currently, half the players had entered the Peak Competition, while the other half could still enter instances freely. If that person hadn’t been selected, it meant both he and Caramel were still in Newcomer instances. Could it be that he was taking Caramel into its fifth instance?

Qi Feng began to feel anxious. He tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

As the rightful owner, he hadn’t seen his cat for over ten days.

Caramel was so smart, so its relationship with the new owner should be good, right? Otherwise, that person wouldn’t have secretly taken the cat from Qiu Xi. And since Qiu Xi was also a player, taking that risk likely meant the person loved cats?

Perhaps they thought Caramel was an NPC brought out from an instance and insisted on taking it at all costs?

He didn’t dare think of the worst-case scenario.

Still unable to sleep, Qi Feng opened the notifications from Caramel’s previous instance.

Originally, his system interface only had “Global Chat,” “System,” “Team,” and “Private Chat.” Now there was an additional “Pet” tab. Whenever he rested in an instance, he would read through these notifications and imagine Caramel’s life in the game.

He couldn’t imagine Caramel clearing instances like a human, so he assumed it lived like a stray cat. Later, he comforted himself by thinking that with a new owner, it probably wasn’t reduced to that state. Aside from the first time it came out filthy, the next two times were better, just a bit dusty.

Caramel’s last instance was called [Crazy Zoo]. It stayed there longer than before, for five full days. He hadn’t seen Caramel after it came out, so he didn’t know whether it had gained or lost weight. Just reading about the zoo made his heart race.

If it were him in the instance, he might not feel much, but these notifications alone could make his heart rate spike to 170 bpm.

For example:

[Your pet is happily interacting with large animals in the zoo.]

What counted as “large animals”? Lions, tigers, leopards, elephants, brown bears, wolves, chimpanzees, kangaroos.

Which one was it exactly?

He understood that the system didn’t want to reveal instance details, but did it have to be this vague?

How was Caramel interacting with them? Being chased? Bitten? Driven away?

Every time Qi Feng read these notifications, his heart rate and blood pressure shot up.

Then there was another one:

[Your pet is happily communicating with the veterinarian.]

Caramel hated vets the most. Why would it be interacting with one? What would a vet do to a stray cat? The first thing that came to mind was neutering to prevent overbreeding.

He understood the good intention, but please don’t tell him they neutered Caramel.

That new owner was really unreliable. How could they let Caramel fall into a vet’s hands?

Qi Feng kept scrolling through earlier messages. There were nearly three hundred, and even if they repeated, he read them one by one.

He wanted to know exactly how Caramel had spent those five days.

The first two days were intense, packed, and dangerous.

The most alarming were a series of messages:

[Your pet suddenly fainted.]

[Your pet was carried away by a large animal.]

[Your pet woke up.]

There were time gaps between them. Qi Feng could imagine a timid cat being carried around like that, frightened into a stress reaction.

Maybe Caramel didn’t actually suffer that. But when Qi Feng first saw those notifications, he was completely numb.

It was only through years of training and self-control that he managed not to have a heart attack. Perhaps all his experience in the game had been for this very moment.

Fortunately, the last three days were much more reassuring. Perhaps the new owner had found Caramel and taken good care of it, though one flaw remained: it ate a lot.

[Your pet had a hearty breakfast at 8 AM.]

[Your pet had a snack at 10 AM.]

[Your pet had a hearty lunch at 12 PM.]

[Your pet happily took a two-hour nap.]

[Your pet had afternoon tea at 3 PM.]

[Your pet had a hearty dinner at 6 PM.]

[Your pet had a special late-night meal at 10 PM.]

These messages repeated for three days straight. Yes, its life was extremely regular, and it ate very regularly too. It actually seemed quite comfortable. If only this were surveillance footage instead of system messages.

But eating like this… how much weight would Caramel gain after leaving the instance? Would the escape techniques he taught it become useless because of the extra weight?

Qi Feng still couldn’t fall asleep, still worrying about his cat. Then suddenly, a new system notification appeared, making it even more impossible for him to sleep.

[Congratulations, the intimacy between you and your pet has increased by 1 point.]

[Pet Intimacy: 1/100]

Qi Feng who read the message three times: ???

Caramel’s intimacy with him had increased?

How??