DSMC Chapter 124

Back in the Demon Forest, the game had also suddenly announced that players had found the forest exit. But at that time, they didn’t actually need to look for the exit. The broadcast was really about which player had gotten onto a means of transportation.

Now they had finally found the exit, only for the game to immediately announce it to everyone. Honestly, this trash game was truly malicious.

The only fortunate thing was that the sneaky system had gotten lazy. It didn’t reveal the names of the players who found the correct exit.

Another detail worth noting was that the system message didn’t say they had found “the game’s exit,” but specifically the exit of Angel City.

So even though they had found an exit, Angel City was not the final stage.

Lying in his master’s arms, Yan Jiyun thought to himself, ‘This game is seriously awful.’

Chu Mo heard the system announcement and let out a cold laugh, voicing exactly what Yan Jiyun was thinking: “This game is really petty.”

Qi Feng said nothing, but his silence meant he agreed.

Chu Mo brought up their temporary teammate again, “What about Yan Jiyun? No idea if he made it in.”

Qi Feng believed the newcomer was smart. “He’ll probably come over after seeing the system announcement.”

Chu Mo frowned slightly. “But it’s still strange. The three of us came back to Angel City together through the array, yet he’s the only one missing.”

Qi Feng shook his head. That newcomer had always been a bit mysterious. “No matter what, I just hope he gets here soon.”

They had already spent time waiting for him after coming out, but still hadn’t seen any sign of him. And the two of them had been acting quite conspicuously.

Chu Mo couldn’t help but think of the worst-case scenario. “He couldn’t have run into trouble, right?”

Yan Jiyun: “……”

‘Chu Mo, Chu Mo… couldn’t you think a bit more positively?’

‘What if I’m already inside the clock tower?’

Right now, Yan Jiyun was perfectly fine, lying against Qi Feng’s chest. Unfortunately, he had no way to let them know where he was.

Qi Feng said calmly, “Let’s find the exit first.”

Chu Mo glanced upward. “I checked the first floor just now, there’s nothing special. It’s probably on the roof.”

Qi Feng turned and headed upstairs with the black cat in his arms, Chu Mo following closely behind.

They moved quickly, rushing upward at full speed. At this pace, they’d probably rank among the top three.

Yan Jiyun looked at the endless flights of stairs. His legs would’ve gone weak climbing them himself. There had to be at least twenty floors. If each floor was about three meters high, that meant roughly sixty to seventy meters total.

For the first time, he experienced what it felt like to be carried up stairs.

‘Damn, this is amazing.’

‘Come on, pooper-scooper!’

‘Come on, Chu Mo!’

‘You’re almost at the top!’

Even with Qi Feng’s strong stamina, he began to slow down after climbing for a while. The stairs were not only tall but steep, with no breaks in between.

Chu Mo was nearly exhausted, hands on his hips as he panted. “Damn it, why the hell do we have to climb stairs!”

Qi Feng didn’t respond. After resting a few seconds, he continued upward. After all, he was carrying over ten pounds of “sweet burden.”

Yan Jiyun lay against his chest, counting his heartbeat.

‘One, two, three—’

Qi Feng’s stamina was impressive. After nearly ten floors, his heart rate still hadn’t reached 100 beats per minute. As expected of a veteran player. This was far beyond Yan Jiyun.

Finally, they reached the top.

Even Qi Feng had to pause for a breath before moving forward, while Chu Mo felt like his legs had gone numb.

Only Yan Jiyun remained completely relaxed. He poked his head out and immediately saw a massive clock mounted on the wall.

Behind the clock were mechanical gears and springs, all completely motionless.

A clock tower was naturally tied to time. But unlike usual views of a clock’s back, what they saw was a clock face about two meters in diameter. Its hour, minute, and second hands were not pointing to the current time.

The surface was rusted, covered in cobwebs, and clearly hadn’t been maintained in a long time.

Now it made sense why there were twelve numbers.

Because what they needed to unlock was the password leading outside.

The zodiac signs represented an order, while the numbers likely corresponded to time.

Chu Mo stared at the clock in silence.

“I remember Yan Jiyun saying the order was based on the sequence of entering the doors?”

Qi Feng stood in a darker corner. Chu Mo was focused on the clock and didn’t notice the small black head poking out from Qi Feng’s arms.

Qi Feng pushed the head back down. “Let’s try it.”

Chu Mo didn’t rush to adjust the time. Instead, he carefully examined the surroundings first, while Qi Feng studied the standard time on the clock.

At the same time, they noticed a line of text on the right side of the clock.

Chu Mo read it aloud: “Only three chances to adjust the time. After three attempts, the clock will be destroyed.”

Lying in Qi Feng’s arms, Yan Jiyun cursed the game inwardly, ‘As expected of a trash game. It really excels at making things difficult for players.’

The threat of the clock breaking forced them to be cautious. They couldn’t act recklessly.

Qi Feng voiced his deduction, “The Rat and Tiger should be the beginning and the end. The Horse comes before the Dragon. The Pig and Dog are linked, Ox and Goat are linked, Rooster and Monkey are linked, Rabbit and Snake are also linked—”

Chu Mo said, “Could this be the order of the hour hand?”

Qi Feng trailed off, feeling something didn’t quite match.

“At first we thought the doors and password order were connected. Didn’t expect it to be a clock. Now we have to rethink whether our assumptions are even correct.”

Yan Jiyun was even more anxious than the two of them. Other players were already on their way. If they didn’t figure it out soon, they might have to fight for it!

There wasn’t much time left.

He was also thinking hard, frustrated that he couldn’t speak!

Yan Jiyun poked his head out again from Qi Feng’s arms, and this time Qi Feng couldn’t stop him in time.

Chu Mo froze for a moment. “I was just wondering why your chest looked bulky. Why are you carrying a system NPC?”

Since Chu Mo’s explanation was the easiest to accept, Qi Feng went along with it. “I wanted to see if it’s possible to take an NPC out of the game.”

Chu Mo immediately understood his reasoning.

“You’re trying to figure out how to break the game?” At that moment, he had no objections to Qi Feng carrying a cat. “If you get results, make sure to announce it in the Central Zone.”

In this game, some players aimed to leave by earning points, while others tried to uncover the game’s secrets to escape. Different goals, different factions. There’s nothing unusual.

Qi Feng had spent three years without reaching the Top-level instances. Maybe this was why.

Since it was just an experiment with an NPC cat, Chu Mo wasn’t particularly curious anymore.

Yan Jiyun found it amusing how seriously Qi Feng lied, and even more amusing that Chu Mo actually believed it. It also relieved him; with Chu Mo’s personality, if he got curious and tried capturing a cat himself, it might expose Yan Jiyun’s uniqueness.

But right now, they were stuck.

Back to the puzzle.

With the zodiac order established, they just needed to match the numbers accordingly.

They had assumed it was a password lock, but who would’ve thought it was actually a clock?

The original zodiac order was: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.

Rat was first. Pig was last.

After leaving the game instance, Qi Feng and Chu Mo had exchanged information with other players and gathered all twelve numbers.

But how did that relate to the clock?

For a moment, even Yan Jiyun couldn’t figure it out.

He was now out in the open in front of Chu Mo, so he openly looked around, and Qi Feng let him be.

The most relaxed one right now was Qi Feng. There was nothing that made him happier than finding his cat in the final-stage match.

Yan Jiyun noticed a board behind them, marked with the twelve zodiac animals, each one slightly raised.

He kept staring at the board on the wall. Following his gaze, Qi Feng also looked over and noticed the inconspicuous board.

“The zodiac order is used here,” Qi Feng said. He already had an idea.

Chu Mo had still been staring at the line of instructions. When he turned his head, he also saw the board on the wall. If one didn’t look carefully, they would miss it.

The first thing they saw upon rushing up was the clock, which corresponded to the numbers they had found. There were also instructions in the lower right corner, so they had instinctively assumed they only needed to adjust the hour, minute, and second hands on the clock. But that was likely a decoy.

After confirming the zodiac door sequence once more, Qi Feng and Chu Mo pressed the zodiac symbols on the board in order.

Each time they pressed one, they double-checked it, all extremely cautiously.

Even Yan Jiyun felt nervous for them.

From Yan Jiyun, they had obtained: Rat, Tiger, Horse.

From Qi Feng: Pig, Dog, Ox, Goat, Rooster.

From Chu Mo: Monkey, Snake.

From all three together: Dragon.

And Qi Feng had traded with a valiant female player for Rabbit.

Combining all the zodiac door sequences they had gone through, they arrived at the final order:

Rat → Rabbit → Pig → Dog → Goat → Ox → Monkey → Snake → Rooster → Horse → Dragon → Tiger.

When the final Tiger piece was pressed, they all heard a series of clicking sounds. The second hand on the clock in front of them began to move.

Their guess was correct!

The second hand moved. But what about the minute hand? The hour hand? Why weren’t they moving?

After discovering the board, Yan Jiyun pretended to be an ordinary cat, lying on Qi Feng’s shoulder with his eyes closed, while secretly continuing to observe whether there were any other mechanisms nearby.

Aside from the board, there was nothing else.

So what about the hour and minute hands?

Qi Feng and Chu Mo divided the work clearly and began searching separately across the rooftop for mechanisms similar to the board.

The zodiac sequence seemed simple, but they had only discovered it by risking their lives through each door, life and death hanging by a thread.

Qi Feng wandered around the rooftop with Yan Jiyun in his arms.

The clock tower was over sixty meters tall. Even if the players below were fast, they would still need time to climb. This was the advantage of getting here first.

They had to race against time and enter the exit before the others arrived, or once more players reached the top, who knew what kind of chaos would break out.

People like Fu Guangming were unreasonable troublemakers and could very well interfere with them entering the correct code.

The rooftop was divided into three areas.

The first area housed the giant clock.

The second displayed various parts. More accurately, it resembled a small exhibition hall filled with components related to clock hands.

The third area was unusual: it contained clocks of different styles, each corresponding to the current time in different worlds, some of which had already stopped.

These two areas likely corresponded to the mechanisms for activating the minute hand and hour hand.

It was possible the small text beside the clock wasn’t wrong. There really were only three attempts. Split apart, that meant one attempt each for the hour, minute, and second mechanisms. Combined, that made three attempts. No contradiction there. This was the game’s trap.

If someone really used up all three attempts recklessly, it would essentially cut off everyone’s chance of leaving Angel City.

It looked like a single-player game, but in reality it required cooperation. If players clashed at critical moments, it would only make the game harder.

The game was full of traps everywhere.

Fortunately, only a little over ten hours had passed. Most players hadn’t yet discovered the key elements of the game. Otherwise, the ones standing here now wouldn’t be just Yan Jiyun and the others.

Well, not three people. Two people and one cat.

What did the parts exhibition represent? Did it relate to the numbers?

Yan Jiyun remembered that Qi Feng and Chu Mo had previously found the numbers: 0, 2, 4, 9, 1, 8. He himself hadn’t gathered any useful numbers.

And the other room of clocks… what were they for?

Numbers, zodiac signs, parts, clocks.

The zodiac had been used. So where should the numbers be applied?

Yan Jiyun struggled to jump out of Qi Feng’s arms, but Qi Feng, having finally reunited with him in-game, firmly held him in place.

Unable to break free, Yan Jiyun had no choice but to stay curled up in Qi Feng’s arms.

Without enough information, he couldn’t figure it out.

Wait.

He suddenly remembered. Inside the Tiger door, the clue had been dice. Could that be related to the parts here?

He tried to recall mechanical escape rooms from before, but nothing seemed to match.

Qi Feng couldn’t find anything special in the parts exhibition either, so he moved into the clock room.

Chu Mo stood among the clocks, frowning deeply. “This is too hard. I can’t connect the remaining numbers to these clocks at all.”

Qi Feng scanned the clocks and stopped in front of one that wasn’t moving. “Why isn’t this clock running?”

Chu Mo paused. “Could it be broken?”

Qi Feng shook his head. “Not necessarily. There might be something hidden inside.”

At that moment, Chu Mo thought of Yan Jiyun. “If Yan Jiyun were here, it’d be great. He’s quick-witted and full of clever ideas.”

Yan Jiyun: ‘…You’re the one full of tricks.’

Qi Feng didn’t deny it. “He does have good ideas. This time, we really have to thank him for noticing the connection between the doors.”

‘So the pooper-scooper thinks I’m smart.’ Yan Jiyun felt a bit pleased.

There were twelve clocks on the wall, each labeled with its production time, from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. But the clarity of those timestamps made them seem like a red herring.

He observed the clocks’ states again. Nine were functioning normally. Three were stopped, and their displayed times didn’t match anything current.

After thinking for a moment, Yan Jiyun realized something. The positions of the hour and minute hands on those three stopped clocks corresponded to the numbers Qi Feng and Chu Mo had obtained.

The first clock showed 0:08.

The second showed 2:01.

The third showed 4:09.

These three clocks had no second hands.

If there were twelve numbers in total, then there might be three more clocks.

Qi Feng stared at the clocks on the wall. There was no confusion in his eyes, he had clearly reached the same conclusion as Yan Jiyun.

Seeing his calm expression, Yan Jiyun thought to himself, ‘Qi Feng can solve this.’ 

Qi Feng walked up to the clock showing 4:09. “Chu Mo, pick this one.”

Chu Mo was still studying the three clocks. Give him a bit more time and he would’ve figured it out too. “Why this one?”

Qi Feng explained, “Among these three clocks, only 4:09 corresponds to the correct zodiac time. If all twelve clocks correspond to different zodiac signs, do you remember what time the big clock outside stopped at?”

“I do,” Chu Mo said. “9:09.”

Qi Feng nodded. “Exactly. Angel City is set in the Middle Ages, so the main clock corresponds to British time. Then isn’t it possible that the clocks on the wall correspond to China’s time? Out of the twelve clocks, only this one matches the correct Chinese time.”

Chu Mo frowned. “But why Chinese time? Other countries could match too.”

Yan Jiyun rested his front paws on Qi Feng’s collar, his head leaning on them. He felt Chu Mo hadn’t quite caught on yet.

Qi Feng continued, “Did you forget? All the doors we entered correspond to the Chinese’s zodiac, not the western ones. Furthermore, only the Chinese zodiac includes the dragon. So I’m choosing this broken clock.¹T/N: I’m honestly confused about this explanation. western zodiacs are Capricorn, Aquarius, etc right? Yes, there’s no Dragon there, but the Chinese zodiac also didn’t have fish (Pisces), scorpion (Scorpio), etc… Even if it’s only “Chinese zodiacs that don’t have corresponding Western ones”, the only ones that have are: Goat (Capricorn), Snake (Ophiuchus, if you subscribe to this one being included), Tiger (sketchy af, but Leo might work), Ox (Taurus), and Horse (Sagittarius).  Ugh. Whatever… Let’s just think Dragon is special because it’s the only mythical animal in the roster.”

Yan Jiyun nodded vigorously in his heart. ‘As expected of my pooper scooper. He said exactly what I was thinking!’

That was his conclusion too.

Only the Chinese zodiac has the dragon, so only one clock’s time would be correct. This was the hint the game provided. Without careful observation, the connection would be easy to miss.

With Qi Feng’s explanation, Chu Mo finally understood. “So the other six numbers we found were just there to mislead us.”

“Most likely,” Qi Feng agreed.

Yan Jiyun perked up his ears, listening to the sounds below. The other players were getting closer.

Qi Feng happened to glance down at him. When Caramel’s ears perked up, the fur at the tips brushed against Qi Feng’s lips. It tickled slightly.

Qi Feng, always observant of his cat’s behavior, knew that meant it was listening carefully. He reminded Chu Mo, “The players downstairs are almost here. We need to crack the exit code quickly. Once there are too many people, things will get chaotic.”

Chu Mo nodded, then wondered why Qi Feng could hear it too while he himself heard nothing.

The two adjusted the other clocks and compared them with the 4:09 one. The others didn’t move, but the 4:09 clock could be turned. They gently rotated it clockwise.

Immediately, Yan Jiyun heard mechanical clicking sounds.

Chu Mo ran outside and saw the minute hand moving. “Qi Feng, it worked! We got it right again. Now only the hour hand is left.”

The two humans and one cat stood in front of the parts area.

Yan Jiyun quietly looked around.

Chu Mo tried to lighten the mood. “The NPC kitten you caught is pretty quiet.”

Qi Feng couldn’t help praising his cat. “Yeah, it’s especially quiet, very well-tempered, very smart, and doesn’t cause trouble.”

Chu Mo, not realizing he had triggered Qi Feng’s “show off my cat” mode, politely added, “Looks alright too.”

Qi Feng, who had been taciturn all along, suddenly continued, “Yes, its eyes are emerald green. Did you notice? It even has eyeliner, very bright and lively eyes. Its build is also the best I’ve seen.”

Chu Mo replied politely, “You really pay attention to detail.”

Yan Jiyun: ‘…I didn’t even know I had eyeliner.’

But hearing his pooper-scooper praise his physique made him happy. He hadn’t realized he looked that good in Qi Feng’s eyes.

If he ever sees panthers or tigers, will he lose favor?

Fortunately, that was only in Easy instances…

Chu Mo continued chatting. “You have experience raising cats?”

Qi Feng answered more modestly this time, “I have one. About a year old.”

“What does it look like?” Chu Mo asked casually.

Qi Feng looked down at Yan Jiyun again. “Like this, I guess.”

Chu Mo thought of his own dog. “I have a dog.”

Qi Feng instantly lost interest. “Oh. So what do these mechanisms correspond to?”

Chu Mo: “…”

That topic change was way too abrupt!

Yan Jiyun stayed silent.

For a moment, Qi Feng felt like one of those grandparents proudly showing off their grandchild in the neighborhood.

Back to the puzzle. Qi Feng and Chu Mo rapidly analyzed the wall of mechanical parts.

Yan Jiyun thought along with them, but he already had a lead.

The three stopped clocks used six numbers. But he still had one unused clue: the dice from the Tiger Door.

They hadn’t brought the dice out from that door.

What if this wall of parts wasn’t just decoration? What if it was actually the activation mechanism for the hour hand, and finding the key component would trigger it?

Anything Yan Jiyun could think of, Qi Feng and Chu Mo could too. The wall of parts couldn’t just be for show.

But what did the dice have to do with it?

Mechanical clocks relied on interlocking gears. Yan Jiyun carefully examined each gear. Everything was tightly fitted, with no visible flaws or damage.

No obvious breakthrough.

Frustrated, he flattened his ears and slumped against Qi Feng’s chest.

As he moved, his claws snagged Qi Feng’s clothes. Qi Feng had never trimmed his claws because he worried he’d lose fights outside, and even maintained them in-game. Now those sharp claws pierced through the inner fabric and pricked his skin.

Qi Feng endured it briefly, then grabbed his paw. “Don’t scratch my clothes. You’ll break my skin.”

Then he casually squeezed Yan Jiyun’s paw pads, clearly in a good mood.

Yan Jiyun retracted his claws.

Yeah… his claws really could tear flesh.

Qi Feng shifted position, and Yan Jiyun suddenly spotted a small opening in the corner.

Seizing the moment, he jumped down and dashed toward it.

Qi Feng thought he was trying to escape and quickly followed, only to see his cat crouched at a tiny hole, watching ants pass by. 

‘When will this ant obsession go away…’

But Qi Feng quickly realized the hole was unusual.

Chu Mo, something’s missing here. If we fill it, the hour hand should start moving.”

Normally, a clock’s hour, minute, and second hands shared a complete gear system, so why was this one separated?

Was it intentional?

Chu Mo measured the hole. “It’s exactly the size of a die.”

Qi Feng tucked Yan Jiyun back into his arms, then pulled out a die from his pocket. “Let’s try it.”

Yan Jiyun: ‘…Why does he have everything in his pockets?!’

Chu Mo carefully inserted the die. It fit perfectly.

The die acted like a screw.

Click— click— click! The gears throughout the room began turning.

At the same time, the entire clock tower started shaking!

Yan Jiyun clung tightly to Qi Feng’s clothes.

‘Are we finally getting out?’

[Congratulations to the players for unlocking the entrance to the final stage. All surviving players will enter the final stage.]

[Reminder: Defeat your opponent to win the final victory of the Peak Competition!]

[Entering the final arena…]

[Matching opponents…]

[Match found. Players will now be deployed into the final battle arena.]

The clock they activated was the trigger for the final stage!

Yan Jiyun felt his body dropping.

He realized he had been separated from Qi Feng.

This time, he didn’t black out. While falling, with no other players around, he immediately activated his five-minute Human Form Time Card.

He transformed into human form and landed in a familiar arena. Thick mist filled the center, blocking his view of the opponent.

The system continued:

[Prop Inventory unlocked. Players may purchase five props for battle. You will meet your opponent in 5 seconds.]

Yan Jiyun quickly bought five props.

[5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Entering final arena.]

The mist cleared.

He saw the player standing across from him.

This fucking trash game!

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  T/N: I’m honestly confused about this explanation. western zodiacs are Capricorn, Aquarius, etc right? Yes, there’s no Dragon there, but the Chinese zodiac also didn’t have fish (Pisces), scorpion (Scorpio), etc… Even if it’s only “Chinese zodiacs that don’t have corresponding Western ones”, the only ones that have are: Goat (Capricorn), Snake (Ophiuchus, if you subscribe to this one being included), Tiger (sketchy af, but Leo might work), Ox (Taurus), and Horse (Sagittarius).  Ugh. Whatever… Let’s just think Dragon is special because it’s the only mythical animal in the roster.