DSMC Chapter 126.2

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“Ahhh, is Kitty Baby’s championship run just ending like this?”

“Wait, can someone tell me why for other players, options 1 and 2 are both horror content, but only the kitten can still choose getting loots?”

“It’s simple. Kitty Baby didn’t use the information card he got in the Dragon Door sub-instance, and in the final choice he happened to pick a dragon-related instance. By chance, didn’t it turn from a horror instance into a tourism one? Though normally, option 3 should be total annihilation. But, well, he is special, so it’s not strange.”

“Makes sense, thanks for the analysis, boss. If you hadn’t mentioned the information card, I would’ve forgotten.”

“See you in the next instance, kitten!”

“Wait, will the relationship between Mimi and the level 5 streamer become strained because of the final battle?”

“I didn’t want to bring it up at first, but now that I think about it, I also really want to know. Will it or not? Forget it, I’ll just keep watching Kitty Baby’s livestream and wait for a follow-up!”

At this moment, after entering the vortex, Yan Jiyun only felt a dizzying spin. His body was too light, and he felt like everything in his stomach was about to be shaken out.

It really was a championship competition, it was so intense it almost shook a person apart.

Just as he felt like he was about to disappear, his body suddenly landed steadily.

He stood firmly on the ground. This time, however, there were people all around him, and none of them were players he recognized.

In the previous instance’s temporary rest area, there had only been himself. But this time, he was surrounded by people. Was this the exit area of the championship?

Not the temporary rest area he had previously known?

In front of him, quite a few players were either standing or sitting.

Yan Jiyun quietly moved to hide behind one of them. His spawn position was relatively toward the back, and he hadn’t caused any big commotion.

It was probably because He Yuanle’s loud shouting of “ahhh” was more attention-grabbing, so the other players didn’t notice his appearance.

[Congratulations to player Yan Jiyun for becoming the 87th surviving player in Division 7 of this Peak Competition!]

There was another reason for doing this: Qi Feng’s system would receive a notification that “Caramel” had exited the game. If he stood in front of Qi Feng at this moment while Qi Feng heard that notification, it would be hard not to associate it with him.

More and more players were coming out of the game.

Aside from the players who died in the Demon Forest, amusement projects, and 1v1 battles, all the others who won their matches came out.

As for those who lost in 1v1 battles but gained an extra chance to choose again, only a small portion managed to escape.

After coming out, Yan Jiyun immediately asked the system to renew his human form. 

The moment it was renewed, he let out a sigh of relief.

He had just steadied himself when he saw Qi Feng and Chu Mo walking toward him.

Chu Mo lightly patted his shoulder, “You’re out?”

Yan Jiyun looked up at the frowning Qi Feng. Qi Feng was worried about his own cat, but his current expression made it seem as if he was dissatisfied that Yan Jiyun had come out safely.

After all, from others’ perspective, Qi Feng had personally eliminated Yan Jiyun.

When Qi Feng saw the newcomer come out, he let out a sigh of relief, “Good thing you came out safely.”

Yan Jiyun wasn’t in high spirits. The dizziness was still there, and his face was a bit pale. Afraid that he might vomit if he spoke, he simply nodded.

Seeing his poor complexion, Chu Mo said, “Qi Feng already told me everything just now.”

Yan Jiyun let out a breath and said, “It’s understandable. After all, I couldn’t beat him anyway.”

Qi Feng was still frustrated that he hadn’t received a notification that Caramel had exited the game.

But without even asking the system, he could guess the reason.

Since they had entered the same instance together, the system assumed he already knew Caramel’s movements, so it didn’t send any notification.

Only when he saw the “in-game” status in the main pet panel change to “online” did his heart settle.

Since his Caramel had come out, why hadn’t he seen it?

One thing he still couldn’t figure out: Caramel was also a player, so why wasn’t its name on the leaderboard?

Was it because it wasn’t human, so it wasn’t included?

The leaderboard in the Peak Competition rest plaza no longer changed.

After no more players came out of the exit, the system announced the final result.

[This Peak Competition has successfully concluded. Congratulations to all surviving players.]

[This Peak Competition will award points based on the ranking at which players left the game.]

[All surviving players can view the points ranking on the big screen.]

While Qi Feng was searching for the black cat, his body suddenly paused.

[Congratulations, your intimacy with your pet has increased by 1 point.]

[Unfortunately, your intimacy with your pet has decreased by 1 point.]

Qi Feng: ???

Why would it decrease by 1 point? Increasing by 1 and then decreasing by 1, doesn’t that just cancel out?

Yan Jiyun, on the other hand, was drawn by the next notification.

[Congratulations, your intimacy with your master has increased by 1 point.]

[Unfortunately, your intimacy with your master has decreased by 1 point.]

[1/100]

Yan Jiyun: “……”

Well then, after all that back and forth, the intimacy was still just 1 point.

How exactly was this intimacy calculated?

Yan Jiyun didn’t want to think about it too much. He could understand gaining 1 point in the Demon Forest. They had cooperated to defeat the tentacle monster.

He could also understand the second +1; they worked together to escape Angel City and found the clock tower exit, successfully solving the puzzle.

Then what about the -1? Where did that come from?

There was only the final match left. That is, the “pet” lost to the “master.” Did the system judge that the “pet” had developed resentment toward the “master”?

Seeing that both Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun weren’t talking much and that the plaza exit was now open, Chu Mo figured they might have developed a conflict because of the final match. He decided to slip away first. This kind of thing was too common, and he didn’t want to get involved.

“Qi Feng, Yan Jiyun, I’ll head back to the guild first. See you if we have the chance.” After thinking for a moment, he added, “Want to add each other as friends?”

He had originally wanted to add them as friends, but given the situation, it felt awkward no matter who he added or didn’t add. Although the three of them had cooperated well, they were only temporary teammates and didn’t fully trust each other.

Yan Jiyun reacted first. Why not add him? He needed to learn more about the game, and aside from Qi Feng, Chu Mo was the second veteran player he knew.

He added Chu Mo as a friend and then gave him a slight smile. “See you if we have the chance.”

Chu Mo added both of them as friends and then left the plaza directly.

As for Yan Jiyun, he had no intention of adding Qi Feng. Doing so would expose him.

After the final match’s matching mechanism, Qi Feng had chosen to eliminate him without hesitation. He understood one thing: the best approach was to enter instances with Qi Feng as little as possible. Their matching probability was too high, and there was also malicious intent from the game involved. He couldn’t count on getting an extra survival opportunity from the system every time.

Yan Jiyun stood face to face with Qi Feng: “I’m leaving too. Goodbye.”

Qi Feng’s mind was mostly occupied with the pet intimacy system, but he still spared a bit of attention. As for the final match, he said nothing.

He knew Yan Jiyun probably didn’t want to run into him again. Since the other party didn’t bring up adding friends, he naturally wouldn’t either.

Once they parted, it was back to going their separate ways.

It was Yan Jiyun’s first time entering an instance with his “owner,” and being matched together left him somewhat uncomfortable. He knew Qi Feng’s choice wasn’t wrong. No one would give up their own chance of survival for a newcomer they had just met.

Feeling a bit stifled, he left the temporary rest plaza.

He knew that in the future, there would only be more and more choices like this.

Qi Feng, on the other hand, stayed behind. He glanced at the newcomer’s departing back, remembering that there seemed to be a wound on his back. He shook his head and continued searching for Caramel in the plaza, wondering where it had run off to.

After leaving the Peak Competition, Yan Jiyun originally planned to return alone to the small place he rented.

For two days, he had been exhausting both his physical and mental energy without proper rest. But when it came time to truly leave, he found himself unable to move his feet.

He still didn’t know where his shit-shovel officer was currently staying.

In life, it’s hard to have everything both ways.

Is there any way for him to temporarily escape the choice between being a cat and being human?

If there’s no choice, then he’ll just follow his heart.

Yan Jiyun wanted to find a place to hide first, but he didn’t expect someone to be tailing him from behind.

The sound of those footsteps even felt familiar… why was He Yuanle following him?

He deliberately slowed his pace and stopped.

He Yuanle caught up to him, panting. “Wait, Yan Jiyun, can we add each other as friends? If possible, can I team up with you in future instances?”

Yan Jiyun looked him up and down: “……”

He Yuanle quickly tried to promote himself. “Don’t judge me by how thin and weak I look. I rely on my brains, not strength.”

Yan Jiyun pointed at himself. “Do I look like someone who can protect you?”

Before He Yuanle could respond, a snorting laugh came from behind him. It was the injured young man, whose shoulder had been treated when he entered the Central Zone. Now he had the energy to laugh at He Yuanle.

He Yuanle snapped, “Cheng Shang, what are you laughing at?”

So the injured young man was called Cheng Shang. They had gotten familiar pretty quickly.

Yan Jiyun’s pent-up frustration was half-dissolved by their interruption.

He Yuanle asked, “Can I add you as a friend? Even if we might not end up in the same instances, I still want to get to know you.”

After being asked twice, Yan Jiyun finally agreed, including Cheng Shang as well.

Cheng Shang said, “Thank you for saving me this time. I’ll definitely repay you when I get the chance.”

Adding friends didn’t reveal much information, so Yan Jiyun didn’t refuse.

However, what he had gone through this time left a deep impression, and his mood wasn’t very high.

After that, he parted ways with Cheng Shang and He Yuanle.

As they left, he overheard a player emphasizing to his friend: “Look, I’m telling you, I was really first place this time! The idiot across from me surrendered right at the start!”

“But you’re not first place.”

“The system judged me for cheating and locked me in a black room for twenty minutes before letting me out. I was so pissed I almost exploded.”

The burly man’s friend clearly didn’t believe him. “Pssh, yeah right, who would surrender right at the start.”

Yan Jiyun thought of He Yuanle. There actually was someone like that. Hard to say whether the burly man was unlucky or lucky.

When Yan Jiyun left the area, it was just the afternoon, and the sky was already darkening.

In the end, he didn’t return to his rented place. Knowing that Qi Feng had been searching for “Caramel,” he found a dim alley to hide in first.

Half an hour later, Qi Feng finally came out of the plaza with a gloomy face and a dejected air that only Yan Jiyun could discern.

The plaza was far from the crowds, and there were hardly any people around.

Yan Jiyun stood at the entrance of the alley, watching Qi Feng.

Only when Qi Feng saw the pair of faint green glowing “little bulbs” at the alley entrance did the tension on his face ease.

He quickly walked up to Yan Jiyun. “Caramel! When did you come out?”

During their previous two meetings, Caramel had been very affectionate toward him. Why did it seem so cold this time?

Yan Jiyun raised his right paw and slapped his left cheek. Revenge achieved.

Qi Feng showed no dissatisfaction at all. He hurriedly tucked the cat into his clothes.

His voice trembled slightly as he said, “I almost thought you died in the Peak Competition.”

Yan Jiyun rested his chin on his chest, filled with melancholy.

He closed his eyes in exhaustion, until Qi Feng brought him back to their new residence.

Qi Feng now felt as though he had regained something lost. He brought Caramel back to his personal space.

He knew Caramel, but it wasn’t convenient to bathe him often, so he took a hot towel to wipe his paws. Then, he reached the fur on Caramel’s back.

The hot towel turned red, stained entirely with blood!

Qi Feng was so startled that he quickly checked his back. “Caramel, when did you get injured?”

Yan Jiyun had been enjoying himself, but was startled by him.

After coming out of the game, his injuries had already healed automatically. The bloodstains on his back fur were probably left from when the wound had split open earlier.

Qi Feng carefully checked his entire body. Only after confirming there were no other wounds did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But over the next day, he discovered that his Caramel had suddenly become distant from him.