DSMC Chapter 127.1

On the first night after returning, Qi Feng noticed that Caramel not only refused to eat at the same table with him, but also wouldn’t sleep on the same bed, and wouldn’t even let him touch it.

If the cat wasn’t still the same one, he would have suspected that Caramel had been swapped out.

Why did the cat become so distant after coming out of the Peak Competition?

Qi Feng tried making Caramel its favorite cat food, but it only took two bites before refusing to eat, then found a corner to curl up and sleep. Whenever he approached, it would open its eyes, extremely vigilant.

The next morning, while Caramel was still asleep, he tried to pet its head as usual, only for it to suddenly open its eyes and scratch the back of his hand. Its sharp claws left three red marks across his skin.

Qi Feng had never seen Caramel like this. It was like a stray cat that had survived in the wild for years, wary of everyone, sensitive and alert.

Clearly, in the game, it had even taken the initiative to follow him.

In the final battle, what exactly had it gone through? Had it been hunted by other players?

When Qi Feng thought about the blood on its back fur, he couldn’t help but imagine that it might have encountered danger in the game. Could the blood have come from an injury during the final battle?

He had watched many documentaries about cats. If a cat had suffered inhumane treatment or lived in the wild for too long, it could develop severe psychological issues. They would not only scratch but also bite, becoming irritable and increasingly wary of humans.

Qi Feng carefully observed for a full day. Caramel didn’t sleep at night at all, lying on the sofa with its glowing eyes fixed on him, as if guarding against something.

He also calmly analyzed Caramel’s situation in the game.

Before entering the Peak Competition, it should have been in an Easy-level instance. As for why it had advanced from Newcomer to Easy so quickly, that still needed investigation.

He was certain that a minimum of Easy-level players could enter the Peak Competition. That meant one thing clearly: his Caramel was already an Easy-level player.

Its previous instance was [Crazy Zoo]. That should have been its first Easy-level instance. It had come out of that instance only two days before being selected together with him for the Peak Competition.

After noticing his cat’s abnormal mood, Qi Feng made a quick decision.

He took Caramel back to the real world.

If Caramel was in a bad mood, then another possible reason for its sudden emotional shift was “newcomer syndrome” in the game.

Many new players, after entering the game, encounter events that clash with their worldview. If emotions build up over time, even the most optimistic person can eventually shut down. Without a way to vent, they may undergo drastic personality changes and even become depressed. As the instances grow more difficult, the situations that challenge one’s values increase, and many players may eventually lose their sanity and fail to survive later instances.

Although Caramel wasn’t human, it had to adapt to a new environment each time it entered a new instance. For it, that was also a new challenge.

Cats need time to adjust to new environments, usually three to five days each time. He suspected that constantly moving between instances had caused Caramel to develop this problem. It might have become depressed from frequent environmental changes.

He had been negligent. He hadn’t noticed his pet’s emotional state.

After the Peak Competition, the rest period before the next instance would be recalculated. The rest interval between Easy-level instances was seven days, so after the competition, there would also be a seven-day break before the next one.

Caramel still had six days before the next instance, so he decided to take it back to improve its mood.

They hadn’t returned to their home in the real world for over a month.

The moment they got home, Caramel sneezed.

The house had been unoccupied for too long and was covered in dust, so Qi Feng immediately called four cleaners to come tidy up.

While the cleaners worked, he took Caramel for a walk around the residential area. This was a familiar environment for it.

Man and cat walked leisurely along the neighborhood paths. The uncles and aunties they met along the way greeted them, and Caramel visibly became less tense.

“Caramel, why haven’t you come watch grandpa play chess lately? The little sparrows in the tree miss you.”

“Caramel, you’re finally out to play! Our sausage dog has been waiting to play with you.” The sausage dog was named Skewer.

“Caramel’s owner, how do you train your cat? It’s so well-behaved. My cat won’t even go outside. It’s scared to death.”

Qi Feng didn’t talk much with the neighbors. In front of others, he was just as aloof as Caramel. But the neighbors entertained themselves well enough and didn’t need his response.

This was the afternoon of the second day after they came out of the Peak Competition.

The real world was bright and sunny. The autumn breeze brushed gently across their faces, bringing a sense of ease and freedom.

Qi Feng’s gaze fell on his cat. In the past, after coming out of the game, he would occasionally take Caramel out for walks. Back then, Caramel had been much more energetic. It would jump between bushes, or teased other people’s dogs and birds.

But today was completely different. After coming out, it just walked with its head down, not even glancing at passing dogs.

Now it lay lazily on a bench in the pavilion, clearly a bit tired.

There were still faint claw marks on the back of Qi Feng’s hand from the night before. The skin had barely been broken and hadn’t bled. The marks were shallow, clearly Caramel had controlled its strength.

He didn’t blame Caramel at all. Animals sometimes couldn’t control their emotions, and owners needed to give them more patience and care.

Qi Feng didn’t know whether the game looked the same through Caramel’s eyes as it did through his. But it seemed that the environments and events in the game also affected its mental state, triggering emotional responses.

Perhaps because it had been raised by his side since it was young and had never lived in the wild, never struggled to find food or faced hardships, this past month of unstable, unpredictable conditions had made it feel abandoned. Maybe that was why it developed depressive symptoms.

Qi Feng tried his best to make Caramel feel more comfortable physically and mentally, but Caramel still didn’t want to interact much. When it looked at him, it only lifted its eyelids briefly before closing them again to bask in the sunlight. Its tail swayed gently, showing signs that its mood was improving.

His own cat could only be spoiled by himself. Even if he got scratched, he would still pamper it. As long as its mood improved, nothing else mattered.

After leaving the game, Qi Feng could no longer see the system interface, giving him a brief sense of relief.

While Caramel basked in the sunlight, Qi Feng took a deep breath of the real world air.

The neighborhood had excellent greenery, and the air was fresh. The recently trimmed grass gave off a fragrant scent. It felt like it had been a long time since he had been this relaxed.

They sat in the pavilion for two or three hours. Without needing to speak, simply accompanying each other like this was enough.

In the evening, the after-school rush began.

Qi Feng noticed that his Caramel got up on its own and started heading home. As it passed by the old men playing Chinese chess, it jumped onto a tree and teased the sparrows perched on the branches.

The old men laughed heartily and praised Caramel.

One old man holding a palm-leaf fan asked with a smile, “Caramel, we’re cooking fish tonight. Want to come eat at my place?”

Another old man with dyed black hair said, “I’m going out for barbecue with my daughter tonight. Caramel, want to come?”

Another old man continued focusing on his chess game.

Qi Feng felt that his Caramel could understand, so he immediately said, “Caramel, let’s go home. I’ll fry some small dried fish for you tonight.”

Caramel flicked its tail and followed Qi Feng home.

The slanting sunset cast long shadows of their figures, one big and one small.

Qi Feng began lecturing his cat. “Caramel, you can’t eat grilled fish or greasy barbecue. If you do, you’ll get diarrhea, stomach pain, maybe even gastroenteritis, and then you’ll have to go to the animal hospital to see a vet.”

Caramel flicked its tail and walked ahead, pretending not to hear.

Behind it, Qi Feng curled his lips slightly, silently smiling.

After returning home, Qi Feng had fresh meat delivered and made a pretty good dinner.

That night, Caramel was finally willing to eat with him.

However, when sleeping at night, it still didn’t get close to him, its owner. At least it no longer curled up elsewhere, but slept on the quilt at the foot of the bed.

In the middle of the night, Qi Feng only felt a weight on his chest. He didn’t even need to guess what it was.

After being taken back to the real world by Qi Feng for two days, Yan Jiyun’s mood wasn’t as low anymore.

With four days left before the next instance, Qi Feng brought Yan Jiyun back into the game.

This time, Qi Feng was troubled. His intimacy level with Caramel was only a pitiful “1” point, and he still couldn’t see Caramel’s current points or cleared content.

The fact that it could enter the Peak Competition meant that its points were already within the Easy-level range.

Qi Feng considered that “Caramel” didn’t appear on the leaderboard during the Peak Competition, which meant its points might not show up on any of the major rankings in Central Zone. This made it impossible for him to track Caramel’s situation in time.

Was Caramel’s point system calculated the same way as players’?

According to normal new player progression, it had only gone through four instances and should still be in Newcomer instances, yet it had already entered the Peak Competition.

Only players who had completed Easy-level instances would receive entry tickets to the Peak Competition.

So far, Caramel had gone through four instances.

Newcomer instances: [Going Home After School], [Midnight Diner], and [Hide and Seek]; 

Easy instance: [Crazy Zoo] 

Under normal point calculations, to jump directly from Newcomer to Easy level, the total points from three instances would need to exceed 100,000.

Was his Caramel really that powerful?

Then he thought of another possibility: Introductory mode in Newcomer instances wouldn’t yield that many points. It could only be from Challenging mode.

He remembered what Qiu Xi had told him before entering the [Hide and Seek] instance. Qiu Xi had entered Challenging mode, while he had selected Introductory mode for Caramel. Based on current conclusions, Caramel must have entered Challenging mode instead of Introductory mode; and the only one who could change that was the system.

Why?

Qi Feng asked the system and got the final answer: because of the master-pet system. One was the main account, and the other a sub-account. The sub-account was influenced by some of the main account’s data, and players under the sub-account could only choose Challenging mode in Newcomer instances. 

This time, Qi Feng didn’t dare randomly choose instances for his cat.

The only capable newcomer he could think of was Yan Jiyun. But Yan Jiyun didn’t know about Caramel’s existence, and in the end, he had eliminated him. If he approached him now, the other party would definitely ignore him.

That path was blocked.

Qiu Xi should also have entered Easy instances, so he tried contacting him again.

But before he could reach Qiu Xi, he discovered that Caramel was no longer in his space!