DSMC Chapter 136

“Meow~”

When Yan Jiyun opened his eyes again, he realized he was no longer in Teacher Qu’s apartment, but back in a music classroom inside the music building.

The sight of the familiar curtains nearly scared him out of his wits, and he let out a startled meow. How had he ended up back in the music classroom??

Once he fully woke up, he understood he had fallen for Teacher Qu’s trick. The incense in his apartment had been tampered with. It was his own fault for not noticing that burning incense could affect him.

Teacher Qu could have simply carried him out of the apartment, so why go through the trouble of knocking him unconscious? In the other party’s eyes, he was just a kitten.

Waking up in an unfamiliar place in the middle of the night instantly amplified the horror atmosphere.

Where was Teacher Qu? Where was Teacher Qu No. 2?

Could someone come out and explain why he had been brought here?

Could it be that Teacher Qu and his double really had to carry out NPC duties at night, scaring players who entered the music building?

[Time remaining until the instance ends: 6d 15h 32m 11s]

Seven hours had passed since the afternoon.

When they first entered the instance, it was around 3 PM. Now it was about 10 PM—exactly the time when the “piano sound” rumor was supposed to occur.

While half-asleep earlier, he really had heard piano music. Was it actually related to Teacher Qu?

So far, he hadn’t noticed any other NPCs.

Fortunately, Teacher Qu hadn’t restrained his freedom.

He just couldn’t open the classroom door to get out, so he considered making noise to call for help from other players.

At this hour, there should be quite a few players in the music building.

Not just players. He also heard NPCs screaming. He remembered now; they were the students who said they were going to explore the building at night.

Some NPCs were brave, others timid.

“I really hear piano music!”

“But which room is it coming from?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have come tonight… Jiang Shiwen just jumped off a building. I’m kind of scared.”

“Stop talking, stop talking… I feel creeped out. Honey, maybe we should go back. I’m scared.”

“Don’t be afraid, Babe. It’s nothing real. Just hold my hand!”

Yan Jiyun’s memory resurfaced, recalling the list he had found at Teacher Qu’s place.

What he saw was the “Proposed Training List for the National Singing Competition,” not the “Final Confirmed List.”

And Jiang Shiwen’s name was indeed on the proposed list. So who wanted to kill her?

Teacher Qu? But if it were him, it would be too obvious. The instance wouldn’t place the killer so plainly in view.

Of course, if the killer were Teacher Qu, the method would be simple. Since he could use incense to knock him out, he could do the same to Jiang Shiwen, then push her off a building, making it look like suicide.

But that was only a logical speculation. Jiang Shiwen’s death didn’t quite feel like Teacher Qu’s doing, yet all the clues he had gathered pointed toward Teacher Qu and his double.

Hearing movement outside, the fear he felt upon waking subsided a little.

It had been a while since he’d stayed in cat form this long, it actually felt quite comfortable. He almost forgot he could turn back into a human to open the door.

Still, he decided to wait a bit longer. What if a player opened the door for him?

The couple and their classmates passed by earlier. Soon after, he heard screams from behind, shouts about ghosts. This time, it didn’t sound like NPCs, but players.

Yan Jiyun remained calm. This wasn’t the first group to claim the music building was haunted.

For now, he didn’t want to revert to human form. He wanted to know where Teacher Qu had gone after bringing him here.

There was still a faint scent of incense on him, probably from when Teacher Qu carried him over. But where had the man gone?

Playing piano on the third floor?

That didn’t make sense. If a player saw someone openly playing piano at this hour, they’d realize it was just a person, not anything related to a ghostly rumor.

Yan Jiyun heard someone pushing at the classroom door. He stayed silent, even regretting the earlier meows. Maybe instead of getting help, he’d just scare people. After all, black cats were often part of horror stories too.

Still, he had gained something, that is, he heard Gu Wenzhu’s voice. Though their guesses about the cat and the main storyline were a bit off.

If he joined them now, it would waste his Human Form Time Card. Better to follow behind them quietly and only transform when necessary.

Gu Wenzhu was clever, deliberately guiding others to reveal more about Jiang Shiwen. It seemed he had been in the self-study session earlier. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have missed the news of her fall.

Just as Yan Jiyun was about to hide, he noticed the curtain sway, and the elusive Teacher Qu No. 2 suddenly appeared.

Both shared the same incense scent, making them easy to identify, though there were subtle differences. Teacher Qu often handled inked sheet music, carrying a faint ink fragrance amidst the sandalwood, while his double had a hint of mint mixed in.

Dressed entirely in black, Teacher Qu No. 2 scooped Yan Jiyun into his arms and hid behind the door.

“Guoba, don’t make a sound,” he said.

Yan Jiyun rolled his eyes. “Guoba” was such an awful name.

He was still confused. What were these two brothers up to? Was it really necessary to knock him out and bring him here?

Why would they pay this much attention to a cat?

Unless… they were setting up some kind of scheme, and he was just a chess piece.

Teacher Qu No. 2 wore black from head to toe, even his mask. Hidden behind the door, no one could recognize him.

Since there was nothing to investigate in the classroom, Yan Jiyun stayed quiet.

When everyone outside had their backs turned, Teacher Qu No. 2 stepped out in one swift motion, moving like a gust of wind as he left the room.

That “gust” brushed past the last player.

“Why do I feel a chill on my back? Like a breeze just passed?”

“I think I saw a black shadow just now,” a female player said.

The others replied, “We didn’t notice anything.”

Gu Wenzhu looked puzzled. “We just heard a cat meow. Why is it gone? It was right here.”

Qiu Xi nodded. He had heard it too.

Meanwhile, Yan Jiyun was carried toward the third floor by Teacher Qu No. 2. Along the way, he heard screams coming from different classrooms.

Strange… there were clearly many players, but he barely saw anyone. What was going on?

He craned his neck to peek into classrooms, but didn’t see a single person.

Before Gu Wenzhu and the others arrived, the piano music had been intermittent. After Teacher Qu No. 2 appeared, it had completely stopped.

Yan Jiyun was baffled. Where exactly was Teacher Qu No. 2 heading? He watched for a while but couldn’t figure it out.

Suddenly, he saw a player burst out of a classroom, slamming the door open. Fighting him was a masked NPC, knife in hand, lunging to stab.

The player wasn’t weak. He braced his leg against the NPC’s chest and kicked him away.

At the same time, the sounds of fighting echoed all around.

Taking advantage of the moment when Teacher Qu No. 2 wasn’t holding him too tightly, Yan Jiyun kicked off his arm, leapt out of his embrace, and dashed toward the third floor.

Teacher Qu No. 2 chased after him, lowering his voice as he called, “Guoba, come back. Don’t run around!”

Yan Jiyun had no intention of being knocked out a second time and completely ignored him.

After reaching the third floor, he rushed into the piano classroom where they had lessons during the day. Strangely, the piano inside was old and worn, not the new one Teacher Qu used earlier. The only thing in the room now was the dust stirred up when he pushed the door open.

He sneezed softly.

Had the game’s environment changed? When did it happen?

The second time he came to this building, he could clearly hear both piano music and players’ footsteps. But now that he was upstairs, he couldn’t hear Gu Wenzhu or Qiu Xi at all.

The fur on Yan Jiyun’s back bristled in fright. He needed to leave the piano room immediately.

Just then, he heard several NPCs approaching.

They were likely students. They pushed open the door behind him and entered.

Were there really this many NPC groups exploring supernatural events?

He had heard the couple downstairs earlier, but the seven students on this floor were clearly not part of that group. And these NPCs were much bolder.

Yan Jiyun hid behind the old piano, watching what they intended to do.

A familiar female voice asked, “Are we really going to play spirit plate here?”

…Wait. Isn’t that Cheng Su’s voice? She shouldn’t be here; why is she here? 

Another student said, “Why not? It’s exciting.”

Cheng Su replied, “But it looks so scary. The music building hasn’t been used for years… it feels really eerie.”

A male student said, “That’s exactly the atmosphere we want.”

Yan Jiyun: ???

Hadn’t the music building been in use all along? Why did everything change after just one nap?

Had he entered a dream constructed by Teacher Qu, seeing a different version of reality?

And how did this relate to the [Mermaid] main storyline?

The fur on his body stood on end again.

The seven continued their spirit invocation game¹Kinda like Ouija board, calling spirit using a medium. But this one is using a makeshift board.. From his observation, not all of them were NPCs; two appeared calm and composed. They were likely players.

There was a group on the second floor investigating the “piano sound” rumor, and now another group on the third floor playing a summoning game. How could one building contain so many rumors, and all in the same place?

The campus was huge. Couldn’t these things happen elsewhere?

He had some experience with scene changes. In the [Hide and Seek] instance, there had been environmental shifts, but that was driven by gameplay mechanics. It hadn’t required players to uncover a storyline; that had come from interacting with NPCs. It didn’t seem like a reliable comparison.

So why was this happening?

Had he triggered something that pulled him into a sub-instance within the music building?

Those two calmer “students” looked like him — that is, players whose ages had been reduced — so they must be part of the same instance.

Could there be another hidden rumor related to music?

That didn’t seem right either. He had seen the school brochure. Ever since its founding, the music building has always been highly regarded. It had never declined, and the building itself was newly constructed.

Music students had won multiple awards, and the building was a place many aspired to. How could it look like this?

Yan Jiyun couldn’t make sense of it for now, so he stayed crouched in the corner, watching them play.

He had never played this kind of game. Watching others play was a completely different experience.

These games were notorious for people scaring themselves to death.

He wanted to know which rumor this group corresponded to.

As he carefully examined their faces, it became even more frightening than the game itself.

The NPC on the far right looked strangely familiar… wasn’t that Han Ruibai?

Why was he here?

Yan Jiyun clearly remembered sending him back to the dorm after he had been attacked. With his injuries, he shouldn’t be out playing games at all.

A thought flashed through Yan Jiyun’s mind. He felt like he was starting to understand something, though it was still messy.

He hadn’t considered that possibility before, but now he seemed to have grasped a thread. He needed more observation to confirm.

The spirit invocation game continued. Yan Jiyun guessed that among the five NPCs, one was deliberately guiding the others here, either for revenge or a prank.

He leaned toward the former.

Looking at the pale and clean-cut Han Ruibai, this version was different from the one he knew. This one seemed gloomier, quieter. The Han Ruibai he knew, though somewhat cold, still had warmth.

It was baffling.

What he wanted to know most was the relationship between these two versions. The same person, but with different sides?

At that moment, the small plate under the five NPCs’ fingers began to move.

The round-faced boy exclaimed, “Wow, it’s moving!”

Beneath the plate was a cloth covered in words.

Their fingers seemed guided by some force, moving the plate across characters. The boy read aloud, “W-h-a-t… d-o… y-o-u… w-a-n-t… t-o… a-s-k?”

Han Ruibai, who hadn’t spoken until now, suddenly said, “Why don’t we ask if Mirror Lake is really that effective?”

A classmate teased, “Xiao Bai, wow. You can’t judge a book by its cover. Do you have someone you like?”

Han Ruibai shook his head. His gloomy expression vanished, replaced by a slight blush. “No, I’m asking for my desk mate. She asked me about it today.”

A nosy boy chimed in, “Don’t tell me you like your desk mate?”

Han Ruibai replied, “Don’t talk nonsense. She already has a boyfriend.”

“Mirror Lake”?

Yan Jiyun hadn’t explored the entire campus, but he did know there was a lake called Mirror Lake.

From their conversation, did it have its own rumor too?

And wasn’t Han Ruibai’s desk mate supposed to be a player? Why had she suddenly become a girl?

Han Ruibai’s rapid change in demeanor created a strong sense of dissonance, as if Yan Jiyun were watching two separate storylines, like the same actor playing roles in two different dramas.

But with so many NPCs in the school, there was no need to reuse the same group, was there?

The round-faced boy said, “Wow, it says it works. Should we go try it?”

Another asked, “Go now?”

Their fingers hadn’t left the plate, which moved on its own toward the word “Go.”

Everyone instantly got goosebumps.

Even Yan Jiyun felt a chill. Was this thing real?

Someone hesitated. “Maybe not. I want to go back and sleep.”

The plate moved again, spelling out four words: “Do not go. Death.”

Yan Jiyun’s view was blocked, so he couldn’t see their expressions. But something clearly changed.

Some of them panicked.

“I’m not playing anymore!”

“Me neither, what the hell is this?”

“Why are our fingers stuck together?”

Their fingers kept circling over those same four words.

“Ahhh!”

After being scared out of their wits, the students’ fingers finally separated, and they fled the classroom in panic.

Even the two players took a couple of steps back in fright before leaving as well.

In just a moment, only Yan Jiyun and the pale-faced Han Ruibai were left in the classroom. Han Ruibai seemed too weak in the legs from fright to get up.

He tried to stand, but when he saw the two glowing “lightbulb eyes” by the piano, his vision rolled back and he fainted on the spot.

Yan Jiyun hadn’t expected Han Ruibai to be this easily frightened. How could he be so fragile, fainting just like that?

With such a big person collapsed on the ground, Yan Jiyun wasn’t even scared anymore.

He jumped onto Han Ruibai’s chest and lightly patted his face. To avoid scaring him into fainting again, he kept his movements gentle.

The faint didn’t last long. Han Ruibai was quickly awakened by him, but the moment he saw the black cat up close, he nearly fainted again. However, having just seen those “lightbulb eyes,” he managed to hold it together this time and instead scrambled to his feet and ran off.

Yan Jiyun suspected he hadn’t fully lost consciousness in the first place.

He chased after Han Ruibai.

Previously, it was because of Han Ruibai that he had been drugged and brought into the music building; this time, it was also because of Han Ruibai that he ran out of it.

The two players and the students who had fled earlier were waiting downstairs. They were quite loyal, still waiting for Han Ruibai.

As soon as Han Ruibai came out, they waved at him frantically. “Over here, over here!”

Yan Jiyun quietly followed behind them.

He remembered that in the spirit invocation game earlier, they had been instructed to go to the so-called Mirror Lake to test whether making wishes would come true.

“Why did you run so slowly?”

Han Ruibai didn’t mention being scared into fainting by a black cat as it would be too embarrassing. So he made up a small lie: “I got startled and fell.”

They discussed whether they should follow the spirit plate’s instructions and go to Mirror Lake to try making wishes. That last part had been too terrifying.

The first floor of the music building was overgrown with weeds. Yan Jiyun casually found a spot to crouch in, and the seven of them didn’t notice him.

He continued tailing Han Ruibai and the others all the way to the so-called Mirror Lake.

The bright moonlight reflected on the lake’s surface, making it look just like a mirror, as if the moon itself had been pressed onto it.

Without any prior context, Yan Jiyun had no idea what kind of legend or story was associated with Mirror Lake.

Han Ruibai and the others walked along the lakeside path until they saw a statue rising halfway out of the water in the middle of the lake.

It was a mermaid statue!

Yan Jiyun’s mind almost stopped working.

Why would a mermaid statue appear here?

The round-faced boy said, “I heard that if couples make a wish to the mermaid under the moonlight, there’s a high chance their wish will come true.”

One of the players asked, “What if you’re not a couple?”

The round-faced boy shook his head, troubled. “No idea. We’ve never really explored before. Who knew tonight would be this exciting? Since the spirit said wishing to the mermaid would be very effective, why don’t we each make a wish? If we don’t, will the spirit really make us die?”

Yan Jiyun excluded the two players and carefully observed the five NPCs. Every one of them was acting perfectly. There was no obvious difference in their behavior.

Cheng Su said, “Then let’s make wishes. I want to get into the best music academy in the country!”

Why had Han Ruibai and Cheng Su become friends in this storyline, instead of having that push-and-pull relationship of one liking the other and being rejected?

Yan Jiyun kept watching patiently.

Everyone began making wishes. Aside from Cheng Su, who spoke hers aloud, the others silently wished in their hearts.

Among the five NPCs, two had already appeared during the day, while the other three had not.

Wait. Cheng Su’s wish was related to music. Could that imply Jiang Shiwen’s death was connected to her?

But looking at the surroundings, this place was somewhat different from the school he had seen before he fainted.

Han Ruibai was the last to open his eyes after making his wish. At that moment, Yan Jiyun suddenly heard a system notification in his ear.

[Congratulations to the player for triggering Main Mission 1: Their Wish.]

[Mission details: what wish did Han Ruibai, Cheng Su, Wang Ziming, Liu Yixuan, and Yang Pingping make together?]

A shared wish?

What did that mean?

That meant all five of them had something to hide. They had made a wish related to the same matter.

So Cheng Su’s real wish wasn’t the one she just said about getting into the best music academy?

No wonder she was in a regular class instead of an art class.

Wait.

He checked his system again. Why did he have two “Main Mission 1” entries?

Was the system bugging out?

Wasn’t there only supposed to be one main mission 1 per instance?

Where did this extra one come from?

Could it be that after the system updated the difficulty to Level 4, it actually stacked another instance on top of the original one?

The same setting, but two different instances?

What kind of terrible karma had he accumulated to be “fortunate” enough to receive two instance quests?

Did that mean while others had seven days to clear one instance, he had to clear two in the same time? That effectively cut his time per instance down to 3.5 days!

He flopped onto the grass listlessly.

Forget leaving the instance. He might as well just grow old and die here.

He had never expected his earlier guess to turn out to be true.

With a sudden flip, Yan Jiyun sprang back up from the grass. If he had two instance quests, then didn’t that mean the other players did too?

No, he had to hurry back to the building and find Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi!

Two instances, the same NPCs, different identities, different plots, different main missions — he couldn’t handle this alone. He would go crazy.

Better for everyone to go crazy together than just him alone.

After the five NPCs and the two disguised players headed back toward the dormitory, Yan Jiyun ran alone toward the music building.

But when he reached the entrance, he found the doors chained shut.

Earlier, he could still hear players screaming from inside, but now there was only silence.

Why was the door locked?

Where were Teacher Qu and Teacher Qu No. 2?

Where had they gone?

Damn it, how was he supposed to get back into the other instance?!

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  Kinda like Ouija board, calling spirit using a medium. But this one is using a makeshift board.