DSMC Chapter 145.2

After heading downstairs, they happened to run into Han Ruibai, who was on his way to the music building.

Han Ruibai had been walking toward the music building while they were heading in the opposite direction, and that’s how the two parties crossed paths.

Xue Ping had only just confessed his worries about Han Ruibai to Qi Feng. Now that he’d encountered the actual person, his face immediately flushed red.

Qi Feng carried the backpack and hadn’t heard any movement from inside. He assumed Caramel was feeling stuffy. Just as he was about to check on him, he noticed Xue Ping’s bright-red ears. His gaze was burning as he followed the handsome boy walking past them. Qi Feng recognized him, because he had seen him yesterday when he and Xue Ping had been playing basketball, this was the boy who had called Xue Ping over.

Unable to stop himself, Xue Ping shoved both hands into his pockets and tried to look cool. In a deep voice, he asked, “Han Ruibai, why aren’t you in class? Where are you going?”

Han Ruibai had been walking with his head down and hadn’t noticed them. Now that he did, he smiled. “A classmate said Qu-laoshi was looking for me. I’m heading to the music building.”

The moment Qi Feng heard the words “Teacher Qu,” he feigned confusion. “Qu-laoshi? I just saw him return to the teachers’ apartments.”

Upon hearing this, the redness on Xue Ping’s ears faded. “Han Ruibai, wait a minute. Teachers usually go back to their apartments to rest. There’s no reason they would ask you to go to the music building.” Having learned from yesterday’s experience, he became wary. “Who asked you to go to the music building?”

Yan Jiyun also wanted to know. At least he had stumbled upon Han Ruibai by accident, and hadn’t fallen into a trap set by someone else.

Seeing how nervous they were, Han Ruibai also felt the same. “A student I don’t know… in fact, I’ve never seen him before.”

He felt a bit scared when he thought about it now.

Qi Feng asked for more details., “Are you just being asked to go to the music building? Or to the teacher’s office?”

Han Ruibai: “He just said the music building, and I thought he was from the teacher’s office, so I followed his instruction.”

Xue Ping said, “I want to see who’s trying to trick you into going to the music building.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed towards the music building.

Qi Feng quickly grabbed him. “Wait, I’ll go with you.”

Xue Ping patted Qi Feng on the shoulder. He said in a loyal manner, “Ge, I owe you a favor!”

Qi Feng didn’t like being touched, but he didn’t say anything and endured it.

“Okay.” After all, it’s not easy to make an NPC owe him a favor.

Han Ruibai: “Xue Ping, what are you going there for? I’m perfectly fine, who would lie to me about that?” 

In front of Han Ruibai, Xue Ping became harsher. “Shut up, you almost got tricked. Can’t you be a little more vigilant?”

Yan Jiyun silently agreed. ‘That’s right. Han Ruibai, you are like a naive and innocent girl.’

Under Xue Ping’s half-fierce, half-caring attitude, all of them went to the music building together. 

Yan Jiyun didn’t understand why it had to be the music building. Was it because it was the farthest building from the main teaching building? Was there room for maneuver?

Han Ruibai’s name is on the second list… will he become the next victim? 

Only those on that list know the truth; the other person must have had a very good relationship with the deceased classmate.

But who was the closest to that classmate?

Did they live in the same dormitory during the training camp?

It would be much easier if close friends shared a dorm room. 

What was the name of the student who committed suicide?

Yan Jiyun still had a bunch of questions swirling in his mind, but they were all about the unknown details. 

As they approached  the music building, Han Ruibai suggested, “Why don’t I go in first? The person who led me here definitely wouldn’t come out if they saw all of us.” 

Qi Feng said, “How about I go around to the stairwell via that side path first?”

Xue Ping asked Han Ruibai with concern, “Are you sure you’ll be okay going in alone?”

Han Ruibai: “It’s broad daylight now, and there are other classes in the music building, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.”

Yan Jiyun was not as optimistic as they were. Since the other party was able to kill the students without anyone noticing, they must have a way to deal with it. They had to pay close attention to their surroundings.

Qi Feng and the others agreed on a time. He went to the music building first, while Xue Ping followed behind Han Ruibai, making it appear as if Han Ruibai went to the music building alone.

There were many tree branches around the music building that could provide cover, so he found a spot to crawl inside.

A short while later, Han Ruibai walked over here.

Yan Jiyun crawled out of the backpack and stood close to Qi Feng’s calf to get some fresh air.

Qi Feng stuffed him back into his backpack so he wouldn’t lose his cat while waiting for others. Yan Jiyun understood his concerns and obediently shrunk back into the backpack, though his head was sticking out.

Han Ruibai was getting closer and closer to the music building.

But strangely, he hasn’t heard any other footsteps approaching the music building.

Could it be that the other party intended to commit the crime in a classroom in the music building?

Han Ruibai saw Qi Feng hiding behind the bushes and breathed a sigh of relief. He pretended not to know anything and continued to approach the music building.

Just as he reached the entrance of the music building, a sudden tremor came from inside, and chaotic footsteps were heard coming from the classrooms on the second floor.

Yan Jiyun heard someone shout, “Fire!”

Not long after the class bell rang, the students still hadn’t fully settled into their seats. The students fled at incredible speed, rushing toward the stairways all at once. Han Ruibai had only just reached the entrance of the music building when students came pouring out from the second floor. In the blink of an eye, by the time Qi Feng reached the entrance, Han Ruibai was nowhere to be seen!

Qi Feng clicked his tongue.

It was the first time Yan Jiyun had heard Qi Feng privately vent his impatience. So he had emotions like that too.

In the real world, Qi Feng was a flawless cat owner. In the game, he was a high-level player with his own team. His teammates respected and admired him, and to newcomers, he was already a top-tier expert.

If they hadn’t entered the same instance this time, Yan Jiyun would never have discovered this side of him.

All this time, Qi Feng’s impression score in Yan Jiyun’s mind had been extremely high. But now it seemed he was just an ordinary person too, with all kinds of emotions.

Alright, that’s enough off topic.

Yan Jiyun turned his attention back to the now-vanished Han Ruibai. It wasn’t easy to pick out his footsteps among hundreds of students. He guessed that the person behind all this had already considered the possibility that Han Ruibai might run into other people. They had deliberately created the fire emergency scene and started carrying out their plan the moment Han Ruibai reached this area.

And they had succeeded.

But another question surfaced in his mind.

When so many students had been flooding out of the second floor, Han Ruibai knew perfectly well there were two allies waiting outside. Why hadn’t he followed the crowd and escaped? Or after being captured by the mysterious person, why hadn’t he shouted Xue Ping’s name and asked him for help?

Was it intentional or not?

There were simply too many people, and the scene was far too chaotic. Both Qi Feng and Xue Ping, who had run over, looked grim.

“The other side planned this ahead of time. Damn it!” Xue Ping cursed and charged into the music building. But students were still rushing out, and one of them even collided with him. Xue Ping ended up blocked outside.

Qi Feng didn’t force his way in. Since the other party had thought of this tactic, they must have made thorough preparations.

At that moment, Yan Jiyun glanced at Main Mission 4.

[Main Mission 4: “The Next One”]

[Mission Details: Find the next person who will be murdered.]

The next person to be killed might be Han Ruibai, but it also might not be.

If he approached the situation from another angle, Han Ruibai himself could be the mysterious mastermind. No matter how one looked at it, his suspicion couldn’t be completely ruled out.

Seeing that Qi Feng wasn’t nervous at all and wasn’t chasing after him, Yan Jiyun suspected he already had some ideas.

Qi Feng had met Xue Ping first. Unlike Yan Jiyun, who had once been helped by Han Ruibai and therefore carried certain biases, Qi Feng had no preconceptions. He probably saw the situation more clearly than Yan Jiyun did. And right now, they were dealing with Xue Ping, who had developed romantic feelings for Han Ruibai. Naturally, this suspicion couldn’t be voiced aloud.

If Han Ruibai had a next target, then that target would definitely be someone from the arts examination class.

The training camp roster from back then had consisted of first-year students, but now they were all third-years. The next target couldn’t be from another grade. Besides the first- and second-year students attending classes in the music building, only the third year arts students remained.

Which arts class was currently having lessons in the music building?

He spotted Wang Ziming.

Wang Ziming and Liu Yixuan should be in the same class. Yan Jiyun remembered that in Instance B, they had both been in Year 3 Class 17.

Aside from differences in the storyline, the characters and setting remained unchanged between the two instances. That meant Wang Ziming and Liu Yixuan should also be in Year 3 Class 17 in Instance A.

Yet right now, he only saw Wang Ziming.

Where was Liu Yixuan?

Yan Jiyun felt like he had cracked the case. The next victim was Liu Yixuan!

Qi Feng only entered the music building after the crowd had dispersed. By then, all the students and teachers had already been cleared out.

Yan Jiyun placed his front paws on Qi Feng’s neck. With a small leap, he could jump from the backpack onto his shoulder.

As Qi Feng climbed the stairs, he reached back and pressed down on Yan Jiyun’s head. “Caramel, don’t come out yet.”

Yan Jiyun ignored him completely. Instead, he jumped onto Qi Feng’s shoulder and grabbed onto his hair, which provided better footing.

Qi Feng hadn’t expected Caramel to climb out of the backpack at a time like this and start acting like the king of the mountain on top of his head.

Well, whatever. At least it wasn’t interfering with his search.

[Anyone Seen My Cat?]  livestream channel:

“Feng-ge! You’re a cool, ruthless high-level player. Throw that cat down! It’s ruining your handsome image!”

“Am I the only one who thinks Feng-ge looks more human now?”

“Who cares about being human? I want to watch an instance-clearing robot. But honestly, this little black cat and Feng-ge have amazing chemistry. It’s so obedient. If he tells it to stay in the backpack, it stays in the backpack and never causes trouble.”

Meanwhile, Xue Ping had already rushed upstairs to the second floor in a panic to search for people.

Qi Feng, however, didn’t go to the second floor.

After the teachers and students left, the safety personnel inspecting the fire situation hadn’t arrived yet, and the music building became quiet again.

Yan Jiyun heard a faint dragging sound coming from upstairs. At a time like this, someone dragging something around was highly suspicious.

He jumped from Qi Feng’s back to the floor and pawed at his pant leg, signaling for him to follow.

Qi Feng once again followed Caramel. As he walked behind him, he observed his unusually intelligent cat.

Ever since entering the game, Caramel had been even smarter than he’d imagined. He had never seen it run around this much before. At home, Caramel always preferred not moving if possible and sleeping whenever he could. But now, it was so proactive that it genuinely worried Qi Feng. He was afraid that if he blinked for even a second, his Caramel would disappear without a trace.

Yan Jiyun ran at a brisk pace, and Qi Feng had no trouble keeping up.

He sprinted all the way to the third floor. When he reached the entrance to Teacher Qu’s private music classroom, he suddenly turned around and leaped back toward Qi Feng.

Qi Feng skillfully caught his Caramel.

Seeing how terrified the cat seemed of this classroom, he gently pressed its head against his chest in comfort.

Qi Feng thought, ‘You were running so fast just now. But now, you got scared, huh?’

T/N:

Me, ringing a bell obnoxiously: STEPBROTHERS PSEUDO-INCEST WITH EXTRA COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP!!!! IT IS HERE!! COME GET YOUR FOOD PEOPLE!!!!! 

Tbh, since the last two arcs have no sussy BL side pairing (I’m not counting the Black Panther and his older brother), I’m so glad this arc has an actual ~confirmed~ romantic feelings. Even if it’s just one-sided…. for now? Who knows how it will turn out in the future…