DSMC Chapter 148.2

Lan Mo, who had appeared at some point, said, “Oh my god, is Caramel about to roll his eyes back and pass out?”

Teacher Qu No. 2 opened the backpack a little wider. “No way.”

Teacher Qu caught the keyword. “What Caramel? His name is clearly Wuyun.”

Teacher Qu No. 2 found a moment to reply, “Guoba.”

Having just recovered enough to catch his breath, Yan Jiyun nearly blacked out again after hearing those names. “…”

‘Thank you, everyone. My name is Yan Jiyun. You can call me Xiao Yan, Xiao Yun, Yanyan, or Yunyun!’

Yan Jiyun continued pretending he was about to faint, while Qi Feng was already prepared to snatch his cat back at any moment.

Teacher Qu No. 2 was also worried he might suffocate the cat, so he opened the backpack a little wider.

Seizing the opportunity while Teacher Qu No. 2 wasn’t paying attention, Yan Jiyun pushed off with his hind legs, sprang out of the backpack, leaped over Teacher Qu No. 2’s shoulder, and landed steadily on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the black cat vanished from everyone’s sight.

Teacher Qu No. 2 and Qi Feng immediately gave chase. Lan Mo, Gu Wenzhu, Qiu Xi, and the others followed Qi Feng into the music building, while the other players rushed in after them as well.

Teacher Qu from Instance A frowned as he watched them, then turned and entered the music building too.

Yan Jiyun charged straight for the third floor. Following the same process as last time, he raced ahead with Teacher Qu No. 2 right behind him. But when he reached the third floor, nothing inside the music building had changed. The sky was still bright, and the music classroom where Teacher Qu taught was still standing wide open.

What was going on?

Had the passage between the two instances stopped working?

Wasn’t Teacher Qu No. 2 supposed to come with built-in access to Instance B?

He desperately tried to recall whether there had been some detail missing when he entered Instance B yesterday. He had been running ahead while Teacher Qu No. 2 chased after him, and it had been nighttime.

Had there been piano music then?

Yes.

But it had been intermittent, and he hadn’t known where it was coming from.

Now there was no piano music at all!

[Time until instance closure: 6 min 10 sec]

They had already wasted nearly half their remaining time.

Yan Jiyun was the first to reach the third floor. He had been running even faster than usual. When he arrived, no one else had caught up yet.

He immediately slipped into the piano room on the third floor. There was no need to waste another trial card now. Being a cat was genuinely inconvenient.

To keep others from suspecting his feline identity, Yan Jiyun jumped onto the piano bench and used a transformation card. Before the other players reached the third floor, he sprawled across the piano and pretended not to know when he had somehow returned from Instance B to Instance A.

Qi Feng and the others had no idea whether the cat had run to the third floor or the fourth.

Lan Mo knew how important the cat was to Qi Feng — it was practically his treasure. After catching up, he whispered, “Feng-ge, I’ll help you find the cat.”

Qi Feng sighed. “Don’t go too far. There’s not much time left before we leave the instance, and there’s no guarantee we’ll even find Caramel.”

Lan Mo was about to say something when he spotted a student in the open music classroom. “I’ll ask that NPC if they’ve seen a cat run upstairs.”

Qi Feng grabbed him before he could go. “I’ll do it. You search the classrooms on the third floor.”

His tone left no room for argument.

He had absolutely no confidence in finding a deliberately hiding Caramel, because he couldn’t even find him at home!

Time waited for no one. Qi Feng was the first to rush into the music classroom, while the other players tried opening the doors of various third-floor classrooms in hopes of finding a way out of the instance.

None of them succeeded.

Qi Feng pushed open the music classroom door and saw a student lying on top of the piano. He walked over and nudged him.

Yan Jiyun abruptly opened his eyes. His bright, lively gaze landed on Qi Feng. As though seeing him for the first time, he froze briefly. “Qi Feng?”

Qi Feng knew the newcomer had entered, but he couldn’t understand why he had suddenly appeared here. He was probably never going to find the frightened Caramel again.

“This is the [Mermaid] instance. Lan Mo said you went to the [Mingya High School] instance. Why are you back?”

Yan Jiyun had already guessed he would ask that. “I entered the music building over at [Mingya High School] to look for clues. I had just reached the third floor when something knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I saw you. What’s going on?”

He could only pretend to know nothing.

Qi Feng said, “Long story short, the main storyline of the [Mermaid] instance has been completed. The instance will close in five minutes. We’re currently looking for the passage to [Mingya High School].”

Thinking quickly, he immediately connected it to the fact that the newcomer had originally come from [Mermaid] as well.

“Do you have any clues? We can search for the passage together.”

Yan Jiyun acted as though he was rapidly adapting to the situation. Pretending to think, he said, “I remember chasing after a teacher wearing a hat. At the time, piano music appeared inside the music building, but I didn’t know where it was coming from.”

Qi Feng asked, “Do you remember what piece was being played?”

Yan Jiyun lowered his head in embarrassment. “I can’t even read sheet music. Sorry.”

Yan Jiyun reminded him, “Have you found any sheet music or anything like that? This is a music-themed instance after all.”

He voluntarily moved away from the piano bench. “You try?”

At the reminder, Qi Feng immediately thought of the sheet music for [Mermaid]. He glanced at Yan Jiyun. “I’ll give it a try.”

Yan Jiyun muttered, “So there really is one.”

He worked hard to reinforce his “I just got here and know absolutely nothing” act.

The sheet music Qi Feng had found earlier was all in Teacher Qu No. 2’s possession. Teacher Qu No. 2 was an NPC and wouldn’t coordinate actions with them. Besides, nobody knew where he’d run off to while chasing the cat.

Qi Feng opened the piano lid and asked, “Did you happen to see a black cat in the other instance?”

Yan Jiyun pretended not to understand. “Huh? What cat? Never saw one. Some special NPC?”

Qi Feng shook his head. “Never mind.”

Ever since entering the instance, only Caramel had ever taken the initiative to find him. If the black cat deliberately hid, he genuinely couldn’t find him. It wasn’t that he wanted to give up.

Quietly, he took a breath.

Previously, he and his teammates had entered an instance that required memorizing sheet music at high speed. The challenge requirements had been extremely strict. Not a single note could be played incorrectly during the performance, or the entire team would be trapped in the instance forever.

Meanwhile, Lan Mo was still searching for the cat in the hallway when he ran into Teacher Qu.

Following the piano music, Teacher Qu walked toward the piano classroom. His expression immediately darkened. Gone was his earlier composed demeanor. “Who told you to play this piece?”

Yan Jiyun quickly stepped forward. Before Teacher Qu could react, he slammed the door shut, locked it, and dragged a desk over to barricade it!

He turned to Qi Feng. “How much longer do you need?”

“About three minutes.”

Yan Jiyun glanced at the countdown timer.

[Time until instance closure: 3 min 15 sec]

There wasn’t much time left. There was no escaping this.

Teacher Qu had to be a torture device sent by the system!

Why was he everywhere? And where was Teacher Qu No. 2?

Why wasn’t he showing up to block him?

Outside, Teacher Qu was preparing to kick the door open.

Suddenly, Yan Jiyun called out, “Qu-laoshi, who exactly are you? You can play piano, you can paint, and you were a genius when you were young too, right?”

Qi Feng had memorized the [Mermaid] sheet music, but he still wasn’t familiar enough with it. For the moment, he couldn’t figure out where Yan Jiyun’s speculation had come from. Perhaps he had discovered information related to Teacher Qu in [Mingya High School]. Qi Feng knew what the newcomer was capable of.

Of course, it was also possible that the newcomer was simply clever and had invented this tactic to stall for time.

Outside the door, Teacher Qu indeed lowered the foot he had been about to raise. He bent down, patted the dust off his pants, then straightened again.

The proud Teacher Qu had returned. A gentle smile reappeared on his face. “I’m not a genius. I’m just an ordinary teacher.”

Yan Jiyun continued, “But we all know you graduated from the world’s finest music academy. Working at Mingya High School is obviously beneath your abilities. Am I right?”

Teacher Qu ignored the question and replied with one of his own. “Your name is Yan Jiyun. You skipped my class.”

“Qu-laoshi, I guessed correctly, didn’t I?”

Teacher Qu chuckled softly. “Ah, yes. You’re right. I’m a genius too, I suppose. A musical genius?”

Yan Jiyun said, “No. You’re not only a genius in music. You’re also a genius in painting. What we’ve seen is only a tiny fraction of what you’ve chosen to show us.” 

He slowly laid out his deductions.

Teacher Qu smiled. “Yan Jiyun, you’re very interesting. How about we talk face-to-face?”

“That won’t do. You’re a genius, Qu-laoshi. I’m just an ordinary person. What if you know hypnosis?”

Teacher Qu’s voice carried a strange allure as he lowered it. “I don’t. I just want to chat with you. Tell me. What else have you figured out?”

Yan Jiyun glanced at Qi Feng and silently mouthed, ‘How much longer?’

Qi Feng understood immediately. ‘One minute.’

Yan Jiyun continued, “Of course there’s more. Qu-laoshi, do you know how many versions of yourself there are?”

The Teacher Qu outside didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he let out a soft laugh. “Why don’t you guess whether I know?”

Without hesitation, Yan Jiyun replied, “You know.”

Teacher Qu said, “Then let’s play a game. Come find me. If you find me, I’ll personally bow and see you off. But if you can’t find all of me, you’ll stay here forever and keep me company. I won’t even make you my servant. You’ll just have to tell me one joke every day.”

The moment he finished speaking, every player received a system-wide announcement.

[Public Announcement: Player Yan Jiyun has triggered a hidden storyline. Main instance mission upgraded.]

[Main Mission: Find the Real Teacher Qu.]

Yan Jiyun silently bit his lip and looked at Qi Feng. “…”

How could a simple conversation upgrade the entire instance?

So unfair!

Qi Feng happened to look up at that moment. Seeing Yan Jiyun staring at him with such an innocent expression, he nearly pressed the wrong final piano key. 

The last note rang out—

[Public Announcement: Instance mission upgraded. All players will undergo scene transition in 3 seconds.]

[Public Announcement: Scene transition in progress——]

This chapter is the end of arc 6! Actually arc 6 to 8 is one giant arc (with 49 chapters), but I splice it into 3 for the sake of my own sanity lol (though later arcs also have similar chapter numbers……..)

…plus, the instance is clearly different! We’re about to enter a new instance, focusing on Qu Wanqiao~