DSMC Chapter 150.1

The school bell rang, signaling the end of class—

Lan Mo, Gu Wenzhu, and Qiu Xi rushed out of their classrooms one after another. Because of his bad leg, Gu Wenzhu was a little slower. The three of them immediately spotted Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng standing hand in hand in the hallway, surrounded by both players and NPCs. Quite a few elementary school NPCs stood nearby mercilessly laughing at the two boys being punished.

“You’re so funny! Why are you standing there holding hands?”

“Are you playing husband-and-wife? Who is who?”

“Hey, hey, hey~ Then which one of you is the husband, and which one’s the wife?”

“What’s it like for two boys to hold hands? Do you both like boys?”

“Are you dating?”

The veins on Yan Jiyun’s forehead practically bulged. These little brats really had no filter whatsoever. They’d blurt out absolutely anything!

Qi Feng shot them a cold glare. Sensing danger, the NPC children immediately scattered. Apparently, they were the type to bully the weak and fear the strong.

Only then did Lan Mo’s group come over.

With a grin, Lan Mo asked, “So… what exactly are you two doing?”

Qi Feng answered concisely, “Skipped class. Got punished.”

Gu Wenzhu, being the more serious one, asked, “How much longer?”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Five minutes total. Three minutes left.”

Just standing there while NPCs watched them felt incredibly stupid.

Gu Wenzhu asked Yan Jiyun, “Find anything?”

All of them looked like little boys now. Watching them earnestly discuss the storyline was oddly amusing. The discomfort from getting soaked in the rain eased a little, putting Yan Jiyun in a better mood.

He told them that a student from Class 6 had fainted and been taken to the infirmary, suggesting they investigate.

The elementary school setting didn’t seem very large. Lan Mo said, “You two finish serving your punishment. We’ll check out the infirmary first before somebody else beats us to it.”

During the punishment, Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng seemed to be protected. Different scenarios had different punishment mechanics. As elementary school students, the punishment wasn’t a deduction of game time but simply standing still as punishment. Exactly the kind of thing the system would do, psychological warfare against the players.

Fortunately, both Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng had nerves of steel. Such a minor punishment didn’t bother them.

Still, being forced to stand motionless for five minutes effectively wasted game time. Yan Jiyun also burned through one more time card than Qi Feng.

Five minutes finally passed. The principal completed whatever confirmation process he had with their homeroom teachers, and they were finally released, the punishment was over.

The two hurried after Lan Mo’s group toward the infirmary.

As they walked, they discussed how to find the hidden Teacher Qu in this scenario.

Yan Jiyun asked, “So far, the only event we’ve got is that one kid fainted, and it happened in your class. Who do you think is most likely to be one of Qu-laoshi’s split personalities?”

Qi Feng replied, “Character identities probably don’t repeat, so we can rule out the teachers. In the [Mermaid] instance, Xiao Yue was one of Teacher Qu’s personalities, but he committed suicide.”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “So Qu-laoshi is eliminating his alter in a logical way. But we’re still not sure whether ‘Qu-laoshi’ himself is the original personality.”

“Right,” Qi Feng agreed. “We still have to figure that out ourselves. Following the logic of the previous instance, Qu-laoshi in this scenario is also dangerous. And he should be a child just like us.”

Looking at Qi Feng’s equally short arms and legs, Yan Jiyun suddenly laughed. “Like this, we’d have trouble dealing with even an ordinary teacher NPC.”

Qi Feng couldn’t help smiling a little after seeing Yan Jiyun’s grin. “Yeah. That’s why everyone should stick together as much as possible while looking for clues.”

Yan Jiyun glanced at his steadily dwindling Human Form Time Card duration. He definitely intended to stick with the group. The only question was, in what identity he’d be sticking with Qi Feng? Qi Feng probably had no idea.

“For now, sure,” Yan Jiyun answered casually.

He still needed to find an opportunity to turn back into a cat. With Qi Feng around, he’d feel safe transforming. Without him, he had no sense of security at all. But with so many people together, it wasn’t easy to slip away. He’d have to think of something.

Qi Feng continued, “I think Qu-laoshi is a third grader. The student who fainted definitely isn’t him..”

Yan Jiyun: “Why do you say that?”

Qi Feng: “The clue is too obvious.”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “True.”

The game loved disguising the main storyline. If it could hide it under one layer, it’d hide it under ten. Strip away one disguise, and another would be waiting underneath. On top of that, it constantly misled players. Several previous instances had worked exactly that way, so this one probably wouldn’t be any different. The more obvious the clue, the more likely it was fake.

The two arrived outside the infirmary. Standing at the entrance, they heard nothing. Not even footsteps. The place was eerily quiet.

Yan Jiyun grabbed Qi Feng before he could go inside. “Wait. Don’t go in yet. It’s completely silent in there. Gu Wenzhu and the others aren’t here either.”

Knowing how sharp Yan Jiyun’s hearing was, Qi Feng stopped advancing. Standing outside the infirmary window on the first floor, they looked inside. There was indeed no one there.

Qi Feng frowned. “The student who fainted was taken away?”

Yan Jiyun said, “Normally an ambulance would come. Maybe that triggered some event.”

“Possible.” Qi Feng looked toward the door. “I’ll check inside. You wait out here.”

Yan Jiyun glanced at his petite pooper scooper. “How about we go together?”

Qi Feng: “Don’t worry. I’ve still got my skills.”

Yan Jiyun looked unconvinced. “Let’s just go together.”

Qi Feng: “…”

Neither of them wasted more words. They entered the infirmary.

Only after stepping inside did they realize complete chaos had unfolded here. 

Medicine bottles lay scattered all over the floor, rubbing alcohol had spilled everywhere, and the white sheets on the temporary sickbed were wrinkled beyond recognition.

The smell of alcohol hadn’t completely dissipated yet. Yan Jiyun rubbed his nose, because it was way too pungent. 

After surveying the room, Qi Feng began reconstructing what had happened. “It looks like the child suffered some severe illness and lost control.”

“How can you tell?”

Yan Jiyun could see there were no signs of a fight, but he couldn’t conclude that an illness was responsible.

Qi Feng patiently explained. “Look at the sheets. Those wrinkles were clearly made by someone grabbing them tightly.”

He pointed at the floor. “There’s also a syringe. It should’ve contained a sedative. It wasn’t even injected before the needle snapped.”

“You can tell all that?” Yan Jiyun was genuinely impressed.

This really was the kind of straight-A student who knew everything under the sun.

Qi Feng answered matter-of-factly, “I spent some time studying things like this to deal with different situations in the game. If you’re interested, you could learn too.”

Yan Jiyun smiled. “Maybe later.”

After Qi Feng had demonstrated his expertise, Yan Jiyun naturally wasn’t about to be outdone. He had caught another scent lingering in the infirmary. Following it, he pushed open another door inside.

Qi Feng was just about to warn him to be careful in case it was a trap, but the door had already opened. It turned out to be nothing more than the medicine storage room.

Yan Jiyun looked around, finding nothing unusual.

“Where did they go…” he muttered.

Even Qi Feng, with his eagle eyes, couldn’t spot anything suspicious. “My guess is that the child’s condition became so serious that the teachers drove him to the hospital. Or maybe some emergency happened.”

Yan Jiyun reminded him, “Remember what the NPC in Class 6 said? The kid had already fainted twice in one week.”

Qi Feng: “I remember.”

Yan Jiyun “But the NPC only mentioned fainting, not the symptoms.”

Qi Feng pointed to the floor. “Look. There’s foam someone vomited.”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “What kind of illness causes that?”

Qi Feng shook his head. “A lot. So a doctor would have to determine that.”

Yan Jiyun casually laid the groundwork for eventually transforming back into a cat. “When I first entered the scenario, it was raining. Could it be related? Back in [Mingya High School], Qu-laoshi No. 2 would summon thunder and rain whenever he got angry. This time there was only rain, no thunder, so Qu-laoshi in this world must have been sad.”

Qi Feng looked outside. “The weather’s clear now. So the unconscious student wasn’t the cause. When Gu Wenzhu and the others return, we should know more. Let’s head back to the classroom and investigate the student’s background.”

Yan Jiyun noticed a stack of medical records on the doctor’s desk. “There are patient records.”

Medical Record 1: September 20, Zhou Zhou, Class 3-6. Suddenly fainted.

Medical Record 2: September 17, Yu Fei, Class 3-1, Foamed at the mouth before fainting.

Medical Record 3: September 12, Qian Duoduo, Class 3-2, Stomach pain, convulsions, then fainted.

Medical Record 4: September 5, Liu Xueying, Class 3-4, Suddenly fainted.

Medical Record 5: September 5, Zhou Zhou, Class 3-6, Suddenly fainted.

There were four nearly identical medical records in total. That meant the child who had just fainted wasn’t an isolated case. Before him, four other students had experienced the same symptoms, and Zhou Zhou had fainted twice.

Seeing Yan Jiyun staring at the records, Qi Feng guessed he had found something. “Well?”

Yan Jiyun handed him the files. “Take a look. What do you think?”

Qi Feng said, “It doesn’t look like a coincidence. The incidents are happening closer and closer together.”

“Detective Qi,” Yan Jiyun said, “doesn’t it look like a serial offender getting bolder because they think nobody’s noticed? The crimes are happening more and more frequently.”

Qi Feng paused slightly at the title before the corners of his lips curved upward. “So you figured it out.” He assumed the newcomer was teasing him because he’d been carefully examining the scene earlier.

“I think it’s food poisoning.” Actually, Yan Jiyun had only said that because Qi Feng had previously identified himself that way while talking with Han Ruibai and Liu Yixuan. Realizing he might have slipped up, he immediately stopped himself. Investigating alongside his shit-shovel officer had gotten him a little too excited. Qi Feng probably wouldn’t connect the dots.

He secretly studied Qi Feng as he examined the records. Seeing no trace of suspicion on his face, he relaxed. It looked like Qi Feng hadn’t noticed.

Qi Feng said, “That’s what it looks like to me too. Someone may have deliberately poisoned them. At first they just fainted suddenly, then came abdominal pain, convulsions, and finally foaming at the mouth. The dosage has been increasing, and every poisoned child got sick after lunch.”

Yan Jiyun had noticed all of that as well. “Since it isn’t a mass poisoning, it probably isn’t simply the cafeteria food.”

Qi Feng nodded. “We still need to investigate the students, but we should also check the cafeteria.”

Yan Jiyun: “We’ll need to understand how the school operates first. Right now we can’t tell whether the poison was administered after breakfast or during lunch.”

If Yan Jiyun hadn’t gone straight to Class 6 to find Qi Feng as soon as the scene changed, their investigation would have been much slower.

Qi Feng and the other players assigned to Class 6 should all have awakened at roughly the same time. Who would have guessed Yan Jiyun couldn’t drink ginger tea and had run off to dump it out?

While the other players were still worrying about possible traps, he’d already been sneaking into other classrooms looking for people.

Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun rarely disagreed when it came to gathering clues, and they quickly settled on their next course of action.

Qi Feng gathered up the medical records and this time found a plastic bag in the infirmary to store the file in. “Let’s go.”