DSMC Chapter 150.2

Yan Jiyun remembered what Han Ruibai had said about Xiao Yue. He’d had darkness in his heart, but after Han Ruibai appeared, he’d tried and failed to escape those dark thoughts before finally choosing suicide. Of course, Teacher Qu had also guided him toward that outcome.

That told Yan Jiyun one thing. Not every personality Teacher Qu had split off longed for light or wanted to be saved. Some personalities were born entirely from darkness, and those were the truly terrifying ones.

He’d seen similar movies and novels before. Someone oppressed by everyone around them would suddenly develop an alter. This new alter embodied all their darkness, becoming extremely violent. The main personality worked during the day, while the alter went out at night attacking vulnerable single women.

Yan Jiyun rolled the thought around before saying, “Xiao Yue was still one of the better personalities. He managed to suppress his urges. But this one… this one has already given in to those desires, and they’re only growing.”

Qi Feng immediately understood. “Right. Those six students are all from different classes. I don’t think this scenario will have a complicated overarching storyline like the [Mermaid] instance. Children usually don’t know how to restrain their impulses.”

The two of them headed back toward the classroom building just as the warning bell rang. 

If they wanted to continue investigating, they’d have to return to class. Once he went back to class, Yan Jiyun couldn’t transform into a cat. And if he couldn’t transform, he’d have to keep spending Human Form Time Cards.

As he ran, he calculated how much time he had left. He hadn’t used many yesterday, so today he could stay human for at least another three hours. He couldn’t rely entirely on Qi Feng to gather information. If the plot separated them later, he’d miss a lot of clues.

He hadn’t transformed back during the [Mermaid] instance because he’d already gathered enough information. Here, though, he still knew too little, so he should hold out a little longer.

At the staircase, Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng split up. Yan Jiyun returned to Class 3, Qi Feng went back to Class 6.

Lan Mo, Gu Wenzhu, and Qiu Xi were all caught by teachers after the class bell and dragged back to their classrooms.

Yan Jiyun: “…”

He and Qi Feng had felt comfortable letting those three investigate together because Gu Wenzhu was so intelligent. Who would’ve thought even they would get caught by NPC teachers and hauled back like little chicks? It was oddly hilarious.

No matter how smart or powerful someone normally looked, once they turned back into children, they all seemed much less imposing.

Lan Mo looked like a carefree, mischievous little boy. Gu Wenzhu was thin and frail, wearing glasses, looking like a bookworm since childhood, the kind that naturally inspired protectiveness. Qiu Xi was the very picture of an adorable little boy, with a bright smile, big eyes, and baby fat still on his cheeks.

Still, where had the three of them gone just now? Yan Jiyun hadn’t heard their voices while he was in the infirmary. Had they triggered some special event and been forced into a separate scene?

Puzzled, Yan Jiyun returned to his seat. Their class waited for quite a while without a teacher before their homeroom teacher finally entered. She said, “Math class has been changed to arts and crafts. Everyone, head to the craft classroom.”

The other students immediately cheered. Apparently this period had originally been math.

The math teacher must have been the one who’d taken the unconscious student to the infirmary. Otherwise, why would class suddenly be canceled?

The craft classroom was in another, shorter three-story building, specifically on the first floor.

As soon as Yan Jiyun walked in, he saw supplies already laid out on every rectangular table.

What are those?

Embroidery?

The arts and crafts teacher was a gentle-looking young woman in her early twenties. Using a sweet voice, she announced, “Class, today we’re going to learn embroidery.”

Most of the girls seemed excited. The boys, on the other hand, immediately started acting up.

“Teacher, boys have to do embroidery too? People will call me girly.”

This kid’s character setting is naturally straight-male chauvinistic.

“Teacher, I’m scared of needles.”

“Teacher, I need to pee!”

Yan Jiyun felt the teacher deserved a medal just for keeping her smile. If it were him, he wouldn’t have lasted a minute in this classroom.

Still smiling, the teacher said, “The student who needs to use the restroom may go now.”

Yan Jiyun suspected the child asking to leave was actually another player. Sure enough, the boy immediately ran out of the classroom.

The teacher ignored all the boys’ complaints and began teaching everyone how to embroider simple patterns.

It was Yan Jiyun’s first time holding an embroidery needle. He pinched it cautiously, terrified of stabbing himself.

How is this such a horrifying class? Someone could stab him with a needle at any moment.

The more he thought about it, the scarier it seemed. Quietly, he moved to the rearmost table.

The craft classroom used long rectangular tables, each seating six children.  The six kids sat around the table, each with their own embroidery supplies.

Hidden at the back, Yan Jiyun could avoid the teacher’s attention while still observing the other students.

The five children at his table all had distinct personalities.

He sat at the short end of the table, with four children along the long sides. Across from him sat a very proper-looking boy. The child had delicate features, his Young Pioneers scarf was tied perfectly, and every movement reflected excellent upbringing. Yan Jiyun heard another child call him “Class Monitor.”

Sure enough, class monitors are the same everywhere; their behavior is always textbook perfect.

The four boys on either side constantly shoved and jostled one another. They were energetic to the extreme.

Finally, the teacher couldn’t take it anymore and came over. “Needles are dangerous. Please stop fooling around. Next I’ll teach everyone how to draw a simple design you like onto the fabric. Once you’ve learned that, you can embroider it.”

Aside from a handful of particularly naughty children, most of the students behaved themselves.

After demonstrating the needlework, the teacher let everyone start drawing their own patterns. 

Yan Jiyun observed the room but didn’t find anyone especially noteworthy. So his attention settled on the class monitor.

The boy first sketched his design onto the cloth, then picked up the needle. His embroidery already looked surprisingly good, and he handled the needle and thread with practiced ease.

To satisfy the teacher’s inspection, Yan Jiyun drew himself on his embroidery cloth — a simple cartoon black cat.

Although it was only a stick-figure drawing, he’d made himself look mighty and majestic. It’s perfect. Now he just needs a black thread to finish it. Unfortunately, dreams were beautiful and reality was harsh.

On his very first stitch, Yan Jiyun jabbed himself in the finger.

Trash game. It won’t even let him survive elementary school arts and crafts in peace.

Watching the class monitor embroider with such skill, Yan Jiyun found it increasingly strange. Embroidery didn’t seem like the sort of hobby an elementary school boy would have. 

Why was he so good at it? Something felt off.

A little boy who handled embroidery needles so expertly seemed rather odd. Then again, he was the class monitor, so somehow it also felt perfectly in character.

After the teacher walked away, the restless boys immediately started chattering again. At that moment, the class monitor stood up. “Quiet.”

Yan Jiyun had expected nobody to listen to such a refined-looking child. Instead, the entire class fell eerily silent. They still whispered among themselves, but no one dared raise their voice or run around the classroom anymore.

The little class monitor actually has authority.

Yan Jiyun suddenly found a new person of interest. The boy had distinctive characteristics, he might be one of Teacher Qu’s younger split personalities. His identity remained unconfirmed.

Yan Jiyun continued observing the class for other suspects, but all the NPCs behaved normally. At the moment, only the little class monitor stood out.

The student poisoning incident would probably continue escalating. Students from Classes 1, 2, 4, and 6 had already been targeted. Only Classes 3 and 5 remained untouched.

If Yan Jiyun’s theory was correct, then the poisoner would likely choose victims from Classes 3 and 5 next. 

He wondered whether Gu Wenzhu and the others had noticed the names recorded in the medical file.

The arts and crafts teacher still hadn’t returned, yet the class was already halfway over. He couldn’t just sit here wasting his time card.

He looked at the little class monitor. “Class Monitor, I really need to use the bathroom.”

The class monitor nodded. “Okay.”

He put down his needle and embroidery cloth, then stood up and followed Yan Jiyun.

Yan Jiyun only wanted to slip outside so he could transform back into a cat. Why was the class monitor getting up too?

Yan Jiyun: “You’re going to the bathroom too?”

Class Monitor: “The teacher told me to watch everyone. If you’re going to the bathroom, then I have to watch you.”

“You don’t need to. I can go by myself. I’ll be right back.” For the second time, he pretended to have a stomachache. “Class Monitor, the bathroom smells awful. You don’t have to come with me.”

The class monitor remained unmoved. “I’ll just stay farther away from the bathroom. Then I won’t smell it.”

Yan Jiyun: “…” ‘Looks like I’m going whether I like it or not.’

So the little class monitor followed him every step of the way.

As they neared the restroom, Yan Jiyun heard his homeroom teacher’s voice. “Yang Shu, if you skip class again, next time your punishment will be worse than cleaning the toilets.”

Yan Jiyun spotted the player who had used the bathroom excuse to escape earlier. The poor guy was wearing a miserable expression as he scrubbed the toilets. 

They really made him clean toilets?

Now Yan Jiyun understood. Teacher Qu’s elementary school world looked gentle enough. The punishments weren’t particularly severe. But every single one of them was incredibly annoying.

The gloomy player saw Yan Jiyun approaching. “Did you skip class too?”

Feeling his homeroom teacher’s gaze fixed on him, Yan Jiyun immediately defended himself. “I’m a good student. I don’t skip class. I’m just here to use the bathroom.”

He hurried through it before giving the unfortunate toilet-cleaning player some encouraging words. “Hang in there!”

The other player: “…” Damn it!

Unless that player finished cleaning the toilets, the Class 3 homeroom teacher NPC wasn’t going anywhere.

Yan Jiyun just wanted to get out of the teacher’s line of sight as quickly as possible. 

Compared to the homeroom teacher, his own situation was even worse. The little class monitor watched him the entire time. There was absolutely no opportunity to transform back into a cat.

Estimating the distance between the class monitor and the restroom, Yan Jiyun came up with a plan. He’d slip out of the boy’s sight, run somewhere deserted, then transform into a cat and hide. It wasn’t the first time he’d pulled this trick, he was practically an expert by now.

Quietly, Yan Jiyun edged sideways, widening the gap between himself and the class monitor. Watching the boy carefully, he counted silently. One… Two… Three… Run!

Before he’d even made it ten meters, the studious, well-mannered little class monitor suddenly sprinted after him. He was every bit as fast as Yan Jiyun. No, he was even faster!

The class monitor grabbed the hem of Yan Jiyun’s school uniform, stretching the fabric nearly to its limit and forcing him to stop.

Yan Jiyun was on the verge of breaking down. Turning back, he complained, “Why are you grabbing me?!”

After the sudden sprint, the class monitor’s fair, delicate face was flushed red. Panting, he said, “Y-You’re… not allowed… to skip class!”

Yan Jiyun: ‘You little stick-in-the-mud.’