DSMC Chapter 151.2

Qi Feng asked Lan Mo, “Did you see Shi Yan?”

Lan Mo shook his head. “No.”

Shi Yan?

Yan Jiyun knew Shi Yan was Qi Feng and Lan Mo’s teammate. They had both been in the Mingya High School instance and hadn’t been transported into the [Mermaid] instance. They hadn’t seen either Shi Yan or He Yuanle here, either.

Qi Feng said, “Then it looks like only players who entered the [Mermaid] instance were brought into this scenario.”

Yan Jiyun guessed that if the instances continued progressing from elementary school to middle school and then high school, they’d eventually run into Shi Yan and He Yuanle again. Of course, that still depended on how they advanced the upgraded main quest.

After finishing their discussion, the group divided up their tasks again. They would first finish the third class, then regroup at the cafeteria afterward and avoid separating as much as possible.

Yan Jiyun, however, had his own plans. He couldn’t keep attending classes. The Human Form Time Cards he had left for the day weren’t enough to support him through the afternoon classes and evening self-study. He couldn’t tell Qi Feng and the others what he was planning.

Seeing the students from Class 5 heading downstairs, he asked, “What’s Class 5’s next lesson?”

“PE,” Qi Feng answered.

In reality, he had done much more investigation than he’d mentioned.

Yan Jiyun said, “I’ll keep an eye on Class 5’s class monitor. You guys go back to class.”

Qi Feng frowned. “We agreed I’d be the one to do it.”

“It’s fine.” Yan Jiyun waved him off. “I don’t like staying in classrooms anyway. Our class monitor is a very disciplined kid. He probably won’t run off looking for me, so nothing major should happen during third period. Don’t try to talk me out of it. My hearing is better than yours. I don’t need to get close, so the teacher won’t catch me.”

Yan Jiyun had always been someone with strong opinions. Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi already knew he preferred acting alone, so neither objected. Lan Mo opened his mouth, intending to tell Yan Jiyun to stay in class and keep watching there. Compared to someone he’d only recently met, he naturally trusted Captain Qi Feng more.

But Qi Feng pressed a hand onto his shoulder. He trusted the rookie’s abilities. “All right.”

He had never seen a newcomer capable of pushing the game’s mission into an upgraded stage before; Yan Jiyun was the first.

Gu Wenzhu said, “I’m nearby. I’ll keep a close watch on Class 3.”

Yan Jiyun could feel his teammates’ trust. “Then I’ll head out before class starts.”

He had already explored the school and knew which places were deserted. Earlier, on the way to the infirmary with Qi Feng, he’d already picked out the sports equipment storage room.

Quietly, he followed the Class 5 students assigned to fetch sports equipment, found a place to crouch, and waited until everyone had left. Only then did he transform back into a cat. After shaking out his fur, he slipped out through a window that had been shattered by a basketball.

Just as he’d expected, his feline body had become smaller too. He was now a 4 month old kitten, right in the middle of his growing stage.

Standing on the ground where the rainwater had nearly dried, he let out a long sigh of relief. Not having to worry about running out of time cards felt wonderful. Though the moment he turned back into a cat, drowsiness immediately washed over him. Ah yeah… kittens at his age slept sixteen hours a day.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“I thought the 6 month old kitty version of Mimi was already unbearably adorable, but the system suddenly turned him back into a 4 month old baby! He’s so tiny!”

“Meow, he’s so cute! Another day of inhaling cat content!”

“Does any veteran know this instance? Which kid is Qu-laoshi’s split personality? I’m so curious. My vote goes to Class 3’s little class monitor.”

“The instance has been upgraded. The entire storyline has changed. It’s basically a brand-new instance now. I doubt any viewers know the answer.”

“I just got a notification that the [Mermaid] instance upgraded and unlocked a new storyline. Can someone explain what happened?”

“Upstairs, you’ve come to the right stream. Let this cat dad explain how everything developed. It all started yesterday at two in the afternoon—”

“I clicked over because of the notification. Why is the POV a black cat? Did the system bug out?”

“So many new brothers and sisters! Let this humble cat owner explain what this stream is all about. We have to go back two months — to a dark and stormy night when I clicked into a livestream…”

Since Yan Jiyun had promised his teammates he’d watch Class 5, he naturally couldn’t slack off. All he needed to do was find somewhere within Class 5’s activity area to lie low.

But now a huge problem confronted him: which one was Class 3-5?

Why were there suddenly so many classes having PE? Second grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, even sixth grade!

Was this trash system deliberately messing with him?

There were four classes in total. The fifth and sixth graders were easy to distinguish because they’d already hit their growth spurts. The second graders were all tiny little kids, so they could be ruled out immediately. But figuring out which of the remaining two classes was Class 3-5 would require some observation. Kids grew fast these days. Plenty of third graders were taller than fourth graders.

The two classes together had 70-something students, each with a teacher supervising them. Watching both groups at once wasn’t actually that difficult.

It had only recently stopped raining. Water still clung to the grass and shrubs around the field. Afraid that getting his fur wet again would make him catch a cold, Yan Jiyun stayed hidden until the PE class officially began. He slipped beneath the seats of the viewing stand about thirty or forty meters from the playground. The overhanging roof had kept the area dry during the rain, making it a perfect hiding spot.

After the rain, the sky had cleared. The slanting evening sunlight fell warmly across Yan Jiyun’s body. The warmth made him yawn involuntarily; unsurprisingly, the sunshine made him sleepy.

He listened to the chatter of children nearby. The PE teacher would occasionally shout at them not to do anything dangerous, quieting them down for a moment before the noisy chatter resumed. The cycle repeated over and over.

The third- and fourth-grade classes were doing almost identical activities, making it impossible for him to tell which was which just by listening. 

About halfway through PE, someone mentioned that Zhou Zhou had been barking like a dog. The children immediately began speculating whether he had rabies or some kind of mental illness. 

Lazily, Yan Jiyun looked toward the source of the voices. At last, he’d identified Class 5, but which one was their class monitor? The sports committee member was easy enough to recognize; he had rather dark skin. They probably had something in common.

Having identified his target, Yan Jiyun observed Class 5 from afar. The class was playing a three-legged race and everyone looked like they were having a great time.

Then someone shouted, “Yan Weicheng! Hurry up! Hurry!”

Yan Weicheng?

The name sounded strangely familiar, but he was too far away to make out the boy’s face clearly. After all, Yan Jiyun was just a tiny bit nearsighted. Normally, he relied more on his hearing and sense of smell. Not that his eyesight was poor. Compared to other cats, it was actually quite good, just slightly worse than a human with perfect 5.0 vision. He didn’t need glasses.

The sun had already dried much of the grass. Yan Jiyun had no intention of jumping down. He knew all too well how destructive children could be toward small animals. He decided he’d simply wait until Class 5 finished PE and passed by here, then observe them from closer range.

The sunshine felt wonderful.

The breeze felt wonderful too.

The timing, the location, the atmosphere… perfect for a nap.

Yan Jiyun closed his eyes. Ever since becoming a child, he’d been constantly sleepy. If he hadn’t pricked his finger during the previous class, he probably would’ve fallen asleep at his desk.

But now things were different. No one was watching him, and no one was forcing him to embroider. He was relatively free. There was still a little time before Class 5 finished, so he could doze off for a bit. Besides, he wasn’t going to sleep that deeply.

His eyelids drooped. Just a little nap wouldn’t hurt.

Hoo… Hoo… Hoo…

[Want to be Human] livestream channel:

“Zzzz~”

“Zzzz~”

“Zzzz~”

“Why is this entire livestream full of bot messages?”

“Don’t break formation! Don’t wake Kitty Baby!”

“Quick, keep scrolling! I could watch Mimi sleep forever without getting tired. It’s so healing!”

Yan Jiyun slept and slept until a shrill dismissal bell jolted him awake. He opened his eyes and forced himself to wake up.

But—

Where were Class 5’s students?

Had he slept that deeply?

Had they already left without him noticing?

Yan Jiyun instantly became wide awake. He had finally figured out what made this instance so difficult. It was their age — being so young meant they lacked stamina and simply couldn’t recharge fast enough!

He scanned the various classes on the playground and nearly jumped in fright.

Class 5 hadn’t left at all. The PE teacher had simply moved them to the farthest corner of the soccer field for class, and they were only now lining up for dismissal.

Yan Jiyun dashed out from beneath the viewing stand and ran toward the first floor of the teaching building. Whether they were heading to the cafeteria or the dormitories afterward, they would all have to pass through there. The class monitor would be wearing a little squad leader badge on his arm, so he’d recognize it.

He found an inconspicuous corner beneath an osmanthus tree, where an environmentally friendly trash bin stood between him and the walkway.

After a PE class, all the children had rosy cheeks. Some were discussing what had happened during class, some were making plans for the evening, and others were already hungry and hurrying to line up for dinner.

Filtering out all the useless chatter, Yan Jiyun once again heard the name Yan Weicheng, followed by the boy’s voice. The reason it caught his attention was because it sounded remarkably similar to Class 3’s little class monitor. Only Yan Jiyun’s keen hearing allowed him to distinguish the difference. An ordinary person would definitely mistake him for the class monitor.

Peering around the side of the trash bin, Yan Jiyun finally got a clear look at the boy’s face, then he froze.

WTF?

Who was this kid who looked exactly like the little class monitor?

If Yan Jiyun didn’t hear him speak, he couldn’t tell them apart at all. Yan Weicheng and the little class monitor were identical twins!

Well… That made things pretty obvious.

The game had never disappointed its players. Even if the little class monitor and Yan Weicheng were both Teacher Qu’s split personalities, they’d still have to determine which one was the real target.

Damn. This was hard.

After most of the children had nearly left, Yan Jiyun prepared to meet up with his cat owner.

But at that moment, Yan Weicheng remained standing in the first-floor lobby of the teaching building. Yan Jiyun couldn’t leave just yet, because Yan Weicheng was facing directly toward the trash bin.

Who was he waiting for?

A few minutes later, Yan Jiyun finally saw the person.

It was his twin brother, the little class monitor.

Just as Yan Jiyun crouched down, preparing to eavesdrop on their conversation, the corner of his eye caught sight of yet another little class monitor happily running down the staircase from the other side—

A second child who looked exactly like the little class monitor!

Were they triplets?

Grinding his teeth, Yan Jiyun thought, ‘Very good. This is exactly the kind of thing this trash game would do.’