DSMC Chapter 154.2

Slung over the masked man’s back was a large burlap sack. From Yan Jiyun’s angle, it looked big enough to hold two elementary school students. He just didn’t know whether the two children inside were players or NPCs.

The masked man was too busy taking the children he’d just captured into the painting prison to notice the three hiding beneath the desks.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng quietly pushed their chairs aside and slipped out. Yan Weilan didn’t hold them back in the slightest; he didn’t make a single sound. Yan Jiyun found that rather gratifying.

Qi Feng led the way, with Yan Weilan kept safely between them. Yan Jiyun brought up the rear.

The three of them bent low and tiptoed out through the classroom’s half-open back door.

To avoid drawing the masked man’s attention, Qi Feng slowly opened the door without making the slightest noise. 

Qi Feng successfully slipped out carrying the painting, and Yan Weilan followed him out. Yan Jiyun was just about to step out as well.

But then, the masked man entered the storage room and immediately realized the painting was gone. He instantly dropped the two children he’d just brought back, rushed outside, and spotted the three sneaking away!

The masked man covered the distance in just a few strides as he charged after them. “Not only are you trying to run away, you even stole my painting! You little brat, get back here!”

Yan Jiyun shoved the Little Class Monitor forward and shouted to Qi Feng ahead of them, “Take the painting and the class monitor and go! They’re too important. I’ll distract him!”

The masked man was infuriated that an elementary school student dared look down on him. “Tch. Where’d you get that confidence, kid? You think you can distract me?”

Of course Yan Jiyun was confident. He slammed the classroom door shut and shouted, “Qi Feng, don’t worry about me! Hurry and run! I’ll catch up with you later!”

The masked man sneered. “I’ll kill you first, then bring them back. Your sacrifice is both stupid and completely meaningless.”

Yan Jiyun knew the painting was far more important to the man. Without it, he couldn’t hide children inside it, which meant he couldn’t accomplish whatever he was trying to do.

Was this really a sacrifice? Of course not. He was just testing whether the masked man was one of Teacher Qu’s personalities. More importantly, he knew Qi Feng wasn’t the type to simply obey him and run away.

Yan Jiyun darted onto the classroom podium. The masked man was nearly driven mad with rage. The kid was like a monkey, leaping all over the place in an utterly infuriating manner. His lungs were about to explode from anger.

The masked man figured he only needed two steps to catch the little brat, so he chased after Yan Jiyun, determined not to stop until he’d caught him.

“Come catch me! Come on, catch me!” Yan Jiyun deliberately provoked him further.

The masked man was now both furious and humiliated.

Because he realized he couldn’t catch the little brat as easily as he’d imagined!

Yan Jiyun circled around the fixed desks. Whenever the masked man ran left, Yan Jiyun darted right. Whenever he ran right, Yan Jiyun slipped left.

The two reached a stalemate.

The masked man viciously kicked over a stool before angrily spinning around, throwing open the door, and charging out to chase the other two children instead!

Yan Jiyun: “…”

This guy had way too little patience!

Yan Jiyun had actually been waiting for him to open the door. Even so, he didn’t immediately chase after him. He hadn’t let down his guard. Who knew if the masked man was simply pretending to retreat so he could catch him the moment he came out? He wasn’t stupid.

The masked man yanked the door open. Yan Jiyun instead ran back into the storage room and picked up a projector that he could barely carry. Hugging it in both arms, he slowly headed toward the doorway.

He heard Qi Feng’s and Yan Weilan’s footsteps outside. Both of their footsteps changed rhythm before stopping outside the door.

Clutching the projector, Yan Jiyun sprinted toward the back entrance. The masked man pulled open the back door with a loud sound, like a giant cymbal smashing right beside his head. Yan Jiyun’s ears rang painfully. If his ears were already numb from the impact, then the masked man — who’d taken the blow directly — must have had his brain buzzing.

Who knew where Qi Feng had found such a massive weapon? 

The masked man’s legs wobbled. Clutching his head with both hands, he crouched down to recover. The moment he tried to stand, Yan Jiyun raised the projector and smashed it down hard onto the back of his head!

The masked man’s hands dropped limply from his head. He toppled sideways onto the floor, unconscious.

Yan Jiyun gave him a kick before quickly ripping off his mask. To his surprise, the masked man wasn’t one of Teacher Qu’s personalities. Instead, it was a man who looked somewhat familiar: the math teacher of this instance, Bald Yang. 

“How could it be him?”

Yan Jiyun figured his cold must have dulled his sense of smell enough that he hadn’t recognized the man’s scent. Besides, he hadn’t interacted with Bald Yang much today, so it wasn’t strange that he hadn’t identified him immediately. Removing Bald Yang’s mask also proved something else: it wasn’t only Teacher Qu’s personalities who could enter the painting. Players could probably enter it as well, as long as they knew the right method.

Qi Feng recognized him too. “I remember him. He’s the math teacher.”

Yan Jiyun added, “In [Mingya High School], he’s the director of academic affairs.”

Sharing those relationships with Qi Feng would also help him piece together the main storyline from the other instance.

Qi Feng nodded. “Then he probably isn’t an important character.”

Yan Jiyun held up the plastic mask. “But we still can’t underestimate someone like him. If we hadn’t caught up to him today, Yan Weilan probably would’ve been taken out of the school inside this painting tomorrow. Then, he would’ve simply disappeared.”

At the right moment, Yan Weilan put on a frightened expression. “That’s so scary… Why would the math teacher want to capture me?”

Yan Jiyun understood that someone had to be directing all of this from behind the scenes. They just didn’t know who yet.

Teacher Qu wanted to eliminate his own personalities. Apparently, though, he couldn’t simply do it directly. He had to follow a method that made sense within the world’s logic.

Yan Jiyun draped an arm around the little class monitor’s shoulder. “Don’t be scared. If someone captures you, I’ll figure out a way to save you.”

Yan Weilan’s eyes sparkled brightly. “Thank you, Yan Jiyun.”

After that, everything became much easier. Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng also rescued the two NPC children Bald Yang had secretly captured.

However, the moment they walked out of the classroom together, Bald Yang, who had been unconscious on the floor just moments ago suddenly got back up!

Neither Yan Jiyun nor Qi Feng had completed Main Mission 2 yet.

Bald Yang touched the wound on his head. Blood flowed from the top of his scalp down across his face. His grin looked horrifying. “Since you’ve figured out it’s me, I can’t let any of you leave this building alive.”

The two NPC children who’d just been rescued immediately screamed and fled. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

They happened to be standing by the third-floor staircase. Yan Jiyun pushed the Little Class Monitor toward Qi Feng. “I’ll distract him. Take the Class Monitor downstairs first. The 30 minutes are almost up. Finish Main Mission 2.”

Qi Feng once again had his chance to speak stolen. They’d executed a perfect inside-outside ambush earlier using the classroom door. But their current position wasn’t suitable for that anymore, and they could only split up.

Yan Jiyun deliberately stepped between Bald Yang and the other two, blocking his line of sight. Naturally, Qi Feng didn’t reject his goodwill.

Grabbing the reluctant Yan Weilan firmly, Qi Feng frowned at Yan Jiyun. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let Bald Yang catch me.” Leaving half his body visible on purpose, Yan Jiyun tricked Bald Yang into thinking he’d foolishly run upstairs.

As for what the fourth floor looked like, he had no idea. He’d just run first and worry later.

Bald Yang shook his dizzy head. Seeing it was Yan Jiyun again, he snarled, “I’ll catch you first and sacrifice you! You ruined everything!”

Yan Jiyun couldn’t even be bothered replying; he simply ran.

The reason he’d spoken before Qi Feng could was simple — his Human Form Time Card was about to expire.

[Human Form Time Card remaining time: 32 sec]

He only need to dodge for less than a minute. 

He only had to survive those thirty-two seconds.

The fourth floor was also filled with classrooms. Unfortunately, every single classroom door was locked!

Damn it. At the critical moment, none of the doors would open.

His body was tiny, so every step Bald Yang took required Yan Jiyun to take two. Very soon, Bald Yang reached the fourth floor. Meanwhile, Yan Jiyun was still trying to open the second classroom door.

What rotten luck! Not even a single window had been left open for him.

There weren’t many classrooms in the multifunction building to begin with; each floor only had six. Running from the far left to the far right took almost no time at all. 

In the blink of an eye, he’d already reached the third classroom.

It was still locked. 

The fourth classroom was also locked. Meanwhile, Bald Yang’s footsteps kept drawing closer. At that moment, it felt exactly like being chased through Teacher Qu’s old faculty dormitory all over again.

Finally, he spotted hope. The classroom door was locked, but one of the windows was open.

His Human Form Time Card had only 5 seconds left.

Bald Yang was closing in fast, less than 10 meters separated them. If he sped up just a little more, he’d catch Yan Jiyun within those final 5 seconds.

But Yan Jiyun couldn’t worry about that anymore!

He jumped straight onto the windowsill.

Bald Yang let out a sinister grin and accelerated, deliberately trying to frighten Yan Jiyun into falling before he climbed through.

Three— Two— One—

Just before Bald Yang reached him, Yan Jiyun leaped down into the classroom. The instant he landed, he transformed back into a little black cat.

He dashed toward the last row and dove into the storage compartment beneath the final empty desk!

“Huff… huff… huff…”

His tiny heart pounded wildly inside his chest.

A second later, Bald Yang also jumped through the window.

“You’ve hidden yourself pretty well. But you’re never getting out of this classroom alive. I’ll strangle you to death.”

Yan Jiyun slowly forced himself to calm down. He did everything he could to slow his heartbeat.

Remaining silent was the greatest respect he could show Bald Yang. Let him search all he wanted!

He probably never imagined where Yan Jiyun was hiding, because a seven- or eight-year-old child could never fit inside a desk compartment

Bald Yang searched for 3 minutes, but still couldn’t find Yan Jiyun. His confidence gradually gave way to anxiety.

Meanwhile, only 3 minutes remained before the time limit for escaping the multifunction building expired. Qi Feng should have already escorted everyone downstairs, so why hadn’t there been any movement?

[Congratulations to the player for completing completed New Main Mission 2: “Escape the Multifunction Building.”]

Whew, thank goodness. They’d finally cleared it.

Bang!

However, Bald Yang suddenly flew into a furious rage, and the danger level instantly shot upward. He lifted an entire desk and slammed it onto the floor. In his impotent fury, he kicked over the surrounding desks and chairs one after another.

Yan Jiyun remained perfectly still inside the final desk compartment.

Bald Yang began yanking open the curtains, carefully checking behind every single one.

“Damn it! Where the hell did you go?! It’s such a tiny place! Where could you possibly hide?”

“I’m sitting right here today. We’ll see who can outlast who!”

Yan Jiyun thought, ‘You’re definitely not outlasting me.’