DSMC Chapter 186

Arc 10: Sweet Christmas

CW: blood and gore

Yan Jiyun could only choose between options A and B, but there was no need to consider the first one at all. The system had never actually given him a choice.

[Please make your selection within 5 seconds.]

Yan Jiyun chose B.

[The player has made the correct choice. You will be transferred to the instance where the main-account player is located in 3 seconds. Please prepare to enter the Top-Level instance, “Sweet Christmas”!]

What the hell was [Sweet Christmas] supposed to mean? Why does it sounded like nothing about it was honestly “sweet”?

And what was he supposed to prepare for? Prepare himself mentally? Preparing to close and open his eyes would be about the extent of it.

He really had to thank the system.

The system didn’t care about a player’s mental state at all. In fact, the more broken a player became, the closer they were to the original purpose of the game, and the closer they were to giving the majority of the audience exactly what they loved to watch: the unknown, the suspense, the horror, and traps lurking everywhere.

Yan Jiyun didn’t close his eyes. Instead, he suddenly asked the system, ‘What’s the current situation of the main-account player?’

Only after calming down did he realize something. This time, the system wasn’t notifying him of Qi Feng’s condition through their master-pet relationship. Instead, it was specifically concerning the main-account player’s personal safety.

In other words, could Qi Feng have been sending a distress signal to his friend? Had his situation already become extremely dangerous?

He still remembered that the little card Qi Yunchu had previously given Qi Feng contained Su Qiuming’s cry for help. But this time, Qi Feng hadn’t sent out a little card like Su Qiuming had.

Could it be that players pulled into the game who encountered a life-threatening situation didn’t get the one opportunity to seek help from outside the game that the first batch of players had?

What kind of danger had Qi Feng encountered?

No wonder the notifications in his master-pet system had stopped giving him updates. So Qi Feng’s situation had already become this dangerous.

Regardless, he and Qi Feng were now in the same boat. He had to save him.

If Qi Feng couldn’t survive, Yan Jiyun wouldn’t be able to survive either.

As for the instance he was currently in… whatever. Let the damn system do whatever it wants.

[3… 2… 1… The player will now be transferred from the “The One in My Heart” instance to the “Sweet Christmas” instance!] 

Everything in front of Yan Jiyun suddenly went pitch-black.

At the same time, his livestream also went black.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“Holy shit, what’s going on? Why did the screen go black?! Did Kitty Baby enter some kind of rest mode? There’s actually a really creepy shadow reflected on the screen. Wait, what the fuck— it’s me!”

“Ahhhh?! Is something seriously wrong with my internet? Why can’t I watch Kitty Baby’s livestream?”

“Same here. Did the game disconnect?”

“No, I can still see his teammates streaming. The instance is running normally. It’s just Kitty Baby whose situation seems strange.”

“crying laughing.jpg) Did Kitty Baby run into another unexpected situation? I don’t think it’s anything worth making a fuss over. I just want to know what the hell is going on!”

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

At that moment, a system notification popped up in the livestream.

[The player is transferring between instances. Reconnecting to the livestream will take 120 seconds. Please wait patiently.]

“Huh? This is the first time I’ve ever encountered something like this. No way, I have to make a post on the forum and let everyone come see this.”

“What kind of constitution does Kitty Baby have? How does he manage to encounter every possible situation? Why would he suddenly be transferred to another instance without any warning?”

“No idea. We can’t see Kitty Baby’s personal information in the backend. What a shame.”

“I’m getting anxious, so anxious! I thought this instance would be like the usual ones. I never expected something unexpected like this to happen. What exactly is going on?!”

While the viewers waiting in the livestream room patiently waited for the stream to come back online, Yan Jiyun had already been transferred from instance A to instance B.

This time, it wasn’t a system bug. The entire process went smoothly.

After experiencing the previous instance, Yan Jiyun had reached the point where he could maintain a calm state of mind and adjust to a change of scenery within a single second.

It was just a change of scenery, wasn’t it?

He wasn’t afraid!

Judging from Qi Feng’s previous status notifications, Sweet Christmas clearly wasn’t a simple mystery instance. Mutated monsters would appear in this instance. Since he was entering the game in cat form this time, he could only hope that he wouldn’t land right in the middle of some dangerous situation.

His circumstances upon entering the instance were also somewhat different from Qi Feng’s. They had been dragged into the game passively, whereas Yan Jiyun had actively chosen to enter it. Surely the circumstances he faced would be different too?

Qi Feng might not necessarily save Su Qiuming after entering the game, whereas Yan Jiyun had entered specifically for Qi Feng.

Therefore, the first thing he would do after entering the game was find Qi Feng and rescue him.

The only problem was that he still didn’t know what kind of fatal danger Qi Feng had encountered, or how much longer he could hold out.

Hopefully, Qi Feng could wait for him.

He had to hang in there!

Yan Jiyun’s body finally stabilized. He opened his eyes.

At the same time, his livestream came back online. A flood of comments immediately poured in. No one could even make out individual comments anymore; they were all being buried under the sheer volume.

[Player livestream has resumed.]

[Welcome, player, to the “Sweet Christmas” instance.]

[Since you entered the game midway through, you do not need to participate in the Main Mission. You only need to survive and leave this instance. We wish you a pleasant gaming experience~]

The first thing Yan Jiyun checked was how much time remained in the instance.

[Time remaining until instance ends: 20 h 5 min 20 sec]

A Top-Level instance actually lasted this long?

Although he had entered a Top-Level instance unexpectedly this time, whether or not he was afraid of dying was one thing. Gathering information was just as important as rescuing Qi Feng.

At that moment, he was standing at the entrance of a shopping mall. Two Christmas trees stood on either side of the entrance, while on the right was a giant Santa Claus plush figure.

The Santa’s smile was no longer kindly. Instead, it had become extremely sinister.

The entire shopping mall, inside and out, had been decorated to create a festive atmosphere. Yet the ground was littered with severed limbs and other body parts, and the stench of blood assaulted his nose.

Yan Jiyun stuck out his tongue, and he nearly threw up.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“Holy shit, I can see the instance information now! A—A Top-Level instance! What did Kitty Baby do this time? How did he end up in a Top-Level instance? Did the system bug out again?”

“[Sweet Christmas]? Holy shit, I remember you had to pay an additional viewing fee just to watch this instance. Let me see if I got charged.”

“Nope, I didn’t get charged. It’s probably because Kitty Baby entered too late. And look, there are only 20 hours left on the instance countdown.”

“Does anyone know why Kitty Baby entered? Holy shit, this shitty game has successfully piqued my curiosity! They’ve never done this before. There are only 20 hours left — can Kitty Baby clear it successfully?”

“Holy shit, this instance is insanely difficult! Can Kitty Baby, who hasn’t even cleared ten instances yet, really handle it?”

“Ahhhhhhh, you damn system! Are you deliberately trying to kill our Kitty Baby?! I refuse to let him enter such a dangerous system! There’s no way he can get out of this thing!”

Yan Jiyun also saw the player information.

[Surviving Players: 30/500]

Only 30 players remained out of 500!

The 500 players should include those who had been pulled into the instance. Each original surviving player could pull another ten players into the game, though not every player was necessarily able to bring in all ten.

Judging from the current numbers, counting all the players who had been dragged into the instance, the total number of participants had reached as many as 500!

Other than the Peak Competition, this was the largest number of players Yan Jiyun had ever seen in an instance.

And now, only 30 of those 500 players remain.

His master-pet system panel was still lit up, and his inventory hadn’t been disabled either.

After assessing the current situation, he immediately used the affection-increasing items he had collected.

[You used 2 Tuna prop. Intimacy with your Master increased by 2 points.]

[You used 2 Sardine prop. Intimacy with your Master increased by 2 points.]

[You used 2 Beef Patty prop. Intimacy with your Master increased by 2 points.]

It turned out his Intimacy had been at 20, and now it had increased by 6 points all at once.

Yan Jiyun couldn’t tell whether there was any significant change in the master-pet interface. If only he could locate Qi Feng’s position.

His master-pet interface did indeed have a function for checking his master’s location, but his Intimacy level wasn’t high enough, so he still couldn’t unlock it.

Tsk, how was he supposed to raise this Intimacy?

He had always been somewhat reluctant to reveal his identity to Qi Feng, but now that they were truly facing a life-or-death crisis, it seemed like he didn’t care as much anymore.

He knew absolutely nothing about this instance and didn’t have the slightest bit of useful information. How was he supposed to find Qi Feng?

There were sounds of people running inside the shopping mall. Yan Jiyun slipped through a bloodstained curtain and entered.

There were clearly more than thirty pairs of footsteps inside the mall. It sounded like there were at least fifty or sixty people.

How could there be so many? Could this instance have only one location, a huge shopping mall? Were all the players staying inside the mall?

If that was the case, wouldn’t Qi Feng be in there too?

Yan Jiyun immediately had a direction to go in.

The first floor of the large shopping mall was filled with various luxury skincare brands. Every store was running Christmas promotions, with all kinds of discounted prices displayed. After being invaded by monsters, the mall was a complete mess, with all sorts of bottles and jars shattered across the floor.

Yan Jiyun leaped over the bottles and spilled lotions and the like, heading straight upstairs.

Aside from the fact that there was no one operating it, the elevator was still running up and down.

After getting into the elevator, he reached the second floor without much trouble.

Compared to the horror in the neighboring [The One in My Heart] instance, where the atmosphere and environment created the sense of fear, this place was truly terrifying. It was practically a living hell.

Bloodstains covered the floor, and the blood splattered across the walls had already turned black. Waves of foul stench assaulted his nose.

In a men’s clothing store at the entrance to the escalator, Yan Jiyun saw several men piled on top of one another, their intestines punctured and spilling out in a macabre display. Not to mention blood, Yan Jiyun even saw several organs scattered all over the floor, some even looked a bit mushy, perhaps from being stepped over and over. 

He took one look and suddenly felt his stomach churn from being confronted with such a scene. He really did need to prepare himself mentally.

Fuck! This was fucking disgusting!

This wasn’t merely testing his ability to endure it. It was directly testing his mental health. If he had to face this kind of situation in every instance, then even if he managed to clear them all, he’d eventually go insane.

No wonder Qi Feng always looked for him immediately after coming out of an instance. Cats really were creatures capable of healing the soul.

He should be grateful that he hadn’t ended up in this kind of brutally survival-oriented instance every time.

A voice that was almost hysterical suddenly rang out.

“Where are you?! Come out!”

He had just said that the instance could drive people insane, and Yan Jiyun immediately encountered someone who was nearby. He followed the direction of the voice and turned right.

It was a branded sportswear store. A man holding a baseball bat stood at the entrance. His baseball bat was stained with blood from who knew who. The bearded man had his right eye wrapped in gauze, and he looked like a frightened animal, swiveling his remaining eye around at the slightest sound.

Then, the familiar tune of Jingle Bells suddenly rang out throughout the shopping mall.

A Christmas song sung like a children’s nursery rhyme was even more frightening than hearing the wind blowing in Liu Jinghao’s mourning hall in the middle of the night. It was downright creepy.

Yan Jiyun didn’t know the player who was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He still hadn’t figured out the situation in this instance, so naturally he wasn’t going to recklessly rush over. Besides, he was currently in cat form, making it even more impossible for him to run over and ask what was going on.

What kind of situation could drive a player capable of entering a Top-Level instance to this state?

Or perhaps he hadn’t been among the first batch of players to enter and was instead one of the players who entered at the same time as Qi Feng.

Had Qi Feng become like this too?

After seeing this player, Yan Jiyun noticed that an additional data bar had appeared on his system interface.

[Current Sanity Value: 99]¹So, the original the term is 精神污染; with 精神 means mental/spirit/mind/consciousness, and 污染 means contamination/pollution. However, in English, “Mental Contamination Level” is understood to be “how far along has your mind been degraded”, with higher value equals higher degradation. But it means the inverse of that in here, with higher value equals higher lower degradation/more intact mind. So, I’ll be using “Sanity” instead

As a game enthusiast, it was impossible for Yan Jiyun never to have encountered a stat like this. But he had always thought it was something that only existed in games. He hadn’t expected to encounter it directly in [Destiny].

The concept of a Sanity Value — or sometimes “SAN” — originally came from Western horror stories, particularly inspired by Cthulhu mythos. And now it has been incorporated into a game instance. Combining Western-style entertainment with this kind of stat didn’t feel out of place at all.

However, given how this game operated, it was definitely not going to follow the usual game conventions he was familiar with. Otherwise, why would this instance allow players to call in outside assistance, only for those reinforcements to fall one after another?

Yan Jiyun continued running toward the direction with the most people. Along the way, he encountered another woman who was clutching her head in agony. She had pulled out a large chunk of her own hair, and blood was still running from her scalp. The woman screamed incessantly.

“Don’t come near me! Don’t come near me! I am me! You’ll never be able to defeat me!”

Another one had gone crazy?

It had been almost ten minutes since Yan Jiyun entered the instance.

Since this instance had a mental contamination level, did that mean there was something inside the game capable of contaminating their minds?

What could contaminate their minds?

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“It’s been almost ten minutes since Kitty Baby entered this instance, right?”

“Almost.”

“Is that thing about to come out?”

“What thing? Is it scary?”

“Scary! Super scary!”

“Ahhhhh! I’m scared! Will Kitty be able to beat it later?”

“Save me! I don’t want to see Kitty get defeated by that disgusting thing.”

“Don’t worry. Kitty’s mental contamination level isn’t very high right now. He’s not scared at all.”

“But I really want to see what that thing looks like when it comes out. Will Kitty Baby be so scared that he jumps out of his skin?”

Yan Jiyun observed the layout of the shopping mall.

The section he’d entered was Building C. There were probably Buildings A and B as well. If there were more, there might even be four buildings, A through D.

He continued running toward the sound. It was getting closer and closer, yet he still couldn’t see anyone.

When he reached the children’s clothing section, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure.

Wasn’t that Qi Yunchu, the person who had received the card as well?

If he remembered correctly, that person should indeed be Qi Yunchu. His appearance was quite distinctive.

Qi Yunchu turned from the children’s clothing section toward the elevator and emergency staircase. Yan Jiyun quietly followed him.

As Yan Jiyun followed, he heard another set of chaotic footsteps behind him. Qi Yunchu, running ahead of him, remained calm despite the danger, while the person behind was still panting heavily.

The former ran extremely fast. If Yan Jiyun hadn’t been able to hear the other’s footsteps, he would have suspected that Qi Yunchu had used some kind of special-effect item. It wasn’t impossible.

But in Qi Yunchu’s eyes, Qi Feng was already someone he considered extremely powerful, and Qi Feng had entered the game before him. Now even Qi Feng was close to falling apart, so how could Qi Yunchu’s physical abilities still surpass Qi Feng’s?

Was Qi Feng simply not as capable physically, or had he been hiding his true strength?

Just then, Yan Jiyun suddenly saw a black shadow flash past his eyes.

Yes, he hadn’t used the wrong description. It really was a shadow that had darted past him.

Was there a mirror up ahead?

Yan Jiyun walked forward a few steps. After emerging from the passageway into the central area of the mall, there were indeed mirrors, but all of them were inside the stores. There were no mirrors in the corridors.

The only things that could reflect a person’s silhouette were perhaps the glass surfaces around the fire-extinguisher cabinets.

But he wasn’t in human form right now. He was only a cat.

If he hadn’t seen it wrong just now, was that a black cat that looked exactly like him that had flashed past his eyes?

There was actually another cat in this game that looked so much like him?

Yan Jiyun stood still for three seconds, thinking.

Then he took off after the direction in which the black cat had run.

‘Fine, “Xiao Hei”. You’ve successfully caught my attention.’

He refused to believe that there could be another black cat in this game that looked exactly like him.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“Fuck! Mimi, don’t chase it! Come back! That’s a trap!”

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  So, the original the term is 精神污染; with 精神 means mental/spirit/mind/consciousness, and 污染 means contamination/pollution. However, in English, “Mental Contamination Level” is understood to be “how far along has your mind been degraded”, with higher value equals higher degradation. But it means the inverse of that in here, with higher value equals higher lower degradation/more intact mind. So, I’ll be using “Sanity” instead