DSMC Chapter 37.1

…uhhhhhhh by my own count, chapter 38 SHOULD be the end of 2nd arc…………………………….. but yeah my brain did an oopsie so.

Well, think of it as I’m getting my break earlier than I supposed to have. Chapter 37 and 38 are more in-between resting stage, and we will go to the 3rd arc (Hide and Seek) in chapter 39!

Qi Feng had raised Caramel for more than a year.

When he first brought the little kitten home, it had just learned to drink milk. Raising it into such a sleek, graceful adult cat hadn’t been easy. He’d always thought that things would simply go on like this, never imagining that one day, Caramel would suddenly leave him.

After the cat went missing for a day the last time, he really should have installed cameras at home. Who could’ve guessed that, just a few days later, Caramel would vanish again?

He asked the property management to check the community surveillance several times but found nothing. Later, he bought out every elevator ad slot in the complex, broadcasting missing cat notices on a loop and offering a huge reward. For a whole month, the ad spaces in that upscale community were covered with photos of one black cat. Many people suspected that the wealthy owner just wanted to show off his beautiful black cat rather than actually find it.

Countless people called Qi Feng claiming they had found Caramel, but when he went to see for himself, none of them were her. Every one of them was a black cat, but not his black cat. Caramel was different; it was spirited, and when it looked at people, there was no trace of timidity in its eyes. Though they were all black cats, the coats weren’t the same — some had specks of other colors, but Caramel’s fur was pure black from head to tail, not a single stray hair of another color, and its coat was unbelievably smooth to the touch.

Qi Feng remembered every single detail about his cat’s body. Caramel was the treasure he had raised with his own hands. From its nose to its paw pads, he knew exactly which spot was a shade lighter or darker.

But as the time for him to enter the next instance drew nearer, he still hadn’t found his cat. In the end, he had no choice but to ask his good friends to help with the search.

This time, it had already been nine days since he last logged into the game. Normally, he would occasionally go online to gather information about the next instance he planned to enter.

Today, he was logging in mainly to discuss the upcoming instance with his instance teammates.

Qi Feng entered the game in a state of anxiety.

Yet the moment he entered, all that anxiety was wiped away, because he was instantly hit by a barrage of system notifications. And instead of relief, what replaced it was an even stronger wave of panic and worry.

He had just stepped into the Central Zone, intending to find his friends, when he was bombarded by system messages.

A mechanical voice sounded: [You have 105 new notifications. Would you like to view them?]

Qi Feng: “???”

He frowned. Normally, when he logged on, he might have a few messages from teammates, but never this many. They usually only contacted him about important matters, not spammed him like maniacs. Maybe because he hadn’t logged in for nine days, they’d gotten impatient?

Who could have sent all these? Or was this some new system event or rule update?

He told the system, “View them.”

Mechanical voice: “Would you like to view them manually or have the system read them aloud?”

He’d always read them himself before. So why was the system suddenly being so talkative? It felt strange.

He began scrolling through the notifications.

And once he started reading, he couldn’t stop—

[Your pet has entered the game through the main account’s nameplate. The system has activated a sub-account function for your pet.]

[The system has linked your pet’s account to yours.]

[Your pet has entered the instance “Going Home after School.”]

[Your pet feels tired from running.]

[Your pet is hungry.]

[Your pet fainted in the instance.]

[Your pet successfully cleared “Going Home after School.”]

[Your pet has logged off.]

……

[Your pet has logged on.]

[Your pet has entered the instance “Midnight Diner.”]

[Your pet ate a fish.]

[Your pet ate a bowl of cat food.]

[Your pet rested.]

[Your pet ate a bowl of cat food.]

[Your pet ate a salmon.]

[Your pet ate another salmon.]

[Your pet successfully cleared “Midnight Diner.”]

……

After reading them all, Qi Feng went back and reread the whole list again, until he was starting to go numb to the words “your pet.”

His heartbeat quickened, and his fingers trembled slightly. Caramel… entered the game!?

So Caramel didn’t disappear because it wandered off, or because it found another owner, or even because someone took it away. Caramel entered [Destiny]?? 

Qi Feng strained to recall what had happened before Caramel’s first disappearance. That day, after returning from an instance, he had been exhausted and tossed his nameplate onto the sofa. Then Caramel must have touched it, and that’s how it got pulled into an instance?

And Caramel had already gone through two instances!

The thought made his blood pressure spike.

He’d been in the game for three years; he knew perfectly well what the instances were like. There were no “cozy pet-care” levels, every instance was a fight for survival. He himself had barely escaped death in the higher difficulty instances. If Caramel had entered, it must have been hellish for the cat.

But from the notifications, it seemed like it was… doing okay? It even had fish and cat food to eat. Still, it had gone hungry in the first instance; no wonder it had stomach inflammation after coming back! It must have been starving and eaten something bad inside the game.

How could the game possibly allow a pet to enter through his nameplate!?

Why hadn’t it just bounced his cat out immediately? Caramel was not human! How could it understand the rules?

What kind of instance could it even clear? What tasks could it possibly complete?

Qi Feng had never been so furious. All he wanted was to get Caramel out of the game immediately.

His thoughts were in chaos. The idea of his cat being trapped in those deadly scenarios — suffering, maybe even getting hurt — filled him with panic and guilt. The little one he’d raised so carefully was now enduring hardship in a place he couldn’t reach.

He would rather take Caramel’s place and endure ten times the risk himself. Anything was better than letting it suffer. The little kitty couldn’t possibly comprehend the game’s complex rules.

Qi Feng: “System, why did my cat enter the game just from touching my nameplate?”

Mechanical voice: “Player, based on system analysis, it appears that your pet’s magnetic field happens to be highly compatible with the game “Destiny.” Upon contact, it was able to enter the game.”

Qi Feng: “Then why can’t other players’ pets enter? Why was my cat unlucky enough to be dragged in? It can’t be the only cat in the whole game, right?”

Mechanical voice: “Searching for you, please wait.”

Mechanical voice: “Search complete. Yes, currently your pet is the only cat player in the game. No other player’s pet has entered via their owner’s main account. Your sub-account is also unique within the game. Please cherish this privilege.”

Qi Feng: “…So you’re saying that no matter what happens to my cat, I can’t ask any other player for help? I can only ask the system?”

Mechanical voice: “That appears to be the case. The system considers you very fortunate.”

Qi Feng: “……”

Fortunate? Entering this game was a brush with death every single time.

The cat he’d raised with such care had never suffered before. What owner could stand by and watch their child endure pain, or worse, risk injury? He’d always treated Caramel like family. The more carefully he’d pampered it, the more his heart ached now.

Qi Feng then noticed that his personal interface had a new [Pet] tab. He immediately opened it without hesitation.

[Pet Name: Caramel]

[Pet Species: Cat]

[Pet Age Stage: Adult]

[Pet Game Status: Resting]

[Pet Intimacy: 0/100]

[Pet Location: Unknown (Insufficient Intimacy — No Permission to View)]

[Pet Instance Information: Unknown (Insufficient Intimacy — No Permission to View)]

Qi Feng: “Since it’s my sub-account, why can’t I locate it or see the instance details it cleared?”

Mechanical Voice: “The owner must reach a certain level of Intimacy with their pet to access instance information.”

Qi Feng: “But I’m the main account. I shouldn’t need Intimacy at all.”

Mechanical Voice: “However, the sub-account user is also a player. The system has detected the sub-account player possesses autonomous consciousness. If you wish to view their private information, you must first raise mutual Intimacy.”

Cats did have independent consciousness. Otherwise how could they decide when to listen to their owners?

Qi Feng scrolled to the last line: “Then why is our Intimacy level zero?”

Mechanical Voice: “Since you and your pet have never cleared an instance together, the system cannot evaluate your bond, so the Intimacy value starts at zero.”

Qi Feng realized that his cat had already gone through two instances, leaving him with no grounds for complaint.

Qi Feng asked, “Does it count as a new player?”

He’d heard of Midnight Diner. It was one of the beginner instances.

Mechanical Voice: “Yes. Your pet is a newcomer.”

Qi Feng: “Since I’m the main account, can I take him into an instance together?”

If he could bring the cat along, he could guide it through safely and avoid random instance assignments.

Mechanical Voice: “Your cat is also a player. Like all new players, it must clear five instances before it can select higher-tier instances.”

Qi Feng: “But it’s my sub-account! Why can’t I just bring it in?”

Mechanical Voice: “Because the other party is an autonomous player and not exempt from standard rules. Once it meets the entry conditions for high-tier instances, it may join you.”

Qi Feng knew the system never cared about reason. All he wanted now was to smash this damned game.

By game logic, new players always started from the newcomer-level instances, while Qi Feng was already a top-level player. If he wanted to bring his cat along, it would have to enter those high-level deathtrap instances, and those never allowed regressions to lower tiers.

How could a cat possibly grasp the rules of an instance? How many points could it even earn per run? Some sadistic instances didn’t allow idling. If a player’s task completion fell below a certain threshold, they’d be instantly eliminated. In other words, dead.

A dozen possibilities flashed through Qi Feng’s mind in that instant, each worse than the last. His heart nearly skipped a beat.

Unable to find clues — eliminated.

Failing to gather enough points to meet exit conditions — eliminated.

Unable to clear co-op instances without teammates — eliminated.

…

He couldn’t think about it. The thought that Caramel might leave him at any time made him choke. The cat he had raised for a year might vanish forever.

Instead of spiraling, he forced himself to focus. Maybe if he could find Caramel, he could solve everything else too.

But the question was, in such a vast Central Zone, where could he even begin to look?

If he made a public search, other players would surely notice. None of them were fools. Rumors would spread, assumptions would form, and since Caramel had already entered two instances, there was a chance someone had seen him. Unlike the real world, he couldn’t just buy every billboard slot to post a missing cat ad. First, he had to keep Caramel safe.