DSMC Chapter 51.1

T/L: Sorry for the sudden hiatus TT_TT work combined with con prep really got hands… but now I’m a free man, I’ll compensate with updates EVERYDAY until the end of November!

Yan Jiyun saw a player wearing a number tag walk in, along with someone who wasn’t wearing one. The latter was probably the NPC that player had exchanged for.

He didn’t charge in recklessly, and instead pretended to be clinging to the glass fish tank while actually watching the player inside and eavesdropping on their conversation.

The NPC across from the player was extremely burly, with arms as thick as a fat orange cat’s body, looking very safe to be around.

From Yan Jiyun’s angle he could only see half the number tag and didn’t know whether the player was No. 8 or No. 3. He shifted to the side but still couldn’t see clearly.

Since he had Tang Shi and Liang Yu as NPC bodyguards right now, he wasn’t scared. He moved directly toward the restaurant entrance. Only by getting closer could he see clearly.

But before he could get closer, Liang Yu swept in first, grabbing the black cat that was about to slip into someone else’s restaurant. He scolded him, “I shouldn’t have let you walk on your own. It’s so dark. We won’t find you later, and when the owner kicks you out of the restaurant you’ll really be in trouble.”

Tang Shi, for once, agreed with Liang Yu. “Then carry it. Don’t let ittouch the ground.”

Liang Yu weighed the black cat. “You’re pretty heavy.”

Yan Jiyun: …

Even though he was being carried, Liang Yu was tall enough that Yan Jiyun’s view got higher, and from that angle he finally saw the player’s number tag. The other party was No. 8, which he remembered belonged to Team E.

Only Team E’s No. 8 was around. He didn’t see any other Team E players. It seemed the game didn’t place all of Team E into the same scene.

Currently, 25 players are playing. With three areas, there should be about eight people in each, and of course some players from the same team would end up in the same area.

Team E had lost one player in the first round. The second round’s winners had points stored up, so even if someone was eliminated, they should have been able to exchange them back.

Any Team that had won at least once had a chance to redeem eliminated teammates. But with only 25 players playing right now, that meant not many redeemed players had returned. And the system hadn’t announced the final results from round three. He didn’t know the outcomes of the other four teams’ matches, so he couldn’t tell which team had the highest score.

For now, their team had won three rounds in a row, so they should have the highest points among the six Teams. Other Teams had all lost at least once. Even if they earned the 2,000 points from round three, that only gave them 3,000.

The system hadn’t announced round three’s matchup results, increasing the difficulty for players. But for Team F, this was actually an advantage, preventing other Teams from guessing their strategy. Team C deliberately told the others about Team F’s third-round result, the disabled team with three consecutive wins would definitely become a target. That said, Team C might not want to expose their own points either and had probably kept quiet.

The “Hide and Seek” instance wasn’t about hiding from people. It was hiding from the eight hundred schemes inside every player’s head.

Now that he’d identified Team E’s No. 8, Yan Jiyun could retreat.

Having two handsome NPCs with him out on the street drew attention. The environment and NPC styling were very reminiscent of twenty years ago, and even the music in the phone shop was from that era.

Yan Jiyun noticed a few players who didn’t pay attention to them, but he did spot their number tags.

There was still one problem: how was he supposed to use his paws to seize another player’s number tag? Did touching it with his paw count?

Maybe Tang Shi and Liang Yu could help him take someone’s number tag?

But how was he supposed to let them know his intention?

While Tang Shi was buying skewers at a barbecue stall, Yan Jiyun opened the temporary shop to check for items that could resonate with someone emotionally.

The whole thing was full of gifts. He watched Tang Shi pick up a skewer, and Yan Jiyun bought the same skewer from his item list.

[Player No. 29 has given the NPC Tang Shi a “Skewer”.]

Tang Shi was biting into a cumin beef skewer and said, “This stall’s beef skewers taste even better than they used to.”

[Oh dear! Player No. 29 is incredible. You found the most delicious skewer from Tang Shi’s childhood memories. Bond value with Tang Shi +20!]

Yan Jiyun: …

They gave quite a lot!

And now he really wanted to eat skewers too.

Liang Yu dangled the skewer in front of him teasingly. “Oreo, come smell it. Does it smell good?”

Liang Yu had no idea that Yan Jiyun never played by normal cat rules. Yan Jiyun hated people who deliberately tempted cats the most.

He bit down on the meat in one chomp. Liang Yu tried to pull it out but couldn’t. A cat’s bite force wasn’t weak.

He didn’t expect this cat to skip the sniffing phase and go straight for the bite.

Liang Yu was stunned. Oreo was nothing like any cat he’d ever met. Didn’t cats usually sniff unfamiliar food first?

Tang Shi didn’t eat spicy food, so the beef didn’t have chili on it, which was why Yan Jiyun dared to bite. Skewers handed to his mouth and he wouldn’t eat? Was he still human?

He was starving. And this jerk Liang Yu had the nerve to put meat right in front of him.

Liang Yu, now unsure if he should keep eating, still fed Oreo the two pieces the cat had touched, then ate the rest himself.

Of course Yan Jiyun didn’t dare eat too much. If his owner found out he’d eaten barbecue, he’d be forced to eat vegetables for days. And his owner was totally the type to do that.

He smacked his mouth, licking the cumin powder off his lips. Barbecue really was delicious. Too bad even if he used the experience card to turn human again, he still wouldn’t be able to eat it.

They took the barbecue and were about to continue walking when a crowd suddenly gathered ahead, noisy and excited.

Yan Jiyun heard two NPCs arguing and recognized two familiar faces in the crowd: Team A’s No. 14 and Team C’s No. 1.

Did these two have a grudge, or were they testing the system rules? They were really about to fight?

Team A and Team C probably never faced each other before, since both teams originally entered the game scene as Seekers.

Maybe two players bumped into each other and started fighting, and of course he had to go watch.

Tang Shi and Liang Yu also wanted to know what was happening up ahead, so the two of them gnawed on skewers while hauling Yan Jiyun along to spectate.

Before long, Yan Jiyun climbed up onto Liang Yu’s shoulders and finally saw the two players’ “battlefield.”

To his huge disappointment, Team A No. 14 and Team C No. 1 weren’t fighting at all. Instead, two NPCs at the front of the crowd were beating the crap out of each other: one was a burly middle-aged man, the other a wiry young man with a sturdy build. The younger one also had plenty of muscle, but that wasn’t the point. What mattered was the sly glint in his eyes.

Judging from the NPCs, the burly middle-aged guy was probably the one No. 14 exchanged for, while the sly young man must’ve been chosen by No. 1.

It looked like both players had figured out how to use their NPCs, so he might as well watch and see how they operated.

Right now, No. 14 and No.1 1 were both standing in the crowd chanting under their breath.

No. 14: “Zhao-ge, he said your kid was born without an anus! Teach him a lesson!”

The burly Zhao-ge cursed back, “Your kid’s the one born without an anus!”

No. 1 countered: “Qian Xin, how can you stand him insulting your wife for running off with another man?”

No. 1’s assisting NPC, Qian Xin, spat and swung a punch at Zhao-ge. The burly man didn’t dodge in time and took the blow right on his right cheek.

Hearing the two players yell like that left Yan Jiyun dumbstruck. So this was how NPC-vs-NPC battles worked?

Not blades clashing, not some bold, flashy wuxia duel?

Maybe he was being too narrow-minded. In a slice-of-life scene like this, how could there possibly be rooftop chases, flashing swords, and righteous vengeance?

Still, who knew if all NPCs fought like this, or if different NPCs had different kinds of battles?

And how was “stronger NPC” determined? By the game? By the gifts players offered? Or was it just a simple rock-paper-scissors situation: A beats B, B beats C, C beats A?

If it was that simple, the mechanic would be way too shallow.

He figured there had to be more going on. Gifts were probably a very important factor.

The two NPCs continued slugging it out without a clear winner. Five minutes in, they were still grappling endlessly, one punch countering another. 

Both players were getting anxious. They were hiding behind their NPCs, and if their own NPC lost, they might be eliminated by the other player.

Yan Jiyun kept watching. Both players were muttering desperately, trying to make their NPCs try harder, but no matter how they fought, neither could win. And neither player seemed to know how to make their NPC stop. If the two were equally matched and ended up dying, that meant wasting a high-level prop.

Two more minutes passed. No. 1’s NPC was more cunning. He deliberately tripped No. 14’s NPC, then locked the burly man’s head between his legs. The burly man reacted and clamped down on the younger man’s neck with his own legs. Both looked like they were about to choke each other out.

Their faces were beet red. Both were seconds away from passing out when a Team of in-game police officers appeared and dragged the NPCs off to the police station.

No. 14 and No. 1 stared blankly: “…”

At that moment, Yan Jiyun heard the system announcement:

[Team A Player No. 14 and Team C Player No. 1’s NPCs have been detained by the police for disturbing the peace during combat. NPCs Zhao-ge and Qian Xin have been returned to the prop pool. Other players may exchange for them during the next exchange window.]

When Yan Jiyun lowered his gaze, he noticed Tang Shi putting away his phone. He had just caught a glimpse of the screen: the recently closed call interface. Tang Shi had secretly called the cops?

He never would’ve guessed Tang Shi was the “enthusiastic citizen” type.

He suddenly understood why Tang Shi’s prop wasn’t the paper star but a “smartphone.”

He didn’t even want to imagine it: if he sent Tang Shi into battle, would he whip out his phone and dial the cops while the enemy was mid-punch? Would Tang Shi just die on the spot?

Then again, Tang Shi had knocked out a Team C player with a single punch before, so probably not.

Still, Yan Jiyun couldn’t help eyeing that “smartphone.”

This game’s mechanics were deadly. Compared to Tang Shi, Liang Yu was even scarier. His exchanged prop was a “black bracelet,” which screamed “sentimental keepsake” and probably meant he was a lovestruck idiot.

Yan Jiyun had no chance to regret now. He had already given three gifts. He couldn’t send back the righteous youth or the rich second-generation to reclaim his points.