DSMC Chapter 52.1

[Want To Be Human] livestream:

“Holy crap, the kitten turned human and landed a sneak attack!”

“That stupid-ass No. 1 kept trying to catch the cat, and he never expected to get taken out by the cat. Hahaha! My kitty is the best!”

“I just watched the kitten turn into a human in the dark on stream. Kind of creepy, honestly. Too bad No. 1 got eliminated so fast. We didn’t even get to see whether it was a human or a cat who beat him.”

“First time seeing this instance. Question for everyone: in this round, if a player gets eliminated and no teammate revives them, does that mean the player actually dies?”

“Great question, I also wanna know. Any pros here who can explain?”

“If no teammate revives them, then yeah, they really die in the instance. I watched a streamer before who got eliminated and never showed up again. In the first three rounds, you still have a chance to get redeemed back into the team role, but not in the fourth. This instance tests people hard. If you waver at the beginning, no other players will trust you. Like that couple from Team F. If they’d honestly stuck with the kitten’s team, they could’ve made it safely to the final match. But after getting eliminated, they jumped ship, and players in Team A didn’t trust them at all. They were used as cannon fodder in the second game. In the fourth-round player exchange, if no one redeems you by the end of the game, it’s basically like you silently die in there.”

“Watching Meowmeow’s stream makes me forget this game is actually full of danger. Getting eliminated doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll die, but if you’re fickle and keep switching sides, then yeah, you’ll definitely die.”

“The ‘Hide and Seek’ instance is that hard? I thought team battles would be more dangerous than solo battles, but turns out team battles are even scarier. You won’t even know how you died.”

Once this notification popped up, players in the other teams were confused. They checked the system time prompt. Not even an hour had passed, and someone was already eliminated?

And it was Team F’s No. 29 again? His kill speed was insane.

The players who had faced Team C knew just how strong No. 1 was. Team C had organization and discipline, and they’d already been taken in by a big guild even though they were newbies. There was no way they’d go down this fast… unless No. 29 was stronger than him.

Players in Team B who’d dealt with No. 29 before felt like lowering their heads and taking a deep drag of their cigarettes to steady their nerves. Their second round could only be described as terrifying. They and Team F weren’t even on the same level.

Team B’s No. 4 told the companion in the same area, “Running into them is a nightmare. Should we team up with Team F?”

No. 10: “I want to, but where do we even find No. 29?”

No. 4: “Good point. Let’s look for them first.”

No. 10: “But eliminating others gives points. Should we try it too?”

No. 4: “Are you confident?”

No. 10: “…Maybe we watch a bit longer.”

Plenty of players were thinking the same way. They now knew eliminating others gives points. And personal points are different from team points. In solo mode, all the points you earn are yours alone. No splitting with teammates.

But Team B players remembered No. 29’s catching them in record speed. A shiver ran down their spines. Better avoid him.

While other players speculated wildly about No. 29, Team F members were sweating buckets for Yan Jiyun.

Qiu Xi knew about C Team’s No. 1. At the end of the last game, he saw No. 1 chasing a black cat, insisting on catching it. It was not normal behavior at all. Good thing the black cat had an NPC protecting it, otherwise who knew what No. 1 would’ve done.

But he wasn’t sure that the cat was his boss’s black cat.

Gu Wenzhu looked at his own injured leg. Their teammate was going so hard. He had to work hard too and find the resurrection prop.

Yan Jiyun was being discussed, dissected, and theorized about from every angle, while he was still tense from snatching No. 1’s number tag. His hands were still shaking.

If he didn’t take No. 1’s tag, he would’ve been killed. So he had to strike first. And really, he just took advantage of catching No. off-guard. If he hadn’t relaxed because he thought it was “just the cat,” it wouldn’t have been so easy. No. 1’s reflexes were fast. The moment Yan Jiyun touched the number tag, the guy dodged. He had simply ripped it off faster.

Yan Jiyun knew that after he tore No. 1’s tag, the guy was facing three possibilities: one, he might directly die from a single elimination; two, he might get revived if his teammates found a resurrection prop and chose to use it on him; three, the system might be merciful and give an elimination that didn’t equal death.

No one had found a resurrection prop yet, so No. 1 was basically frozen. If his teammates found a resurrection prop and were willing to save him, he could return.

Yan Jiyun didn’t feel like he’d wasted his effort. No. 1 kept staring at the black cat. That meant he couldn’t freely use the cat form to search for resurrection props. Taking one shot at No. 1 was worth it. At least now he understood how stealing number tags worked.

He had to manually tear it off. One edge of the number tag wasn’t fully stuck to the arm and was slightly lifted. The game intentionally left that gap for players to grab.

If a player is surrounded, their tag could be torn off anytime. The best protection was team combat.

Yan Jiyun looked at his bare right arm. Tang Shi had voluntarily taken his only number tag off, and it was currently in his backpack. Unless another player found Tang Shi’s backpack, no one could find Yan Jiyun’s real tag.

He didn’t know if putting the tag back on would reattach it to his arm. He didn’t want to test that. But he could hide Tang Shi’s backpack somewhere no player could find.

He still had time on his 10-minute Human Form Time Card. Enough to run back to the inn and stash the bag. Hopefully Tang Shi and Liang Yu weren’t back yet.

Yan Jiyun had no number tag on his arm, but everyone had seen his face. If he went out now, he’d be targeted. Being targeted was different from having people discover he had no tag. So he went to a print shop to print a few sticker tags.

A torn fake tag wouldn’t hurt him. It was just misdirection.

He left the dangerous building and headed to the main street. After wandering for a bit, he found the print shop.

In less than a minute, the owner printed several “No. 29” sticker tags for him.

Now he wasn’t scared of being spotted. If someone tried tearing his tag off, they’d just get a fake.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel:

“Holy crap, Mimi is too smart. He always does something I never think of. First he turns back into a cat so Tang Shi could remove his real tag. Then he pulls a misdirection play with a fake tag. The next player who tears it off and finds out it’s fake is gonna explode!”

“Hahaha, he actually made a fake number tag. Kitty Baby, you’re insane. How can you be this clever!”

“Thank god I’m not a player. If I were in the same instance as him, he’d toy me to death.”

“Since the game announced that eliminating No. 1 gives points, other players will definitely hunt more aggressively. Too bad teammates can’t eliminate their own teammates. Otherwise they could farm points off each other.”

“I love that kind of drama where someone eliminates their own teammates for points. Hahaha. Does this instance really not allow that?”

Even though the transformation card only lasted ten minutes, Yan Jiyun still stuck a fake number tag onto himself, and the number even matched the outfit he had today. For some reason, the transformation card had put him in a basketball outfit: a jersey over a T-shirt, making him look a bit younger than he actually was.

Yan Jiyun felt like he was pretending to be younger on purpose.

But that wasn’t the point right now. He sped up toward the inn. He needed to hide the backpack before Tang Shi and Liang Yu returned.

Wait. No.

The backpack was on Tang Shi. When they left earlier, Tang Shi had carried him out of the inn inside the backpack, and only once they reached the street did he take him out to breathe.

Yan Jiyun turned back to the street to look for Tang Shi and Liang Yu.

Qingyun Town’s main street wasn’t even a kilometer long. If he didn’t stop, he could run it end-to-end in no time. The problem was he didn’t know if those two NPCs had wandered into any of the shops.

He didn’t have spare time to stop and listen for their footsteps.

He kept jogging. Even in human form, his dynamic vision was excellent, letting him quickly lock onto Tang Shi and Liang Yu in the crowd.

[Time remaining until human form expires: 6 minutes 12 seconds.]

Not much time left.

After the chaos earlier, he wasn’t sure whether they had gone back to the inn early.

If his guess was wrong, he’d have to run back to the inn again.

Just as he was searching, he spotted the two of them rummaging around near a trash can, calling out his new name.

Tang Shi lowered his voice: “Oreo.”

Liang Yu called half-heartedly: “O-re-o.” He sounded tired of yelling.

Yan Jiyun regulated his breath, then deliberately sat on a bench not far from the trash can. He waited until they walked past, then stood up and purposefully lowered his head and bumped straight into Tang Shi as though he hadn’t seen him.

Tang Shi apologized first: “Sorry, I was looking for a cat and didn’t see you.”

Yan Jiyun rubbed his shoulder. “It’s fine.” He let out a bitter little smile. “You’re looking for a cat too? What a coincidence. I’m also searching. Have you seen a black cat with a very long tail and green eyes? It’s bigger than a normal cat, maybe eleven or twelve pounds.”

Tang Shi had been kicking himself for losing track of Oreo; the chaos of the crowd had swept the cat away and he was terrified it had been stepped on. Hearing someone describe a cat exactly like Oreo, he immediately assumed this guy must be the original owner.

Tang Shi lit up. “Is the cat you’re talking about wearing a number tag around its neck?”

Yan Jiyun nodded and provided the correct “pet info”: “Yes. The tag says 29. It’s my lucky number. He always wears it. I came here with a friend for a trip, and he accidentally followed us onto the bus. After we got off, he ran off again, and I haven’t been able to find him. We’re actually leaving soon.”

Tang Shi, being the model citizen who’d call the cops earlier, comforted him. “If you don’t mind, I’ll find him as soon as I can. And I can take care of him from now on.”

Yan Jiyun grabbed his hand and acted very emotional. “Thank you! Thank you so much! Please, you must protect them! Whether it’s the cat or the tag, they’ll bring you luck. Please take good care of both!” He emphasized again and again.

Tang Shi completely agreed. Ever since meeting Oreo, he really did feel luckier.

But thinking about Oreo again made him sad. He’d lost him.

He confessed to the “former owner”: “Sorry, it was with us earlier, but when the crowd got chaotic… I don’t know where he went.”

As the “former owner,” Yan Jiyun began praising his own “cat”. “It’s alright. It’s very smart. Once it gets over being scared, it’ll probably come back to look for you. Just wait a little longer in the street and give him some time.”

Tang Shi still looked troubled. “There’s something else I should admit… The number tag… I put it in my backpack, and when the crowd rushed past, someone stole the bag.”