DSMC Chapter 56

[Welcome, player Yan Jiyun, to the “Number Tag Match” arena!]

Yan Jiyun found himself transported into a strange space. Well, not completely strange. They had seen this place when they first entered the game.

It was the center stage, only now it was three to five times larger than before.

Appearing alongside him was his opponent, No. 22.

Yan Jiyun had never interacted with players from Team E. In the previous three rounds Team E, like their own team, had the identity of “Hiders.” Based on the first two rounds’ configuration, they had never had the chance to encounter each other.

He noticed numerous laptop-sized screens floating around them. Each screen displayed a blurred avatar. With his sharp ears, he could hear the spectators’ voices.

“Fight! Fight!”

“Finally, the forced PK zone is open!”

“I’ve been starving for drama. Hurry up already!”

“How is this played? Do they grab each other’s number tags?”

“These two players look weak as hell. If this gets boring, we’re demanding refunds!”

His opponent, No. 22 from Team E, looked like a fitness enthusiast. The man shrugged off his jacket to reveal thick biceps.

No. 22 also saw the countless screens, as if thousands of spectators were surrounding them.

“I bet on No. 22 to win. No. 22, go for it!”

“No. 29 looks super weak. No. 22 could probably lift him with one hand. I also bet on No. 22. Don’t disappoint me!”

“I think No. 29 looks delicious. Such a face is wasted on fighting. If he gets beaten up, I’ll cry.”

Yan Jiyun couldn’t be bothered with the nonsense echoing in his ears. He tuned them out automatically and opened his high-tier item menu.

He really might lose in pure strength against No. 22, but he had no intention of fighting personally. A cat’s stamina was poor; direct confrontation was pointless. He wasn’t about to let trash talk make him lose his head and charge into a fistfight.

Besides, he wasn’t stupid. He had plenty of high-level props left. Why would he brawl with his bare hands?

He selected “Basketball.”

[Use the high-level prop “Basketball” to summon NPC Yang Baihao?]

He selected [Yes].

The “Basketball” prop summoned a tall young man, about 1.85 meters tall, who greeted him with: “Ge, wanna play ball?”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Next time when I’m free.”

Yang Baihao looked sunny and athletic, with his skin clearly having an acne breakout from eating hotpot the night before. Yan Jiyun had the urge to pick at the pimple near his lip.

No. 22 wasn’t about to lose momentum. Seeing Yan Jiyun summon an NPC, he summoned one as well. A pretty girl in a sailor-uniform outfit.

Sailor-uniform girl vs. basketball boy.

Yan Jiyun hadn’t gathered information on the Sailor-uniform Girl NPC yet. But that didn’t mean she had no connection to Yang Baihao. What if they had some lingering past? One-sided crush? Mutual crush? Dog-blood romance?

If Sailor-uniform Girl countered Yang Baihao, then wouldn’t he be doomed?

He issued a clear command to Yang Baihao: Defeat No. 22 and take the number tag on his right arm.

Yang Baihao didn’t care where he was. Hearing the order, he headed straight for No. 22.

No. 22 wasn’t stupid either. He immediately positioned the Sailor-uniform Girl in front of him as a shield.

The girl didn’t seem afraid of the tall sports boy. Instead, her aura sharpened. “I remember you. You’re Yang Baihao from Class 6, Grade 12.”

Yang Baihao said flatly, “I don’t know you.”

“Didn’t you write me a love letter?”

Yan Jiyun immediately thought this was bad.

He began mentally “injecting thoughts” into Yang Baihao: ‘You don’t like girls. You never wrote a love letter.’

Yang Baihao shoved her aside coldly. “I don’t like girls. Writing a love letter is impossible.”

The spectators went silent instantly. They had expected hot-blooded combat, not two NPCs on stage.

“Come on! Fight! Cowards!”

“Why use NPCs? Lame!”

“They’re all instance NPCs. Boring. I’ll wait until they waste all their NPCs.”

Both No. 22 and Yan Jiyun focused on their NPCs’ movements. It was their first forced PK, so everything was new.

Suddenly, Sailor-uniform Girl lunged at Yang Baihao. A craft knife had appeared in her hand. Yan Jiyun reacted instantly and instructed Yang Baihao to dodge before she could reach him. Yang Baihao retreated with a backward step, basketball in hand.

“You pissed me off,” he said, then hurled the basketball at her without mercy.

If not for Yan Jiyun’s warning, he would’ve been stabbed.

The Sailor-uniform Girl laughed sharply. “Hah, do you even know who I am? I’m the big boss of No. 18 High!”

Yan Jiyun: ‘…Okay, now I know.’

In a small town twenty years ago, a girl wearing a sailor uniform was already odd. Paired with the environment and that rotating knife trick, she seemed more like a delinquent gang leader.

Yang Baihao smashed the basketball into her wrist. She winced, and the knife fell.

Both Yan Jiyun and No. 22 looked at the fallen knife. Neither wanted the opponent to get it, even if they didn’t plan to use it.

No. 22 panicked more. Without her weapon, his NPC might lose to the basketball boy.

As long as he beat the basketball boy, he could easily deal with the thin and delicate No. 29.

He didn’t see any strength in No. 29, yet the guy repeatedly eliminated players. He had even once envied Team C No. 1’s physique, only for that player to be eliminated instantly by No. 29. That was why No. 29 stuck in his memory.

No. 22 said to Yan Jiyun, “You’re impressive, but I think I’m more skilled than you.”

He wanted to distract No. 29 while commanding the Sailor-uniform Girl to attack him.

But Yan Jiyun expected this and was ready.

The Sailor-uniform Girl pivoted toward Yan Jiyun. But the moment her foot shifted, Yan Jiyun sidestepped, simultaneously commanding Yang Baihao to dive toward the knife.

No. 22 didn’t expect that. He lunged too, but he was slower.

Basketball players typically have long reach, and Yang Baihao used that advantage to swipe the knife out of No. 22’s range.

Yan Jiyun had predicted No. 22’s plan and positioned Yang Baihao accordingly.

No. 22 realized No. 29 wasn’t targeting the knife, he was targeting his number tag. Yang Baihao seized No. 22’s arm with his right hand, and the two men clashed in a contest of raw physical strength.

Of course he wanted to rush in and tear off No. 22’s number tag while Yang Baihao was controlling him, but that annoying Sailor-uniform Girl was still in his way. She missed her first pounce and came at him a second time. When Yan Jiyun saw her long nails stretching toward him, he couldn’t help wanting to scratch her back with his own claws.

He kept dodging the Sailor-uniform Girl’s lunges. He really didn’t want those long nails raking across his skin.

When she flew at him yet again, Yan Jiyun showed no mercy and kicked her square in the stomach, sending her skidding to the edge of the stage.

The viewers on the screen were stunned by the abrupt kick. They froze for a split second before reacting.

“Nice kick!”

“Damn, does this player not know how to pity a pretty girl? How could he kick a girl that hard?”

“Didi looks so savage~ Cold as frost toward the NPC trying to kill him! That’s what makes a player fun to watch.”

“Exactly. I’m tired of all those male players who always choose female NPCs and then can’t bear to hit them. Finally, someone refreshing who doesn’t follow the trend.”

“Refreshing? More like a natural disaster. An NPC with such a pretty face and figure, yet he just kicks her away?”

“If someone’s about to kill you, you wouldn’t kick them?”

“I just want to see that pretty didi gasping beneath me. I bet he’d look delicious being conquered.”

Yan Jiyun was thoroughly uncomfortable with these random spectators. He’d turned off the barrage before. So who were these people? They didn’t seem like the same crowd from the livestream.

He made a mental note to figure it out later.

No. 22 hadn’t expected No. 29 to be so ruthless. He specifically chose a female NPC to stir up male players’ protective instincts. Clearly, No. 29 was calm and rational, able to separate reality from the game. NPCs were just NPCs. Absolutely merciless.

The Sailor-uniform Girl was resilient. Even after being kicked, she wobbled back to her feet and staggered toward them.

But No. 22 no longer had the energy to give her commands. Yang Baihao was pressing him down; he guarded his right arm with his left hand and drove a bent knee upward to push Yang Baihao away.

This NPC was not easy to deal with, and the pressure on him was growing by the second.

From the corner of his eye, No. 22 caught sight of Yan Jiyun’s flared pant leg.

So the oppressive presence he felt wasn’t coming from Yang Baihao at all, it was No. 29. Yang Baihao was only a tool in his hands.

No. 22 struggled with all his strength, but he still couldn’t break free from Yang Baihao’s hold. The pressure was too strong, and it was only getting stronger.

He saw No. 29, in his big flared pants, closing in. The next second, those pants filled his entire vision.

Yan Jiyun crouched in front of him. Without a single unnecessary word, he yanked off No. 22’s number tag.

Stripped of his plate, No. 22 lost control of his NPC, and both he and the Sailor-uniform Girl vanished like dust in front of Yan Jiyun and Yang Baihao.

Then the game booted Yan Jiyun out of the arena as well.

As for the spectators? They were stunned.

What the heck? That’s it?

[Assist NPC Yang Baihao has returned to your prop inventory.]

[Assist NPC Miao Miao has returned to your prop inventory.]

Yan Jiyun understood: another rule the game never explained. Any NPC summoned inside the PK arena was one-time use. When the match ended, they’re gone.

[Congratulations to Team F Player No. 29 for defeating Team E Player No. 22 in the “Number Tag Match”. Reward: 500 personal points, 200 Team points.]

[Congratulations to No. 29 for breaking the fastest record with 1 minute 01 seconds. Reward: 5,000 points.]

So this forced-PK mode had this many rewards?

The game wasn’t joking. He guessed they’d bumped up the rewards on purpose. High points would motivate players to participate more actively.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel:

“Ahhh our darling baby is back from the forced PK so fast?”

“So mean! It opened the livestream the second he came out, and didn’t even let us watch his glorious battle.”

“Can’t help it, on-site tickets are insanely expensive. I’ve been in line for half a year and still haven’t gotten in.”

“Even if you go on-site, you might not see the player you want. It’s all random PK arenas. And the PK matches end so fast no one can even remember their names.”

“Trash game, just wants me to spend money! I missed Mimi’s first solo PK!”

“I’m waiting until he reaches the advanced arenas. I’m going to watch his solo PK then.”

“Only if he gets into solo PKs. What if he doesn’t like PK? He’s a cat, not a pure human.”

“Don’t you know the system sets requirements once you reach advanced instances? Anyway, it doesn’t matter yet, our Kitty Baby still has to run beginner instances first.”

“Um… why does Kitty Baby keep getting Challenging Mode instances? Does anyone actually choose three Challenging Modes voluntarily? I’ve watched streams for three years and never seen a newbie get three in a row. Any pros here can explain it to me?”

…

Yan Jiyun hadn’t expected to break a record. He cared far less about the points than checking his system notifications for any news about Qiu Xi.

He had a little more than three minutes left before he turned back into a cat.

He didn’t want to keep squatting in the stinking bathroom. Not wanting to waste time, he headed toward the team of young people to look for his number tag.

He had just discovered that his tag returned automatically after a match. But after returning from the PK arena, the plate on his right arm had disappeared again.

The Number Tag Match arena must be a completely different space from the instance. It felt more like a live competition. When he selected NPCs earlier, he’d noticed that the livestream icons were in color; once he entered the PK space, they turned gray.

The on-site audience and the livestream viewers might not be the same Team.

The forced PK felt awful, it felt too much like a gladiator arena. And worse, like the spectators were gods watching from above, and players were insects for their amusement.

Using their lives as fodder. It soured him completely.

Even though he’d won his first match, Yan Jiyun felt no joy at all. His face was long as he covered half of it with his sleeve and slipped into the dance floor.

Half of the young people from earlier were dancing. Yan Jiyun held up a hand to hide his face as he approached.

He circled them once, but none of them were wearing number tags. His tag was distinctive, it was a collar that looked more like a bracelet and could easily be worn on the wrist. But none of them had anything like it.

How could that be?

On stage, Tang Shi was still singing the festive tune Good Luck Comes, while Liang Yu had quietly drifted toward the young Team’s table. Pretending to be drunk, he collapsed onto their seats. The young people, barely acquainted with one another, didn’t notice this stranger at all.

Liang Yu quietly rummaged through the pile of their bags, but found nothing.

Yan Jiyun’s card was about to run out. He blocked the dancers’ view; a few young people twisted around him. One who had drunk too fast felt dizzy and turned back, supported by a friend. Yan Jiyun turned and found Liang Yu was still at their table.

[Human Form Time Card remaining: 50 seconds]

What now? They were coming back.

Yan Jiyun circled behind them, grabbed a random drink, and splashed it over the two.

The blond youth was drenched. Hot-blooded and pissed, he erupted.

“Are you blind?! You dare drench me?!”

He reached to grab Yan Jiyun’s collar, but Yan Jiyun slipped sideways like a drunk.

“S-sorry, I’m dizzy from drinking… how about I buy you a new shirt?”

“Who wants your shirt? Pay me!”

He swung a punch but Yan Jiyun dodged.

[30 seconds remaining]

Yan Jiyun tossed the glass and bolted. By the time the blond realized, the man was gone.

“That bastard did it on purpose! After him!”

While they chased, Liang Yu cleaned out their bags and retreated quietly.

Yan Jiyun turned into a cat inside the restroom and slipped back into the dance floor before they returned.

“Good Luck Comes” ended just then.

Tang Shi stepped off the stage, flushed with embarrassment. Yan Jiyun found him and Liang Yu and stared at Liang Yu expectantly.

But Liang Yu first offered Tang Shi a drink.

Tang Shi chugged it, froze. “…This isn’t water.”

“Oh. Right. It’s beer.”

Tang Shi immediately flushed, feeling dizzy.

Yan Jiyun: “…”

He suspected Liang Yu did this on purpose.

Tang Shi swayed, pressing his forehead. “Did you find Oreo’s collar?”

Yan Jiyun indicated he couldn’t mention No. 29. There might be disguised players nearby; after showing off in the PK, the hatred toward No. 29 must be maxed.

Liang Yu finally answered, “Didn’t find it. No one was wearing it. Maybe the thief took it before they grabbed their bags.”

Tang Shi’s face burned. “Maybe… Liang Yu, I’m dizzy…”

“You’re drunk. I’ll take you back.” Liang Yu stuffed Oreo into his backpack and carried Tang Shi away.

Yan Jiyun was speechless. Why did his NPC get drunk?

What if an enemy came to steal his number tag? Could Tang Shi even stand?

No wonder Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi picked older NPCs. Wise indeed.

After Liang Yu settled Tang Shi in, Yan Jiyun also prepared to rest on the table for a while before checking the results of the forced PK.

All the players who entered the “Number Tag Match” arena have finished their battles, and he saw Qiu Xi’s battle status among the messages.

Qiu Xi lost.

Not entirely unexpected, but still quite surprising.

In fact, Qiu Xi is not weak. Still, Yan Jiyun didn’t know what happened during their battle. If he loses two more matches, he will definitely be eliminated.

Yan Jiyun calculated how many forced PK battles they would need to have in the last round. One battle every two hours, with the last two hours ending the match directly, which doesn’t count, means there would be a total of 9 battles.

In other words, on average, each of the three members of their team had to go in three times, or, if they were unlucky, more than once.

The conclusion was that they didn’t have enough resurrection props and needed to continue searching.

However, after he and Gu Wenzhu each eliminated one player, there are now only 23 players left. As long as there are at least two players, they should all be forced to engage in PK.

Now everyone knows that the resurrection prop is a stone. With a clear direction, more people will go looking for it, and the search might be very fast. Nobody wants to die in a forced PK arena.

Yan Jiyun glanced at Tang Shi, who was fast asleep on the bed, and wished he could jump up and sit on him to wake him up.

Actually, he didn’t necessarily need to find Tang Shi, but he hadn’t found a gift to give to Liang Yu to increase their bond value. Currently, Liang Yu would actively receive his commands, but it was unreliable at times, which left him quite helpless.

Just as he was thinking about this matter, Liang Yu stepped out of the bathroom. Now wearing black T-shirt, dark joggers, a black cap.

Holy shit. Did he get Tang Shi drunk on purpose?

He thought, ‘How could Liang Yu not know that he was handing Tang Shi beer? It turns out he had planned this all along. What was he planning to do?’

These two NPCs are too self-centered.

Seeing that Yan Jiyun was staring at his every move with his beautiful, bright green eyes, Liang Yu walked up to him as if possessed and asked, “Don’t make a sound.”

Yan Jiyun immediately stood up, jumped onto Liang Yu’s shoulder, and stomped heavily on Liang Yu’s shoulder.

Liang Yu felt a scratch on his shoulder from the black cat’s paw. He pulled the cat off, and then, seemingly understanding Yan Jiyun’s intentions, pointed to his backpack and said, “If you’re coming out with me, you’re not allowed to make a sound. You have to stay inside, or I’ll—”

Yan Jiyun: …

He felt aggrieved. How could this NPC have two faces, one in public and one in private?

This is absolutely outrageous!

Liang Yu opened his backpack, and Yan Jiyun reluctantly crawled inside.

He should have replaced these two NPCs, each one more troublesome than the last.