DSMC Chapter 58

The two players were No. 7 and No. 15 from Team D. They had never interacted with Team F and didn’t know what No. 29 was capable of.

In the game, some players were ordinary, others had special abilities, even supernatural ones. They didn’t think No. 29 was particularly strong, just luckier. Finding the stone faster didn’t mean strength. In the end, instances were about skill.

Not everyone thought No. 29 was powerful. At most, he’s a bit lucky and flashy.

As for eliminating Player No. 1, they chalked that up to luck. Everyone was still figuring things out in the new gameplay. No. 29 just happened to take someone out first.

As the saying goes, the gun fires at the bird who flies first. With No. 29 drawing all the attention, they felt safer.

And now, Yan Jiyun witnessed both players being kicked down the stairs by Liang Yu.

They tumbled down, one crashing into a tall vase, the other into the stair railing.

The vase shattered loud enough to shake the house.

The players never expected No. 29 to strike so suddenly, or so fiercely.

Even though their bodies hurt, they immediately grabbed their common props and hurled them toward Liang Yu.

But the props didn’t hit Liang Yu. They hit the backpack on his chest, and therefore, the cat inside.

[Team D Player No. 7 used the common prop “Blood Pressure Candy” on Team F Player No. 29.]

A first-ever status hit for Yan Jiyun: “…”

[You were hit by the common prop “Blood Pressure Candy.” You will be under a Dizzy state for 30 seconds.]

Yan Jiyun really felt his head spinning. He couldn’t even crouch properly and fell over inside the bag.

Thirty seconds suddenly felt like an eternity.

What kind of props did these two find? Something to knock out a dog, now knock out a cat?

Truly a menace to cats and dogs!!

Liang Yu felt the bag on his chest suddenly dip. His expression turned even darker.

But the players didn’t know what was inside the backpack. They only knew the prop should trigger within a certain radius. Any hit player would definitely react.

Yet—

“No. 29” casually grabbed Player No. 15 by the collar and single-handedly hurled him into the glass coffee table!

No. 15 screamed, covering his head, then went limp.

Player No. 7 was stunned. Why wasn’t No. 29 affected at all despite being hit? Did he have special armor? But the system didn’t show any resistance…

The “Blood Pressure Candy” was their key prop. They planned to knock No. 29 out and take his number tag.

Not only did they fail, No. 15 just got wiped out.

No. 7 grabbed a small speaker to throw, but Liang Yu didn’t give him a chance. He seized him by the jaw, smashed his head against the wine cabinet behind him, and blood poured down his neck.

Dazed and injured, No. 7 dropped the speaker on his own foot. His head throbbed, his foot hurt, he was defenseless. He touched the back of his head and found his hand soaked with blood before he fainted too.

Liang Yu chuckled softly. “Overestimating yourselves.”

In the backpack, Yan Jiyun now saw double from dizziness.

Because of the Dizzy effect, Liang Yu didn’t receive his telepathic urge to tear their number tags. After knocking them out, he just turned to leave.

The commotion had already awakened the homeowners upstairs.

Even dizzy, Yan Jiyun heard rapid footsteps from above.

He grew anxious, but three seconds still remained.

[Countdown for Dizzy state: 3 seconds]

2 seconds—

1 second—

Once the effect lifted, Yan Jiyun snapped back to full spirit. Those jerks threw drugs at him!

Liang Yu was heading toward the gate.

He heard the zipper behind him rip open.

The previously quiet black cat suddenly leapt from the bag, using his shoulder for leverage before darting inside like a shadow.

If he didn’t steal their tags, he wouldn’t be satisfied.

He first rushed to No. 7, who had just groaned awake, and with zero hesitation, swiped off his number tag. Then he pounced on No. 15 for a perfect follow-up attack.

At that moment, the ripping sound of number tags was pure music to his ears.

[Team F Player No. 29 successfully seized Team D Player No. 7’s number tag. Player No. 7 is eliminated.]

[Team F Player No. 29 successfully seized Team D Player No. 15’s number tag. Player No. 15 is eliminated.]

With that, Yan Jiyun had now taken out three players from Team D.

Those players who had just recovered from the forced PK field now heard the terrifying system notifications.

Can No. 29 please act human??

[Want to be Human] livestream channel:

“Fuck, the cat is definitely getting revenge!”

“When those two threw the prop, I knew Kitty Baby wouldn’t let it go. He couldn’t dodge because the candy hits a radius. Liang Yu wouldn’t be affected as an NPC, but the Kitty Baby was. First time getting screwed by an NPC lolololol.”

“The cat must’ve been so dizzy, and those two smucks got wrecked. The only winner is Liang Yu. No wonder he’s the highest-attack NPC.”

“I remember people saying the search-mode version was hard. Was Liang Yu the BOSS back then?”

“He was both the protagonist and the BOSS. If players don’t complete his missions or ruin his plans, he kills them. Totally unpredictable and ruthless.”

“But he seems kind of mild in this version.”

“Maybe the programmers nerfed him.”

The homeowners were already coming downstairs. After ripping off the tags, Yan Jiyun found Liang Yu waiting beneath the wall and hooked his claws into his clothes, leaping onto his shoulder and then over the wall.

Liang Yu saw that the black cat was about to blend into the darkness and disappear, so he quickly stepped on some bricks, climbed up, and safely landed on the ground outside the wall.

Yan Jiyun only burrowed back into the backpack after Liang Yu came down from the wall. The zipper was pulled closed, and the two quickly left the area.

Once they were gone, the lights throughout the courtyard suddenly turned on. The dog who had passed out from eating a bun earlier finally woke up and started barking loudly toward the gate.

Liang Yu remained completely calm, barely breaking a sweat.

He realized Oreo was truly smart. He didn’t know why the cat had run back inside earlier. Was it to beat those two people up again?

Turns out cats were even more protective of their owners than dogs. Liang Yu felt very gratified.

Yan Jiyun was equally pleased that Liang Yu’s combat power came in handy. A single outing had taken care of two players and earned them another Revival Stone. There’s absolutely nothing to complain about. At the very least, his two teammates could each preserve one life. He hoped none of the three of them would mess up later.

Qiu Xi, who had just recovered after being forced into the PK arena, had barely completed his mental adjustment before receiving the news that his teammates had earned new points and a resurrection prop.

Everyone entered the PK arena together, yet his teammates were just that outstanding. It once again confirmed that Qiu Xi really was not on the same level as them.

He had truly latched onto an extremely thick thigh!

But just as Yan Jiyun obtained another Revival Stone, players from another team also found one.

[Congratulations to Team B Player No. 30 for acquiring the resurrection prop “Revival Stone.”]

Yan Jiyun felt relieved that he wouldn’t be the only one drawing aggro this time. Team B also has the resurrection prop too. 

Teams A and B still didn’t have any eliminated players, so their Revival Stones were temporarily secure.

As for the eliminated players so far: Team C No. 1, Team D No. 7, Team D No. 15, and Team D No. 20. 

[Surviving players: 21/30]

Yan Jiyun now had a concern. He had eliminated three players, but none of their props dropped. If those Team D players had taken him instead, and if he got eliminated, would the newly acquired Revival Stone drop?

He asked the system in his mind three times. The system seemed annoyed but was forced to reply, sounding almost too cheerful about it. The side effect: a faint headache.

[If a player who possesses a resurrection prop has not shared it with teammates, and that player is eliminated without using the prop, the resurrection prop will drop on the spot and will not disappear with the eliminated player.]

Which meant if players chose not to share Revival Stones and then died without using them, the stone would drop to the ground.

Revival Stones were too rare. Most players definitely wouldn’t share them.

He then asked the system again whether there was a protection mechanism after using a Revival Stone.

But no matter how he tried, the system refused to respond this time. It seemed the question fell outside the instance system’s responsibility.

He now differentiated between the instance system and the external guidance system. They shared characteristics but had different functions.

Three hours of this round had passed.

Three Revival Stones had appeared so far. The pressure on those who still hadn’t found any was intensifying.

More and more players would soon be eliminated. Without Revival Stones, team numbers would continue to shrink.

Liang Yu didn’t stop. He moved on to search for another villager in possession of a revival stone.

This time, they arrived outside an old, dilapidated tiled house, still within the Yunxiao Hotel street area.

Grass grew thick in front of the door, and the windows were broken. Clearly, no one had lived here for a long time. The owner must have moved away.

Detective Gao’s intel was unreliable. He likely hadn’t checked the location in person.

But Liang Yu didn’t get discouraged. He kicked the rickety door wide open. The door collapsed loudly, dust billowing everywhere.

Couldn’t Liang Yu open doors in a more gentle manner?

Yan Jiyun instantly tucked his head back into the backpack. His nose was fragile, and he would avoid dust inhalation whenever possible.

He originally wanted to get down and search, but then the busybody system caused trouble again.

[The Player Exchange Bar is now open. Teams needing reinforcements should go to the “Temporary Shop” to exchange immediately.]

Yan Jiyun: “…”

The team with the fewest members was D Team, followed by Team F. But Team F had no intention of adding members to begin with. The exchange mechanism opening at the three-hour mark didn’t concern them much.

Team D, having lost three players, exchanged for three new ones in one go!

They knew about the relationship between No. 21 and No. 22, so they didn’t exchange the couple. They probably didn’t want lovers dragging them down.

Once Team D acted, other teams began rushing to grab the remaining free players.

While some hesitated, Team E snatched up the couple, No. 21 and No. 22.

Three hours had passed, and only three Revival Stones had appeared. Two were still in F Team’s possession. Revival stones were crucial but scarce. Reinforcement was necessary. Having one more teammate meant one more sliver of hope.

It seemed everyone finally realized the importance of increasing numbers.

A few minutes later, the exchange channel closed again.

[Surviving players: 26/30]

[Remaining time until instance ends: 17 hours 19 minutes 00 seconds]

New members joining could shift the current balance.

It was because of him that Qiu Xi missed the best chance to leave the castle area. Once he finds two more Revival Stones, things should stabilize.

The changes in player numbers didn’t alter any special situation. Fights between players continued, but unlike Player No. 29, eliminating others wasn’t as easy as drinking water. He could casually snatch away other players’ number tags.

One could only say No. 29 was too shameless.

Yan Jiyun refocused on the broken house where Liang Yu was searching. After checking carefully, he confirmed the owner had moved away.

It seemed they needed to look for this NPC’s new address.

Liang Yu crossed out the address for this Xia Yuansheng, then went on to the next location.

Unfortunately, the next two addresses didn’t match who he was looking for either. Some owners had moved, others rented their homes to outsiders, and the real residents were nowhere to be found.

The search for Revival Stones was not going smoothly. Liang Yu decided to return to his hotel for now.

He put away the small flashlight and told the half-asleep Yan Jiyun, “Oreo, we should head back. I think Tang Shi will wake up soon. Maybe I can find an excuse to have him help me locate those people.”

Yan Jiyun: “…”

So the reason you actively approached Tang Shi was to find Revival Stones?

If the gullible Tang Shi found out, wouldn’t he be heartbroken?

But their relationship wasn’t that close anyway… probably not.

This wasn’t something a player needed to worry about. NPCs had their own set programming. Their minds definitely weren’t full of messy thoughts like his.

What he did need to worry about was: where was his number tag? Would a player find it?

Since the punks didn’t take the number tag away, it might have been taken by a thief.

But who that thief was… he still had no clue.

It was around 2:00 AM. now. During summer, dawn was just two or three hours away.

Night gave Yan Jiyun camouflage, but daytime would be hard to survive.

Fortunately, the Revival Stone wasn’t found by Team C. If No. 1 were resurrected by Team C, his situation would be even worse.

His Human Form Time Card was still nowhere near enough.

Since Liang Yu said they should return, they returned with no hesitation.

With no clues about the number tag and no idea where to start searching, he followed back to the hotel.

Hours had passed and he barely rested. Yan Jiyun was fucking tired. 

Humans work eight hours a day; while he’d been in this instance for six hours with almost no rest.

Even though he’d eaten a fish at night, he still felt hungry. Back at the hotel, he sprawled out on the table, not moving from both exhaustion and hunger.

After returning, Liang Yu quickly put everything back in place. He changed out of his “night gear” and reverted to his worry-free rich boy image. Before Tang Shi woke up, he also climbed onto the bed and lay flat.

He was clearly tired too.

Everyone was exhausted.

Yan Jiyun was really wiped out today. Two game rounds, constantly avoiding players, using both brain and claws. He lay motionless now. Hungry? Fine. He’d deal with it.

One more hour before the next forced PK. Hopefully he wouldn’t be picked this time. 

He gave up thinking, emptied his mind, and closed his eyes to rest.

The second forced PK time started. Since more players were back in the game, and both he and Qiu Xi had gone in during the first round, this time neither of them were selected. But Gu Wenzhu was.

Yan Jiyun trusted Gu Wenzhu’s ability. Sure enough, five minutes later, Gu Wenzhu defeated the opponent.

Relieved, he continued his nap. Finally, he could sleep for two solid hours.

When Tang Shi opened his eyes, he saw a large black cat sprawled over the desk like a black blanket, and Liang Yu lying on the same bed. 

He remembered the young man mentioning that the black cat liked to sleep on the bed. Did they take the bed so Oreo refused to sleep there?

Wait… why was he suddenly lying in bed himself? And why was it almost daylight?

Gurgle gurgle gurgle—

After figuring out why he fell asleep, Tang Shi heard a rumbling noise. Sitting up, he saw Oreo staring at him with hungry, longing eyes.

Yan Jiyun stared intensely, desperately signaling for food. Helloooooo! He was starving!

Tang Shi got the hint. He got up to wash. Yan Jiyun followed into the bathroom, jumped onto the sink, and splashed some water onto his own face.

Tang Shi was shocked: “Oreo, you even know how to wash your face—this is amazing.”

Like a proper cat butler, Tang Shi used a clean towel to wipe the cat’s paws and face.

Just as he finished, Liang Yu appeared in the bathroom doorway, bleary-eyed.

He complained, “Tang Shi, the towel you used to wipe him should’ve been mine.”

Tang Shi was still dazzled by Oreo’s new trick, replying, “There are other towels. Just use whichever.”

Liang Yu glanced at the rack. There’s only large bath towels, none for washing faces.

But Tang Shi ignored him and went downstairs to buy breakfast. He also needed to get food for Oreo.

Early morning meant no shops had fish dishes, but a breakfast stall selling fish porridge had fish. After cleaning and boiling it, he brought it upstairs along with their meals.

Seeing fish, Yan Jiyun thought, ‘These NPCs were too resourceful. They could get him food anywhere.’

He devoured it whole, filled his belly, and began grooming himself.

Tang Shi had blacked out after one drink last night. He must have had no idea Liang Yu had taken him out.

After eating and cleaning, Yan Jiyun checked his system messages.

[Time remaining until instance ends: 14 hours 34 minutes] 

Twenty minutes left before the third forced PK.

He checked system notifications.

During the last three hours, more teams had found Revival Stones.

Current resurrection props obtained:

Team B: 1

Team A: 1

Team F: 2 

So it definitely wasn’t limited to just four items. The game wouldn’t let players collect them too quickly.

Since Uncle Ming mentioned ten stones, there should be six left to find.

Others only needed to focus on Revival Stones, but Yan Jiyun also needed to find his number tag.

He wasn’t sure whether Liang Yu could still find all the stones now that players were catching up.

It was supposed to be just a PvP instance, why was he so concerned about whether an NPC could complete his mission?

But his goals aligned with Liang Yu’s. Liang Yu finding stones also meant he obtained resurrection props. That was fine. Maybe other players’ exchanged NPCs also wanted Revival Stones?

After breakfast, Liang Yu didn’t immediately ask Tang Shi to help search. The two first checked out of the hotel.

Tang Shi planned to take Oreo home and asked Liang Yu, “Weren’t you going home after one night?”

Liang Yu replied, “I changed my mind. I’ll stay until the Rose Festival ends. It’s rare to travel.”

Tang Shi casually asked, “If you’re traveling alone, isn’t your family worried?”

A trace of sorrow filled Liang Yu’s eyes. “They can’t worry about me anymore. My parents passed away when I was very young.”

Tang Shi froze. He had only asked casually. Everyone assumed Liang Yu was a rich kid with impressive parents.

He sincerely apologized, “I’m sorry.”

But Yan Jiyun had seen Liang Yu’s manipulative side. He doubted that sadness was real. More likely Liang Yu was using Tang Shi’s sympathy. Clever acting, truly.

Perhaps Tang Shi thought of his own adoptive parents who had passed early. His heart softened, “Why don’t you come home with me? My place on Xiaoyun Street is shabby and the street is noisy. It’s been two years since I returned, it’s probably dusty everywhere.”

Liang Yu smiled. “Sure, I won’t be shy then.”

Tang Shi bought a bunch of cleaning supplies on the way back.

On their walk, Liang Yu told more of his “story”, on how he was raised by an uncle with autism, who worsened after his parents died, and passed away last year.

Such a tragic background. It was an emotional critical hit straight to Tang Shi’s heart. A kind boy like him would only grow softer.

The sky brightened. Life stirred in every household, the scene reanimated.

Less than ten minutes left before forced PK. No way Yan Jiyun dared to roam outside now.

Tang Shi opened the door to his home. Yan Jiyun effectively transitioned from the hotel area to the Xiaoyun Street area.

But before he could feel happy for even two seconds, several system prompts chimed:

[“Number Tag Match” – Round 3 Matchup Announcement]

[Team A No. 18 VS Team F No. 29]

It was his turn again!

[Attention all players: The instance will now enter the “Selective Area Closure” Mode.]

[In one hour, Siyun Castle will be closed. Any player still inside that area will be eliminated.]

Yan Jiyun: ???

What did that mean?