DSMC Chapter 62.1

“Huh? What? What original instance character setting does Tang Shi have? Isn’t he just an ordinary NPC? He even had story content in the original version?”

“I’m not planning to spoil anything for you all, hahahahaha!”

“Holy fuck, my curiosity is killing me. What story arc did Tang Shi have in the original version? Wasn’t he just a heartbroken young man? Or was that not his real character setting back then?”

“I’ve held this back for so long! I have to say it!! Tang Shi is not as simple as you think! There isn’t a single NPC who’s truly pure, okay?”

“I’m going to be shocked for a whole year. Just how wild were the original character settings and story? I really want to know! Ahhh! Trash game, why did they have to change the original version!”

“After the original instance was closed, all NPC settings were wiped by the system. Their storylines in the original version should all be locked now. Only the relationships relevant to the current gameplay remain, forming the NPCs in this version. I still think the original storyline was more exciting.”

“Damn it, I really want to watch Kitty Baby play through the original story. But this is good too. Tang Shi unlocking a new character setting means we’ll get to see where it leads. What exactly were Tang Shi’s original settings?”

Yan Jiyun now wanted to know why Tang Shi suddenly became so emotional, why he suddenly shifted his character. Wasn’t he supposed to be a simple, wholesome youth? Did he have some special connection to the Chen family?

He knew the Chen family definitely wasn’t clean, but he didn’t expect Tang Shi to suddenly say something like that.

Did every NPC have two sides to them? Each one was scheming, and the one who hid it best was Tang Shi!

When Liang Yu brought him out last night, did Tang Shi already know something, and simply went along with Liang Yu?

Yan Jiyun felt like his two NPCs were going to drive him to death.

Crouching inside the backpack, he wondered if he should play the part of cowering in fear when Tang Shi suddenly crouched in front of him, eyes full of loneliness.

“Oreo, I feel so alone. Do you know why I had to come back to Qingyun Town?”

Yan Jiyun was almost scared out of his wits by the suddenly enlarged face in front of him. No matter how handsome a face was, if it suddenly zoomed in like that, anyone would nearly lose their soul.

He was already numb from being deceived by these two NPCs. How could he guess what they were thinking?

When would this instance end? He didn’t want to keep being fooled by NPC façades.

But all he could do was listen carefully to Tang Shi’s monologue.

“I want to bring every evil person in Qingyun Village to justice. And if justice isn’t possible, I can take care of it myself.”

“I did find my biological parents. They died at the hands of these people. At the hands of those in Qingyun Village. Just for some ridiculous stones. For their selfish desires, they actually killed innocent people.”

“And what’s even more ridiculous is that my adoptive parents were among the murderers. But… they’re already buried now.”

Yan Jiyun: “…”

So what on earth happened back then?

Liang Yu’s story was clear. Villagers from Qingyun Village likely killed the Siyun couple — his parents — for money. But what about Tang Shi? Why were his biological parents killed by people in Qingyun Village? From his tone, his parents didn’t seem to be locals. Perhaps innocent travelers passing by?

Just as he was about to listen further, Yan Jiyun heard footsteps. Players are coming after them!

Tang Shi sat back down on his chair, instantly turning back into that somewhat silly, sweet, lawful good young man spare tire.

He and Liang Yu were both extremely good at pretending. But when it came to playing dumb, Tang Shi absolutely surpassed Liang Yu.

The banquet was held in the outer courtyard. The inner courtyard was guarded by people arranged by the Chen family. Anyone not formally invited could not enter.

Somehow, a player had slipped inside.

Alongside the player’s footsteps, there was also an NPC.

They pushed the door open.

[Remaining time until instance ends: 7 hours 34 minutes 13 seconds]

Great, another seven hours!

If Team F cleared the instance early, could they leave immediately?

Perhaps they didn’t need to stay the full 24 hours at all. The game never said they had to. From the start, it only said: survive until the end.

So, they only need to win. 

Only by winning could they immediately exit the game instance.

The one who entered was Chen Xiaoyu. That wasn’t surprising. She was a Chen family member. She could come and go freely, no one would stop her.

Yan Jiyun hid back inside the backpack, but through the gap in the zipper he saw who came in with her. And it was him, Player No. 19 from Team C!

Player No. 19 didn’t follow Chen Xiaoyu into the room. He stayed hidden outside the door.

Yan Jiyun remembered Player No.  19 clearly. He’s an extremely cautious person, and the one in Team C who found the most high level props. If not for encountering Yan Jiyun, Team C might have won the previous round thanks to his search ability.

So he was the one who exchanged for Chen Xiaoyu!

No wonder Team C had convinced Team A to cooperate against Team F. They had Chen Xiaoyu as a trump card.

This instance looked like PvP combat, but it was also NPC-vs-NPC. There were all kinds of storylines intertwined. If someone grasped the right narrative line, found the right setting, eliminating players would be as easy as flipping a hand.

Of course, it would only be easy if the player truly understood all the NPCs. Getting a trump-card NPC would let a player achieve twice the results with half the effort.

In Yan Jiyun’s eyes, the Chen family wielded significant influence in Qingyun Town, making Chen Xiaoyu a highly desirable NPC.

“Tang Shi, why are you here?”

Chen Xiaoyu sat at the main table with her family. She only noticed that Liang Yu followed the secretary into the inner courtyard and didn’t see that Tang Shi had also gone in.

No. 19, who followed behind her, was like an invisible person. After all, he was an NPC controlling her, so he must already have some logical setup that matched the setting. Yan Jiyun didn’t dwell on it.

He saw No. 19 outside the door looking around, seemingly wanting to discover something. Unfortunately, when he swept his gaze inside, there wasn’t even a place to hide a person. No. 29 was probably not here.

But both of his NPCs had entered the inner courtyard, yet he hadn’t seen the actual main character. Strange. Did No. 29 have an invisibility ability or something?

Someone in their team had almost run into No. 29 the previous night. According to that person, No. 29 was extremely skilled. One kick was enough to send two members of Team D flying.

The teammate’s description was completely different from the information No. 19 knew about No. 29. According to him, No. 29 was good at hiding, a bit clever, and had never confronted their team head-on. It seemed their intel collection wasn’t thorough enough.

Current known information: No. 29 was smart, evasive, capable in combat, had two NPCs, his teammate had been eliminated, and he had no additional support.

Once he appeared, they could gang up on him.

What they wanted wasn’t his number tag, but the six resurrection props in his hands.

Tang Shi still looked like an honest person in front of Chen Xiaoyu. “I’m waiting for Liang Yu.”

Chen Xiaoyu: “You don’t need to wait for him. My dad might talk to him for a while. It’s pointless for you to wait here.”

Tang Shi said, “I believe Liang Yu is a trustworthy person.”

Just then, Yan Jiyun heard No. 19 standing outside murmuring, “Xiaoyu, hit him, PUA¹Stands for “Pick-up Artist”. It’s a slang for scamming someone (usually emotionally) him, send him back to the prop inventory. You’re so smart, you know what to do.”

Chen Xiaoyu liked hearing praise. No. 19 had a perfect grasp of her personality. He had already learned that Tang Shi had unrequited love for Chen Xiaoyu, and she was his weakness. He couldn’t find No. 29 right now, so he couldn’t deal with him directly. He could break down his NPCs one by one first.

A heartbroken young man? Chen Xiaoyu should be able to handle that.

Sure enough, Chen Xiaoyu accepted No. 19’s control.

A sly glint flashed in her eyes as she suddenly said to Tang Shi, “Tang Shi, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you. Do you like me?”

Tang Shi showed no affection or infatuation in his eyes. He simply looked at her calmly and didn’t respond.

Chen Xiaoyu, who was supposed to be confident, was left hanging.

Yan Jiyun felt embarrassed for her for a second.

Tang Shi suddenly smiled lightly and answered, “No. I’ve never liked you.”

Chen Xiaoyu hadn’t expected that answer and froze. “R-really? Then I misunderstood.”

What was she about to do just now?

Right. She wanted Tang Shi to hug her, then wait for people to rush in so she could claim he molested her.

No. 19 had been instructing her the whole time. Yan Jiyun heard the entire plan.

Chen Xiaoyu didn’t care about gender boundaries and walked straight toward Tang Shi. “Tang Shi, we’ve known each other for so many years. My family is moving tomorrow. Before I leave, would you be willing to give me a hug?”

A heartbroken youth might shyly agree. After all, she was his long-time crush. But Tang Shi, who had unlocked his original setting, wasn’t planning to follow her script.

Tang Shi cooled down. “No need for a hug.”

Yan Jiyun relayed No. 19’s plan to him.

Tang Shi stepped back two steps, putting over two meters between them.

No. 19: “……”

Why did this NPC suddenly distance himself from Chen Xiaoyu?

Yan Jiyun wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

Chen Xiaoyu was alone and actively attacking Tang Shi, so he immediately relayed his plan to him.

NPCs could restrain each other, but not without loopholes. Every NPC had weaknesses; Chen Xiaoyu did too.

Yan Jiyun guessed her weakness was Liang Yu.

Tang Shi suddenly said to Chen Xiaoyu, “Chen Xiaoyu, are you trying to pressure Liang Yu through your father so he’ll be with you?”

Chen Xiaoyu: “So what if I am?”

Tang Shi: “Then you’ll be disappointed. Liang Yu said—”

Chen Xiaoyu: “What did he say?”

Tang Shi saw the man lurking outside, hiding his expression, but he didn’t know who he was, only that he had bad intentions.

He walked toward No. 19, who was moving his lips, preparing to keep controlling Chen Xiaoyu. “Who are you? I’ve never seen you in Qingyun Town.”

No. 19 shouted, “Xiaoyu, hurry!”

Since he’d been exposed to an NPC, he stepped out directly and prepared to control the scholarly-looking Tang Shi.

Tang Shi: “……”

What was this person trying to do?

Chen Xiaoyu heard No. 19 and rushed forward. Just as she was about to throw herself onto Tang Shi, he instinctively raised his leg and kicked her away.

“Ah!” Chen Xiaoyu fell sideways onto a chair. She cried out, then looked pitifully at Tang Shi. “Tang Shi, why did you kick me? Even if I won’t accept your confession, you can’t be violent! Aren’t you supposed to be a college student?”

Footsteps sounded in the distance. Several people were approaching. Clearly, she had planned this.

No. 19 wanted to use Chen Xiaoyu to get rid of Tang Shi. With No. 19 attacking from the front and Chen Xiaoyu from behind, Tang Shi grabbed No. 19’s wrist and twisted it hard. “You think you can control me?”

No. 19 screamed even louder than Chen Xiaoyu. “Ah—!! Damn it, let go!”

Tang Shi didn’t listen. He twisted harder. “Why are you trying to frame me?”

No. 19 couldn’t possibly explain anything to an NPC. He never expected Tang Shi to counter him and could only struggle.

“Xiaoyu, hit him with the chair!”

Chen Xiaoyu didn’t pick up the chair. Instead, she grabbed the backpack containing Yan Jiyun and swung it at Tang Shi!

Tang Shi knew Oreo was inside. As he prepared to release No. 19 to catch the bag, the zipper suddenly ripped open. The black cat leapt out, flashed across the floor, darted up Tang Shi’s pant leg onto his shoulder, and taking advantage of No. 19’s turned back, hooked his claws straight toward the number tag on his right arm!

No. 19 had covered his tag with cloth, but it was useless. It could still be taken. Yan Jiyun had tested this already. Only NPCs could hide their tags; all other methods were just visual illusions.

As long as one knew covering the tag was merely a trick, grabbing it was easy.

Yan Jiyun dared to make a move now because Team C had no resurrection props!

The whole tag-snatching sequence lasted less than one second. With his wrist twisted and back turned, No. 19 didn’t even know there was a black cat.

[Team F Player No. 29 has successfully snatched the number tag of Team C Player No. 19. Team C Player No. 19 has been eliminated.]

[NPC Chen Xiaoyu will return to the prop inventory. Other players may exchange for her during the next exchange period.]

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  Stands for “Pick-up Artist”. It’s a slang for scamming someone (usually emotionally)