DSMC Chapter 68

The game ended, and the [Want to be Human] livestream room closed.

Even as the screen went black, viewers were still spamming the chat.

“Ah? That’s it? The instance just ends like this? I’m not satisfied at all!”

“I don’t get the ending. Why is the plot different from what the analysis master predicted earlier?”

“I thought the bonus storyline would be our Kitty Baby getting hunted by Liang Yu in the old castle, but it ended peacefully?? It’s only been half an hour.”

“Maybe it’s because our Kitty-Cat is too OP, he just doesn’t go the horror route. Think about it. If he played like a normal player, he should’ve been scared to death upon entering. But the cat already figured out the cause and truth of the castle incident during the PvP stage. These two are both his NPCs, and knowing his personality, he’d never let them fight. No way he’d allow Liang Yu and Tang Shi to kill each other. I also suspect the game temporarily added the bonus storyline for him, but lots of data didn’t get patched in time. The moment Liang Yu took out the number tag, it showed the bonus storyline was buggy as fuck. NPCs retain memories of our Kitty-Cat. To fix the data, the system kicked him out. That’s probably why the bonus storyline ended in only half an hour.”

“Got it. I never thought [Destiny] could have bugs too!”

“Hahahaha, the system couldn’t handle it! Kitty Baby literally broke the game, so it ended the extra chapter!”

“Or maybe when the data transferred, Mimi’s data got pulled in too, creating the bug. Lmaoooo! But I like this bug. No player has ever toyed with NPCs so hard they bug out.”

“Ahhhh, it’s over again. Do we have to wait five days to see our darling baby kitty?” 

“So lonely… After watching Kitty Baby’s stream, other players’ streams are just mid at best.”

“Same. Time to suffer for a few days.”

Meanwhile, in the newcomer player’s instance exit area… 

Lan Mo had recently felt something was very off about Feng-ge. First he delayed their instance run, and now he had been standing around the newcomer exit area the whole time.

And now… he was staring at his watch again.

Lan Mo couldn’t stand it anymore. “Feng-ge, who are you waiting for? Qiu Xi?”

Qi Feng’s tea had already gone cold. He nodded. “Mm.”

Lan Mo said, “Newcomer instances last at least 24 hours. Most don’t end early. You don’t need to come so soon. Qiu Xi will definitely contact you right after he returns.”

Qi Feng’s expression was tense. Lan Mo had no idea what he was worried about.

If Lan Mo had a pet system, he would understand why Qi Feng couldn’t sleep at all. Maybe, he would be even more anxious than him.

Qi Feng reread his system notifications. The last one was from ten hours ago, stating that Caramel had eaten a meal. But now, he had nothing. 

He didn’t even dare sleep. What if he woke up to a notification saying his pet had failed the instance? He wasn’t exaggerating, he didn’t even dare blink too much.

Lan Mo guessed he was staring blankly at the system interface, and continued, “Feng-ge, you have to trust Qiu Xi. How long until they’re out?”

Qi Feng calculated based on when they entered yesterday. “59 minutes and 30 seconds.” 

Lan Mo was stunned. He had never seen Qi Feng care about time so precisely. After seeing his behavior the past few days, he felt like he didn’t know him anymore.

Qi Feng could sit patiently, but Lan Mo couldn’t. His butt was numb, so he made an excuse to slip away. “I heard a newcomer rushed to first place after clearing just two instances. I’m going to check it out.”

Qi Feng waved casually. “Go.”

Lan Mo sighed internally. Who exactly is he protecting so tightly??

He’d check back later.

Just then, exclamations burst out from the beginner leaderboard area. Lan Mo, curious, walked over.

He hadn’t paid attention to the newcomer area in a long time.

A crowd gathered in front of the personal points ranking.

“Woah, it’s that Yan Jiyun again! His points skyrocketed. He got 150k in one go! What kind of newcomer instance was that?!”

“No idea. First time I’ve seen a newcomer instance give that much!”

“Just check which instance ended.”

“Two just ended: ‘Hide and Seek’ (Challenging) and ‘Hide and Seek’ (Introductory).” 

“Definitely the Challenging mode. This is just his base points, doesn’t even include his livestream gifts, right?”

“Right. With these numbers, his total earnings are definitely above 150k…” 

“Anyone know the record for highest points in a newcomer Challenging instance?”

“We can check the record board. Should be right there.”

Even Lan Mo was shocked by the points. Are newbies this strong now??

He remembered when he was a newbie — Qi Feng scored 70k in a five-day instance, which was considered crazy high. Tons of missions, all very difficult, yet only 70k. And that record still hadn’t been broken.

This Yan Jiyun was interesting. But with so many system instances, meeting him would be unlikely. They were already in Hard level instances¹a reminder: Hard level is the second highest difficulty.

Meanwhile, Qi Feng saw both versions of [Hide and Seek] had ended and immediately headed to the newcomer exit.

Players first enter the temporary rest area before leaving.

And finally, the system notified him:

[Your pet has successfully cleared the “Hide and Seek” instance.]

Thank goodness, Caramel was safe!

Caramel would stand out the moment he appeared. Qi Feng planned to grab him immediately to avoid attracting attention.

He stared intently at the feet of every newcomer walking out.

One, two, three…

None had a black cat following behind.

The [Hide and Seek] (Introductory) instance had ended, but no sign of his Caramel.

Qi Feng’s expression remained tight. He waited another five minutes, then finally saw Qiu Xi exit.

Qiu Xi lowered his head guiltily. He hadn’t entered the same instance as the boss’s cat.

He gestured silently: “Boss Qi”

Qi Feng sensed something was wrong and felt his heart tighten. “You came out. Did you see my… friend?”

He carefully chose his words since they were in public.

Qiu Xi had no notebook, so Qi Feng passed him the one he’d prepared in advance.

Qiu Xi wrote down everything that happened in the instance.

Qi Feng: “You’re saying you didn’t enter the Introductory mode?”

Qiu Xi nodded and wrote again: [There were thirty players, all normal humans. No one named Caramel.]

Qi Feng frowned. “I selected Introductory mode for you. The system shouldn’t make such an error.”

Qiu Xi shook his head. He didn’t know either. Did Boss Qi choose the wrong mode by accident?

No, from the look of Boss Qi, he was serious and meticulous. There was no way he made a mistake. Maybe he was just unlucky and entered the Challenging mode. After all, he’s been unlucky his whole life.

Qiu Xi looked toward the instance exit. Several players he’d seen inside [Hide and Seek] came out one after another. They weren’t dead? But each of them looked drained and terrified, some even walked out babbling incoherently.

At that moment, Gu Wenzhu, limping, also came out. He saw Qiu Xi talking to a tall man and didn’t interrupt, politely waiting on the side. The [Destiny] world wasn’t the real world. People might introduce friends in reality, but in-game players were very protective of personal information.

Actually, Gu Wenzhu returned to the temporary rest area half an hour ago, and his injuries were fully healed. In the final fight of the forced PK arena, he lost, and nearly died there. Although the system healed his wounds, the feeling of almost dying still lingered. But he wasn’t scared. After leaving the PK arena, he vaguely heard Yan Jiyun’s voice. His teammates had risked themselves to end the game early so he could get treatment sooner, and he really did manage it.

With the support and protection from his teammates’ positivity, Gu Wenzhu felt only gratitude now. There’s no room for gloom.

Before meeting Yan Jiyun and Qiu Xi, he had thought dying in the game didn’t matter. But after this instance, he didn’t want to die anymore. He wanted to keep living. He wanted to see how many more instances he could survive.

Teammates were magical creatures. Some bring doom; some bring hope, ready to pull one up from the abyss into sunlight.

He stayed instead of leaving for two reasons: one, to add Qiu Xi as a friend after he finished talking with the tall man; and two, to wait for Yan Jiyun, to thank him in person.

But after they exited the instance, it took the system another half hour to calculate the rewards. He had no idea what happened.

When he saw the instance ranking results, their group was, unsurprisingly, ranked first. But their points were noticeably different — Yan Jiyun’s were several times higher.

Truly worthy of being the teammate who took on six people alone. His score must’ve broken records, and that wasn’t even counting the livestream donations. Those wouldn’t appear in the instance ranking.

Gu Wenzhu saw Qiu Xi still talking with the tall man and felt apologetic.

Qi Feng, realizing Qiu Xi truly hadn’t entered the same instance as Caramel, stopped pressing him.

Qiu Xi wanted to tell him there had been a black cat inside, but that cat was an NPC, so it shouldn’t be related to his boss’s cat. Boss Qi said his cat was also a “player”. And if it was a player, it would have a name and be arranged uniformly by the system. But Qiu Xi hadn’t seen any black cat moving with their group.

Qiu Xi felt he hadn’t helped at all and voluntarily offered to forgo his pay.

Qi Feng, knowing Caramel had cleared the instance safely, was still worried that the little thing might be spotted by other players, but it was much better than hearing the cat would never come out again. And he would need Qiu Xi’s help in the future anyway.

“It’s fine. I’ll still transfer the points and the agreed payment. You brought it good luck.”

Qiu Xi shamefully lowered his head, almost touching his collarbone. He felt he was the unlucky one, and the black cat had brought him good luck. He truly didn’t deserve Qi Feng’s pay.

Qi Feng saw his mood and said, “I’ll definitely need your help again. Just think of it as me paying you in advance. You don’t need to feel guilty.”

Qiu Xi wrote two big words in his notebook: [Thank you]. Then he indicated that he would absolutely do his best in the future.

Just as Qi Feng was about to leave, a young man walked out of the new player instance area wearing beach shorts, a beach shirt, and a straw hat.

Among the crowd in normal clothing, he stood out like a crane among chickens, completely out of place.

The young man’s eyes were beautiful and bright, impossible to ignore. He had a very high rate of turning heads.

Qi Feng saw him walk toward a man leaning on a cane.

Qiu Xi and Qi Feng were almost done talking. He felt guilty for not helping but didn’t want to miss meeting his teammates.

Qiu Xi gestured to Qi Feng that he was leaving first.

Qi Feng: “Go on. Meet your friend.”

Qiu Xi wrote in his notebook: [The little kitty will definitely be fine!]

He sincerely hoped the little cat would return safely from the instance.

Qi Feng: “It’s fine. It’s just that I didn’t see it come out.”

Qiu Xi let out a sigh of relief. [I’ll definitely keep an eye out!]

Qi Feng: “It’s alright. Go rest. Coming out of a Challenging mode instance isn’t easy.”

He was a player too. He understood how brutal Challenging mode instances were.

Qiu Xi then went toward Yan Jiyun and Gu Wenzhu, who were waiting for him.

Qi Feng looked at that strikingly handsome young man, who waved at him and gave him a small, sincere smile. It was so genuine it carried no impurities.

Perhaps healed a bit by that smile, Qi Feng’s anxiety eased, and he continued staring at the instance exit, afraid to miss even a single moment Caramel might appear.

Meanwhile, Yan Jiyun, seeing Qi Feng, was in a great mood. He didn’t expect his shit shovel officer to be so responsible, coming all the way to the instance entrance to wait for him.

He had delayed a bit after leaving the instance’s temporary rest area.

First, he checked his reward list. There’s no need to look closely. He only cared about the information related to the instance.

His Human Form Time Card in the instance hadn’t been used up completely, but once he left the temporary rest area, he couldn’t use it anymore, so he switched it out.

“Why was there an extra bonus storyline at the end? I saw all the other players log off, only I went into another instance.”

The system (using young man voice) replied, “Because you triggered the storylines of both NPCs, and their favorability for you reached maximum. Meeting both conditions grants the chance for double points.”

Yan Jiyun: “Then what if I didn’t find a way to clear it? What would the ending be?”

“You might remain in the instance forever.”

Yan Jiyun: “…So I should be thankful I made it out?”

“Yes.”

Yan Jiyun: “Do those two NPCs have an extra ending this time?”

“Sorry, this is a PvP instance. The final ending was the bonus storyline you just entered. There’s no additional ending, but you unlocked a new extra story reward and achievement.”

Yan Jiyun was a bit disappointed. The previous two instances had endings to view.

“You unlocked a new extra story, which counts as unlocking a new ending.”

Hearing that, Yan Jiyun understood.

Liang Yu and Tang Shi would meet again in the castle, work together, and eventually bring those criminals to justice. Of course, they might choose another method, whatever they believed was appropriate. Since it was a new ending, they would likely use legal means to protect themselves instead of perishing together.

Liang Yu had used gasoline before. Yan Jiyun figured that might’ve been Liang Yu’s original plan, turning the castle into a real “ghost” story.

Yan Jiyun still asked the system to confirm, “What was the original storyline? Since I unlocked the extra, I should be able to know what the original Siyun Castle story was, right?”

The young man gave him a summary. It matched almost exactly what Yan Jiyun had guessed.

So Siyun Castle really was a ghost story.

The protagonist Liang Yu returned to the town to look for clues about his parents’ death, but was ultimately killed by the Chen family. He became a ghost. Later, as a ghost, he lured Chen Gang’s daughter, her classmates, and the villagers involved into the castle, killing them one by one.

Yan Jiyun rubbed his arms. “So this was a supernatural story? Then was the Liang Yu I met a human or a ghost?”

The young man: “The original story is supernatural.”

Yan Jiyun: “…”

So… was the Liang Yu in the bonus storyline a human or a ghost?

That was everything he learned from the system. His heart felt cold, and he walked out of the instance in a daze, until he saw his pooper scooper waiting at the entrance, and was instantly revived!

Lan Mo returned after a loop around the new player leaderboards and found Qi Feng still waiting with longing and expectation. Honestly, just who was he waiting for? So mysterious.

At this moment, Yan Jiyun and his two new friends had already changed locations. They went to a more crowded area and found a quiet place to sit down and rest.

Yan Jiyun chose the place. He had checked the surrounding area before entering the instance.

He deliberately picked a restaurant from which he could see Qi Feng.

Since he had come out of the instance safe and sound, he could finally bring up the things he’d been holding back from saying to his two temporary teammates.

The three added each other as friends.

Yan Jiyun asked them, “What are your plans next?”

This time’s point earnings were very generous. He could accompany them for a while. He could use the Human Form Time Card whenever he wanted. Although he hadn’t reached true point-spending freedom yet, he was definitely comfortable!

He earned over 100k points from the previous two instances combined. This instance’s special bonus doubled his reward, netting him a total of 300k points. Most of it still came from the livestream and the on-site revenue share. The instance was truly diverse; the more thrilling and dangerous the project, the higher the payout. The forced PK on-site revenue alone earned quite a bit.

Gu Wenzhu answered on behalf of himself and Qiu Xi, who signed with his hands: “I’m not going back to reality. I need to prepare for the next instance. Qiu Xi says he wants to go back first.”

Yan Jiyun nodded. These two had gone through thick and thin with him. They were the first teammates he added as friends. His previous instance teammates hadn’t discovered his secret, thanks to his longer human form this time. Plus, these two were genuinely good people.

Gu Wenzhu pushed at the tea leaves with the cup lid. “Do you have something to tell us?”

He was smart. He didn’t ask directly about Yan Jiyun’s identity. It was sensible not to pry into the secrets of a powerful teammate.

Seeing the steamed fish served, Yan Jiyun poked a piece of unseasoned meat and, after eating it quickly, said, “Mm. I hope you won’t mind what I’m about to say.”

Both nodded.

Yan Jiyun continued, “Instances only get harder from here. Your disabilities will become obstacles.”

Gu Wenzhu nodded. “Yes.”

Yan Jiyun asked them, “Have you ever thought about using system points to exchange for function cards?”

Gu Wenzhu became interested. “What do you mean?”

Though they were in someone else’s private dining room, he lowered his voice. “To be honest, I’m also… disabled. But I used the points I earned to temporarily fix it. You two can try talking to the system. For example… Qiu Xi can ask if there’s a card that lets him speak.”

Qiu Xi’s eyes lit up. He’d always thought he’d wait to earn enough points to leave the game. He’d never considered solving his disability within the game.

Gu Wenzhu was also pleasantly surprised. “Is that possible?”

Yan Jiyun: “I don’t know if your situations are the same as mine. But you can try. If it works, at least our survival chances will improve.”

Gu Wenzhu asked cautiously, “You mean… we might continue running instances together in the future?”

Yan Jiyun, having found capable and cooperative teammates at last, said, “It’s not impossible… but it depends on you two. I only went into Challenging mode instances.” 

For this seemingly cool line, his heart ached. He felt he was pretending, and successfully at that.

Qiu Xi gave him a thumbs-up.

Gu Wenzhu: “I only need one more Introductory instance to upgrade to the Easy tier.”

Qiu Xi: [Me too.]

Yan Jiyun: “…” So only he had to enter the Challenging mode!

Gu Wenzhu added, “But if you don’t mind me dragging you down, I can go into Challenging mode with you.”

Qiu Xi nodded in agreement.

Yan Jiyun refused immediately. “No need to rush. You two can clear your Introductory instance together. Let’s meet again in the Easy-tier instance.”

Even with 300k points, the Human Form Time Card wasn’t much. He also didn’t want Qiu Xi and Gu Wenzhu risking the Challenging mode with him.

Once the important things were said, Yan Jiyun began demolishing the steamed fish. After cleaning it to the bone, he prepared to leave.

It was getting dark. He needed to return to his personal space first and then look for his pooper scooper. 

After saying goodbye to Gu Wenzhu and Qiu Xi, Yan Jiyun blended into the crowd and disappeared from their sight.

The two returned to the restaurant.

Qiu Xi: [He’s so mysterious.]

Gu Wenzhu: “But his suggestion is very good. I’ll try it when I get back. You?”

Qiu Xi: [Same. I can’t wait.]

Gu Wenzhu glanced at the fish bones stripped perfectly bare and chuckled. “Me too.”

Not long after, the two parted and returned to their personal spaces.

Their point earnings this time were several times more than their first three instances combined.

Meanwhile, Yan Jiyun slipped into a dark alley and returned to his personal space.

He checked his remaining points:

Instance points (including bonus) + converted livestream points + on-site viewer points = 320,000.

After returning, he asked the system youth, “Can I disable the main account’s function of choosing instances for the sub-account?”

Though this time he didn’t suffer a loss, he didn’t like being controlled. Yes, he might earn a lot, but still… 

System: “You are a sub-account. You do not have permission to disable the main account.”

Yan Jiyun: “…” He knew this stupid system would say nothing good.

Forget it. No point arguing with the system. Better go find his shit shovel officer.

It was completely dark outside.

He headed straight for the alley where Qi Feng and Lan Mo had been earlier.

He waited for Qi Feng to come find him.

Regarding the main account selecting instances, there was an easy solution. His pooper scooper didn’t know when he entered an instance. If he wanted control, he just needed to enter his chosen instance before the main account picked for him.

For now, he just wanted to let the man know he was safe, enjoy a good meal, and rest for a day. The instance intel he gathered earlier was now useless. He could collect new intel afterward. A perfect plan.

His personal space was cold and empty, with nothing inside. The moment his Human Form Time Card expired, he left.

The dark alley was deserted. Yan Jiyun crouched outside, waiting for Qi Feng to pass by.

But he didn’t expect to smell crispy fried fish again.

The stall had just been set up, and Yan Jiyun almost bolted toward it.

Wait. That wasn’t his shovel officer or Lan Mo. It was an actual player selling fried fish.

Yan Jiyun never expected this situation!

If Qi Feng didn’t find him at the exit, would he look for him here?

Yan Jiyun waited for a while. Luckily, he had eaten a steamed fish earlier. Otherwise, the greasy fried fish would’ve smelled irresistible.

The seller realized business here was bad and pushed his cart away.

Soon after, two more people arrived.

He recognized Qi Feng’s footsteps immediately!

Lan Mo complained, “Why are we selling fried fish here again? The last guy earned nothing!”

Qi Feng: “Just do it.”

Grumbling aside, Lan Mo obediently went to his personal space to get the cart.

Yan Jiyun seized the chance and ran toward the quietly depressed, but outwardly calm, Qi Feng.

He deliberately ran over, then jumped. He landed squarely on his “master’s” shoulder! 

Surprise!

If Qi Feng hadn’t been fast and grabbed his paws, he would’ve scratched the man’s hair.

Qi Feng caught him and held him against his chest, joy in his voice: “You really were here.”

The next second, man and cat disappeared into Qi Feng’s personal space.

When Lan Mo came out pushing the cart, the street was empty. “…Boss Feng?”

A moment later, Qi Feng came out of his personal space.

His expression had softened noticeably. “Put it away. Let’s go back.”

Lan Mo: “…”

What? Weren’t they frying fish just now?

My dear Boss Feng, your mood lately changes like unpredictable weather, changing within minutes!!

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  a reminder: Hard level is the second highest difficulty