DSMC Chapter 5

Yan Jiyun ran out of the security office and didn’t run into the elementary school kids who had been chasing him earlier, likely because the school had rung the warning bell and they’d returned to class. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was around, he rushed downstairs and once again slipped into the flowerbed.

But as soon as he appeared, one of the students who had been chasing him with Wang Qiqi spotted him. They hadn’t actually left and had been wandering around downstairs.

“Wang Qiqi, that black cat came down!”

“Where?” Wang Qiqi swept his eyes toward the direction the other student pointed.

“Over there, in the flowerbed!”

Yan Jiyun didn’t expect to get spotted like that. He had to think of a way out!

Wang Qiqi, with his chubby body, charged toward the flowerbed.

“Get out of the way, I’ll catch it!”

Yan Jiyun couldn’t let Wang Qiqi catch him.

He deliberately poked the tip of his tail out from the grass and flicked it lightly, the tip curving upward, baiting them. These elementary schoolers would definitely fall for this trick.

Wang Qiqi had made a big show of saying he’d do it himself, so the other students didn’t interfere; they just kept their eyes on the black cat and worked to box Yan Jiyun in.

“He’s over here, over here! I saw his tail!”

“Step aside, I got this,” Wang Qiqi rubbed his hands together excitedly as he crept closer, stretching his hand out like a demon’s claw toward the cat’s tail.

But he didn’t catch it!

Yan Jiyun flicked his tail to the side, and Wang Qiqi didn’t even touch a single fur. Instead, his plump body wobbled and nearly tumbled into the flowerbed.

He tried another direction and kept wagging his tail. Wang Qiqi clearly took the bait and lay down, stretching his hand out. He was so close to reaching it.

But Yan Jiyun had calculated the distance — Wang Qiqi wouldn’t be able to touch him.

Frustrated by the teasing, Wang Qiqi started to lose it.

“Damn cat!”

He decided to jump into the flowerbed and catch the cat by force.

By now, Yan Jiyun had already accounted for Wang Qiqi’s weight and his determination.

Jumping into the flowerbed was exactly what Yan Jiyun wanted. As soon as he ran, Wang Qiqi chased after him. But he was too fat; for every three steps he took, he tripped twice, nearly getting pierced by the flower branches.

“Damn it! That damn cat ruined my brand-new clothes!”

Enraged, Wang Qiqi rampaged through the flowerbed, completely ignoring the destruction his weight was causing to the plants.

Yan Jiyun shifted direction and ran toward the center of the flowerbed, where three bronze statues stood. Wang Qiqi charged after him, clearly determined to catch him no matter what.

One boy and one cat circled the statues endlessly. Just when Wang Qiqi was panting and running out of breath, Yan Jiyun suddenly leapt onto the bent elbow of the second bronze statue and stood there watching Wang Qiqi. To Wang Qiqi, it looked like the cat was taunting him. He was furious and lunged at him!

But Wang Qiqi had misjudged his own agility. His plump body slammed straight into the statue, his head smashing against the bronze elbow with a loud thud. The impact was so hard, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the ground.

Yan Jiyun cast a glance at the fallen chubby boy. All the effort he had put into dealing with Wang Qiqi wasn’t for nothing. This should keep him from messing with Li Muyang again.

He dropped to all fours and quickly vanished from the statue area.

The warning bell rang, and the rest of the students rushed back to their classrooms. Only a few onlookers were still yelling Wang Qiqi’s name, not knowing if he was dead or alive.

[System: Yan Jiyun has completed the hidden task “Wang Qiqi’s Bounty.” The reward will be issued upon finishing the instance.]

The mission countdown finally stopped at 03:22, changing from blood-red to gray before gradually disappearing from Yan Jiyun’s field of vision.

Other players: “…”

What the hell? The mission starts and ends just like that? Is the system screwing with them?

[Livestream Channel]

“Our Meowmeow actually actually made Wang Qiqi dizzy! How pitiful~”

“I think Wang Qiqi might be dead. He’s so fat, and his head slammed right into the bronze statue’s elbow. He’s probably got internal bleeding. Without quick treatment, he could really die.”

“No wonder I follow this streamer. They never disappoint!”

“I love how this kitty-cat swishes that long tail. So cute! I love it. Cat, please use your tail to seduce me, I swear I won’t fall for it!”

“I wanna get tail-teased too, left swipe, right swipe~ Tickles my heart.”

“Kitty, come and suffocate my face with your fur!” 

At this point, the noise caused by the NPC security captain chasing the discovered male player was attracting a lot of attention, so most of the players didn’t even notice the drama with the elementary schoolers and the fallen cat-chaser. They only heard the system say the mission ended, and didn’t think too much about it.

The players decided to shift their focus back to Li Muyang. Protecting him was still their top priority. If the main mission failed, the instance would fail too — and they didn’t even know what the consequences would be.

Yan Jiyun had received the alert about Li Muyang’s decreasing health, and so had the other players still searching for him.

None of them could understand it. Class had already started, so why was Li Muyang’s health still going down?

“Everyone’s looking for Yan Jiyun, but no one is protecting Li Muyang?”

“Isn’t Li Muyang in class? If we show up now it’s too obvious. Everyone probably figured there were only ten minutes left, so they ran off to chase Yan Jiyun. Who would’ve thought Li Muyang would get hurt in such a short time?”

“One player just got spotted by the NPC security chief. Now he’s being chased across the whole building.”

“Come on, let’s go check what’s going on with Li Muyang.”

“Yeah, if his HP keeps dropping like this, he’ll hit zero real soon!”

Yan Jiyun needed to find a place where he could observe Li Muyang without being spotted. As a cat, showing up on campus wasn’t too suspicious. After all, stray cats could be found just about anywhere.

But this time, instead of walking through the hallways openly, he circled around to the back of Building A to scope out the terrain. He quickly pinpointed the window of Class 4-6. Right across from it was a tree. Yan Jiyun leapt lightly onto it with his powerful hind legs, his movements silent and graceful.

Class 4-6 was currently having a Chinese lesson. Li Muyang was still in the room and hadn’t been pulled out by the homeroom teacher yet. But he was standing at the back, with blood streaming down his forehead.

He’d been punished and made to stand by the Chinese teacher. What had she done to him?

Yan Jiyun crouched silently on the branch, watching. Every student had a test paper on their desk. The blood on Li Muyang’s forehead looked like he’d been struck by something. Yan Jiyun noticed that the blackboard eraser from the teacher’s desk was missing. Most likely, it had been thrown at him.

The Chinese teacher wore glasses and looked to be around 24 or 25. Petite, sweet-looking, scholarly, nothing about her suggested she was violent. But right now, her face still showed traces of barely-suppressed anger.

Yan Jiyun perked his ears to catch the whispers of the students sitting by the window.

“Li Muyang only scored 35 points. His Chinese is so bad.”

“I delivered homework to the office last time and heard Zhao-laoshi say if he fails again, he’ll be expelled.”

“He should’ve been expelled a long time ago. That scar on his throat is terrifying. Looks like a snake’s mouth.”

Listening to these disturbingly mature conversations, Yan Jiyun pieced it together: Li Muyang was punished for a poor test score, and the teacher had even thrown a chalkboard eraser at him.

Class continued, and Li Muyang returned to his seat. His face was half-covered in blood, and tears from the corners of his eyes mixed with the blood as they fell.

At that moment, a familiar figure passed by Class 4-6’s door.

Yan Jiyun’s eyes widened. It was Li Muyang’s mother. So the homeroom teacher really had called her in.

Judging by the earlier student conversation, Yan Jiyun figured this situation was more complicated than it seemed.

Back when he was human, he’d been a big fan of online games and had tried all kinds. An instance like this definitely had a backstory. Given Li Muyang’s current hellish environment, there had to be major issues in his home life.

Mrs. Li headed toward the office, followed by two players disguised as teachers. They’d also noticed her arrival and hoped to trace her movements to uncover clues related to the main storyline and eliminate the source of Li Muyang’s dropping HP.

Yan Jiyun could eavesdrop anytime he wanted, so he wasn’t in a hurry to show up in front of her. Instead, he jumped down from the tree and sprinted in another direction.

The priority was to stop Li Muyang’s rapid HP loss. He needed first aid, specifically, something to stop the bleeding.

The school had four main buildings: three academic ones and a cafeteria. The academic ones were called “Yangfan Qihang Building,” “Chongshi Building,” and “Qiuzhen Building,”[mfn]Yangfan Qihang = 扬帆起航, to set sail; Chongshi = 崇实, honor/respect, real/truth; Qiuzhen = 求真, to seek the truth.[/mfn] while the cafeteria was named “Wenxiang[mfn]闻香; 闻 means smell/hear (literary meaning). As an adjective it can mean well-known/famous. 香 means smell/fragrant[/mfn] Building.” Grades 1–2 were in Yangfan Qihang, Grades 3–4 in Chongshi, and Grades 5–6 in Qiuzhen. 

Yan Jiyun found a school map. The infirmary was on the first floor of the Qiuzhen Building. Hugging the walls and moving stealthily, he slipped behind the building and followed the trail of human scents until he found the infirmary.

The window was wide open. He didn’t smell any humans inside, so he leapt onto the windowsill and searched the medicine shelf, quickly locating a pack of band-aids. He couldn’t carry much, this was the most useful item.

The band-aids hadn’t been separated yet, so he clamped his jaws on the whole strip.

[Livestream Channel]

“Came here on a recommendation. This little kitty is so smart, how did it know to get band-aids to stop Li Muyang’s bleeding?”

“I haven’t followed this instance much, but everyone’s raving about the cat streamer. What happens if it helps stop the bleeding?”

“Of course it’s a big deal. The faster Li Muyang loses blood, the faster his HP drops. The band-aid directly targets the wound. If no player finds one in an hour, he’ll die before the school is over.” 

“How does the kitty know to look for a band-aid? It’s as smart as a human!”

“You are all traitors. Aren’t we here to watch horror and gore?”

“SRDS[mfn]虽然但是 suī rán dàn shì; overall it means “however”.  Individually, 虽然 means “although/even though” while 但是 means “however/but”.[/mfn], I still want the cat player to live. If we had an IQ test machine, I’d love to put this kitty on it.” 

“The cat is smart, but don’t forget, the infirmary’s Dr. Chi isn’t easy to deal with.”

“Upstair is a real crow’s mouth[mfn]乌鸦嘴 wūyā zuǐ; it means “a jinx/jinxing it”.[/mfn]!” 

As the chat heated up, Yan Jiyun was just about to leap out the window, when suddenly, someone grabbed him by the scruff!

Yan Jiyun: “…” He’d lost all footing.

A low male voice spoke, clearly intrigued as he examined the black cat in his hands. “I don’t recall there being stray cats at this school. Where’d you come from, sneaking in here to steal things?”

Dr. Chi had a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, always slightly upturned at the corners. When he looked at people, it seemed like he was smiling. But, his gaze was as cold as a snake’s.

“Let’s see what you took. Oh? Band-aids? What do you need those for?”

Yan Jiyun stared at him without moving, legs twitching weakly. The man clearly understood feline anatomy well, leaving him little chance to struggle free.

Dr. Chi, in his white lab coat, didn’t seem concerned that the black cat might dirty it. “Little One, let’s hear you meow.” 

Yan Jiyun didn’t even meow in front of his owner. He certainly wasn’t going to do it for an NPC.

Dr. Chi reached to take the band-aids from his mouth, but the cat refused to open up. The doctor wasn’t in a rush.

“Well, I’m bored anyway. Having a cat for company doesn’t sound too bad.” He gave the cat a once-over and raised his brows. “Sleek and well-fed. Probably doesn’t shed much. Still, I don’t like furry creatures. If I kept you, I’d shave you bald first.”

Yan Jiyun definitely didn’t want to get shaved. His fur practically bristled in alarm. He began thrashing and kicking hard with all four limbs.

Dr. Chi hadn’t expected such a sudden outburst. The cat’s powerful back legs struck him in the gut, and its sharp front claws scratched his wrist. Hissing in pain, the doctor finally let go.

The moment he was free, Yan Jiyun launched himself out the window in one smooth, panic-free motion, disappearing with the band-aids still clutched in his jaws.

Dr. Chi stared at his bleeding wrist, then stepped to the window and narrowed his eyes in the direction the cat had fled. “Pretty clever.”

[Livestream Chat]

“Fuck, Dr. Chi really is a pervert. He wanted to shave the kitty bald?!”

“Does the cat streamer shed fur?”

“That kitty is fierce! It escaped Dr. Chi’s grasp, I kinda wanted to see it get tied to a little exam table and poked around though…”

After leaving the infirmary, Yan Jiyun headed straight for Class 4-6.

Li Muyang was still in class. Yan Jiyun waited in the tree until the break. When Li Muyang got up to use the restroom, he followed.

There was a window near the restrooms. Yan Jiyun leapt from a nearby tree and, just as Li Muyang walked past, he bumped into him and dropped the band-aids.

Worried about triggering another “Wang Qiqi’s Bounty” type of mission, he jumped back to the ground after dropping the band-aids, looked at Li Muyang, and tapped his own forehead with a paw.

Li Muyang understood the gesture, clutched the plain band-aids tightly, and nodded.

“I’ll use them.”

A black cat appearing out of nowhere would attract too much attention, so Yan Jiyun immediately fled back up the tree, agile and swift.

Li Muyang went into the restroom and used the prop “Band-aids” on his wound. The bleeding stopped, and so did the HP drain, stabilizing at exactly 66%.

The other players all breathed a sigh of relief. The main mission was back on track!

They’d still been trying to figure out how to approach Li Muyang, and hadn’t even gotten close yet, but his HP had already stopped dropping.

At that moment, a system message chimed:

[Player Yan Jiyun gained +30 Favorability with Li Muyang.]

“Again with this Yan Jiyun?!”

“What the hell did he do this time?”

“Is NPC Favorability just being handed out like cabbage now?!”

They were technically in a 10-person team, but player-vs-player competition was still very real. The system clearly didn’t intend for this to be a fully cooperative experience.

A few minutes later, Teacher Zhao suddenly appeared and pulled Li Muyang from class, taking him to the office.

Players who had been watching Mrs. Li began quietly passing intel among themselves.

Yan Jiyun climbed down from the tree and spotted the red-haired man disguised as a security guard. He overheard him whisper into his walkie-talkie, “Li Muyang’s been taken by the homeroom teacher. Everyone stay alert!”

Yan Jiyun silently leapt down from the tree behind him.