DSMC Chapter 10

Yan Jiyun didn’t actually run that fast into the stairwell. His figure didn’t immediately disappear into the dim hallway. His true intention was to lure Li Muyang to follow him downstairs.

The smell coming from Li Muyang’s home wasn’t from rotting kitchen waste, but gas. A heavy, suffocating scent of natural gas.

He could only take advantage of Li Muyang’s affection and reluctance to part with him, using that moment to act, taking a gamble.

Fortunately, it paid off. Li Muyang’s fondness for him was clearly genuine. When he ran, Li Muyang quickly responded.

Because of his throat condition, Li Muyang didn’t speak much. But now, worried that Yan Jiyun would run off, he shouted hoarsely after him.

He chased while yelling, “Sesame, Sesame, don’t run! Where are you going?”

Of course, Yan Jiyun’s goal was to lead him away from the building. He didn’t know where exactly the gas leak was coming from, but it was definitely on the sixth floor.

Whether intentional or accidental, he couldn’t let Li Muyang go back inside.

If he had just tugged on Li Muyang’s pants to try to get him to leave, Li Muyang probably wouldn’t have understood. But now that he had bolted off for no apparent reason, Li Muyang would chase after him.

Only, as Li Muyang chased him, his mother chased Li Muyang.

Why was Mrs. Li chasing him?

Had she planned something in advance?

Was she perhaps using the gas to take her entire family with her out of this world?

As he ran down the stairs, Yan Jiyun tried to reason it out.

Sometimes, Mrs. Li would show signs of aggression, a tendency for violence, and sudden breakdowns into hysterical crying. Clearly, there was something wrong with her mental state.

Although Mr. Li hadn’t shown up all day, his total indifference the previous night already spoke volumes. The couple’s relationship was strained — the man cheated, the woman quit her job to care for their child full-time. And with the child ill, she stayed home all day surrounded by negative emotions, gradually becoming more and more depressed. Her mental state began to twist, her personality grew extreme.

And then the school told her to withdraw Li Muyang. That last taut string in her mind was close to snapping. The world she had once taken pride in was crumbling bit by bit. This might have been the final straw. She didn’t know if quitting her job to become a housewife had been the right decision. So, she chose death. Chose to take the family that had brought her both joy and pain and leave the world together.

Yan Jiyun guessed that she was chasing Li Muyang to drag him back and die with her.

Everything Li Muyang had gone through today had only been the appetizer. The thing that might truly kill him… could very well be his own mother, into whom she had poured all her emotions. If Yan Jiyun hadn’t taken the elevator up, no matter how hard the players had worked to protect Li Muyang during the day, if they had been just one step too late in following the mother and son upstairs, the entire mission would have failed.

Luckily, he had stayed close to Li Muyang at all times. Otherwise, the consequences were unthinkable.

Whether Li Muyang was a game character or a real person, after a day of interaction, this child in front of him felt like a living, breathing fourth-grade elementary school boy. His “shortcomings” weren’t anything serious, and no one deserved to have their entire future taken away over a few minor issues.

Last night, while staying in Li Muyang’s room, he saw the walls covered in award certificates. All of that proved he was a great kid, he had only fallen behind after a surgery. The school’s teachers and those picky parents didn’t want to give him another chance. But every life is equally valuable. A child shouldn’t have to carry the cruelty of the adult world.

“Sesame? Are you downstairs?”

Li Muyang’s voice reached him and brought his thoughts back.

The stairwell wasn’t well-lit. For some reason, the property management had painted all the steps a dark green, making the hallway even dimmer at night. Li Muyang had already descended several steps before spotting Yan Jiyun, who had turned to look at him.

“Where are you going? Our home is upstairs, you can’t run around like that.”

Ignoring his voice problems, Li Muyang was actually a very gentle boy.

Yan Jiyun continued running down a few more flights. Li Muyang lived on the sixth floor, and below that was just the ground floor, it only took him a few bounds to get down.

Li Muyang assumed the black cat just didn’t want to go home and wanted to play outside, so he followed.

The building’s ground floor door was open. Yan Jiyun slipped through it and darted straight for the main entrance.

He didn’t care about the other players. All he had to do was protect Li Muyang.

Seeing Li Muyang still following him at a steady distance reassured him.

“Sesame, don’t run, wait for me!”

Li Muyang ran after the black cat, oblivious to the strange looks people gave him when they heard his voice.

But he didn’t know — or didn’t care — that his mother, following behind, felt as though sharp blades were stabbing into her with every step. She used to love showing off her son, and now she wanted nothing more than to disappear.

Her life wasn’t supposed to be like this. Her son should have had a beautiful voice, joined the school choir, and performed often. He sang beautifully; his teachers would praise him and give him solo parts. He had good grades, frequently earning “Three Good Student” awards. Those were his achievements… and hers.

But it had all been ruined. Her son got sick, developed a tumor on his neck, so he had to undergo surgery. From that moment on, the brilliant child she’d been so proud of vanished. All the light and glory he had brought her were gone. Her husband looked down on her for not raising him well. Her in-laws blamed her for having bad genes. Everything the light had once concealed now rose to the surface.

Her husband had an affair. She hadn’t worked in ten years and could no longer rejoin society. She wasn’t the ambitious, independent woman she once was. What was the point of living? She might as well die.

Her son had to die with her. But that cheating man should die too.

If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have gotten pregnant by accident, wouldn’t have quit her job, wouldn’t have lost her brilliance as a woman. She would have earned respect. Maybe after ten years of hard work, she would have built a solid career in her field!

But it was all his fault. He ruined her. They all deserved to die.

Looking at her son’s face, so much like her husband’s, Mrs. Li’s expression twisted even further. She began chasing after Li Muyang more urgently.

“Li Muyang, stop right there! Come home and do your homework!”

Li Muyang walked past a neighbor heading toward the elevator. He glanced at the black cat seemingly waiting for him at the door, then at his mother, who was striding toward him with a darkened expression. For a moment, he hesitated.

It had been a long time since he’d felt so free running around like today. Panting, he steadied his breath and turned back to say, “Mom, I want to play with Sesame for a bit before going home to do my homework.”

Mrs. Li looked at the black ball of fur disapprovingly. Li Muyang had lost control several times today because of that cat. She felt like she was losing her grip on her son and she didn’t like that feeling at all. Her tone turned sharp. “No. You should go back and do your homework.”

She reached out to drag him home, but Li Muyang had made up his mind today—he wanted to bring the black cat home. He tried to negotiate: “Then I’ll go pick Sesame up and bring him home with me.”

Before Mrs. Li could respond, he was already running toward Yan Jiyun.

Yan Jiyun almost thought Li Muyang was about to march right back to his doom. He’d just tricked the kid into coming down, if Mrs. Li dragged him back upstairs, wouldn’t all his effort go to waste?

“Sesame, let’s go home, or Mom is going to be mad,” Li Muyang said, still fearful of his mother’s anger after years living under her shadow.

Yan Jiyun had no intention of going back obediently. He needed to stall for as long as possible, at least until the instance was almost over. There were still two hours and twenty minutes left.

He glanced around and spotted Wang Mian and the hoodie-wearing youth, both now in changed security guard uniforms, loitering downstairs. The short-haired girl, Yang Xue, had put on a trendy outfit and was heading into the building. When the three of them noticed Li Muyang and his mother, a flicker of surprise crossed their faces.

It looked like this trio was more competent than the other players. They’d already taken care of two security guards and disguised themselves. Good, he could continue cooperating with them.

Yan Jiyun needed backup. He definitely couldn’t handle Mrs. Li alone.

A plan sparked in his mind. He darted toward Wang Mian and the hoodie-wearing youth, and dramatically flopped against the hoodie guy’s leg, then collapsed on the ground, eyes shut tight.

To onlookers, it looked like the cat had suddenly gone stiff, maybe because it hadn’t noticed the man standing there, and had knocked itself out.

Yan Jiyun had pulled off a perfect “play dead” performance!

Li Muyang, who had come running: “…Sesame!”

The hoodie-wearing youth raised both hands. “I didn’t do anything! It ran into me by itself.”

He’d seen the elderly fake accidents, and dogs even, but a cat? Was this one trained?

Li Muyang picked up the limp black cat. He had clearly seen it run into the guy. There was no one to blame. He feared the worst, gently shaking the cat’s floppy body.

Tears started falling down his cheeks. “Sesame, is he… dead?”

Yang Xue looked at the seemingly unconscious cat and found things were going almost too smoothly. She stepped forward, saying, “Little Friend, the cat’s belly is still moving, so it’s breathing normally. Maybe it just got too excited and fainted. You should take it to a pet hospital, just in case it’s sick.”

Yan Jiyun, catching her cue, exaggerated his breathing, puffing his belly in and out rhythmically.

Li Muyang wasn’t blind. He could see that Sesame was still alive and breathing strongly.

He wiped his tears, but was still worried something even worse might happen to the black cat. He felt that this big sister was right. 

Yang Xue added, “Why don’t I go with you? I’ve raised cats before.”

[Livestream Channel] 

“Ahhhh what happened to the kitty? Did it really faint?”

“I suspect it played dead in front of the three tool players. It doesn’t want Li Muyang to go with his mom. Based on the plot, if he does, they’ll both die. These three tools are actually smart enough to follow the setup. But I bet it won’t be that simple. The apartment complex is Li Muyang’s last activity area. He can’t leave it.”

“It’s so cute! It’s pretending to be dead. I want to pet it so badly. Look at it all flat like a pancake!”

“I’m going to cry, it’s so adorable.”

“Giving reward to this smart kitty!”

But just then, Mrs. Li caught up and suddenly snapped, “What are you doing? Are you trying to kidnap my son?!”

The three hadn’t interacted with her earlier, so she didn’t recognize them.

Yang Xue, sticking to her fashionable-girl persona, casually chewed gum and said, “Your family’s cat fainted. We suggested the kid take it to the vet. What if it dies? Don’t blame us.” She deliberately raised the stakes. “The security guards are right here, don’t try to accuse us of anything. I’m a famous influencer, you know, any random video I post gets millions of views.”

Yan Jiyun praised her quick thinking in his heart. No matter what, they couldn’t let the mother and son go back upstairs, or the mission could fail at any time.

Although Yang Xue didn’t know Mrs. Li was planning to take her son with her to die, she and Yan Jiyun were on the same page — don’t let them go back. They had no justifiable reason to storm into Li Muyang’s home, and the security guards posed a real threat. If they resisted too hard, they might even get killed.

She signaled her two teammates with a glance, and the hoodie-wearing youth quickly got the message.

“If the cat fainted, then let’s take it to the vet. The lives of small animals are also very precious,” he also praised Li Muyang appropriately. “This child is very compassionate. Parents shouldn’t ruin that.”

That remark seemed to strike a nerve in Mrs. Li. After a whole day of hearing nothing but criticisms about her and her son, saying that she’s crazy, this praise for her son actually softened her mood a little.

She accepted the suggestion. “Fine, take it to the vet. Just don’t let it…” die.

But just as she agreed, a middle-aged man in a neat suit suddenly appeared.

“Wife, Yangyang, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you home?”

Yan Jiyun’s heart skipped a beat.

That was Li Muyang’s father’s voice.