His gaze locked on the electrical wires. He’d often heard news stories of rats chewing wires, causing short circuits and fires. Maybe he could try the same thing.
The machines here were powerful; if the wires were damaged, it’d be easy for a short circuit to happen.
There were plenty of wires, but they were kind of dirty, which made him hesitate to bite down.
After the man and woman left the lab to search for the mysterious unplugger, Yan Jiyun shut his eyes and braced himself. This is fine. Just think of it as sharpening his teeth.
The outer coating was plastic, so it was easy enough to chew through. He gnawed through the cables behind the machines and the data monitors, making sure never to bite two at once to avoid live current.
Not stopping at just the machines, he even chewed through the wall sockets’ wires. Anywhere he could sink his teeth in, he did.
After confirming there were no more chewable wires, Yan Jiyun hurriedly slipped out of the lab before the NPCs returned. Whether those people could be saved now depended on how quickly they woke. He wasn’t about to stay and burn along with the place.
He didn’t head back through the original passage. That way had traps, not to mention the heavy door he couldn’t open.
No sooner had he stepped into the corridor than the sizzling of electricity crackled from within.
[Want to be Human] livestream channel:
“He’s chewing the wires! He’s chewing the wires! Is the kitten teething?”
“How did he even think of that? Coincidence or not, my baby’s an absolute genius!”
“I mean, cats chewing wires is totally normal. Which cat doesn’t like to? He probably just thought of them as chew toys. Look at all those wires, if you were a cat, wouldn’t you want to gnaw too?”
“I’m shocked. At this point, if you told me the kitten was actually a human player, I’d believe it. He’s smarter than some of them, honestly.”
The two NPCs returned just then, still unaware of the sizzling.
But soon, sparks crackled. All the machines went dark simultaneously!
Flames leapt from the sockets, and the curtain near the wall caught fire.
The NPCs had already done one sweep earlier and were on high alert. Now with this mess, there was no way to cover it up. They quickly pulled the fire alarm.
The fire spread, smoke rose, and the ceiling sprinklers sprayed water everywhere. The faces of those lying in the beds were drenched.
Hidden between the flowerpots in the hallway, Yan Jiyun finally let out a breath when he heard the hiss of the sprinklers.
The “test subjects” slowly woke up, their first sight being the two lab coats. Some were dazed, some screamed. Then, chaos broke out.
At the same time, the black-uniformed guards he had seen earlier in the dish research lab appeared. They charged into the lab, but with so many test subjects pouring out, they couldn’t contain them.
Listening to the pandemonium inside, Yan Jiyun felt rather pleased. The system notified him that his mission was complete.
[Player Yan Jiyun has completed Main Mission (I). Rewards will be distributed after instance completion.]
This instance’s mission was actually quite hard to clear. He still had two side missions piled up in his log, one about Lin Xie, and one about Jiang Yan.
The first was manageable, but the second… not so much.
[Main Mission Progress: 20%]
[Instance End Countdown: 64 hours 20 minutes 45 seconds]
This only appeared after he had completed Main Mission(1). During the “Midnight Meal” event, there hadn’t been any such prompt. The trigger mechanism for this instance was a mystery — without searching to the deepest layers, the main mission would never be found.
Hearing the frantic footsteps echoing back and forth through the experimental zone, Yan Jiyun decided he had better leave quickly. Once this place was filled with people, he’d lose his chance to run.
The ones in black uniforms were probably the security here. They hadn’t come from the same direction as that man from the laboratory, so Yan Jiyun slipped away along the route they had taken. This group was in such a hurry to grab tools and put out the fire that they wouldn’t notice him anyway. What was even more favorable to him now was that, after he’d sabotaged the circuitry and shorted the lines, the breaker had been pulled, plunging the place into a blackout.
Walking in darkness was no obstacle to Yan Jiyun. It was as if he’d stepped into an empty world; whenever he saw security coming from one direction, he simply ran the opposite way.
By now, nearly eight hours had passed since the game began. Time had flown, but he hadn’t even felt like he’d done much at all. He hadn’t been checking the clock and thought all those people running around in the middle of the night were heading to some meeting. Only now did he realize it was already morning.
But hadn’t it been only a short while since he and Lin Xie finished their Midnight Meal and then went to the basement? How had eight hours slipped by?
He was starting to feel drowsy.
While Yan Jiyun stretched in the darkness, the other players were still discussing him in disbelief. How had he suddenly completed Main Mission (1)? They hadn’t even managed to find more than a handful of side missions.
“Where was Main Mission (1)?”
“I swear I smell smoke somewhere, kind of choking. Was that from Main Mission (1)?”
“If he completes all the missions, won’t that leave us with hardly any points to earn? We need to hurry up and find the main mission ourselves. The Challenging difficulty instance gives way more points than the Introductory one.”
“But the Challenging mode is dangerous too. We can’t just charge in blindly because someone else made it look easy.”
“You’re right. Just who is this Yan Jiyun? Less than eight hours and he’s finished Main Mission (1)? That’s impressive.”
“Should we try to team up with him?”
“Find him first, then talk.”
“…”
Completely unaware that other players had set their sights on him, Yan Jiyun, after leaving the experimental subject site, wandered through the pitch-black corridors. As long as he didn’t switch on the lights, no one could do a thing to him.
Though he enjoyed this temporary advantage, it wouldn’t last long. So he couldn’t get too smug.
He ran in the direction the black-uniformed staff had come from. With the poor lighting, many dim rooms were hard to make out, and who knew what might be hidden inside.
He estimated that it would take security about ten minutes to extinguish the fire. He needed to quickly identify his next target.
He wanted to understand the layout of the restaurant complex inside and out. Hunting down blueprints seemed impractical, and finding the monitoring room? He had no idea where that might be. This wasn’t an amusement park or a mall with a neat floor map displayed.
After thinking for a moment, the long run had made him feel even sleepier. The first instance had such strict time limits, and he needed to keep a constant watch on Li Muyang, so he hadn’t noticed any fatigue then. But this time was different — he had been running up and down, climbing all sorts of stairs, scheming with NPCs, his mind stretched thin. Now exhaustion crept in.
He had no idea where Zhou Ying, Cheng Li, and Wen Nanxing had gone. He’d rest for two hours, then resume his exploration. There were still two days left. He was only flesh and blood after all, he couldn’t withstand staying up night after night. He needed enough sleep.
The commotion from the fire in the lab was still loud, but Yan Jiyun had already left the area. For now, there was nothing more there to search.
He spotted a fire exit, saw someone coming down, and waited for them to pass before he slipped up the stairs.
After traversing so much terrain, he figured the restaurant must consist of two or three interconnected buildings. Both the research and experimental zones covered a large footprint, far too much for just one building. And this wasn’t some skyscraper, either.
When he reached the next floor, Yan Jiyun found it unusually quiet. Exiting the stairwell, he saw an office that looked particularly comfortable. The door was ajar about ten centimeters, and inside was an eye-catching fabric sofa.
Yan Jiyun glanced at the nameplate on the door: Office of the Head of Security.
Hearing no movement inside, he decided to enter and find a place to curl up. The most dangerous place was often the safest.
Since this was the security department, its personnel would all be out patrolling, not sitting in their office. A perfect spot to rest.
Ten centimeters was plenty of space for Yan Jiyun to squeeze through. This room was worthy of being the Security Office — on the walls hung all kinds of gear, from bulletproof vests, helmets, gas masks, even firearms. It was fully stocked, like a police station. And this was just a restaurant business?
Still, what boy didn’t love weapons? If given the chance, he’d happily study them more.
Just as he was drooling over the gear, footsteps approached. He immediately ducked into a corner.
But the person politely knocked first, clearly not the office’s owner.
“Boss Jiang, are you in? I’ve brought back the clothes you asked me to wash.”
It was a slightly plump auntie. Seeing no one inside, she simply left the clothes neatly on the sofa, and on her way out, closed the door.
Yan Jiyun: “…”
Fine. He’d been planning to rest anyway. Eyeing the cleanly folded stack of clothes, he glanced toward the office’s inner lounge.
Leaping up, he removed the doorknob and slipped inside. The place was clean, free of any strange odors. The office’s owner clearly liked things neat.
So far in this instance, he hadn’t encountered any slovenly NPCs. Lucky, perhaps?
He spotted a half-open wardrobe, picked a pile of clean clothes, and messed them up into a temporary cat’s nest, then curled up on top.
He tucked in his tail, coiling himself into a ball, and began to rest.
Let’s take just a short nap.
[Want to be Human] livestream channel:
“Shh,be quiet, the kitten is going to sleep.”
“I really want to sing it a lullaby.”
“The way it messed up those clothes was so cute. When Jiang Yan comes back later, will he beat it up? If it were my cat, I’d definitely be cursing at it already!”
“Its sleeping posture is adorable too, curling up with its long tail, leaving no chance for anyone to notice it!”
“Other players hide and hide, too tense to even close their eyes. Our lil’ cutie hides and hides, then sleeps soundly.”
“What an adorable little airhead. Yet another day of being slain by its cuteness.”
“With Jiang Yan’s fiery temper, he’ll never stand this. Can’t wait for him to see this scene! He’ll strangle Meowmeow for sure. I want to see that happen.”
