When some players wanted to team up with Yan Jiyun, they discovered that in the vast restaurant complex, he was nowhere to be found.
One hour passed—
Three hours passed—
Five hours passed—
Quite a few players had already triggered different side missions, yet no further announcements about Yan Jiyun appeared in the system’s global notifications.
The three who had once teamed up with the little black cat — Zhou Ying, Cheng Li, and Wen Nanxing — after falling from the planks, had also completed several side missions and uncovered many clues.
Rushing nonstop to hunt for clues had drained nearly all of their strength. Since all players were “customers” chosen by the restaurant, they enjoyed the best accommodations available. The three quietly returned to the main dining hall, went to the rooms assigned to them, and took care of food and rest.
They didn’t dare split up. Originally, Cheng Li and Zhou Ying had been assigned to share a room by the restaurant, and Wen Nanxing, having found his teammates, decided to stay with them.
They chose the two girls’ room as a temporary base.
During their exploration, Zhou Ying and the others had discovered material related to the main storyline: on the counter of a restroom sink, they found a work badge, confirming that behind “Midnight Diner” there was an organized, deliberate plan to conduct human experiments. As for the specific kind of experiments, that remained unknown.
After taking a shower, Zhou Ying came out and looked troubled at her side mission screen. In the game, once a main mission was completed, side missions could be skipped, unless it was a specific instance or scene where certain side missions became mandatory. Generally, it depended on the instance type. This instance was relatively forgiving, as there was no forced completion.
Wen Nanxing, more fastidious than the two girls, had already bathed and tidied himself up. Now he sprawled lazily on the sofa like a corpse.
None of the three dared put on the sleepwear provided by the restaurant. They rested fully dressed, ready to respond to any sudden event.
For the moment, none of them managed to fall asleep.
Wen Nanxing was still concerned about the player Yan Jiyun. “Let me ask you something. Don’t you both think He Xiaobi is actually Yan Jiyun?”
Zhou Ying perked up at the topic. “Isn’t he?”
Wen Nanxing: “I don’t think so. Do you remember which waiter sent me to the VIP area?”
At that time, Zhou Ying and Cheng Li had been too busy analyzing the purpose of the midnight meal set, so they hadn’t noticed.
Wen Nanxing answered for them, “It was He Xiaobi. If he were actually Yan Jiyun in disguise, he couldn’t possibly have known the VIP route so clearly.”
Zhou Ying asked, “If that’s the case, then who is Yan Jiyun?”
Wen Nanxing shook his head.
Cheng Li made a joke: “Don’t tell me it’s the little black cat. When it dropped the gun on the ground, the system prompted that Yan Jiyun had found the murder weapon.”
Wen Nanxing: “How could it be? It had already run off at that point. It never touched the gun.”
Zhou Ying: “At the time, aside from He Xiaobi, there were plenty of players and customers around. It was chaotic. We didn’t clearly see who else might have handled the gun.”
Wen Nanxing: “You’re right. That black cat followed the truck driver down, and it was the one who guided me into the game.”
Zhou Ying: “Exactly, and it was originally Lin Xie’s cat. Lin Xie doesn’t seem to restrict its movements. It makes sense that it got off the driver’s truck. Plus, it kept guiding us along the way. Only NPCs do that.”
Cheng Li, curling her freshly dried hair, said, “Fine, maybe I just read too many novels about animals turning into humans.”
Zhou Ying: “Let’s take turns resting. Security guards are everywhere. It’s daytime, not a good time to wander around. A few more hours and it’ll be night. You two sleep first, I’ll wake Nanxing later.”
The other two had no objections and began to rest.
While the other players were exhausted, either collapsing where they were or retreating to their rooms, Yan Jiyun had slept soundly. From morning until now, several hours had already passed. He had chosen a lower cabinet to rest in. Occasionally, someone passed the office and made some noise, but no one entered. No one had the slightest idea he’d been enjoying a leisurely nap here for hours.
Yan Jiyun perked his ears and listened. No movement outside. The office remained undisturbed. He leapt lightly out of the cabinet, stretched his front paws forward in a catlike stretch, his whole body loosening comfortably.
[Instance End Countdown: 56 hours 20 minutes 45 seconds]
Oddly, the owner of this office still hadn’t returned.
Well then, he could use the opportunity to see if there was any useful information around. The game wouldn’t bother creating a character without some narrative importance.
Since he was already here, not searching would feel wrong. The only uncertainty was whether this office, like Lin Xie’s, was under surveillance.
As a cat, rummaging around was reasonable. Appearing in human form would be suspicious. In his backpack, he still had the “Human Form Time Card (30min).” From the previous instance, he’d earned a hefty amount of points. After buying items, he had 30,000 points left. But when he redeemed the Human Form Time Card, he found it lasted only 30 minutes. The exchange rate felt like daylight robbery.
Freshly awake, Yan Jiyun’s stomach grumbled. At times like this, he missed Lin Xie’s office. Cat-loving NPCs deserved respect — dried fish snacks should always come in abundance. What he had eaten before was long digested. After all, cats were grazers, they needed small meals throughout the day. Humans could live on three meals, but one couldn’t compare the two.
Since becoming a cat, he’d rarely gone truly hungry. Though this instance had spared him the hassle of begging humans for buns or food, he was lost now, with no idea how to get back to Lin Xie’s office for more dried fish.
Before hunting for food, Yan Jiyun decided to explore the office first.
This office was different from Lin Xie’s. Its owner used a desktop computer, with a wide, comfortable executive chair. To the right of the computer sat an ashtray, though it contained no ash, only crumpled gum wrappers. This suggested the office owner was trying to quit smoking.
On the desk were two folder racks holding blue binders. With a light leap, Yan Jiyun jumped onto the desk and pulled one out. Inside was the Security Department’s monthly duty roster.
Apart from the name Jiang Yan, he didn’t recognize any others. Still, the contents were straightforward: personnel names, security team assignments, and their shift times.
Exactly 4 PM marked the guard rotation. He’d slept six hours and now it was precisely 4 PM on the dot!
Hearing no footsteps outside, Yan Jiyun sped up his search. Besides the duty schedule, he now realized that the “Midnight Diner” consisted of three buildings: A, B, and C. Jiang Yan commanded a large security force, divided into twelve teams. Each building had four teams. If one team covered a whole floor, then the total manpower was quite considerable.
Though the files didn’t specify which building did what, they still gave him a sense of how many floors each had and roughly how many people they could accommodate.
It seemed likely that the waiters who appeared later during the Midnight Meal event might actually have been disguised members of the Security Department.
But his paws were no human hands. After pulling out the file, he couldn’t put it neatly back. Jiang Yan would surely notice his desk had been disturbed. The trace was obvious. Anyone with eyes could see it.
In the end, he’s still a cat. There are pros and cons. It is what it is.
He continued rummaging for useful information. But clearly, the Security Department’s greatest asset was combat strength and of course, the walls hung with gear and firearms.
With so many people guarding a single secret, Yan Jiyun grew ever more curious about just what that secret was.
After rifling through Jiang Yan’s desk over and over, he found nothing more useful and prepared to leave.
Judging from the distribution of guards in buildings A, B, and C, he guessed that the three buildings were connected underground, with all basements interlinked. But which building oversaw which part was still unclear and would need more thought.
Building A: most likely the public-facing restaurant.
Building B: probably the cuisine research area Lin Xie had once brought him to. He had only been on one floor, and the purpose of the other levels was still unknown.
Building C: most likely the one he was currently in.
Since Lin Xie and Jiang Yan had both mentioned being away from their own posts, it seemed possible that one managed Building A, the other managed Building C, and they had crossed paths in Building B.
Yan Jiyun felt his deductions were reasonable enough and explained a lot.
Right now, only insiders would know exactly how many passages ran between the three buildings.
It was certain there were many secret passageways. The obvious ones might well be hidden behind the mirror doors.
This restaurant’s backstory was truly complicated.
The most complex place Yan Jiyun had visited as a human was a shopping mall. That mall also had multiple connected buildings, and just finding a restaurant inside was enough to make someone dizzy. Ever since, he’d lost all desire to go shopping at malls.
But then again if he wanted to uncover the true secret behind this restaurant, didn’t he need to find its real boss?
Lin Xie was only the surface-level owner. Behind him there must be a bigger boss, and that boss was likely the “Father” both Lin Xie and Jiang Yan had spoken of.
Thinking deeper, since both men were referred to as “Father’s” children, yet had different surnames, perhaps they were merely adopted sons.
Once Yan Jiyun’s thoughts started running, he couldn’t stop.
Where was he supposed to find this “Father”?
Click, the door handle suddenly turned, and Yan Jiyun was startled.
He leapt from the desk to behind the curtain. The intruder came so suddenly that when he dove into the corner, the curtain swayed noticeably.
Jiang Yan pushed the door open, fixed his eyes on his desk, then abruptly stepped back out and bellowed down the hall:
“Which bastard fucked around with my office? Get in here and clean this up!”
Yan Jiyun shrank back even tighter. This guy’s voice was deafening.
A lackey came over: “Boss, none of us went in. Your office door’s been shut the whole time.”
Jiang Yan kicked him inside. “Then go in and see! My files are all over the floor!”
Lackey: “I’ll clean it up for you then.”
Jiang Yan snapped impatiently, “Fine, I’ll check if anything’s missing.”
He rummaged through the desk but found nothing gone. Then he ordered the lackey out. Just as the man was about to thoughtfully close the door, Jiang Yan called him back.
“Boss, want me to check the surveillance?”
“There’s no cameras in my office.”
“But the hallway has some. I’ll go pull the footage.”
“Go on.”
Once the lackey left, Jiang Yan slumped into his leather chair, arms crossed, legs kicked up on the desk, staring at the blue file folder lying open as though in deep thought.
“Which fool had the guts to rifle through my stuff? When I catch him, I’ll flay him alive and soak him in salt water. No, not enough. I’ll slice him a thousand times. Or better, cut off his limbs while he’s awake, shove him in a vat, and cycle through the ten cruellest tortures of history one by one.”
Yan Jiyun trembled in his hiding spot. Was this man a lunatic? His twisted imagination could rival Dr. Chi from the last instance.
He needed to leave immediately. The hallway cameras must have caught him coming in!
