DSMC Chapter 20.2

Just then, all the uniformed people eating in the canteen suddenly stood. The alarm tone sounded simultaneously in their wireless earpieces. Not only theirs, but the canteen broadcast turned on as well.

“Attention, staff: A guest has left the VIP area without authorization. Please be alert to unfamiliar faces. If you have encountered one, report immediately.”

The broadcast repeated twice more.

Listening to the announcement, Yan Jiyun guessed the “VIP area” referred to the place those who’d gotten the chance to taste the special dishes were taken.

Among the players, only Wen Nanxing had entered the VIP area. What had he done?

Lin Xie abandoned his midnight snack, scooping up the black cat and following the uniformed staff out of the canteen.

Yan Jiyun felt he’d missed his chance at the mission. Since Lin Xie himself could dine here, the food likely wasn’t a problem.

He memorized the route they’d entered by. The instance had just begun today. There were still two more days to explore.

Outside the corridor, many people in black uniforms were running about. Yan Jiyun once again spotted Jiang Yan. Someone was reporting to him. He still wore that lazy, careless air, but his eyes were far sharper than before.

Jiang Yan said, “Turn this place upside down if you have to, but find that person.”

Yan Jiyun: …

Hopefully Wen Nanxing was hiding well. Jiang Yan didn’t look easy to deal with.

Jiang Yan spotted Lin Xie again and mocked mercilessly, “Look at the guest you picked. Now I have to work overtime.”

Lin Xie replied, “Your people failed their job. Don’t shift the blame onto others. I won’t shoulder it for you.”

Jiang Yan snorted, turned, and left.

Yan Jiyun quietly waited for them to finish talking, forming some guesses about their roles in this instance.

One picked the guests. The other lurked in the shadows, perhaps in charge of the restaurant’s security? Was he protecting the restaurant’s secret, or the research lab for its ingredients and dishes?

That secret must be the reason the restaurant had gone viral!

What could draw so many people here, unable to resist?

Yan Jiyun thought until his head hurt.

Lin Xie brought him back outside. It wasn’t actually as complicated as it seemed. As long as a player found this mirror door, they’d discover the staircase inside that led somewhere else.

Once again returning to Lin Xie’s second–floor office, Yan Jiyun was already familiar with the place. He jumped to the floor, deliberately sniffing left and right, pretending to be adapting to a new environment.

Lin Xie told him: “I’ll have someone bring over cat litter, water, and cat food later. Stay here obediently.”

He really did believe this black cat could understand human speech.

Yan Jiyun couldn’t wait for him to leave. He hopped onto the office chair and watched him go, unclear what Lin Xie was off to do, though Yan Jiyun wanted to follow.

He didn’t know what had happened to the players who had been brought past the mirror door. The system hadn’t broadcast anything.

The real secrets of the restaurant had to lie beyond that mirror door. He had to find a way to get back in.

For now though, he had a chance to continue searching Lin Xie’s office.

Yan Jiyun once again pulled open the drawers he hadn’t finished checking.

The menu on top was already useless, but pressed beneath it was a ring of keys. He didn’t know what they were for.

The door made a faint click. Yan Jiyun realized someone was picking the lock. He immediately leapt down from the desk and slipped behind the curtains to hide.

The intruders’ lockpicking skills weren’t bad. They got in quickly.

Two people. Judging by the weight of their footsteps, they were both women.

“I’ll search the desk, you go check the room for anything important.”

“Okay.”

So it was those two fake best friends,, Zhou Ying and Cheng Li. They must have waited until Lin Xie left before daring to come in.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel:

“Other players are still stuck exploring the first floor, poking around in the front hall’s kitchen, checking the source of the ingredients, or the spices on the shelves, while our kitty baby has already slipped inside the mirror door.”

“Other players are still dealing with the waiters and chefs downstairs, while our kitty baby is already cozying up to a rich patron, with food, drinks, and playmates included.”

“Other players are being chased around by the security department, sweating bullets and burning through items just to barely escape, while our kitty baby already made a safe round trip, and even got carried back.”

“If only the system didn’t censor the bullet screen info on players and the instance, our kitty baby would’ve seen it all.”

“Have you thought about this? Darling kitty has probably never gone to school. He can’t read, and he can’t count.”

“Oh no, my baby is actually illiterate!”

“Hahaha, the last comment killed me. Haven’t you thought maybe he’s just looking for dried fish snacks?”

Branded as “illiterate,” Yan Jiyun was secretly pleased that someone had conveniently brought him a pillow right when he was dozing off.

The slightly older young lady, Zhou Ying, went straight for the desk. “There’s something in the drawer.”

Yan Jiyun had already searched all the unlocked drawers, and was waiting precisely for this lockpicking young lady to get the rest open.

Sure enough, Zhou Ying found another beautifully designed menu. It had nothing to do with the Midnight Meal event, so it was useless. She began picking the locked ones.

The two girls were actually proving quite useful. Yan Jiyun decided to secretly help them by listening out for noises outside. He couldn’t possibly clear this instance alone; better to cooperate with the right players. These two had been brought together by chance, but their personalities weren’t bad, and so far, they seemed like people he could work with.

As expected, Zhou Ying opened the cabinet lock. She rummaged inside and actually pulled out something useful.

An order form.

Meanwhile, the recent high school graduate, Cheng Li, who’d checked the adjoining room, hadn’t found anything, except insight into Lin Xie’s habits.

Cheng Li said, “His room’s neat and tidy, but there’s no trace of anyone sleeping in the bed. I suspect he doesn’t sleep here at all.”

Yan Jiyun couldn’t help mentally giving her a thumbs–up. She was right. Lin Xie and his people must have another secret base.

Zhou Ying said, “I found an order form in the locked cabinet. Normally, a restaurant order should be related to ingredients, but this one has nothing to do with food.”

Cheng Li leaned over to look. “Could this be the restaurant’s secret?”

Zhou Ying: “We can only say it’s related, not necessarily the secret itself.”

Yan Jiyun was curious what exactly they’d found on the order form.

Cheng Li softly read aloud: “Danggui, poria, American ginseng, dendrobium, deer antler… these are all Chinese medicinal herbs. A lot of gourmet documentaries show that restaurants have their own secret recipes. Could it be that they grind the herbs into powder and mix them into the seasoning here?”

Zhou Ying: “Whether that’s the case or not, we’ll note it down first.” She stuffed the order into her multi–pocket vest.

Cheng Li glanced toward the safe in the corner. “Ying–jie, can you open safes? I bet there’s even more important stuff in there.”

Zhou Ying nodded. “I don’t know when Lin Xie will be back. If there’s enough time, I can try, but it might not work.”

The two got right to it. Cheng Li crouched by the door to keep watch, while Zhou Ying got to work on the safe.

Through the gap in the curtains, Yan Jiyun saw the lockpicking tools Zhou Ying was using. They had a very unusual shape, probably props bought from the system shop. 

Only then did he remember, he could use his own prop stoo!

He checked the six props he’d bought. None of them really fit the situation:

[Detox Pill]

[Gastroenteritis Cure Pill]

[Sprint Booster]

[Anti–Concussion Helmet]

[Anti–Concussion Armor]

[Invisibility Cloak]

Meanwhile, Zhou Ying kept listening to the turning of the safe lock, until it opened with a click. 

Once again, Yan Jiyun was convinced Zhou Ying had a gift for lockpicking.

Zhou Ying said to Cheng Li: “It’s open.”

Cheng Li: “What’s inside?”

Zhou Ying pulled the door wide. The contents were plenty, enough to make anyone’s eyes shine. Cash, gold bars, black cards, and documents. But all of this only proved Lin Xie was wealthy; none of it was a direct clue.

Until Zhou Ying pulled out the very last file, buried at the bottom.

Zhou Ying: “A paternity test.”

Cheng Li frowned: “What’s the use of that? Whose paternity test?”

Zhou Ying: “It’s between Lin Xie and a man named Lu Jiaming. It proves that Lu Jiaming is his biological father.”

Ding,  both of them simultaneously received a system notification.

Zhou Ying and Cheng Li exchanged a look. “You got the side–mission notice too?”

Cheng Li: “Yeah. Find three of Lin Xie’s secrets. This paternity test counts.”

Zhou Ying: “Then put it away.”

But Yan Jiyun felt they’d just done him a huge favor. He’d received the side–mission notification even before they had.

He recalled Jiang Yan mentioning “Father” when speaking with Lin Xie earlier. It seemed Lin Xie’s second secret was about to surface.

Since all three of them had the same mission, Yan Jiyun figured it wouldn’t hurt to team up with these two girls.

At that moment, his ears twitched. Footsteps were approaching. It wasn’t Lin Xie’s, but someone else’s.

Yan Jiyun deliberately darted out from behind the curtains, used the chair as a springboard to the desk, and then dashed for the door. He moved so quickly that Zhou Ying and Cheng Li both jumped in surprise.

The door was closed. Yan Jiyun scratched at it with his paw.

Zhou Ying shut the safe and said, “Hurry, Lin Xie must be coming back!”

Cheng Li: “How do you know?”

Zhou Ying grabbed her arm. “I’ve raised cats before. When they hear their owner coming, they run to the door to wait.”

Cheng Li: “But isn’t this black cat a stray?”

Zhou Ying was firm.  “Have you ever seen a stray with fur this glossy? It’s obviously not a stray, it’s Lin Xie’s pet.”

Cheng Li thought back. Lin Xie hadn’t chased the black cat out of the restaurant, only locked it in a cage. And then it had shown up in his office. This explanation did make sense.

The glossy–furred Yan Jiyun: …

‘You may not believe me, but my owner is another player.’