DSMC Chapter 27

Will Lin Xie die if someone discovers the secret about his biological father, or if they discover the badge?

His father was an undercover officer, and he himself is the son of an undercover officer. No wonder Zhao Renfu suspects his loyalty.

Yan Jiyun was supposed to play the role of a deliveryman in this instance, but by accident he ended up becoming Lin Xie’s cat.

Through his tireless efforts, Lin Xie gradually opened his heart to this cat. Or rather, there are some things humans cannot tell other humans, but they can confide to their pets. They don’t know if their pets understand, but at least it’s a comforting outlet, one that won’t stab them in the back.

After seeing the badge, and with the keywords he heard in the instance — police, undercover, First-Class Merit — if Yan Jiyun still couldn’t guess what “Red Field Poppy” was, then he would really be a fool.

That thing was probably drugs, and Zhao Renfu was likely a major drug lord. He raised the three children in order to help him with his trafficking business.

Once Yan Jiyun pieced the story together, the plotline and direction of the instance became much clearer.

The reason the restaurant was so popular was because of the addictive substance hidden in the food. Unlike traditional methods, Zhao Renfu had boldly repackaged and disguised it, letting customers unknowingly fall in love with the euphoric sensation. With their word of mouth, the restaurant’s fame only grew.

Yan Jiyun didn’t have a phone, so he couldn’t tell if they had already launched spinoff products. But if they built it into a brand, wouldn’t their “set meals” sell easily? With Lin Xie’s intelligence, it wouldn’t be hard to achieve if he wanted to. Luckily, it was already certain that Lin Xie and Zhao Renfu had a rift. His biological father had been killed by his adoptive father.

He really was “recognizing a thief as his father.”

Lin Xie wasn’t bad by nature. He liked to study since childhood, and his temperament clashed with Zhao Renfu’s drug cartel. His rebellion was natural, and Zhao Renfu testing him was also natural.

Now that Zhao Renfu’s test was over, Lin Xie had withstood the pressure and won his trust.

With Lin Xie’s secret in hand, Yan Jiyun had an easier time piecing together the plot. His reasoning was fairly smooth.

The next step was to complete Main Mission (3): Locate the organization’s secret production site.

The problem was, how to find it?

He had already toured Buildings A, B, and C, but found no place suitable for production.

What were the conditions for producing “Red Field Poppy”?

First. If the production volume is in bulk, a large space of at least 1000 square meters for equipment and raw materials.

Second. It couldn’t disturb residents. The restaurant was already located in a relatively quiet area, so that wasn’t an issue.

Third. It must be convenient for vehicle access, without drawing attention.

Fourth. It cannot be on a high floor.

Which of the three buildings had such space? Though, it could also be spread across multiple floors.

But there was another critical question: Who was responsible for the production line? Zhao Renfu clearly wouldn’t dirty his own hands. That meant it was likely one of the three foster brothers.

Lin Xie was in charge of the front hall. Jiang Yan was in charge of security. But his eight-hour shifts didn’t seem to be in Building C. Did he have another location?

He remembered that people called Jiang Yan “Manager Jiang,” and the first time he saw him, Jiang Yan had been wearing a white lab coat. Yan Jiyun had almost overlooked that detail.

Perhaps Jiang Yan had come from another direction at that time. And Yan Jiyun didn’t think he should have been in that area then. But since Jiang Yan oversaw surveillance across all three buildings, he knew exactly where Lin Xie would pass, deliberately cornering him. He knew Zhao Renfu would deal with Lin Xie, so he deliberately leaked the information as a signal.

Based on tonight, when Jiang Yan brought him straight to Zhao Renfu, Yan Jiyun felt everything Jiang Yan did only helped Lin Xie, never harmed him. So what role was Jiang Yan really playing?

His identity was definitely not as simple as it appeared. How could Zhao Renfu groom someone just for security? That job could be done by anyone. Besides, Jiang Yan was young and one of Zhao’s adopted sons.

What’s more, Jiang Yan seemed highly trusted by the old man. Shortly after he went in, Zhao Renfu released Lin Xie. Without him, Lin Xie might have been tortured all night before being freed, if he survived at all.

This showed Jiang Yan was an important player. He wasn’t a fool. On the contrary, he was very clever.

No wonder his appearance in the story was no later than Lin Xie’s. Perhaps Jiang Yan was the one truly hiding his strength.

Lin Xie had been rescued by Jiang Yan in time, and physically he wasn’t too weak. He even had the strength to talk, murmuring while Yan Jiyun lay by the bedside listening.

He couldn’t let him die. Tonight, he had to stay and watch over him.

By now, it should have been the second “Midnight Meal event.” Players who hadn’t investigated further could still gain information by joining. But Yan Jiyun figured most wouldn’t participate again. The game was too deadly.

He checked the instance timer.

[45 hours, 3 minutes, 12 seconds left until the instance ends]

Less than two days remained. If he spent the night here, only a day and a half would be left. Since Lin Xie had been brought back, he’d just been lying down. For now, Yan Jiyun hadn’t thought of where else to explore. He had met all the key NPCs, pieced together most of their storylines. Now, all that was left was to connect the events, uncover Lin Xie and Jiang Yan’s secrets, and solve the true mystery of the “restaurant.”

He had no idea where his three temporary teammates were. Better to stick close to Lin Xie for now, and seize an opportunity to complete the next main mission.

Jiang Yan had people prepare food, water, and supplies for Yan Jiyun, but didn’t appear himself again.

If Lin Xie stayed inactive, then later he would shamelessly tail Jiang Yan. A negative favorability score couldn’t keep dropping forever, right?

This Jiang Yan was really strange. He could take him to find Lin Xie, but not gain even a single point of favorability. He couldn’t figure out how the system’s favorability mechanic worked.

If he made it out of this instance alive, he’d definitely study it carefully.

After a few words, Lin Xie closed his eyes to rest. Yan Jiyun didn’t need to play the night watch anymore. He could fall asleep to Lin Xie’s breathing.

At least for this night, he didn’t need to stay tense, worrying about hostile NPCs.

This was the first time since entering the instance that Yan Jiyun could relax a little. Still, he only slept lightly, keeping an ear on the sounds outside.

While Yan Jiyun rested, other players began exploring the instance.

After completing Main Mission (2), Zhou Ying’s group of three checked the confinement room, but Lin Xie was long gone, and the black cat had been taken away by Jiang Yan. They felt hollow. Without the black cat, their progress stalled. Realizing how much they had depended on it, Zhou Ying began encouraging the others.

Zhou Ying: “We can’t keep relying on the black cat to guide us. Its timing and location are unpredictable. We have to rely on ourselves.”

Cheng Li nodded in agreement: “Yeah, we’ve cleared other instances on our own. We can’t expect to lean on an NPC here.”

Wen Nanxing poured cold water on them. “But when the black cat showed up, it was like riding a rocket. One mission just completed one after another. Now we’ve searched for three hours and found nothing. We don’t even know where Lin Xie went.”

Zhou Ying: “Then let’s investigate Zhao Renfu’s place?”

Disapproval showed on both Wen Nanxing and Cheng Li’s faces. Even if they could find something there, just the two hulking guards at his door would be a huge problem. Plus, their props had been used up against Kevin Yang earlier and were still on cooldown.

Wen Nanxing: “Do you remember the NPC who took the black cat? That Jiang Yan.”

Zhou Ying caught on. “You want to get clues from him?”

Wen Nanxing nodded. “He called Kevin Yang ‘Dage,’ and Kevin Yang didn’t get angry at him for leaving so casually. That means his status here is high. He must be important.”

Cheng Li could always raise the most critical questions: “Then where are we supposed to find him? We don’t have any information related to him.”

Wen Nanxing: “If we can’t find Lin Xie and the black cat, then let’s look for information on Jiang Yan. He must also be an important figure in this instance.”

Zhou Ying: “Alright. Let’s see if we can trigger a new mission. We still don’t know where Main Mission (3) even is.”

The system was sometimes pretty nasty. It always broadcasted unimportant announcements on the public screen, but never announced the key notifications for completing missions. At times, players could even feel its malice. It just wanted to watch them compete, fight to the death, and fully stir up humanity’s seven deadly sins.

Their luck was rough. Without the black cat, they had to rely on their own brains.

After resting a bit, the three once again began their extreme exploration of the instance.

Lin Xie’s phone alarm rang at exactly 7 AM. He had gotten a good sleep and felt fully refreshed.

As for Yan Jiyun, he was also satisfied. But during the night, he seemed to hear players nearby being chased to exhaustion by men in black uniforms, and even someone falling from a higher floor. He didn’t know if they had broken any bones. When he woke, he checked the system’s player status and his heart sank.

[Surviving Players: 8/10]

[39 hours, 5 minutes, 16 seconds left until the instance ends]

Only the second night had passed, and already just 8 people remained?

Could it have been the player who fell last night? Did they simply run out of usable props?

Even though Yan Jiyun hadn’t witnessed the deaths directly, seeing the player count drop still made his heart pound.

After steadying his mood, he jumped down from Lin Xie’s bed and stretched in a long, lazy arc on the floor as he followed Lin Xie to the balcony.

By now the sky was fully bright.

From Lin Xie’s residence, one could see the two other buildings opposite, with an open triangular space between them. From here, it was impossible to take in the full view of the buildings, but Yan Jiyun had quietly memorized the features of each floor that he could observe.

Building B was essentially where this organization lived and operated. Considering the confinement room, that meant the production line wasn’t in Building B. If it were, the noise and disruption would ruin sleep quality. After all, their boss lived there too.

All the windows of every building were tightly shut, completely opaque, sealed off without a single crack of light.

Lin Xie lived with a regular routine.

After surveying the surroundings, Yan Jiyun was rewarded with chicken breast cooked by Lin Xie himself, along with a serving of premium cat food.

Although he despised the cat food, its nutrition was good for a feline body, so Yan Jiyun gnawed at it reluctantly.

By the time Lin Xie had already finished washing the plates, he was still chewing. The NPC teased him, “You’re the slowest-eating cat I’ve ever seen.”

Yan Jiyun gave him a dead-eyed stare. If he turned from human into a cat, he’d stop saying things like that.

After struggling through the last bite of cat food, Yan Jiyun noticed Lin Xie typing something into his phone. He hopped onto the sofa’s backrest, openly peeking over.

Lin Xie was reviewing his work schedule for the day!

Yan Jiyun felt as if he saw hope for completing the Main Mission (3). His time last night hadn’t been wasted staying with Lin Xie.

Lin Xie’s work tasks were arranged in detail, broken down into time slots.

As Lin Xie swiped through, Yan Jiyun quickly scanned everything he could see.

After finishing the schedule, Lin Xie marked each entry with a ✔ or an X. The X is for optional routines, while ✔ is for mandatory tasks.

[8:00 – Patrol the restaurant]✔

[8:30 – Unimportant matter]✘

[9:00 – New menu discussion]✔

[11:00 – Meeting in B2, Red Field Poppy]✔

[12:00 – Lunch]✔

The phone dimmed before Yan Jiyun could see the afternoon schedule, unfortunately.

Still, he now had new information about “Red Field Poppy.” B2 level? Which building’s sublevel was that? And how could one enter?

“Red Field Poppy” was Zhao Renfu’s secret formula. If Lin Xie was attending a meeting related to it, then it meant Zhao Renfu once again trusted him.

Yan Jiyun formed a new guess: maybe Lin Xie already knew that Zhao Renfu had released two formulas, one real and one fake, and that only the most important people had access to the true one.

Main Mission (3) only required him to find the production line of “Red Field Poppy.” By following Lin Xie, Yan Jiyun felt he would surely find it.

The problem was, it was still more than three hours until 11 AM.

After breakfast, Lin Xie began his restaurant patrol.

Yan Jiyun moved to follow him as soon as he went out.

After last night’s rescue, Lin Xie’s trust and favorability toward him had risen considerably.

Lin Xie looked down and asked, “You want to come too?”

Yan Jiyun stood on his hind legs, pawing at the door.

Lin Xie: “Alright, but you can’t leave my sight, and don’t run around. If you get caught and cooked, it’ll be terrible. There really are people who like eating cat meat.”

Yan Jiyun: “…”

‘If you don’t want me running off, fine. But did you really have to make it sound that horrifying?’

He was a cat, not a dog. He’d listen if he felt like it, and ignore it if he didn’t.

The patrol route was simple: Lin Xie took him through the front hall, back kitchen, and warehouse, chatting with Manager Liang, who had replaced Manager Wang, about the remaining number of customers.

Since yesterday’s lab accident, that group of people had all fled, so they needed to pull in a new batch.

Manager Liang was proactive and ambitious. He had already drawn up the next list.

After their talk, Manager Liang quietly told Lin Xie that early that morning, Kevin Yang had been dragged off without even his clothes on, and no one knew where he went.

Lin Xie didn’t respond, only nodded.

Yan Jiyun knew the answer: Kevin Yang had surely been disposed of by Zhao Renfu.

He observed Lin Xie’s face remain utterly calm, realizing the man’s mental fortitude was formidable. Perhaps he had already known the outcome long beforehand. Against someone this deep and calculating, Kevin Yang’s intelligence clearly fell short.

Lin Xie’s morning patrol gave Yan Jiyun great convenience. He finally mapped out the layout of Building A. The third and fourth floors above were employee dormitories, not important. What really mattered was the hidden sublevel two.

All morning, Yan Jiyun played the role of Lin Xie’s new pet, earning envious glances wherever he went. But he knew it wasn’t because of him, it was because Lin Xie had now completely gained Zhao Renfu’s trust, marked as the “heir apparent”. That was why no one opposed the presence of this black cat.

Some even whispered that he was the cat personally acknowledged by Zhao Renfu, a cat that could even enjoy salmon at the boss’s table. Clearly not an ordinary feline.

Yan Jiyun realized his “status” in the instance had risen. It’s like a neglected little prince in the palace suddenly becoming the Emperor’s most favored heir!

He had to make good use of this position.

Of course, having status didn’t mean he could flaunt it recklessly. One wrong move could bring disaster. Better to keep a low profile.

Soon, it would be time to go down to B2 level. 

But just as Yan Jiyun prepared to follow Lin Xie again, he was stopped.

“You can’t come to B2 level,” Lin Xie told him. “The air down there isn’t good for little cats. If you want to live a couple more years, be good and stay upstairs.”

The crown prince’s status flipped way too fast, and now he wasn’t even allowed in?

But Yan Jiyun wasn’t anxious. He simply kept following Lin Xie, watching carefully to see where he would enter B2 level. 

Lin Xie didn’t mind him tagging along, only treating him as a clingy little black cat.

Then he saw Lin Xie walk through Room 1, and from inside came the sound of an elevator opening and closing.

He memorized the location of Room 1. 

Just as he was being left outside, he spotted the exhausted Zhou Ying trio tumble out of Room 6, each wearing a white lab coat. That was the door they had first entered through, so why had they gone in again?

He heard Wen Nanxing complain: “We should’ve picked Room 2 earlier. Who would’ve thought Room 4 and 6 would just send us back downstairs. and with so many traps, it nearly killed me.”

Zhou Ying sighed. “Who knew there’d be booby-trapped doors among them?”

At that moment, Cheng Li, the sharp-eyed one, immediately spotted the little black cat crouching by Room 1. 

“Ying-jie, Nan-ge, look! It’s the black cat!”

Yan Jiyun was just as excited, and thought to himself, ‘What a fate, kids.’ 

[Want to Be Human] livestream channel:

“What a fate indeed! When the cat got shut out by his master, the tool people came knocking on their own.”

“Tool people MVP! Great sense of when to serve themselves up!”

“Teammates arrived right on time.”

“The cat’s already enjoying the crown prince treatment, while they’re still struggling on the poverty line. Different species, different fates.”

“Hope they can read the cat’s eyes right now. He’s looking at them like they’re food. I’m dying.”

For Zhou Ying’s group, seeing the black cat was like stumbling onto the mission trigger.

Without the cat’s guidance, they’d only pieced together scraps and missed the main storyline entirely, not to mention failing to find Jiang Yan. So when they laid eyes on the cat again, their eyes lit up. They absolutely had to win its favor and keep it on their side until the end of the game!

This time, Yan Jiyun didn’t even need to drop hints. The three rushed up to greet him on their own.

Their thoughts aligned perfectly.

Wen Nanxing teased the “NPC”. “Little kitty, do you want me to open this door for you?”

But Yan Jiyun knew Zhou Ying was the real leader among them. He ignored Wen Nanxing completely and looked straight at her.

Zhou Ying cheerfully said, “Don’t worry, we’ll open it right away.”

Wen Nanxing: “…” Did he just get snubbed by a cat?

Cheng Li hesitated. “Shouldn’t we rest a bit first?”

Zhou Ying: “Time won’t wait. Didn’t you notice the cat always shows up when Lin Xie’s in trouble? This time must be urgent too. Let’s finish this task first, then rest.”

Wen Nanxing: “No objections here. Let’s go. Completing the mission is what matters. We’re running out of time.”

At that reminder, Yan Jiyun finally checked the game timer.

[34 hours, 5 minutes, 23 seconds until instance ends]

Barely a day and a half left. Very little time. He needed to hurry and push them into the Main Mission (3).

They opened Room 1 to reveal an elevator.

Cheng Li: “No wonder I couldn’t find an elevator anywhere, it was locked up in here.”

Wen Nanxing: “Do we just go straight in?”

Zhou Ying hesitated, thinking more carefully than the others. “We could… but once we’re down there, we can’t guarantee we won’t bump into NPCs face-to-face. If that happens, it’ll be awkward.”

While they wavered, Yan Jiyun jumped up and pressed the down button.

If he didn’t go now, he wouldn’t be able to catch up with Lin Xie later.

The elevator arrived almost instantly, doors sliding open to reveal an empty cabin. Yan Jiyun darted in first.

The three had no choice. They couldn’t risk losing the cat again, not knowing when they’d next find it. So they followed him in.

The doors closed, and the elevator began its slow descent.

Nerves tightened. The trio’s palms sweated, afraid the doors would open to an NPC’s face.

In less than twenty seconds, cold sweat beaded their backs. Cheng Li gripped her stun grenades tight.

The elevator stopped.

All three drew their weapons.

Yan Jiyun was worried too. The men in black uniforms had all remembered him in the places Lin Xie took him, but he had never been to B2 level. If they ran into someone who hated cats, there’d be nowhere to escape.

The doors creaked open.

Three humans and one cat stared intently.

Through the growing gap, they glimpsed the edge of a white uniform.

Someone was out there!

Yan Jiyun seized the chance, squeezing through the crack—

Only to have a hand clamp around his neck mid-leap, forcing his head down.

Shit!

Why were this instance’s NPCs faster than him?

Lin Xie wasn’t the only one. But this wasn’t Lin Xie. The man’s scent was different.

The stranger lifted him by the scruff with one hand. “Ugly cat, looking for your master?”

Damn it, of course it had to be him. In Jiang Yan’s eyes, the “ugly cat” label was permanent.

Zhou Ying’s trio forgot to mask their shock.

Would they be exposed?

Jiang Yan glared at them. “What, waiting for me to invite you out? Get moving!”

The three shrank instantly, shuffling out of the elevator and quickly slipping from his line of sight.

In their hearts, they thanked the divine messenger kitty for guiding them to the mission!

Pinned in Jiang Yan’s arms, Yan Jiyun couldn’t move at all. Watching the three retreating figures, he cursed inwardly: ‘Save me, you heartless bastards!’

---

T/L:

Qi Feng, probably: it’s been only 2 arcs and my cat had already cuddled up to another man????