Cat 154: Come and Catch Me
by CristaeChapter 154: Come and Catch Me
“Is ‘And Then There Were None’ really that hard to explain? It just means that once players enter, there’s no way out. What’s so difficult to grasp about that?”
“I think the commenter above is saying: how could such adorable little kids make a dungeon where no one survives? From what I see so far, the kitty and the junior class monitor are getting along quite well. There haven’t been any little kids causing trouble.”
“That’s because you’re too naïve; you’ve been watching the kitten’s runs for so long you’ve gone soft. How could the kitten be the same as other players? Try following a couple more streamers, and you’ll see very different outcomes. Go check out XXX’s stream, for example—the guy’s being chased terribly by a group of creepy little elementary schoolers, and one of them even dug out his heart. Bloody as hell.”
“That—was it really that gruesome? I thought this instance was just about watching cute little kids interact with players! Which channel is streaming the bloody stuff? I’ll take the hit for the kitty, check it out, and report back on which ones to watch out for!”
“Anyone willing to give spoilers? Hurry, hurry, I can’t wait to know what happens next.”
“Are you sure the ‘innocence incarnate’ dungeon you’re watching is the same as mine?”
“Maybe not quite the same [lighting a cigarette.jpg]. Our streamer picked a level-2 hard copy, but after entering, it became a level-4. After one day in the game, it jumped to level-5 hard. Damn, when you do the math, our kitty just leveled up three times in a row? Not even the genius of all geniuses can keep up with him.”
“So, after level-4, the kitten made it into a level-5 hard instance? I honestly thought Mr. Qu set this scenario specifically for the kitten!”
“Well, you’re not wrong—this instance was set for the kitten by Mr. Qu. All three dungeons related to Mr. Qu have now merged together. The more you think about it, the scarier it is. Will there be even more Qu-based instances later? By the current pattern, all the NPCs are split personalities from Mr. Qu? So exactly how many personalities does Mr. Qu have, anyway?”
Probably no one but Mr. Qu himself knows how many personalities remain hidden from the audience.
Right now, Yan Jiyun was staring at Yan Weilán as he made a wish, sharing Qifeng’s idea: since they were inside Mr. Qu’s mindscape, if they could master one of his personalities, could they then control it for their own use? Yan Weilán was to be their test.
One second, two, three—
Just as Yan Jiyun was about to think the experiment a failure, the environment around the three of them suddenly shifted!
They really got out.
And that proved something else: this painting was Mr. Qu’s work?
Yan Jiyun watched Yan Weilán, who still had his eyes closed devoutly, hands clasped in prayer. He almost hated to interrupt.
“We’re out. We’re back at the same function building as before. Class monitor, you can open your eyes now.”
Yan Weilán opened his eyes. “Huh? What happened? Why does praying get us out?”
Yan Jiyun improvised a reason. “It must be the magnetic field. Maybe you just happened to touch some mechanism, and we ended up getting out first.”
Yan Weilán’s eyes went wide. “Did you have me make a wish on purpose? Were you teasing me?”
Yan Jiyun: “Absolutely not. I told you we’d just try, and it worked!”
Yan Weilán accepted the explanation. “Okay then, I’m at least a little useful.”
Yan Jiyun: “You’ve always been very useful. To us, you’re an extremely important teammate!”
Yan Weilán nodded expectantly at Yan Jiyun. “Mhm, so am I your best friend, just like Qifeng?”
Yan Jiyun treated it as coaxing a child, just about to agree when Qifeng tugged the back of his shirt and whispered, “In the game, never make casual promises to NPCs.”
Yan Jiyun considered this—Qifeng was right to be wary. He said, “You’re both my friends! Aren’t we a little detective squad?”
Only then did the subtle wisdom of Qifeng’s warning really sink in. Yan Weilán had a way of making people drop their guard—being around him made you want to say more than you normally would.
Yan Weilán, though unable to get the answer he wanted most, still accepted Yan Jiyun’s reply, his face blossoming into a pure and brilliant smile.
“Mhm! I’m a member of the detective squad now.”
Yan Jiyun sensed he was a little too obsessed with making friends. Did he normally have none?
Time for a new approach: did Mr. Qu have friends as a child?
[Livestream Room: “Just Want to Be Human”]
“The streamer almost got caught by an NPC just now.”
“But Yan Weilán is so cute—what kind of trick could he possibly have?”
“It’s always the ones who seem the most innocent and flawless who are scariest. Don’t you think there’s something off about him?”
“So Yan Weilán’s actually a boss? Hasn’t the kitten just stumbled into a boss’s lair?”
“Not necessarily. The NPCs in this instance use a scoring system. If a player’s actions displease the NPCs to a certain level, specific events are triggered. On the other hand, if you please the NPCs, things go pretty smoothly. This copy is both hard and not—it depends entirely on the player’s mindset and attitude toward the child NPCs.”
“So basically, you have to totally understand each kid’s personality and preferences? If you cater to them, they go down the ‘good kid’ path; if not, they turn villain? Isn’t calibrating this pretty hard?”
“I’m telling you, it’s especially tricky. You can’t be too nice, either. If the little NPCs notice you’re doting, they’ll think you’re a trafficker or up to no good. Once their guard is up, you’re basically finished.”
“So hard, huh. But why do the kitten and the class monitor get along so well? Is the kitten just ticking all of the class monitor’s boxes?”
From the start, Yan Jiyun and Qifeng had been wary of Yan Weilán.
After leaving the escape room, they found in a side room of the multipurpose classroom a painting on the wall depicting the room they had just occupied.
Yan Jiyun said to Qifeng, “Let’s take this painting down and bring it with us.”
Qifeng understood the idea. Without the painting, the Man in the Mask would have nowhere to hide any children he captured. But they had a problem—the painting was hung too high.
Yan Jiyun went to get a chair. “There’s one outside, I’ll bring it in.”
Qifeng crouched down. “No need. Climb up on my shoulders—it’s faster than dragging a chair. Come on.”
When in cat form, Yan Jiyun always perched on Qifeng’s shoulders, but as a human, it felt odd.
He patted Qifeng’s shoulder. “If I step on your little shoulders, won’t you stop growing?”
Qifeng, never having been underestimated before, grumbled about his current small body. “No, in reality, I’m almost 190 centimeters tall.”
Yan Weilán chimed in. “Can you predict how tall we’ll be in the future?”
Yan Jiyun fetched a chair from outside and answered at the same time, “You’ll be about 185 when you grow up.”
Yan Weilán frowned, competitiveness flaring. “Why won’t I be as tall as Qifeng?”
Yan Jiyun sighed. “I’ll be a little shorter than you, how’s that for unfair!”
Comparison amplified the disappointment, and Yan Weilán quickly let go of his envy. “Don’t be upset. Drink more milk and you’ll grow just as tall as me!”
While they chatted, Qifeng climbed up on the wheeled chair and took the painting down, with Yan Jiyun holding the chair for balance and chatting with Yan Weilán so he wouldn’t feel left out.
He felt like a social butterfly playing both sides.
With the painting in hand, they slipped out of the multipurpose classroom into the dark corridors.
They were just steps from the classroom exit when Yan Jiyun stopped them.
“Wait, someone’s coming. If we open that door, we’ll bump right into them. Let’s hide under the tables. Okay?”—the last part aimed at Qifeng.
Qifeng nodded. “Sure.”
It was also awkward to carry the painting while leaving, so he agreed. He had quietly tried slicing the painting with a blade, but it wouldn’t cut or break.
Yan Weilán, now fully invested in his “detective squad” roleplay, was both nervous and excited but offered no objection.
He crept under the nearest desk, set his chair, and whispered, “I’m hiding!”
Yan Jiyun and Qifeng ducked under two neighboring desks. Yan Jiyun whispered to Yan Weilán, “Don’t make a sound—this is dangerous.”
Yan Weilán poked his head out from under the chair. “I know, I’ll be quiet.” Then he clamped his hand over his mouth.
Yan Jiyun crawled under as well.
Adult footsteps grew nearer. The sound now was loud enough for Qifeng to hear.
Their pursuer opened the classroom’s back door.
Unfortunately, they had hidden in the back row. If the intruder’s vision was as sharp as Yan Jiyun’s, they’d be spotted.
NPCs moving about in the dark without switching the lights on was a game convention—they always walked as if it were daylight. Completely illogical.
Yan Jiyun was thinking this when he heard the Man in the Mask bang his thigh against a desk.
Yan Jiyun: … So even the NPCs in this lousy game have ordinary eyesight. Though maybe this was just a fluke.
But right now, an NPC seeing like a normal human was bad news. All he needed to do was pause and bend down, and they’d be found.
Whether or not the Man in the Mask was actually Mr. Qu didn’t matter, as Qu’s personalities were at war with each other.
If the class monitor was truly one of Mr. Qu’s personalities, then it made sense for the Man in the Mask to want to kill him.
But the only problem was, the system didn’t seem to want the Man in the Mask to succeed—the class monitor was the main storyline target, the one they were supposed to protect.
And now the primary objective was to find the real Mr. Qu. So what was the point of protecting the class monitor? Could he be the key to finding the real Mr. Qu?
Yan Jiyun worked through the logic and came to a new idea.
Maybe the class monitor really was the key to finding Mr. Qu.
For now, that meant keeping him safe.
The Man in the Mask also had a sack on his back. From where Yan Jiyun hid, he could see it was a large one, probably holding two children—though whether they were players or NPCs, he couldn’t tell.
The Man in the Mask was busy dragging the kids he’d just captured into the painting to lock them away, completely missing the three under the desks.
Yan Jiyun and Qifeng quietly nudged their chairs aside and slipped out. Yan Weilán followed suit and made no sound at all, to Yan Jiyun’s relief.
Qifeng led, the class monitor was placed between them, and Yan Jiyun took the rear.
The three stooped low, light-footed, and snuck out the unlatched back door.
To avoid attracting the Masked Man’s attention, Qifeng opened the door with care, not letting out the faintest sound.
Qifeng got out first with the painting, then the class monitor followed, and Yan Jiyun was right behind.
But just then, the Man in the Mask, having discovered the missing painting in the storage room, tossed aside the two children he’d captured and bolted out, catching sight of the three children mid-escape!
He charged at them in a fury. “You’re not just running, you even stole my painting! Damn kids, get back here!”
Yan Jiyun gave the class monitor a shove and called to Qifeng up ahead, “Take the painting and the class monitor and go! They’re important—we need to keep them safe. I’ll lead him away.”
The Masked Man could scarcely believe he was being underestimated by an elementary schooler. “Tch, kid, where’d you get such confidence? You think you can distract me?”
But Yan Jiyun had every confidence. He slammed the door behind him and shouted, “Qifeng, don’t worry about me! Just run—you two go, I’ll catch up with you!”
Masked Man: “I’ll kill you first, then bring the others back. Your sacrifice is both stupid and pointless.”
Yan Jiyun knew the painting was more important to the man—without it, he couldn’t hide the kids or finish his work.
Was this really a sacrifice? Of course not—it was a test to see if the Man in the Mask was Mr. Qu’s personality. More importantly, he knew Qifeng wouldn’t leave just because he told him to.
Yan Jiyun leapt onto the classroom podium, his agility infuriating the Masked Man. This kid was like a monkey—darting and bouncing with relentless mischief.
The Masked Man figured a couple of running steps would let him catch the damned brat, so he chased after Yan Jiyun, vowing not to stop until he caught him.
“Come catch me then! Come on!” Yan Jiyun taunted, making him even madder.
The Masked Man, beside himself with rage, realized he hadn’t caught the kid nearly as easily as he’d imagined.
Yan Jiyun darted around the fixed desks—when the Masked Man ran left, he dodged right; when the Masked Man went right, he slipped the other way—resulting in a stubborn standoff.
Furious, the Masked Man kicked a stool across the room, then stormed out to chase after the other two.
Yan Jiyun: …
Talk about a lack of patience!
He’d been waiting for him to leave, but he didn’t follow immediately—there might be some trick. Who knew if the man was just pretending to leave as a trap?
When the Masked Man left, Yan Jiyun returned to the storage room and hefted a projector, carrying it carefully toward the door.
Outside, he could hear the footsteps of Qifeng and the class monitor—oddly staggered, then stopping at the doorway.
Yan Jiyun dashed for the back exit, only for the Masked Man to fling open the door. There was a crash like a cymbal splitting the air, so loud his ears rang—the masked man must’ve taken a hit to the head too.
Who knew where Qifeng had found such a big object? The Masked Man stumbled, clutched his head, dropped to a crouch. Just as he started to rise, Yan Jiyun smashed the projector down hard on his head!
The Masked Man’s hands fell; he collapsed to one side, out cold.
Yan Jiyun kicked him for good measure and quickly tore off his mask. To his surprise, the Masked Man wasn’t a Mr. Qu personality, but rather a somewhat familiar-faced man—the math teacher nicknamed Yang Bighead.
“How could it be him?”
Maybe his cold had dulled his sense of smell and he hadn’t recognized Yang right away. Still, he hadn’t had much contact with Yang Bighead today, so it wasn’t strange he didn’t realize sooner. Plus, this confirmed that only knowing the trick was necessary to enter the painting—not just any Mr. Qu personality.
Qifeng recognized him too. “I remember—he’s the math teacher.”
Yan Jiyun added, “At Mingya High, he’s the head of academic affairs,” sharing this info so Qifeng could connect it to another instance’s storyline.
Qifeng: “Looks like he isn’t an important character, then.”
Yan Jiyun examined the plastic mask. “But little roles like this can’t be underestimated. If we hadn’t caught him today, Yan Weilán might’ve been taken away through the painting tomorrow, and simply vanished from here.”
Yan Weilán, right on cue, put on a frightened face. “So scary—why would the math teacher want to catch me?”
Yan Jiyun understood someone must be behind this, but who would have to be found out.
It seemed Mr. Qu couldn’t simply destroy his own personalities by direct means—he needed to follow the logic of the instance.
Yan Jiyun put his arm over the class monitor’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. If he comes for you, I’ll think of a way to save you.”
The class monitor’s eyes shone, and he thanked him solemnly. “Thank you, Yan Jiyun.”
After that, things got easier. Yan Jiyun and Qifeng rescued the two other NPCs Yang Bighead had secretly captured.
But as they left the classroom, Yang Bighead, who’d been lying unconscious, suddenly hauled himself up!
Yan Jiyun and Qifeng’s new Mission 2 hadn’t been completed yet, but now, just as they thought they had it, Yang Bighead woke.
He felt his head, blood flowing from his scalp to his cheek, and gave them an evil grin. “Now that you know it’s me, I can’t let you leave this building alive.”
The two just-rescued NPC children screamed and ran off, vanishing in an instant.
Now they stood at the third-floor stairs. Yan Jiyun nudged the class monitor toward Qifeng. “I’ll distract him—you take him downstairs. Thirty minutes is almost up. Get him through Mission 2.”
For the second time, Qifeng had his line stolen. Earlier, they’d made a flawless tag-team play with the doors, but now the layout forced them to split up and run separately!
Yan Jiyun blocked Yang Bighead’s line of sight, shielding Qifeng and the class monitor. Qifeng naturally didn’t refuse the gesture.
Qifeng, frowning, pulled the reluctant class monitor along and stared at Yan Jiyun. “Be careful!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let Yang Bighead catch me.” Yan Jiyun moved so Yang Bighead would think he was heading upstairs.
He wasn’t entirely sure about the terrain on the fourth floor, but there was no choice but to run.
Yang Bighead shook his head, realized it was Yan Jiyun again, and snarled, “I’ll get you first, brat, and make a sacrifice for my plans!”
Yan Jiyun couldn’t even be bothered to reply—just ran for it.
He’d rushed to send Qifeng off because his transformation card was nearly expired.
[Human Form Experience Card: 32 seconds left]
He only needed to avoid capture for under a minute—just 32 seconds more.
The fourth floor was classrooms too, but every door was locked!
Damn, every door locked at a crucial moment.
He was small—one of Yang Bighead’s strides was two of his. Very quickly, Yang reached the fourth floor as Yan Jiyun pushed at each door, still working on the second.
Damn it, not even a window left open for him.
There weren’t many classrooms per floor, just six, so it wasn’t even a long hallway—actually, it was a little short.
In the blink of an eye, he’d reached the third classroom.
Still locked.
The fourth—finally, there was hope. Door still locked, but the window was open.
Human form: five seconds left.
Yang Bighead was hard on his heels—just under ten meters away. If Yang sped up, he could catch Yan Jiyun in those five seconds.
But Yan Jiyun had no other option.
He leaped onto the window sill. Yang Bighead grinned wickedly, feinting to scare the newly perched Yan Jiyun into falling.
3—2—1
Yan Jiyun jumped, transforming midair back into a kitten as he landed!
He darted straight to the last row, diving into an empty desk slot.
Huff—huff—huff—
His little heart pounded.
Yang Bighead climbed into the window moments later.
“Not bad, hiding so well, but there’s no way you’ll ever get out of this room. I’ll strangle you here.”
Yan Jiyun calmed himself, slowing his heart rate as much as he could.
Not making a sound was the best way to respect Yang Bighead. Let him search to his heart’s content!
He probably wouldn’t imagine that a seven- or eight-year-old child could fit under the desk like this.
Yang Bighead searched for a minute, two, three—still no luck. He went from confident to nervous.
And now only three minutes remained to escape the function building. Qifeng should be downstairs by now—but why was it still so quiet?
[Congratulations, player, for completing the new Main Mission 2: ‘Escape the Multi-Function Building’.]
Thank goodness—done, at last!
Bang!
But Yang Bighead flew into a rage, the danger level spiking. He hurled a desk to the ground, thrashing about by smashing and kicking everything nearby.
Yan Jiyun remained perfectly still, hidden in the last desk.
Yang Bighead yanked at the curtains, checking each one carefully.
“Damn it, where did he go? There’s hardly anywhere to hide in here!”
“I’ll just sit here all night and wait for you to come out. See who lasts longer!”
Yan Jiyun: He definitely won’t outlast me.