Cat 210: Social Distance

Chapter 210 Social Distance

On the surface, Yan Jiyun’s whirlwind of chaos seemed utterly random. To an outsider, it looked as though he’d simply knocked over a patch of goods in fright and was driven off by the giant shopkeeper. All the details fit a terrified cat’s behavior to perfection—nothing seemed out of place.

Only Qi Feng, as his owner, knew that Caramel would never randomly push things over. At home, he didn’t even knock over a glass teetering on the table’s edge. Qi Feng had tested this feline trait before—Caramel was never destructive.

He knew Caramel was smart, beyond what one would expect from an ordinary kitten. Even the cleverest dog—smarter than a six- or seven-year-old child—still needed a human to guide them to pull off anything of consequence.

But more than once in the instance, he’d seen Caramel acting far beyond a cat’s normal intelligence. Especially now, when Caramel had zeroed in directly on the Christmas stocking. If the stocking couldn’t be collected as an item, it would make sense, but to find that the stocking was a key item…

Qi Feng studied the little creature in his arms with a probing look. As he cradled his cat, his grip tightened slightly. Was Caramel led by the system, or acting on his own?

Unable to find the culprit—wherever Yan Jiyun had managed to hide—the enraged giant manager ended up taking out his anger on the kid. But the brat was nowhere to be found.

Once the coast was clear, Qi Feng and the other two crawled out from under the shelves.

Yan Jiyun, exhausted, curled up in Qi Feng’s arms, his innocent eyes feigning ignorance as if he understood nothing.

Chu Mo was now terribly curious about the vanishing Christmas stocking—not to mention how the cat got so big. His curiosity peaked.

He scrutinized Caramel in Qi Feng’s arms. “So what’s going on here? How did your cat get super-sized?”

Qi Feng couldn’t explain the growth, but nearly every guild leader knew he had a cat companion. Some things weren’t worth hiding, and both Chu Mo and Wen Ye’s guilds had good reputations. Their performance so far had even exceeded his expectations—they could be trusted as collaborators.

He revealed a few unimportant details. “My cat came with me into the game, so I guess he counts as half a player. Probably gets some sort of system guidance.”

Chu Mo rubbed his hands together, excited. “I figured! Otherwise how could there be duplicate cats? But I am curious—how does the system guide him to complete tasks? The stocking can’t have been his own idea, right?”

Yan Jiyun: … Thanks, but it really was my own idea.

His current challenge wasn’t in acquiring a key item, but that he needed to return to human form before anyone noticed an extra cat lurking around.

The trouble was, Qi Feng was holding him rather tightly. How was he supposed to slip away? “Yan Jiyun” couldn’t just vanish for too long.

Wen Ye said, “Regardless of guidance, this is a big asset for us.”

Qi Feng looked at them. “I hope you two can keep Caramel’s secret for me.”

Both Chu Mo and Wen Ye were quick on the uptake. They nodded at once.

Everyone knew that rarity brought value. If certain players learned Caramel’s secret, they’d keep an obsessive eye on Qi Feng’s cat, dragging him into every instance. The higher the difficulty of the instance, the more desperate people became for any advantage—they wouldn’t let a single chance slip by.

Central City did have rules against player-on-player murder, but conflicts still occurred. Sometimes, after an instance, someone with a coveted item might be targeted by a stronger guild. As long as no one died, the system wouldn’t intervene—it only kept track of who lived and who died.

Qi Feng refocused on the Christmas stocking. “The stocking is the Christmas gift, just as we suspected.”

Wen Ye said, “So now we just have to figure out what it does.”

Chu Mo said, “I remember there was an apple item before. The main quest is to find the Christmas gift before Christmas Eve ends—maybe there’s more than one gift.”

Yan Jiyun agreed.

Qi Feng said, “Now we have two. But how do we know how many there are?”

Before escaping the snow globe, they’d been dealing with replicants. Only now could they think seriously about these details.

Chu Mo counted on his fingers. “If this were a scripted dungeon, we could deduce it. But we entered in the middle—hard to guess.”

Qi Feng said, “We can infer from the theme and from this shop. There has to be a reason we entered the snow globe.”

Yan Jiyun grew anxious. He thought, The key character has to be either the manager or the kid.

Process of elimination: the manager could run a store, so he surely wasn’t lacking things—not the protagonist. The young female customer had been so terrified by the flying airplanes that she’d become useless—so, not her either. The mischievous child, after being caught by the manager, hadn’t cried or called for a parent. Who looks forward most to Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve? Naturally, children who still believe in fairy tales.

When he’d grabbed the stocking, he’d noted that the kid had been eyeing the stocking as well, full of longing. The child clearly understood Christmas.

But even if Yan Jiyun said nothing, the other three could piece things together—sometimes, more thoroughly than he did.

Chu Mo asked, “Did you get any hint after picking up the stocking?”

Qi Feng replied, “Core-tier dungeons are sneakier than advanced ones. There’s never any hint—it just quietly sits in the inventory.”

Wen Ye asked, “Maybe it’s an attack or defense item, not the real Christmas gift?”

Qi Feng answered, “Not impossible. If it were only a quest item, we wouldn’t be able to stow it in our inventory.”

Yan Jiyun wanted to ask what system prompt Qi Feng got when storing the item.

He remembered that whenever he used an item, he’d get a prompt. So it made sense he’d see one when putting things into inventory, too.

Chu Mo reacted quickly. “So if we can store a Christmas item in our inventory, there must be more than just these two. The globe only had one, but maybe there are others around—anything Christmas-related could count.”

Yan Jiyun was struck by inspiration. He’d played hidden object games before. These games, similar to spot-the-difference puzzles, came with a story background and level structure. Every main storyline had a handful of smaller chapters, and in each you had to find specific items based on the unfolding narrative—each search timed.

This shop was packed with merchandise. Maybe this dungeon followed that pattern as well.

Qi Feng always seemed to be thinking along with him. He voiced the exact line of thought Yan Jiyun was considering. “So now we’d better split up and search for Christmas-themed products, or gather enough items to unlock a new quest.”

Chu Mo and Wen Ye agreed.

They wasted no time.

Qi Feng glanced at Caramel, then released him. “Caramel, go look for Yan Jiyun and see if he’s passed out somewhere.”

The three of them had searched for ages without finding him; perhaps only a cat could manage it.

Yan Jiyun couldn’t be happier to go looking for “himself”. For once, he really understood his shovel officer’s instructions—helping “his new master” was a sacred duty.

Before long, “Caramel” had vanished, but Qi Feng kept following his trail.

How was he supposed to keep up the act?

“The new master” appeared, Caramel disappeared—wasn’t he just telling Qi Feng that the two were hiding something? Of course, it would be a leap for anyone to guess the truth: that the cat equaled Yan Jiyun. After all, by definition, “Yan Jiyun” was a real-world person, a player; “Caramel” was a real-world cat—not products of the instance. It was unlikely anyone would make that connection.

Yan Jiyun sprinted, found a dark corner, and, once Qi Feng had lost sight of him, doubled back to another hidden spot, then used his experience card. Wedging himself under a low shelf, he sent his consciousness into Little Nine’s body, having Little Nine lure Qi Feng to his new hiding place.

The plan was flawless and executed perfectly.

True to form, “Caramel” soon discovered the “fainted” Yan Jiyun under the shelf. Qi Feng patted Caramel’s head, relaxed, and began reviving Yan Jiyun.

Already semi-unconscious from mental projection, Yan Jiyun’s body mimicked the dazed listlessness of a fainting victim.

He played his role. “Qi Feng?”

Qi Feng asked, “Are you okay? How’d you end up passed out here?”

His hiding spot was clever—not far from the spot where his car was destroyed, but tucked away securely. Perfectly reasonable.

“I remember the giant was after my car. Right before he was about to stomp it, I jumped out, and the car rolled on, drawing his attention. I never thought that after bailing, I’d hit my head and black out.”

He even pressed his hand to his head and leaned forward. “Check—am I swelling up? Hurts so bad.”

Qi Feng parted his hair. “No bump, no bruise—you’re fine.”

Yan Jiyun gave a sigh. “That’s a relief.”

Qi Feng commented, “Your shampoo smells a lot like Caramel’s.”

Yan Jiyun froze for a second, his heart skipping a beat. “Well, of course—I buy my favorite scent for him, too.”

Qi Feng gave a small laugh. “Makes sense. Same here.” Maybe this was why they’d both become Caramel’s owners.

Once convinced Yan Jiyun was unhurt, Qi Feng quickly filled him in on their findings.

Yan Jiyun summarized, “Got it—basically a hidden-object game now?”

Qi Feng nodded. “That’s right.”

There were plenty of Christmas-related objects—and the store was enormous.

After failing to find the cat, the giant manager turned to dealing with the kid: demanding to know his parents, when someone would pick him up, did he have a phone number. Finally, he outright threatened to call the police if the kid didn’t cooperate. The brat finally broke down and gave his parents’ number—but the manager couldn’t get through.

With no luck on the phone, the manager resigned himself to picking up the fallen merchandise and restoring order.

The four of them got busy, running hard through the massive store to find items, racing to retrieve the necessary objects before the manager finished resetting the shelves. With the shop so huge, their legs soon turned to jelly—transportation was out, it was up to their feet now.

Luckily, with four people working in tandem, they managed to turn up plenty of useful items.

Yan Jiyun, lacking a main quest of his own, paired up with Qi Feng; anything they found, Qi Feng stowed away.

The two worked smoothly. Yan Jiyun was quick to spot the first item. “Qi-ge—Christmas card.”

Qi Feng grabbed the card and put it away.

Their theory was right.

Soon they found a Christmas bell, a miniature plastic tree, a fake turkey toy, and a Santa hat—each one a Christmas staple.

Chu Mo and Wen Ye also turned up plenty: a Santa suit, a snowflake house, a reindeer plushie, and so on.

Finally, Qi Feng told Yan Jiyun he’d received a quest prompt—heaven rewards the persistent.

Yan Jiyun eagerly asked, “What’s the message?”

Qi Feng recited tonelessly, “Congratulations, player. You have gathered Christmas-related items. Only one more step to complete the Christmas gift quest. Good luck, oh.”

Finding so many items had exhausted Yan Jiyun, and the two now sat side by side, slumped against a shelf.

He propped his chin, pondering. He blinked his lovely eyes; glancing up, he noticed Qi Feng staring at him. “You figured it out?” Habitually, he threw an arm over Qi Feng’s shoulder. “Are we thinking the same thing?”

Qi Feng turned away, dodging the impulsive nearness, and cleared his throat. “Yes.”

Inside, he wondered why Yan Jiyun never managed to keep a proper social distance.