Cat 302: Analysis

Chapter 302 Analysis

For Qi Feng, discovering that the real world was nothing more than a fabricated game world was undeniably unsettling.

He had never been close to his family, and while he had many ordinary friends, as well as numerous business associates in reality, very few ever became part of his private life. After entering the game, he had left the management of his companies to professionals, not knowing how long he would survive in the game world.

His so-called real world must have transformed into the “real world” the moment he received his badge and stepped into the game, leaving the true reality behind. For the past few years, all his energy had gone into finding a way out of the game, never realizing the environment around him had long been trapped in a loop—he was no longer in the original world.

Qi Feng wondered if he had been struggling in the wrong direction all along.

Though Yan Jiyun did his best to comfort him in his own way, Qi Feng knew this was a problem he could not evade; he needed to confront the facts he’d neglected.

They returned to their residence, which, in truth, looked identical to his old place—down to the last detail.

Qi Feng, rarely so dejected, sank into an armchair, his gaze momentarily dazed.

“I guess all I’ve been doing these past years was meaningless,” he murmured.

Yan Jiyun knew very well that Qi Feng had been striving to escape the game, and his efforts were anything but pointless.

“No, your efforts mattered,” he said, returning to the main point. “Three years ago, did you enter the zombie instance with Su Qiuming?”

“Yes, once.” That was common knowledge; after that instance, he’d left his guild and had nearly no further interaction with Su Qiuming.

Yan Jiyun stretched out on the back of the sofa, a paw gently resting atop Qi Feng’s head. “Can you tell me what happened in that instance? Why did you stop keeping in touch after it? The truth of what happened matters a great deal to me—I want to know.”

He understood Qi Feng wouldn’t be so easily defeated, and that, no matter what, his efforts hadn’t been futile—otherwise, the former him would never have chosen him.

According to the NPCs, they existed as conscious entities, not mere game data. Data could be restored, but consciousness might not recover in full. His own memory was incomplete—scattered fragments that could be from his time as an NPC or from the original world. However, one thing was certain: he truly did have a way out of the game. Of that, there was no doubt.

Following Yan Jiyun’s lead, Qi Feng reflected on the events of the zombie instance. It had marked the turning point where he changed his strategy in the game. He could never forget it; he’d sought its truth ever since.

He had nothing to hide from Yan Jiyun, especially since it was clearly important to him. “Back then, Su Qiuming and I were in the same guild. We picked the zombie instance. Things went smoothly at first, and we reached the final task. The mission matched what we had anticipated, but at some point, something went wrong. As I was rescuing an NPC, I was bitten by a zombie. There were less than six hours left until the instance closed. The bite didn’t affect my ability to leave the game, but my teammates immediately abandoned me.”

The paw atop Qi Feng’s head twitched. “That’s why you left the guild?”

Qi Feng shook his head. “Not exactly. I’d seen worse in the game; it didn’t bother me much.”

Yan Jiyun pressed, “Then what truly bothered you?”

Remembering, Qi Feng returned to his original motivation for uncovering the game’s secrets. “There was an NPC. He was actually our target in the zombie instance. But he woke up—he became self-aware and realized he was an NPC.”

Yan Jiyun muttered, “Awakening… that’s a good word. Seems about right.”

But he himself hadn’t so much awakened as recovered his consciousness, breaking free from captivity.

Qi Feng continued, “I was already searching for a way out of the game. He seemed like the breakthrough. An NPC who knew he was an NPC—that’s something I’d never believed possible; to me, the game world consisted of data, and we were just immersed within it. But that NPC told me they were humans too. He wanted to cooperate with me.”

Yan Jiyun asked, “What else did he say?”

Qi Feng replied, “Time was short; before we could really cooperate, the system detected us, the instance was rushed to a close, and all the players were forcibly ejected. Ever since then, the zombie instance has been shut down, never reopened.”

Yan Jiyun pressed further, “Did you search for that NPC afterward?”

Qi Feng nodded. “I’ve been looking for him ever since. That’s why I left the guild. It was too important to publicize, though, so I never mentioned it. Even if I had, people probably would have thought I was crazy—believing an NPC wanted to work with me was absurd at the time. Back then, none of us knew the origins of NPCs. But this time, after entering the championship, I’ve come to realize that the NPCs really could be humans, not just data. The game’s makeup is probably much more complicated than we ever guessed.”

He reached back to affectionately stroke the cat’s head. “Including you—your own backstory is hazy, but I think we have an answer now. If this isn’t the real world, then are you a true player?”

Qi Feng’s question was direct—Yan Jiyun wouldn’t have asked so many pointed questions for no reason. At first, Qi Feng thought his curiosity was about Su Qiuming, but their relationship didn’t matter now—he realized the real focus was on NPCs, and sensed the issue was anything but simple.

Yan Jiyun hadn’t quite prepared a response, but with the air so charged, he said, “I’m most likely not a player.”

With the cat on his head, Qi Feng didn’t bother to look up. If this were the real world, would there even be a Caramel?

“If NPCs aren’t data, then what are they? Caramel, how did you come to be?” It was rare for Qi Feng to frown; this possibility was even more terrifying than finding his own world inauthentic.

He’d been fighting so hard to break out of the game and return to the real world. But if, upon returning, Caramel—who was not a player—no longer existed…?

The thought rattled him so much he nearly got up.

Yan Jiyun soothed him, “Don’t panic. I may not be a player, but I am human. Here’s how I see it: all the NPCs and players who can awaken their consciousnesses have entered the game as conscious entities—not in their physical bodies. Otherwise, how could we endure fighting, injury, or even death in an instance, and yet emerge physically unscathed every time, only mentally exhausted?”

Qi Feng had considered this, but he’d attributed it to the power of the game. He’d been to the hospital for checkups, never suspecting that from his very first day, he was no longer living in a real world, and that everything—the hospital, his life—was nothing but carefully constructed illusion.

Suddenly, he understood. “You’re the doctor who wanted to cooperate with me back then?”

Yan Jiyun scratched his chin, a little embarrassed. “How did you figure it out so fast? I wanted to find the right moment to reveal my identity. This makes me seem less cool; my appearance back then was very impressive.”

If Qi Feng remembered correctly, his debut hadn’t been cool at all, but he declined to deflate Yan Jiyun’s ego at such a moment.

“During this championship run, you had a lot weighing on your mind. I didn’t know exactly what, but with so many odd behaviors, and then you insisted on returning to the real world and kept probing… If I still couldn’t put the pieces together, I wouldn’t deserve to be your teammate.”

Yan Jiyun recounted all that had happened during the championship, as well as the rediscovery of his old companions.

During their conversation, more memories of the zombie instance unlocked in his mind, mostly related to Qi Feng. With that, and the further details Qi Feng provided, he regained clarity about most of what had happened then.

“Choosing you as my partner really was the right decision.”

By now, Yan Jiyun had curled up against Qi Feng on the large sofa. He was much bigger now than before, too large for a single seat; the two of them sat side by side on the couch.

After listening, Qi Feng sat quietly for a long time. “All of you were forced to become NPCs?”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “If my memory is correct, yes. In the zombie instance, my strange behavior drew the system’s attention, and I realized there was a traitor among the NPCs. I was careful, but I never found the traitor, so I risked everything to see if I could escape and uncover the traitor at the same time. It was the only way forward—the traitor knew what I was doing.”

Qi Feng asked, “But weren’t you all NPCs? Wasn’t your consciousness stronger than the players’? Shouldn’t you have been able to tell?”

Yan Jiyun replied, “That’s where the game’s real cunning lies. It wasn’t just our people who were made into NPCs; other NPCs controlled by the game were mixed in as well.”

Qi Feng said, “If that’s the case, then you mentioned that in five days we’d enter the top tier instance to meet your friends. Isn’t it possible the traitor will be among us, putting our actions at risk and turning the whole event into a ticking time bomb?”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “That’s the point. It won’t just be our reunion; the goal is to expose the traitor. Teacher Qu and the others know an infiltrator exists. With everyone present, the traitor will likely show too.”

Qi Feng said, “But won’t this just expose your entire group? The traitor will undoubtedly report your activities to those above.”

Yan Jiyun asked, “Suppose you’re the higher-ups. You see NPCs and players plotting rebellion. What would you do?”

Qi Feng answered, “I wouldn’t tip my hand. I’d let you gather, then take you all at once and wipe out the ‘bugs.’”

Yan Jiyun concluded, “If you can think that way, so can they. We’re on their turf—no matter how careful we are, they’ll spot us. Rather than walk into their trap blindly, we might as well use their own plan against them. Of course, on the bright side, perhaps there isn’t a traitor among my comrades.”

Just from Yan Jiyun’s lack of confidence, Qi Feng doubted this last point.

“So, in five days, not only are we looking for the traitor, but we could actually use the traitor to trace the way out of the game.”

Yan Jiyun rubbed his head, distressed. “I used to know the way out, but now I just can’t remember.”

Qi Feng gently rubbed his head. “If you can’t remember, we’ll find it again. I am a bit curious, though—how did you end up as a cat?”

Very softly, Yan Jiyun replied, “Remember that shot of ‘serum’ I gave you? That wasn’t serum—it was my consciousness. I brought part of my consciousness out of the instance by fusing it with yours. The part left in the instance was just another piece of me.”

Qi Feng said, “So your consciousness was split in two?” Yan Jiyun thought to himself, more like divided several ways. “Did it hurt?”

He answered weakly, “Of course it hurt. It hurt like hell.” Realizing the tone was off, he added, “I was too weak, so I used your consciousness to nourish myself. Eventually, I became your cat. Maybe subconsciously, I wanted to come back this way; added a little crossing-world bonus for myself. When I was strong enough, I was captured by the system again, then came back into the game using the player path. If I made it back this fast, it’s because you looked after me so well.”

Qi Feng, a little proud, said, “If anyone else had found you, you might not have made it at all.”

Yan Jiyun said, “Exactly. The instances you entered those two years weren’t for nothing—each time, I left traces of my consciousness. So when I entered the game again, my friends could sense my return and awaken.”

Suddenly, Qi Feng asked, “Have you considered who the traitor might be? More than that, didn’t their rally seem awfully quick? What if this is all a trap the higher-ups set for us? I’ve noticed that among the players, every guild seems to have moles planted by the higher-ups.”

Yan Jiyun’s eyes widened. “You’re saying the game is monitoring the players in every way, using them as agents? Is that why you left the guild?”

Qi Feng said, “Smart.”

Yan Jiyun, a little grumpy, said, “I thought it was because of me.”

Qi Feng quickly answered, “You were two-thirds of the reason.”

Yan Jiyun cheered up again.