Cat 323: The New Zombie Instance

Chapter 323: The New Zombie Instance

【Beep beep beep!】

【Beep beep beep!】

【Beep beep beep!】

【Emergency notice, emergency notice: Severe deviation detected in the scenario of instance “City of Sin.” All players will be removed from this instance in three seconds!】

【Three, two, one! All players logging out of the instance—】

【Instance under repair—repair suspended—】

【Severe data corruption in instance—unable to repair instance—unable to repair!】

【Instance damage 100%—bzzzt—bzzzt—un—able—to—re—pair】

Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng exited the instance safely. Since the system had triggered the emergency exit protocol when ejecting players, they found themselves at the entrance to the beginner instance zone.

The in-game experience had lasted less than four hours. All players who entered “City of Sin” made it out safely; even for a top-tier instance, everyone’s expressions showed bewilderment as they emerged, though it didn’t take long for people to catch on.

“A top-tier instance just malfunctioned?”

“I just checked for the instance in the system—it’s gone!”

“What’s going on? I’d just triggered the first quest when the whole thing bugged out!”

“I’ve played this game for ages and never seen anything like this. Could the instance have been deleted?”

Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng kept their heads down as they walked through the crowd. Though they weren’t the apparent cause of the collapse, the system would inevitably trace the anomaly back to them if it investigated closely.

What they needed now was time. The destruction of a top-tier instance would surely draw the system’s attention, so they had to enter the next instance as quickly as possible. The more instances they destroyed, the busier the system would become—making it harder to pinpoint their consciousnesses right away. Fortunately, they had trained for situations like this and didn’t have to worry too much for now.

Yan Jiyun still reminded Qi Feng, “The next instance may be traced by the system. Remember how to fragment your consciousness, like I taught you?”

Qi Feng nodded. “Yeah, I remember. I’ll be careful.”

When it came to fighting the system, Yan Jiyun was clearly more experienced—Qi Feng was naturally willing to listen to him.

Their demeanor was entirely different now that they had exited the instance. Before, their departure had been high-profile, but that was only because no one expected the chaos they would cause inside. Now that the damage was done, they needed to keep a low profile.

They went straight to their prearranged temporary hideout—a location set up specifically for logging entry and exit times and instance results, to aid in later data collection.

After recording the appropriate symbols in their notebook, only their own logs appeared inside; no one else was as quick as they were.

Qi Feng let out a sigh of relief. “We’re the first ones out. The system probably won’t discover us right away. If time allows, we might even clear two more instances.”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. We don’t know what we’ll face in the next one. Destroying a single instance is equivalent to taking down several—important NPCs might be responsible for multiple scenarios. Now that Zhao Miao’s consciousness has awakened, if he strongly resists, the remaining related instances will likely shut down, unable to go online.”

Time was of the essence; the sooner they entered, the more progress they could make.

They slipped into the tavern they had previously purchased. Qi Feng checked the instance selection area and searched for “City of Sin” among the top-tier scenarios.

“It’s gone,” Qi Feng said. “That instance really has vanished.”

Since they didn’t know which other instances were tied to Zhao Miao, or whether others had been quietly taken offline, things remained unclear.

Time was short; there was no chance to gather more intelligence. Once they completed the next instance, things should become clearer.

If players can’t progress, they’ll be ejected. With their team collecting information, there would soon be consolidated reports and clearer data.

“In line with expectations,” Yan Jiyun said.

“Let’s get into the next one,” said Qi Feng.

Yan Jiyun flexed his hands eagerly. “Let’s go.”

They bound their identities as teammates and selected a top-tier instance from their shortlist.

Clearing this scenario would give them a better sense of what dangers still lay ahead.

They all understood one thing: instances could be destroyed, which meant Central City was also an instance—just one designed to train player consciousness versus serving as a resting area.

Once they recognized this world as one of mind and consciousness, everything made sense.

Hand in hand, Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng entered the next top-tier instance. This time, the player count was even higher than in the last, and the difficulty had gone up as well.

As the timer reached zero, their consciousnesses were drawn into the new scenario.

Yan Jiyun’s mind held tight to Qi Feng’s hand. The system usually forcibly separated groups, but it seemed to have deprioritized this minor bug as unimportant.

Once again, they arrived in the instance—except this time, the protagonist was very different.

The last scenario’s main character was a high school student. The new instance featured an adult.

According to the logic that the protagonist was the key anchor of the instance, this new master would be harder to confront than teenage Zhao Miao.

A high schooler’s worldview can be rescued at certain junctures; an adult’s is almost fixed, unlikely to be shifted just through conversation.

Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun landed on the top floor of a building.

“This place looks familiar,” Qi Feng remarked.

Yan Jiyun walked to the edge and looked down. Below was a field of ruins. The skyscrapers opposite had lost their former glory; windows shattered, and inside, bloodstains were still visible.

The entire city reeked of nothing but decay.

“It’s a zombie instance,” Qi Feng observed.

“And a souped-up zombie instance at that,” Yan Jiyun replied.

“But didn’t we already have a zombie scenario before…” Qi Feng began. Their first meeting had been in a zombie instance. How was this another one?

The game never repeats scenarios.

Yan Jiyun let out a cold laugh. “Did you forget about that traitor?”

Qi Feng answered, “I remember. But you never told us who it was.”

“That’s because he’s not an NPC—he’s a player. In fact, you know him quite well. Now that we’re back in this scenario, there’s no need to keep it secret from you.”

With those clues, a name flashed in Qi Feng’s mind. “It’s him? No wonder you didn’t mind him joining the Prison Break instance. He ratted us out, didn’t he? That’s why we’re back here.”

Yan Jiyun closed his eyes, sensing the surroundings. “Yes, the consciousness of the instance has been strengthened, and the Master’s shackles have been tightened too.”

Qi Feng added, “All he can do is reinforce the instance, using misdirection and confusion. It hardly affects us, since we know the key character and the main plot.”

Yan Jiyun continued, “There may be some changes—last time, I was the protagonist; this time, the scenario has been mapped onto a different NPC. The direction will shift according to that NPC’s own consciousness. But it doesn’t matter. Either way, we’ll find him and free his mind.” No NPC would willingly be the system’s puppet. “We don’t even know which point in time we’ve entered here.”

With a saboteur still in play, nothing could be taken at face value.

Yan Jiyun tugged Qi Feng along. Their consciousness shifted, and they dropped from the rooftop to a deserted street below.

Yan Jiyun’s first instinct was, “No zombies.”

Qi Feng, probing the instance with his own mind, agreed. “That’s what I sense as well.”

Yan Jiyun’s hearing was as sharp as ever. “I hear vehicles coming—more than one.”

Deciding not to hide, they simply stood by the roadside to wait for the approaching convoy.

Soon, a fleet of identical red trucks rumbled down the city’s empty streets.

The people on board quickly spotted Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng—two strikingly clean and unruffled figures standing out against the backdrop of dirty devastation.

“Hey, you two heading to Base One as well?”

The last truck stopped beside them. The man in the passenger seat, dressed in camo, jumped out and came over.

He was the boisterous type, loud-voiced and rough around the edges, but seemed decent enough.

Yan Jiyun feigned shyness, ducking behind Qi Feng.

Qi Feng knew he was getting into character again, fully embracing a new role upon entering the instance and adding his own drama to the situation.

Since his boyfriend wanted to act, of course Qi Feng would play along. He took Yan Jiyun’s hand and addressed the newcomer, “Mind giving us a ride? We’ve been walking a long time and still haven’t made it. My brother is just about done in.”

The good-natured man replied, “Still seats in the back. Hop in. If you stay out here much longer, it’ll be dark soon—worse if the zombies come out again.”

After a little more polite conversation, Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun climbed into the rear compartment.

There were plenty of people inside, but not enough to make things crowded. That said, the attitude toward newcomers was less than welcoming—cold, if not outright unfriendly.

Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng made their way to a vacant spot and sat down.

Yan Jiyun lazily leaned on Qi Feng’s shoulder; his urge to act flared again. “Brother, there’s so many people. I’m scared.”

Qi Feng put an arm around his shoulder and murmured, “Don’t worry. Your brother will always be here with you.”

Yan Jiyun made himself even more comfortable, lying on Qi Feng’s lap, hugging his waist as if to say, “Don’t leave me, brother.”

Qi Feng: …This was a bit much for him.

[Wannabe Human] livestream chat:

“What the hell is going on? In less than half a day, the kitten and his owner have run two top-tier instances!”

“Kitten, hurry and tell us what happened in the last scenario?”

“Sis, I don’t know exactly. The system posted a notice: the instance hadn’t had a bug check in a long time, so it’s down for repairs. Guess it hadn’t been checked for ages and glitched out—now it’s closed for a while.”

“I saw the notice, but something seems off. How does a top-tier instance just bug out of nowhere? There’s got to be more to it than what they’re telling us.”

“I’ve got a hunch—with the bug and the kitten, it’s connected. Only he and his owner engaged directly with the main character, changed Zhao Miao’s attitude toward Zhao Xin—and the resulting chain reaction caused the bug.”

“That logic doesn’t quite hold. Sure, the kitten altered the main character’s thinking and created a new ending—but that alone shouldn’t cause a bug.”

“I’m dying to know what’s really going on!”

“Oh damn, Blue Mo and Sister Liang’s instances just closed early too! Everyone, go look!”

“Did the game system just have a catastrophic failure?”

As the livestream updated viewers on teammates’ situations, Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng arrived at Base One.

The shy little brother Yan Jiyun clung nervously to his caring “brother” Qi Feng.

They successfully made it inside.

The good-natured man who’d picked them up addressed the group gathered around the truck. “I know you’re all here for Dr. Jiang, but please, everyone follow the base’s survival rules.”

Qi Feng replied, “Dr. Jiang must be quite impressive.”

Just as he finished praising Dr. Jiang, his arm was scratched by a paw.

Yan Jiyun sniffed, “Is Dr. Yan not impressive too?”