Cat 198: The Christmas Gift

Chapter 198: The Christmas Gift

Yan Jiyun was touched that Qi Feng would think of his safety at a time like this, but the truth was, Yan himself was sitting right in front of him, so there was no way he could take Qi Feng to find another Yan Jiyun.

But Qi Feng was speaking to Caramel, not to Yan Jiyun directly; in any case, he usually couldn’t understand what humans were saying.

The intermission was short—cats, too, would soon finish their meal.

Yan Jiyun was normally a moderate eater; once full, he wouldn’t force himself to eat more. The nine cats inherited this trait—each stopped after about two-thirds of a can, Yan Jiyun included.

After eating, the black cats each went off to groom themselves. The more adventurous Yellow and Green ran out to play—only returning if Yan Jiyun called them. The five new arrivals, with Teacher Qu’s help, had been fitted with their own special collars and given new names.

Aside from Yan Jiyun, the others now all had names of their own.

The simplest method was to number them; there were so many that for now, detailed names were out of the question.

Yan Jiyun was the “Boss,” a title Teacher Qu assigned him; Little Blackie now became Number Two, while Little White, Little Yellow, and Little Green were Numbers Three, Four, and Five. The chatterbox cat was Number Six, and the remaining four were Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten.

Little Green and Little Yellow took Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten out for a run, leaving behind only Little Blackie, Little White, and the chatterbox.

Each of the three had distinct traits—Blackie had his claws trimmed, White was skittish, and the chatterbox was probably disliked by the others because it swore too much.

The players could no longer relax. They saw replicants lurking nearby and knew they had to devise a way to deal with them.

Qi Feng had everyone report how many replicants there were besides the new batch.

They re-inventoried the weapons looted from “City of Sin.”

Everyone had come out with weapons: pistols, rifles, submachine guns, grenades—nothing was lacking. Bullets seemed sufficient too: one per replicant would be enough. But not every player had Qi Feng’s marksmanship.

With ten or so hours left in the game, replicants were appearing more and more often; they would have to conserve ammunition.

Qi Yunchu and Qi Feng were discussing how to tackle the next phase, essentially strategizing their defenses.

“There are still 29 players left, and we have eight in our team. There are probably one or two more replicants left—at most 15. The other 21 players are still in the dark; we can’t just go killing at random,” mused Qi Yunchu.

Qi Feng agreed. “Then we lure them out.”

Qi Yunchu said, “But how? Some of our own people didn’t even recognize me, let alone strangers.”

Yinzi couldn’t help but nod. “That’s true—sometimes even our friends are replaced and we don’t notice at all.”

Qi Feng said, “Then for now, at least, we need to make sure everyone here is the real thing. Everyone come touch my cat’s sacred paw—get its scent on you, and no one will be able to impersonate you.”

Yan Jiyun looked down at his dark paw. He liked the term “sacred paw,” but he didn’t like being pawed by a bunch of strangers. He especially hated anyone touching his paws or belly. They were not that close!

Qi Feng gave his paw a squeeze, but Yan Jiyun smacked him away.

Qi Feng was unfazed. “Then touch his neck instead.”

Yan Jiyun got up and stretched, not about to let just anyone pet him. No one was allowed.

Qi Yunchu was the first to try, but before he could reach Yan Jiyun’s neck, Yan Jiyun leapt to the floor.

Little White shrank into a corner, like an invisible cat—truly timid.

Number Six, meanwhile, could not stop talking. He hated collars and kept yowling at Teacher Qu #1, twisting and rubbing in an effort to scrape off his nametag.

The cat food shop was filled with the chatterbox’s complaints. He meowed at everyone who passed, and even threw himself down in front of Chu Mo, who ignored him, so he tried another. Aside from Xu Xian, he’d rubbed his head against everyone.

Finally, Number Six jumped up to Qi Feng and blinked at him, using an exaggeratedly sweet voice, hoping Qi Feng would free him from the collar.

Yan Jiyun couldn’t bear to watch.

How could such a bizarre copy exist? He wasn’t a chatterbox at all—he suspected the system had made a random copy, not based on his true self. This one surely had a manufacturing defect.

Yan Jiyun was about to leap up to shove the snuggling Number Six aside, when suddenly he remembered a scene from “City of Sin”—he’d even gotten a headache but nearly forgot to investigate it.

What exactly was that about? Was it a game bug, or had he stumbled onto a way to link the real player and his replicant?

Was it possible for him to mentally control his own replicants from a distance?

Yes—the scenario’s most important stat was Mental Corruption, a number every player watched carefully, but often overlooked as a tool. Could they use this stat as a countermeasure? Turn the mental corruption setting against the replicants?

Yan Jiyun didn’t think he’d had any psychic breakthrough; he hadn’t followed the main quest, but the instance was all about spiritually draining the players. Because he wasn’t burdened with conflicting thoughts in the game, perhaps his mental focus was sharper, and it affected his stat.

His mental corruption was steady at 95, never dropping lower. He needed a quiet, safe spot to test what he’d done with Little Blackie’s perspective earlier.

Eventually, he hopped onto Qi Feng’s shoulder—for safety, this was the best spot.

Qi Feng felt a sudden weight and saw Caramel settle on his shoulder. He immediately let go of the contented Number Six, letting him go play.

Number Six, though normally chatty, had little to say around Yan Jiyun, and soon ran to Su Mingqiu to keep up its cutesy voice routine.

Yan Jiyun wondered—could he act that cute?

Reviewing the moment he had controlled Little Blackie, he recalled how he had been desperate as Qi Feng was about to be ambushed. His mind raced with the wish he could be Little Blackie himself. Then he really had become Little Blackie, scratching at the fake Qi Feng’s eyes—though, because his claws had been trimmed, the scratch was light. Nonetheless, it saved Qi Feng, buying him time.

If mental control of a replicant was truly possible, what were the conditions?

Does it require a high mental corruption stat? Or special circumstances, like extreme stress?

But he still had time now to experiment.

Dealing with replicants wasn’t easily solved. Qi Yunchu, Su Qiuming, and Qi Feng had yet to find a sure-fire solution. Their only certainty was that their own identities would not be mistaken.

Qi Feng pulled tufts of fur from Little Blackie, distributing them to everyone.

“With cat fur as proof, only those with it are our people. It’s only valid for this round; when the replicants spawn again, we’ll return, hand in the fur, and I’ll issue new ones. That way, we’re sure no one here has been replaced.”

Giving out cat hair was quite a clever solution—nobody else would know, and the outside replicants would never think to use it as ID.

Not Qi Feng, but his cat, was the real test of their identities.

Who could have predicted they would one day have to rely on a cat for identification? Better show more respect to stray cats in the future.

Yan Jiyun perched on Qi Feng’s shoulder, unmoving, eyes fixed on Number Six, who’d lapsed once more into his cutesy persona.

He concentrated intensely, watching, watching…

Number Six turned, locking eyes with Yan Jiyun, and momentarily seemed dazed.

Yan Jiyun was startled—he found he’d started talking in a voice so sugary it gave him goosebumps.

“Meow~ aao?”

That wasn’t a sound he could make—what was going on?

Wait—that figure squatting motionless across from him was himself!

His mind had successfully entered Number Six’s consciousness?

He flexed his limbs, mimicking Number Six’s squeaky yowling. It was utterly strange.

Even knowing the replicant looked identical, the sensations were not the same—replicants were replicants, fundamentally different. Number Six’s body lacked his own agility.

Then, his vision shifted; his consciousness had returned to himself. He moved his own limbs and felt normal.

Inside Number Six’s body, he’d sensed something had changed.

How had he managed to invade and control Number Six’s mind and body?

Though the effect lasted only a short while, it would be extremely effective in a showdown with replicants.

He tried to possess another—Chu Mo, for instance—but found himself unable to.

So that was it—the target could only be his own replicant.

So that’s the secret!

The game had set a massive trap for players, but also provided a hidden advantage: if you could control your replicant, you could win the instance.

This was a new discovery—they now needed to verify what mental corruption value was required for this ability.

Even if Qi Feng asked everyone for their values, there was always a chance of lies for credibility’s sake; Yan Jiyun dared not put all his hopes on others. This was something to tell Qi Feng about next time he found him alone.

Qi Feng had the highest mental corruption stat among the players—he’d reported 85 before; the lowest was Brother Yang, whose was now just 65.

From experiments over these days, below 60 led to signs of mental instability. Ironically, the most cheerful, Brother Yang, looked the most at-risk.

Yan Jiyun pondered for a moment, and thought Brother Yang would be best paired with Little White.

He looked at Little White and tried to mentally direct it. Miraculously, Little White went to Brother Yang.

Little White was timid, circling near Brother Yang, unsure whether to approach—yet this distraction already helped Brother Yang steady himself.

Knowing how important the black cats were, Brother Yang patiently asked, “Need anything?”

Unlike chatterbox Number Six, Little White was shy and poor at expressing himself.

This counted as another test of the mental corruption variable. Yan Jiyun’s own stat could recover—if Brother Yang’s could, too, things would proceed much more smoothly. Of course, there had to be an affection for cats.

For now, Yan Jiyun stayed with Qi Feng. Chu Mo, knowing he was a newcomer, naturally found him suspicious, so Yan Jiyun tried not to reveal himself too soon. The key was to keep his identity hidden from others; eventually, he’d have to revert to human form, pretending to have dispatched his own replicant before reappearing.

Qi Feng and his group finally settled on a plan.

Their eight members were split into four pairs, each to stick together, and to regroup at the “Black Cat Café” to swap cat fur whenever the system announced new replicants.

Chu Mo and Wen Ye remained partnered—their teamwork was too good to split. Yinzi was injured, Brother Yang’s mental corruption low—so they stayed at the café. Su Qiuming and Xu Xian made up another team, both from the same guild. Qi Feng and Qi Yunchu paired off.

No—for their group, there was a third: Yan Jiyun, who stayed with them.

Timid White and chatterbox Six were left at the base, though they had full freedom; only Yan Jiyun could command them.

But was cat fur really so reliable?

What if a replicant had infiltrated even here?

Yan Jiyun was cautious; the cats running around outside were his eyes and ears now. If he controlled them well, Yellow, Green, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten would all be useful assistants.

They prepared to venture out.

Splitting into four groups didn’t mean they’d separate right away, just that, in a forced split, they’d rendezvous with their pair first.

They’d spent the last hours in Buildings C and D; now it was time to explore A and B.

This time, they took the escalator to the first floor.

They weren’t in a rush to tackle the replicants—the main quest was even more crucial. Only by finishing the story could they truly leave the game.

Qi Yunchu asked Qi Feng, “Do you have any thoughts on the main quest—the Christmas gift?”

Yan Jiyun listened keenly.

Finally, they were returning to the main quest.

Qi Feng answered calmly, “What do you all think it is?”

Chu Mo folded his arms. “Must be that thing, right?”

Qi Yunchu nodded. “I think so, too.”

Qi Feng: “We’re in agreement.”

Su Qiuming: “Should we split up or search together?”

Yan Jiyun was baffled. What had he missed? What exactly was that thing? Would they stop speaking in riddles?

Xu Xian voiced Yan Jiyun’s confusion. “What are you talking about? What are we looking for?”

Su Qiuming shot him a glare. “The Christmas gift.”

Xu Xian: “But what is the Christmas gift?”

None of them gave him a straight answer; they were keeping things under wraps.

Su Qiuming just said, “Come on, I’ll help you search.”

Yan Jiyun gave up worrying—nestled in Qi Feng’s arms, as long as he stuck close, how could he not find it?

He glanced at the game timer—unwittingly, only fifteen hours remained.

Suddenly, a thunderous rumbling shook the entire building.

Yan Jiyun instinctively clung tighter to Qi Feng’s neck, turning to observe the others’ reactions.

They all seemed calm, even expectant.

Ah—that must be it—the monster mentioned in the pet owner notification!