Cat 203: The Giant

Chapter 203: The Giant

Mental manipulation was a nebulous concept—intangible and invisible, barely believable if mentioned out loud. Yet, Yan Jiyun’s understanding of its mechanisms proved that it could divert the minds of those tainted by spiritual pollution.

Before them stretched utter darkness, and they prepared as best they could to leave the confines of the mall. Only by stepping outside this framework could they hope to find the truth.

Yan Jiyun stood with Qi Feng, together plunging into the night.

Previously, the players had confined themselves to the mall. The mutant Santa Claus they encountered had also come from outside; thus, the appearance of any monster instantly set everyone on edge. Until now, not a single player had truly explored the exterior environment.

A fifteen-day instance—so many monsters and replicants had fallen already; the previous battles must have been fierce.

Monsters had always appeared from this direction, and as the last wave was over, it was safe to assume that no new monsters would appear just yet.

Qi Feng and the others no longer needed to move with exaggerated caution; everyone’s nerves were a little steadier now.

Yan Jiyun, blessed with night vision, had no fear of the dark.

They advanced in three lines of three, forming an ironclad phalanx: the front, the middle, and the rear. If attacked, they could respond instantly.

Yan Jiyun stood close to Qi Feng, staring at the place where those enormous eyes had once appeared, but now, they had vanished.

Leaving the mall behind, they saw it become a lone beacon in the night. The further they walked, the dimmer its beam. It seemed as if the darkness beyond sucked away its light, leaving not a glow to brighten the road ahead.

Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng had no need for black cats as talismans—one out of love for Jiao Tang, the other by nature itself.

When the nine had fully merged into the pitch-black night, everyone’s senses sharpened, and suddenly, the strains of a Christmas carol broke the silence—a song they hadn’t heard for some time, making everyone jump.

Xu Xian was the first to complain: “Not this again.”

Qi Yunchu remarked, “The Christmas music seems to have no pattern.”

Su Qiuming: “It just wants to scare us.”

Yan Jiyun, too, caught the familiar theme. He hadn’t heard it as much as the others, so his expression was much lighter. Unconsciously, he began humming along, every note off-key.

Qi Feng, his attention originally fixed on “Jingle Bells,” was distracted as Yan Jiyun started to sing.

He asked uncertainly, “What are you singing?”

Yan Jiyun replied, as if it were obvious, “A Christmas song. I’m just following the rhythm, can’t you tell?”

Qi Feng hesitated, unsure if he should speak the truth—the tune shared no relation to the original. After a moment, he offered, “It sounds nice.”

Yan Jiyun knew full well his musical ability, but being complimented made him buoyant enough to keep going. If he were “Jiao Tang,” his tail would be standing on end.

Listening to Yan Jiyun’s off-key caroling, the others found themselves less fearful; they actually focused on Yan Jiyun’s singing, nearly forgetting how the real song went.

With his offbeat rendition distracting them, everyone’s spirits stayed high. The Christmas tune’s psychological effect seemed powerless against them.

No monsters threatened them outside, and they drew steadily closer to the boundary Yan Jiyun had seen before.

The black cats roamed freely nearby, but their leader never strayed far.

Lacking illumination, but guided consciously by Yan Jiyun, the others naturally followed Qi Feng, which meant everyone was, in fact, following Yan Jiyun.

With no obstacles in his way, no terrors ahead, Yan Jiyun led them forward for five hundred meters—farther than the replicant cats had gone before.

There, their path was blocked by an invisible barrier, like an “air wall” in a 3D game: no matter what they tried, no one could breach it.

Chu Mo pressed his face to the barrier. “I can’t see anything.”

Qi Yunchu said, “Is this the instance’s boundary?”

Chu Mo: “If this is a boundary, maybe if we break it, we can leave.”

Su Qiuming: “But how would you break it?”

Yan Jiyun mused, “In online games, there’s a concept called ‘bug abuse.’ To get through an air wall, you need to find a bug.”

Chu Mo answered, “First, we’d have to know there’s a bug in the wall we could use to get out.”

Yan Jiyun: “It doesn’t feel like an air wall to me. I sense a pair of giant eyes watching us from outside.”

Xu Xian objected, “You keep saying there are giant eyes, but we’ve seen nothing all this way. Maybe you’re just tricking us.”

Yan Jiyun rolled his eyes. “If you don’t believe me, turn back. No one’s making you come. If you’re scared, just stop here.”

Xu Xian started to protest, but Qi Feng cut him off: “If you don’t trust us, go back.”

Su Qiuming put a restraining hand on Xu Xian’s shoulder. “Xu Xian, apologize.”

Xu Xian, sullen, glanced at Su Qiuming, whose eyes had gone cold. “Don’t question a teammate’s intel. That’s basic team discipline.”

Xu Xian immediately deflated. “Sorry.”

Yan Jiyun huffed and looked away. He guessed Xu Xian had lasted so long as vice-president only thanks to being Su Qiuming’s confidant. Otherwise, his personality would have gotten him kicked out long ago. It was a miracle he’d survived this far.

The rest understood this was an internal feud between Qi Feng and Su Qiuming; nobody else, not even Ji Yunchu, their closest friend, would interfere.

As the group lapsed into silence at Xu Xian’s outburst, the barrier unexpectedly flashed with light. The illumination came swiftly, and with it, those giant eyes appeared at last—Yan Jiyun had not lied.

Now Xu Xian was speechless, his doubts obliterated in an instant.

The eyes were set in a colossal face. From here, they could see the owner of those eyes—a gigantic man.

He looked about twenty years old, with brown hair and a sharply aquiline nose, big enough for any adult among them to slide down like a slide.

He stood, towering well over a hundred meters, so that, from his feet, his head was impossible to see.

After a moment, the giant lowered himself again to stare at them. The impact of his eyes was overwhelming.

Yang Ge, the most mentally unstable, couldn’t keep silent. “Mother—”

Yin Zi quickly clapped a hand over his mouth and whispered, “Don’t say a word!”

With the light from the giant’s gaze, they saw that only a sparse copse of shrubs offered any cover nearby. The giant’s gaze swept downward, and all of them dove into the brush.

Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng crammed together beneath one bush and whispered.

Yan Jiyun asked, “Do you know about snow globes?”

Qi Feng thought a moment. “Sure,” but he’d never received one himself.

Yan Jiyun continued, “I recall there’s a snow globe Christmas cottage: a miniature house inside a glass sphere, sometimes with a switch for a little nightlight.”

Qi Feng instantly caught on. “You’re saying, maybe we’re trapped inside one of these toy snow globes, and the giant is its owner?”

“Is that possible?” Yan Jiyun couldn’t guarantee it, having only just entered this instance.

“I think you’re basically right,” Qi Feng replied. He’d formed a similar hunch when Yan Jiyun mentioned the giant eyes, and this confirmed it. “If so, we don’t need to find a bug; what we thought was an instance is something else entirely. Now we just have to find a way out of the snow globe.”

Yan Jiyun’s eyes shone. “So the ultimate boss of this instance is the giant?”

Qi Feng reminded him, “Remember what I told you about the main quest?”

Yan Jiyun recited, “On Christmas Eve, find the present Santa left.”

Qi Feng nodded, “I bet the present is in the giant’s place. We’re the little people inside the snow globe; we don’t celebrate Christmas. Only the giant celebrates.”

Yan Jiyun edged closer to Qi Feng; their arms touched, faces less than twenty centimeters apart. “What’s this Christmas present you mentioned before?”

Qi Feng became acutely aware of Yan Jiyun’s warmth against his arm. The heat seemed to transfer, making him flustered, and he tried to keep some distance between their faces. “It’s a key item, but now I realize it’s not the Christmas gift itself.”

Yan Jiyun finally coaxed the truth out. He leaned even closer. “What kind of item?”

Now just ten centimeters separated them.

“An apple,” Qi Feng said. He knew Yan Jiyun wasn’t a replicant—he’d earned the item, so he could decide whether to share. No need for secrets between them.

Yan Jiyun asked, “Is it edible?”

Qi Feng took in Yan Jiyun’s long, upturned lashes and bright gaze. “Probably not. It sits in the inventory; at least, we won’t eat it. It can’t be smashed or broken. Players before me tried taking a bite, but nothing left a mark. No one could figure out its use.”

Yan Jiyun, chin in palm, pondered the apple’s purpose. “Tradition says to eat an apple on Christmas Eve. Maybe this apple’s for the giant? I’m sure his jaw is stronger than ours.”

Qi Feng almost missed that possibility, but the moment Yan Jiyun said it, everything became clear. “You’re right.”

Yan Jiyun said, “So now we just need a proper plan to escape this glass dome.”

It was obvious now: they were inside a giant glass shell, and all their experiences made sense.

Where did the monsters come from? Why did replicants appear? The source was clear!

To the giant, they were mere toys. He could replicate black cats or dolls at whim.

As for the ethereal Christmas music? Simple—the giant was getting ready for Christmas, playing music at home. Or perhaps, if they were in a toy store, the ambient soundtrack played for shoppers.

With this new understanding, their imagination could stretch further.

Soon, the giant vanished, the light fading with him. Without those fearsome eyes, everyone felt their tension drop; their pollution levels dropped a point or two, and they rushed to grab a cat for relief.

The black cats were close—everyone but the ill-tempered Xiao Huang and Xiao Lu was available to be cuddled.

Except for Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun—who didn’t need it—everyone cradled a cat except one person. Xu Xian, shunned by the cats, sat empty-handed. Every cat hissed and swiped at him. He was lucky they didn’t add to his stress.

Only now did he realize he’d angered Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun, the cats’ real masters—replicas or not, authority was absolute.

Watching his sanity nearing its lower limit, Xu Xian grew ever more agitated, venting by yanking at the grass.

Their world darkened again, and Qi Feng quickly gathered everyone for a discussion.

Everyone agreed on their theory and even added some new ideas.

Finally, Qi Feng summarized and assigned: “Now we really need to split up. We’re nine people—divide into two groups to find an exit from the globe. Use walkie-talkies to stay in contact.”

He’d brought the mall’s radios; now was their chance to use them—the only way to coordinate.

Su Qiuming, Xu Xian, Qi Yunchu, Chu Mo, and Wen Ye formed one group.

Qi Feng, Yan Jiyun, Yin Zi, and Yang Ge made the other. All the cats clustered near Yan Jiyun, meaning their four-person team was backed by a sizable “army.”

From current clues, it looked like this snow-globe mall sat atop a table or shelf.

The mall inside the globe was built at its center—no exit lay beneath, no matter how clearly marked. Therefore, the only way out was at the globe’s edge—the weak spot had to be there.

Yan Jiyun mused, “Maybe the exit’s wherever there’s wind?”

Qi Feng shook his head. “Not sure. Even inside a toy, wind can be manufactured.”

Yan Jiyun sighed, “Then finding the exit won’t be easy.”

Qi Feng pointed at all the black cats scattered before them. “Don’t worry—we have them.”

In the darkness, Yan Jiyun reminded him, “There aren’t any cats where you’re pointing.”

Qi Feng: “…”