Cat 291: Caramel, Come Here

Chapter 291: Caramel, Come Here

[“Want To Be Human” Livestream Chat:]

“The kitten drew the undercover card this round. Interesting, interesting! There’s no way the owner’s team isn’t winning this.”

“Why does it feel like this championship arc was tailor-made for the kitten? He aces everything he tries.”

“I feel it too, especially when they just handed him answers and rocketed him through levels.”

“Hahahahaha, am I the only one wondering what’ll happen now that the kitten drew the undercover mission and ran into his owner?”

“Isn’t it simple? Just swap owners!”

“I want to see the owner and Su Qiuming fight over the cat. Love rivals and drama—that’s my favorite!”

And so, Yan Jiyun became an undercover.

He’d never imagined he’d play the mole in an infinite-game scenario.

This round, in addition to going undercover, combined the championship theme by introducing score-based mini-games.

What Yan Jiyun pulled was the undercover rules. In the squad where he was undercover, if he managed to sabotage them in each mini-game and kept them from earning points, his own team would gain points instead.

Looking through the rules, he saw that this round had no individual scores, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Su Qiuming wasn’t stupid—if he noticed any oddity in Yan Jiyun’s individual points, he might quickly deduce who the mole was. The scoring mechanism was a zero-sum; any spike or dip would be obvious.

Because Yan Jiyun was undercover, he had no idea what rules were shown to non-undercover players.

Luckily, Su Qiuming simply saw him as Qi Feng’s cat, never suspecting he had a double identity, and even discussed the team scoring rules openly in front of him.

“Even though there are undercovers, we can find the undercover card during mini-games, so it’s still to our advantage.”

“Not only can we snag the undercover card, but we can get the undercover’s identity too.”

“So the undercover could be someone we know?”

“They have to be someone we know or have interacted with in this game.”

“Who could that be, then?”

“Each squad has 10–20 people; everyone knows plenty. They wouldn’t just randomly draw someone, right? That’d be impossible to guess. Maybe it’s someone the captain knows?”

Su Qiuming nodded. “Possible. But I know plenty of people too. I can’t remember every detail about each one.”

The two teammates: “…”

They analyzed and theorized fiercely, but it helped barely at all.

Their team was still just three—for now, they hadn’t reunited with any others.

Both of the other two seemed sharp—able to break down the rules easily.

Yan Jiyun recognized their abilities, but couldn’t drop his guard. He was the undercover, taking up a spot on their team. If they brought him into mini-games, wouldn’t his player status be exposed? He was obviously the mole—no need to guess.

What now?

Was he supposed to let the other team earn points? He desperately needed to find Qi Feng and ask what information the non-moles were given.

He at least had it easier than other undercovers—others would cover their Team A face to approach Team B and would stick out immediately, but not him. He, as “Caramel,” could seek out Qi Feng and nobody would suspect A Team’s undercover.

But now there were minigames. If these counted him as a Su Qiuming team member, wouldn’t his oddity pop out instantly?

He was so obviously the mole!

If his undercover assignment ended before thirty minutes, he’d be considered a failed mole and the team could be eliminated. According to the rules, the undercover is worth a significant chunk of the points. All other points are openly acquired and visible, while the undercover’s are hidden and harder to earn. To finish with a high rank, maximizing the mole’s impact was crucial.

All the players who chose S were from the big guilds, full, elite teams, each player handpicked for talent and versatility. Their own team had only eleven; they might not have the edge.

The more Yan Jiyun thought about it, the harder it seemed.

“Young Cub, what do you think these five rules mean?”

“Young Cub” was their slightly-built, quick-moving, just-of-age guy.

He decoded it at once. “Rule Five is all about protecting the undercover.”

“No wonder you’re our top student. But isn’t protecting the mole way too blatant?”

“That’s how this game always is,” said Su Qiuming.

Yan Jiyun assessed the two youthful faces. Neither had appeared in the zombie scenario—back then, the player who’d knocked out Su Qiuming had already died during the Christmas instance. The rest of their team hadn’t shown up yet. If they did, Yan Jiyun planned to deal with them one by one. Yes, he was that vengeful.

For now, though, it was better to follow Su Qiuming and look for more teammates.

He just had to hold out for thirty minutes.

Three players alone couldn’t take on any mini-game; every team first needed reunite with their group, then pick the right task to earn points.

Every player was on edge now; from here out, any teammate they found could be an undercover in disguise.

The three moved quickly, heading for the elevator.

Young Cub was clever—he produced pen and paper he’d pilfered from their hotel room, wrote down secret codes, and indicated rendezvous points. All the way through the halls and elevators, at every slot and gap that could hold a note, they stuffed wads of paper scrawled with code, laying out messages for their team.

Yan Jiyun’s group had such codes too, but as “Caramel,” he had neither hands to write nor pockets for pen and paper, unlike the others. Annoyingly, it was impossible for him to leave a message.

Su Qiuming led them into the elevator. Yan Jiyun had no hope of leaving a sign—until he noted the lift’s battered, old surface, slathered with black grime. His eyes lit up.

As Su Qiuming spoke to his teammates, Yan Jiyun kneaded his paws into the black mud, then pressed a paw print onto the elevator panel—a mark any cat lover would recognize, and one you couldn’t fake. Maybe people would simply think it was an in-game prop.

Su Qiuming had thought of leaving marks, but so had plenty of others. When they tried to stash a fifth wad of paper, they found every gap already packed full, notes spilling out.

The tiny gaps had been working overtime—spitting out paper balls by the dozen.

Jiang Sui, one teammate, said, “Ming-ge, at this rate paper wads won’t work; everyone’s doing it. By the time you dig one out, you have to sort through a pile.”

Su Qiuming said, “Let’s just use the pen to write on the wall straight up. We’re only assembling teammates for tasks; no one knows who’s competing with whom, and no one has the leisure to mess with other squads right now.”

Yan Jiyun: True enough. Attacking unknown opponents blindly would be overeager.

Jiang Sui worried, “But among the ones we recover, there’s probably a mole.”

Su Qiuming shrugged, “You think other teams don’t have any? If anyone doesn’t look like a real teammate, just test them on the little stuff—you’ll figure it out quickly.”

Yan Jiyun nodded inwardly—sound advice. He no longer needed to worry about a player taking his place in his team; any impostor would be easily exposed, since the game hadn’t provided personal info about the player you impersonated. It came down to improvisation on the mole’s part, and to team rapport; surviving as an undercover was tough.

But in the end, victory would be decided by points, not just undercovers.

If a mole was caught by the enemy, that team would surely lose points. But if the mole succeeded in leaving the infiltrated squad without being found, that was also a win for their side. If he could sneak back to his own team, that was as legitimate as anything.

So now, Yan Jiyun just needed to gauge Su Qiuming’s team; if staying grew too risky, he’d slip away to find Qi Feng. But if he could lay low, he’d keep racking up points here.

After some straight-forward teammate-finding, Su Qiuming’s group soon found a fourth member. Yan Jiyun marked each place they’d stopped with a directional cat paw, checking each time that no one saw his sneaky move.

It was a formidable team—Su Qiuming had managed to gather nearly all their members within just twenty minutes.

They assembled at the hotel buffet on the first floor, now brimming with players.

Su Qiuming’s squad was at full capacity—twenty spots, but only nineteen present. The one missing was presumed the undercover.

This undercover’s name was Zhou Hefang.

Nineteen teammates confirmed each other’s identities, only one remained unaccounted for.

Young Cub was the group’s outspoken youngster; sitting cross-legged, he said, “What if Zhou Hefang is the mole? The twenty of us are always running dungeons together; anyone shows up, we can check their bona fides. If Zhou Hefang shows up as a mole, he’ll get caught right away.”

Almost everyone agreed. Zhou Hefang wasn’t new; he’d know the codes and how to find his team. If he hadn’t come, it must be out of fear—afraid of being caught.

Su Qiuming said nothing.

The vice-captain spoke up, “Let’s just assume Zhou Hefang is the mole. If he’s still gone when we turn in our answer, then he’s definitely it.”

Yan Jiyun realized, perfect—he’d just replaced Zhou Hefang.

Now that the mole was “identified,” the squad could fully focus on the games. With the mole absent to disrupt them, they’d proceed without worry.

Su Qiuming still didn’t say a word. Just then, the cat in his arms squirmed. Turning, he saw Qi Feng approach with his eleven teammates—faces both familiar and less so.

Su Qiuming glanced at “Yan Jiyun” standing obediently beside Qi Feng, clicking his tongue quietly.

Qi Feng had already spotted Yan Jiyun and instantly knew that the “Yan Jiyun” beside him was a fake. He kept his composure and approached Su Qiuming.

“Thank you for finding my cat.”

Su Qiuming’s gaze drifted critically to Yan Jiyun; for some reason, he found “Yan Jiyun” especially off-putting today.

On impulse, he refused to return the cat. “What if I don’t give it back? Finders keepers—there’s no tag on its collar.”

Qi Feng understood he was being difficult. “Give me back the cat and I’ll owe you a favor.”

Su Qiuming noticed how uncharacteristically quiet the cat in his arms was—wasn’t this the cat that never left Qi Feng’s side in the top-level scenarios?

A thought struck him. “Why don’t you call him? See who he chooses. If you say his name, will he answer?”

Confidently, Qi Feng called his cat, reaching out to Caramel. “Caramel, come here.”

Players from both teams, and all the onlookers gathering around, immediately quieted, fanning the flames of gossip in their hearts!

Once friends, now rivals—both about to fight over a cat. Would the black cat choose his original owner or his current one? Whose affection would the black cat accept?

Qi Feng called out a second time when Yan Jiyun didn’t move, puzzled but not showing it. “Caramel, come to me.”

Why wasn’t he coming? Wasn’t this his Caramel?

So, under everyone’s gaze, the black cat sat calmly on Su Qiuming’s lap, completely ignoring Qi Feng.

Spectators: Wow, the original owner loses to the new one!

Qi Feng: “……”