Cat 318: He and His Owner Became One

Chapter 318: He and His Owner Become One

Yan Jiyun had already failed once in his attempt to escape the game; he dared not promise anyone that they could leave, but he would do everything in his power to make it happen together.

This was the second breakout plan. If it failed, there would be no turning back.

Those who had created this game would never let him go.

According to Qi Feng and the others, these people were indeed aliens. Not only had they dragged Qi Feng and the rest into the game, they had pulled the entire population of Earth in, treating every earthling with “fairness and justice”—including the so-called “NPCs,” who were also human.

The aliens did this for two main reasons: to invade Earth and to destroy its civilization.

Qi Feng and the others still didn’t realize that the title Destiny implied not only their own fate, but also subtly alluded to the fate of Earth itself.

Would they perish within the game, or struggle and emerge from it alive?

There was yet another truth: those above profited from people trapped in the game by making money through live broadcasts. “Destiny” also meant that the players could only ever stay under their control within the game, unable to leave, forever manipulated.

Destiny did not only signify the future of the players, but also the fate of these NPCs.

The wants of those behind the game were all too clear.

Yan Jiyun and Teacher Qu returned to his old secret base from the days when he was an NPC.

Here, only their kind were present.

He sat by a small pond, absentmindedly tossing fish food into the water.

Teacher Qu came and sat beside him. “You still like sitting here, feeding the fish, just as before.”

Yan Jiyun nodded, and after regaining his memories, he deliberately avoided mentioning the past—for none of it was pleasant to remember.

“Teacher Qu, we can never go back.”

Teacher Qu asked, “You know we can’t go back—why try so hard to escape the game?”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Because I hate having my life controlled. Don’t you?”

Teacher Qu answered, “I hate it too. If we never get out of here, I may never again feel the touch of a paintbrush on paper.”

Yan Jiyun said, “At least here, our consciousness lives on. If you follow me and rebel, and we fail, perhaps even our awareness will vanish.”

Teacher Qu answered, “Nothing is more precious than freedom, Chief. If you hadn’t resolutely decided to lead us out, we’d never have gotten another chance at life.”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “Teacher Qu is right.”

Just then, Lin Xie and Jiang Yan arrived.

Lin Xie said, “Chief, how about giving us a pre-battle rally?”

Yan Jiyun didn’t want to spoil everyone’s mood. “Alright!”

They were not only exiles, but now facing a do-or-die situation. There was nothing more to lose—even if he didn’t make it out himself, he was determined to help Qi Feng escape. After all, he was his owner.

Yan Jiyun strode ahead.

Behind him, Jiang Yan quietly gossiped with Lin Xie, “What’s up with the Chief today? He seems a bit down.”

Teacher Qu, full of sour grapes, chimed in, “That’s easy. Forced to leave his owner’s side, of course he’s feeling low.”

Yan Jiyun: …Have you forgotten how keen my ears are?

Lin Xie said, “What’s so good about that Qi Feng? He’s not even from our planet. How can they be in a relationship?”

Up ahead, Yan Jiyun thought: …Could it be, though the planets differ, they’re both still human?

Teacher Qu agreed, “Right? Not even as good-looking as me, and who knows what his family situation is. Can he afford to support our Chief in the future?”

Lin Xie insisted, “I’ll never approve of this match.”

Jiang Yan added, “Aren’t you overthinking it? Earth is way behind us. Just look at the rules in their dungeons—so many restrictions; same-sex marriage isn’t legal, and the social gap is huge. No way they could end up together.”

A vein throbbed on Yan Jiyun’s forehead; he finally lost patience and turned to glare at them. “Enough, all of you.”

But the three just burst out laughing.

Of course—it was intentional.

Having failed once before, Yan Jiyun was now plagued by anxiety.

Teacher Qu came up and patted his shoulder. “Chief, don’t worry. Even if your boyfriend and his friends let you down, you still have us.”

Yan Jiyun stood up for his boyfriend’s dignity. “He’s very reliable. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it back to you all.”

On his journey from death and back, any single setback could have ended his story forever.

Anyone who can carefully raise a helpless kitten is rare and precious indeed.

Jiang Yan teased, “So what are you worried about? Scared you won’t get to marry him in the end?”

Yan Jiyun gave him a swift kick. “If you can’t speak nicely, don’t speak at all.”

With their banter, Yan Jiyun felt much better and was able to let down his guard. He’d been under too much stress these past few days.

With three days left, he decided to rest for two, postponing all other matters. He needed to relax his mind first.

Since recovering his memory, he’d been constantly tense, like a bowstring ready to snap; if he kept going like this, he would eventually break.

Before he knew it, three days had passed.

During Yan Jiyun’s rest, Qi Feng and the players did not pause; everyone was on edge, ready and waiting for the moment to reenter the dungeon.

They were all nervous—more so than before any top-level dungeon.

This was a battle for all or nothing.

After three days of extra training, they appreciated even more the benefits of harnessing their consciousness.

They discovered the restraining power of the system wasn’t so absolute—players who should have returned to the game within three days used their awareness to adjust their entry time. This was itself a form of resistance.

So few were involved that even if the system flagged a “bug,” it would cause little alarm. This minor glitch would not catch the eye of those above—and that was why Yan Jiyun had only chosen guild elites, rather than rallying a mass of players.

For the first two days after returning, although Qi Feng had the replacement Caramel with him, it was no substitute for the real Yan Jiyun.

He kept himself busy, verifying every player’s identity on the roster.

Yan Jiyun had revealed he already knew the traitor among the NPCs, but had never told him who it was—after all, the fewer who knew, the safer it was for all.

Qi Feng checked in with each sub-team from the training, confirming all final details, and instructed Shi Yan, Gu Wenzhu, and others to verify everything even more closely.

They had chosen representative dungeons from the beginner, intermediate, advanced, and top levels, planning to dismantle the game from within. Their goal: to free the NPC consciousnesses and break down the game from the inside out.

To avoid system tracking, the NPCs would not gather in Central City, but wait in the designated dungeons for the players.

This would be the very first, historic cooperation between players and NPCs.

Three days flashed by.

At last, the final battle had arrived.

Everyone preparing to enter a dungeon today quietly pinned a black cat-head emblem to the left side of their chest.

They gathered at the very heart of Central City.

Some players, sensing something monumental afoot among the top guilds, stopped to watch those wearing the black cat badge with fiery eyes.

Good-hearted players brought their friends over to support them.

“Go for it!”

“I believe you can do it!”

“We’ll be waiting for your return.”

“No matter what—our respect to you all.”

Suddenly, hundreds of players found meaning in their persistence. A sense of justice burned within them.

As the time to enter drew near, the crowd of players around them swelled.

Qi Feng reminded everyone, “Pay attention to the time.”

Lan Mo’s eyes were already streaming with tears, while his partner, Sister Liang, simply rolled her eyes but said nothing.

At the designated hour, teams of players vanished, group after group, from the city center, each team assigned to destroy two dungeons—already enough to topple the game. Two was not the limit, but with so many dungeons, attention from above would quickly follow.

Qi Yunchu, Zhao Nian, Chu Mo, Sister Jixiang, and others all shook hands with Qi Feng.

Everyone wore the look of “the wind is cold and the river harsh; once a hero leaves, he may not return.”

Others went in teams of three or five—Qi Feng alone went into the top-level dungeon this time.

Qi Yunchu said, “We’ll go first. See you when it’s over.”

He meant Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun—Qi Feng’s only teammate this time would be Yan Jiyun.

This had been their own decision, because together they formed a player-pet system acknowledged by the game, allowing them to act in ways both plausible and unpredictable.

Only after seeing everyone else enter did Qi Feng check the pet status in his system, then select the top-level dungeon he’d prepared for.

In a blink, he entered the instance—this felt nothing like previous times. Before, he had barely noticed the transition, but today he could clearly sense the trajectory of his entry; it was swift, but he could see exactly how it happened.

Qi Feng entered the dungeon smoothly.

At that moment, his livestream was overwhelmed by a deluge of messages.

As he looked around for any sign of Yan Jiyun, a black shape tumbled into his arms. Qi Feng caught it securely—a fluffy, black bundle that nestled into his neck.

“I’ve missed you so much—a day is like three years, three days feels like nine autumns!”

The tension on Qi Feng’s handsome face slipped away, his eyes softening with humor. “Mm. I thought I’d have to find you myself.”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Did you forget? I can use the new ‘follow’ feature.”

The main pet system was a function he’d implanted with his consciousness, legitimized within the game—a cheat code the system itself recognized.

He could find Qi Feng by following his own awareness.

Qi Feng answered, “Let’s hope we never need to use this pet system again.”

Yan Jiyun nodded vigorously. Then he turned to Qi Feng, “Should we greet the audience?”

Both had always been stoic, never interacting with their livestream viewers, but now, thinking this might be their last appearance in the game, they wanted a memento.

Qi Feng agreed, “Let’s.”

Yan Jiyun jumped onto his shoulder, opened his own streaming channel, and waved a paw to the live comments scrolling by.

“Hello, everyone.” Hoping to never see you again.

The [Want To Be A Person] channel was instantly swept by messages, gifts and popularity soaring as never before.

“Ah ah ah ah ah!”

“Kitten! Kitten, the kitten talked to me!”

“Ahhh! I can’t speak!”

“Help, he’s so cool, so cool!”

“Waaah, they’ve merged with his owner! He’s brought his cat into the dungeon, I’m losing my mind, aaaah—!”