Cat 331: The Game Will Be Permanently Shut Down

Chapter 331 The Game Will Be Permanently Shut Down

It wasn’t just Su Qiuming who felt a sense of disbelief and inexplicable fear upon seeing Qi Feng; Lan Mo, Sister Liang, and the others all broke into smiles.

He hadn’t come alone. Behind him were countless players—those who had originally stayed behind in Central City. The flood of people rushed in, swiftly overpowering Su Qiuming’s group of helpers. Lan Mo, Gu Wenzhu, Qiu Xi, and the others were all freed.

Lan Mo couldn’t help but call out, “Brother Feng!”

Qi Feng had brought nothing but surprises.

Su Qiuming, on the other hand, stared at Yan Jiyun. “Why? Weren’t you separated from him? He couldn’t possibly be here!”

He couldn’t believe his carefully laid plans had gone awry.

The ground continued to tremble and collapse, corners and edges around them beginning to dissolve into tiny points of light. The world itself seemed to be slowly fading away.

Su Qiuming pulled tight the net of consciousness binding Yan Jiyun, pressing him close. “Qi Feng, take one more step and I’ll smash his consciousness!”

Qi Feng halted five meters before them. “Su Qiuming, there’s no need for you to go this far for the system.”

Su Qiuming gripped an eight-centimeter blade to Yan Jiyun’s throat. “Tell me, how did you and Yan Jiyun conspire to get here?”

Yan Jiyun thought to himself, Is “conspire” even the right word? Shouldn’t it be “sneak around”?

But given his relationship with Qi Feng, perhaps it worked. It was just that Su Qiuming seemed to lack basic education, or maybe he was too angry to use the right idiom.

Yan Jiyun said, “Do you really want to know?”

Su Qiuming was barely able to contain his anger; he’d been so thorough, how could there still be a loophole? He simply didn’t understand!

Why had he failed?

“Speak!” Su Qiuming’s voice trembled.

Qi Feng, seeing that Su Qiuming might lose control and hurt Yan Jiyun, spoke up for him. “We were separated, but not really. There’s a feature between Jiyun and me that no one else knows about.”

Su Qiuming snapped, “Impossible. I know every feature in the system!”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Well, there are things you don’t know. You’re not the system itself.”

Su Qiuming barked, “Out with it!”

Qi Feng answered, “Jiyun and I have a system. He can locate me wherever I am, and I can locate him. He can even summon me.”

Yan Jiyun added, “Impressive, right? Do you know who created this system?”

Su Qiuming accused, “It was you!”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Otherwise, why would Qi Feng and I enter the highest-level arena on our own, unafraid of being separated? Didn’t you think of that?”

Su Qiuming felt his vision swim. “When did you implant a system within the system?”

Yan Jiyun thought back earnestly. “Of course, it was a long time ago, but just how long…”

He stopped suddenly; he really couldn’t recall how long ago it was.

Strange, why were parts of his memory missing? Had overuse of his consciousness cost him some memories? Perhaps this was a side effect of creating the master-pet system.

Realizing this, Yan Jiyun stopped speaking, raising a faint smile instead. “I don’t intend to tell you.”

The surrounding rumbling grew louder. Su Qiuming watched as the structures formed from energy were slowly destroyed.

“What else have you done?”

This time, Yan Jiyun didn’t need to answer—Qi Feng’s assembled players could use actions to show Su Qiuming.

They skillfully joined forces, using their consciousness to absorb energy from the surroundings bit by bit, strengthening themselves and turning that power against the buildings—including the pillar of light where Yan Jiyun and Su Qiuming stood.

Yan Jiyun shouted to Qi Feng, “This pillar is the system core here. Attack it!”

Qi Feng saw where Yan Jiyun was standing and replied, “No!”

If they attacked the pillar, Yan Jiyun would surely be harmed.

Su Qiuming was now cornered, with all escape routes blocked by the players Qi Feng had brought.

He shouted into the air, “System! Control them, get them out of here!”

But there was no response—no voice, no system.

It was as if the so-called system had never existed at all.

Su Qiuming called out over and over:

“System!”

“System!”

“System!”

Yan Jiyun couldn’t help but taunt him. “Your system has abandoned you.”

Su Qiuming shouted, “Shut up! If it weren’t for you, the game would be running perfectly. If I’d known, I would have gotten rid of you from the start!”

Yan Jiyun said, “But you never thought I’d become a player. Su Qiuming, we’re all human—why turn against your own? Besides, you’re not as smart as I am.”

Qi Feng actually wanted to tell Yan Jiyun to stop antagonizing Su Qiuming, but he found it oddly entertaining and didn’t intervene.

Sister Jixiang, standing behind Qi Feng, whispered, “Brother Feng, what do we do now? I don’t think this place will last much longer.”

They worried about what would happen if they fell—would there just be another trap waiting below?

The game was paralyzed, but they also feared a failed attack might provoke a backlash.

Qi Feng fully trusted Yan Jiyun. “Don’t worry. If Jiyun says we can leave, then we can. I believe him.”

Sister Jixiang looked at Yan Jiyun, who was still Su Qiuming’s hostage. She hadn’t spoken much to him, but admired his courage. She herself could never dare to defy the system and the game, but he could—it was truly admirable.

With Qi Feng drawing closer by the moment, Su Qiuming tightened his hold around Yan Jiyun’s neck. “I said don’t come any closer!”

Qi Feng placed his right hand behind his back, conjuring a gun in his grasp.

Su Qiuming, ever wary of Qi Feng, spotted the movement. “Qi Feng, show me your right hand. You’re hiding a weapon, aren’t you?”

Qi Feng dispelled the newly formed gun, showing his hands. “See? Nothing. Let Jiyun go. I won’t do anything to you—once we leave the game, we’ll be strangers. You have nothing to fear from me.”

Su Qiuming retorted, “Why should I believe you? And how do you know I’ll make it back to reality? Don’t make empty promises.”

Behind his back, Yan Jiyun signaled to Teacher Qu and the others, gesturing for Sister Jixiang to lead an attack on the pillar.

The pillar was the last reserve of game energy. Destroy it, and they could leave!

Yan Jiyun mouthed silently: Quickly, don’t worry about me!

When no one moved, he grew anxious, his expression twisting.

He mouthed again: I’ll be fine!

Yan Jiyun: Teacher Qu! Lin Xie! Jiang Yan! Lan Mo! Sister Liang!

Yan Jiyun: Qi Feng! Qi Feng! Qi Feng! Hurry!

Su Qiuming still dragged Yan Jiyun close beside the pillar. “If any of you make a move, Yan Jiyun will die—but bringing someone down with me wouldn’t be so bad.”

Suddenly, someone launched an aura attack at the pillar!

Boom! The ground trembled.

Cracks began to run along the pillar, branching and widening.

“Crack, crack, crack.”

Teacher Qu glanced at the culprit. “Who the hell told you to attack?”

Lin Xie whispered, “If we all attack together, can we save him?”

Jiang Yan said, “It’s worth a try.”

Even as they spoke, Qi Feng was already charging toward Su Qiuming. At the same moment, Yan Jiyun transformed into a black cat. Su Qiuming swung his knife at Qi Feng.

Qi Feng caught Su Qiuming’s hand, using all his strength to neutralize the blow, and snatched from his grip the black-cat-shaped Yan Jiyun at the critical moment.

The transformation had caught Su Qiuming off guard; he was barely able to react.

The others surged forward to try to restrain Su Qiuming, but he only laughed. “You are all the kind of people I hate most—hypocritical and selfish. Qi Feng, my former friend, you are the person I hate most of all.”

Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng were still closest to Su Qiuming. Yan Jiyun stopped the others. “All of you, stay back!”

Teacher Qu, seething, shot an arrow at Su Qiuming’s leg.

Qi Feng’s right hand was covered in blood. He kicked Su Qiuming in the abdomen with full force, clutching Yan Jiyun tightly with his left arm. “Doesn’t matter to me—I don’t like you either.”

Su Qiuming slammed into the pillar, cracks spreading rapidly, coughing up blood—proof the kick had been at maximum strength.

Yan Jiyun looked back at Su Qiuming, who flashed a self-mocking smile. “Then I’ll send you on your way! We’re all doomed anyway!”

As Qi Feng prepared to finish Su Qiuming off, Yan Jiyun shifted back to human form and shoved Qi Feng away!

Qi Feng stared in disbelief. “Why—Why push me?”

Using every ounce of strength, Yan Jiyun thrust Qi Feng away and shouted to the others, “He’s going to self-destruct! Get back!”

Before the words were fully out, Su Qiuming exploded into a burst of silvery-white light behind Yan Jiyun, blinding everyone.

The eruption of Su Qiuming’s consciousness was a massive surge of energy. The pillar’s cracks widened even faster, the sounds of rumbling, shattering, and splintering ringing out together.

The ground split apart, dropping everyone into free fall—including Qi Feng, whom Yan Jiyun had pushed away. Qi Feng reached desperately for Yan Jiyun.

Qi Feng saw red on his left hand and his heart turned ice-cold. He couldn’t believe it, telling himself a being of consciousness shouldn’t bleed.

He called out in panic, “Yan Jiyun! Yan Jiyun! Grab my hand, quickly—reach up, take my hand…”

“We agreed to leave the game together! We never said I’d be going alone!”

“Yan Jiyun, don’t fall asleep!”

Yan Jiyun tried to reach out, but his arm felt weighed by countless tons. His head throbbed, his body threatened to split apart from pain—excruciating pain. In truth, he was timid and afraid of pain, lazy and greedy, completely unsuited to being a leader, never wanting to be anyone’s boss—just a pampered house cat with an owner to care for him.

It seemed all his old dreams had come true.

Voices calling his name faded around him, growing more and more distant. His hearing, once so sharp, seemed to be slipping away bit by bit.

He truly hated being responsible for all these people—so exhausting. At last, he had led them all out.

In that moment, he remembered everything. The task that had sent him into the game was finally complete.

He felt utterly weary, longing only for sleep.

Yan Jiyun closed his tired eyes. After all these years in the game, he had never known such peace as now.

When he woke, he would go find his master, Qi Feng.

When he woke—when he woke—when he woke—

At the same time—

On the game’s outside, the now blackened livestream screen flashed a white announcement:

[Due to force majeure, the ‘Destiny’ game is shutting down. Starting today, the game will be permanently removed from service, and the livestream channel will be closed forever.]

Author’s note:

They’ve left the game~

Main story complete.

Next comes the return to reality.

I’ve divided the dungeon game plot as the main story. The plot of the cat and Feng returning to reality is included in the extras, so the main story ends here.

Don’t worry, I’ll write it all out!