Chapter 3: Crossing the Road
Yan Jiyun’s reaction was faster than the woman’s. He darted from under the left sofa to the right sofa.
The woman’s strength was limited in the end. She had just lifted the big sofa and couldn’t catch Yan Jiyun immediately.
He couldn’t let the woman find him anymore, and he also couldn’t let her keep chasing him like this. If they ran like this for a whole night, even if the woman had enough energy, he didn’t.
Yan Jiyun used the time he was hiding under the sofa to survey the living room. He saw the light switch in the living room and had an idea.
If he turned off the lights suddenly and found a corner to hide…
The woman could currently keep track of his movements, but if he turned off the lights and then turned it back on again, she would lose her senses momentarily. That would give him time to avoid capture.
Yan Jiyun went out from under the sofa again. The woman wanted to lift up the right side, but the moment she lifted it up, he shot straight towards the light switch. Using the scattered cardboard boxes to jump up, he raised his front paw and swatted at the switch.
With a snap, the lights went out, and the woman who wanted to chase instantly plunged into darkness.
Taking advantage of the darkness, Yan Jiyun sneaked back into Li Muyang’s room and under his bed. The woman wouldn’t think of this hiding spot temporarily.
The woman cursed while going to turn on the lights, then continued to fish through the living room for Yan Jiyun.
“Damn little beast, don’t let me find you. I’m going to stew you if I catch you!”
At this time, Li Muyang furtively crept out from under the bed and closed the door, bravely locking it amidst his mother’s curses. This was something he had never done before.
He whispered to Yan Jiyun under the bed: “She, can’t come in. You can, come out.”
Mother Li couldn’t find Yan Jiyun, so she first cussed out the black cat, then her husband, and finally couldn’t do anything, so she went back to her room to sleep.
Yan Jiyun could finally let out a sigh of relief, sprawling out beneath the bed, unwilling to move. He listened for a while for movements, and after confirming that there was indeed no sound of Mother Li’s footsteps or scolding, he climbed onto Li Muyang’s bed to rest.
He finally got a moment of peace. The only bad thing was he was now slightly hungry, and he regretted not eating the cat food he always disliked.
So hungry…
[Livestream]
“The little kitty is too smart! I love the new species of anchors in the game!”
“The kitty anchor’s IQ is a bit high.”
“Mother Li was tricked into going in circles. Why do I feel so happy watching it?”
“This is the first time I saw Li Muyang’s health protected at 90% before going to sleep.”
“Won’t say anything else: reward!”
“Too disappointed. The little kitty wasn’t caught by Mother Li. Mother Li’s no good ah!”
At this time, the other players who were still squatting downstairs had finally discussed one, two, or three battle plans. Just as they were about to take action, they noticed that the noise from Apartment 6002 had ceased and the lights had been turned off.
Moreover, the main character Li Muyang’s health remained at 90% without changing, meaning that despite his mother’s earlier rage, he hadn’t been harmed. The players scattered across different floors all assumed that another player had gone up to stop the woman from beating the child.
Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, the system issued an instance progress notification.
【Player Yan Jiyun has obtained 5 favorability points from Li Muyang.】
All the players were a little confused upon seeing this system message.
Those bold enough to choose the hard mode weren’t ordinary newbies; they had at least one to three instances under their belt. Yet, they had never heard of players being able to brush up favorability with NPCs!
Young man in the hoodie: “You can even gain favorability from the main character of the instance?”
Red-haired Man: “This is my first time seeing this too.”
Short-haired girl: “How do you increase NPC favorability? Is it random?”
Young man in the hoodie: “Who’s this Yan Jiyun? Do you know?”
Other players also had similar doubts.
Why was there NPC favorability? How did it come about?
However, an experienced player said, “I heard from the veterans in our guild that instance NPCs will indeed give out favorability points to players they like, but the probability is extremely low and hard to trigger.”
“Are there any benefits to gaining favorability?”
“Of course there is. Raising favorability can increase your chances of clearing the instance. But while everyone is looking for clues to pass, no one would go out of their way to brush up NPC favorability. You have to know that each NPC in “Destiny” is more cruel than the last. Only fools would do it. Besides, not all NPC can have their favorability increased. Only those that are very relevant to the mission can.”
“This Yan Jiyun probably didn’t do it on purpose, right?”
“It’s probably just a coincidence. The instance is 24 hours long, and barely an hour has passed. I don’t believe he intentionally gained favorability. It’s just luck.”
Compared to the other players’ surprise and confusion, Yan Jiyun was much calmer. It was just like when he used to play games and gave small gifts to NPCs, who would then increase their favorability based on the value of the gifts. He had just led Mother Li on a wild goose chase and was starving. It seemed quite normal for Li Muyang to give him a little goodwill in return.
The rest of the night passed without incident.
Yan Jiyun still jumped onto Li Muyang’s bed in the middle of the night, half asleep and half awake, always cautious of Mother Li’s sudden outbursts. Fortunately, Mother Li didn’t cause any trouble again.
The next morning, Mother Li actually happily got up early to make Li Muyang and Father Li breakfast, as if nothing happened last night. Even Yan Jiyun got an exclusive cat meal: a bowl of goat milk and cat food.
He was hesitant to eat it at first, but ate it in the end. It was even quite delicious.
Mother Li didn’t seem to remember what happened last night at all.
[Livestream]
“What’s happening? According to the normal development, shouldn’t Mother Li get mad and kick the door open to tell Li Muyang to get up?”
“Did Mother Li correct herself? She looks so much gentler.”
“Could it be that after being trained by the kitty last night, her temperament changed overnight?”
“Is this a new plot? Isn’t it too heartwarming?”
“There’s more on the road to school soon. You can immediately see the cat anchor encountering all kinds of unexpected events.”
After Yan Jiyun had eaten and drunk his fill, he checked the instance’s information.
【Returning Home From School】
【Main Mission Progress: 5%】
【Li Muyang’s Current Health: 90%】
【Li Muyang’s Favorability: 5/100】
【Time Remaining: 12 hours】
【Players Remaining: 10/10】
The night passed without any significant changes. The number of players also remained the same.
Yan Jiyun had a task to complete. It was impossible for him to stay in the room all day long. While Li Muyang was tidying up, he got into his spacious backpack.
When Li Muyang picked up his backpack, he noticed a little black cat inside.
He was in primary school right now and must leave on time at 7:50 am in order to get to school in time for morning reading.
As soon as he exited the small community, a string of strangers followed behind.
Yan Jiyun peered out through the gap, and the group following them were all players.
It takes Li Muyang 20 minutes to walk to school. He would pass through six intersections, four with traffic lights, and others uncontrolled. Thus, they would need to pay special attention to passing vehicles at these sites.
Primary school students went to school alone without being accompanied by a parent. If they weren’t careful, all kinds of problems could crop up.
Yan Jiyun opened the schoolbag that wasn’t zipped tightly, poking a head out and keeping an eye on the road.
After leaving the sight of his violent mother, Li Muyang grew a bit more lively.
He whispered to Yan Jiyun, “How about I give you a name? Let’s call you Sesame.”
Yan Jiyun: “…” He didn’t really want to accept this new name.
Li Muyang: “I heard the granny downstairs say that if you give a pet a name, it will have feelings for it in the future and won’t go away.
“If you leave, will you come back to see me?
“Sesame, how come you don’t meow? Other kitties all meow.”
Yan Jiyun did not change his principles because the other was a child. He could be a cat, but he wouldn’t meow indiscriminately. He had his own will, and he was a human. Turning into a cat was an accident.
He stared at the road in front. They were about to cross the first light.
Li Muyang said: “However, if you follow me to school, you can’t meow. If my classmates find out, you’ll be taken away. My classmates all like to bully animals.”
As he was speaking, the first intersection light turned red, and Li Muyang, who was focused on talking, simply walked straight out. At this time, a white car turned from the left without slowing down.
Yan Jiyun anxiously tried to pull Li Muyang back onto the sidewalk, but before he had time to pat Li Muyang’s shoulder to remind him, a young man in a hoodie had already yanked Li Muyang’s backpack, pulling him back to the pedestrian waiting area.
However, the situation didn’t end there. The driver of the vehicle was startled by Li Muyang’s sudden appearance. There was a “learner” sticker on the car, so it was likely a new driver. This novice mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, and the car that was supposed to turn left veered right instead and drove straight towards Li Muyang and Yan Jiyun!
The car was accelerating towards them, and if Li Muyang was hit, he would be seriously injured if not killed!
The young man in the hoodie also hadn’t expected the car would turn towards them and he desperately dragged Li Muyang back. A burly red-haired man rushed forward, stopping the car that was accelerating with his bare hands. The car’s rear wheels lifted off the ground but was unable to move forward. A short-haired girl broke the car window, kicked the driver unconscious, and nimbly slipped into the driver’s seat, timely pressing the brake with her foot!
The car was finally stopped, and Li Muyang’s life was temporarily not in danger.
The short-haired girl jumped out of the car, looking at the young man in the hoodie: “You okay?”
The young man in the hoodie nodded, “I’m fine.”
Short-haired girl: “Who’s asking you? I’m asking the kid.”
Young man in the hoodie grumbled: “Even I’m fine, so what could happen to him?”
The seamless cooperation of these three reminded Yan Jiyun: they were definitely players, and players with a certain degree of coordination. The red-haired man had an astonishing amount of strength, and the short-haired girl was amazingly flexible.
Before he became familiar with this game, it was better to not expose his identity. The shot hits the bird that pokes its head out.
He retracted his head back into Li Muyang’s backpack.
After the accident with the car was resolved, Li Muyang thanked the brothers and sister1Referring to strangers as brothers and sisters is polite in China. You can call older middle-aged folks as Uncle and Auntie., then continued towards school.
There were many people on the road, and the players used 120% of their energy to follow Li Muyang, afraid that with a single mistake, this NPC would GG2GG – Good Game, implying game over in this context..
Along the way, Yan Jiyun didn’t show his head again, wondering if any players noticed him earlier.
At this time, he felt quite nervous as he hid in the dark backpack. If Li Muyang was hit, he might also be crushed into a biscuit.
Li Muyang’s journey to school was not very safe. First, he was almost hit by a car. Then, he narrowly avoided being pushed into freshly poured concrete. Next, a bird laid an egg from the sky, almost hitting his head. Near the school, he was nearly shoved into the road by a crowd. Fortunately, there were players protecting him the whole way, and his little life was saved.
Strange incidents continued to occur along the way. When Li Muyang finally successfully arrived at school, the warning bell for class rang.
Players without proper identification were stopped outside the school gate, and only Yan Jiyun effortlessly followed him into the school.
He heard Li Muyang quickly running into the classroom. However, no matter how fast he was, he was still a primary school student with short legs, so he ended up being late.
When Li Muyang stopped, a stern voice reached Yan Jiyun’s ears: “Li Muyang, this is the third time you’ve been late this month. For today’s morning reading class, go stand in the hallway and reflect on why you keep being late. I will call your mother later too!”
Li Muyang’s face turned red as he stood at the classroom door, quietly muttering, “I’m sorry, Teacher Zhao. I didn’t mean to be late. Can you not call my parents?” There was a flash of fear in his eyes.
Yan Jiyun sneakily peeked out through a gap in the backpack and saw the owner of the stern voice.
This was a middle-aged woman emanating strictness, unable to tolerate half a speck of sand in her eyes. She kept a cold face and ignored Li Muyang’s nearly pleading request.
