Arc 7: Innocence
CW: questionable depiction of dissociative identity disorder. Tbh, the original text called it with its previous name, MPD (multiple personality disorder), I thought about keeping it faithful to the original. However, since this disorder is very often demonized by the media, I decided to at least use the currently-used medical term.
However, please remember this is fiction and fantasy, so the depiction is also fantastical.
[Want to be Human] livestream channel:
“Damn, our Kitty Baby is incredible! He directly triggered an upgraded main quest! Highlight moment, highlight moment, highlight moment! (rainbow fart.jpg)”
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen an instance where the main mission upgrades again after the instance has already been cleared. What an eye-opener. So the game can actually pull off something like this? This isn’t just a bug, is it?”
“I originally thought the two instances were meant to be played together from the start. But now I realize they’re actually two separate storylines. After the [Mermaid] instance ends, the players find the exit leading to [Mingya High School]. During that final bit of time, the system can naturally eliminate a portion of the players before throwing the rest into [Mingya High School]. (P.S. Kitty Baby being taken to [Mingya High School] by Qu-laoshi from the beginning was probably an exception.) The NPCs and story structures in both instances are very similar, except [Mingya High School] seems to include supernatural elements. Once the [Mingya High School] instance ends, players should be able to leave the game directly. But now Kitty Baby has become the exception. He precisely dug up the hidden information connecting both instances and uncovered the truth behind them ahead of time, so he directly triggered a brand-new main mission.”
“This is way too complicated. I don’t think my brain is wrinkly enough for this. Looks like I’m only qualified to watch difficulty level 2 and below, while Kitty Baby jumped straight into a level 4 instance. It’s way too much of a brain-burner. My IQ just can’t keep up… Now the system upgraded the main mission too, and I understand even less.”
“I actually think it’s pretty easy to understand. Mimi figured out the secret behind the [Mermaid] instance, and that secret explains why Lin-laoshi suddenly started killing people. In the [Mermaid] instance, Qu-laoshi should be the person that helps instigate Lin-laoshi into a murder frenzy. But in the [Mingya High School] instance, there’s also a Qu-laoshi, except he’s constantly guiding players to find the murderer, or perhaps he’s been searching for the murderer himself all along. That means there’s someone behind the murderer as well. So who is that? Could it be another Qu-laoshi we didn’t know about? Mimi already found the hidden key NPC back in the level 2 instance. Once you combine the two instances, the real objective becomes finding the true Qu-laoshi. That’s the real merged instance.”
“Upstairs, I think I finally understand what you’re getting at. Thanks for the explanation.”
“Where’s my brain? Where’s my brain? Why do I still not get it? I’ll just wait for Kitty Baby to solve the mystery for me. You big-brain people feel like you came from another dimension.”
Yan Jiyun was dazed as he was teleported to an unknown place. A gloomy sky hung overhead as a light rain steadily fell. Raindrops landed on Yan Jiyun’s face, making him distinctly uncomfortable.
He had no idea how difficult the upgraded main mission would be, but he did know that if he didn’t find somewhere to take shelter soon, he’d be soaked through.
Shielding his head with one hand, he looked around, unsure of where he was.
Weren’t they supposed to have been teleported to [Mingya High School]?
Their current main quest was to find the real Teacher Qu.
So his guess had actually been right. This world changed according to Teacher Qu’s will. To put it another way, they were all currently inside Teacher Qu’s mental world. Teacher Qu himself was likely a true genius, or mentally ill, or maybe both at the same. That explained why Teacher Qu No. 2 had become enraged after hearing the recording and why thunder had immediately begun rolling.
Since this place existed within Teacher Qu’s mind, the weather reflected his emotional state. When he was in a good mood, the skies were clear. When he wasn’t, thunder and rain arrived.
Most likely, Teacher Qu suffered from dissociative identity disorder, and every player was currently inside his consciousness.
Ever since the announcement of the new instance, Yan Jiyun had a wild guess.
Xiao Yue was clearly the central NPC of the [Mermaid] instance, and so was Qu Wanqiao. However, for some unknown reason, the two never crossed paths. He also remembered Liu Yixuan mentioning the timeline: Teacher Qu had appeared only after Xiao Yue committed suicide.
If both were the center of the story, but didn’t have anything to do with the other… wouldn’t that imply the two cannot exist at the same time in one instance?
That meant the deceased Xiao Yue had either become — or had been replaced by — one of the Teacher Qu personalities. In other words, Xiao Yue is one of Teacher Qu’s alters.
Yan Jiyun also realized something important: he had never once seen a photograph of Xiao Yue, despite his importance to the plot,
The mission was to find the real Teacher Qu, which meant finding the main personality. This also meant that neither of the two Teacher Qus he’d encountered so far was the main personality, as Yan Jiyun hadn’t found the “true one”.
So where was the dominant personality?
He had finally cleared the [Mermaid] instance, and now there was another one, and the total instance time hadn’t increased at all!
The system had deducted another 4 hours from his playtime, leaving him with very little remaining.
[Time remaining until the instance ends: 5 days 20 hours 43 sec]
The rain intensified. Only then did Yan Jiyun realize he was standing in a miniature soccer field.
There had still been over 30 players when they entered the music building, so where had everyone gone?
He wasn’t even sure this was [Mingya High School] anymore. It looked more like an elementary school. The soccer field in front of him was visibly smaller than regulation size.
Has the setting changed to an elementary school?
Yan Jiyun made a guess about the logic behind finding Teacher Qu. Starting from elementary school, all the way through high school?
Would he have to find each personality split off from the real Teacher Qu in every new instance?
The game really knew how to torment a newcomer. Only now did he realize that spending an entire year as a cat had been true happiness. Maybe he shouldn’t have turned back into a human at all. Living on cat food wasn’t such a bad deal. This game was practically making him go bald!
As he grumbled inwardly, the rain grew even heavier. There was still quite a distance between the soccer field and the main school building, so he had no choice but to run.
Only, the moment he took a step forward, he discovered something infuriating.
He had gotten even tinier!
Standing in the pouring rain, Yan Jiyun spread out both hands and stared at them. So small…. was he only eight or nine years old now?
Forget it, he had to find shelter first!
His short little legs carried him sprinting through the curtain of rain toward the school building.
Who would’ve thought the game could become even more ridiculous? It was actually making them younger with every instance!!
[Want to be Human] livestream channel:
“I’ve complained so much about this instance that I’m exhausted. I thought high school Kitty Baby was already adorable, but somehow this is even cuter. He looks so soft and squishy. Even with that serious little face, he can’t hide how ridiculously adorable he is!!”
“Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh GODDD! If his human form is this cute, wouldn’t his kitten form be even cuter?! I want to see him turn back into the little black cat! He must be a round little fluffball! I seriously want to see it!”
“This damned game just keeps tricking me into spending money one step at a time. I can’t stop sending Kitty Baby gifts. He’s so skinny aiyah, he needs to eat more! But damn, he’s adorable!”
“I don’t even care about the plot anymore. I just want to see whether this crappy system can make Mimi even smaller. Like… drinking milk from a baby bottle.”
“Upstairs is so right. I want to see that too!”
Yan Jiyun didn’t dare transform back into a cat now. Before high school, he’d already looked like a six- or seven-month-old kitten. If he got any younger, he’d only be three months old, right? Or even younger…?
Six months could barely pass as adolescence. Anything younger than that was kittenhood. And what could kittens that age even do? Basically played a little then fell asleep afterwards.
Although Yan Jiyun had become smaller, he was still fairly quick compared to all the other tiny children. He soon ran into the school’s first-floor display area showcasing the school’s achievements and culture.
Quite a few children his size were already gathered there. Every one of them had babyish faces. Unfortunately, that didn’t make Yan Jiyun any happier. The constant chattering gave him a headache, and several children were running around roughhousing. Apparently their class had been having PE, and everyone had rushed back from the playground to escape the rain.
Scanning the crowd of little kids, Yan Jiyun couldn’t find a single familiar face. Forget Teacher Qu, he couldn’t even find any of his teammates.
Shrinking from adulthood back to high school had still left everyone recognizable. After all, everyone was already mostly grown, a few years’ difference didn’t change appearances that drastically. But now they’d all reverted to childhood. Who could possibly recognize anyone? People always say girls change dramatically as they grow up, but boys change just as much.
Shaking the raindrops from his hair, Yan Jiyun suddenly felt his nose itch. He sneezed twice in a row.
He silently prayed he wouldn’t catch a cold. If a human caught one, they could at least find cold medicine at school. But a kitten? Not so much. He checked through the props he still hadn’t used to see whether he had any cold medicine. There was medicine for stomach problems, but nothing else. Next time he entered an instance, he absolutely had to stock up on medical items. Instance props were practically useless anyway, so might as well give up trying.
Just after he finished sneezing, a male teacher carrying a clipboard walked over and addressed the rambunctious children. “Everyone, hurry back to your classrooms. You all got caught in the rain. An auntie will be bringing everyone ginger tea in a little while. Remember to drink it so you don’t catch a cold.”
The phrase “don’t catch a cold” sounded almost like a magic spell.
Keeping a low profile, Yan Jiyun followed the other children back into the classroom. After finding his seat and sitting down, he immediately started sneezing again. His entire body felt chilled.
Being soaked through wasn’t pleasant at all.
Not long afterward, one of the school’s kitchen workers arrived carrying ginger tea, one bowl for every child.
The moment Yan Jiyun smelled the ginger tea, he couldn’t stand it. Although he currently looked human, he still couldn’t drink the stuff. It wouldn’t help his cold in the slightest.
The smell was simply too overwhelming. Once every child had been given a bowl, the entire classroom filled with the scent of ginger tea. Elementary school teachers were generally very conscientious. The teacher watched every child drink. If someone refused, she’d persuade them; if someone finished their bowl, she’d praise them.
Yan Jiyun held the warm bowl and pretended to drink, but he couldn’t keep up the act for long. The teacher eventually noticed him and strode over. He immediately lowered his head, pretending not to see her.
‘Don’t notice me. Don’t notice me. Don’t notice me.’
The beautiful young teacher with long hair stopped beside him. “Yan Jiyun, you should listen to your teacher and obediently finish your ginger tea.”
Obedient?
He raised his head and carefully studied her. Was this a coincidence?
Teacher Qu had always liked telling students to be obedient too. Could this female teacher be another one of his personalities? Then again, there wasn’t any rule saying every split personality had to look alike.
Yan Jiyun obediently nodded. “Laoshi, I’ll drink it. I’m just afraid it’s too hot.”
Having just sneezed repeatedly, his voice still carried a slight nasal tone, making him sound especially soft and well-behaved.
The teacher patted him on the shoulder. “Good boy.” Then she moved on to supervise the other children.
Yan Jiyun hadn’t used many experience cards in this instance.
But now that classes had started again, they were being consumed like running water.
To avoid having the teacher keep watching whether he drank the ginger tea, he picked up the bowl and walked toward the door.
The teacher called after him. “Yan Jiyun, where are you going?”
Yan Jiyun replied, “Laoshi, my grandma said that if tea is too hot, you can cool it down by putting it in cold water for a while. I’m going to cool it off.”
After the teacher watched him scamper out of the classroom, she hesitated, unsure what to say. What he said wasn’t exactly wrong, and with so many other students to keep an eye on, she simply didn’t have the bandwidth to stop him.
The moment Yan Jiyun reached the corridor, he ran straight to the sink outside the restroom and dumped out the ginger tea.
With the rain still pouring, he didn’t dare go outside again.
Judging from the weather, Teacher Qu must be feeling miserable over something.
But where was he supposed to find a miserable Teacher Qu?
