Chapter 127
Chapter 127
“You’re saying we’ve become pets?” Qi Jiajia’s catlike eyes widened in disbelief. What kind of fairy-tale world was this? It was pure surrealism!
Cheng Miao nodded and looked out through the small window in the backpack. The world outside was full of all sorts of gigantic animals: cats, dogs, hamsters, the occasional cow or sheep, and enormous birds flying overhead.
“Didn’t the place we were just in look like a pet store? There was an owner, customers, and even an employee responsible for dealing with disobedient pets.”
Perhaps the road had become smoother, because the backpack wasn’t jostling as badly. Cheng Miao let out a long breath.
Qi Jiajia pressed herself against the transparent window and stared outside, clicking her tongue in amazement. “Then why weren’t Lin Zhu and Uncle Qin with us?”
Cheng Miao carefully thought back. “Our identities should be connected to what we ate. You and I ate fish, so a cat bought us. In this world, our identities may be cats.”
“Lin Zhu ate nuts and things like that the entire time… He might correspond to some kind of rodent pet.”
“That doesn’t make sense. I remember Qian Ming eating meat, so why was he with us?” Qi Jiajia had caught a glimpse during the meal and remembered it.
Cheng Miao remained outwardly calm. “A pet store would naturally have both cats and dogs.”
Qi Jiajia’s brows drew together. “Uncle Qin ate the same thing as Qian Ming. Why wasn’t he there, then?”
Cheng Miao’s heart plummeted. The unease circling through her mind pressed down until she could hardly breathe. Qin Musong was in such excellent shape… He couldn’t have become a dog raised for meat, could he?
Qi Jiajia had clearly reached the same possibility. Her expression grew terrifyingly dark, and her teeth ground audibly.
Cheng Miao forced herself to rally. She patted Qi Jiajia’s head and motioned for her to touch her wrist. “Brother Qin is safe right now. Don’t worry for the time being. We need to make sure nothing happens to us first.”
Qi Jiajia kept her head lowered for a long moment before murmuring, “Mm.” Quite a while passed before she asked, “Then what about the people who ate vegetables?”
Cheng Miao looked outside and sighed. “They may have become cows, sheep, or rabbits… This instance relies far too much on luck.”
No wonder its death rate was so high that a receptionist had been forced to issue a temporary mission. With such an incomprehensible setting, who knew how many players had died immediately after the instance began?
To make matters worse, the players’ different identities exposed them to different dangers. Whether they could survive depended first on luck and second on how quickly they deciphered the instance’s true meaning.
“So the hint ‘Be yourself’ actually means we’re supposed to properly play the pets represented by our identities?” Qi Jiajia was in a terrible mood. She sat to the side, rubbing her wrist without pause.
“Mm.” Cheng Miao’s head ached with worry as well. They had no way to send a message. She was afraid Qin Musong might not be good at deciphering the premise and would get into trouble.
After more than half an hour, Cheng Miao felt the white cat arrive home. It opened the box and let Cheng Miao and Qi Jiajia out.
The pair cautiously observed their surroundings. The room was enormous, but relative to the white cat’s size, it was probably just a small apartment.
Judging by appearances, the white cat lived here alone. That allowed both of them to breathe a sigh of relief.
Several people suddenly ran out of the room. Cheng Miao shielded Qi Jiajia behind her and warily watched the two women and one man approach.
The two girls were quite young. They crowded around Cheng Miao in delight. “You’re new, right? This is great! Now we’ll have more company!”
The boy snorted. He walked up to Cheng Miao and spoke arrogantly. “I’m in charge of this house. Got it, newcomers?”
He sounded imposing enough, but the fact that he was roughly the same size as Cheng Miao diminished the effect.
Cheng Miao knew the natives of this instance must be accustomed to their identities and accepted them. Her group would only be staying for four days, so unless absolutely necessary, there was no reason to start a conflict.
Cheng Miao nodded, walked around the boy, and followed the white cat.
Building a good relationship with their owner would help keep them alive.
Qi Jiajia walked beside Cheng Miao. She understood the logic, but did Cheng Miao have to smile like such a lovestruck fool?
It was only after Lin Zhu was brought home that he learned the hamster who had bought him was a parent. There was also a young hamster in the family, and Lin Zhu was its pet.
Fortunately, the young hamster didn’t try to play with him right away, perhaps because it was afraid he would bite. This gave Lin Zhu a certain degree of freedom.
Four men and women nearby were still fighting over food. A cold-faced man glanced at Lin Zhu without greeting him. Lin Zhu studied the necklace around the man’s neck. He was probably a player.
Lin Zhu made no attempt to team up with him and instead moved farther away.
He opened one of his Items and searched: hamster habits.
Under the male player’s baffled gaze, Lin Zhu began studying in earnest. He was going to be the most qualified hamster possible!
Qin Musong ran through obstacle after obstacle, breathing slightly harder. Sweat soaked his black hair and plastered it to his forehead, doing nothing to diminish his rugged good looks.
His sharp eyes swept back and forth as he tried to identify the simplest route through the course.
Once again, he was the first to reach the finish line.
A large wolfdog patted his back with a front paw, then took him to eat pan-seared steak and an assortment of nutritionally balanced dishes.
If this instance weren’t so bizarre, Qin Musong would have considered it the easiest one he had ever cleared.
Nearly a full day had passed since they arrived at the white cat’s home. The cat treated all five of them well and gave them good food.
There was fish soup cooked until it was milky white and boneless fish meat. Cheng Miao ate happily.
The boy finished quickly. Seeing that Qi Jiajia was small and seemed easy to bully, he came straight over, knocked her aside, and began eating from her bowl.
Qi Jiajia narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t finish it all anyway, but that didn’t mean someone else could take her food as they pleased.
She looked around first. After confirming that the white cat had gone to bathe after preparing their food and wasn’t nearby, she turned back.
Cheng Miao watched Qi Jiajia reveal a slightly unhinged smile and sighed inwardly. As long as she didn’t beat him to death.
By the time the white cat emerged, Qi Jiajia had just removed the Hanging Noose from the boy’s body. She ignored him as he lay on the floor wailing.
His face was unharmed, but he had suffered considerable injuries in quite a few places across his body.
Qi Jiajia had spent several days learning hand-to-hand combat from Qin Musong. Because she was small, he had focused on teaching her decisive attacks against joints and other sensitive, vulnerable areas.
There hadn’t been many places inside instances where Qi Jiajia needed to use force, but she had finally found an opportunity to put the results of her training into practice. Satisfied, she dusted off her spotless clothes and squeezed in beside Cheng Miao.
Cheng Miao glanced at Qi Jiajia’s half-eaten bowl and gave her the rest of her own soup.
The white cat found the way the two of them helped each other adorable. It reached out a paw and stroked their heads. Under Qi Jiajia’s icy stare, it gave the pair a few extra snacks too.
As for the boy who still couldn’t get up from the floor, this clearly wasn’t his first offense. The white cat meowed several times, scolding him, then took away his food bowl.
Cheng Miao marveled inwardly at what a wonderful owner it was. No violence and no corporal punishment.
The boy struggled upright and rubbed his chest. His eyes were full of fear and panic. When he looked at Qi Jiajia, he cringed as if he had seen a ghost.
The two girls nearby had originally been waiting to enjoy the show, but Qi Jiajia’s actions stunned them too. Trembling, they portioned out some of their own food and brought it to her in an attempt to curry favor.
Qi Jiajia was speechless. Thanks, but she really didn’t want it.