novelraw Chapter 113 : Chapter 113
Chapter 113 : Chapter 113
Chapter 113: Cat (2)
That evening.
Lily carefully slipped out of her hospital room.
A small box was held in her hand.
A simple gift tied with a white ribbon.
‘This should be enough.’
Lily thought.
The happening of collapsing in front of Ryu Jinwoo’s hospital room during the day.
According to Seol Hayun, Ryu Jinwoo was the one who found her first.
It might be natural since she collapsed in front of his hospital room.
Did they say she drooled and snored?
It was a disgrace Lily herself absolutely did not want to show.
‘Moreover, it’s ridiculous that the ones who saw it were Seol Hayun and Ryu Jinwoo of all people.’
But at the same time, this was also an opportunity.
Because it was true that she received help anyway.
She could naturally approach him and use it as a cornerstone to build friendship.
‘A justification has been created. A clear justification.’
Approaching Ryu Jinwoo normally was not an easy task.
Their specialties were different, and their classes and clubs were different too.
Except for joint practical training, classes and movement paths didn’t overlap well, so there weren’t many chances to run into each other naturally.
So she always had to approach with a plan.
Once, seeing him coming from the end of the hallway, she even hid around the corner and aimed for an ‘accidentally bumping into each other situation’.
But at some point, Ryu Jinwoo turned his steps just like that and went a different way.
There’s no way he saw her.
Because he was walking while looking at his smartphone at that time.
There must have been another reason.
The problem was that such things happened more than once or twice.
Whether luck wasn’t on her side or not, whenever she tried to do something, the timing went exquisitely awry.
‘This time is different.’
Lily gripped the small box tightly.
For this time, she prepared perfectly.
‘I heard I lost consciousness in front of Ryu Jinwoo-gun’s hospital room. You took care of me, right? I’m really sorry. This is a thank you greeting for that time.’
Lily had rehearsed flawlessly from her facial expression to her tone of voice.
The plan was perfect.
She just needs to get closer little by little.
From that moment on, the information she could obtain about Ryu Jinwoo would increase drastically.
If that happens, she would be able to spur on Ju Yeonhwa-nim’s observation request in earnest too.
[15th floor, Recovery Ward.]
The elevator’s announcement rang.
Lily’s steps headed firmly toward one place.
‘Room 1503 - Ryu Jinwoo’
She stood in front of the door.
Lily knocked on the door carefully.
“Are you there?”
It was quiet.
She brought her ear to the door, but no sound was heard.
‘Is he sleeping?’
It seemed like that earlier too.
Lily turned the handle slightly.
It was locked.
‘Should I just go back?’
Regret brushed past.
Breaking the ice like this would be the cleanest way.
Since it turned out like this, should she just leave the gift, or come back and deliver it directly next time?
Lily paced back and forth in front of the hospital room with brief agonizing.
It was then.
‘Hmm?’
A rustling sound was heard at the end of one hallway.
Lily turned her head.
Towards the open window at the end of the hallway.
The curtains lifted slightly as the wind brushed past.
And through that gap, a black cat walked in quietly.
“A cat?”
How is a cat here?
Lily approached that way reflexively.
The black fur shone under the white lighting of the hallway.
The cat’s blue eyes were staring at her.
The moment a strange thing happened was then.
‘.......’
Lily knelt down unwittingly.
Following that, her hand naturally reached out toward the cat.
It seemed as if the cat’s eyes were speaking.
— Pet me, human.
As Lily held out her palm, it lowered its head.
The tips of its fur touched her hand.
‘Soft...'
It was strange.
Originally, Lily wasn’t the type to like cats.
But why, she couldn’t stop.
Her fingertips were moving on their own.
The more she stroked, the soft texture spread even to her head.
‘Me, what am I doing right now?’
Just as she was stroking it for a long while like that.
MEW-
The cat cried.
“Ah.”
Lily flinched in surprise and withdrew her hand.
Her head cleared up in an instant.
Somehow it felt like hypnosis was broken.
“What is this? It’s strange! This cat...”
Lily sprang up with her hands gathered as if shrinking back.
MEOW-
Looking at the frozen Lily, the cat cried lightly and started to move its steps.
Its footsteps were very quiet.
Enough that she wouldn’t have known the fact of its existence itself if it hadn’t been visible to her eyes.
Even now when it was visible, an illusion arose wondering if she was seeing things.
It is indeed bizarre.
Lily let out a small breath watching the figure of the cat moving away quickly.
***
[Cat (Mimicry)]
[Passive: Silent Steps, Pet Me Human]
[Active: Gap Movement]
[Body Transformation: 100%]
‘It has to be strange.’
Leaving the surprised Lily behind, I moved away quietly.
The newly obtained mimicry target, Cat.
While proceeding with experiments by transforming my body, Lily came to visit.
She probably came because of what happened in the morning, but unfortunately, I am in a cat state right now.
Not metaphorically, but I have become a real cat itself.
‘Living creature mimicry is the first time since Balzac.’
Of course, in Balzac’s case, I didn’t completely transform the appearance.
Since it was done only to the extent of overlaying a passive.
Therefore, including appearance transformation, this cat was the first full-scale case.
My vision lowered significantly, and the flow of air was felt much more vividly.
I didn’t know the smell of disinfectant permeating throughout the hospital was this terrible.
My eyes became a bit blurry, but my ears captured even subtle sounds.
Mechanical sounds over the wall, vibration of the wind, intermittent breathing sounds.
All these were heard simultaneously.
And above all, there was the most important change.
[Lily]
[Touch: 16,545]
‘You touched 450 times?’
She stroked as if possessed for quite a while, and that number is beyond imagination.
[Pet Me Human: Humans who see you are engulfed in an impulse to pet you. Individual differences exist in the effect.]
This passive included in Cat Mimicry.
At first, I wondered what kind of thing this was.
Frankly, I wondered what would be good about receiving petting from humans.
But trying it out, the answer came out immediately.
‘I didn’t know being petted in cat state would be calculated as a touch.’
My mimicry condition is touch.
Whether it’s an object or a living creature, if it’s a target capable of mimicry, I have to satisfy the ‘touch count’ to mimic it.
However, against humans, that is almost impossible.
Aside from the required number being high, even attempting it is difficult in the first place.
For example, let’s assume ‘Ryu Jinwoo’ in human state tries to touch another person.
[Fingering other cadets numerous times... Controversial hero aspirant.]
The title is already out.
It will become the first button to send my life to the abyss.
But if it’s a cat, the story was different.
Far from being wary, people approach on their own and pet me.
On top of that, there is a passive that induces touch?
This is truly dog honey... no, cat honey.
Of course, just because I have this passive doesn’t mean one person will pet me thousands or tens of thousands of times.
Still, the fact itself that a possibility to satisfy it arose was important.
I went out of the hospital swinging my tail gently.
‘Night air is good.’
For reference, current Zero cadets are under a ‘Curfew’ order.
There is the influence of Hero Land terror, and the purpose is to prevent accidents by going out.
But the current me who became a cat has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Based on my experiment, this state is maintained for at least the next 1 hour.
‘Being free is good.’
The blowing wind brushed my whiskers.
While walking steps, people’s voices were heard occasionally.
“Oh, it’s a cat!”
“Oh my, you startled me. When did it come?”
“Cute~”
I was enchanting people wherever I went.
I know it might sound a bit strange to say this, but the feeling isn’t bad.
‘Pet Me Human.’
Among the people stroking me as if possessed, my head naturally stiffened with pride.
In the meantime, a bright voice was heard from behind.
“Wow! Cute!”
It seems someone else has fallen for me again.
I turned my head slightly.
Colorful hair.
I recognized it at a glance.
‘...Instructor Miyu?’
My fur stood on end unwittingly.
An instructor, instinctive repulsion as a cadet arose.
‘She won’t notice or something, right?’
But Instructor Miyu had no tact whatsoever.
She approached my way without hesitation and lifted me up with her two arms just like that.
“Kyaa~ Fluffy! Soft~”
Instructor Miyu started expressing emotions with a vocabulary level comparable to a Mimic.
At the same time, my breath was choking.
Being pressed by both arms and chest, difficulty in breathing occurred.
MEOWK-
The moment a scream flowed out unwittingly, a low and heavy voice was heard.
“The cat dislikes it, doesn’t it.”
I lifted my head and looked up.
White hair slicked back, completely black eyes.
‘Instructor Hojin this time?’
My body stiffened automatically.
Worry raised its head once more.
Surely, he isn’t piercing through my identity, right?
Right now I am completely a cat.
“Do you dislike it, kitty?”
Instructor Miyu asked me.
Normally, asking a cat such a thing is useless, but I was different.
MEOW-!
I can show that I dislike it to the best of my ability.
“It says it likes it?”
It’s the opposite.
This is why humans are no good.
They just interpret and pass it over as they please.
Resentment as a cat surged from inside.
“Anyone can see it dislikes it.”
“The midterm evaluation is in three days. I have to recover both my body and mind to play the role of instructor too! It’s going to be extremely tough.”
I am in the position of taking the exam in three days, you person.
At this rate, my body will break.
In the long run, I was also checking abilities in terms of exam preparation, but I’m about to suffocate to death in this cat state.
Is the corpse a structure that returns to human form?
Then it means dying twice in total, once physically and once socially.
I couldn’t let that happen.
MEOOOWK-!
I screamed with all my might.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Instructor Miyu put me down with a serious face.
“I didn’t know you’d dislike it this much...”
At her words, I almost shook my head left and right.
That is not cat-like behavior.
Instead, I shook my tail quickly and tapped the floor.
“I’m sorry~ I’ll pet you.”
Soon Instructor Miyu started petting me as if possessed.
‘Ah, passive.’
Can’t I turn this off?
Well, it might not matter.
Instructor Miyu’s mimicry condition must be touch too.
Rather, if I accumulate even little by little, someday a profit will...
[Miyu]
[Touch: 39,856]
‘40 thousand?’
Are you kidding me.
At this point, it was at the level of ‘just give up’.
Teddy bear is merely 10, cat is 200.
Besides that, when checking other objects, usually they didn’t exceed 500.
But how come humans start with ten thousand units as a base?
A figure possible only by applying the passive dozens of times after becoming a cat.
It was literally no different from plucking a star from the sky.
‘If it’s like this, is Hojin something like 100 thousand?’
Hojin competes for the strongest even among the instructor staff.
Kang Mooseong and Hojin, these two are top-tier class even considering heroes.
Frankly, if Hojin or Kang Mooseong is 100 thousand, it was worth gritting my teeth and filling 100 thousand somehow.
I approached Hojin and looked up at him.
Soon a label appeared next to him.
And checking the popped-up touch count, I couldn’t help but feel my mind going distant.
[Hojin]
[Touch: ??????]
Are you crazy.
Really.