Do You Have Any Opinion on Mechanical Cat Ears? (CAT EARS)
【Entering mission world...】
【Entry successful!】
【Host abilities unlocking...】
【Unlock successful!】
During the host's teleportation, the system also loses consciousness. But perhaps due to an inherent mechanism, the system always regains awareness first.
System 2333 regained consciousness almost instantly upon entering the mission world and immediately went to work, scanning the surroundings for the still-unconscious Ji Yiwei.
This amusement park was a relatively simple mid-level instance. Even veteran hosts didn’t constantly tackle high-level ones—those were too dangerous. System 2333 had plenty of such mid-level instances to farm points, and the amusement park was one of the more straightforward settings among them.
Three adult visitors, now living separate lives, received an invitation from the amusement park one day, claiming the venue had been renovated and cordially inviting them to revisit their childhood memories. Excited, they went—only to lose consciousness midway through the attractions. When they woke, they found themselves trapped in a ghostly snare...
The background setup clearly catered to a joint raid. If only one person entered, the setting would automatically adjust to a single visitor.
As System 2333 analyzed the scenario, it couldn’t help but think—
A lone visitor daring to come? Now that’s guts!
But it wasn’t entirely a solo venture, because he was here with Ji Yiwei!
In the cubicle, System 2333’s cat ears perked up proudly for a second before immediately flattening back in fear.
...Wait, let him snuggle into his little blanket first.
The blanket he’d brought into the cubicle proved useful as the cat ball shivered beneath it.
Extending a tail to adjust the screen’s view, he saw Ji Yiwei had landed in a hellish starting position—tied up deep inside the haunted house.
The howling, eerie atmosphere of the ghost house made him burrow deeper into the blanket, but professionalism forced him to peek out again. The priority was waking Ji Yiwei up.
【Ji Yiwei...】 he called softly, 【Wake up, Ji Yiwei...】
He tried rousing him, but instead, Ji Yiwei only sank deeper into sleep, utterly soothed by the familiar, comforting voice of his cat ball.
Ji Yiwei: Blissfully adrift.jpg
Though he’d expected this, System 2333 couldn’t resist crushing a nearby supplement pack in frustration.
You won’t wake up until disaster strikes, huh?!
This wasn’t the first time.
It. Was. Every. Single. Time!
Whenever a mission started with the host unconscious or asleep, calling Ji Yiwei’s name never worked! No matter how dire the situation or how perilous the environment, Ji Yiwei seemed to find unparalleled security in his voice and would promptly sleep harder.
The surroundings were safe for now, and usually, System 2333 would indulge his host for a few minutes. But today, just as he resigned himself to waiting, he noticed an icon flashing at the bottom corner of the screen.
System 2333: 【...】
He’d enabled silent display mode, and yet Ji Yiwei still dared to sleep like a log! Was he not afraid of embarrassing himself at all?!
As the number of viewers skyrocketed, Ji Yiwei's embarrassment grew by the minute. System 2333 rummaged frantically through the cramped cubicle until—did he find an alarm clock? Actually, no!
Bringing an extra alarm clock would take up too much space, so System 2333 had only packed a calculator. What a versatile treasure—it could do math, serve as an alarm, even function as a musical instrument.
How brilliantly resourceful!
Pushing aside his small blanket, System 2333 pressed the calculator to the floor, extended both tails, and began rhythmically tapping: "A-ta-ta-ta!"
[Zero! Zero-zero! Zero-zero-zero!]
Calculators could sometimes be as noisy as ten thousand ducks. The persistent "zero-zero" sounds finally roused Ji Yiwei, whose lips curled into a smile at the familiar imitation of San-san's antics.
—This was the smile witnessed by all watching hosts outside.
He tugged at his arm, finding it restrained. With his abilities unleashed, Ji Yiwei effortlessly dislocated his wrist bones to slip free before resetting them.
As he flexed his wrist, San-san greeted him warmly:
[Dar-lang, you're awake?]
[Time for medicine!]
Finally awake—with so many host systems watching!
Ji Yiwei chuckled, always happy to play along with San-san's roleplay games.
"Jin-lian, if I take this medicine, may I stroke your little ears?"
System 2333 immediately struck a triumphant pose.
[No! Not unless you properly complete the mission!]
Seizing the opportunity, he quickly briefed Ji Yiwei: the standard main mission was escaping the amusement park, while the hidden objective required uncovering the truth first and all ghosts must be defeated—no easy feat.
Ji Yiwei nodded gently, his demeanor refined.
"Understood."
"I'll eliminate all ghosts."
(He'd only registered "fight ghosts", subtly upgrading "defeat" to "eliminate"!)
[Remember, you must escape the park too,] System 2333 reminded.
After a thoughtful pause, Ji Yiwei reluctantly agreed:
"...Very well."
Their "squawking" discussion—mostly System 2333's course-corrections—ensued.
This recalibration preceded every mission. As a diligent system, 2333 must prune Ji Yiwei's bizarre whims, ensuring main mission completion while maximizing side quests.
Ji Yiwei was perfect in every way, 2333 mused, if not for those strange pre-mission ideas requiring intervention. Through these corrections, the once-terrified 2333 gradually...
His gaze fell on the small blanket kicked aside unnoticed.
Mid-conversation, he no longer needed its comfort.
This newfound courage was surely Ji Yiwei's design.
As Ji Yiwei bent to inspect items, his system suddenly gave a soft "meow."
[You may stroke my ears... after we return to Main System space.]
"But I suddenly want to pet you right now." Seizing opportunities was Ji Yiwei's innate skill.
[...Don't push your luck!]
Finally, Ji Yiwei began inspecting the items. He first picked up the rope on the floor, then meticulously examined the room.
Inside the cubicle, System 2333 was organizing the amusement park's floor plans by his tail while keeping one ear perked to monitor Ji Yiwei's investigation.
He watched on the screen as Ji Yiwei kept investigating, investigating, and investigating—
His entire cat ball went from sitting upright, to lying down, to sprawling out—
System 2333 sipped on a nutrient pack while watching Ji Yiwei even inspect the spider in the corner with such enthusiasm that his expression on the screen gradually went blank.
Ji Yiwei even smiled and said to him,
"San-san, I know—you carefully analyzed all of this for me. I’ll go through every single detail."
This was all painstakingly analyzed by San-san out of concern for him. This place was practically his sweet candy house! He didn’t want to leave!
System 2333's screen displayed a dazed expression. He finished the nutrient pack, turned it upside down to shake it, confirmed it was empty, then calmly tossed the trash into a separate bag to dispose of later.
[There’s more outside.] He said woodenly. [Also analyzed by me.]
Ji Yiwei: "..."
He pushed the door open and strode out cheerfully!
In the side hall of the mission center, Jiang Zhuo slowly lowered his notetaking hand and placed the notebook on his lap.
He felt there wasn’t much need to take notes. Maybe it was because of the silent mode, making many things unclear, which gave him an... indescribable impression of Mr. Ji.
Chatting with his system for half an hour upon entering the mission world, inspecting every useful and useless item... Did these really contribute much to smoothly completing the mission? Or were these actions something a normal host would even do?
Jiang Zhuo decided to painfully confront his ignorance and humbly asked the veteran host beside him.
"Mr. Qian, have you learned anything?"
Qian Dafa: "I’ve learned to be useless."
No, Ji Yiwei’s actions were genuinely bizarre. If any other host did them, they’d be outright blunders. Escaping after entering the mission was correct, but he didn’t relocate in time; investigating items for clues was also correct, but he shouldn’t have inspected every single one.
Qian Dafa genuinely wanted to learn some tricks from Ji Yiwei, but right now, he couldn’t see any techniques—only that Ji Yiwei had an incredibly good relationship with his cat. Even during the mission, he kept chatting nonstop, as if afraid the cat ball would get scared.
While Qian Dafa was still lost in thought, he suddenly heard commotion in the room. When he looked up, his pupils shrank, and his notebook slipped from his hand.
Learn what? Just sit back and watch the show.
What they saw earlier was just the big shot casually warming up. What appeared now was the real deal—something impossible to learn or replicate.
—Absolute strength.
"San-san, help me calculate the shortest route to bypass all the ghosts in the amusement park."
System 2333’s mechanical cat ears immediately twitched nervously.
[Received. I’ll save the park director for last.]
While chatting and bickering with Ji Yiwei, System 2333 had been organizing the amusement park blueprints—now they came in handy. Several sheets pieced together formed a complete aerial view of the park, the best result of System 2333's analysis of this mission world.
Faced with multiple outlined routes, System 2333 pulled out his divine tool—
A ruler!
The cat-eared system swiftly moved around, measuring every possible path. After some quick calculations, he relayed the most accurate route to Ji Yiwei.
[If we want to trigger all side quests, we'll need to loop the same route at least twice.]
[But here… we won’t need to come back.]
Ji Yiwei stomped the ghost of the haunted house manager straight into the ground. With a slash of his palm, scorching crimson blood spilled out, instantly reducing the specter to ashes. Then, with a casual gesture, he caught the hemostatic bandage System 2333 tossed from the shop interface before wrapping it loosely around his hand.
"San-San's right."
His lashes lowered slightly, lips curling up.
"We won’t need to come back here."
Author's Note:
Other Hosts: "Learn my ass! This is just a scam for points!"
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