Do You Have Any Opinion on Mechanical Cat Ears? (CAT EARS)
The villagers hurriedly gathered around, treating them like the first group of pilgrims, to witness this unexpected second wave of pilgrims.
Inside the room, Sheng Songshi's brow furrowed deeply.
"Impossible," he stated firmly. "There can't be a second group of pilgrims... or rather, there shouldn't be a second batch of hosts entering this mission world."
This was their mission world.
These folklore enthusiasts conducting field research—the so-called pilgrims in the villagers' eyes—should have been only them. How could there possibly be others?
"Everyone, check with your respective systems," Sheng Songshi decisively ordered. Yet all the systems uniformly rejected their requests at this moment, providing only vague responses.
[Please wait, query in progress...]
Sheng Songshi: "..."
Knowing that the systems were intelligent beings, he could guess that these cat-eared spheres probably didn't know the answer either. They were likely racking their brains manually searching through data or engaged in heated discussions to come up with a standard answer.
Without coordinating their responses, the five hosts might receive five different makeshift answers.
Sheng Songshi felt he was increasingly understanding the working patterns of these system cat-eared spheres—they were likely miserable customer service representatives. This realization shook him even more profoundly.
Would miserable customer service reps like capitalists?
Obviously not.
Just as he suspected, the systems were exchanging bewildered glances.
After stabilizing their hosts, silence spread through their public channel. After a while, System 1314 suddenly spoke up.
"I've already installed the looped audio clip that Three-Three prepared in advance, so we can speak freely now."
The looped audio had been prepared beforehand because during missions, their cubicles would be monitored.
The surveillance recordings would automatically be sent to the Main System upon mission completion for random checks. So System 2333 had prepared this audio in advance, simulating normal mission dialogue and ambient sounds to fool the Main System's surveillance.
Now it proved its worth.
As soon as 1314 finished speaking, the quiet channel erupted with a chorus of meows.
"We didn't receive any related notifications," 2222 scratched its head in confusion. "How could there be a second batch of hosts? Didn't Three-Three buy this world at a high... I mean low price?"
1001's speculation was bolder—or more realistic.
"Is there a possibility that the Main System, being the unscrupulous profiteer it is, not only auctioned [The Great Lake] to us but also sold it multiple times to others?"
The cat-eared spheres: "..."
Brilliant—exactly the kind of shady thing the Main System would pull!
From their speculations, one could see just how terrible the Main System's reputation was among the cat-eared spheres.
As everyone theorized, they grew increasingly indignant on behalf of Three-Three who had spent the points.
What's this? You buy a house and others get to live in it too? The Main System is such a rotten melon!
System 2333, however, had an inkling of the truth.
The reason other hosts could enter might be related to that day when he used energy and the hostage carrot to lure over another world under a different Main System's control, causing the two worlds to collide and connect.
System 2333 had no idea how systems from other Infinite Space acquired mission worlds—whether through gacha draws or auctions. But the current situation clearly indicated that a system from another Infinite Space had obtained that particular world, which then collided with [Great Lake], creating a connection that inadvertently dragged them into [Great Lake] as well.
This resulted in the rare spectacle of two groups of hosts coexisting in the same world.
The moment System 2333 realized this colossal BUG was entirely his doing, he felt a pang of guilt.
What a sinful little kitten he was!
But this was fantastic! He could observe the system and host from the other Infinite Space first, assess their character, and then decide whether to seek help.
Better safe than sorry…
But what if the other Infinite Space turned out to be another sweatshop?
After some heated discussion—and cursing the big bad melon—the cat-eared spheres still couldn’t avoid the problem. They had to give the questioning hosts an explanation.
[Initial assessment: It's a BUG… Just say that.]
System 1001 had the final say.
BUG—the universal excuse of Infinite Space!
The cat-eared spheres turned off the looping audio. They couldn’t keep it running indefinitely, or the Main System might grow suspicious. The encounter with hosts from another Infinite Space was impossible to hide from the Main System, but no one knew how it would react.
Sure enough, the hosts received the "it's a BUG" explanation. It seemed even the systems didn’t know the real reason.
"I’ll go check things out," Sheng Songshi said, preparing to leave and Zhou Yuechu decided to follow.
If the newcomers turned out to be hostile, they could respond in time.
Strangely enough, they had never encountered hosts from other Infinite Spaces before. The only one present with any knowledge of other Infinite Space was probably Ji Yiwei. Zhou Yuechu wasn’t sure if this was normal. If Ji Yiwei could be exiled back and forth, shouldn’t different Infinite Spaces be able to interact freely?
Yet they didn’t have that privilege.
It was as if they were trapped on an isolated island.
Zhou Yuechu shuddered involuntarily.
But before they could step out, Ji Yiwei moved first, pushing the door open and heading straight toward the center of the gathered villagers.
Ji Yiwei was proactively investigating? Had the sun risen from the west?
The second group of pilgrims consisted of just one person—a handsome, amiable-looking young man, clearly a seasoned host, who remained composed despite the crowd. Though his appearance was somewhat disheveled, dripping wet with mud and dead grass clinging to his hair, as if he’d just crawled out of a swamp.
The elderly women circled him, murmuring incomprehensible words. When the young host looked up and saw Ji Yiwei, he felt a flicker of familiarity but couldn’t place it. Still, the aura of the tea-gold-haired man made it obvious—he was a host, and a battle-hardened veteran at that.
Not wanting to start off on the wrong foot, the young man smiled and extended a hand in greeting.
"Hello, I’m Wei Wenxin."
Ji Yiwei didn’t take his hand, not even shifting his stance. Wei Wenxin glanced at his own palm, covered in grime, and chuckled in realization. He wiped his hand on the cleaner part of his pants and offered it again, more deliberately this time.
Ji Yiwei still didn't respond, merely looking at him with a thoughtful gaze.
Wei Wenxin's hand gradually stiffened. The fleeting sense of familiarity that had slipped through his grasp moments ago now surged back, and his expression froze as well. Finally, his eyes widened, fixed unwaveringly on Ji Yiwei's tea-gold hair and pitch-black eyes.
He recognized him… he recognized him!
That lunatic who bit anyone in sight!!!
The young man instantly lost his initial friendliness and composure as his voice rising an octave as he trembled and asked,
"J-Ji Yiwei?! How is it you?!"
He looked so agitated and terrified, as if he might burst into tears any second. System 2333, seeing him like this, asked curiously,
[Meow, Ji Yiwei, do you know him?]
"I think we've crossed paths a few times. Don't really remember—just seems familiar."
He spoke with utter indifference, but Wei Wenxin had already started screaming, "Aaaahhhh!"
"Help! It's Ji Yiwei!"
"Ji Yiwei in the flesh!"
"Run, all of you! Don't worry about me! I'm already doomed—aaaahhhh!"
System 2333 fell silent.
[Just… familiar?]
What the hell did you do to him in other Infinite Space?!
Ji Yiwei looked aggrieved. He genuinely didn't remember. He'd done so many terrible things—how could he possibly recall them all? Who knew which victim this was from which incident?
"Three-Three, I really didn't—"
But his words only made things worse. The moment Wei Wenxin heard that nightmare-inducing voice, his screams escalated from chicken-slaughter pitch to pig-slaughter pitch.
Seeing that Ji Yiwei's presence was having the opposite effect, Sheng Songshi quickly stepped in to mediate. Wei Wenxin seemed to sense a kindred tragic spirit in him and calmed down slightly, though he was still visibly trembling.
Ji Yiwei, however, acted as if they were old friends, tilting his chin slightly as he asked,
"A host from another Infinite Space—why are you in my mission world?"
Wei Wenxin was on the verge of sobbing.
"I really don't know why! Maybe it's a bug! I had no idea this was your mission world! I've been so disrespectful! I beg your forgiveness!"
Zhou Yuechu emerged as well. Noticing the growing crowd of villagers gathering around, she smoothly smoothed things over, claiming they were all alumni and that Wei Wenxin had initially declined to come but unexpectedly chased after them. On the surface, she managed to fool the villagers.
As the group returned to their rooms, they could still feel the cold, piercing stares boring into their backs.
Inside, Zhou Yuechu brewed tea with the water she'd brought and handed Wei Wenxin a towel. Ever the efficient one, she even asked her System 1314 whether they should report the bug now.
[It doesn’t affect the current mission for now. The bug will be reported to the Main System after the mission world is completed.]
Hearing this, Zhou Yuechu sighed in relief. This was the rational approach of a normal host—there had to be a reporting process, or the Main System might grow suspicious.
After drinking some hot tea, Wei Wenxin seemed to recover slightly, though he still kept his distance from Ji Yiwei, clearly traumatized.
Apart from Ji Yiwei, he didn’t show excessive wariness toward the other hosts, maintaining only basic caution—a sign that he'd lived in a safe and friendly environment all along.
Then, he began recounting his unfortunate misadventures.
"Originally, Bunny... ah, I mean my system, drew a world called [Great Lake]. But all the materials we received were about swamps. We thought 'Great Lake' was some hidden plotline, but after completing the last mission, we realized it had nothing to do with any lake at all."
"Bunny thought it was a bug and planned to report it upon returning. But during the return trip, we never actually made it back—we just ended up here directly, with no basic information whatsoever, and were ushered into this bizarre village."
Wei Wenxin sighed deeply. It seemed this place was the real [Great Lake] after all.
Sheng Songshi felt there was something odd about his words. At first, he thought it was because Wei Wenxin kept using "we" to refer to himself and his system, but gradually, he began to sense something more unsettling.
[We never actually made it back.]
[We returned.]
[We returned together.]
What... did that mean?
"By the way, which faction's Infinite Space are you from?" Wei Wenxin, being naturally sociable, asked warmly. Apart from Ji Yiwei, the other hosts exchanged glances before Sheng Songshi spoke up.
"Cat Balls."
Faction... what did that mean? Were systems divided into factions?
Wei Wenxin clearly knew about Cat Balls and immediately nodded with a smile.
"Oh, Cat Balls! You guys have always been quite mysterious, hardly ever seen out and about..."
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he reached into his pocket apologetically.
"I almost forgot—I’ve already introduced myself. This is my partner..."
Like a magician, he pulled out a pink-and-white mechanical ball from his pocket. Triggered by some mechanism, a pair of long ears unfolded from its sides that gradually stood upright at the top of the ball and twitched unconsciously twice.
—A mechanical bunny ball now stood in Wei Wenxin’s palm.
The bunny ball’s screen remained dark, seemingly still inactive. Wei Wenxin looked a little embarrassed.
"After finishing the last world, I let Bunny rest. Though there’s been a minor hiccup now, I can handle it for the moment. I’ll wake him up later—hope you don’t mind."
Jiang Zhuo’s eyes widened instantly. Even the veteran hosts present couldn’t hide their shock, let alone a newcomer like him.
"Huh?" Zheng Xibei, never one for subtlety, asked bluntly, "How come you can carry your system around—"
Before he could finish, Zhou Yuechu yanked his sleeve. Zheng Xibei glanced over to see her frantically signaling with her eyes. Following her gaze, he saw Ji Yiwei staring fixedly at the hand holding the bunny ball.
Zhou Yuechu’s expression screamed in terror.
Don’t provoke him any further!
Clearly envious of someone who could bring their system along on missions, Ji Yiwei looked like he was about to explode into madness any second!
Zheng Xibei promptly shut his mouth.
Ji Yiwei continued to stare relentlessly, making Wei Wenxin’s hair stand on end as he instinctively shielded the mechanical bunny ball in his palm. His face fell as he sensed the dark pupils of Ji Yiwei’s eyes now glowing green with... uh, jealousy?
Ji Yiwei: "..."
His eyes were practically shooting green lasers of envy!
Author’s Note:
Ji Yiwei: Why? Why why why why why why why why why why why why why???
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