The System Mistook Me for a Cat

Chu Tingwu quickly realized that this was quite different from the theoretical concept of "holographic" technology, but it still surpassed the VR games currently available on the market.

Previous VR live streams allowed viewers to "possess" the perspective of the streamer, seeing nearly 100% realistic visuals. VR recordings were the same, offering tactile, olfactory, and auditory sensations that felt like a true recreation of the scene.

——Nowadays, there are fan-edited VR video compilations circulating online. However, whether it's live streams or recordings, the audience has no autonomy; they remain mere spectators.

The VR games currently on the market provide a watered-down sense of impact through auxiliary devices.

It’s like watching a 4D movie: when water mist sprays down from above, and you feel as if someone is kicking your seat from behind, the cinema tells you it’s part of the experience of following the protagonist through a fight scene… Your mood at that moment is probably similar to the first time you played a VR game.

Chu Tingwu experienced this "Easter egg" from a pure reviewer’s perspective——

"It feels similar to watching a VR live stream," she said, climbing out of the window and instinctively turning to touch the window frame. "But the visuals are different."

It felt like stepping into a chocolate factory. Of course, the buildings weren’t made of chocolate, even though the scent was so real. The visuals couldn’t fully deceive the human eye—you still knew it was crafted from other materials, just incredibly similar…

But you didn’t care.

Chu Tingwu didn’t realize she was smiling the entire time. Her gaze shifted from the window to the night scene of the ranch in the "Easter egg." Not far away, her in-game self was crouched on a narrow railing, the wind gently brushing through her hair, like an NPC dutifully waiting for the protagonist to advance the plot.

Chu Tingwu: "Pfft."

No, it was still too weird.

Weird but fun.

Seeing herself from an NPC’s perspective, and an unreal version of herself at that, and viewing the ranch as if it were a game setting, suddenly made her want to return to the ranch.

Of course, the ranch in the "Easter egg" was different from the real one, and standing here versus standing in the real location would feel different… but Chu Tingwu suddenly understood the feeling of "pilgrimage" or what fans of the anime *Tour Guide Cat* must have felt when they specially visited the ranch to see the little cats.

It was the feeling of, "It really exists in this world, and now I’ve arrived here too."

Even if they couldn’t possess it, at that moment, they were so close.

She could return to a more realistic version of the ranch at any time in the dream classroom, and the system could recreate scenes identical to reality, but none of it made Chu Tingwu as happy as what she was seeing now.

She didn’t explain anything, slowly exploring… but the audience seemed to sense something.

[Is this a VR recording? It feels a bit off.]

[The visuals are different, and the movements… Could Chu Tingwu have done the motion capture herself? But she’s acting like she’s seeing it for the first time?]

[But, what kind of motion capture involves knocking on windows, touching doorframes, and even bumping into invisible walls?]

Is this part of the fixed process for this "VR video"?

Chu Tingwu: "=="

Chu Tingwu: "No, I really bumped into it."

It probably had to do with computing power. The playable area in this Easter egg was actually quite small, and Chu Tingwu had already noticed the faint green line at the bottom of the map boundary, seemingly indicating the limit of the player’s free movement——

But she still wanted to reach out and test it.

She explained that she was freely exploring, cautiously avoiding mentioning the concept of "holographic games," but the audience was already buzzing.

[I get it. This is a ploy by Wu Voice Group to sell VR devices. Fine, I’ll buy it, okay? But can’t you just sell the game instead of making it an Easter egg? I can’t pull off that earlier sequence!]

[Free movement? Similar visuals and sensations to VR live streams? Isn’t that just a holographic game? It’s fine, even a half-finished product is acceptable. I’ve bought poorly written domestic 3D games without hesitation—why can’t I spend money on a 0.5 version of a domestic holographic game?]

[Don’t be so distant! Master Chu, please, give us another demonstration!]

Chu Tingwu: "……"

She thought for a moment, then did a handstand on the spot.

Everyone: "?"

Chu Tingwu: "Testing how much movement is possible."@@novelbin@@

Though those following her inverted perspective might feel a bit dizzy.

After saying this, she quickly caught up to her in-game self and, unusually talkative during the stream, began narrating as she "played":

"I can feel that my running speed is equivalent to that of a trained amateur, with decent stamina—but it’s not as fast as my real self."

She didn’t need to say this, as everyone could see it. Chu Tingwu was personally experiencing the Easter egg, so her parkour choices in terms of position and movement were near perfect, yet she still couldn’t catch up to her in-game self.

The girl ahead was just a program, but she effortlessly outran the real person behind her. Only Chu Tingwu herself could authoritatively say, "It’s because this body’s physical abilities aren’t good enough," without anyone questioning it.

Chu Tingwu glanced at her current face in the side mirror of a car and noticed it was the slightly stylized, model-like face of the game’s protagonist, the female photographer.

And this route…

Chu Tingwu: "It’s not the in-game route. It’s the path I’ve run in real life."

The invisible walls fixed the route, leaving little room for player choice, but the modeling was identical to reality. Finally, Chu Tingwu climbed onto a rooftop, where Dian Dian landed beside her in-game self, first perching on her shoulder.

Then, Chu Tingwu saw her in-game self turn and smile at her, as the young red rain falcon suddenly took flight.

She reached out her hand, and Dian Dian landed on her palm, the little red rain falcon tilting its head to look at the human before it.

["Do you want to take a photo?" You think to yourself.]

[Take Photo]

A prompt appeared in front of her. Without needing the audience’s urging, Chu Tingwu selected "Take Photo." Then, she saw her in-game self silently approach, take the camera hanging around her neck, and, without a word, raise it——

"Click."

The photo of the photographer and the red rain falcon was saved in the camera, with the endless night as the backdrop. But this night wasn’t pitch black—moonlight and lamplight spilled onto their shoulders.

However, after taking this photo, the only option left for the player seemed to be to exit.

Though the audience seemed very disappointed, Chu Tingwu still chose to exit. She then removed her VR headset and looked at the computer screen.

In the top right corner of "VCR: First Encounter," there was a corner of a photo, as if it had been tucked into the pages of a book. Clicking on it revealed the photo taken by her "self"—the picture of the female photographer and the red rain falcon.

The art style leaned toward a more realistic version of the game’s aesthetic, fitting seamlessly into the 3D game *Flying Birds*. But only Chu Tingwu and the audience knew that they had just seemingly "transported" into a real night.

Chu Tingwu: "Ah…"

So, she had smiled back then?

-

When the hashtag "Holographic Game Flying Birds Easter Egg" trended on social media, the most shocked were actually the programmers at Wu Voice Group’s game studio.

…Since when did they make a holographic game?

The core of the game was actually handled by the system, with the programmers completing a vast amount of detailed refinement work. But in such a short time, their workload was a drop in the ocean compared to the system’s contribution.

The studio believed that the game had already completed its general framework early on, which is why it could be launched so quickly.

Chu Tingwu's actions didn’t seem to align with promoting the game... So some speculated that the game's main storyline might have been different initially, but the modeling and other aspects were already done. While Chu Tingwu was chasing birds, the overseas team had been working overtime.

"But no amount of overtime could produce a full holographic game, right?"

Some people repeatedly watched the livestream recordings and concluded: this was probably just a demo.

Excluding the time Chu Tingwu spent exploring, this "Easter egg" was truly just that—a short segment involving parkour from inside the ranch to outside, chasing a lone red rain falcon chick... At most, it was a half-finished parkour game.

Others thought—

"Since the boss and the prototype character herself was livestreaming, isn’t that just part of the promotion? Will players really get the same experience when they try it?"

Moreover, not everyone could afford a VR gaming pod.

Although there were many such "rational skeptics" online, the sales of *Flight of Birds* quickly caught up with many veteran domestic 3D games. By the evening of the day after Chu Tingwu's livestream ended, it had surpassed all domestic 3D games to become the actual sales leader.

As a AAA single-player game, it had already recouped its costs. Excluding ongoing operational expenses, every copy sold now was pure profit.

It felt like people were searching for gold in the cyber world, and Chu Tingwu couldn’t help but wonder, "Did I hide my bank card in this game?"

Zhou Qiang tapped her head: "You hid the holographic game in it. If people want to experience holographics, they have to buy the game."

Unlocking the first Easter egg required some skill. Zhou Qiang had watched Chu Tingwu's techniques and, after some practice, should be able to do it... But she could easily hire someone to do it for her. So, after Chu Tingwu helped her trigger the Easter egg at noon, she went to experience it immediately.

Climbing out of the VR pod, Zhou Qiang seemed lost in thought.

Chu Tingwu: "How was it?"

Zhou Qiang: "I feel stronger."

She thought she’d find it boring, as her athletic ability was average, and the Easter egg gameplay was just parkour—something she was still a beginner at. But parkour for someone with weak stamina and parkour for a beginner with strong stamina were two different things!

And it didn’t hurt.

Every time she successfully imitated the "Chu Tingwu" ahead of her and made it onto a rooftop, she felt... incredibly satisfied!

The sense of achievement was almost as good as earning money for the second time.

If all games were like this, she’d be addicted too.

However, objectively speaking, the interactivity was low, and the replay value wasn’t high.

Zhou Qiang: "How many Easter eggs are there?"

Chu Tingwu: "Six."

But she didn’t trigger the subsequent Easter eggs right away, as if she didn’t want to devour the cake all at once.

She also ignored the skepticism online. After all, once a second person successfully triggered the Easter egg, the doubts would naturally disappear.

—Sure enough, that same night, a popular FPS streamer livestreamed triggering the Easter egg.

She didn’t enable VR livestream sharing but used her VR equipment to open the VCR. From her reactions and occasional exclamations, the eager audience realized: this Easter egg was truly an upgraded VR game, the best VR experience available online right now!

Well, Chu Tingwu didn’t want to admit it was holographic, so they’d just pretend it wasn’t.

Three days later, Qihe City.

Most of the Chu family had purchased annual passes for the ranch. To support Chu Tingwu’s endeavors, whether it was VR equipment, drones, *Learning Without Limits*, or *Flight of Birds*, they bought whatever they could. At the great-grandmother's place, there was an abundance of everything, with multiple copies of the same items.

Some ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‍were bought by the great-grandmother and aunts, while Man Xing directly sent over a pile.

So the younger generation loved visiting the great-grandmother’s place and adored Chu Tingwu—

Cousin/sister’s game is amazing, and playing games won’t get us scolded. Can you make more?

Chu Tingwu didn’t pick up on the younger siblings’ expectations, but some had already started earning pocket money through her game... like little cousin Chu Zihan.

On winter break, her family worried she’d wander off, so they gave her an annual pass to play at the ranch, where there were robots, surveillance, and the care of the cat mother.

She brought her gaming console to pass the time and, in front of the staff, mimicked Chu Tingwu’s moves from the projected screen. After two failures, she successfully replicated it and triggered the Easter egg.

Staff: "..."

Chu Zihan: "?"

The staff handed over their controller and pleaded, "Zihan, could you help me do it too?"

No free labor—she got snacks, drinks, and toys in return.

Thus, the ten-year-old successfully became a game-for-hire, expanding her clientele from staff to visitors—though only through word-of-mouth referrals, and only for reliable regulars.

...Many players still couldn’t trigger the Easter egg.

The required skill level was just too high.

"But can’t people with poor coordination enjoy holographic games?" the visitor tearfully asked. "I just want to experience it. I even bought the VR pod!"

Chu Zihan glanced at her.

The staff member beside her internally complained: You bought it too early.

Chu Zihan: "My sister said it’s not holographic, just VR."

The visitor nodded: "Right, right, just VR. Thank you, little Master Chu."

She excitedly took the computer, seeing the Easter egg interface with the first VCR unlocked. As she stood up, the automatic door opened, and a long-haired calico cat stormed in, grumbling.

The visitor immediately crouched down, snapping photos with her phone, while Three-Five-Five went to drink water.

The projected cats nearby were either standing or sitting, but they all looked rather displeased. The visitor, puzzled, meowed a couple of times, trying to call over a familiar cat.

Chu Zihan shook her head like a little adult: "The cats are angry."

Visitor: "Why?"

Chu Zihan: "Because too many people have been trying to climb the walls lately."

Some had experienced the parkour route in the "Easter egg," which was a one-to-one replica of the real world, and felt overconfident, thinking they could try it in real life. Others couldn’t trigger the "Easter egg" and didn’t want to hire someone to do it... so they decided to run the route offline, convinced they must have missed some detail. After all, if a ten-year-old could do it, why couldn’t they?

Ten-year-old (but with exceptional memorization skills, nimble fingers, and self-proclaimed to be twelve in lunar age) Chu Zihan:

"Tch."

—Most of them didn’t even meet the criteria to be blacklisted by the ranch, as many lacked real parkour skills and couldn’t climb walls. To other visitors, they just seemed to have odd and quirky movement patterns.

Moreover, while both the trigger route and the Easter egg route involved scaling the ranch walls to run outside, the endpoints were different, and the paths didn’t overlap. If they met, they could even greet each other!

Their conversations usually went like this:

"Did the cat yell at you too?"

"Oh, you too?"

"Yeah, but I ran fast, and since the cats here are projections, being scolded a few times doesn’t matter. But why are you missing a few people?"

"Two of us ran into a real cat... Three-Five-Five chased them all the way from the restaurant to the lake. They’re too scared to come back. Huh, why does it seem like you’re missing people too?"

"…Even though these are just projections, two of us here happen to be big fans of the anime. They were shocked to discover that their favorite character seemed to dislike them and are now frantically calling customer service to ask if they can pay to restore the hidden affection points."