The System Mistook Me for a Cat

At the beginning of the new year, Longcheng's Niangniang Mountain welcomed a surge of tourists.

Niangniang Temple, located on Niangniang Mountain, is a place where locals come to worship during festivals, with many devotees vying to burn the first incense. However, the temple's Taoist priests have noticed that most young visitors are often preoccupied with their phones or wearing headphones, unwilling to wake up early just to climb the mountain and pray.

But this year seemed different. Among the young tourists, many were not focused on the temple but instead were taking photos and selfies against the rocky cliffs outside... The temple caretaker watched their actions, feeling a sense of familiarity.

Then, the priest suddenly realized something and hurriedly hung a warning sign on the cliff—

"5A-level Scenic Area: No Unauthorized Climbing."

Niangniang Mountain had once hosted a rock climbing competition, but "wild climbing" didn't mean scaling the cliffs barehanded. Climbers would hammer in anchor points on the walls, so selecting a wild climbing site required applying in advance and preparing for over a month. The neighboring cliff was an open climbing site, but this area was off-limits.

—Unless, like one person, you could climb it barehanded.

After hanging the sign, the priest refreshed his phone and discovered that, indeed, *The Birds (Part 2)* had just been released.

When *The Birds (Part 1)* became a hit, *Cat House* had also announced its release, causing some games to delay their launch dates to avoid competing with the rising new company, Huanyu... "You've got Wusheng Group backing you, so we can't compete. But we can at least avoid you, right?"

After a month of avoidance, Huanyu finally set *Cat House*'s public testing date for March 22nd. Some game companies, seeing the situation, decided it was safe to release their games.

And then *The Birds (Part 2)* dropped during the holiday season.

Other game companies: "..."

Shouldn't a 3A game series typically release the next installment two years after the first? What's with this speed? Are you even giving us a chance to survive?

So, the other companies quietly retreated again... If their games weren't of the same genre, it was fine, but if they were also console games, they were doomed to lose all their traffic.

Meanwhile, in a small Russian town, Teacher Zhang was listening to "game dialogue."

Since both parts of *The Birds* were now online, and the company had decided to release multilingual versions of the game, they naturally needed to hire translators. Although the system could handle translations, Chu Tingwu felt it wasn't necessary.

—You could rely on the system once, but you couldn't always depend on it. Hiring translators not only provided new job opportunities but also brought unique expertise that only human translators could offer.

After retiring many years ago, Teacher Zhang was rehired as a consultant.

Her workload wasn't heavy, mainly involving reviewing and correcting translations... but her involvement shocked the academic world, especially her former students and their own students. Some of her former students were even mentors to the company's current translators, and they immediately called their mentees, urging them to work diligently and avoid causing trouble for the "consultant."

Teacher Zhang, however, found her life more fulfilling. Though her workload was light, being involved in the project seemed to invigorate her. After the Lunar New Year, she spent her time reviewing translations for *The Birds (Part 1)* while waiting for the company to send her a "substitute player."

The hidden levels in *The Birds (Part 2)* were too difficult.

No one had posted a full walkthrough online yet. Some gaming streamers who had been engrossed in *Cat House* returned to *The Birds* to attempt a full clear of the hidden levels, hoping to be the first to upload the semi-holographic hidden scenes. But they quickly discovered that the second part had three major challenges:

Niangniang Mountain in Longcheng, the pitch-dark tunnel ride in Lezhou City, and the cliffside peril in Sang City.

The two suspects had already been sent to juvenile detention... but the criticism they deserved finally caught up with them.

To conquer these three challenges, players needed to start preparing their character's attributes early in the game to handle the high-difficulty climbing and cycling tasks. Thankfully, it was all mouse-controlled, not actual extreme sports.

But the more they played, the more everyone wondered—

Aunt Mei: "How on earth did Chu Tingwu manage to climb that back then?"

Teacher Zhang could only experience the hidden storyline. The company could have just sent her the hidden content directly, but for some reason, they decided to send a substitute player to help her complete the levels...

Outside, the snowstorm continued. Three-Five-Five, who had been lying on the table, suddenly stood up and silently jumped onto the carpet, heading for the door.

Aunt Mei initially thought Three-Five-Five was going out for a stroll, but Teacher Zhang also tilted her head slightly, as if listening for something.

Aunt Mei: "Is someone there?"

Those with visual impairments often have sharper hearing. Even with the heavy snowfall, she could make out footsteps approaching.

Aunt Mei followed the tortoiseshell cat. The upper half of the house's front door was made of frosted glass, and she could vaguely see a figure outside. She was about to call out when she suddenly had a thought. She glanced at Three-Five-Five, then turned the doorknob—

A gust of snowy wind blew in. The person standing at the door had snowflakes on their hat brim. They carried a sling bag and wore light clothing, with a raised collar covering half their face. But their eyes were bright, with a slightly yellowish tint to their irises.

Chu Tingwu, with full energy... "meowed"!

Three-Five-Five immediately stood on her hind legs, placing her front paws on Chu Tingwu's legs. Chu Tingwu scooped her up and cradled the cat mom in her arms.

"Aunt Mei—"

After greeting her, Chu Tingwu didn't need to say much. She walked into the house as if it were her own, then lifted Three-Five-Five's paw and waved it at Teacher Zhang: "Teacher Zhang—hey!"

Teacher Zhang: "Pfft."

What's with the "hey"?

Then Aunt Mei went to make some milk tea for Chu Tingwu.

Chu Tingwu: "The research team allows leave, and my tasks aren't heavy. I can take time off whenever, for as long as I want... but whether we can leave depends on the weather. The weather was bad during the New Year, so I came ashore on New Year's Day, but my flight got delayed..."

That's why Chu Tingwu didn't say anything in advance. She didn't want to raise expectations only to disappoint. It wasn't until she boarded the plane to Murmansk City, near the town, that she had the system send a message saying she was the "game substitute player."

Even though they often talked on the phone and could see each other on screen, it still couldn't compare to meeting in person.

Three-Five-Five wrapped her front paws around Chu Tingwu's neck, "meowing" in a language only cats understood. Chu Tingwu carried her around the room, occasionally meowing back and excitedly sharing her experiences in Antarctica with the other two humans in the house.

Seeing her talk nonstop, Aunt Mei made a small chocolate cake and then squeezed a cup of hot orange juice.

Chu Tingwu: "So sweet..."

Was the orange juice meant to cut through the richness?

Shikuai ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‍was still lying on the table. When Chu Tingwu approached, he lazily opened his eyes, rolled over, and exposed his belly, completely unaware of how long it had been since he'd last seen this "fellow creature." But he was generous—anyone could rub his belly.

So, with Three-Five-Five perched on her shoulder, Chu Tingwu rested her hand on Shikuai's belly and decided that after finishing the chocolate cake, fried crispy pork, tomato beef stew, meat pies, and more... she would start helping with the game.

Besides, *Cat House* had already handed out 3,000 beta test keys, and the boss herself hadn't even played it yet!

Then she was promptly dragged out by Aunt Mei.

Aunt Mei was blunt: "Perfect timing. I need to go to the supermarket at the southern end of town. You can come with me to buy groceries and take Three-Five-Five for a walk."

Chu Tingwu had hitchhiked to the town.

The house Aunt Mei and Teacher Zhang rented had a great view but was quite far from the town. By the time they finished packing and left, the snow had stopped.

Outside was a world of polar night.

But the sky wasn't pitch black. Between the stars and the earth, the aurora formed a dazzling ribbon of light. Chu Tingwu stepped onto the snow, the thick layer crunching underfoot just like in Antarctica. Even she couldn't help but tilt her head back—the aurora stretched from the horizon, merging with the night, as if the night sky was meant to look like this.

Once in the car, Chu Tingwu held Three-Five-Five in the passenger seat. As the mountains receded and they entered the city, the lights of the town began to obscure the aurora, blending it with the glow of the earth.

Aunt Mei: "That's why there are 'Aurora Hunters' here, who specialize in taking tourists to remote places to see the aurora."

Chu Tingwu had arrived in a hurry and wasn't familiar with the situation in the small town. Aunt Mei explained everything to her. Although the town was small, it had hospitals, banks, and other facilities. Perhaps because the tourism industry was quite prominent, there were also many restaurants from other countries.

For example, on the western edge of the town, there was a restaurant run by a Norwegian, with menus written entirely in Norwegian—a kind of beauty that seemed indifferent to whether tourists could understand it. To the south of the town, there was a natural ice rink suitable for skiing, though neither Aunt Mei nor Chu Tingwu had been there yet. Meanwhile, Three-Five-Five could tell Chu Tingwu a lot about the animals in the town.

Aunt Mei: "Three-Five-Five knows all of them!"

Chu Tingwu could see that. As soon as they got out of the car and entered the supermarket, the long-haired Siberian cat lying on the checkout counter raised its head.

Chu Tingwu: "..."

She felt a rare sense of being inspected by a cat, and this cat—

Siberian: "Meow meow."

Chu Tingwu: "=v="

Well, this wasn't the cat language she was familiar with. The tone was different! So she could roughly understand what the cat was saying, but if there were any local cat-specific terms in the sentence, she wouldn't be able to comprehend them.

But the Siberian didn't seem to care. She came over to sniff Chu Tingwu, exchanged a few words with Three-Five-Five, and then said:

"Is such a big one still considered a kitten? Still living off your parents, huh?"

Three-Five-Five grabbed the Siberian's head and bit its ear.

Chu Tingwu quickly intervened, and Three-Five-Five let go, signaling to Chu Tingwu: Go ahead, you bite it yourself.

Well... that wasn't necessary.

Aunt Mei was picking out some additional daily necessities for Chu Tingwu (there were already some in the room, but she felt they weren't enough). When she came out from between the shelves, she found Chu Tingwu standing at the checkout counter, helping tourists and staff as a translator.

The locals had a bit of an accent, but Chu Tingwu seemed to pick it up quickly.

When she saw Aunt Mei, her eyes lit up, and she raised Three-Five-Five's paws to wave: "Three-Five-Five says she wants to take me to meet the other cats in town..."

Aunt Mei: "Go have fun. There's a shuttle bus here in two hours, and you can take it back."

Chu Tingwu nodded: "Three-Five-Five already told me..."

Aunt Mei chuckled.

It was fascinating. She felt like she was living among "geniuses." Teacher Zhang and her students were all like that. They seemed to see and hear a different world, but the one Chu Tingwu saw was undoubtedly the most interesting.

-

The town was indeed much livelier than their residence.

But the number of tourists on the streets far outnumbered the locals. In fact, even the local cats didn't wander around casually—only the tourists were so excited about the scenery they were used to seeing.

Before leaving, Chu Tingwu bought two bags of freeze-dried treats at the supermarket, planning to bribe the cat moms' friends and nip the "living off your parents" rumor in the bud.

As she fed the cats along the way, she also helped a tourist find their phone, which had fallen in the snow—though it had already frozen and shut down. Before she knew it, she had arrived at the Norwegian restaurant.

At the entrance of the restaurant sat an Alaskan Malamute with a look of impatience.

When it saw Chu Tingwu approaching, it moved aside to let her pass, then shifted to another spot and continued lying down.

After she entered... the other customers dared to come out from the entrance.

It was clear that this restaurant had a bandit-like vibe—letting people in but not out.

But seeing the signs written in Norwegian, Chu Tingwu felt a strange sense of familiarity.

At the ordering counter stood a tall, young man with light golden hair. Beside him, two tourists were arguing.

Chu Tingwu: "Hmm..."

To be precise, the two tourists were pretending to argue, trying to draw others in to mediate while they stole belongings.

Chu Tingwu recognized the scent on one of the tourists—it matched the one on the phone she had found earlier. But even without that clue, she could tell what was going on just by their furtive glances, movements, and even the sound of their heartbeats.

The two seemed to want to drag the blond-haired customer into their dispute. Chu Tingwu stood at the entrance with her arms crossed, not saying a word.

The customer suddenly took a step back, pointed to his mouth, and said calmly: "I don't understand what you're saying. I'm a foreigner."

The two fake tourists: "..."

You're clearly speaking Russian!

They subtly assessed their chances of success if they tried to confront him and glanced at the other customers, realizing they might have been exposed. They awkwardly hurried out of the restaurant.

The waiter at the back of the restaurant completely ignored the situation and asked in Norwegian: "What would you like to order?"

The blond customer: "..."

The waiter tapped the counter: "Hurry up."

The blond customer: "........"

He stared at the menu, seemingly unsure whether the words in front of him meant "grilled meat," "towel," or "the chef's name."

Chu Tingwu couldn't stand it anymore.

She walked over, took the menu, and said to the waiter in Norwegian: "He wants crispy grilled meat and smoked salmon. Start with those two. Give me the drink and dessert menu, and we'll order those later."

Hearing the familiar language, the waiter's attitude improved significantly. He even came out to lead them to a table—yes, them.

He had directly assumed Chu Tingwu and the customer were together.

The two sat across from each other at the table, while Three-Five-Five jumped up, perched on the table, and looked left and right.

Finally, the blond-haired customer with deep brown, almost black eyes spoke first, smiling casually: "Nice to meet you. Thank you for your help. I am—"

Chu Tingwu: "Are?"

Customer: "Jia... Jiafeier... um."

Chu Tingwu: "Oh, your last name is 'um,' huh?"

The young, clearly mixed-race customer silently, silently reached out, pulled Three-Five-Five—who looked like she was thinking, "What are you doing?"—over, and buried his face in her chest.

But the cat mom didn't hit him.

She was just utterly confused.

Why aren't you ordering yet? Isn't this Shao Lingwu? It's not like it's the first time you've eaten together, so why are you chatting?

If you don't order soon, I'll go order myself!