Ark 4 - gaming cat

After laying on the ground unhappily for a few minutes, Shu Ning climbed back onto his legs and surveyed his surroundings. He walked over to the couch in the middle of the room and jumped atop it, taking two tries to coordinate his limbs properly to take the leap. From there he could see a TV hanging on the wall opposite the sofa, a wooden bookshelf reaching up towards the ceiling beside it and a large dinner table making up the space behind him.

Shu Ning scrambled off the furniture once he noticed a door left slightly ajar in the hallway. He ran over and placed a paw on the wooden surface to push it all the way open. The room it opened up towards was obviously the sleeping quaters of the human inhabiting this appartment. The walls were painted in a soft blue only covered by a wardrope on one side and a desk on the other. In between them stood a double bed that could easily hold up to five adults at once.

From his position on the floor, Shu Ning could barely see atop the matress, so when he clawed his way on top of the bed a startled hiss escaped his lips. The whole appartment had been earily silent since he woke up in this body, so he had expected the place to be empty. Especially after the ruckus he had made before. Now though, Shu Ning had tumbled right into the sole of a nacked foot.

A young man was lying prone on the sheets, wearing a cotton pyjama. His head was covered by a silver motorcicle helmet that was connected to a huge metallic box by wires which was placed next to the bed. The skin of the male looked pale in the sparce lighting and his arms lay weak and thin next to his upper body. There was also an IV line attached to one of his hands, dripping a transparent liquid slowly into the man's vains and completing the look of an ill patient.

Shu Ning stopped next to the human's head and tapped one of his claws on the male's shoulder. The body's chest continued steadily rising up and down but other then that there was no further reaction. He tried again, this time putting more force into it and piteously meowed when there was still nothing.

Giving up on his owner for now, Shu Ning left to search for the kitchen. His stomach felt like a blackhole that could swollow up an entire amada and a dull throb attacked the back of his skull. This body was obviously very hungry and probably been so for a while as the skin of the feeline painfully rubbed over the bones sitting right underneath.

Once Shu Ning had found the kitchen, he immediately wrapped his paws around the doorhandle of the refrigorator and pulled. When it didn't pudge he placed one of his feet against the other door and threw his whole weight into the task. With a 'swish' it swung open and a cold breath raised the hairs on the cat's body. Shivering, Shu Ning stuck his nose into the freezing interior and searched through the edibles inside. After crawling through each of the shelves and clawing through the food he gave up. Most of it has long expired or grew a white hairy coat atop.

After closing the refrigorator again, Shu Ning was still left shivering from the cold and he tiredly moved back into the livingroom. Before he allowed himself to drop down onto the soft looking carped though, he descided to try his luck with the bathroom. As far as he knows, most people store their cat food in their restroom. So without further adoo, he crossed through the livingroom, entering the bedroom again and finding the entrance he was looking for half hidden behind the mechanical box.

The door was wide open and Shu Ning immediately saw the cat realated things strewn all over the floor. The dry food packagings were torn to shreds and it's content nowhere to be found, the litter box was a complete mess and the smell so bad that the cat had to take a step back repulsed and in between all of that the cans filled with wet cat food showed a multitude of teeth marks on it's surface. Though they were the only edibles that were still mostly intaced.

Shu Ning placed one of his paws onto a can and pushed his teeth under the opener. Grabbing onto it with his jaw, he pulled the lid off of it and carefully licked at it's content. It deffinitely wasn't the best thing he had ever eaten but he still gnawed at the content with relish as his stomach finally send out a warm  content feeling.

Shu Ning: "I really never thought that I would ever be happy to eat cat food. What are you doing with me?"

Alpha: "That isn't my fault. The headsystem chooses the bodys for the host."

Shu Ning: "Then go and thell that boss of yours that he is a fucking bastard. I'm quite sure that he just enjoys watching my growing frustration."

Alpha: "I-I CAN'T TELL HIM THAT! (＞﹏＜)"

Shu Ning roled his eyes at the system and licked the rest of the food out of the can untill there was nothing left anymore. Now that his belly was properly filled he could finally descide on what to do. His owner was most probably caught inside of the game world and wasn't able to take proper care of his pet anymore so there was noone in his close visinity anymore that would care for him. That also meant that he could practically do what he wanted without anyone noticing any abnormalities.

With renewed determination, Shu Ning jumped onto the metallic box and pressed his paw onto the screen atop. It immediately turned on and in the glimmering light the logo of 'adventures battle' appeared. It showed the animated corps of a two-headed wolf that had a sword stuck in it's flank. The figure of a boy dressed in loose clothes and a dark brown cape had one of his foot placed on the animals body while a hand held the sword in a tight grip. At last the name of the game encircled the picture with elegant sweeping strokes. Shortly after the logo dissapeared, the game's logg-in function appeared.

As every machine only alows one account to be created, Shu Ning used the virtual keyboard that appeared to quickly hack into the server's terminal. The screen flashed a few times and then showed a row of numers that quickly flew past. It took up to an hour that it finally slowed down and only three words were left remaining in the end. 'Game is starting'.

Shu Ning lay himself on top of the metal box and closed his eyes in wait. A dizzying feeling grabbed hold of him as he mentaly plunged into a void. Darkness surrounded him while his body stay susspended in mid air, the ground underneath his paws having dissapeared along with the scent and noises of the appartment. Suddenly a blinding light appeared in front of him and forced Shu Ning to close his eyes. After a while the brightness subsided a little and he was able to open them again.

The first thing he noticed was the bluest sky he had ever seen. There was not a single gray line smearing the colour and only a few fluffy clouds moved above. A line of trees a few meters away signaled the beginning of a dense forest and when Shu Ning turned around he was faced with a stone path leading underneath an archway and into the heart of a small town. A few rooftops could be seen peaking over the stone wall and the trail in front of him headed right towards an old-fashioned looking inn before it did a sharp left turn and dissapeared out of view.

Shu Ning's eyes glowed in excitement as he stepped underneath the arch and made his way towards the towns center. His human legs working flawlessly as if they were truly his own and once he stepped fully onto the stone path a barage of different voices and even smells bombarded his senses.

To enter the game Shu Ning had created a human body with long black hair tied into a ponytail and a slender phisique that didn't stand out too much. His eyes glowed in the same colour as the sky and his slightly darker skin was covered by a pale brown dungarees and a blue shirt. At his hips hung a belt with a dagger stuck inside and an empty puch. He had chosen the name 'black_cat' for this form which was boldly suspended above his head for all to see.

Shu Ning wandered through town as he looked at the interface of his character. So far he did not have any experience points or skills and his inventory was empty as well. A true beginner. It was clear that he first had to level up a bit before he could go looking for the Protagonist of this world. Descision made, he approached a stall at the side of the road that was selling different types of healing potions and used all of his starter money to buy the cheapest tonic he could find. This wouldn't last him very long if he truly lost a lot of his HP, but it could at least keep him alive if needed.

The man behind the stall looked at him curiously as Shu Ning packed the glass container away and got ready to return to the gate. Though he barely noticed the other male and was therfore startled when a rough voice suddenly sounded from that direction.

"You do know that you can hide your name right? Leaving it out in the open like that can be dangerous."

"Oh? No, I didn't know. But now that you mention it, the other player don't seem to have their name above their head. How come?"

"Call forth your game interface. In the right upper corner you should see the symbol of a running man. It's the same symbol you would press if you could logg out. You have it?"

Shu Ning pressed on the little black figure on his screen and immediately saw the red logg out button at the botton. It truly seemed ominous eventhough he knew that he could actually logg out anytime he wanted to. Which was good, as his body in the real world would otherwise die from starvation. There were more options listed, one of them being the pain tollerance which was irrevocably fixed at half mast and above that the choice to hide ones name. Within seconds the words atop his head dissolved.

"Thanks mister. That relly helped me out."

"No problem. But how come you didn't know that and why are you still in the beginner outfit?"

"That's because I'm new here."

"New? You mean you just entered the game? Are you nutts? Who would throw away their live like that?"

"My family is caught inside of this world and I wish to search for them. And if that means dying in the process then so be it, but only after I have seen my family one last time."

The man fell silent and just looked at him with a new found respect. Not waiting for the other to get his voice back, Shu Ning said a quick goodby and left the stall behind. He moved through the crowd of other players and pushed his way back towards the town's entrance. As soon as he stepped off of the stone path the noises of the marked immediately dissapeared and only the rustling of leaves in the wind and the howls and grunts of animals could be heard.

Shu Ning pulled out the dagger at his belt and walked closer towards the forest. When he reached the first row of trees he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye and lowered his body lower. When a shadow jumped out of the bush he was ready and with a slash of his weapon the creature exploded in a shower of sparks. After that first one a second one jumped at him and met the same end as his companion. More and more furry creatures of different races crawled out of the woods and slowly surrounded Shu Ning, watching his every movements with their eyes. Whenever one of them descided to attack, he raised his dagger and cut into the beasts skin until it dissapeared. Like this he worked his way through the creatures, gratefull that he was already proficient in fighting and happy about each accoustic signal that told him of a raise in level.