Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 42 – Cat Dad’s Furry Moment

‘Uh-oh.’

Xiaomao sweated profusely, trying to come up with an excuse.

‘Should I confess? Should I convince her about the perks of the game now? Should I win her favor like a regressed protagonist in novels?’

Fortunately, Wei Zhi misunderstood him. She laughed at Xiaomao.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep it a secret. Don’t attend the race in with those props tomorrow, okay?” Wei Zhi giggled. She patted him.

Xiaomao silently nodded, but he was somewhat disappointed.

Wei Zhi smiled as she found him interesting. She wanted to continue chatting with this weirdo.

“By the way, aren’t your parents angry that you skipped school today?”

“Hahaha! My parents are on vacation. I’m home alone, munya.”

“Hou? Home alone, I see,” Wei Zhi widely grinned.

Xiaomao suddenly had goosebumps. He coughed and tried to change the subject before things escalated.

“Umm. By chance, are you into VRMMO games, munya?”

“I’m not into VRMMO. Sorry.”

“I see. That’s too bad. I was planning to invite you to play a good game that you can make money, munya.”

“I want to play as well, but I’m into physical games that can make money.”

“…”

Again, Wei Zhi suspiciously grinned._.

Again, Xiaomao’s cat sense was tingling. He widened his eyes while his tail and fur straightened in fright.

This development was dangerous. He shouldn’t pursue what kind of physical games she was into.

“You’re not going to ask me what kind of physical games I’m interested in?” Wei Zhi giggled.

“NOPE! Thank you. Well, I have something to do today, munya. Please excuse me. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, munya!”

Xiaomao sweated bullets. He rushed into his house and shut the door.

“…”

Seeing how Xiaomao panicked, Wei Zhi burst into laughter. Everything was a prank, and Xiaomao’s reaction was priceless. She had fun teasing him.

Had Xiaomao invited her in, she would have said that she was into sports game competitions instead of something lewd.

‘Other boys would have eagerly invited me in with an ulterior motive. But Miao Xiaomao is actually cute.’

Wei Zhi hummed and waved her hands at the closed door. Then, she rode the bicycle back to school.

…

While Wei Zhi was riding back home, her phone rang. She put on earphones and swiped the phone.

“Yes, dad?”

‘I have good news for you, Zhi’er! You’re not going to believe this!’

Wei Zhi giggled as she was in a good mood, “What’s up? You sound excited.”

‘Your uncle won a raffle lottery and got an Ultra-Rare NFT for you.’

“NFT? What’s that?”

‘Haiya. You’re so young, so uneducated ah. You need to study technologies more. Look at your papa. Your papa got a Ph.D. in Physical Education by sending a few letters to an apartment university while I was banging your mother, attending high school, and working at a butcher store at the same time ah. While you’re pursuing a golden medal, you must not forget studying ah.’

Wei Zhi’s mood was ruined.

“Oh, god. The cringe… Haiz. That’s a fake diploma, dad. Stop flexing and stop refer it as your real degrees. If somebody finds out, you’ll lose your job.”

‘Haiya. You don’t understand ah. When you grow up, you have to brag and flex to get a proper social standing ah. Naïve idiots that don’t flex can’t get ahead in career ah.’

Wei Zhi had a headache. Her father looked so intimidating and terrifying on the surface. But in reality, he was a braggart.

“Don’t sidetrack, dad. What’s NFT?”

‘Haiya. Young people these days don’t study about technologies ah.’

“What is it, then?!” Wei Zhi’s face contorted with frustration.

‘I’ll explain at home ah. Explaining on the phone costs money. I also have a surprise for you. See you at home.’

BEEP

Wei Huang hung up the call.

Wei Zhi rubbed her temples. She had the urge to scold her dad, but she held it in.

Phone calls were free these days. Everybody used various apps to call their friends and families, and her dad also used a social media app as well. Yet, he claimed that phone calls cost money.

‘Forget it. I’ll search the terms on the internet.’

While she had a headache, her nose caught a whiff of a strange scent.

Wei Zhi glanced at the plastic bag, which contained her school uniform. She leaned over and sniffed it.

‘What kind of detergent Miao Xiaomao is using? It smells funny…’

She parked her bicycle and checked her clothes. He brought them out to inspect it.

It was clean, soft, and warm. Although Wei Zhi was not familiar with Xiaomao’s detergent, she could tell that Xiaomao had used a softener.

‘How nice of him. I thought men rarely used softener on their clothes.’

The pants and jacket were fine. But there was something extra among the clothes.

It was a pillow sheet.

‘Huh? Did Miao Xiaomao mess up? Hahaha, he must have been nervous and mixed this with my clothes by mistake.’

Wei Zhi slowly put the clothes back in the plastic bag. But as she put the pillow sheet back, the funny odor hit her nose again.

She paused and glanced at the pillow. Then, she brought it closer to her face and sniffed it.

“…”

Indeed, the sour odor came from this pillow sheet. A faint yellowish stain was barely visible on the white pillow sheet.

‘Is this Miao Xiaomao’s body scent?’

Wei Zhi frowned for a moment. Yet, she continued to sniff it as if she tried to remember his scent.

Little did she know…

…

After Wei Zhi had left, Xiaomao returned to the second floor’s balcony to check on his pillow in a dry-washing machine.

The machine was still working as intended, but Xiaomao suddenly remembered something.

Xiaomao was absentminded when he did his chore. He accidentally washed the bedsheet, pillow sheet, and Wei Zhi’s clothes together.

Fortunately, he realized his mistake and thoroughly washed them again. He also used a softener to clear the funny smell.

However, Xiaomao didn’t remember where he had put the pillow sheet after he dried it.

‘Where did I put the pee-stained sheet again? I only see my bedsheet. What the hell?’

Xiaomao scratched his head and played with his cat ears. Rubbing the back of the ears was addictive.

Since he couldn’t find it, he shrugged and stopped worrying about it. After all, lost items in the house were usually found when one least expected them.

Xiaomao returned to the kitchen to prepare lunch for his cats.

But as soon as Xiaomao returned to the kitchen again, Mama Cat and Nyanko hissed at him. As for Mir, she rushed to his legs and sniffed him. Mu-Nyang simply yawned and lazed around as usual.

Xiaomao laughed at them.

“What? You don’t recognize your slave, munya?”

Munya! (I remember you, peasant!)

Mew? (Why do you smell like Mu-Nyang?)

“Thanks for the feedback. What about you two, munya?”

Xiaomao snickered and started pouring dried cat food into their bowls.

As soon as Nyanko and Mama Cat noticed that Xiaomao was preparing their food, they stopped hissing and came closer to him. They warily sniffed his legs and tail.

Sensing that the cats came to check on him, Xiaomao instinctively wagged his tail.

It was a mistake. The two innocent cats widened their eyes and fixated on the moving fluffy tail. Their hunting instinct was ignited, and they thought that Xiaomao was playing with them.

Mama Cat jumped up and caught the tail with her claws. Nyanko suddenly got braver and climbed Xiaomao’s pants. Then, she hugged the tail and bit it.

“Oi, ladies! My tail is not a snack!”

It was too late. Mama Cat and Nyanko teamed up on his tail by hugging, biting, and kicking it nonstop.

Still, it didn’t hurt him. Aside from the tickling feeling, the cat’s fangs and claws couldn’t penetrate his skin.

Xiaomao dragged the two naughty cats around by letting them hold on to his tail. He walked around the kitchen and placed their lunch bowls on the floor.

Mu-Nyang and Mir rushed to their bowl. Nyanko and Mama Cat reacted a bit slower, but they eventually let go of Xiaomao and fought for their food.

As the four cats were busy, Xiaomao finally had a chance to return to the game.

Xiaomao got back to his room. But this time, lying down on his back was uncomfortable because of his tail.

He closed his eyes and meditated, trying to revert back to his human form. He also put on the VRMMO helmet and closed the hatch, just in case he accidentally fall asleep.

One minute later, Xiaomao indeed fell asleep and entered the game.

…

WHOOSH

Ding

<Error! Detecting foreign DNA in host!>

<Updating DNA data…>

<Correcting the parameters…>

<Your Data has been updated.>

<Synchronization Rate: 28%>

<Welcome back, Xiaomao.>