Zhuohua gave Maomao another few strokes, then slowly picked up the adorable kitty and set it on the floor beside her. She peeled the suction-cup tentacles stuck to her clothes away, then gently rubbed its little head.
“Kitty, wait here for me, okay?”
Her movements were smooth and natural, as if she weren’t dealing with a terrifying eldritch monster at all, but simply brushing cat hair off her clothes.
The kitty gently wriggled its tentacles, imitating Zhuohua as it patted its own head.
After some very pleasant close contact, the two [Partners] had begun to grow familiar with each other.
The kitty had also memorized its [Partner]’s scent.
Zhuohua stood up and walked to the door. “Who is it?”
“Knock, knock, knock!”
“Open up. I’m the landlord.”
Seriously? The landlord was coming to collect rent now?
Zhuohua felt guilty. In her previous life, she’d been an honest person who’d rather live in a bare concrete shell than fall behind on rent.
I’ve never not paid my rent before… But I searched the entire room and couldn’t find a single cent.
Who knew where the previous owner of this body’s money had gone? The system didn’t even have an option to exchange points for cash.
Zhuohua couldn’t help feeling awkward. Her excitement at getting the system had been dampened in an instant. “I… I don’t have much money right now… Could you give me a few more days?”
The kitty lay on the floor, looking up at Zhuohua. It tilted its head slightly, as if puzzled by the sudden drop in her confidence.
It’s just an ant. Why not stomp it to death?
“Knock, knock, knock!”
“Open up. I’m the landlord.”
The voice repeated itself mechanically, like a robot following fixed code. Even its knocks kept repeating.
Zhuohua realized something was wrong.
The voice behind the door was deep and muffled, like a storm about to break.
The knocking continued.
“…Open the door. Now.” Maybe because Zhuohua hadn’t responded at all, the voice began to twist, turning into a beastly growl forced up from its throat.
The repeated knocks grew more and more urgent. They sounded less like knocking and more like someone pounding the door down.
“Knockknockknockknockknockknockknockknockknock!”
“Openopenopenopen the doordoordoor!”
That thing definitely wasn’t human.
Zhuohua realized it.
She wasn’t stupid. Why would she open the door for something that creepy?
Still, could this abnormal-sounding creature be one of the [Dark Creatures] the system had mentioned?
What was the outside world like? Were things this abnormal everywhere?
Were creatures like this rare or common?
Did most people in this world know they existed?
Zhuohua took a few steps back, hoping it would leave soon.
Otherwise, she’d have to buy a Desert Eagle.
After knocking for a while without getting a response, the creature outside stopped.
The noise stopped. Everything fell quiet.
…Had it left?
Zhuohua didn’t let her guard down. She simply picked up Maomao and backed into a corner of the living room.
She had no intention of opening the door.
As for leaving the room? This was a basement, and the windows were so small that not even light could get through.
With my chest, there’s no way I could climb out.
The only exit was the old, dilapidated wooden door in front of her.
Zhuohua’s heart pounded.
The softness of her chest couldn’t stop the vibrations from traveling through her bones. The kitty nestled in her arms looked up at her, then pressed its fluffy little ears against her chest.
It was as if there were a little bird inside its [Partner]’s body, beating its wings as hard as it could.
Poor [Partner]. Is she feeling unwell right now?
■ Let me take the little bird out for you.
Time seemed to slow down. Perhaps only a minute passed. Perhaps several hours.
The octopus cat slowly spread its tentacles. Its once-soft, rubbery, pure-black tentacles had now become incredibly hard.
Before this power, which did not belong to Earth, even nature’s masterpiece—the diamond—would be as soft as cream.
The kitty will be as gentle as it can.
Its [Partner] won’t feel any pain.
Zhuohua held her [Wife] in her arms, staring at the wooden door, completely unaware of the sharp weapon about to pierce her chest.
“Bang!”
“Ah!”
“Thump!”
A sudden crash shook the door!
Zhuohua jumped, letting out a startled cry. Her arms loosened despite herself.
The octopus cat thumped onto the floor, its tentacles colliding with the boards.
The octopus cat adjusted its posture the instant it hit the ground. It looked up at Zhuohua, whose heart was pounding even harder, then at the wooden door, now cracked from the impact. It slowly understood something:
So its [Partner] had been startled.
Nothing was wrong with her body. She’d just been frightened by an ant.
For the first time in its life as a cat, the octopus cat felt speechless.
Unlike the calm octopus cat, Zhuohua was in a panic. The already-fragile wooden door definitely wouldn’t withstand an inhuman attack.
What should she do? Rely on her [Wife]? But it was just a little kitty!
Zhuohua conveniently forgot that this “little kitty” could swallow a kitchen knife whole.
But lost in her own thoughts, Zhuohua kept mulling things over:
First of all, she didn’t even know if the kitty could beat the thing outside. And it might not save her, either. Its favorability toward her was only “warm.”
The only thing she could rely on now was… the system!
The thing outside refused to leave, as if it had caught the scent of blood like a shark.
Its patience had run out. With its prey refusing to take the bait, it was getting desperate.
Confident in its strength, and convinced it was stronger than a human, it chose to force its way in without hesitation.
It had already developed a rudimentary intelligence. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have pretended to leave in order to lure Zhuohua into opening the door and checking outside. After all, the dilapidated wooden door didn’t even have a peephole. The only way to see what was outside was to open it.
It just hadn’t expected Zhuohua to be so cautious… or perhaps so timid. She hadn’t shown the slightest intention of opening the door.
But it didn’t matter. This human would end up as its meal sooner or later. In a chaotic neighborhood like this, no one would come even if she screamed herself hoarse.
And even if someone did come, they’d just be another delicious meal.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The wooden door shuddered under the blows from outside, each impact making it shake harder than the last. The fittings connecting it to the wall began to loosen.
With one full-force strike from the creature outside, screws and hinges scattered across the floor, and the doorknob dropped off helplessly.
After only three or four hits, the wooden door crashed to the ground.
At last, Zhuohua got a clear look at the thing:
Blood streamed down its entire body, and it reeked of rot. Large patches of its skin had either fallen away or clung to its wounds, exposing the flesh and sinew beneath. The few patches of intact skin were bruised purple.
Its head looked as if it had taken a heavy blow, leaving it horribly twisted and deformed. Its eyes, brows, nose, and mouth were all out of place and unnaturally swollen. Its whole face was crooked and misshapen—enough to terrify a theater full of viewers in a horror movie.
But its mouth… Its mouth was full of fangs. They were absolutely not the teeth of any normal creature. Even a shark wouldn’t have a mess of teeth filling nearly its entire mouth, or such a bizarre maw split almost to its ears.
Threads of blood clung between its teeth. A glassy orb rolled out of its mouth, hit the floor, and spun a few times before coming to a stop.
It was a human eyeball.
At its center, a pale brown pupil devoid of light stared straight at Zhuohua.
Watching the grinning monster, Zhuohua raised her gun without hesitation. As a flash of fire burst forth, technology roared:
“Bang!”
