The System Mistook Me for a Cat

"38——"

"39——"

"40!"

The tabby cat's tail was held high, as if it knew it had won, letting out a triumphant "meow" several times. Its front paws rested on the black cat's body, its entire little body arching like a bow, letting out a long "awoo" sound—almost like a tiny tiger.

The contestants from Shangjing City erupted into cheers of excitement. Some jumped up and hugged their friends, while others waved their arms wildly, too overwhelmed to do anything but shout.

Others were more reserved but still pulled out their phones to check the app's announcement, trying to confirm the results once more.

In reality, when the results were announced, neither side reacted immediately.

It turned out that the Sea City representative had made a mistake.

By the end, both sides had very low health, with Shangjing City slightly lower, teetering on the edge of defeat. However, through precise hand gestures, the Shangjing City representative managed to control their orange tabby, successfully locking the black cat in a chokehold—

The game's obscure knockdown rule had been modified: if one side was pinned down and unable to get up for forty seconds, regardless of their remaining health, they would be considered defeated.

During this time, both sides could have used items to get up or escape, but Shangjing City saw through their opponent's strategy and used a previously saved immobilizing item to restrict them, pulling off an incredible comeback.

The opposing team, despite their strong problem-solving skills, had lost in this manner, and it was clear they felt deeply frustrated.

—Because all beta testers received participation badges, but the winners had more elaborate commemorative markers, representing the only gold medal in the entire game.

Although the medal was just a piece of data, it was the only one of its kind globally, exclusive to the beta test!

When the second beta registration opened, the official announcement stated: although the beta would be wiped, only the levels and rankings would be reset. Players could choose to keep "their own cats," which would revert to their newborn size, but their trained personalities would remain unchanged.

Medals, titles, and limited-edition skins would also be preserved.

Nick had been caught up in the excitement for over an hour before realizing he was feeling unusually warm, likely from the adrenaline—his face was slightly flushed. He had originally come for an AR and VR parkour competition, but after seeing the offline AR battles in Sea City, he couldn't resist and bought a ticket to fly to Wu City to watch the larger-scale virtual projection showdown live.

Nick: "If only games like *Fallen Lands*, *Doomsday 2077*, and *Alien Planet* had AR features too..."

A pet-raising AR game with offline PvP battles was fun, but he still wanted something that didn't require too much brainpower.

These big games were developed by different companies, though. Oh, and there was also the action game *Assassin King*. He wished the company behind *Learn Without Limits* could just acquire all these other companies!

If Chu Tingwu were here, she'd probably tell him the chances were slim—cooperation was more likely. After all, if they had the money to buy all those companies, the system would probably prioritize acquiring Disney first. Of course, the funds would fall short, but the system would persistently submit the application, approve it itself, and then present it to Chu Tingwu.

Chu Tingwu: "→_→"

System: "0v0"

But at this moment, as just an ordinary spectator and a non-player who couldn't register for the *Learn Without Limits* second beta due to lack of real-name verification, Nick could only sigh regretfully, glancing around and wondering if he should go to the restroom.

Next up was probably the award ceremony, right? There didn't seem to be much else fun to look forward to. The match had been thrilling, even though he hadn't understood most of it, but he had felt the energy. He could probably leave after sitting for a bit longer—

Just then, his wristband lit up, and stardust-like lights began falling from the sky. Of course, these weren't real—they were more virtual projections.

A white horse stepped onto the stage. The players' cats regained their strength, returning to their original sizes. But Nick noticed that a player nearby was holding her cat, looking somewhat wistful. She said to her friend:

"At midnight tonight, the beta officially ends..."

Her little Garfield would revert to a kitten, and all the levels she had worked so hard to raise would be reset. Still, she didn't regret the time she had spent grinding, because she had felt happy and fulfilled, even getting healthier skin from going out more often.

...Sniff, Garfield, mommy loves you.

Her friend tried to comfort her, laughing and crying at the same time. Meanwhile, the white horse on stage tipped its hat to the audience and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please raise the hand wearing your wristband—"

Nick felt a bit embarrassed to stand up. He followed the instruction, raising his hand in confusion: Wasn't this supposed to be restroom time? Wasn't the award ceremony next?

"Welcome to the upcoming mini-game!"

The audience stirred slightly. Although the ticket had mentioned a mini-game (which Nick hadn't noticed), it was supposed to happen during the closing ceremony, with awards given alongside the main competition winners, and the prizes were unknown. Most people thought it would be a lucky draw where audience members competed against professional players—after all, this game was quite skill-based, and some were hesitant, worried about embarrassing themselves.

But what was this format? Was it a random selection, or were they all participating?

The host horse stomped its hooves, and the next second, the falling stardust froze mid-air, shimmering without descending further. A circular stage appeared in the center of the arena, filled with various musical instruments. The white horse, Raphael, stepped into the center, joined by two other horses, making a trio.

"Snap!"

In the middle appeared the shadow of a cat sitting on the ground, holding a guitar.

Yes, even though all the lights were focused on this cat, its species was indistinguishable—only its silhouette confirmed it was a cat.

["Band 819" performance is about to begin. Please get ready—]

[Put on your golden gloves and use various gestures to try and catch the pulsing stars in the air. Please do not leave your seat, as you won't be able to score points during that time!]

[Now, let's get wild!! Meow—]

Stars rained down from the sky!

Amidst a burst of energetic rock music and a "meow-meow-meow" opening, Nick frantically reached out, noticing that his wristband-covered hand now seemed to be wearing a translucent black glove with golden threads. But when he tried to grab a falling star, it passed right through his palm.

He checked the wristband's screen and saw that no points had been recorded.

Huh?

After a few attempts, Nick realized that he could use the same hand gestures the players had used during the match to control the stars—like moving them closer, farther, or selecting them. These were gestures that would be updated in the game's second beta. But to score points, he had to grab the star when its light was at its dimmest.

Then, *poof*, the star would imprint onto the glove's surface, and the points would be added to his wristband.

Nick heard someone shout—

"Whoa! AR rhythm game!"

Band 819's cat was still singing!

The varying pitches of the cat's meows blended perfectly with the music, creating a foreign-language song effect that was oddly catchy.

This concert—no, this competition venue—had fairly spacious seating. Nick couldn't help but smile as he listened to the music.

When everyone around him was speaking a language he didn't understand, he had felt a sense of isolation. But cat meows were different—no one understood them, and yet everyone was immersed in the game. Someone's hand accidentally bumped into another's, and in that moment, it seemed like an argument might break out, but instead, both burst into laughter against the backdrop of the music.

Nick felt like he had returned to his childhood, experiencing a simple yet unfamiliar joy.

And it was exhausting.

Though... some people could actually understand the lyrics.

Like Chu Tingwu, like the system, and like the cat, Three-Five-Five.

——The audience thought the voice was generated by AI, just with a very outstanding effect, but Chu Tingwu could tell... there were two lines in it that were clearly San Wu Wu cursing.

There were also the cat meows she was so familiar with, even mixed with a couple of small tiger roars. Thinking of someone's previous recording behavior and the band's subtly self-referential name...

It had to be... Shao Lingwu!

Shao Lingwu: "Achoo!"

The musician himself was right there at the scene, having a great time.

But now, those not present couldn't join in, and even with the projection effect, it didn't have the same atmosphere. Zhou Qiang rested her head on Chu Tingwu's shoulder, staring at the screen, and said gloomily, "Why don't we just kick the one who's not fitting in out of the group?"

Damn, she wanted to join in too.

Chu Tingwu: "Wait for the second test... the second test will have thirty participating cities."

And during the second test, you could switch cities. For example, Chu Tingwu's household registration was in Fallen Phoenix City, but she lived in Jin City, not Shangjing City. However, since Shangjing City wasn't an option during the alpha test, she had joined the Shangjing City faction.

Once the second test opened, you could switch to other factions. Hmm, that is to say—

In this game, switching cities might be like transferring teams. If the scale grew larger in the future, would some cities reference the game and propose talent introduction policies, persuading people from smaller cities to relocate, aiming to qualify for the national playoffs?

A seven-minute-long song, "Meow Meow Growl," ended. Apart from the big-name lead singer, who still only showed a shadow, the three accompanying horses said a few words for the intermission, settled the points for everyone, and the host, Raphael, regretfully said:

"Unfortunately, our band's lead singer has a very busy schedule and can only perform this one song for everyone."

The cat's shadow nodded in the background.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The audience laughed, and someone shouted, "Lead singer, encore! Can't you give us an encore?"

The cat's shadow shook its head.

"But," Raphael said, "we have, of course, invited other bands to perform more great songs for everyone—"

The cat's shadow hopped onto a tricycle and pedaled away.

At this point, the audience really wanted an encore. The cat teacher seemed a bit too lonely.

Chu Xiao: "Did they invite a celebrity to sing?"

Chu Tingwu: "Ah... I didn't ask."

Because she had been busy with exams at the time, the process had been handled by the system, but there shouldn't be any issues, right?

Could it be a celebrity with high national recognition? Like Phoenix ○ Legend or something?

With a bit of curiosity, Chu Tingwu and the others leaned in to watch the screen, and the barrage was also filled with curious and puzzled comments—after all, not every celebrity is reliable... right?

Huh?

This intro?

Huh??!!

Isn't this the intro from that Disney animated movie—?!

And the performer wasn't the original singer of the song, but... a projection of the character who sang it in the movie! Although there wasn't much interaction with the audience (Chu Tingwu suspected it was due to copyright issues), it was more than enough to delight the audience.

The barrage was also thrilled, with many expressing regret for not being able to attend. Even Zhou Qiang was curious: "Did they actually collaborate with Disney...?"

It felt like they had used some serious financial power.

Chu Tingwu: "..."

Maybe it counts as a collaboration?

But her intuition told her that the system was probably thinking—

System: "With this collaboration, it'll be easier to negotiate prices in the future."

Chu Tingwu: "..."

She knew it!