Ch.5The Hunt (1)

I made a judgment, and all that remained was action.

For two days, I tracked and studied the cat’s living patterns.

After careful analysis, I reached one conclusion.

‘This is truly an emperor.’

I guarantee that even the captain of this ship doesn’t live as comfortably as that cat.

I’ve been observing the crew for six days, and most of their living standards are below average. For example, the meal menu is filled with items like synthetic meat and genetically modified grains—products with no merit except their low price.

‘Meanwhile, that cat gets to eat fresh meat every day thanks to having a good owner.’

And not just any meat—freshly slaughtered meat at that.

This ship has an agricultural section responsible for farming and livestock. It originally exists to provide gourmet cuisine to the ship’s high-ranking officials and distinguished guests from outside. Providing such precious meat to a mere cat is quite unusual.

‘Kisaragi Yujin is definitely not an ordinary person.’

She must be either a Martian noble from Prime Capital or a top-tier Noble Capital from Megacorp. Both are core ruling classes of Megacorp with planetary-level influence.

‘Troublesome bunch.’

Both classes have enormous pride and never forget grudges. They’re vicious people who remember even the smallest complaints and take revenge tenfold or hundredfold later. I had a lot of trouble with them even in games.

Even if I killed someone else instead of Kisaragi Yujin and escaped the ship, she wouldn’t forget me. She would find me somehow and try to kill me.

‘One more reason why she has to die.’

Anyway, putting aside the owner’s status, the key is how to catch that cat.

“Meow.”

The cat yawned widely, seemingly bored. Looking at it rolling around on its premium cushion, I’ve never seen such a layabout.

This is Kisaragi Yujin’s bedroom.

I’m in a ventilation passage connected to the wall near the bedroom floor. I’ve been watching that lazy creature through the metal grate, and seeing it loafing around makes me sigh involuntarily.

‘It looks dull, so killing it shouldn’t be difficult.’

Unlike dogs, cats are animals that haven’t lost their wild instincts despite domestication. They’re also naturally excellent hunters.

So I expected it would be a challenging opponent for a Hatchling like me. I wouldn’t lose, but I thought I might sustain some damage.

But seeing it directly, I realized my worries were unfounded. Looking at that fat belly, I thought more about how delicious it would be rather than how dangerous it might be.

‘The problem is that it’s too lazy.’

The creature spent most of its day on that cushion. It didn’t move at all except when eating or going for walks in the garden with its owner.

‘But I can’t kill it here either.’

The funny thing is that this place has better security than the cargo hold.

The ventilation passage where I’m standing looks no different from others on the surface.

But with my enhanced senses, I can tell that the bedroom’s owner is obsessively security-conscious. Laser sensors installed throughout monitor for external intrusions.

What if I entered the room now? The AI would immediately inform the guards standing outside about an unfamiliar visitor.

‘Then I’d be finished.’

They wouldn’t even need to use guns. A kick from a guard would burst my internal organs and kill me.

‘I’m stuck here.’

While the cat itself might be easy, approaching it was unexpectedly tricky. I got annoyed and unconsciously swung my tail widely.

‘Oh no!’

When my tail hit the passage wall making a noise, the cat’s ears perked up.

“Meow?”

The cat jumped up and rushed straight to where I was. It moved quite nimbly for an obese creature.

The cat’s body collided with the metal grate, and the laser sensors activated.

I could sense the guards outside tensing up after receiving the signal. I couldn’t stay here any longer.

I glared once at the creature scratching at the grate, then retreated. As soon as I withdrew, the guards burst into the room.

“What is it? What got in?”

“Tsk, the cat’s acting up again.”

“Again?”

“Ugh, just leave it!”

With the guards’ grumbling voices behind me, I returned to my nest.

‘…That was close.’

I almost put my life in danger. Slamming my tail out of frustration—what a mistake. I’ve never made such a careless error.

Did my cozy nest affect my mind? Perhaps I’ve become dull to stimuli because my body got comfortable.

‘Attracting attention with my tail, I must be crazy… wait a minute.’

While berating myself, something occurred to me.

Fragments of ideas randomly popped up one by one. I organized these scattered thoughts like putting together a puzzle.

‘The creature looking bored, stimulation, the guards’ reaction.’

These three were the key keywords.

Finally, I figured out how to approach it.

–

Cat Caesar was spending another day lounging on his cushion.

When he learned he had to leave home and entrust his body to a stinking hunk of metal, he couldn’t believe it.

He had sternly scolded his food-providing owner, Kisaragi Yujin, but she merely looked apologetic while ignoring his opinion.

Caesar was extremely disappointed, but his suffering didn’t end there. Not only was his bed uncomfortable, but the food was also terrible.

For someone who had lived his entire life eating premium meat and freshly caught fish, the meals provided on the ship were unbearably subpar.

It was so bad that even a big eater like him fasted for a day.

Only because his owner knelt and desperately begged did he reluctantly eat the inferior meat.

Before long, Caesar had perfectly adapted to the new environment, making his early resistance seem meaningless. Life on the ship with little change matched well with his lazy personality.

Caesar stretched in his boredom. Though he disliked moving, he didn’t lack a cat’s curiosity.

Isn’t there anything fun happening?

Just then, a rustling sound reached his ears.

Raising his head to check, he realized it came from beyond the ventilation passage. Come to think of it, a strange being had emerged from there recently, catching his attention.

Caesar slowly got up. Last time, he had rushed over too hastily and lost track of the unidentified being.

Promising himself not to miss it this time, he approached carefully. As he neared the passage entrance, a small object came into view.

It was a cockroach, half-severed. Despite having no chance of survival, the insect was still wriggling, trying somehow to escape.

Seeing this, Caesar felt his predatory instinct awakening after a long slumber. He pounced on the insect without thinking.

After turning the prey into mush with his front paws, Caesar experienced an unfamiliar emotion.

It was the feeling of fun. The thought of having more toys filled his small brain.

Caesar spotted another insect beyond the metal grate. He felt disappointed. He had tried hitting the grate before, but it hadn’t budged.

Regretfully, he tapped the grate, but surprisingly, this time produced a different result.

The grate fell forward.

Delighted, he crawled into the passage to catch the insect.

“Hey, that alarm’s going off again?”

“Must be the cat. Let’s check it out later, it’s annoying.”

“Right, where would the cat go anyway? We’re guarding it.”

Being a cat, Caesar couldn’t understand what the guards outside were saying.

Even if he could understand, he was too preoccupied with the insects to care.

Following the insects scattered throughout the passage, his eyes caught a bright light. Following it led him to an open corridor.

“Meow?”

Looking around after emerging into the corridor, Caesar realized he was in an unfamiliar place.

He thought about turning back, but the sight of another insect numbed his reason.

Behind the insect carcass was a dark space contrasting with the corridor’s light, opening its maw. Caesar fearlessly jumped into that space.

It was the cargo hold.

–

‘Here it comes.’

I was hiding on top of a container, looking down at it. That stupid cat entered the cargo hold following the insects without any suspicion.

‘Maybe not exactly stupid?’

The cat was just following its instincts.

For animals, instinct is absolute.

Even though it was domesticated by humans, the wild genes inside it still remained. The genes of a hunter, a predator.

“Meow.”

It approaches the container. I prepared to pounce on it.

My blood flow accelerated due to tension. The thick, flexible tail at my rear end screamed that it was ready to strike at any moment.

The muscles composing my four pairs of legs contracted, and my posture lowered, signaling combat readiness.

While my body prepared, my faithful servant, my auxiliary senses, received its master’s command and calculated the best timing for attack.

The AMorph’s transcendent vision penetrated through the dark cargo hold and precisely targeted the cat. By observing the cat’s muscles, bone movements, and habits, I could tell its right eye had poorer vision than its left.

“Meow?”

It turns its head to the left. With its deteriorating vision, it cannot detect me hiding in the darkness.

Now is the opportunity.

I sprung my tightly bent legs. My body rose into the air with that propulsion.

I deliberately didn’t use my wings because they make noise. Using gravity’s force alone was sufficient to approach it quickly.

The distance between us rapidly closed.

The cat’s ears twitched upon hearing the wind. Its head turned toward me, and its pupils dilated widely. I could feel its body tensing as it detected danger.

But it was too late.

My tail became an assassin’s dagger, stabbing its side.

Venom potent enough to paralyze an adult human instantly spread throughout its body via the bloodstream. With a much smaller body than a human, there was no way it could withstand the paralyzing poison. Within seconds of being stung, its heart stopped.

The hunt was successful.

I stepped on the motionless trophy lying on the floor and let out a small roar.

The predator’s victory cry echoed through the cargo hold, making the inhabitants tremble with fear and awe.

‘Good. Now let’s eat.’

Having completed the ceremony successfully, it was time to check the reward. I took a bite of the cat carcass.

‘Huh?!’

A sensation completely different from insects and calorie bars struck my brain.

First, the warm blood characteristic of mammals flowed into my mouth. Before I could savor the sweet taste of blood, chewy muscles and savory fat invaded my mouth, mercilessly toying with my taste buds.

It was so shocking that I felt like my spine was being sucked out.

I had thought cockroaches, spiders, and calorie bars were edible enough, but I was completely wrong.

This feeling is what ‘delicious’ truly means.

I barely held onto my trembling legs and bit the cat once more.

‘Incredible.’

It wasn’t an illusion. It tasted so good that I wouldn’t mind eating cat meat for the rest of my life. My poor vocabulary made it difficult to explain how delicious an animal the cat was.

I focused on eating the meat without thinking about anything else.

It took less than five minutes for the cat carcass, larger than me, to disappear.

‘Smack.’

After chewing even the bones and licking up every drop of blood that had spilled onto the floor, I smacked my lips.

Having finished my frenzied meal and regained my composure, I understood why AMorphs are crazy about meat.

‘Because it’s incredibly delicious.’

The taste was so amazing that I couldn’t help but swear.

Even excluding the goal of collecting genetic essence, if meat tasted this good, it was worth seeking out.

As I was licking the flesh and blood from my front legs with regret, a text box suddenly appeared.

「Predation Effect Activated! Successfully acquired genetic essence ‘Wild Instinct’.」

「Stole ‘Wild Instinct’ from the biological characteristics of ‘Cat’.」

「Would you like to apply ‘Wild Instinct’?」

‘Oh?’

I was already feeling good from eating the meat, and now I’ve acquired genetic essence too. I didn’t expect to get genetic essence from eating something for the first time.

‘Wild Instinct. A characteristic I’ve never seen before.’

Since this was my first time eating a cat, I didn’t know it had this trait. I didn’t know what effect it had, but having it couldn’t hurt, so I pressed accept.

「’Wild Instinct’ trait has been applied.」

「Can be fused with the existing ‘Enhanced Senses’ trait.」

「’Wild Instinct’ and ‘Enhanced Senses’ traits have fused. Evolved into ‘Predator Sense’ trait!」

「Predator Sense: The ‘Enhanced Senses’ trait is strengthened. You can detect threats in the near future based on information you possess.

*P.S.: An excellent hunter knows how to read the future.」

‘Wow?’

I was speechless looking at the text box.