Life Exchange Game - Chapter 6 - The Business Cat

Lifting a paw, Xia Yu touched his whiskers. Agility, he mused, was the ability to be nimble and skillful in using one’s hands or other parts of the body. This skill was incredibly useful, especially in activities like drawing or playing the piano.

Then there was intimidation. Cats had this skill, likely because of their tendency to puff up their fur. The purpose of this was to make themselves appear larger and scare off enemies. In modern society, where violence is frowned upon, having intimidation as a skill could help resolve conflicts without resorting to aggression.

As for night vision, it seemed less useful now that electric lights had conquered the night. Nonetheless, this cat was a treasure trove of abilities.

Satisfied, Xia Yu nodded and began to move away from the glass. The crowd made him uneasy, as people were now giant creatures to him. Moreover, this wasn’t the best place to accumulate agility experience.

After taking a couple of steps, he overheard someone talking about him. “Mom, that cat is walking on two legs!” a little boy exclaimed excitedly, pointing at him.

Accustomed to walking on two hind legs, Xia Yu put his front legs down. He headed to a secluded alley to start practicing.

Compared to intimidation, agility was more crucial at the moment. If his guess was correct, agility could speed up his piano learning, bringing his Pighead laptop to him faster.

A cat’s agility was showcased in hunting and running. Since there was no prey to hunt, running was his only option. But how should he run?

Humans go through a crawling phase as infants, so walking on all fours wasn’t a problem. Running on all fours, however, was beyond his experience.

Recalling how cats ran, Xia Yu attempted it.

Thud-he crashed into a trash can. Perhaps his posture was wrong.

He tried again, managing a couple of steps before crashing into a utility pole due to his inability to change direction.

Getting up and shaking off the dust, Xia Yu sat beneath the pole, rubbing his head and pondering.

“Mom, that cat is so silly!” another little boy commented.

“Meow, meow, meow!” Xia Yu meowed at the boy, who couldn’t understand him, scaring him away. Xia Yu sighed. This was proving to be quite challenging.

He got up and chose a spot without trash cans or utility poles to continue practicing.

Three hours later, a black shadow darted swiftly through the alley.

The wind ruffled Xia Yu’s fur, bringing a refreshing coolness. The scenery blurred past him, filling the cat with joy.

With a sharp turn, he avoided the utility pole, circled it three times in mockery, and then headed for the trash can.

In front of the trash can, someone had carelessly discarded a milk tea cup. Xia Yu lifted his front half, pushed off with his hind legs, and attempted to leap over it. Instead, he landed right on top of the cup.

“…”

Rolling over, he released the squashed milk tea cup and lay on his side, propping his chin with a paw, looking dejected. He could run, but jumping was still beyond him. Luckily, the person who discarded the cup had drunk it dry, sparing him from a milk tea shower.

Staring at the cup for a while, Xia Yu felt a pang of hunger. He needed to find something to eat. But how?

As a stray cat, how did they usually find food? His gaze drifted to the trash can ahead.

No, that wasn’t an option. Better to check out the pedestrian street.

Exiting the alley, Xia Yu arrived at the pedestrian street. The streetlights were already on, revealing that the alley he had been in was shrouded in darkness. Night vision was indeed a useful skill for cats.

Now, how to find food? Should he snatch a sausage from a convenience store and run? As a respectable cat, such banditry would be beneath him. Should he find a young girl and play dead at her feet? Though it would be his own effort, it was too embarrassing.

After wandering the pedestrian street, Xia Yu’s mind wrestled with indecision. His eyes fell on a young girl holding a pancake. Should he go for it?

Hesitating for a moment, his eyes lit up. He dashed past the pancake girl and approached a tree.

Under the tree, a little boy was looking up. His Pika balloon, a character from a popular cartoon, was stuck in the branches. Beside him, his mother was trying to comfort him.

Glancing at the bread bag in the mother’s hand, Xia Yu extended his claws and climbed the tree. With claws, climbing wasn’t difficult. After a while, he reached the balloon, bit the string, and slowly descended.

Once on the ground, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look for the boy, only to find both he and his mother were gone.

“???”

From the time he climbed up to when he came down, about five minutes had passed. It was normal for them to have left.

With the balloon in his possession, Xia Yu didn’t necessarily need the boy. Looking around, he approached a little girl.

“It’s a cat!” the little girl exclaimed, crouching down to pet him, but Xia Yu dodged. He shook the balloon, directing her attention to it.

“Is this for me?” the girl reached for the balloon, but Xia Yu dodged again, leaving her puzzled.

Xia Yu lifted a paw and pointed at the grocery bag in the girl’s mother’s hand. The girl didn’t understand, but her mother did.

The young mother hesitantly took a sausage from the bag and offered it to Xia Yu. Placing the balloon in her hand, Xia Yu happily took the sausage and headed back to the alley.

After taking a few steps, a young girl blocked his path. She placed a hot dog bun in front of Xia Yu, who hesitated before giving her the sausage.

Receiving the sausage, the girl’s face lit up with delight. A crowd gathered around Xia Yu.

“This cat can trade things!”

“Would it accept a crepe?”

“I have a can of fish.”

What do you want? Don’t touch me!

Twenty minutes later, clutching a roast duck, Xia Yu escaped the throng of humans and returned to the alley.

Opening the packaging, Xia Yu bit into the roast duck. This was top-quality Beijing roast duck, something he hadn’t tasted as a human but now enjoyed as a cat.

The duck was delicious, and Xia Yu heard another cat meowing nearby. Chewing on a duck leg, he looked around, intending to share the leftovers with the other cat.

However, he saw no feline companion. Listening carefully, he realized the sound was coming from his mind. It was the original owner of this body.

So quiet all this time, but now meowing at the sight of food-how typical. After finishing two duck legs, Xia Yu stashed the rest of the duck in a corner and resumed his running practice.

While passing the entrance of another alley, he considered exploring it, but the mental meowing returned, sounding fearful.

Was it a dangerous place? Better not risk it.

Continuing his practice in the original alley, as the game time neared its end, Xia Yu stopped by a bus stop to confirm his location in the city.

The black cat was a good disguise, but wandering outside was risky. If he could swap bodies again, he’d bring the cat home.

At two in the morning, he returned to his own body. Sitting up, Xia Yu opened the skill panel. Not only had agility appeared, but so had night vision.

Without turning on the light, he could see everything in the room, despite the dim moonlight outside. Attempting a kip-up, Xia Yu successfully stood up. Agility was proving to be quite effective.

A smile crept onto Xia Yu’s face as he opened the body exchange slot and tried to save the black cat in the second slot. Only bodies saved in slots could be swapped repeatedly.

Seeing the save was successful, Xia Yu felt even more pleased. He named the second slot “I am a cat.”

With both slots filled, he couldn’t swap bodies with anyone else. He’d have to wait until An Siyao or the black cat’s skills were fully learned, then delete them to free up a slot. That would take a long time.

As he lamented the limited slots, game text appeared.

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