The System Mistook Me for a Cat

Arthur jumped out of bed full of energy, first threw on some clothes and did a set of stretches, then grabbed his phone and headed out for breakfast.

As one of the signed artists at Wu Voice Media Studio, the company had provided him with housing and an assistant. However, during this time, Arthur had also picked up quite a bit of Chinese and could now communicate with others without much trouble.

While having breakfast, he remotely started his live stream. The drone automatically took off and followed behind him, so he didn’t have to worry about handling the camera or framing the shot.

An employee spotted him from afar and waved, then approached and said without much surprise, "Arthur, you're live streaming again?"

So diligent. If Boss Chu… saw this, she might feel ashamed.

Arthur waved back with a smile.

In his previous studio and on his previous video platform, he hadn’t been this "diligent." But after arriving in Jin City and getting his hands on the new live-streaming equipment, he found it strange—

Your equipment is so convenient, so why aren’t you live-streaming 24/7?

To this, the other employees at the studio could only say: Please, stop setting the bar so high.

Although the employees had mixed feelings, the fans who followed Arthur to Fenghua Network to watch his streams were thrilled… Their only regret was: Why is the VR live-streaming equipment only available for purchase in China?

After several months of development, the VR knee and elbow pads, along with the corresponding glasses, were successfully launched. The glasses were the most expensive part, with the full set costing nearly 10,000 yuan, but sales were still high.

This was because fans discovered that the VR glasses produced by "WU" weren’t just compatible with their knee and elbow pads—they were also great for playing VR games, with higher quality and stability, making them a worthy replacement for their existing gaming gear.

Some people even bought the knee and elbow pads just because they wanted the glasses for gaming.

VR gaming glass manufacturers in the market still couldn’t figure out why a sports brand had suddenly become their competitor and successfully captured a share of the mid-to-high-end market. When "WU" first announced their plans, they had been watching Chu Tingwu and the "Z-bone" knee pads with amusement.

But none of this concerned Arthur. Today, he not only had a live-streaming tutorial to do but also needed to check out a new venue.

His ability to read comments was still weak. He could understand spoken Chinese, but the characters were too difficult, and the comments scrolled by too quickly. So, Arthur didn’t catch what the fans were chatting about in the comments—

[Is anyone planning to visit Fallen Phoenix City for the competition? I want to watch the event. It’s surreal to think that Chu Meow has gone from being a judge at parkour competitions to organizing them.]

[But Chu Meow said she’s staying in Shangjing City. Won’t it be too tiring to rush back for the competition? I’d rather go to Shangjing City to watch their AR battles.]

[But I heard this parkour competition will also include AR elements, and Arthur isn’t a judge this time—he’s a competitor. They’re using AI judges and projecting models, which sounds pretty cool.]

What the fans didn’t know was that this competition had actually been Arthur’s idea.

After deciding to sign with Chu Tingwu and getting the VR equipment, Arthur had come up with this plan—

He wasn’t stupid; he had thought about his career.

Arthur had realized that while this unfamiliar country had a massive population, parkour culture wasn’t well-developed here. Many people had no exposure to parkour, and even those who watched his streams were just there for entertainment.

From Fallen Phoenix City to Jin City, he had noticed that there were very few places suitable for parkour. Jin City, despite being a more prosperous provincial capital, had even fewer free parkour spots, though it did have some older indoor venues.

Over the past few days, parkour enthusiasts from other cities had come to exchange ideas and learn from him. He had seen the indifferent attitude of the general public toward the sport, as well as the passion of these dedicated hobbyists, and had been pondering what he could do to change things.

When the company started developing AR and planning the second round of testing, including setting up venues, Arthur had an epiphany:

"Let’s organize another competition!"

This time, he would also be a competitor.

He wanted to use AR and VR as the main attractions, inviting top athletes from around the world to this country and turning the competition into an annual event like the Duli Cup in America… Back in the day, he had even tried to invite Chu Tingwu to compete in America.

If the environment wasn’t ideal, he would start by changing it himself.

The competition venue was still set in Fallen Phoenix City, but instead of the parkour district, it would start at the peak of Zhangshan Mountain, with participants navigating obstacles all the way down to the base—theoretically, the event could have been named the "Mountain Cup," "Fallen Phoenix Cup," or "Zhangshan Cup," but in the end, it was decided to call it the "Tiger Head Cup."

Arthur thought this was perfectly normal, having heard that tigers had once roamed Zhangshan Mountain, and knowing that Chinese people loved tiger motifs. But long-time fans who had followed Chu Tingwu from the beginning realized: Up, you’re sneaking in your personal preferences again.

Fallen Phoenix City fully supported the event in terms of promotion and venue preparation. This influx of attention was a stroke of luck, aligning perfectly with their existing promotional plans and elevating the city to international prominence. If the competition could be held annually, they wouldn’t even need to go out of their way to market themselves as a parkour city—they would already be one!

Arthur had invited quite a few people according to the list… because Wu Voice Group’s VR equipment was region-locked!

Fans abroad who learned more about this were equally shocked and outraged:

"You invite our idols to compete, but why can’t fans get the full viewing experience?"

Just because they weren’t in China? They had been itching to try the VR spectator equipment that other fans had raved about, wanting to experience that immersive VR sensation!

Some protested verbally, but fans like Nick simply flew straight to China.

Although the competition was still in the preliminary stage and wouldn’t be held for another month or two, he figured he could spend some time traveling in China first.

—What he didn’t know was that as his plane landed in Sea City, another plane was taking off, heading to the capital of the Republic of Magana, Lorang.

A week later, the World Biology Olympiad would be held in Lorang. Coach Yang, as the team leader, was taking four students and two observers to Lorang.

On the plane, Chu Xiao was resting with his eyes closed, Zhou Qiang was scrolling through her phone, Chu Tingwu was gazing out the window, and the fourth student, Feng Ziping, sat beside her. They had met during the winter camp, and Feng Ziping, with his stern, square face, always looked like he was perpetually annoyed.

Coach Yang, sitting across from them, glanced around and was about to speak when Feng Ziping looked up, visibly nervous: "I did a tarot reading today, and it said we might lose money when we land. Could it be that we’ll get robbed?"

At this, Chu Xiao said, "I don’t believe in that."

Zhou Qiang added, "I didn’t bring any cash."

Chu Tingwu, however, reassured him: "Don’t worry, if it gets stolen, I can just steal it back."

Coach Yang: …

Hey!

—

Meanwhile, Nick had already gotten into a car heading to his hotel.

He decided to spend some time touring Sea City before heading to Fallen Phoenix City—he had heard that Fallen Phoenix City wasn’t very developed and, aside from parkour, didn’t have much to offer. He was worried that once he got there, he wouldn’t even find good food.

Nick’s hotel was in the bustling part of the city. He was traveling alone, but he believed he could manage with gestures and a translation app… right?

He looked up at the virtual projection above.

This was an extremely vibrant street, with lights spilling out from the shops, making the area glow even at night. But to Nick, the entire street was illuminated by the virtual projection above… What surprised him even more was that many locals didn’t stop to gawk. Some noticed but continued shopping, while others were engrossed in their phones.

Although some people did stop to watch, they didn’t cheer or make a fuss as if they were at a sports game. Instead, they maintained a composed silence.

But wasn’t this scene, this spectacle, worth being amazed by?

He couldn't help but stop a passerby, pointing to the platform above. The passerby gave him a look that said, "I know what you're about to ask," and calmly explained:

"Oh, this is an open ranking match where participants can join remotely. That's why Rocket Crossbow isn't here, only AK111 is present, so the atmosphere isn't too lively."

Nick: "?"

The end of the beta test was scheduled for the day after the city representative matches in Sea City and Shangjing City concluded. To secure the top spot in the rankings and have their kitten represent the entire city, the beta testers were going all out!

The so-called "open ranking match" was a competition that offered higher efficiency in earning points—Nôv(el)B\\jnn

A few days into the beta test, the system updated. Based on the total points earned by players and the overall player ratio, the system adjusted the rankings, which would be recalibrated weekly. Players of the same rank would compete against each other to earn full points, while matches between players of different ranks would only yield a proportional amount of points to ensure fairness.

If matched randomly and remotely, the chances of encountering someone of the same rank would also be higher.

However, if participating in an open match, the point ratio would be adjusted slightly higher: to give more players a chance, and because the open match venues had limited capacity, players had to physically arrive at their chosen venue to register their information. After that, they didn’t need to stay on-site and could wait for the system to automatically match them.

The system would provide an estimated match time in advance, and if it wasn’t convenient, players could choose to decline.

Currently, Rocket Crossbow and AK111 were competing like this. Rocket Crossbow didn’t want to answer questions in front of everyone, so they stayed in a nearby café, while AK111 was right in the middle of the crowd, fully focused on answering questions, completely unfazed by the onlookers.

A mischievous child tried to run into the arena, but as they approached, a transparent projection automatically rose, adjusting to a height even they couldn’t reach by jumping, ensuring the match wasn’t disrupted.

Nick, like everyone else, had his eyes fixed on the "cat" above.

"Is that really... a cat?"

The cat representing AK111 was about the length of a human arm, with a sleek, muscular build. But what was truly astonishing was its fur, which had a matte black-and-gold metallic sheen—after the game’s upgrade, to better showcase the cats' "skins," "equipment," and "effects," the skill effects, which previously enveloped the entire body, now appeared as flowing bands of light around the cats, like shooting stars, before slowly fading away.

Now, the black cat was surrounded by such bands of light, with tail-like stars orbiting around it, adding a layer of shimmer to its already metallic coat.

The opposing cat was equally unique. It was a light orange color, but its tail and limbs were adorned with flame-like dark red patterns that pulsed like breathing, glowing and dimming rhythmically.

It didn’t take a genius to realize these weren’t ordinary cats. Nick leaned in closer just as AK111 muttered something and raised a hand. The black cat darted forward like lightning, seemingly guided by its handler’s gestures, ending the initial probing and launching into a new round of battle!

Nick: So cool!

He saw the light screen swirling around AK111, disappearing as he got closer. The other person’s lips seemed to be reciting an incantation, while their hands moved like a grand sorcerer commanding their tamed beast to fight—people around were chattering, and though Nick couldn’t understand what they were saying, he guessed they were discussing the intense battle above.

Everyone must think it’s awesome too!

"Seriously, just picking a question, do you have to make such a show of it?"

"Maybe they’re practicing early? I heard that in the second beta, you’ll actually be able to control the cats with gestures."

"Damn! So I’ll have to solve problems while working out my arm muscles? Going out to pick up cat food will feel like a daily three-kilometer power walk—"

Is this game even about learning new knowledge anymore, or is it secretly a national athlete selection program?