Reviewing the Big-Faced Cat

Ke Meng clicked Accept, and the quest appeared on his list.

He opened the quest details, which said that no video had been posted yet. There was no deadline listed, as though he could do it whenever he wanted.

The quest rewarded resistance. Ke Meng clicked on the word, and the system gave a very brief explanation:

"Resistance: reduces the negative effects of adverse environments on the user."

This quest only granted one point of resistance. He had no idea how much difference one point would make, but having it was better than nothing.

Ke Meng began thinking about how to complete the quest.

"Review something strange... I only have two strange things at home."

Ke Meng looked at the dog bowl in his bedroom. The puppy was sleeping quietly inside it. The other strange thing was the big-faced cat.

The big-faced cat looked rather strange, but the young puppy didn't. It looked much the same as any ordinary newborn dog.

Perhaps the difference would become obvious after a week. As an elite monster, the Guard Dog had the ability to use Gigantification.

Ke Meng was surprised by how quickly it grew, but once he remembered that it came from a game world, it made sense.

In a game world, players could advance through a great deal of the story in a week. The puppy's growth rate was perfectly reasonable.

After some thought, Ke Meng decided to use the Strange Knowledge Cat for his review.

The Strange Knowledge Cat looked strange enough, and its appearance came with built-in meme appeal. Posting it online was bound to attract a crowd of Sand Sculpture viewers, so reaching ten thousand views shouldn't be difficult.

Ke Meng went to the spare bedroom, where a long table stood in front of a display cabinet containing a few figurines.

He secured the camera and pointed it at the table.

Ke Meng carried the big-faced cat over, bowl and all, and placed it on the tabletop. Then he covered the cat with an upside-down cardboard box to hide its shape.

Ke Meng pressed Record on the camera and delivered his opening remarks to the lens.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Ke Meng, and today I'll be reviewing a strange kitty."

Ke Meng lifted away the cardboard box, immediately revealing the white-furred, big-faced cat to the camera.

The big-faced cat stared blankly into the lens.

"This is a strange kitty. It looks a lot like the Mur Cat that's recently become popular in Bilibili's remix section, but its appearance isn't the focus of today's review."

Ke Meng put on gloves, pressed a finger against the big-faced cat's head, then pointed at its mouth.

"Any dried fish that goes into its mouth disappears for no apparent reason. There's no eating process in between. It's truly incredible."

"Next, I'll demonstrate..."

Ke Meng picked up an opened bag of dried fish and used chopsticks to place one in the big-faced cat's mouth.

Besides dried fish, Ke Meng also tried some frozen pork from the refrigerator. It disappeared just the same.

"As you can see, the big-faced cat only eats meat. If you have a big-faced cat too, please be careful not to feed it by hand..."

After filming, Ke Meng spent half an hour editing the video and choosing background music.

The video contained no complicated testing procedures and needed no special effects. Once he finished editing, he grabbed a frame to use as the thumbnail and added some text. With that, his simple review was complete.

With the video ready, Ke Meng was about to upload it to Bilibili when he suddenly remembered the big-faced cat's ability and canceled the upload just in time.

The big-faced cat had one core ability: any creature that stared into its eyes for fifteen seconds would gain strange knowledge.

If he put the big-faced cat online, would viewers gain strange knowledge about its background and origins?

Ke Meng wrote down his question in a notebook.

To test that possibility, Ke Meng decided to try the video out on a few people.

Testing was necessary, not just to complete the quest, but also to satisfy Ke Meng's curiosity.

If he wanted to reach ten thousand views, the big-faced cat was the best subject. It had built-in meme appeal.

The young puppy looked too ordinary. It wouldn't hold viewers' attention, making ten thousand views difficult to attract.

Still, curiosity was the main driving force behind Ke Meng's actions. The quest reward was secondary.

With that decided, Ke Meng logged into QQ and sent Chen Momo a nudge.

"You there?"

"I'm not playing PUBG. I'm in an online class, and I'm worried the teacher will call on me," she replied.

"Oh, then we can talk when you're free. I wanted you to watch my new video."

"Sure! What kind of video? A mukbang? A daily vlog? An unboxing review?" Chen Momo rattled off the options.

"It's a pet unboxing video. I'll send it over now. Let me know when you've watched it," Ke Meng said.

Downstairs, at the convenience store checkout counter.

Ding.

"Video downloaded"

Chen Momo propped her phone on the counter, her two fair little legs swinging gently beneath it.

Even with a mask covering her cute face, her eyes looked bright and lovely.

"[Pet Unboxing] A Strange Review"

Chen Momo tapped the new video Brother A-Meng had sent her and learned that today's review subject was a pet cat.

"Brother A-Meng bought a pet? When did he buy it?" Chen Momo murmured.

When Ke Meng lifted the cardboard box, a white Mur Cat stood motionless in the center of the cat bowl. Chen Momo let out a startled "Huh?"

She was curious about when her landlord had bought a pet, but that wasn't the point.

The point was how this kitty looked!

A chubby body, a goofy expression, and a gaze aimed skyward at a forty-five-degree angle-it came complete with the ridiculous aura of Bilibili's remix section.

Chen Momo felt a little dazed. This kitty looked far too much like the Mur Cat that had recently gone viral on Bilibili.

Seeing the Sand Sculpture-looking cat's expression put Momo in the same frame of mind as watching a remix video.

Bilibili had a well-established remix video culture. In other words, it was packed with goofy humor. These videos brought knowing smiles to viewers' faces and were often their choice for relieving boredom. Chen Momo enjoyed watching them too.

Watching Ke Meng feed the cat with a solemn expression and make a great show of performing his disappearing-food trick made Chen Momo laugh.

"I never knew Brother A-Meng had a talent for comedy," Chen Momo said cheerfully.

After finishing the video, Chen Momo pinged Ke Meng.

As though he were paying very close attention to her, Ke Meng replied instantly: "Did you feel anything strange after watching it?"

"Yep. The kitty's really Sand Sculpture and funny, and the video's great too. Hurry up and upload it to Bilibili. By the way, is that a real cat or a fake one?" Chen Momo replied.

"It's a fake cat," Ke Meng typed, then approached the question of Chen Momo's viewing experience from another angle.

After probing from several different angles, Ke Meng concluded that Chen Momo hadn't gained any strange knowledge.

After testing the girl downstairs, Ke Meng found five old classmates he was close to and tested the video on them, asking whether they felt anything strange after watching the preview.

His old classmates all gave similar answers. They thought the strange feeling was its Sand Sculpture remix-style humor, and none showed any sign of gaining new knowledge.

That put Ke Meng at ease.

Since watching the video wouldn't impart new knowledge, he might as well post it online. He still had his review video quest to complete.

Downstairs.

Seeing that Brother A-Meng had stopped asking questions, and that it was time for class, Chen Momo immediately switched back to her online lesson.

Mrs. Chen was arranging the shelves. She leaned over to look at her daughter. "What are you watching?"

"Nothing much. Just a strange cat. You wouldn't like it."

"Mmm," Mrs. Chen acknowledged. A minute later, she added, "He hasn't gone out. Where did he get a cat?"

"Maybe a neighbor gave it to him?" Chen Momo thought for a couple of seconds.

"I haven't heard any meowing."

Chen Momo rolled her eyes at her mother. "It's a fake cat."

Mrs. Chen fell silent and concentrated on arranging the goods in front of her.

Neither spoke as they each went about their own business. The online teacher's voice and the sounds of goods being arranged echoed through the shop, while their shadows quietly lengthened beneath the lights.

Outside the window, the sky was dark. It was an overcast day, and there was little light.

A morning jogger passed the convenience store and instinctively glanced inside.

He wasn't sure whether he was imagining it, but he saw two shadows stretch up the wall, forming what looked like several shadowy figures.

The jogger blinked. There were no shadows on the wall.

The gentle woman was still arranging the shelves, and the young girl leaned over the counter to look at her phone. Neither paid any attention to the passerby outside.

The jogger stopped for a few seconds. Once he was sure his eyes had been playing tricks on him, he shook his head with a smile and set off running again.

Today, the little shop was as quiet and peaceful as ever.

Please send some votes my way.

Oh, right. If you want to get in on Qidian's investment program, hurry up.

The signing contract should arrive in Shanghai this Thursday or Friday. Your chance to get some free Qidian coins is right in front of you.