"What... just happened?"
His body was still in midair, but Zhang Zhaomu's thoughts were racing at an incredible speed. The pain in his forehead was all too real, and he finally realized what had just happened.
It seemed he had sprung straight out of bed and hit the ceiling.
Given his height, he could just about manage that if he stood on the bed and jumped with all his might, but he had been lying down.
That wasn't something a human could do.
"Did the [Cat] persona just change my factory settings?"
While his brain was still entertaining absurd thoughts, his body continued to plummet under gravity. Instinctively, Zhang Zhaomu twisted his waist in midair to adjust his posture.
The scene he had expected-crashing heavily back onto the bed, perhaps even smashing it to pieces-never came to pass. He landed lightly, almost silently.
"Have I... become superhuman?"
Was he like Spider-Man, who gained a superhuman physique and reflexes after being bitten by a spider?
"If a guy bitten by a spider is called 'failed MAN,' what am I called now? Cat MAN?"
Zhang Zhaomu couldn't help shuddering. A title like Cat Hero didn't sound like something a grown man should have.
Besides, getting bitten by a cat wouldn't make someone mutate. It was more likely to give them rabies.
He rubbed the bump on his head, looked up at the ceiling, and couldn't resist jumping again to test it out.
This time, though, it was just like any ordinary jump. Only his fingertips reached the ceiling.
"Huh? Why can't I do it anymore?"
A little puzzled, Zhang Zhaomu tried hard to recall the details of what had just happened.
"I must have gotten the posture wrong."
Zhang Zhaomu lay back down on the bed and suddenly tried to kip up like a carp-
The mattress groaned under the strain. The salted fish rolled over.
"...Forget it."
Zhang Zhaomu scrambled back up awkwardly. "There's really no time to fool around. Getting to school is more important."
Although he still wanted to explore the abilities his newly acquired [Cat] persona had brought him, the [Refined] persona was still working tirelessly, reminding him that he was already long overdue at school.
After getting dressed, Zhang Zhaomu went into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror.
The boy in the mirror looked perfectly normal. No feline features had appeared on his body, and his pupils were still black, not vertical slits.
At least by the [Refined] persona's standards of beauty, his current appearance passed muster.
"Great, I can go to school normally!"
As he thought this, Zhang Zhaomu's attention was drawn to the toothbrush cup on the counter in front of the mirror.
Then he couldn't resist reaching out and giving it a swipe.
Thump.
The cup fell to the floor and rolled a few times.
"That felt good!"
An indescribable sense of satisfaction welled up inside him, and Zhang Zhaomu eagerly extended his wicked paw toward the shampoo.
"Wait-"
His hand suddenly froze. "What am I doing?"
"What's so satisfying about knocking a cup over?! A messy sink isn't satisfying at all, okay?!"
Things were starting to get a little serious.
Zhang Zhaomu suddenly realized that the [Cat] persona had brought more than just sleepiness, and more than the superhuman feat of hitting the ceiling. It had also brought a cat's habits and quirks.
He quickly ran through the little he knew about cats.
They loved cleanliness, spent a great deal of time licking their fur every day, had an instinct to bury their business after using the toilet built into their genes, and even cleaned their own chrysanthemums afterward.
"I don't want to do that!"
The little bit of pride hidden in his heart at having seemingly become superhuman was instantly replaced by horror. Zhang Zhaomu had been thinking that if he could fully control that feeling from earlier and become superhuman, even if he didn't dare openly reveal it by, say, entering the Olympics, he could at least rely on a cat's powerful reflexes to sweep all before him in video games and show off like crazy.
But if the price was having to live like a cat afterward, Zhang Zhaomu would rather remain a simple salted fish.
I'd die of social embarrassment. I definitely would!
If I suddenly start rolling all over the ground in front of everyone, can't resist pouncing when I see a mouse, or accidentally smell catnip and start going crazy-
Then I definitely won't be able to stay at school. The better outcome would be getting sent to the mental hotel. The worse outcome... getting my human qualifications revoked on the spot!
"Maybe I'd be registered as an exotic pet and live in a room with giant cat trees covering the walls. Countless tourists would come to see me through transparent glass, bringing Xinxi County hundreds of millions in tourism revenue every year..."
Zhang Zhaomu's thoughts couldn't help wandering again. "I guess that would count as contributing to my hometown's development. Maybe I could even get a page of my own in the family genealogy through such a strange method, so future generations could look up to me."
"No, this isn't the time to imagine the future! I can't give up so easily!"
"I'm not fighting alone... not fighting with just one persona! The [Refined] persona cares most about keeping up appearances in front of others! Add to that my extraordinary willpower, which lets me stay up for three days and three nights straight, and I can definitely overcome the instincts of the [Cat] persona!"
"Besides, based on my previous experience, I only need to hold out for this week. When next week comes, I can uninstall the [Cat] persona, and my life can go back to normal!"
Zhang Zhaomu's spirits lifted again. He stood up straight in front of the mirror, his gaze resolute and his voice low. "Spending the next week pretending to be a normal person? I accept the challenge!"
Then he casually swiped the shampoo bottle onto the floor.
"..."
"That one doesn't count! It was purely to celebrate getting my confidence back. Besides, there's nobody else around, so the [Refined] persona isn't taking effect."
Forcibly suppressing the urge to make a mess of the bathroom, Zhang Zhaomu hurried out of his home.
Xinxi No. 1 High School was an old school, and the street outside its gates wasn't very wide. All kinds of little shops lined both sides, their wares a dazzling assortment.
On ordinary days, Zhang Zhaomu either walked while looking at his phone or chatted happily with Chen Zhenzhen, never paying attention to the shops. But today, all sorts of miscellaneous things kept catching his attention, and sometimes he even stopped without meaning to.
Fortunately, the [Refined] persona was still urging him to get to class and maintain a respectable appearance in public, allowing Zhang Zhaomu to suppress the urge to run over to the stalls and play with things, or even make a mess.
Just then, the roar of a motorcycle engine suddenly came from behind him.
Zhang Zhaomu jumped in fright, the hairs on his body instinctively standing on end.
Then the world seemed to slow down.
The colors became strange and less saturated, the red awnings turning gray-green in an instant. The sounds around him, meanwhile, seemed to be abruptly amplified. Every conversation sounded infinitely closer, the sound of wheels rolling over the concrete road felt as though they were rolling across his skin, and the engine's roar struck his eardrums like a thunderclap.
His feet had already pushed off, and he was about to twist sideways and leap with extraordinary agility. In that fleeting instant, he looked back and saw that a motorcycle taxi driver not far behind him had simply started his bike.
Only then did reason return, and Zhang Zhaomu instantly realized what he had done.
With the trajectory his body was now following, even if he didn't jump straight up to the second floor by the street, he would at least land on one of the gray-green awnings the roadside shops used to keep out the rain.