The System Mistook Me for a Cat

Yang Xi noticed that the projection was actually cast by a new device on the roadside that looked like a mix between a surveillance camera and a streetlamp—

Apart from the arena and the cat in the center, there were also translucent "No Entry" signs surrounding the PK area, forming a square, arena-like space.

The commotion was so loud that it caught the attention of everyone nearby.

Skateboarders, people sitting on benches with laptops on their knees, those immersed in mobile games, individuals in workout clothes heading home, and couples out shopping—all turned their heads in confusion, wondering if this was some new promotional event happening in the commercial district.

However, there was no sign of any event organizer, and:

"Wow! What kind of advertisement is this? Must have cost a fortune!"

So why not just spend that money on actual ads? Seriously!

Yang Xi tried to blend into the crowd, as she didn’t look particularly out of place—just another office worker sneaking out with her phone.

But the projection didn’t let her off the hook!

She was just standing there minding her own business when, in the next second, a deep blue circle appeared at her feet. At the same time, a notification popped up on her phone, warning her not to step out of the circle. If she stayed outside for more than thirty seconds, it would count as a surrender.

The onlookers immediately assumed she was part of the event's "staff," folding their arms and watching her with curiosity, as if waiting to see what she would do next.

Yang Xi: I have no idea either!

"Whoa!"

She was also puzzled as to why the company behind this, Wusheng, hadn’t stationed anyone nearby to explain what was going on. But as she looked at the light screen in front of her, she quickly realized—this was the information age, after all. There was no need for human intervention when technology could handle it.

The "No Entry" signs around the battlefield displayed subtitles, explaining everything clearly!

Someone whispered, "So 'Sea City - Weixin District Beta Test Round One' means... this might not just be happening in our district, or even just in Sea City?"

Between the two kittens, a translucent screen acted as a barrier, like a glass panel separating them. The kitten on the other side was more lively, standing up and pawing at the "glass," while Xibao gently nudged the screen with its nose, creating ripples at the point of contact. The whole setup was dripping with futuristic vibes.

Perhaps because this was the first round, both sides were given ample preparation time.

But Yang Xi noticed something: the kittens seemed too small?

Yes, compared to the massive battlefield, the cats were just regular-sized kittens. If Yang Xi hadn’t been wearing glasses, she might not have even been able to spot them.

However, the surrounding projections quickly solved this issue.

Once the explanation was fully displayed, the text shattered, and several square broadcast screens appeared slightly above eye level, ensuring that even those further back could see clearly without obstructing anyone’s view.

Yang Xi clicked her tongue in amazement.

The passersby who had been drawn in were also astonished, though some tried to play it cool, as if this were just another day in Sea City: "Nothing unusual... this kind of tech has been around for a while, it’s just expensive."

In recent years, there have been virtual projection concerts, so the technology should be similar. This is probably just a street promotion for... a game? What a bold move! Might as well download it and check it out.

Yang Xi didn’t chime in, though, because she couldn’t shake the feeling... if they went through all this trouble with the projection, why make the cats so small?

Having played many games herself, if she were the designer, the cats in the game might grow larger than normal cats in the future.

But surely they wouldn’t raise a cat as big as a building, right?

She let her imagination run wild for a moment before a new notification popped up on her phone. But even without looking at her phone, she knew—it was the countdown to the start of the battle!

—Because the transparent screen between the two cats displayed a huge countdown timer, starting from 30.

Normally, when playing mobile games, a 30-second countdown would make her curse the game for wasting her time. But now, with an offline PK battle (even if she wasn’t the one fighting), 30 seconds felt way too short!

How exactly is this supposed to work?!

The phone notification read:

【You can use simple hand gestures to select the question you want to answer, then pick up your phone and input your answer via voice (or text if voice isn’t an option).】

【Questions of different difficulties are color-coded and marked accordingly. Since this is the beta phase, the game encourages players to explore and discover the mechanics on their own. Each correct answer will grant your cat a corresponding buff. Incorrect answers will result in no buffs or penalties.】

Yang Xi: No penalties... that’s a relief.

She had a feeling this game was like an educational app... no, an educational game. Of course, it involved answering questions.

【If you win the battle, your cat will receive rewards, growth bonuses, and a spot in the district rankings, earning you points.】

【If you lose, your cat will suffer a debuff. You’ll need to find a way to remove it, and your points will be deducted.】

【Note: Points can go into the negative. You’ll need at least one win for your cat to be ranked.】

【During the beta, there are eight districts across two cities (Sea City and Shangjing City) participating. Thank you for joining, and we hope you enjoy the game.】

Yang Xi skimmed through the instructions as the countdown hit single digits. She swallowed hard, ignoring the questions from the crowd, and focused on the timer as it hit zero—

The battle began!

She hadn’t been this nervous even during her job interviews!

The transparent barrier in the center disappeared!

The two kittens seemed to understand they were fighting "for their owners" and immediately charged at each other. Even though Yang Xi knew they were just virtual projections, she still held her breath, half-expecting some dramatic twist—like the cats transforming or something bloody happening—but her expression soon relaxed.

Nope...

It was just kittens play-fighting...

Kittens play-fighting, not even using their teeth, but they were having a blast, meowing and tumbling around. Heh... heh... wait, she still had to answer questions!

She snapped back to reality just as colored yarn balls began falling from the sky—pink, yellow, and blue. The little girl on the other side had already grabbed the yellow one!

The girl reached out, and the yarn ball floated toward her as if pulled by gravity.

Yang Xi: Darn it, I want to play too!

She guessed this was part of the question mechanic and quickly selected the blue one. But as the yarn ball started floating toward her, her professional instincts kicked in, and she wondered: If reaching out selects it, how do you cancel? Double-tap to undo?

She instinctively flicked her hand, and the blue ball actually rolled back. Then she gestured toward the pink one, and it floated over to her.

But before she could even open the question, the little girl on the other side had already shouted out the answer.

Hey!

Yang Xi saw the question displayed on the virtual screen in front of her. Clearly, everyone around could see it too, but since she was on the opposite side, she couldn’t see the other question. Now, her own question appeared.

Turns out, the questions were displayed both on the screen and her phone.

She didn’t have time to feel embarrassed. She quickly scanned the question—

It was a civil service exam question!

Thankfully, it was multiple-choice, not an essay, and she had picked up a thing or two from her colleagues’ study sessions. The difficulty wasn’t too high either!

She answered the question, and the answer box turned green. But Yang Xi was still anxious! Her cat was being pinned down by the opponent’s kitten!

Moreover, a health bar was slowly depleting above her cat’s head, along with a countdown timer? Clearly, when the timer hit zero, the health bar wouldn’t drop to zero, but it would still count as a loss, because the victory condition seemed to be...

Boxing rules.

Yes, it seemed to follow boxing rules. She wasn’t an expert, but she knew that being pinned for a certain amount of time could lead to a loss.

So why are the rules for a cat battle the same as a boxing match? You spent all this money on such a detailed and extravagant game—couldn’t you come up with more tailored rules?!

She noticed a faint yellow glow around the opponent’s kitten, while her own cat, after she answered correctly, was surrounded by a soft pink aura.

Someone in the crowd couldn’t take it anymore and shouted:

"Yellow boosts strength, pink gives a blood-lock effect!"

"No, even with the blood locked, your cat can't get up, and you'll still lose once the time runs out!"

If you don't know how to play, let them play!

Yang Xi was furious: "My cat is still a baby!"

It's an infant warrior; it's already trying its best just by being on the battlefield! She wished she could step in and fight the match herself… but she couldn't!

No, she still had to try the effects of other furballs.

The arena was already littered with virtual furballs, while the two real fluffy cat balls were still rolling around. Yang Xi quickly summoned the blue one, but when the question appeared…

Darn it, why is it a physics problem!

Her knowledge of physics had slowly faded since college. Although the question didn’t seem too difficult, she really couldn’t solve it!

Someone nearby said, "Choose D."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yang Xi panicked and chose D—it was correct!

The system didn’t seem to flag her for cheating or anything, and it quickly applied the effect to her cat. The blue furball seemed to increase the cat's evasion ability. Xibao finally broke free from the restraint, but the opponent also activated a purple effect.

"Ugh," Yang Xi hadn’t even spoken yet, but the bystanders seemed to have inexplicably taken her side. "How can it even fly now?!"

Yes, purple was random magic.

Yang Xi: "=="

In short, the battle was chaotic, rushed, and filled with wrong answers, audience interference, her voice cracking from shouting, a dog running into the arena (?!), and various other mishaps. By the time the fight ended, Yang Xi realized that less than fifteen minutes had passed, and her voice was already hoarse.

Xibao still lost.

Her eyes stung a little, but a girl she didn’t even know came over and hugged her. Someone else patted her shoulder comfortingly, saying with deep empathy:

"These questions are way too hard! I’ve never seen anything this difficult, not even during my college entrance exams… By the way, what kind of variety show are you filming? Where’s the camera hidden?"

Yang Xi: "Uh…"

The other side was equally excited. She saw the younger girl and her friends hugging and cheering as the projection slowly faded. Yang Xi waved at them, and they ended up adding each other as friends.

She felt like the questions were a mix of hard and easy, covering a wide range of topics, and seemed to rely more on luck. But just as she thought that, a notification popped up on her phone:

[You can now choose your preferred question categories! (After participating in one free-for-all battle, you can select your specialized question topics.)]

She breathed a sigh of relief. Good, at least she could choose the topics. After all, if the questions were always random, she’d probably find the game too annoying after a while.

Not everyone is a genius who can memorize everything. People prefer to focus on what they’re good at and interested in—it makes answering correctly more rewarding.

The system informed her that she could now challenge other beta players. In battles, 60% of the questions would come from her specialized topics, 30% from the opponent’s, and 10% from a random pool.

This random pool was currently tied to local players. The more a certain type of question was uploaded by local players, the more likely it was to appear in the random pool.

The questions in the game weren’t just copied from test banks. Instead, they were analyzed for structure and intent, then modified into suitable versions. Almost no questions were repeated, so players couldn’t just memorize answers.

Yang Xi laughed bitterly: "With such a massive question bank… how could anyone possibly memorize all the answers?"

By the way, Xibao seemed to have gotten a "loss of appetite" debuff. She had to follow the guide to figure out how to remove it. She also needed to spend some time nurturing her little warrior—how could it fight in PK matches if it stayed so weak?

-

Shao Lingwu: "What if someone memorizes all the questions and answers?"

Zhou Qiang pondered: "Yeah, that wouldn’t be fair."

Chu Tingwu: "…Are you even listening to yourselves?"

She was the boss and half of the main designer, but she was also a beta player. So, she grabbed a few beta slots for her friends to play together.

However, they didn’t go to a battle spot near Shangjing City. Instead, they played a traditional AR battle—where the cats’ fights were only visible through the phone screen, making it more suitable for friendly matches.

The points from these battles were fewer, and there were restrictions in place to prevent point farming.

After the match, Chu Tingwu started removing the debuffs from her cat—

Essentially, she went out to collect questions.

She activated the search function and looked for randomly spawning biology competition questions at the training site. These questions often appeared in the form of bags of cat food or cat treats, and different locations had different question biases—like here, where they were all competition-level questions.

They were scanning just fine, but then their classmates noticed.

These overachievers quickly realized:

"This is like a study app…"

Random questions, with answers and explanations, a record of completed questions, and error analysis. Plus, the questions were perfectly suited for them—it could totally be used for self-study.

Chu Tingwu: "…"

Chu Tingwu: "Should I go get a few more beta slots?"

Getting the slots was easy, but when she saw her classmates all using "StudyPass," Chu Tingwu couldn’t help but feel… well…

-

Tianshi: "Ta-da! Here to report on progress!"

Tianshi: "Promotion is going smoothly—users are spreading the word on their own! We’ve fixed a few minor bugs and received a bunch of suggestions. We should be able to launch the second beta soon… But, boss, I’ve got a question. Why are there multiple identical feedback reports from Donglin District in Shangjing City—"

Tianshi: "They say the random question pool keeps giving them biology questions, and they’re super hard ones at that. They can’t solve them and just end up randomly guessing. It’s really dampening their enthusiasm for battles, feeling like their IQ is being stomped on… Do you have any insights on this, boss? Hello? Hello—don’t pretend the signal’s bad now!"

Chu Tingwu: "…"

Ugh, she hadn’t even started pretending yet! How did you preempt her!