The System Mistook Me for a Cat

The national team training camp operates in a residential training mode, where participants can stay in the dormitories provided by the national team... Generally, students are too busy to go out for leisure, and leave is usually not permitted.

So, when Coach Yang heard Chu Tingwu's name from a neighbor, he was momentarily stunned:

"Making a game? What game?"

How could someone have the time to develop an independent game while training with the national team... Oh, it's Chu Tingwu. She has her own company. That explains it.

They had been busy for several days finalizing the list of participants for the Olympics. Rumor had it that this year's International Biology Competition would undergo reforms, and the teachers were actually more nervous than the students—in recent years, Chinese participants had dominated various Olympic competitions, so much so that any year with a lower award rate was immediately seen as a decline in performance, without considering factors like competition reforms.

Moreover, based on Coach Yang's experience, students encountered different issues every year. After all, students weren't NPCs; if you didn't guide them, you'd never know what kind of chaos they could cause... With just four students, someone had once gone missing at the airport, disappearing in the blink of an eye and nearly giving the team leader a heart attack.

When Coach Yang arrived at the school, he instinctively opened Chu Tingwu's exam records to review—

Out of the four spots, Chu Xiao had already secured one, as he had topped the national exam with 300 participants. He had previously participated in the Informatics Olympiad and had more international competition experience than the others. With him on the team, Coach Yang felt half of his worries were alleviated.

The remaining three spots were more uncertain. Zhou Qiang's grades and mindset were stable, and Coach Yang was quite optimistic about her... Barring any surprises, she would likely secure a spot. Beyond that, at least ten out of the fifty candidates could be considered: those with excellent grades, a strong mindset, outstanding performance, or abundant creativity. These individuals, who were considered prodigies in their own cities or provinces, became the ones being scrutinized at the national training camp. Even the smallest issue could be grounds for elimination, given the sheer number of alternatives.

As a result, Coach Yang could see that most of the candidates were feeling unsettled. Some were even considering dropping out, as they already had offers from top domestic universities. The pressure of competing with their peers day after day was taking a toll on their mental health.

And then there were those... whose attitudes were a bit too relaxed, as if they were doing the training camp a favor by being there.

Chu Tingwu was a prime example.

Coach Yang: "...Chu Tingwu, let's have a chat."

At his words, Chu Tingwu, who was about to leave the lab, tilted her head and gestured at the distance between herself and Coach Yang—

Then, she propped herself up on the lab table's partition and, as if floating, effortlessly leaped over several exam desks, landing in front of the podium. Mid-air, she even adjusted the position of her small backpack.

The people below her merely paused for a moment before continuing on their way, unfazed.

Coach Yang: You used to at least look up when someone did that!

Recently, he had spoken with several students, not about the final list, but about various biology-related topics. It wasn't an exam, but more of an observation of the students' states of mind.

This could be considered a form of random interview.

When the other students heard him call Chu Tingwu's name, they realized it was her turn.

This was the first time he had spoken to Chu Tingwu one-on-one, and they didn't even go to the office—they just stood in the hallway. Coach Yang brought up the topic: "That AR game you've been playing lately seems quite interesting. I noticed everyone's using the software as a practice exam... Does it still feel like a game at that point?"

He sounded like a curious elder wondering if the game was still fun and whether it could turn a profit.

Chu Tingwu glanced at him, then deftly pulled out her phone and said, "Give me your phone."

Coach Yang: "?"

Chu Tingwu collected a bunch of invitation codes, helped him download "Learn Without Limits" on his phone, and then guided him through customizing a cat—Coach Yang named the cat "Zhang Zhang," after his daughter. Next, Chu Tingwu switched to a starter account and played a round with him.

The first round's questions were randomized, and when Coach Yang got serious, Chu Tingwu promptly lost the match.

The little cat, Zhang Zhang, turned around and nuzzled him. Seeing the cat about to leave the camera frame, Coach Yang instinctively adjusted his grip on the phone. Through the camera, he watched as the cat climbed onto his shoe.

He couldn't help but smile, then realized something was off: "I meant to say..."

Chu Tingwu leaned over and pointed, "See? You get a ranking after winning a match."

Coach Yang: "Why am I only 287th?"

Chu Tingwu: "There are only 200 spots in Beijing, and the same goes for Shanghai during the beta test. But since I keep releasing new spots, the number of available spots in both cities increases randomly—"

Now, people are camping on the official website every day, waiting for new spots to open up.

In other words, 287th place meant he was dead last in Beijing.

Coach Yang: "What about the ranking rewards?"

Chu Tingwu had him open the in-game store: "The points you earn from winning can be used to exchange for skins. You can also use tokens earned from uploading questions in the token store. At the end of each season, ranking rewards include limited-edition skins and special items. The top ten get exclusive animations, and the top three receive unique titles. The first-place winner..."

Coach Yang: Isn't this similar to regular games?

Chu Tingwu said, "The first-place winner gets to decide the appearance of the city's mascot cat during city battles."

Huh?

Coach Yang: "What do you mean by 'city battles'?"

"Oh," Chu Tingwu had explained this many times, so she was quite fluent, "Generally, if a game has competitive elements, it's usually individual or team-based."

"However, since our AR game is a learning-based competitive game, individual battles would be too boring. The question formats would become monotonous, and other players would lose interest. So, like the rankings, large-scale free-for-all battles have a higher weight in the scoring system—because it's fairer. But if the competition is conducted as a free-for-all, even with teams of five or ten people, the scope of the questions would still be too broad."

"So..." she said, "why not let the entire city's players participate?"

City battles hadn't been held yet, so Chu Tingwu showed Coach Yang a simulated video of the event—

On the designated battle platform in the square, two giant cats sat on either side... Coach Yang: "Wait!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Two giant cats?

Judging by the scale of the models in the video, they were at least three stories tall!

Chu Tingwu calmly explained, "The size makes it easier for spectators to watch."

The video continued. The battle wasn't based on selecting questions but on answering them quickly. Three questions would appear simultaneously, and it wasn't just multiple-choice. All online players could attempt to solve them, and completing a question would grant their city's mascot cat a buff.

The questions had two phases. The first was the quick-answer phase, but if no one could solve them, they would pile up in a corner and enter the second phase. Someone might solve them later—answering in the second phase would provide an additional effect, giving the battle a potential comeback mechanic.

On the screen, during the first phase, whenever a question was answered, the corresponding player's cat would appear above the giant cat's head.

In the second phase, answering a question would summon a cat to fight alongside the giant cat. The duration varied, but either way, it looked pretty cool... Coach Yang thought this must be tapping into players' desire to show off their virtual cats.

Not only that, but after switching the national rankings (though currently only two cities are included), he found that, overall, Jing City was slightly higher than Hai City.

Although he worked in Jing City, Coach Yang, whose household registration was in Hai City, thought: "Oh no, I'm stuck in a dilemma."

"Currently, the systems for friend assistance, self-directed learning, virtual shopping, and competition rewards are still a bit rough," Chu Tingwu shrugged. "The second beta test registration has already started, but the second beta won't open until after the match between Hai City and Jing City during the internal test is completed."

The company's marketing department believed that while promotional efforts could be increased, there was no need to release second beta slots too quickly.

They estimated that by the time the competition began, the total number of internal test slots would be around one thousand. When the second beta opened, pilot cities would exceed thirty, and the total number of slots would reach one hundred thousand, marking a non-wipe second beta.

As for whether thirty cities would consume too many resources and lead to excessive upfront costs—

The company's leadership indicated that it wouldn't.

This was because they didn't select the second beta cities based on population or economic factors but instead directly chose them from the list of cities partnered with the Wu Voice Group's Starcloud Charity Foundation.

The seeds they had planted in the past were now blooming into mutually beneficial flowers.

As for profits, there was no need to worry. With their technology, whether through advertising, cooperative investments, government incentives, or simply selling final tickets and AR accessories, they could ensure the project would be profitable in the future.

Chu Tingwu thanked Coach Yang for his concern and guided him to try other modes, such as random remote matching and scavenging-feeding, before leisurely leaving.

Returning to his office, Coach Yang thought, "..."

Wait.

What was it he had wanted to talk to Chu Tingwu about?

Originally, he had just wanted to set the stage with a few words before moving on to other topics... but they hadn't gotten to the rest. And now, his little Zhang Zhang was already two months old!

After recalling what had just happened, he fell silent for a moment, then mentally circled Chu Tingwu's name and added it to his shortlist.

Outstanding experimental results, consistently guessing the right answers on written exams, and so eloquent with such a great attitude—it felt like even if they got stranded in the Magana Republic, Chu Tingwu could lead the group to the embassy.

No, given Chu Tingwu's demonstrated abilities... even getting lost in a tropical rainforest wouldn't be too concerning.

He only needed to worry about whether Chu Tingwu might get too excited and decide to stay in the rainforest to start a survival livestream.

-

Chu Tingwu: "Hmm?"

Chu Tingwu: "Adding new animal breeds... Some people have indeed mentioned preferring dogs over cats, but we're still in the internal testing phase. Introducing dog breeds directly might stir up other disputes, like cat vs. dog fan wars. Besides, the game's playability won't change just because there aren't enough animal breeds."

Some game protagonists are just eggs!

Moreover, thanks to the rich DIY mode, the game already features a variety of cat designs, such as panda cats (?), tiger cats, leopard cats (not the actual leopard cat breed), and even robotic cats, with tutorials posted online.

If new animal breeds were added now, wouldn't players who had already explored their creativity with the existing breeds feel betrayed? If they were to add new breeds, it would have to wait until the game was fully rolled out.

Chu Tingwu: "However, we could consider adding animal NPCs?"

...

The game "Learn Without Limits" didn't add any other playable animals, but on the forums, someone posted that they had seen a white horse in the game.

This white horse managed a place called "Cat Amusement Park" and served as its director. If one day you see a white horse appear and carry your kitten away, don't panic—

You've just received an invitation to a special entertainment competition. The rewards for these competitions are even more quirky, and while the questions are easier, the types are more varied. Besides watching your cats play on your phone screen, you can also visit designated city squares and use your phone's camera with AR as a key to see a strange amusement park parallel to the human world.

To avoid disrupting others using the park, this amusement park isn't in the form of a virtual projection but remains in AR mode on phones.

An anonymous user commented:

[The new gameplay is great... but I've encountered quite a few people in the park who alternate between grinning and frowning. I didn't dare approach them, especially since someone squatting by the wishing fountain looking at their phone was mistaken for trying to steal coins and had the police called on them.]

[Oh, and wouldn't one horse be too busy managing an entire amusement park? Maybe add two more? I get that the developers don't want to introduce new animals right away, but how about considering an electric tricycle—ow! Why are you hitting me!]

The anonymous user disappeared.

But when the first-place prize for the entertainment competition was revealed, it turned out to be an electric tricycle perfectly sized for cats!