I Became a Mountain Tiger in a Fantasy World

< Chapter 2: Leveling Up Alone as a Tiger >

At the moment of completing the species selection.

I was engulfed in radiance as I heard the system’s voice.

「You have been born as a new entity within the Panthera genus of the Felidae family.」

「A breed that did not previously exist on the continent.」

「You have discovered clues for a new evolution. Karma acquired.」

I couldn’t help but marvel at the announcement.

I wasn’t quite sure what being part of the Panthera genus meant, but I figured it was something like a ‘strong cat’.

And a breed that didn’t exist before?

Does that mean I hit the jackpot on my gacha roulette?

A Hidden cat, no less?!

‘Yes!!’

I was genuinely thrilled.

My goodness. To think I would succeed in gacha? This had never happened in my entire life.

This life felt promising.

Succeeding in a draw right from the start!

Could I be some kind of legendary rare pet?

With an eager heart, I waited for myself to ‘hatch’.

‘……?’

Wait a second, why am I hatching if I’m a cat?

I had a fleeting impudent thought.

‘Maybe it’s because I’m a rare pet.’

Perhaps I’m not just a rare pet, but a legendary pocket kitty.

Whether I hatch from an egg or emerge from the ground, I was ready to accept anything.

At that moment, with a cracking sound, a brilliant light entered my eyes.

I was born.

The faint sensations of my ‘body’ gradually became clearer as my vision sharpened.

With sparkling eyes, I called for my new ‘mom’.

“Roar!”

Oh, my voice was too deep.

Ahem. What’s going on?

“Purr.”

Yes. This is better.

Momentarily flustered, I reached to touch my throat, but a paw suddenly popped out.

A short, fluffy white furball.

I could see the pads embedded in the front.

“Purr!”

Seeing that insignificant, plump paw made me feel very pleased.

They say you can recognize a beauty just by looking at their hands.

In my current form, I undoubtedly contained a lethal dose of cuteness.

I did it!

I was the Cha Eun-woo of the cat world!

I had always wondered what that life would be like, and now I was getting to experience it indirectly!

“Purr purr!”

Then suddenly, I realized my surroundings were eerily quiet.

What was this? I was starting to get hungry.

“Meow!”

When I called out for mom, a rather cute voice came out.

Good. This felt right.

I would use this when I met noble young ladies later.

As I continued calling for my mom several times, I suddenly noticed the broken eggshell and a thought crossed my mind.

‘Wait a second, what did it say earlier?’

A Breed That Did Not Exist on the Continent.

No way?

I crawled around the broken egg, carefully examining the surroundings.

There was no sign anywhere of someone keeping the egg warm for it to hatch.

Even the cave was too small for a mother cat to come in and lay eggs.

If there even existed a cat that could lay eggs.

‘Seriously?’

No way, right? I looked around.

But no matter how long I waited, no mother appeared. All I saw were the broken eggshells and an ‘artificial’ cave.

I started to get the picture.

That’s right. I was born here ‘alone’.

A mutant of the continent, born without a mother!

‘Does that even make sense?’

Yes, that’s the legendary pocket kitty.

I nodded roughly and licked the moisture remaining inside the egg.

Survival first, after all.

「You have ingested high-quality nutrients.」

As expected! No wonder it looked tasty!

I once saw on YouTube that the white and yolk inside an egg are food for the developing chick.

So, the liquid that had held me inside the egg was like the egg white.

What does that mean?

It means it’s edible.

I immediately buried my nose in the egg and began to lap up the liquid.

“Slurp, slurp!”

Was it because it was the first egg I had ever tasted in my life? It was so delicious.

“Meow!”

After devouring the egg white mindlessly, I finally started to think.

It seemed that the liquid inside the egg was indeed a substitute for mother’s milk.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any left in the hatched egg.

‘But what do I do now? I’ve eaten it all.’

I felt a sense of regret as I licked the egg white around my snout.

Thinking about the future, I probably should have saved some, but it was too delicious and I was too hungry to do so.

And egg white spoils quickly, so it’s best to eat it while it’s fresh…

My eyes started to droop.

I stared at the entrance of the cave, thinking.

‘Surely, no one will invade…’

Srrrk, my eyes closed involuntarily.

Soon, an overwhelming drowsiness overcame me.

.

.

.

.

“Purr!”

[Your mental strength has increased.]

Although I might be a mere creature now, I had been a human in my previous life.

There’s no way I’d succumb to some trivial sleepiness…

“…? Purr!”

Slurp! Damn it. Maybe it’s because I’m a baby. I kept drooling.

Anyway, even in my drowsy state, I faintly sensed a presence and quickly started hissing.

I was half asleep and half awake, like when you change the TV channel and someone says, ‘Dad’s not sleeping.’ I was in that kind of state.

I was utterly knocked out.

Damn it, being a motherless cat is so miserable. I couldn’t even sleep properly.

As I continued to hiss in my drowsy state, an incident occurred.

Wondering if there was a more comfortable way to hiss, I tried various things.

「You have acquired [Infrasound Lv. 1]!」

A bizarre skill had emerged.

Infrasound, seriously?

Isn’t that usually used by large predators?

Like tigers or something…

‘Anyway, this is awesome.’

I decided to think about it later and get some sleep first.

“Purr…!”

***

Ah, after a good meal and a good sleep, my whole body felt refreshed.

Maybe it was because I was still young.

The drowsiness from yesterday was unbearable.

But the curiosity was worth putting off for a good night’s sleep.

[Your body has grown.]

Well, I didn’t really need the status window to tell me that, I could feel it in my body.

Crack.

The biceps in my front paw twitched.

When I flexed, sharp claws emerged and scratched the ground.

Wow, growing this much in just one day?

Is this what it means to be a legendary pocket kitty?

I nodded in agreement.

During the growth phase, it’s crucial to eat and sleep well.

Before heading out to hunt, I decided to check my ‘status window’ first.

There had been too many suspicious messages about mental strength and skills since yesterday.

But at that moment,

“Rawr!”

“Growl!!”

The ground where I was sitting shook, and a mole monster with blood-red pupils emerged.

The monster immediately raised its claws and attacked. I quickly jumped back, surprised at my own speed, and evaded the spot.

With a swish, its sharp claws tore through the air.

‘What the heck!’

If not for the reflexes of a Felidae animal, I would have been caught off guard by the ambush.

I unleashed infrasound to identify the creature.

【Enraged Dark Digger Lv. 3】

– Trait: [Miner]

– Skills: [Tunnel Digging Lv. 1], [Claw Sharpening Lv. 2]

– Status: [Enraged]

No way. A level 3 opponent right off the bat?

Is this even fair?

From its appearance, it seemed like a mole-type monster.

If it were just a mole, it wouldn’t have attacked, but as a monster, it seemed to have gone mad.

The status window confirmed it.

‘A mole. A mole.’

I pondered.

Who would win in a fight between a cat and a mole?

Size-wise, it would obviously be the cat.

But the problem was…

“Rawr!”

“Squeal, squeak…!”

This mole was a monster, and I was still just a kitten.

It was even slightly bigger than me.

While I was about the size of a Pomeranian, this guy looked like a medium-sized dog.

Dirty mole! If you could see the status window, you’d see the word ‘kitten’ and back off! You bastard!

At that moment, the mole’s claws glowed faintly as it swung them mercilessly at me.

As expected. Foolish beast that can’t even see the status window.

But its claws did seem a bit sharp.

‘Yikes!’

Instinctively, I knew I shouldn’t get hit by that, so I dodged.

Sure enough, the claw marks gouged deep into the cave floor, like something out of an X-Men movie.

My heart sank as I took a step back.

Seriously. Isn’t this too much for a little kitty?

“Meow!”

I wanted to curse, but unfortunately, only growling sounds came out.

Whoever said animals could understand each other was a liar.

“Rawr!”

I couldn’t understand a word from the mole monster, whether it was a Digger or a Diglett.

In the midst of continuous claw attacks, I was gradually cornered.

Slash!

A hot, sharp sensation spread as blood splattered from my shoulder.

“Yowl!”

My mind cleared instantly.

The words from the system window flashed through my mind.

If there are many possibilities, the chances of dying are also high?

It seemed true.

A mole monster that could cut through rocks with its claws.

I was no match for it, not as a mere cat.

‘Damn it!’

Swish!

With a chilling tearing sound, the mole monster’s arm passed over my head.

This was my chance.

I had to either attack now or create some distance.

But in the narrow cave, there was nowhere else to run, leaving attack as my only option.

‘But how should I attack?’

Could a cat’s bite penetrate the monster’s hide? Could I kill it with my claws?

Hesitating, I brought up the status window to check for any useful skills.

But,

Screeeech──!!

While I hesitated, the mole monster’s claws aimed for my throat again.

‘Damn it!’

I raised my claws to block the ones targeting my neck.

‘It’s going to cut.’

I didn’t know if only my claws would be cut off or if my whole paw would go too.

Damn it. Could a one-legged cat still get pampered?

Maybe they’d take better care of me out of pity?

Not likely.

I cursed myself for choosing to be a cat.

To be threatened by a mole and face death!

Is this the price for increasing my ‘possibilities’ or whatever?

As I cursed my past self and desperately thought of a way to escape,

Rawr─!

“Purr?”

With a strong friction sound like metal clashing, the mole monster’s claws were deflected.

For the record, my forepaw, which had swung towards its claws, remained firmly in place.

‘Huh?’

Only then did I notice the name displayed on my status window.

【Weak Siberian Tiger Cub Lv.1】

The word “weak” didn’t even register in my mind.

Tiger.

Seeing that word made me understand the infrasound I emitted and the unusually developed muscles in my forepaw.

Nadenade? A noble young lady’s pet?

Forget about that for now.

Crack, crack.

This tiger cub (just one day old) was now extremely angry.

How dare a mere mole challenge me.

“Growl.”

Mess with a tiger?

“Rawr!”

As I fiercely approached, the mole monster instinctively started to retreat, sensing something was wrong.

Of course, it did.

Even with its [Claw Sharpening] skill activated, its claws couldn’t withstand mine and had broken.

Why was that?

I had an idea.

「You have acquired the unique trait ‘Potential’ through Sol’s blessing.」

「You have discovered clues for a new evolution. Karma acquired.」

I was a new entity that didn’t exist on the Continent of Aiden.

A Siberian tiger, a creature from my past life.

Growing in size and hardening my claws in just one day was probably due to that ‘Karma’.

I started to get the hang of it.

Thwack!

I swiftly charged and swiped the mole’s claws away, then sank my teeth into its nape.

Crunch!

I intended to kill it with a single bite, but my mouth was too small, only causing it pain.

Darn.

The mole monster, perhaps freed from its frenzy, shuddered and then succumbed to death.

‘Hmm.’

There were no significant aftereffects from my first kill.

“Gulp.”

Using so much energy made me hungry, so I quickly devoured the mole.

And through that, I understood what I truly was.

「Level up!」

「You have acquired [Devour Lv.1]!」

「Through your first predation, you have unlocked the condition to acquire [Claw Sharpening Lv.1]!」

I was the only tiger on the Continent of Aiden.

A tiger that evolved through leveling up.

Roar!