In Honkai with Tom Cat

The man and cat kept running and running, and the few kilometers left to Nagazora City were covered in an instant.

As soon as Li Huan stepped into Nagazora City, he heard the sound of "dun dun dun dun~" and the system's voice echoed in his mind:

[Beginner's Task Complete: Enter Nagazora City]

Upon hearing this, Li Huan felt a surge of joy, but because he let his guard down, his legs suddenly gave way—forgetting that he was still running at high speed.

"?"

Losing focus, he stumbled and tripped.

Tom, who was ahead of him, didn't notice his owner's sudden stumble and was hit by the forward-leaning Li Huan.

"Meow???"

With a confused cry, Tom and Li Huan tumbled together, rolling forward as a human-and-cat ball.

Unsuspecting pedestrians watched as this ball rolled on and then slammed hard into a wall.

*Smack!*

The sound of the impact was enough to make anyone wince in pain. Somehow, the man and the cat ended up hanging on the wall in a rather artistic pose, before they both fell limply to the ground.

"Ugh~~~"

Feeling pain all over, Li Huan gazed at the sky with a hopeless expression.

Beside him, Tom had little stars spinning around his head, his tongue hanging out as if he were drunk.

[You should always watch your feet while running.]

'You're the one who made me trip!'

[So you're blaming me for tripping yourself?]

Grumbling internally, Li Huan stood up and helped Tom to his feet.

"Tom, sorry about that. Are you okay?"

After being shaken a few times by Li Huan, Tom regained his senses and nodded to indicate he was fine.

*Gurgle~~~~*

At that moment, an ungraceful sound came from Tom's stomach.

Hearing this, Tom's ears drooped as he pitifully patted his belly.

Seeing this, Li Huan asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Tom immediately started gesturing with his paws.

Cats normally can't speak human language, but being an extraordinary cat, Tom could express himself through body language.

He brought his hands together and made a swimming motion, then folded his arms and flapped them like wings, making a chicken-like sound. Finally, he mimed holding something with one hand while pouring something from the other.

"Oh, you want fish, chicken, and milk?"

Without much effort, Li Huan understood Tom's lively gestures. Then he added, "Tom, there's no need to go through all that trouble. Just think about it, and I'll understand."

Tom nodded, looking expectantly at Li Huan.

Li Huan's gaze shifted slightly, and after pointing at the air in front of him, he turned back to Tom and said, "Let's go, we're going to have a feast."

The moment Tom heard the word "feast," his eyes widened like saucers, and he licked his lips with his large tongue, instantly re-energized.

Li Huan then noticed a crowd had gathered around them, watching with curiosity. He immediately shouted, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a cat and its owner interact?"

Seeing Li Huan's fierce expression, the crowd quickly dispersed.

After shooing away the onlookers, Li Huan stood up, brushed the dust off himself and then went off with Tom.

The man and the cat then set off to find a restaurant.

You might be wondering, how did Li Huan, who previously had no money, suddenly have money now? Here's the reason:

[Task: Go to Nagazora City]

[Description: As the task name implies, go to Nagazora City]

[Task Reward: An identity in this world and some money]

[PS: If you can't even do this, I suggest you start over from the beginning.]

The moment Li Huan arrived here, he was immediately given this bizarre task.

He and Tom had been about twenty kilometers away from Nagazora City.

Moreover, since this was another world, the money Li Huan had from his original world was now just worthless paper.

This left him and Tom with no choice but to walk all the way to Nagazora City.

If they hadn't been lucky enough to find a road sign showing the direction, finding Nagazora City might have taken a lot longer.

To be honest, a twenty-kilometer journey would have taken until the next day if Li Huan hadn't drawn a convenient skill during his initial prize draws. But even with that, it still took them from broad daylight until dusk to get there—it was truly exhausting.

He once asked the system, couldn't it have just teleported them directly to Nagazora City and given them the rewards?

The system's answer was simple:

[If you can't even find your own way, it's hard for me to help someone like you grow.]

[In our circle, there are many worthless hosts who get transported to other worlds.]

[They expect everything to be handed to them and demand the system give them powerful cheats to overcome their challenges. Living with someone like that offers no prospects.]

[So usually, we give a basic task within their capabilities that doesn't require much effort, just to give them the basic rights to live in this world.]

"What if they can't even do that?"

[Then we erase their memories and send them back to where they came from.]

"I thought you might kill them."

[There's no need for that. This isn't the old days when everything had to be about killing.]

As Li Huan chatted with the system, he found a decent-looking Chinese restaurant that didn't have a sign prohibiting pets.

He and Tom entered the restaurant and found a seat.

"Excuse me, may I take your order?"

A waiter approached with a menu and notepad, glancing curiously at Tom who was sitting at the table. But she was professional and didn't comment on it.

Taking the menu, Li Huan looked it over and then ordered, "I'll have grilled fish, braised chicken, clay pot rice, and a glass of milk. Can the milk be brought out quickly?"

"It'll be ready right away."

After handing back the menu to the waitress and watching her leave, Li Huan sensed that the atmosphere around him was a bit off.

He sneaked a glance around and noticed that everyone in the restaurant was staring at them—or more accurately, at Tom—with astonished looks.

Realizing that so many eyes were on him, Tom felt a little flustered.

"Tom, just ignore them," Li Huan said calmly. Tom quickly settled down and began playing with his paws.

This reaction was within Li Huan's expectations. After all, a large blue cat that could walk on two legs was bound to attract attention.

At times like this, it was best to just ignore it.

Blocking out the stares around him, Li Huan pulled out the identity documents the system had prepared for him from the system's storage space.

The documents were complete—ID card, household register, and everything else. The information was almost identical to what he had in his original world, except for the date and place of birth.

His new identity was that of a Chinese immigrant working in Nagazora City at Thousand Feathers Academy. But his job…

Looking at his work ID, Li Huan couldn't help but frown.

"What? How did I end up as a janitor?"