I poke my head out of a small hole, just big enough for small animals to pass through.
Unaware of my presence, large feet busily move about, and the loud noises carried by upright ears reach me.
I pull my fluid, squishy body out of the narrow hole and naturally head towards today’s workplace.
Leaving the narrow and complex market alley, I arrive at the pier filled with gray floors.
I head towards a secluded corner among them.
After all, a street cat must know where to find a good place to lie down.
“Yonseok, you’re here again?”
A rough, calloused hand covers my face.
I don’t avoid it and accept it.
Like most people who’ve lived in the market, his hands are especially rough, perhaps from a life at sea.
But his kindness matches the roughness of his hands, and when I sneak up to him, he often gives me fish he’s caught all day at the pier.
If it weren’t for this old man, I would have rotted away somewhere within a year.
In this damn fantasy world, the survival rate of a street cat isn’t very high.
“Here. It’s the fish you like.”
A freshly caught, plump fish.
For a street cat like me, it’s a precious source of food.
It’s much easier to get food this way than to catch fleeing mice or steal food.
As usual, I sniff the skin to check its freshness and bite into the soft flesh with my teeth.
The old man’s voice, always keeping me company, seeps into my ears.
“This time has already come…”
I lift my face from the fish and look at the old man.
His gaze is fixed on the blue horizon in the distance.
Specifically, on a ship with a sail bearing the image of a killer whale slowly emerging from beyond the horizon.
Finally, it’s here.
Although my sense of time has become strange since reincarnation, I know what the old man’s words mean.
The academy entrance ceremony.
For those from other continents and island nations heading to the continent’s top academy, Pelisec Academy, passing through this port is the fastest and most convenient way.
It’s about time for ships from various countries to start arriving.
“Once, I also wanted to attend Pelisec Academy. But it was too big a dream for a country bumpkin like me.”
I push the fish bones into the sea with my paw and sit at the old man’s feet as he starts smoking his pipe, gazing at the distant ship.
Wow, they’ve even gilded the ship.
Even if you combined all the fishing boats nearby, they wouldn’t be as expensive as that single decoration.
It’s true that only those who know how to splurge can really show off.
“I wonder how my grandson is doing.”
A sigh filled with longing brushes my ears as he thinks of his grandson, who went to the capital with his parents.
I guess this grumbling will end today.
I stretch and lift my butt, ready to leave.
“Already tired of this old man’s grumbling?”
It’s about time to leave.
I spit out the common language I’ve practiced for a long time.
“No, it’s just time for me to leave this city.”
“Hoho, I see. Cats are like that… I’ve seen you since you were tiny, and now it’s already that time.”
The old man calmly accepted my words.
I was the one surprised by his reaction.
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“Your behavior has always been quite un-catlike. You’ve nodded as if you understood what I was saying, and I’ve never seen a cat as mysterious-looking as you.”
The old man’s warm gaze touches my face.
“Could you always talk?”
“I learned by listening to you, old man. Anyway, thank you for the past three years. I have somewhere to go now.”
“Where are you going? There’s no place easier to find food than here…”
“I’m planning to go to the academy you always wanted to attend.”
Three years since reincarnation.
I’ve grown enough, and the original story isn’t far off.
So, it’s time to head to the academy.
To establish myself there and create a new foundation for a comfortable life.
That’s my goal.
“Yonseok. What are you planning to do there? You should just stay here…”
His voice, filled with reluctance, tries to hold me back, but a cat doesn’t have time to worry about such things—better to catch one more mouse.
“Where there are meetings, there are also farewells.”
“Well, I never thought I’d see a cat declare independence in human language…”
I punish the old man’s scoff with a cat punch and turn my back without regret.
“If you want to live the rest of your life comfortably, you need to find a good place to lie down.”
It’s nice to live leisurely here, eating fish, but I can’t miss the chance to directly experience the story of the game I’ve spent over a thousand hours on.
A cat’s life is overwhelmingly lacking in dopamine.
“…Alright, take care. Stay healthy and well…”
The old man’s thumb brushes my forehead.
A tender touch.
And a touch I won’t feel again once I leave here.
“When you get to the academy, say hello to my grandson for me.”
“Got it. Take care, old man.”
“You take care too.”
I turn my back and walk towards the ship docking at the pier.
To start a new life.