Chapter 151: Protecting the Owner
After realizing that he had seriously underestimated their combat abilities, Joo Joowon had come up with a rather bold idea.
Could he perhaps alternate hunting with Byeol and Hwi?
That way there would be no need to return home at noon for lunch.
When he became tired, the cats could take over.
When the cats became tired, he himself should have recovered enough to continue fighting again.
Unfortunately, one enormous problem stood firmly between them.
They could not communicate.
Cats sometimes helped raise one another’s kittens, but they did not cooperate while hunting.
Unlike dogs, they were not creatures that naturally operated in groups.
So how exactly was he supposed to ask them to help him hunt?
Joo Joowon thought about it for a while.
Seeing that both Byeol and Hwi were watching him attentively but still showed no intention of joining the fight, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind after a moment of consideration.
Cats protected their owners.
That was it.
Before the apocalypse, Joo Joowon had once seen videos online of cats charging forward to beat someone up simply because that person had hit their owner.
Considering how intelligent and human-like Byeol was, he was confident that Byeol would never remain indifferent.
So, after unlocking the door and watching the zombies rush out from inside, Joo Joowon deliberately did absolutely nothing.
He simply stood there and watched as the zombies charged toward him before letting out an exaggerated scream.
"Ah! Byeol, save me!"
Joo Joowon only dared to do this because he was wearing the Pigskin Armor.
Even if Byeol failed to come over, he still would not be injured.
Not to mention that he had spider silk ready to pull him away at any moment.
Byeol had been sitting nearby licking its paws out of boredom.
The moment it saw this scene, its eyes immediately widened.
Its entire body puffed up until it resembled a sea urchin, and without the slightest hesitation it rushed forward.
With a single leap, it slashed at the zombie with one paw.
One of the zombie’s eyes instantly burst open from the impact, making it obvious just how much force had gone into the attack.
Only then did Hwi react.
It immediately dashed forward at full speed.
A loud thud rang out as the zombie was knocked onto the ground.
"Haaa!"
Byeol arched its back high.
Even after the zombie fell, it did not merely stop to threaten it.
Instead, it charged forward and began clawing furiously.
Its paws quickly became covered in blood.
Its claws were far sharper than Joo Joowon had imagined.
He had trimmed its nails not long before the apocalypse arrived, yet now a single swipe was enough to tear flesh open all the way to the bone.
As a qualified hunter, Byeol did not even need Joo Joowon to remind it where a zombie’s weakness lay.
Before he could say anything, Byeol had already shoved its paw through the zombie’s eye socket.
The system notification sounded beside Joo Joowon’s ear.
[ Ding! ]
[ Level 1 Zombie has been killed! ]
[ EXP +1 ]
Hwi immediately shrank back to the side and trembled nervously.
It looked genuinely afraid that if it got too close, Byeol might decide to beat it up as well.
Joo Joowon reached out and gently stroked Hwi’s fur.
Only after Hwi gradually calmed down did he pick Byeol up and gently rub his Bone Helmet against its head.
"Alright, Byeol. It’s already dead."
"Meow!"
Byeol let out an angry cry toward him.
Naturally, Joo Joowon had no idea what Byeol was saying.
Although he had been ninety percent certain that Byeol would never abandon him, actually witnessing this scene still moved him.
Cats were not tigers.
When faced with creatures much larger than themselves, most cats would choose to avoid danger rather than charge straight at it.
What made this even more remarkable was the sheer intensity of Byeol’s reaction.
The last time Joo Joowon had seen Byeol this angry was during its neutering surgery, when it had somehow fought five people all by itself.
With Joo Joowon’s reassurance, Byeol quickly calmed down despite continuing to grumble under its breath.
Only then did he place it back on the ground and move on to unlock the next shop.
The moment the rolling shutter was lifted, Byeol and Hwi burst inside in a blur of motion.
A series of crashing and banging sounds immediately echoed from within.
Joo Joowon could not help blinking in surprise.
Had they adapted to this a little too quickly?
He still had several tricks he had not even had the chance to use yet.
It was much like training a cat to use a litter box.
Some things only needed to happen a few times before they understood what they were supposed to do.
Of course, if they simply did not feel like paying attention to you, then no amount of training would make any difference.
By the time Joo Joowon fully raised the shutter, the zombie was already lying face down on the floor with the back of its neck completely bitten through.
This was clearly not Byeol’s style.
It was Hwi’s habit instead.
After all, Byeol’s teeth were not that sharp. "Meow~!"
Byeol walked over and rubbed against Joo Joowon’s pant leg.
Joo Joowon did not understand what it meant.
After glancing around the room and taking nothing at all, he simply headed straight toward the next shop.
Byeol: "..."
A look of deep worry appeared on its face as it let out a heavy sigh.
Why was its owner so troublesome?
Why was he still going?
Byeol immediately turned around and called for Hwi before hurrying after him, afraid that something might happen to Joo Joowon.
It sat beside him with a deeply troubled expression, as though carrying the burden of the entire world on its shoulders for the sake of its irresponsible owner.
Before long, the entire market had been cleared out.
The market itself was not very large to begin with, containing only around a dozen shops.