Chapter 116: Byeol’s New Friend
Only when they finally reached the front door did the fat tabby begin to show signs of nervousness.
It cautiously stretched its head forward and peeked around the entrance, observing everything carefully.
Before it could decide whether to enter or not, Byeol smacked it’s head with a paw and pushed it inside.
Joo Joowon could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.
After all, while white cats were viewed by humans as elegant and beautiful princesses, in the eyes of other cats, white cats were actually not particularly popular.
That was especially true when there was such a huge difference in body size between the two of them, and the other party was a tabby cat, widely regarded as the pinnacle of combat power in the feline world.
Could this be the result of level suppression?
After all, after consuming the zombie cores, Byeol’s level had increased since then.
An ordinary tabby cat probably really was no match for it now.
The logic behind this guess was reasonable enough, so Joo Joowon did not dwell on it any further.
He lightly grabbed the fat tabby by the scruff of its neck and then took out the Zombie Virus Immunity Injection and administered it.
Back when money had been tight, whenever Byeol became sick and veterinary fees for injections became too expensive for his salary to handle, Joo Joowon had always given the injections himself.
Because of that, he was already very experienced.
It only took him a moment to inject the entire dose and gently rub the fur around the injection site afterward.
Once Joo Joowon released it, the fat tabby simply shook its head.
There was no stress response whatsoever.
The tiny bit of pain was not even worth mentioning to it.
The moment it smelled the scent of food, it happily trotted over and began eating Byeol’s cat food.
Byeol glanced at it briefly and then indifferently looked away.
Cat food?
Even dogs wouldn’t eat that stuff.
Joo Joowon crouched nearby and suddenly realized that he might actually end up raising a second cat.
He looked at the tabby cat and said. "Since you followed Byeol home, from now on I’ll call you Hwi."
As for whether the name meant "returning child" or "chubby child," that was entirely open to interpretation.
After all, little cats couldn’t understand human language anyway.
The names were really just for his own amusement.
Perhaps because it had spent so much of its life as a stray cat, Hwi displayed one of the classic behaviors common among strays whenever it ate.
It unconsciously made low growling noises while eating, instinctively protecting its food.
The behavior clearly irritated Byeol, who looked as though it was seriously considering walking over and smacking it’s head a few times.
Byeol itself had never guarded food.
Even back when Joo Joowon had first brought it home, its eating posture had remained elegant and refined.
It was almost as though it had never experienced hunger during its days as a stray cat.
It never seemed worried that someone might steal the food in front of it.
Compared to that, Hwi displayed what felt like the true characteristics of an ordinary stray cat.
Although, considering its size, it was difficult to imagine that it had ever struggled too much while surviving outdoors.
That said, even stray cats that lived relatively well in the wild generally could not compare to house cats that received proper care from their owners.
This was especially true when it came to lifespan.
Joo Joowon picked Byeol up and tried to communicate with it.
"Byeol, give me another luck buff."
Byeol tilted its head.
"Meow?"
"You know, that black mist you spat out before. Like this..." Joo Joowon demonstrated by breathing out toward Byeol’s face.
"Haaa..."
Byeol raised a paw in disgust and pressed it against Joo Joowon’s approaching face.
Its brows could not help but furrow.
Why did his human always want to "eat" him?!
"Come on, I’m not trying to play with you!" Joo Joowon was getting anxious, but there was no way for him to properly explain what he meant.
All he could do was wave his arms around wildly as he tried to demonstrate, to the point where Byeol’s expression of disgust gradually transformed into one of horror.
Joo Joowon: "..."
Sometimes being alone really was quite helpless.
He rubbed Byeol’s head and said, "Byeol, I’m talking about the thing you gave me before I went out last time. How can you not understand?"
Went out?
Byeol’s ears twitched.
It tilted its head slightly.
After a bit of thinking...
Careful consideration...
Deep contemplation...
Success!
It understood!
Byeol proudly lifted its little tail and let out a cry. Then, out of habit, it rubbed its head against Joo Joowon before opening its mouth and spitting out a trembling strand of black mist.
Joo Joowon immediately opened his status panel to take a look.
This time, the black mist was noticeably weaker than before.
He was not sure whether that was because the skill was still on cooldown or because it had already been used once earlier that day.
This time, only a thin layer covered his body.
It no longer felt like the previous experience of having dark clouds hanging over his head.
After thinking about it for a moment, Joo Joowon decided that this level was good enough.
After all, he was mostly looking for psychological comfort anyway.
Perhaps today’s luck had already been used up on the Pig Chimera earlier.
No matter how much the buff increased his luck, it probably could not improve things by very much now.
Besides, he did not believe that Byeol’s newly awakened skill could possibly become powerful enough to directly influence the game system itself.
Joo Joowon opened his inventory and used the Lord Qualification Token.
The next moment, the invitation letter unfolded by itself.
His game ID slowly appeared on its surface.
Immediately afterward, a black hole materialized in front of him and swallowed the token whole.