Can You Pet a Tiger Too?
There was a time I was completely hooked on cat YouTube.
Maybe it was because the world felt so hard and exhausting, but just watching them made everything better. Seeing those little ones bounce around would put a smile on my face and fill me with this warm happiness — so that's why people keep cats, I thought.
Watching video after video of cats eating well, playing well, and sleeping well, a question started to form.
These little bastards are living better than me…?
Some of us are drowning under student loans, apartment mortgage interest, maintenance fees, electricity bills, water bills, and the daily cost of just staying alive.
"Slurp."
So there I was, eating instant ramen and staring at my phone.
Those things made money just by eating, sleeping, and taking dumps.
"Haah. Life."
Suddenly everything felt even more crushing.
But I was too old, and I couldn't just quit the job I'd barely managed to land. So I started a side hustle.
Writing web novels.
Honestly, it was less about making money and more about pouring my desire to escape this brutal reality onto the page. Of course, there was also that little hope that if things somehow worked out, I might become the novelist I'd once dreamed of being.
But maybe I'd pushed myself too hard.
—Drip.
I stared at the blood falling onto my desk, then slumped forward and planted my face straight into the laptop. Through a tilted, blurry field of vision, I could see an overturned water bottle and a vivid red liquid swirling into the spilled water.
Oh, shit. No, no, no…
A sudden wave of drowsiness crashed over me, and fear seized my chest. Was this how I died?
I wanted to live. I really, truly wanted to live.
What the hell was I supposed to do to stay alive?
My body wouldn't move. All I could do was roll my eyes around. Then, cursing under my breath, I thought:
In my next life, please let me be born a cat.
Just once, I wanted to live the easy life — getting pets and headpats while living large.
Meanwhile, Sol, the Goddess of Light, had a lot on her mind.
One last piece.
This was about planting the possibility of salvation for the Iden Continent. She couldn't afford to be careless or half-hearted about it.
Sol guided "possibility" to the human whose light shone brightest among the wheels of fate — the final piece who would adapt to the continent and become a member of the Hero's Party.
"I've chosen you!"
Fwoosh! A burst of light erupted, and his soul was enveloped in radiance. In that instant, his soul — brimming with infinite potential — was summoned to the Iden Continent.
Whether he would truly become that final piece, or fail to seize the opportunity and fall short, now rested entirely on his fate.
Will it work this time?
The goddess's gaze settled on a single soul.
I had desperately wished to be reborn as a cat in my next life.
Maybe that was why I found myself staring blankly straight ahead.
Floating in front of my eyes was what people commonly call a "status window."
You have been chosen by Sol.
Realize your potential in this place.
The words, wrapped in brilliant radiance, looked just like a game system's graphics. Strangely enough, the moment I saw them, I understood exactly what they meant.
"This place" referred to the Iden Continent, and "realize your potential" meant I was being reincarnated.
Isekai reincarnation? Hell yeah, jackpot.
As if someone were directing the whole scene, the moment I grasped the meaning of the text, the light scattered and the next message appeared. Watching it unfold, I started to wonder if this wasn't reincarnation at all, but possession into a novel or a game.
Select a race.
What is this? Is this actually a game?
I am merely adopting the format you will find easiest to accept.
Ah. Got it.
In that moment, images rose unbidden in my mind. A dragon breathing fire. An elf wielding a bow and magic. A dwarf hammering away at an anvil. An orc roaring across a vast wasteland. And the human, who contained all of those "possibilities" within them.
I didn't know why these things were coming to me, but I instinctively understood that I had to choose one of them.
"Dragon? Isn't dragon the obvious best pick?"
Insufficient soul potential.
What? Then why even put it on the list?
My excitement fizzled out, and I scanned the other options.
Nothing here really grabs me.
Elf? The glamorous looks were nice, but they clearly had it rough. How much grinding would it take to learn magic or archery? And if you didn't have the talent, you'd fall behind. Just thinking about it was nightmare fuel.
Same deal with the dwarf. The second I pictured a forge bubbling with molten lava, I passed. Yeah, no thanks on the hammer work.
When it comes down to it, is orc the manly choice?
Honestly, if a guy was going to pick a demihuman race, shouldn't it be orc? I imagined myself with a hulking, muscle-bound body, roaring across a vast wilderness.
…Peak masculinity. Not bad, but…
Wasn't that also a life of nonstop grinding?
Dragon was still the best. Just sleep all day and the surrounding creatures would bring you tribute on their own.
I want the easy life too.
Then a phrase flickered through my mind.
Cats will save the world?
Then please, save my miserable life while you're at it.
"Cat."
That was my answer. The desire to live the easy cat life had a lot to do with it.
But apparently that choice wasn't entirely wrong. The moment I answered, the oh-so-superior status window shuddered as if I'd poked a hole in its logic. It stared at me for a while, then slowly displayed new text.
Why I felt like it was glaring at me, I had no idea.
You possess infinite potential.
Do you truly wish to choose a cat?
Ah. I could feel it. The more it talked, the more I knew this was the one.
"Cat."
I must reiterate — the continent is home to many powerful animals besides cats…
"What? There are a lot of animals?"
Once again, a vision played out in my head. Predators cutting through majestic forests. Among them, the ones that stood out most were creatures with massive, razor-sharp fangs. Beasts the size of fantasy monsters tore into each other in a brutal struggle for survival.
It was a video that made the harsh reality of a primitive animal's life crystal clear. Potential or no potential, even a hatchling wouldn't be guaranteed survival in a place like that. It felt like the system was threatening me: Still not picking human?
I only grew more certain of my choice.
"I want to be a cat."
To be fair, the idea of a "new life" in another world had briefly tempted me. But… honestly, I was sick to death of a life spent thrashing just to survive. At the same time, I didn't want to throw away this precious opportunity I'd somehow managed to get.
Earlier, I'd seen that the humans of this world kept pets too. The noble young ladies attending the academy seemed to compete over whose pet was cuter.
That alone told me everything I needed to know about the dog life and cat life in this world.
A noble young lady's pet?
I imagined becoming a cat, nestled in their soft arms, taking a midday nap. No more deliberation needed.
"Cat."
At my dead-serious answer, the status window seemed to make up its mind and scrawled out new text.
So… you seek greater potential even in a harsh environment?
Your will is understood.
That's a status window for you. Dressing up even my pathetic reasons so nicely.
Oh, right.
"Make it the cutest and strongest breed of cat, please."
Just in case — insurance. It'd be too sad to die before I even got to choose a butler.
Unfortunately, that little loophole didn't seem to work.
Specific lineage cannot be determined. Would you like to select a different race?
What, so appearance is a random gacha? You're telling me the whole "the winners win, the losers lose" system exists even in reincarnation?
Wow. There's no way I'm picking human now. I was certain — the second I chose human, I'd be born an ugly kid in the slums with 99% probability. That was just the kind of luck I had. Which was exactly why, in this day and age, I was dying of overwork.
"I'll stick with it. Cat."
I shook off my doubts and finished making a choice I wouldn't regret. The miserable life was over. Waiting for me now was a happy cat life of getting pets and living in comfort!
Just once! Let me live the easy life!
With this, you have been granted potential exceeding my original plan.
But remember — the greater the potential, the higher the chance of failure.
A narration followed that made it sound like I'd made some monumental choice. For some reason, the system's text looked sharper, and I almost felt like I could hear a voice through the words.
I shall be watching over you.
A sweet, melodious voice reached me as my vision flooded with light. And from the bottom of my heart, I cried out:
Please! A cute little cat!
Did… did it work?!
Back then, I didn't realize.
How dare I, with my luck, wish for a small and adorable cat life. The delusion that all cats were cute and would be loved. It didn't take long to learn how wrong that was.
Fwoosh!
One week after the radiance swallowed my vision.
"Purrrr."
I had truly become a small living creature that was not human.
"Mrrrow."
Stubbily short, plump little legs. Enormous eyes that took up half my face, and a tiny, adorable nose. Just looking at the soft ears twitching on top of my head, it seemed like the cat life I'd wished for was about to unfold.
My reflection in the river wasn't half bad, either.
But.
"Grrrr."
A low-frequency rumble soon joined the purring that rolled from my throat. The moment I let that low frequency loose, animals that had no idea I was still a weak cub who hadn't reached adulthood fled in pure terror.
This was the power of a skill.
"Hooong—!"
But there were real beasts out there that low-frequency tricks wouldn't work on.
"Grr."
I spat out the meat I'd been chewing and looked up at the sky.
Damn it, a double-digit level?
Fortunately it was daytime, so its vision would be impaired. But the fact that it was out even during the day meant it was that hungry.
Time to run.
I scrambled down from the tree and vanished into the underbrush. The moment I hid myself in the bushes—
CRACK!
The pile of rocks where I'd landed exploded upward, and the flutter of wings filled the air.
"Grrrk!"
The eagle owl, having failed its hunt, soared high into the sky and vented its frustration. I kept my body as low as possible and crawled through the brush.
Shit.
Yeah. There was no easy cat life of getting pets and living large waiting for me. And on top of that, I wasn't even a cat.
I was a member of the feline family…
⚡ Level:3
🏷 Rank:Weak
I'd been reincarnated as a tiger.
Isn't this a scam?
ROAR!
