Solo Leveling Tiger

The moment I finished choosing my race, a brilliant radiance swallowed me whole, and the System's voice rang out.

Just hearing that made me gasp in pure admiration.

I didn't fully understand what "feline family, genus Panthera" meant, but I figured it boiled down to "a strong cat." And a breed that had never existed before? Didn't that mean my gacha roulette had just hit the jackpot?

A Hidden cat, no less?!

Let's go!!

I was genuinely thrilled. Me? Succeeding at a gacha pull? In my entire previous life, that had never once happened. This life already felt different. A successful draw right from the start! Was I about to become some legendary rare pet?

My heart pounding with anticipation, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I waited to "hatch."

……?

Wait. I'm a cat. Why am I hatching?

An irreverent thought crossed my mind. Well, rare pets can be weird like that. Maybe I wasn't just a rare pet — maybe I was a legendary Pocket-Nyang. Whether I hatched from an egg or burst up from the ground, I was ready to accept anything.

Then came a sharp crack, and a dazzling light flooded my vision.

I was born.

The vague sense of a "body" grew clearer by the second, and my vision sharpened into focus. Eyes sparkling, I called out for my new "mom."

"Krrrooong!"

Huh. My voice is way too deep.

Ahem. What the…?

"Mrrrow."

Yeah. That's more like it.

In a moment of panic I reached up to touch my throat, and a front paw shot into view instead — a tiny, pure-white fluffball with soft pink pads at the front.

"Mrrrow!"

The sight of that insignificant, plump little paw filled me with pure joy. They say you can tell a beauty by the hands alone. My current body was clearly loaded with a lethal dose of cuteness.

I did it! I was the Cha Eun-woo of the cat world! I'd always wondered what that life was like — and now I was getting the firsthand experience, sort of!

"Mrrrow-mrrrow!"

Then it hit me: the surroundings were far too quiet. What gives? I was starting to get hungry.

"Mew!"

I called for Mom, and a rather adorable voice came out. Nice. So that's the vibe. I'd have to use this later when I met some noble young lady.

After calling for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mom a few more times, my eyes fell on the broken eggshells nearby, and a thought struck me.

Hold on. What did it say earlier?

A breed that never existed on the continent. Don't tell me…?

I toddled over on wobbly paws and carefully inspected the area around the cracked egg. There was no sign anywhere that anything had been sitting on it to incubate. The cave itself was far too narrow for a mother cat to have come in and laid an egg — assuming cats that lay eggs even exist.

No. For real?

Come on, no way, I told myself, looking around. But no matter how long I waited, Mom never appeared. All I could see were broken eggshells and an unnaturally carved cave.

The picture was becoming clear. That's right. I had been born here — alone. A continental mutant who came into existence without a mother!

Does that even make sense?

Yep. That's a legendary Pocket-Nyang for you.

I nodded to myself and licked up the moisture still clinging inside the egg. Gotta eat to live, after all.

I knew it! I thought this stuff looked tasty!

I'd seen it on YouTube once — the egg white and yolk are food for the developing chick. In other words, the liquid that had been cradling me inside this egg was basically egg white. So what did that mean?

It meant I could eat it.

I immediately buried my nose in the egg and went to work with my tongue.

"Chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp!"

Maybe because it was the first egg of my cat life, it tasted incredible.

"Mew!"

Only after I'd frantically polished off the egg white did actual thoughts start forming. This liquid inside the egg really did seem to be a substitute for mother's milk. Otherwise, why would something like this still be left in a hatched egg?

But now what? I ate it all…

I licked the egg white from around my snout, feeling a twinge of regret. Thinking about the future, I probably should have saved some — but it was too delicious and I was too hungry. Besides, egg white spoils fast. Better to eat it while it's fresh…

My eyelids grew heavy. Staring at the cave entrance, I thought, Surely nobody's going to come barging in…

My eyes slid shut of their own accord. An irresistible wave of drowsiness crashed over me.

"Mrrrow!"

I may have become a mere creature, but this body used to be human. As if I'd let some pathetic drowsiness get the better of me…

"…? Mrrrow!"

Slurp! Ugh, damn it. Must be because I'm a baby. I keep drooling.

Anyway — sensing a faint presence even in my sleep, I immediately started hissing. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was half-asleep and half-awake, the kind of state where if someone tried to change the TV channel, you'd mutter "Dad's not asleep" without opening your eyes. In other words: completely dead to the world.

Damn it. Being a motherless cat is this miserable? I can't even get a proper night's sleep.

As I continued my half-conscious hissing, something unexpected happened. While experimenting with different approaches, wondering if there wasn't a more comfortable way to hiss—

This bizarre skill just… appeared.

Infrasound? Seriously? Isn't that the kind of thing massive predators use? Like, say, a tiger…?

Whatever. Free skill is free skill.

I'd think about it later. For now, sleep.

"Grrrrrowl……!"

Ahh. A good meal and a good sleep left my whole body feeling refreshed. Must be because I'm so young — yesterday's drowsiness had been completely impossible to fight.

But putting my curiosity on hold and sleeping hard hadn't been for nothing.

Not that I needed a status window to tell me — I could feel it in my body.

Crrrk.

The biceps in my front legs flexed. When I tensed them, sharp claws slid out and scraped against the ground.

Growing this much in a single day? Legendary Pocket-Nyangs really are different, huh?

I nodded to myself. During a growth spurt, you eat well and sleep well — no exceptions.

Before heading out to hunt, I figured I should check my status window first. Ever since yesterday, suspicious messages about mental fortitude and skills had been popping up left and right.

But right then—

"Kyaang!"

"Mrrrow!!"

The ground beneath me heaved, and a mole monster with blood-red pupils burst out of the earth. The creature immediately raised its claws and lunged — and I leapt backward with a speed that even startled myself, clearing the spot just in time.

With a sharp shhk!, those razor claws shredded empty air.

What the hell was that?!

Without feline reflexes, that ambush would have finished me on the spot. I blasted Infrasound and checked the thing's identity.

My first opponent is Level 3? Is this even okay?

Judging by its appearance, it looked like a mole-type monster. A regular mole wouldn't have attacked — maybe being a monster had driven it insane. The status ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠window certainly said so.

A mole. A mole, huh.

I thought it over carefully. In a fight between a cat and a mole, who wins? Size-wise, the cat should take it, right?

The problem was—

"Kaang!"

"Kyeeng, kyeeng…!"

—this mole was a monster, and I was still just a cub. It was even a bit bigger than me. I was about Pomeranian-sized right now; this thing looked more like a medium-sized dog.

You filthy mole! If you can see status windows, read the word "cub" and back the hell off, you bastard!

A faint light flickered along the mole's claws as it swung them at me without mercy. Figures. A dumb beast that can't even see status windows. Though those beastly claws did look awfully sharp.

Eek!

Instinct screamed that I absolutely could not take that hit, so I dodged. Sure enough, where the attack had grazed past, long claw marks were carved into the cave floor like something out of an X-Men movie. A chill ran down my spine and I scrambled backward.

Hey, seriously — isn't this a bit much for a baby kitty?!

"Mew!"

I wanted to unleash a stream of curses, but unfortunately all that came out was a mewling little growl. Someone once said animals can understand each other. That was a complete lie.

"Karang!"

Whatever Diglett-or-Digda nonsense this mole monster was spewing, I couldn't understand a word of it. Meanwhile, its continuous claw swipes were steadily cornering me.

Splat!

A hot, searing sensation — and blood sprayed from my shoulder.

"Kyaaaa!"

My mind snapped into sharp focus. Instantly, the System's words came flooding back. More possibilities meant a higher chance of dying? That was starting to sound about right. A mole monster that could cleave through rock with its claws. This wasn't a level a mere cat — not even a predator — could handle.

Damn it!

Shhk——!

A bone-chilling whoosh of air as the mole monster's arm swept over my head. Chance. I needed to attack right now or put some distance between us. But in this cramped cave there was nowhere left to run — the only option remaining was to fight.

But how do I even attack?

Could a cat's bite force pierce a monster's hide? Could I kill this thing with my claws?

I hesitated and pulled up my status window, intending to check if I had any usable skills. But—

Whooosh——!!

In that brief moment of hesitation, the mole monster's claws came for my throat again.

You— you son of a—!

I raised my claws to block the strike aimed at my neck, meeting its claws head-on.

They're going to get cut off.

Whether it'd just be the claws or the whole paw, I couldn't tell. Crazy. Can a one-legged cat still get pets? Maybe people would feel so sorry for me they'd take even better care of me?

Yeah, right.

I cursed myself for choosing a cat. Nearly getting killed by a damn mole — was this the price of raising those "possibilities" or whatever?

I was mid-rant against my past self, frantically calculating an escape, when—

Clang—!

"Mrrrow?"

A harsh metallic scrape rang out as the creature's claws bounced clean off. Meanwhile, the front paw I'd swung at its claws stood firm, completely unharmed.

Huh?

Only then did my eyes land on the name floating in my status window.

The word "Weak" didn't even register.

Tiger.

The moment I saw that word, the Infrasound I'd been casually blasting and the strangely overdeveloped muscles in my front legs all made sense.

Pets? A noble young lady's companion?

None of that mattered right now.

Crack. Crack.

This tiger cub (one day old) was extremely pissed off.

How dare a mere mole—

"Grrrrrowl."

—talk smack to a tiger?

"Karang!"

I fixed it with a fierce glare and hopped toward it, and the creature — sensing something had gone terribly wrong — scrambled backward. Of course it did. Even with [Claw Sharpening] activated, its claws had snapped against mine.

Why? I had a pretty good idea.

I was a brand-new specimen that didn't exist on the Iden Continent — a Siberian tiger from my previous world. The body growth and hardened claws after just one day were probably thanks to that "Karma."

Things were starting to click into place.

Thwack!

I lunged in and shredded the mole's claws, then sank my teeth straight into its neck.

Crunch!

"Kaang!!"

I'd meant to look cool and kill it in one bite, but my mouth was too small — all I managed was to make the mole suffer. Oops.

Only then did the frenzy seem to leave the mole monster. Its body shuddered, and it died.

Hmm.

No major trauma from my first kill. I'd just worked up an appetite from the fight, so I wolfed the mole down with gusto. And through that, I came to understand exactly what I was.

I was the only tiger on the Iden Continent — and a tiger that evolved through leveling up, at that.

Roar!