It Was Just Curiosity, Nya...

H-hey, it was curiosity, nya...

I'm sorry.

Kim Seon.

I offer my deepest apologies to myself.

I couldn't hold back my forbidden curiosity.

I stared at the order history.

"……."

And that was that.

I hadn't meant to buy them.

…Really.

I'd been sitting at the computer shopping for women's clothes, just in case of any unforeseen situations. Sure, nobody was around to see me at home, so I could theoretically walk around naked — but I was still a person. People wear clothes.

With that mindset, I'd looked for both loungewear and outdoor clothes. It was summer, so short lengths made sense. For going out, I settled on comfortable Bermuda shorts and wide-leg pants, plus two short-sleeve T-shirts and a pair of sneakers. That covered the outdoor wardrobe.

The problem started after that.

While browsing for something easy to throw on around the house, something snagged my eye.

"……."

Extremely short athletic shorts. Black base with white hems, side slits, and rounded corners. They had an official name, but in Korea they were far more famously known as… dolphin pants.

Dolphin pants.

I couldn't look away.

It was pure curiosity. You know… everyone wears them, right? There has to be a reason something's popular. They're probably just comfortable!

So I ordered a pair because I was curious how comfortable they actually were.

That was truly all there was to it.

I really agonized over it. Was it okay for a guy (formerly) like me to dare buy something like this? It was absolutely not because of any perverted desires. I definitely did not carefully measure my body size, stand in front of the mirror in baggy clothes to admire the silhouette of my slender waist — that classic "secretly hot" moment — or think, It would be a waste to hide this peak aesthetic physique under frumpy clothes! and buy them for that reason.

It was just… that.

"……."

But once I'd actually purchased them, heat rushed to my face. I shook my head vigorously to clear out the stray thoughts.

Done! Shopping ends here.

I checked my bank balance. The heat that had been rising instantly went cold. I'd spent a fair amount of money. Aside from the fact that my sixty days of living expenses had just shrunk to forty, everything was fine.

It was a necessary choice.

Besides, now that I'd become a small-framed woman, the amount of food my stomach could hold had decreased, so I could allocate less to meals. If that counted as a silver lining, then it was one.

I needed to learn more about the awakened. Specifically, whether there were people like me who'd awakened but never climbed the Tower.

After all, the Awakened Community wasn't the Climber Community. They were similar, sure, but they were distinctly different forums.

When I logged into the Awakened Community, peaceful posts were flooding in as usual. I wanted to browse the humor threads that made you grin ear to ear, but I suppressed that boiling desire and reminded myself of my purpose.

If I want the info I'm looking for, I'll have to make a post.

Three days of shut-up-and-lurk were over. I had every right to post!

I spotted the write button and mashed it. Instead of a post window, a nickname prompt appeared.

"Hmm."

Come to think of it, I'd occasionally seen people posting under nicknames rather than anonymously.

This is a tough one…

Naming things was always hard. I want something cool if possible.

Anything good? I pretended to deliberate, but it was just for show. I'd already decided the moment I looked at my own face.

I went with Freyja — the Norse goddess of love, beauty, and abundance, and a deity associated with cats. Wasn't that the perfect name for me? Pretty. Beautiful. And a cat, right?!

Anyway.

"Ahem."

I did have one worry. What if the system forcibly named me after my awakened class — Cute Cat — or something?

But that was just me being self-conscious.

With my nickname set, I switched to anonymous and started typing out the things I was curious about.

However.

One massive problem arose.

Shit!

I couldn't write in a normal tone. Every sentence was forcibly ending with "nya."

"KRAAAAAANG!!!"

I roared. Seriously… having "nya" stuck on the end of everything I said out loud was already miserable enough — and now I had to append it on the community too? My lot in life was bleak beyond measure.

"Ughhuuuuuung."

A deeper sigh than usual slipped out. Holding back tears, I rationalized my way through the post.

It's anonymous anyway. Nobody knows who I am. That's good enough, right?

I lightly slapped both cheeks with my hands and hit submit.

"Ughiii……."

I was going to cry, nya. I squeezed my eyes shut and mashed the refresh button over and over.

Then—

Ding!

"Oh!"

Comments. Two of them, even! Full of anticipation, I hit refresh and found them.

"……."

…Cancel that "anticipation" thing. I never expected anything from the start. Expectation only leads to disappointment. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And in that sense — I was disappointed. It wasn't like I hadn't seen this coming, but…

"That's too much, nya!"

I read the comments on my post.

I'm not doing this because I want to!

No amount of screaming on the inside would ever reach them. Under those two upsetting comments, another one appeared almost immediately. Biting my lip in frustration, I read it.

"……."

A single ray of light blooming in the darkness! Information like a lantern illuminating my pitch-black future. I offered silent thanks.

From that angelic comment, I extracted two pieces of intel.

First: if you can't clear Floor 1, you're a loser. Therefore, I am a loser.

Second: awakened people don't necessarily have to climb the Tower. Therefore, I don't have to climb it!

"That's it!!!"

A non-combat awakened? That was me. Confidence surged. They'd said to look into other work, so there had to be jobs even a half-baked awakened like me could do.

Got the info I needed — time to lie down and browse the community.

I immediately flung myself onto the bed. Soft. And I kept rolling around until night fell. I had plenty of time. I could still hold out for about forty more days.

"Nyahaha."

I'm screwed!

Ten days had passed. In those ten days, I had done absolutely nothing. Nothing except roll around in bed, bouncing between the Otherworlder Community and the Awakened Community, laughing. Naturally, since I never went outside, I only ate delivery food. Naturally, since I never went outside, the trash piled up into a mountain. And above all, money drained away at a terrifying rate. Pouring water into a bottomless jar would have been more efficient.

The result: in ten days, I'd burned through twenty-five days' worth of living expenses.

……The fact that I'd impulsively dropped fifty thousand won on a mobile game gacha that went completely sideways in the middle is a secret. That also ended in total disaster, of course…

"KRAAAAAANG!"

So how much living money was left? Barely two weeks' worth. I was truly at the brink. The fire was at my feet.

What do I do?

Going outside was still a problem — my instincts were as strong as ever. Sometimes they'd slip past my control and I'd start grooming without realizing it. Or I'd bat at a lotion bottle on the vanity until it fell. And my tail — whatever put it in such a good mood — kept fawning and swaying.

Sway, sway.

Even now!!!

Annoyed, I grabbed my tail.

"……."

It went quiet.

Up until ten days ago, I'd just been sighing and lamenting my fate. Back then, with plenty of time left, I'd had this vague sense that things would work out somehow. Now I couldn't even spare the breath for a sigh. In the time it took to sigh, I needed to fix this situation.

What I lacked right now wasn't instinct-suppression training — it was money. I needed to earn money. And for that, I had to go outside.

But was there work a beastkin could do? No — was there even anyone who would hire a beastkin? Ordinary jobs generally didn't recruit beastkin. In my twenty-four years of life, I'd never once seen a beastkin working a regular job.

But the Hunter Association? That place treated otherworlders without prejudice. It was also the place that, without prejudice, had passed unemployed NEET high-school-graduate Kim Seon through the first round of document screening. It might just be the solution to my problems.

I turned on the computer and searched. A short while later, I found it.

"This is… mph!"

This is it!!!

I cheered.

A week had passed since I'd found a way forward. I finished bathing, put on the dolphin pants, then took them off again. Today was the day I was going out, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of habit I'd nearly put them back on and dove onto the bed. This was why unemployed cat life was terrifying.

I put on the black Bermuda shorts and black short-sleeve tee I'd bought last time, then studied myself in the full-length mirror.

"……."

I'd mashed a hat down over my cat ears to hide them, and wrapped my tail tightly in tape. On top of that, I'd wound bandages around it for good measure. I could feel the tail thrashing against my back, desperate to escape its prison.

Ready.

There was a reason a full week had passed between finding a method and actually going out. I absolutely had not been goofing off. Word had come that Seo Ah-ri, who lived in the unit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠below, was currently out. I couldn't risk running into her again. Hazard eliminated.

The moment I stepped outside, I was an ordinary human. Thanks to my thorough preparations, there was no risk of anyone discovering I was a dumb cat beastkin. Steeling myself, I carefully opened the front door. After that, I walked confidently to the elevator and rode it down. Being overly cautious and scanning every direction would only make me more conspicuous.

I'm just a woman who's a little short!

Brainwashing myself into thinking of myself as a woman was mortifying, but I had no choice. For ten minutes I walked, forcing my pounding heart to settle, until I reached the bus stop.

"Hup!"

Three people were sitting there. Two women and one man, all focused on their phones. The man had earphones in. Good. The bus I needed would arrive in about ten minutes. I stood in the shade of a tree beside the stop, a little ways from the three seated people.

The sky was bright and clear — not a cloud in sight. The summer heat was unavoidable. A leaf fell from a tree swaying in the breeze, and I absently lifted my head. At the end of my gaze, a yellow butterfly drifted into view.

"Oh. A butterfly, nya."

Cupping my hands, I hopped up and played with the butterfly. It landed on a patch of greenery. I dropped into a crouch to match its eye level — hands and feet both planted on the ground. Just like a cat.

"……?"

I flinched! The hand I'd been about to stretch toward the butterfly froze in midair.

Wait wait wait… TIME OUT!!!

Reason came flooding back.

Since when have I been doing this?

I swallowed hard.

No, this is not okay!!!

I squeezed my eyes shut. Cold sweat beaded and rolled down. People must have been watching…! I could feel every gaze in the vicinity boring hotly into the back of my head. I didn't think I could meet any of the eyes pointed my way. Even so, I slowly, carefully turned my head.

"……."

An ominous premonition never fails. The three people at the bus stop were staring at me with wide, fascinated eyes. I turned my head back to look at the butterfly — but the heavens were truly heartless. The butterfly was gone.

I had no choice but to swallow my humiliation and pick a course of action. So the method I chose was—

"W-whoa! I-I'm falling, nya…"

Thud.

—to collapse naturally, still in the cat posture, as if I'd tripped over a rock. Perfectly natural. My stomach hit the ground. In that moment, I didn't even think about my clothes getting dirty. To plant a little more conviction in my audience, I offered a pitiful excuse.

"Th-there was a rock, nya…"

And yet — even after my excuse, why wouldn't their stares drop? My face burned hot.

"Eek!!!"

Then — even in adversity, flowers bloom. Ten minutes must have slipped by without my noticing. The bus arrived.

"B-bus!"

I thrust out a hand to stop it, scrambled aboard, tapped my card, and hid myself.

"……."

I peeked out to check on the three people at the stop.

"Hyeek!"

They were still staring at me.

N-nooooo!!!

Had they figured it out? Of course they had. Yep yep. Definitely figured it out. Or… had they? I'd fallen pretty naturally… No no no. They knew.

"Oh a butterfly nya" — that bullshit! "There was a rock nya" — that bullshit.

I wanted to die. All I'd done was put on a little performance in front of people.

KRAAAAAAK!

I buried my face in my knees from sheer mortification.

My cat life is ruined!