Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: I'm the Only Human at Beastkin Academy, So I Get Obsessed Over
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"Wow."
I slurped down a bowl of ramen while searching for news on Beastkin incidents. The physical display Choi Eum-a had put on was no small shock!
Every case where Beastkin were the perpetrators was brutally vicious. Famous carnivores were always committing murders or cannibalism, and the more aggressive breeds seemed prone to randomly beating people up on the street.
The Furries had come to Korea over a hundred years ago, and thanks to their insane reproductive rates, Beastkin weren't exactly rare anymore. That led to a ton of interspecies discrimination incidents.
‘Good thing Choi Eum-a’s a rabbit Beastkin. There are some scary ones out there.’
I still couldn’t forget how she’d scaled five floors faster than the elevator.
A quick search on the green window revealed that rabbits could rotate their eyes 360 degrees, their hind legs were incredibly sturdy for burst speeds of 60 to 80 kph, and their unique skeletons let them tumble hard without a scratch...
Especially in fights, they unleashed dozens of punches per second with their front legs... Doesn’t that just mean Choi Eum-a is a total monster???
"Rabbits are supposed to be quiet unless they feel threatened or upset, so why is Eum-a so damn chatty?"
The rabbit I’d raised as a kid just grunted nonstop trying to burrow. Turns out they’re terrifying creatures. And since this one asked for my help down the line—practically a command—I’m basically obligated, right?
‘Wah, screwed over by my own dickhead choices.’
Dickheads live subserviently!
As I wallowed in my misery, a KakaoTalk notification pinged. It was Mo Myo-mi.
"What the hell’s this all of a sudden?"
A girl I’d never exchanged a single word with fired off this sharp first message like she was picking a fight over text.
It’s not like she wanted a keyboard duel. Might as well bite.
"Oh, that’s what it was?"
I thought she’d been staring so hard because she wanted me to pick her. Guess not. Anyway... close? Does that mean I’m department head because I’m tight with the TA?
Unfair as hell, but nice guy like me can take it. The CCInside Beastkin Gallery—the biggest site around—even says cat Beastkin are the most sensitive, so best not to stress them out unnecessarily!
‘This little shit!!!!’
I apologized and she hits me with [Apology declined]!!!
What an insolent brat!!!
?
"She’s treating me like a vending machine?"
No, screw that. No need to bicker with a classmate this early in the semester. Just grit my teeth, buy one churu from the store, and smooth things over!!
‘Plus, Mo Myo-mi’s kinda cute!’
She was the most delicately pretty among the cat Beastkin. Maybe I was jealous of getting played for a sucker, or maybe I just wanted to bond over churu!
‘Whoa. Genius idea.’
Mo Myo-mi: cat Beastkin. Choi Eum-a: rabbit Beastkin.
In the food chain, cats are predators. If I befriend Mo Myo-mi, Eum-a might naturally back off!!
Perfect! It’s decided!
I, Joo Ji-hyeok, will become a total pushover to shake off that classroom exhibitionist!
Her reply was straight-up curt as hell!!!
Wallet in hand, I stepped out front of the convenience store, and kraaah. Beastkin stares locked right on me! But it’s fine! I’m not alone anymore!
"You here?"
"......"
She didn’t keep me waiting long. Mo Myo-mi appeared, eyes glued to her smartphone, striding over with that haughty gait.
‘Looks like she’d be late, but she’s actually punctual.’
Not just the prettiest in our Visual Design freshman class—she had a solid sense of time too. Big points in her favor!
‘Though she’s early for the churu, obviously.’
She stopped in front of me and blinked up at me vacantly. Those jewel-blue eyes staring so intently had me weirdly entranced. She was mysteriously captivating.
"Shall we head in?"
I gestured to the store. The campus convenience store had full glass walls visible from the hallway—for accident prevention or whatever.
Thanks to that, you could spot the churu display even from the hall.
Mo Myo-mi flicked her gaze over the store churus, then shook her head.
"No."
"Huh?"
"This."
"Huuuh?"
She shoved her phone screen in my face without warning.
It showed a site selling a 15-pack box of churu for 100,000 won.
This girl... no way.
"This one."
"What churu costs 100k?! You want me to buy this???"
"Yeah. Buy it for me."
"Like hell I will!"
What kind of nonsense was this?!
I was just trying to get along with a classmate early on, and now she pulls out luxury 100k churu! This brat! Not a purebred—she’s a kimchi cat after all??!!!!
"Why? You said you’d buy. Keep your promise."
"I meant the convenience store churu, not some 100k premium crap? No way. You trying to shake down a fellow freshman?!"
"You. Liar."
"Jeez."
Her triangular black ears flattened back. Wait, she was actually pissed? Shouldn’t I be the pissed one???
Now her puffed tail swished side to side, broadcasting her displeasure! Why the hell was she mad???
"Hoo."
I sighed and pocketed my wallet again. No helping it. Time to deploy the ‘Repelling Kimchi Cat Beastkin Methods (Long Post)’ I’d studied from the Beastkin Gallery before coming to uni!
"Hey, Myo-mi."
"What?"
"Snap out of it, you. Humans aren’t Sonics. Mess with us, and you get a churu vending machine? Nah."
"......What?"
Her swishing tail froze. Those blue pupils dilated wide, like she instinctively sensed what was coming.
‘Ji-hyeok scary!’
Scared she’d claw me with cat nails! But no backing down! Retreat here, and I’m straight-up a churu ATM!
"If you were a real cat, fine. I’d grit my teeth, buy fancy treats, enjoy some no-strings fun! Cats are small, cute, roll over for belly rubs and aegyo! But you? Zero reason for me to play cat daddy. Why should I be an ATM for a no-aegyo cat Beastkin? Why???"
"......You’re seriously mad over a measly 100k? At me?"
"Measly 100k? Measly 100k? Oh, my mom’s hard-earned 100k is pocket change, huh! Oh dear! Oh dear me, fellow Beastkin!"
I flopped straight onto the floor and threw a full tantrum. Mo Myo-mi’s eyes filled with bewilderment as she backed away step by step.
It worked! This absurd bullshit worked! Cat Beastkin lack logic, act purely on emotion—so hit ‘em with emotions first and aggro, per the Gallery’s golden tip!
As I flailed my limbs like a baby, famous human-loving dog Beastkin rushed over to lick my face.
"Friend! Why crying!"
"Don’t cry!"
"I’m not, stop licking you guys too. Blech."
Stop licking!
While I thrashed surrounded by dog Beastkin,
Mo Myo-mi wrinkled her nose. Then she spun on her heel and left with a perfect villain line.
"......You’ll regret this."
She sauntered off down the hall just as haughtily as she’d arrived.
I watched her back as she punched an approaching tomcat with a nyang-punch, cheering inwardly.
‘Got her!’
Rude furball trying to extort a human! Done and dusted!!
Heading back to the dorm, I thought of Choi Eum-a. Maybe it was after dealing with Mo Myo-mi’s attitude, but the girl masturbating in class started feeling almost ethereal.
‘Gotta get along with Eum-a.’
Not too close. Just right.
The moment I resolved to look after my new friend properly, KakaoTalk! A new group chat popped up—with me and Mo Myo-mi both added.
No way, Mo Myo-mi’s crew plotting to harass me...!
"......Nah, Visual Design Department Heads room?"
The group title was ‘Visual Dept Head Room.’ Just six people total, including us. Probably one head and vice per year?
I was the first to reply to the welcome from our self-introduced 21st-year head, Baek Sang-a. Na Min-seo had shown me that ‘This Is a Department Chat! –Despair Edition–’ before, so I clammed up after, but...
‘Nothing happening.’
Over 30 minutes of dead silence.
‘Na Min-seo, what kinda seniors did you end up with?!’
‘Guess they just added us. Huh?’
KakaoTalk!
This jerk... She could reply normally like that, but to me it was all ‘buy churu’? Infuriating. And she tried for 100k on top? Devious feline!!
‘I see the truth now—Eum-a supremacy.’
The classroom deed shocked me, but that was instinct. Time to drop the bias and treat Choi Eum-a fairly. Self-reflection achieved.
Evening rolled around.
After today’s ordeal, I planned a luxury treat: cup ramen with a whole can of tuna to soothe body and soul.
Stepping into the hall with my tuna ramen, I felt an odd hollowness.
She always popped out like a ghost whenever I left my room—Ji-hyeokaaa~ Ji-hyeokaaa~—trailing after me. Not today.
"...Something up?"
Grabbing water from the lounge, I worried about Eum-a... then regretted it the second I got back to my room.
"Ji... Ji-hyeokaaa."
"This is illegal trespassing."
"Ji-hyeok... Ji-hyeokaaa."
Choi Eum-a lay sprawled on my bed, body flushed beet red, panting raggedly! How the hell did she even get in? A draft hit me—I looked up and spotted the open balcony window. Right, dorm balconies ran in a straight line like the hall. No wonder ancestors drilled ‘lock everything’ into us.
I set the ramen on my desk and approached her.
"Hey. Get up. Go to your room."
"Uuuu...... Ji-hyeokaaa......"
"Get up already—hot!"
I grabbed her arm to haul her up and yanked back in shock. What the—her body was like a fireball! Branded or something? No, skin looked fine?
"Ji... Ji-hyeokaa. I’m dying."
Normally I’d chalk it up to heat cycle, but touching her temperature... she might actually die for real.
"Did you sleep naked with the window open? What kinda rabbit Beastkin catches a cold?"
"N-not a cold...... Heat cycle......"
"Heat cycle, got it."
What an idiot I was for worrying sincerely.