I Picked Up a Red Cat
I stared at the cat in the sink and muttered, "It's seriously a red cat?"
On my way home from my part-time shift at the convenience store, I'd heard a cat crying and picked it up on a whim. The poor thing was covered in blood, so the first thing I did when I got home was wash it... but it turned out the "blood" was actually its fur. This was a genuinely red cat.
"Do red-furred cats even exist?"
As soon as I mumbled that to myself, the red cat dipped its paws into the warm water in the sink and started purring.
Apparently the warm bath felt pretty good.
"The red fur is already weird enough, but a water-attribute cat on top of that..."
After thoroughly washing the cat, I dried its fur. Then I poured some of the cat food I'd bought on the way home into a plastic bowl that had once held instant rice.
"Meow~! Crunch-crunch-! Crunch-crunch-!"
The cat glanced at the food, looked up at me, let out a single meow, and then started devouring it with gusto.
While watching it eat, I picked up my phone and began taking pictures. I was planning to post an ad on a secondhand trading app saying I'd found a lost cat and was looking for its owner. What, you think I should just keep it? Absolutely not.
Around its neck was a clearly expensive-looking red collar. And on that collar was a name.
"Mary Jane... That's a pretty fancy name for a cat."
"Right? I think so too, nyang!"
Huh? For a second, I thought I heard someone's voice...
I looked around. There was no one in my tiny studio apartment except me and this cat. A cat talking? Haha, no way.
"There is a way, nyang! The meal was very delicious, nyang! But next time, please buy something with lower carbohydrate content, nyang."
I turned my head to look at the creature that was eating. It was grooming its face with its front paw, looking satisfied after its meal.
Except... it wasn't the red cat I'd picked up anymore.
The problem was that it had turned into a cat-girl with red hair and red ears.
"What are you staring at, nyang? Never seen a cat beast-girl before, nyang?"
Normally, most people would live their entire lives without ever seeing a cat beast-girl.
"Ah, that's right. This isn't Highland. Sorry, nyang! You must've been really startled, nyang..."
The cat-girl suddenly brought her hands together in front of her and took a polite stance.
But while she was rapidly moving the conversation forward, I couldn't say a single word. The situation itself was simply too incomprehensible.
"You're Lee Taehun, right, nyang?"
"Huh? How do you know my name..."
Before I could even process what was happening, the cat-girl had called me by name.
A red cat was already surprising. A red cat turning into a beast-girl was even more surprising. But her knowing my name might actually be the least weird part...
"I found you at last. Hehe. You're kind enough to pick up a crying cat on the street, nyang. I like you, nyang."
"Um, excuse me, but..."
"What is it, nyang?"
"So... Miss Cat. What exactly is going on right now?"
"Hmm... I'll let it slide just this once, nyang. You definitely saw my name on the collar earlier, nyang. I have a pretty name—Mary Jane, nyang!!"
Suddenly the beast-girl—no, Mary Jane—shouted at the top of her lungs.
Hey, the soundproofing in my place sucks, you know.
The old man next door is definitely going to complain again when I leave for work tomorrow. For real.
"Um, Miss Mary Jane. How did you know I was Lee Taehun?"
"Oh, that? I came to deliver something that was left to you as an inheritance, nyang."
"Inheritance...?"
Mary Jane raised a hand to her ear and pulled out what looked like a rolled-up piece of paper from behind it.
Wait, how was she hiding an A4-sized sheet of paper? Was that magic?
Yeah... I really shouldn't try to understand this logically right now.
"Here, I'll read it for you, nyang."
Taehun, listen well.
I, Vojtech, do not have much time left in this world.
To you, my only blood relative, I leave the Monmusu Ranch in Highland.
Only Mary Jane remains among the monmusu now. But she is a clever child and will surely be of help to you.
I'm sorry that my first and last letter to you is a will.
Please forgive your unworthy father.
Once she'd finished reading the will, Mary Jane rolled the paper back up and tucked it behind her ear again.
I sat there stunned, unable to say anything.
Wasn't this development moving way too fast?
This felt like some cheap web novel.
"What's a web novel, nyang?"
"Huh? Did I say something?"
"You just thought it felt like a cheap web novel, didn't you, nyang?"
Can she read my mind?
"I can't read everything, nyang. Only strong thoughts get through, nyang. So stop thinking random stuff and listen to me carefully, nyang. My words are the same as Master Vojtech's words, nyang."
"Wait a second. I don't even know who my father is. I've been in an orphanage since I was a baby. I heard my mother died giving birth to me."
"I know that, nyang. But you didn't know who your father was, right, nyang?"
"Well... the teachers at the orphanage never told me."
I fell silent for a moment, thinking.
Now that I thought about it, whenever the topic of my father came up, the teachers would always dodge the question. I never even knew if he was dead or alive.
And now he suddenly shows up in a will, leaving me a Monmusu Ranch? Along with a red cat?
"Haaah-! Seriously! If you call me 'cat' one more time instead of my name, I'll scratch you, nyang!!"
"Eek-! I'm sorry!!"
"Anyway, we don't have much time left, nyang."
With that, Mary Jane reached behind her ear again and this time pulled out a small pocket watch.
"There's a sixty-nine-minute time difference between Lowland and there... so we have about eighteen minutes left, nyang."
"Lowland? You said Highland earlier... Are you from Scotland?"
"I don't know any Scotland Land, nyang. I only know Highland and Lowland, nyang."
After saying that, Mary Jane started drawing a large circle on the wall of my studio with a red crayon.
She drew it in one smooth motion and it looked surprisingly pretty... No, that's not the point! How could she just vandalize the wall like that?! The landlord is going to kill me!
"Ah, isn't this your house, nyang?"
"Yes, and I'm renting it!"
"What a petty man! You're about to run a vast ranch soon, so don't worry about such small things, nyang! Show some dignity befitting a great man, nyang!"
Dignity my ass—who's going to pay for the wallpaper?!
She must have heard that thought too, but Mary Jane didn't respond. So she only reads inconvenient thoughts selectively?!!!
"Ahem. Anyway, just wait about ten minutes, nyang. It takes about ten minutes for the wall to soften, nyang."
"The wall is going to soften?"
Not only did she draw on it, now it's going to soften?!
Sure enough, after about ten minutes, I could feel the circled area becoming squishy. I hadn't touched it, but the inside of the circle had started to ripple.
Noticing the rippling, Mary Jane boldly stuck her hand into the circle. Her hand sank smoothly into the wall and came back out.
"It's almost ready, nyang. Don't you have any luggage to pack, nyang? Once we go, you might not be able to come back for a long time, nyang."
"Where are we even going? I have work tomorrow. Can I be back by tomorrow morning?"
"Ah... I'm the type who doesn't make promises I can't keep, nyang... Hehe, sorry, nyang. Let's just go, nyang."
With that, Mary Jane grabbed my wrist and started pulling me toward the wall.
"W-wait! Let me at least pack some things! I'll pack really quick!!"
"Ahaha, that's right. I did tell you to pack, hehe, sorry, nyang. But hurry up, nyang."
I pretended to pack while secretly planning to run away.
No matter how I thought about it, this was too suspicious. Why would I follow a talking cat to another world?
Besides, if I didn't show up for my shift tomorrow, the convenience store owner would have to work a full twenty-four hours. I had to prevent that at all costs.
While I was pretending to gather my stuff, Mary Jane suddenly disappeared. She had definitely been standing next to the circle earlier.
This was my chance.
I stopped pretending to pack and sprinted toward the front door.
But the door wouldn't open.
It was a simple handle-type door with a digital lock, but no matter how hard I pushed the handle, it wouldn't budge.
"Stop with the pointless resistance, nyang. Hehe."
The now-familiar voice came from behind me.
When I turned around, sure enough, Mary Jane was standing there with her arms crossed, looking at me with an amused expression.
"Did you think I was stupid, nyang? I sealed the door with a barrier, nyang."
"Look, just hear me out. I have a life here!"
"Yeah, I know that, nyang. I also know you're worried about the convenience store owner, nyang..."
The confident expression she'd worn earlier was gone. Now she looked awkward, avoiding eye contact and fidgeting uncomfortably.
"That's why I tried to take you quickly without giving you time to think... but the bathwater was too warm, and the food was too delicious, nyang... so I missed the optimal timing, nyang..."
"Anyway! You have to go to the Highland ranch, nyang. It's your destined fate, nyang! This isn't a choice you get to make, nyang!"
"I choose my own life! What makes you so sure it's fate?!"
Did I yell too loud?
Sorry, old man next door...
But Mary Jane didn't seem particularly surprised.
"Your choice? Have you ever truly chosen your own life until now, nyang? Probably not, nyang. Think about it carefully, nyang."
Her words pierced straight through my heart.
Unfortunately, Mary Jane was right.
From the moment I was born until now, I had never once made a choice I truly wanted.
Being sent to the orphanage, leaving the orphanage, starting the convenience store job—everything had just happened because I had no other options.
Even if I submitted a resume and went to work, could I really call that my own choice?
"Sorry, I didn't realize you'd take it that seriously, nyang... Think about it, nyang. Once you cross that wall, from that moment on, every choice will be yours to make, nyang. The situation is such that you'll be entering a world where you have to make countless choices not because someone wants you to, but because you want to, nyang."
"..."
"Time's almost up, nyang. We can't delay any longer, nyang."
"..."
Could I really live as Lee Taehun?
If I crossed that wall?
Mary Jane's long speech... had completely changed my mind.
"I'll go."
"Nyang?"
"I said I'll go. Are your ears clogged?"
"Jeez, if you're going then just go. Why say it so roughly, nyang? Since we're going anyway, let's go with a smile, nyang."
At Mary Jane's cheeky attitude, a smile unconsciously formed on my face.
Yeah. This was the moment my life was truly beginning. I should greet it with a smile.
"Oh, you look much better when you smile, nyang! Then hold my hand, nyang. Crossing the wall might feel a little weird, nyang."
I nodded and took Mary Jane's hand.
It had been so long since I'd held a woman's hand that my palm was sweaty.
"Don't be nervous, nyang. I'm right here beside you, nyang."
And so, holding Mary Jane's hand, I took a step into the wall that led to another world.
