Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 5 – Cat Dad is Stuck

Currently, the game only allowed players to use NFT characters to create their in-game avatars and characters. As a result, millions of NFTs got stuck in the marketplace as nobody wanted them. Common, uncommon, and rare NFTs were dirt cheap while SR and UR NFTs could still be exchanged for 50,000 to 100,000 PACTs, depending on their skills and job.

Xiaomao opened an additional window and browsed the marketplace. He check if there was a similar Catopus NFT like this one.

Five results appeared. There were five ultra-rare NFT catopuses with different jobs and skills on sale, which had stuck in the marketplace for months. However, the cheapest one was listed for 75,000 PACTs!

Xiaomao could easily buy it from the marketplace and start the game. However, he wouldn't get the legendary add-on token, which could be used to boost the game character!

It wasn't worth it.

Xiaomao closed the marketplace window and gazed at the portrait of the character.

In the past, this race was not popular because it was a monster-like race.

Catopus was a half-cat half-octopus creature. It had the head and a tail of a cat, but there was no torso or body. Instead, octopus tentacles extended below the cat's head and acted as its legs.

It looked like something from Pokemon or Digimon Series.

The size was a problem. Its head was almost as big as a human's head. With short and cute tentacles, it was too small.

However, Xiaomao was eager to play this character. He was excited that this NFT finally appeared.

"Alright! Time to empty my pocket and gacha machine!"

Xiaomao began inserting his PACT coins into the machine. As he had aimed to get the legendary fragment reward, he used 300,000 PACTs at once.

300,000 PACTs were spent before Xiaomao could even play the game! This didn't include the tokens that he had used to refresh the gacha list!

Xiaomao thought of the opening day of the game.

In the game community forums, people complained that this game was pay-to-win heavy. At that time, PACT's price was 5 USD per token.

300,000 PACTs were 1.5 million dollars! Anyone who aimed for a legendary add-on spent 1.5 million dollars for it!

What about Xiaomao?

He smirked. He only spent a little over 20,000 USD, and he still had 97,000 PACTs remaining to use in-game.

It was still a lot of money. It was risky and stupid. However, Xiaomao was confident in his decision.

While Xiaomao was lost in thought, 1,000 gacha balls came out of the machine.

The game revealed all digital assets that Xiaomao received right away. Not only did he get the Ultra-Rare Catopus NFT character, but he also got 999 other goodies.

800 Common NFT characters

100 Uncommon NFT characters

45 Rare NFT characters

25 Rare NFT fragments

15 Super Rare NFT characters

10 Super Rare NFT fragments

1 Ultra Rare NFT character

3 Ultra Rare NFT fragments

Those were the additional assets that Xiaomao could either use in-game or sell in the marketplace to get some of his money back.

Ding

<You have been rewarded with a legendary add-on fragment, [Protein from Fish].>

The unique skill appeared in Xiaomao's NFT inventory. He immediately used it on the Catopus NFT.

The legendary fragment disappeared, and the catopus NFT changed. Its status was updated.

…

Rarity: Ultra-Rare

Race: Catopus (Evolvable)

Job: Slavemaster (Evolvable)

Unique Skills: Enslavement, Slave Training

Racial Skills: Fish Gourmet, Catnap

Add-on Skill: Protein from Fish

…

The character was good to go. Xiaomao allocated the NFT as his primary character and confirmed.

The portrait of the catopus was zoomed-in. Now, Xiaomao could customize its appearance and look.

One hour later, Xiaomao completed the adjustment. He made the character look like Mu-Nyang.

The cow-like catopus looked cute from his perspective. The tentacles were chubby, and its head was large enough for future functions.

Xiaomao pressed confirm and moved on to the next phase.

<Will you use this NFT character as your starting character?>

"Yes."

WHOOSH

As soon as Xiaomao pressed YES, his consciousness faded for a few seconds.

When he came back to his senses, he discovered himself inside the catopus' body in a blank square room.

It felt odd controlling eight tentacles and his tail. Also, the vision range was wider and further than usual.

Xiaomao could even differentiate scent in the air and know where it came from!

His cat ears perked and twitched. He tried to move them around, and it was a fun experience.

"Munyaaaa."

Happy, Xiaomao mimicked Mu-Nyang's voice. His small voice sounded exactly like the cat.

Ding

<Welcome to Pangu Online 2. Before we can let you start the game, we wish to let you get familiarized with the game character.>

Xiaomao nodded and paid attention to the tutorial session. He needed it as it might take time to adjust to the physique of a monster.

Playing VRMMO was different than playing a PC game. All five senses of Xiaomao were linked to the game character, and he needed to operate the game avatar like his real body.

Managing one tail and eight tentacles instead of having two arms and two legs was difficult. Even though Xiaomao came from the future, he could not adapt to this feeling right away.

After all, in his previous life, he played this game as a human.

Xiaomao thought of the day he started playing the game. At that time, the game was five years old, and the price of PACTs was already 25 USD. Xiaomao only used a basic one-PACT NFT character to play as a crypto-miner, who only played to make money from cryptocurrency.

But now, he started early when the token's price was cheap. He was on a better starting line.

WHOOSH

A colorful track field appeared inside the giant square room.

<Please complete the following instructions to complete the tutorial.>

<1. Walk on the field for 10 minutes.>

<2. Run back and forth between the marked locations three times.>

<3. Jump as high as possible five times.>

<4…>

…

Xiaomao spent three hours getting through the movement tutorial. He toddled and crawled like a baby at first. But now, his eight tentacles moved freely, and he could dash around the room like an athlete.

Ding

<Congratulations on completing the basic movement tutorial.>

<Please name your character.>

Xiaomao thought for a moment. Then, he had an idea.

"Mu-Nyang."

<The name has been taken by either a player or an NPC. Please choose another name.>

"Aw, bummer. I like that name. How about… Mao Miaomiao?"

<The name has been taken by either a player or an NPC. Please choose another name.>

"What?! That is my ideal in-game name! Haiz."

Xiaomao pondered for a while. But in the end, he decided to use his real name as the in-game name.

"Xiaomao."

Nobody would have realized that his name was real anyway. After all, it could be translated as "a kitten" if someone mispronounced it.

<Will you name your character as Xiaomao?>

"Yes."

<Please choose your starting world.>

Everything in the tutorial room vanished. Now, Xiaomao was floating in space.

Multiple habitable planets appeared for Xiaomao to choose from. Each of them had a different background, race, and culture.

However, the majority of the worlds were disabled as the game hadn't unlocked them yet. There were only three planets to start out. But in the future patches, more worlds would be accessible.

The first planet was fantasy earth. There was no science there as everybody relied on mana, magic, and sorcery as their mainstream technology. Quests were plenty, and the game leveling system was easy to understand.

The second planet was a wuxia world. Cultivators, monster beasts, and the locals there absorbed natural Qi to get stronger. The power scale was grand and complex, but no player could acquire EXP by killing monsters. It was designed for old players, who sought immortality in real-life by cultivating in the game.

The last planet was a hardcore one. It was a planet with mixed civilizations, which was popular among non-crypto farmers. A hundred races and tribesmen occupied a different territory, and no one had an advantage over the others. Cultivators and magicians mingled while powerful drakes and sacred beasts formed their civilizations. As a result, war broke out everywhere, and crypto farmers found it hard to play the game in peace. Only kingdom-building lovers and combat maniacs flocked here, and life skill players were rare.

These planets were like a different server or a game mode. Xiaomao could choose to be in a fantasy world, a cultivation world, or a chaotic world with combined cultures.

"The first world is for beginners. The second one is for genetic evolution and immortality, but the last world…"

Xiaomao stopped thinking as he saw the locked key icon on the first two worlds. There was also a small note under both the fantasy world and the cultivation world.

<Catopus Race cannot join this world.>

"…"

The game only allowed humanoid races to choose their homeworld. As for monster races, they were forced to pick the third world.

Xiaomao shrugged. Had the game allowed him to choose, he would have chosen the third world anyway. After all, this world's resources and quests were abundant.

Moreover, it was related to future updates. Xiaomao needed to be in this world before that day to get the best benefits.

After picking the third world, everything vanished.

Xiaomao could faintly hear the humming sound of his capsule, which had begun scanning Xiaomao's real body.

<Analyzing your constitution, muscle mass, fat percentage, and bone density…>

<Calculating the synchronization rate…>

<Error! Unable to recognize the player's DNA!>

<Analyzing your DNA and bloodline…>

Xiaomao frowned again, "What DNA? What bloodline?!"

The game system A.I. didn't answer. The scenery froze as if the game had glitched.

This error never happened in his previous life. There was no report that the game capsule had scanned a player's DNA.

Xiaomao had a bad feeling about this. He summoned the game menu and tried to log out.

Unfortunately, the logout button was disabled!

"Uh-oh!"

He suddenly thought of several famous novels, which the MCs of the stories got stuck in a game.

Xiaomao didn't want to be in here as he wasn't a NEET, a college student, or a failure of a human in society. He had a warm family and cats at home!

Unfortunately, no matter how hard Xiaomao tried, the game didn't respond.

"How do I get out of the game?"

Xiaomao thought of a way to move his real body and manually remove the helmet and open the capsule hatch. However, he couldn't feel his real body anymore.

"Crap. Are you serious!?"

He got stuck in the loading screen.

…

Xiaomao's Bedroom

Sitting on top of the game capsule was the bicolor cat, Mu-Nyang. He gazed at his hooman, who had been sleeping inside the capsule.

He licked his paw and looked at Xiaomao's shirt, where countless black and white fur of Mu-Nyang got stuck there.

He tilted his head and faintly smiled.

"Munya!"

…

Miao Damao's Bedroom

Xiaomao's father hadn't slept yet. He sat at his working desk, working on something on his computer.

He glanced at the clock. It was 1 AM.

Miao Damao chuckled as he remembered something.

'I hope he likes the custom-made capsule.'