Chapter 74 – Cat Dad’s New Class

Xiaomao dropped his jaws. He didn’t expect to get Contribution EXP by submitting Tlaloc’s statue. But since turning a statue here gave so much EXP, it would have been a waste not to abuse it.

“I’ll find more for sure, munya!”

“Hehe, please do. We need to get rid of Tlaloc’s influence before he messes up our goddess’ plans.”

“What’s her plan, by the way, munya?”

“I don’t know.”

“…”

Xiaomao sighed. He excused himself.

“Anyway, I’m busy at the moment. Catch you later, munya.”

“My offer still stands, you know. Tell me if you want to be my pet. I also don’t mind if you want me as your-“

“Goodbye.”

Xiaomao leaped away in a panic before Nymph could finish her sentence.

.

As Xiaomao was afraid of being abducted by a mental nymph, he rode the flying sword back to the bridge and led Lucky to the boss room. After entering the boss room, he walked toward the dumpster, where Warg Lord’s men always discarded rotten meat and bones here.

Xiaomao learned from his predecessor. He dumped Otto’s corpse and Otto’s blood into the hole, feeding the giant anglerfish. As for the bloodstain furniture, Xiaomao broke them into small parts and dumped them in there as well.

DING

<You have completed the Unique Quest: Done Deed.>_.

<For two weeks, nobody will suspect or investigate you. However, after two weeks, the Yuan Empire’s agents will search for Otto’s whereabouts.>

<A new quest has been updated.>

.

<strong>Unique Quest: Choice Matters</strong>

Because Otto is missing, detectives and mages from the empire will eventually investigate this matter, and they might suspect you. From here on out, you must choose your adventure.

You can either create alibis to avoid suspicion. You may rebel against the Yuan Empire. You can even become an outlaw and announce your deeds. There are many paths you can take, and the choice is yours.

<strong>Quest Objective:</strong> Choose how you will deal with the upcoming investigation. There is no scope or hint on how you should proceed, but there will be consequences for every action.

<strong>Time Limit:</strong> 14 days

<strong>Quest Reward:</strong> Unknown

<strong>Failure Condition:</strong> None

<strong>*[?????? Instinct]: Shift the blame to Tlaloc, Pangu, or their apostles is recommended.  </strong>

.

This quest was odd. It gave a lot of freedom to Xiaomao, but it had a subtle objective – Dealing with the aftermath of the murder. Now, Xiaomao had to prepare for the investigations and complications in the future, which might affect his future gaming life.

Right now, the adventurer guild was a mercenary organization under Yuan Empire’s jurisdiction. All guild branch managers were obliged to send reports to the emperor every month. And if one of the managers failed to deliver the monthly report, the emperor might send imperial agents to investigate or reprimand the lazy guild manager. Thus, Otto going missing might alarm the imperial officers.

Before the regression, Xiaomao had heard about the infamous Yuan Shao of the third world. He was a well-known arrogant tyrant, who eventually joined forces with the Pangu Church. And when he was mad, he could deliver crazy edicts, such as permanently imprisoning players that he didn’t like or forcing female players to be his concubines.

In short, to survive in this kingdom, Xiaomao could not provoke the tyrant emperor. The first step was to seek an audience with him and explain about the warship. And then, he could plan his next steps.

Xiaomao stopped calculating. He went to the treasure room, swiped the keycard, and entered. Lucky followed her boss with the treasure chest on her shoulder.

In the room, Xiaomao ejected all valuable items from his inventory into the room right away. Lucky also put the jewelry chest in a corner of the room. After placing valuable items and clearing some space for his inventory, Xiaomao took his time to sort the warehouse.

An hour later, Xiaomao cleared most of his inventory slots and tidied his treasure room. He came out to the port, where Shepherd had been waiting. Lucky and Xiaomao boarded the ship.

“We’ll sail around the continent. Our next destination is southwest! We’re heading directly to Siren City, munya!”

Seaside Town was located on the north of the continent. But if Xiaomao and the gang traveled along the coastline toward the southwest, they would eventually find Siren City, the capital city of the Yuan Empire!

Xiaomao didn’t want to use this method since they would get stuck on the boat for days. However, he wanted to avoid people and other players.

Shepherd looked confused at first. But after staring at Magdalene for a while, he brightly smiled as if he understood Xiaomao’s intention. He piloted the ship toward the west right away.

Several minutes later, Shepherd surprised Xiaomao. He stopped the boat at Cernun Island.

“Why are you bringing me here, munya?”

Shepherd opened his palms and waved to the beach, inviting Xiaomao to visit the island first.

Xiaomao furrowed his brows and stared at his dubious retainer. He deeply exhaled and put his trust in the weirdo.

“Alright. Let’s take a break here.”

Shepherd grinned and hopped off the boat. He pointed toward the forest, where Cernun had always been resting.

“You want me to go there, munya?”

Shepherd repeatedly nodded.

“Fine, munya.”

Although Xiaomao was a stranger to Cernun, he believed that Shepherd couldn’t possibly betray him. He followed the retainer into the forest anyway.

After entering the forest for 500 meters, Xiaomao found a plain of yellowish and purple flowers. However, at the center of the flower field was a humongous crocodile with a thousand fairies around him.

Xiaomao gazed at Cernun in awe and astonishment. He only saw this godly being from clips and videos of other players before the regression. However, looking at the real thing while smelling fragrant of the flowers gave him a different experience.

The 200-meter-long crocodile opened his eyes and gazed at Shepherd first. Then, he looked at Xiaomao.

“You must be this lad’s master, am I right?” Asked Cernun.

Xiaomao nodded, “Yes, I’m his master, munya.”

“Then, do you know that retainers are not soulless dolls?”

“I’m aware, munya.”

“I also heard that you have been working with the mermaids. Is that true?”

“Yes, munya.”

“Good. Also…”

Cernun paused and gave Xiaomao a meaningful look.

Suddenly, Xiaomao had goosebumps. All his fur stood up. Although his physique looked like a fur ball, he became a bigger fluffy-looking fur ball because of his straight furs and fat tail.

“You have negative karma. You murdered someone recently,” Muttered Cernun.

“Y-Yes, munya.”

“Don’t be afraid. You might have killed someone, but that person deserves it. You have done nothing wrong.”

“Thanks, munya…”

“Come here. Let me clear that karma for you. At least, your luck and Heavenly Fate Fragment will be cleansed.”

“Huh?”

Xiaomao knew about the hidden LUCK status, but he had never heard about Heavenly Fate Fragment. Even in his previous life, no one mentioned this before.

“What is Heavenly Fate Fragment, munya?”

“Something that every otherworlder has, but yours are the brightest.”

“O-Oh?” Xiaomao still didn’t understand, but he guessed that it might be something that all players came with when they created their characters.

“Enter my mouth. I’ll cleanse you.”

“…”

Cernun opened his mouth, revealing the sharp long fangs of a predator. The fairies giggled as they orbited around Cernun and Xiaomao, mocking and teasing the cat.

Xiaomao sweated profusely. He looked at Shepherd, but the latter simply gave him a thumbs up.

His face darkened. He gave up his fate and followed Cernun’s instruction by entering Cernun’s mouth and standing on the crocodile’s tongue.

CHOMP!

Cernun closed his mouth, but he didn’t bit Xiaomao. The cat looked around and sweated bullets, praying for Exodia once more.

While Xiaomao was praying, parasite-like tree roots pierced into Xiaomao’s skin and tentacles. He yelped, but no sound came out.

As soon as the tree roots dug into Xiaomao’s flesh, his 2,000ish HP dropped to 1. However, a game notification appeared.

DING

<You have awakened a new status attribute – LUCK!>

<Your LUCK has permanently increased by 100!>

<All your spiritual roots have permanently increased by 50!>

<Your Max HP and MP have permanently increased by 1,000!>

<You have unlocked a new class – Regressor!>

<You have learned a new class skill – Foresight!>

Xiaomao gasped and dropped his jaws. He knew that siding with Cernun had its perk, but he didn’t know that it would be this broken.

Free stats!

Nothing was better than gaining free permanent status points. Xiaomao was exhilarated that he trusted Shepherd, and he felt like he wanted to give this adorable retainer a kiss.

However, the last message alarmed Xiaomao.

‘A regressor class? What?’

This class never appeared in the game before the regression. However, Xiaomao remembered a protagonist-like class, which belonged to the strongest superhuman in the world in his previous life.

His real name was Narukami Hiiro, and his character’s class was Reincarnator. It sounded weird, but his talent and skills were superior to other top players with UR character’s classes. A rumor said that his character was a legendary tier or the myth tier, which should have been inaccessible for regular players.

And now, something similar to the legendary Reincarnator class appeared.

While Xiaomao was in shock, Cernun withdrew the tree roots and spat the cat out of his mouth. After being spat, Xiaomao tumbled and rolled on the ground like a bowling ball. Shepherd caught the ball cat and cleaned the wet fur with a wet towel.

Cernun solemnly stared at Xiaomao for several minutes as if he was in deep thought. He closed his eyes and raised his chin as if he was reminiscing something in the past. When he finished collecting his thoughts, Cernun gazed at Xiaomao again and warned him.

“Be careful of Pangu and the reincarnator. They will be your… our enemies in the future.”