If a normal human had been jumped like this, they would probably panic and react instinctively, defending their facial area from whatever was attacking.
However, Dante who had almost 4 times the agility and dexterity of the average human, was not even phased. He simply reached out a hand to grad before him and captured the shadow that was leaping at him, revealing a… cat!
It was a relatively small cat with a very human-like expression on its face, showing fear and shock. Its body and fur were quite thin and sparse, probably due to malnutrition, Dante could even see parts of its ribs through its torso.
It had reddish-white fur and bright blue eyes that were as expressive as that of a human. Dante looked the cat up and down then marveled slightly. A cat like this was rare even in the Eternal Universe and could fetch a high price.
But in a wasteland like this where life and death were not guaranteed, it was only a pest and a burden. Dante looked beyond the cat to the room and saw that the desk area had a small next where the cat likely made its home.
He then glanced at the cat and walked over to the desk before putting it down. Despite its fear, it showed visible surprise at being spared and then sat down cleverly.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm "This is probably your territory and home, so you attacked me because you thought someone was intruding?" Dante asked the cat.
It seemed to understand his speech and nodded. Dante had assumed it could understand him because there was a forum post about mutated pets in the wasteland world.
Some animals would end up like the mutated dogs from before while others would end up like this cat. One became a monster archetype and one became a pet archetype.
"No problem, I'm your tenant from now on. I have been assigned this residence, so I will be staying here infrequently from now on for the next 30 days."
"You're free to do as you did before I came, I won't disturb you and you won't disturb me. Is that agreeable?" Dante proposed with a smile.
The cat hesitated and nodded. It was aware that it was only safe because it was living in human space, and after seeing that it was not dangerous, the guards and residents did not mind it.
In theory, Dante was the true owner of the territory now and it should leave, but it had gotten used to life here, and moving had its own dangers. It was far from the only mutated pet in this encampment.
Since Dante offered it a chance to stay, it should be grateful but…
Dante noticed its hesitation and sighed inwardly. It turns out that the post's details and explanations about the pet system were true. Most of the students who descended would receive a pet like this through various organic means.
It was to help with mental health despite being in such a world. Most people didn't mind and kept them around, because while they were not useful for combat, they were certainly lovable mascots that could relieve stress.
So the cat was hesitating because it wanted to be taken care of. Hunting in this encampment was hard and the competition with other stray cats was fierce. If it could rely on this human, its days of suffering would be over.
Dante could guess what the cat was thinking from its expression alone. It seemed like a natural thought process, but he knew the Overseeing Quantum Artificial Intelligence that managed this world was simply influencing its thoughts subtly to fit its programming.
Dante patted the cat on the head. "Just be good and I will try to see if I can manage to take care of the two of us."
The cat's eyes lit up and nodded happily. It meowed cutely, and Dante couldest help but smile. He wasn't particularly a pet guy, and neither was his family since they had no pet at home, but he was not an animal hater either.
As long as the cat remained cute and obedient, he did not have a problem. Dante then inspected the residence and saw that it had one bathroom, one kitchen, one living room area, and one bedroom.
All the areas were relatively clean if not for a small layer of dust on them that showed how long it had been since this place was formally occupied.
Dante spent some time cleaning the room properly using the materials supplied and then left the cat in the house. His body in the game was stronger than average thanks to absorption, but it was still subject to basic needs.
In other words, he was hungry.
The encampment was not necessarily a fully militarized outpost but more like a heavily guarded town. It had all the facilities necessary, a market, a place for entertainment and gathering, as well as a law enforcement area.
Dante already did his research and knew about the current used in this world. Since society had collapsed, the paper currency backed by nothing was naturally worth was it actually was, nothing.
Rather, there was a mixture of two different currencies, one that was high-tier and one that was average. The average currency was gold chips, square-like coins that were very thin and had some simple markings on them.
They were usually minted by the administrative forces of each city and distributed. It was a worldwide currency that could be used anywhere.
Each player was provided 10 gold chips on descent and there were many ways to earn more with superpowers at their beck and call as long as they could survive the initial descent and reach the town or city.
The second and much more precious currency was the Mutation Cores. This was a beast core-like substance that existed in the body of all Rank F and above mutated monsters.
The Mutation Cores were much more valuable and were ranked by their quality. F Rank was worth 100 gold chips and every rank after that was multiplied by 10 in terms of value.
Any and every mutated beast would drop such things, so Dante had 5 from the Mutated Two-headed Dogs. To natives, these cores were very useful in that they were the source of the anti-mutation and anti-radiation drug in Dante's backpack.
The 'big pharma' in this world that had risen from the ashes desperately desired this resource which was why it was worth so much. However, for players, if they sold their mutation cores, they would be seen as idiots.
Because, as you could imagine, the only way to advance one's superpower was to use the Mutation Core! 10 F Rank Mutation Cores allowed an F Rank superpower to advance to E Rank, 10 E Rank Mutation Cores allowed a superpower to advance to D Rank, and so on.
So the mutation core was a hotcake for natives, as it was necessary to ensure their survival in this irradiated world, and players needed it because it directly increase their martial might and survivability, allowing them to harvest more Supercoin at the end.
Dante only had five so he couldn't advance Absorption. He couldn't advance Quantum Entanglement even if he wanted to because its power was capped at what he actually had. Only the system-given superpower was bound by these rules.
Dante found an eatery that was quite populated and went in, he ordered a rice dish that was basically like Chinese fried rice, which comforted him. It seemed like no matter the world, fried rice as a fast food dish would always persist.
After finishing his meal, he bought some pet food from the marketplace and went back to his residence. In this time, he had noticed many students who were bustling about, looking motivated and determined.
After all, they had 30 days and a goal to make Supercoin to enhance themselves in reality, so they were full of sprightly steps. It was the natives who rather moved slowly and uncertainly, their expressions heavy as if they did not know what tomorrow would bring.
The contrast was so great that it provided an easy identification for both parties and also seemed like something that could lead to a deep philosophical discussion.
However, Dante was not in the mood for anything like that. When he returned to his room, he opened the pet food and placed it before the enthusiastic cat who was inches from jumping about in excitement.
When it saw Dante glance at it with amusement, it immediately coughed with embarrassment and began licking its paw, trying to act nonchalant and dignified.
Dante rolled his eyes and placed the food in a bowl for the cat before going to lie down on his bed. He immediately began to have a nap in order to relax after that chase from that E Rank Withering Irradiated Zombie.
His physique was definitely superior, but he did not have any plans to go out yet, so resting was for the best. When he woke up, he would take his next steps.
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