CATBP~01

Chapter 01

Life really isn’t fair.

I was panting for breath, cornered in a dead-end alley, feeling the weight of that truth.

Some people get to transmigrate in comfort!

The classic web-novel openings flashed through my mind—“I woke up to find an unfamiliar ceiling,” and so on—where the protagonist calmly figures things out.

But me? I didn’t get the luxury of “woke up to a strange ceiling.”

The instant I transmigrated, I was being chased by a bunch of thugs and staring death in the face.

‘…Where am I?’

I’d definitely fallen asleep after binge-reading a web novel in bed. Yet when I came to, I was lying on an icy stone street.

Still groggy, I blinked to get my bearings, only for a sharp pain in my head to make me wince.

‘Why does my head hurt…?’

When I touched the throbbing spot, my hand came away wet.

‘Huh? What the—’

First shock: my palm was slick with bright-red blood.

Second shock: tangled in the blood were strands of gleaming golden hair.

I tugged at the long locks that fell to at least my waist and felt a distinct pluck.

‘…I cut my hair to a blunt bob and dyed it black just last week.’

Fully awake now, I noticed everything else—the snow-white skin so unlike my own sun-tanned complexion, the strange buildings lining the narrow street.

‘Is this a dream?’

That seemed most plausible… except the pain was real, the chill from the ground was crawling up my body, and the metallic tang of blood in the air was unmistakable.

I could even understand a language I’d never heard before.

‘No way.’

Transmigration was supposed to stay inside novels.

“Kidnap… troublesome…”

“Dead… cover it up…”

While I struggled to comprehend the situation, those unfamiliar words reached me in fragments and jolted me to my senses.

This was not the time to lie there.

I didn’t know who those people were, only that letting them realize I was alive—or pretending to be dead—would both end badly. Even a three-year-old could figure that out.

So I ran.

I ran like mad.

But luck was not on my side. Of course I ended up at a dead end.

‘Mom… what do I do?’

Running on an injured body made my head pound and my shoulders feel as heavy as boulders.

Step… step…

The thugs I hadn’t fully shaken off were closing in.

I tried to retreat a step, two steps, but my back met only a cold wall. The chill of the stone crawled up my spine and squeezed me tight.

‘I have to escape… somehow.’

My vision blurred. Despite the dread, a bitter little laugh escaped me.

Was anyone else out there who’d transmigrated only to die without even learning where they’d landed?

Somebody please tell me this is a lie.

‘If I ever transmigrate again, let me wake up to a strange ceiling in a novel where my favorite character lives, safe and sound.’

With that absurd thought, I stopped fighting my heavy eyelids.

‘Mom, I’m coming to you soon.’

Surrounded by those men, I drifted into darkness.

“Grrr—”

The last thing I saw was the silhouette of a pitch-black cat, its eyes glowing gold.

‘A strange ceiling.’

…I never thought I’d actually think that line.

I blinked slowly at a deep-blue ceiling.

‘Good. I’m not dead.’

Transmigration never felt real, so I half-expected to wake in my familiar room if I died. But the alien ceiling and the pounding headache told me otherwise.

Not a dream.

“Ah! You’re awake?”

A young voice startled me. Only then did I notice someone nearby.

I forced my head to turn and saw a small boy.

Curly black hair, pale skin, and golden eyes widened when our gazes met.

Adorable, I thought involuntarily.

But there was something unusual.

“Your ears…?”

“Eep!”

Animal ears.

Shaped like a cat’s but rounder at the tips, not sharp.

“A-ah, I’m still not good at controlling it!”

Blushing, the boy clapped both hands over his ears.

A moment later—pop!—the animal ears vanished, replaced by ordinary human ones.

“Aw, but they were cute.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Pop! The ears appeared again.

“…Cute?”

“The cutest.”

I gave him a thumbs-up to match his expectant gaze.

Only then did I take in the room: a space as spacious as a five-star hotel suite, furnished in lavish style.

‘Is this kid… a noble? Should I really be talking to him so casually?’

I hesitated, then tested the waters.

“Is it okay if I talk informally… sir?”

“It’s fine! I give you permission!”

Relieved, I exhaled silently.

“Anyway, where am I? And why am I here?”

“This is our family’s villa! I found you and brought you back!”

“Found me and brought me…? Oh—before I passed out…”

I remembered, hazily, the creature I’d seen: an animal with ears just like his.

“That big black cat… was that you? Sorry if I’m wrong.”

“I’m not a cat—I’m a divine beast!”

“Got it.”

(My favorite character is a divine beast, too.)

“Thanks for saving me. I thought I was done for.”

The boy’s cheeks flushed pink.

Twisting silky hair between his fingers, he mumbled, “I just followed a strange sound and found you. It wasn’t hard. No need to thank me that much.”

“How can it not be a big deal? You saved my life.”

My serious tone made his eyes go round. I meant every word.

“Really—thank you.”

“…Hehe.”

He chuckled, a clear, bright sound.

He likes compliments, I noted.

If my beloved fictional character had ever been a child—or had a child—he might look exactly like this.

Seeing the boy so happy made my own lips curl into a smile.

If my favorite character smiled like that…

The thought alone made my heart thump like a machine gun. I pressed a hand to my chest, mortified.

His hair and eyes were the same colors as my beloved character’s, which only fueled the fantasy.

He must have misread my gesture, because he gasped.

“Are you hurt? You haven’t fully healed, have you?”

I opened my mouth to reassure him quickly.

“No, it’s not that—”

“You must rest here until you’re better! Okay? What did you just say?”

“Uh… I mean, my whole body aches.”

“What! Really?”

“Yeah. I might die at this rate.”

“You mustn’t die! Lie down, right now! Sleep!”

I obediently flopped back onto the bed.

My conscience wept at the white lie, but I had no choice.

I have nowhere else to go.

I didn’t know what world this was or even whose body I inhabited. Venturing outside might be a death sentence.

Better that than becoming a transmigrant who dies within two days.

I bit my lip.

Suddenly I’m someone with no home or ties.

And with no memories of this body’s past, the situation was even more hopeless.

But where exactly is this place…?

All the Korean fantasy romances I’d devoured flickered through my mind—especially the ones with divine beasts.

“Hey, what’s your name?” I asked.

If, by some miracle, this was the world of my favorite novel, my years of fandom might actually help.

And I could meet my beloved character in person.

But something told me it wasn’t that story.

In the R-rated romance Secret Nights, my favorite was the villain, a descendant of a divine beast who could transform into one—a black panther, according to the author’s social-media tidbits.

My favorite is a grown adult and as delightfully rude as any villain should be.

No way he’d be this marshmallow of a kid.

“I’m Fei!” the boy chirped.

“Fei… Igaluc?”

“Yup!”

“You mean Fei Igaluc, the only duke of the Kailuma Empire, the living incarnation of the Moon’s divine beast?”

“My uncle’s the duke, but Fei—that’s me!”

My jaw dropped.

…So it is my favorite?