I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 476

[Chapter 476] Champion’s Dinner: Cat’s Cradle

“Swish, swish, swish…”

Transforming into the catgirl form allows my body to become lighter, my movements more agile, and my senses sharper, enabling me to move effortlessly across the high treetops.

The trees here are extremely tall and quite sturdy. While I don’t have cat claws or paw pads in my catgirl form, theoretically making it difficult to climb these trees, the fact that almost every large tree trunk is covered in parasitic vines makes it easy for me to climb up even with human hands.

In catgirl mode, I can inherit almost all the advantages of a cat—speed, keen observation, and exceptional balance. This balance, in particular, makes it incredibly easy for me to move in the trees.

Even on very thin branches, I can step on them directly, aim for the next foothold, and jump without hesitation. There’s virtually no risk of missing a step, this is the most precious “balance” that cats possess.

Looking back to when I was just an ordinary child in the orphanage, playing with kids my age in the botanical garden, the importance of “balance” was already very apparent. Sometimes we had to cross a narrow river.

Some kids could jump over it directly, while others often missed their footing or fell flat on their faces. Some were too scared to even attempt the jump and chose to take a detour.

The catgirl mode is like an “enhanced” version of this “balance game.” Sometimes I don’t even need to assess whether the place I’m about to land is safe to jump, how far it is, or whether I might miss. There’s no fear of heights. As soon as my peripheral vision catches sight of the spot, my brain quickly calculates based on my body’s reflexes, and my subconscious tells me—”You can jump now.”

So, I jump over effortlessly, without needing to think, relying purely on instinct.

Moreover, in catgirl mode, I can walk on the trees using both hands and feet, using my tail to maintain balance. I can run around purely on instinct.

“Luni, does it hurt?”

“Mm… I think I need to rest a little.”

After packing all the fruit I collected during the day into my bag, making it bulge, I left the small bed I had set up and jumped to a tree branch slightly closer to the group of human women. I noticed that the three people ahead in the forest seemed to have stopped walking.

“It’s no good here, it’s too dangerous. We need to at least find a place where we can take shelter, like a cave or a tree hollow.”

“Ewen, aren’t you a fire mage? Why don’t you light a fire to see the way?”

“No, we can’t. If we light a fire in a forest like this, it will definitely attract wild animals…”

While I was “eavesdropping” on their conversation from the top of the tree, a few shimmering butterflies suddenly flew over from somewhere and started fluttering around my ears.

Huh?

Almost instinctively, I was drawn to the butterflies. The ears on my head twitched, and my tail behind me started to sway from side to side.

Such beautiful glowing butterflies! Are they a species that only appears late at night?

I’m not sure if they are actually butterflies, but they are small flying creatures with large, shimmering wings.

The light on their wings is a bright blue, with a crystalline texture, as if they are some kind of elemental creature.

I tried to reach out and grab one of the butterflies.

Ah… it flew away.

Seeing the butterflies fly off, I turned my attention back to the group of people in the forest ahead.

Although the catgirl mode has many advantages, it also comes with corresponding drawbacks. For example, as just happened, when I see something shiny or moving, I instinctively turn my gaze towards it—this is also a part of my instincts.

Back when I was working at the Shanjing Cat Maid Café, I noticed that in catgirl mode, I could see fewer colors compared to human mode.

However, in this state, I became particularly interested in certain specific colors. Some colors that are visible in human or elven mode appear as gray in catgirl mode. The most significant feature of my vision in this state is a “strong dynamic capture ability.”

For instance, when playing games, especially shooting games, I might not notice an enemy who is standing still, but if the enemy is moving, I can detect them with 100% accuracy, and my tracking ability becomes exceptionally strong. It’s similar to how in the wild, my brain automatically “ignores” stationary flowers, making the area seem like a dull gray to me. However, once a flower is blown by the wind and moves, it suddenly “appears” in my perception.

At this moment, I’m standing on a tree about 30 meters above the ground. I can’t clearly see the figures of the three girls below. They are in the middle of the forest, and I can only occasionally track their movements when they disturb the nearby grass.

Hmm… Should I go down and say hello?

The Grandis race of “humans” is said to have very changeable personalities, much like humans on Earth.

The elves of Grandis are pure and harmless troubadours who can befriend anyone as long as you are friendly enough. The centaurs love running across vast grasslands and have a free-spirited nature, but they are generally friendly. The vampire race tends to be more reclusive, but as long as you don’t provoke them, they won’t bother you. The beast-eared tribes, which include the cat-eared, fox-eared, and rabbit-eared tribes, are somewhat reclusive as well, but they generally behave like children playing house, and it’s rare for them to engage in violence or cause trouble.

Humans, on the other hand, are much more unpredictable. At least in Teutis’ textbooks, there isn’t a universal strategy for interacting with humans.

For the cat-eared tribe, if you give them some catnip or a few small fish, these little cats will “meow meow meow” in gratitude. If you’re kind to them, they’ll be kind to you. The fox-eared tribe, although a bit sly, generally knows how to repay kindness. If you help them, even if they don’t like you privately, they’ll still call you “benefactor” and become “surface friends” with you.

But with humans… I’m not sure what will happen if I go down and help the girl who got bitten on the foot by a “big-mouth frog.”

The big-mouth frog is a very common animal in this jungle. It’s similar to bullfrogs on Earth, opening its mouth to take a bite at anything that moves. Its whole body is basically just a mouth and a stomach.

However, unlike Earth’s bullfrogs, the big-mouth frog here has shark-like teeth, and some even have venom. A bite from one of these frogs can cause anything from skin lacerations to broken bones and fatal poisoning.

It’s obvious that the girl named “Luni” was severely bitten by a big-mouth frog.

“I can’t go on… I might… need to rest a little.”

The group of human girls arrived at a spot less than 20 meters from the tree I’m on. The girl who spoke found a relatively clean patch of grass to sit on, her voice trembling, “I think I’ve been poisoned… I’m… feeling a bit cold…”

Should I…

Looking down at the girl whose outline I can now clearly see, I quietly jumped onto a lower branch.

—Should I go over and take a look?

“……”

……