Chapter 190: Cat Ears

"Habit." Yun Mu tugged at the corners of her mouth. She gently shook the cat ears in her hand twice and said, "You know this thing is just a toy, right?"

"Meow, just try wearing it and you'll see~"

Eve stood on her shoulder, raised her right paw, gently rubbed her own cheek, and struck a mysterious pose as she spoke.

"."

She looked at the Cat Ear Toy in her hand with some reluctance.

As for the matter of cat ears growing out of her head, Yun Mu herself was actually not very resistant to it.

It was just that the Cat Ear Toy... sorry, forgive her for always associating such things with the uses of adult toys when she saw them.

Perhaps this was the sorrow of being a doujin Painter... th-this kind of thing is just too stimulating!

"Ahem."

Feeling a bit embarrassed by the thoughts in her mind, Yun Mu gave a light cough. With a slightly flushed face, she lifted the cat ears over her head and then slowly pressed them down... "Meow~"

An indescribable sense of comfort spread downward from her spine. Yun Mu couldn't help but let out a cat-like meow, and then her whole body shuddered as a pale gray tail grew out from behind her.

This tail gently propped up the hem of her white shirt, then curved and hung down to her feet.

Because of the Rift Crocodile Coat, it was difficult to notice from the outside that she had grown a tail.

And that Cat Ear Toy, after being fixed to the top of her head.

The headband part beneath the cat ears magically disappeared, leaving only a pair of pale gray, soft, pink-tinted cat ears.

Even more magically, Yun Mu could now feel the tactile sensation of the cat ears on her head and the tail behind her; she could even control these two extra body organs.

"Eh? Eh eh eh!?"

"Do I have four ears now!?"

Yun Mu raised both her arms, gently stroking the cat ears on her head with her left hand, while her right hand pinched her original human ears.

"It suits you very well, meow~"

Eve jumped to the ground with nimble movements, her amber cat eyes sizing up her body as she spoke.

"Then, I am going to lift the shielding, meow~"

She raised a cat paw and tapped it gently on the ground.

The next second, countless meows reached Yun Mu's ears.

She saw that the lawn, where no living creatures were visible before, suddenly appeared with a large number of cats.

They were either actively climbing up and down the cat trees, jumping high to catch various pendants hanging in the air, or constantly pushing Wool Balls while running rapidly across the lawn. Besides that, Yun Mu also saw a fat orange cat lying lazily on the grass, basking in the sun and rolling around, as well as a black leopard cat climbing on a giant scratching post and using it to constantly sharpen its claws.

The former, upon noticing her gaze, just lazily rolled over, while the latter... "Meow!"

After issuing a warning-like Roar at Yun Mu, it jumped to the cat tree on the other side, crawled into the pet wooden house inside, and never came out again.

"Ah, this... what happened to being recognized as one of the cats after wearing the cat ears?" Yun Mu looked at Eve and asked in a low voice.

"That child only arrived here a month ago and is still a bit shy, meow." Hearing Yun Mu's question, Eve jumped back onto her shoulder and whispered.

"Only here a month?" After hearing what the other said, Yun Mu immediately thought of something and asked curiously: "May I ask, where do the cats here come from?"

"Where else could they come from, meow?" Eve looked at her a bit strangely and said: "Of course, they are ones I picked up from all over the world, meow."

She paused, then continued: "Nature is very cruel, meow. For those children who have died, I will guide their souls here."

"No matter how they lived before, at least after death, I hope all the children can live happily and carefree, meow."

"Is there enough space here?" Yun Mu asked.

"No problem for now, meow~"

Just for now, huh... Hearing Eve's answer, Yun Mu thought to herself.

"Where are we going next?"

The cat ears on her head twitched twice, and she looked at Eve standing on her shoulder and asked.

"You can just walk around as you please; the entrance to the next area will appear automatically."

"As long as you can bring those three naughty children back in the end, the Dungeon will be considered successfully cleared, meow~"

"Is that all it takes?"

Yun Mu walked casually across the neatly trimmed lawn. Whenever she approached, the cats around her would stop their playing and watch her with curious gazes.

They seemed unable to recognize Eve's identity, treating her as just an ordinary cat like them.

And Yun Mu was a two-legged human who had cat ears and a cat tail, and inexplicably exuded the scent of their kind.

"Meow~"

Finally, a cat covered in pale brown fur, driven by curiosity and the fact that Eve was standing on Yun Mu's shoulder, boldly walked toward her.

"Hehe."

Seeing this, Yun Mu chuckled and squatted down, skillfully stroking the other's head, and used the fingers of her other hand to gently Scratch the cat's chin.

The pale brown cat let out a comfortable purr, and after a while, it let down its guard, inviting this big 'cat' in front of it to play together.

"It seems she likes you very much, meow~" Eve said after informing Yun Mu of the message that the other was inviting her to play.

"Is that so?" Yun Mu scratched her cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed.

【You have successfully made a cat in the 【Cat Paradise】 lower its guard. The other party invites you to play together. You choose】 【1. Play with her for a while. (Reputation +5)】 【2. Time is precious, better refuse. (Nothing happens)】 【3. Pick her up and take her with you, so you can play while walking! (Reputation +2)】 The Game Panel popped up with option prompts after a long time, which made Yun Mu swallow the words she had intended to use to refuse.

Surely she had to choose option 1; after all, looking at the rewards of these three options, only option 1 yielded the highest gain.

But sometimes, one shouldn't just look at the gains; there might be some hidden information in this... Forget it, just choose option 1.

Yun Mu thought, feeling a bit too lazy to think.

【You found a Cat Teaser nearby, along with some Wool Balls, and started playing with your new Partner. The nearby cats were attracted by the sight of you playing and couldn't help but approach you.】 【When you came back to your senses, you realized that at some point, you were already surrounded by these cute little guys.】 【Your Reputation +5.】 【Looking at these cats, you decide】 【1. Playing with one is playing, playing with a group is also playing, no holding back today! (Reputation +50!)】 【2. Since I'm already here, don't even think about running! (Pet all the cats, Reputation +80, Cat favorability -5.)】 【3. Too many cats, better run away quickly. (Nothing happens.)】 【4. Why not try Painting a picture? 【Special Option (Painter)】】 Here it comes, the special option!

Looking at the game options in her mind, Yun Mu was instantly invigorated.

If there hadn't been a fourth special option, she definitely would have continued to choose option one to increase her reputation. But since there was a special option for the 【Painter】 profession, she had no reason to ignore it! 【You took out your portable painting tools and drew the scene of yourself being surrounded by cats. The cats watched your movements curiously until your painting was completed】 【Your Reputation +35, your Path of Oil Painting points +4.】 The Ether World let out a deafening roar, and Yun Mu looked at the work she had just finished in front of her with a look of surprise.

She hadn't expected that the fifth Supernatural Painting she could bind would be born just like this during the process of the game Dungeon.

On the canvas that had just been completed, a Young Girl with Cat Ears on her head was sitting on the clean and tidy lawn in a duck-sit posture.

Surrounding her, black cats, white cats, orange cats, blue-furred cats, leopard cats, munchkin cats, and so on—every kind of cat was there, all lying together in a complete set.

Looking at such a painting, Yun Mu could not think of a good name for it for a moment.

"Let's just call it, Cat." After pondering for a moment, she said.

Cat, in the pronunciation of the Frost Kingdom language, transliterated into Chinese, means Yun Mu.

It was a pun.

She believed this was the most high-level painting name she had ever come up with! Boom! A massive amount of Spirituality poured into Yun Mu's mind, fully restoring the Spirituality she had just consumed while painting.

Subsequently, her consciousness sank into the world within the painting.

Because the content within the painting was almost identical to the environment she was currently in, she found it somewhat difficult for a moment to distinguish whether she was currently in the world of the painting.

Fortunately, after a short while, as the prompt sound of the Game Panel rang out, her consciousness successfully withdrew from the Painted World.

【You have created a Supernatural Painting, Path of Oil Painting points +3.】【You have gained some experience points!】【Congratulations on leveling up! Your current level is: lv19. Your Attack +2, Spell Strength +2, Toughness +1.】【Painting: Cat (Blue)】

【Charm +5 / Speed +1 / Dodge +3】

【Oil Painting / Cat / Young Girl / Desire】

【Skill: Supplement Cat Energy】

【Support / Single Target】

【Range 4】

【Designate one 【Target】, increasing their Critical Hit Rate by 5% and Critical Hit Damage by 15%】

【Stress -15 points】

【Passive Skill: Happy Troubles】

【Effect of Support skills increased by +50%.】

【A work completed by 【Civilization Spreader · Painter · Yun Mu】 in the Cat Paradise created by the Mother of All Cats Eve; the white cat standing on her left shoulder is the incarnation of the Mother of All Cats Eve herself.】

"It can add critical hits and critical damage, and even reduce stress?"

Looking at the skill effects of the painting 【Cat】, Yun Mu's eyes lit up immediately.

It must be said that in any game, as long as there is a setting for the two attributes of critical hit rate and critical hit damage.

Then critical hit rate and critical hit damage will definitely be very important attribute values.

And as long as the base values or skills are not too lackluster, equipment that can increase double-crit attributes is always very rare and precious.

What is even more commendable is that the painting 【Cat】 can actually reduce a character's stress attribute! Even if the active skill of the equipment can only be released once per battle, it can still be considered very powerful.

After all, up to now, this was the only means she had to reduce stress.

There was really nothing to complain about.

What's more, this stress-reduction effect was itself just a minor bonus attached to the skill.

The real big deal was the +5% critical hit rate and +15% critical hit damage.

That wasn't all; another big surprise the painting 【Cat】 brought to Yun Mu was the effect of the passive skill, 【Happy Troubles】.

My goodness, what is the concept of a 50% increase in the effect of a support skill? This means that a character carrying the painting 【Cat】 could make a teammate's critical hit rate +8%, critical hit damage +23%, and reduce 23 points of stress! And this is just in the case where the person carrying the equipment only has this one type of support skill.

If there were more support-type skills, then the effect of this passive could be said to be off the charts! In short, two words: awesome! Three words: very awesome! She was very satisfied! "The road to the next area has appeared, meow~"

Just as Yun Mu finished checking the attribute panel of the painting 【Cat】, Eve, who was standing on her shoulder, suddenly spoke up at this moment.

"Hm?"

Yun Mu turned her head to look in the direction Eve was pointing, and a familiar line of text appeared before her eyes.

【Region Event】

"Are there no options for branching paths?" she asked, looking at the text before her with some confusion.

"Must pass the main storyline first, meow~"

". Fine."

Yun Mu was silent for a moment, then stood up and left the encirclement of the many cats, walking toward the direction of the 【Region Event】.

"If I can come back next time..." She looked at the cats, who seemed somewhat reluctant to let her go, gave a light laugh, and regardless of whether they could understand, said: "I will come back to play with you all again."

After she finished speaking, she and the white cat on her shoulder disappeared at the entrance leading to the next area.

As for Yun Mu, she only felt a blur before her eyes, and she found herself in a tropical jungle.

Tall trees blocked out the sun, and the wide canopy formed a dense roof in the air, filtering the sunlight into mottled shadows cast below.

Various birds were jumping happily among the treetops, dragonflies flew low past her eyes, and butterflies danced gracefully among the flowers.

A scent of water vapor and mud rushed toward her, and the air was filled with the chirping of insects.

"We are currently in the hinterland of the New Continent, near the planet's equator. The first troublemaker is hiding in this tropical jungle. You need to defeat him and bring him back, meow."

Eve jumped down from her body and turned to explain to her.

"The air here is damp and stuffy, and everywhere there are tall plants not seen in the Old Continent, as well as ferocious Monsters that bite anyone they see."

"After you are ready for battle, continue forward, meow~"

"By the way, also," Eve suddenly thought of something and said: "You only need to bring back one troublemaker this time to end the Dungeon, no need to worry about the Dungeon being too long, meow~"

PS: How did I end up writing Eve as a guide-like character while writing this, emmmm.

I clearly envisioned her as the type full of maternal radiance! Ahem, it must be because I didn't use a human incarnation; I'll talk about that later.

Meow~ (End of chapter)