It takes me about five minutes for me to recover from losing my bonus to a gacha.

…No, you know what? I’m not sure it’s actually a loss. It could be useful in some way. I’m not a sore loser. I’m not angry at all, it’s more like, “You can’t put abilities that cats can’t use in the gacha…!”

Hmm…

I take a deep  breath and calm down.

Anyway, let’s keep scavenging off of this corpse…I’ve said it before, but when I say “scavenging off of this corpse”, it makes me feel really down…

First, I check the log. 

I wonder if I got a bonus to my physical abilities after getting the skill.

Oh, maybe because it’s not an item? Do I only get a bonus for collecting items? If that’s the case, collecting skills is a bit of a low priority right now…I don’t even know how to collect something that doesn’t have a shape to begin with.

Now, let’s get back to the search.

While feeling sorry for the corpse man, I touch the wooden shield on his left arm.

“[Wood Shield Lv.2]

Category: Armor

Size: Medium

Rarity: F

Quantity: 1/10”

“Bonus to physical abilities has been added due to the collection of new items (Effect: minor)”

The leather armor was almost the same but had extra levels on it, right? I wonder if the level of the armor is simply a matter of good workmanship or just good performance?

Well, it doesn’t really matter since it is useless to a cat anyway.

Now, what else is here…

I notice a large leather bag lying in the shade of a tree nearby.

I wonder if this is also his? Well, I don’t think he came into the forest unprepared, so it probably is.

I manage to loosen the mouth of the leather bag and check inside.

The first thing that came out was, 

“[Iron Knife Lv.2]

Category: Weapon

Size: Small

Rarity: F

Quantity: 1/10”

“Bonus to physical abilities has been added due to the collection of new items (Effect: minor)”

Whoa, I got my first item in the weapon category!

I can’t really use it properly, but it’s good to have at least one weapon on hand. Even if it’s only for peace of mind…

Hmm? Is the log still flowing? No way, another bonus?

“Condition ‘Collect items in three different categories’ has been met, you can now view more detailed information about the items in the collection box.”

Oh? Isn’t this a good thing?

For starters, I’ll open up the wood information.

“[Wood Lv.1]

Category: Materials

Size: Small

Rarity: F

Quantity: 2/30

Condition: Damp

Processing: None

Wooden Material. Can be used to create or synthesize items.

Can also be used as fuel to start a fire, but can no longer be used as wood afterwards.

Lv. rating increases or decreases depending on shape, size and whether or not it has been processed.”

Hmmm…

I can check the “status” and the “processing” of the wood? There’s even a brief description of it.

I guess that’s how the levels are evaluated.

I’ll have to read the descriptions of all the items before I go to bed tonight, just in case I can discover new information.

…But isn’t it going to be annoying if detailed information is given each time an item is put in…? Normally, a simple display is fine.

Alright, I need to continue working.

I put my head in the bag to explore it more.

…It doesn’t really matter much, but the inside of this leather bag is unusually ugly…

Oh? Is this it?

“[Dried Meat Lv.1]

Category: Material

Size: Medium

Rarity: F

Quantity: 1/30”

“Bonus to physical abilities has been added due to the collection of new items (Effect: minor)”

MEAT!?

Food is better than weapons, armor and even skills! Moreso, it’s meat! That’s double the pleasure for a carnivorous cat!

The corpse reeked of decay, but thanks to the dried meat being in the leather bag, it was spared from being left out in the rain.

In addition, the fact that it isn’t classified as “Leftovers” means that no one has eaten any of it.

Thank goodness, I am looking forward to dinner tonight.

Now, there is the leather bag with water in it as a water bottle…but the water inside is old. I’ll just dump it out and take the leather bags.

“[Leather Bag Lv.1]

Category: Material

Size: Small

Rarity: F

Quantity: 2/30”

“Bonus to physical abilities has been added due to the collection of new items (Effect: minor)”

This is all I can collect.

As a way of honoring the dead, I’ll take good care of all the tools that I’ve received (stolen).

Finally, I bow my head one last time and say a silent prayer.

As I start walking, I notice that it is getting so dark that I can no longer see

It’s already dark…It’s too risky to move around anymore. The stench of the decomposing corpse will keep animals away, so I should probably sleep around here for now.

＊　　＊　　＊

After dawn…

Waking up to the smell of decay in the morning isn’t great, right? Yeah, I almost cried a little.

Well, thanks to the smell, nothing came close to me at all last night. No, maybe I just didn’t notice them coming, but at least I slept soundly.

I’ve got a lot of energy today thanks to a good night’s sleep.

Also, the dried meat I had for dinner last night and breakfast this morning was super delicious!

I’m a carnivore, so I have to eat meat, right? Isn’t it a little too extravagant to have it with dessert, though?

The dried meat isn’t really that big, but with the stomach capacity of a kitten, if I eat it a little at a time, it’ll last me a week.

…The only thing I don’t really like is that the food that I’ve eaten from is stored as “Leftovers”…

I’m going to walk briskly today…

After bowing to the corpse, I return to the stream and begin walking downstream again.

It’s been three days since I became a cat, so hopefully there will be some changes soon…

Like finding a human village, a street or even just meeting a living person.

Also, maybe I can get items with a higher rarity? I don’t want it to be extravagant like A rank, just some items higher than F…The name “Collector” is crying because I only have the lowest rank items.

I’m getting used to walking along the river.

In my spare time, I pick up stones of reasonable size and throw them in the collection box.

After about two hours, I’ve already reached my limit of thirty stones.

On the first day, I was exhausted after two hours of walking, but thanks to the physical ability bonuses I’ve received, I’m feeling pretty good now. These bonuses are a great thing. Let’s keep collecting items.

Things are going well

I was able to secure food and water, the abilities I was given are functioning properly and I’m getting used to the body of a cat.

I was anxious about not knowing where I was going, but at this point, I’m optimistic about my future.

If I were a human, I might be humming a tune or two. I’m in such a good mood.

But—

They say that misfortune strikes you when things are going well…

“Miii!!!?”

Hee—!?

I can’t help but scream.

It’s because—because he’s right there.

A person you definitely never want to meet.

The thing you must avoid at all costs.

A neck stretches out from behind a tree. Covered in black hair at the end of it is a large frog mouth.

—Demon!

Only the outstretched neck shows itself from behind the tree, staring at me.

It stares at me like a snake.

My body stiffens with fear.

A large dog-like body slowly emerges from behind a tree after the extended neck.

He doesn’t close the distance to attack me immediately because he knows.

I’m too scared to move.

Even if I manage to run away, he can easily catch me.

Oh no! This is really bad! I think I’m going to die…!