Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Feeling Like a Cat

At long last, Zhao Youyue morphed into a cat in the novel world. She was a black Xuan Cat. Xuan also meant “mysterious” in Chinese, and it aptly described the color of the cat which was pitch dark, so much so that it blazed in a fiery red. Legends told that Xuan Cat, a cat blazed in fiery black, was a spirit cat.

From ancient times until now, Xuan Maos were charms that warded off evil spirits. Yet, modern people often mistook them as something else. They were not merely cats with black fur. They warded off evil spirits, and that was why they appeared in times of calamity. Under the influence of modern storytelling and photography, people have been misled into believing that it brought nothing but calamity and misfortune. These cats were nothing but bad omens. In truth, they were holding the wrong end of the stick.

Zhao Youyue thought that black cats were cool. Perhaps she had been influenced by “Zheng Tan” in “Strange Life of a Cat.” Just like Zheng Tan, she morphed into a Xuan Cat, curled up in a fetal position, fast asleep.

At last, Zhao Youyue experienced how it felt like to be a cat!

A cat’s world was a completely different realm!

Cats had poor eyesights, similar to short-sighted humans. Almost everything was blurry. On top of that, they were color blind. Everything they saw was in black and white.

Fortunately, cats had rod-shaped photoreceptor cells on their retinas. Those cells were highly sensitive to light. They could see in near-total darkness. Instead of color, they saw the light. The brighter the light, the better they saw. It was the same way how black and white pictures were produced with differing densities of black spots. In a cats eyes, these pictures were three dimensional.

Despite their poor eyesight, they had extreme reflexes, and could zone in on just about anything, be it something as small as a cockroach or mice. A cat would jump towards it, before a human even registered it being there.

Suspended strings drove them crazy. They would curl up on their hunches, prepared to pounce as if they were hunting prey.

The cat body gave Zhao Youyue a great degree of discomfort. She pitied those who had involuntarily morphed into animals

After all these years of living as a human, it was not easy to adapt to the differences in an animal’s body. The cat’s sight threw her off. That was just the beginning of things, she had not even investigated the other senses yet.

Coincidentally, it was late at night. Zhao Youyue realized that the cat’s night vision was incredibly sharp, and with incredible cat reflexes, as she leaped out of the pet shop with ease. The human anatomy had nothing on this

Zhao Youyue had always been fond of new adventures and experiences. This was a unique experience for her. She simply needed to focus on her thoughts, and poof! Back to human form again. Very interesting!

Nevertheless, it had no practical usage whatsoever. She was merely a cat, and one without any destructive capabilities nor any special abilities. As a Xuan cat, she had expected to see etherial existences such as wandering souls and spirits. How disappointing.

Perhaps she could be mischievous and give innocent passersby a fright. Unfortunately, she was not a fully grown cat. She could only remain adorable and behave pleasantly.

Zhao Youyue found it interesting to run with four legs. It came in the form of muscle memory, the same way how people walked with two legs easily. Cats were able to run and climb trees with all four legs.

The clarity of the night was awe-inspiring. At that moment, she remained indecisive on whether to approach the male protagonist as a black cat.

Nevertheless, Shu Qing was the protagonist of “Dog days.” Along with the Hiromi dog that he constantly morphed into, they made up the core of this novella. The only way of entering the spotlight would be by approaching the male protagonist

Web novels were stories that commonly revolved around the main protagonist. They were written in such a way that readers would remain with the main characters throughout the entire tale. Only a few talented authors could write from multiple vantage points, with multiple characters being surrounded by their own stories.

Only a handful of authors were capable of writing such drama. “Stop Gambling” was gifted in writing, but he was far too underdeveloped in many other aspects. He lacked the responsibility of a professional author and the discipline to update his novel regularly.

Zhao Youyue went ahead and looked for Shu Qing in her black cat form. The real world may be large, and events occurred far apart from each other, but novels typically took place in far smaller worlds. As Zhao Youyue moved towards the protagonist Shu Qing, she found the world that was out of readers’ sights – barren and uninhabited

That’s right; it was a novella made up of merely tens of thousands of words. There was no substance or large-scale events. With a limited amount of noticeable scenery, few characters had frequent appearances in the novella. Basically, this novella world was a miniature sandbox. If readers were not going to see it, there was no need to write about it.

This world felt more like a realistic, lucid dream rather than an alternate dimension. Between the two, it was still inclined towards the real world.

When Setsuna sent her in as Altair, to a world of cities; she had almost been convinced of its reality. It had much to offer regarding adventure and exploration, perhaps even moreso than the real world.

According to the data she collected from the “Two Dimensional Gate,” finished novels would have fixed worlds. Perhaps these worlds were real. Their contents were possibly intercepted by authors and converted into words under the guise of “inspirations.” That was why iconic works had such convincing lore.

Zhao Youyue always wanted to visit one of those completed iconic novellas and cause some trouble. She might just gain something from it.

The real world was the only one true world in Zhao Youyue’s heart. A novella’s world was merely a hunting ground. Her quarry? More abilities. She would kill everyone in the world to get what she wanted. After all, she held power over everything, their authors included!

Authors often played with their creations to produce comedy. It was a proven fact. The more clashes and conflicts in a novella, the more interesting it was to read!

Ase Zhao Youyue started her mischief in “Dog Days,” Sun Xian, otherwise known as “Stop Gambling” was lounging in his chair, playing mahjong with a cigarette in his mouth. Suddenly, he whipped out his phone and thumbed away like a madman

Here comes the inspiration!