The limit-broken flyswatter is a highly versatile weapon.
Flyswatter (Strength +100)
It’s got some serious power.
I brought a kitchen knife too, but the knife’s reach is short, and a weapon with longer reach than the flyswatter is tough to use in my room.
It’s so cheap that even if it breaks from limit-breaking, I can keep replacing it.
When dealing with monsters, their bodily fluids splatter, so there’s a reason to use the flyswatter cleanly.
I burned through about seven flyswatters with limit-breaking, but the eighth succeeded.
“It’s Mom’s fault.”
The son who got spanked with a flyswatter grew up like this.
Holding the flyswatter, I faced the black cat with LV94 above its head.
The detection range is wider than I thought.
This is a hill near Gyeryong, South Chungcheong.
Starting from Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, this giant cat steadily headed south and reached here.
The giant cat sighting news fizzled out at some point.
After a while, it was just local news chatter, like a Southeast Asian worker reporting an alligator.
I didn’t know why, but meeting it, it was smaller than the black panther rumors suggested.
“Rawr!”
It immediately goes on guard and uses a skill.
[Casting Gigantification!]
“What the?!”
It seems to be an entity that uses gigantification as a skill.
So, it can grow and shrink, slipping through people’s eyes to get here.
Mosquitoes gigantify too—seems this world’s creatures are obsessed with it.
“ROARRR!”
Whoa.
The black cat looks at my forehead.
It must see my level too.
It even seems to understand numbers.
Its fur bristles as it tries to transform.
Not letting that slide.
‘National rule: no attacking during transformation?’
What lunatic waits for a transformation to finish?
Some transformation king got killed mid-change.
It’s a small cat now, so it should handle this…
A proper, heartfelt strike.
My strength’s over 250 now, thanks to the left-hand flyswatter gear.
BOOM!
“Ugh.”
Okay, let’s not do that.
God, it’s hot, and the dust cloud blocks my vision completely.
I regretted it instantly.
I turned into a dust suicide bomber.
Through the dust, the black cat bolts without looking back.
Running?
“Hey, don’t run!”
I miscalculated.
If it was out to attack people, it wouldn’t hide in these hills.
Detection shows the LV94 cat fleeing south.
How it knows south is a mystery.
And with four legs, it’s naturally faster than me.
I grabbed the kitchen knife.
<Activate: Sword Master>
While wielding a sword, strength and speed triple.
“You’re dead.”
My speed tripled, but I hate running, so I didn’t.
I can’t wrap my head around running in summer.
Unless I’m sweating on purpose.
No reason to run.
I couldn’t feel how strong I’d gotten.
Bragging about strength or speed—where do I even do that?
The power’s too massive to show off carelessly.
And…
“Oh, Mom.”
I accidentally ran fast enough to call for Mom.
Speed’s a useless stat for a guy whose action radius is his room.
It doesn’t boost accuracy for small targets either.
But a stat I didn’t even raise tripled, so I quickly caught up to the four-legged runner.
I could debut as a hero breaking 100-meter records, but “Knife-Wielding Track Hero”?
Running with a knife-wielding hero might boost track mates’ times like crazy.
Who wouldn’t run faster with a knife chasing them?
Catching up and standing in front,
the LV94 cat hesitates.
“Meeowww!”
Good thing this is a remote hillside with no people.
Anyone would see me as an animal abuser chasing a cat with a knife.
If it fled toward people, I’d have to hide the knife.
I have the Intangible Sword skill, but ironically, I need a sword equipped to maximize its power.
“Uh… can you talk?”
Sounds crazy, but a cat using skills isn’t normal either.
The cat pauses, lifts a paw, and grooms its fur.
It hisses, then presses the air with its paw.
“Crazy.”
A cat with a status window? End of days.
After some fiddling, a voice rings in my head.
[This?]
“Yeah, you talk?”
If it can communicate, there’s room to negotiate.
Our levels are close, and if it gigantifies, it’s no pushover.
I don’t know how its stats differ.
With my Sword Master title, a kitchen knife gives me triple the strength and speed of an average level, so I probably won’t lose in strength, and speed’s not an issue, but you never know.
What if this cat dumped all its points into luck, lands a critical hit, and kills me?
Even if I kill it, a roadkill cat corpse feels wrong.
Bugs or mosquitoes getting squashed isn’t gruesome,
but a cat’s big enough to be distinct.
[Humans are incomprehensible, so I had to learn their speech.]
This cat’s dialogue is philosophical.
“I get it. So, what are you? Why’d this happen?”
[I don’t know. A weird rat was killing my friends. It killed three. I pinned it with my paw and bit its neck. But it came back.]
“For real?”
Shocking story,
but a cat losing to a rat? Is that even a cat?
[I had to eat it. Then I started understanding human speech. I could grow bigger too.]
“You ate the rat.”
[It tasted awful. But tingly.]
Electricity crackles from the cat’s tail.
Was the rat yellow with blush on its cheeks?
“From the electricity, you got Magic?”
[It said Black Magic rises. You know it?]
“Black Magic?”
A ghoul necromancer offered me Black Magic a few days ago.
Wait.
That necromancer who invaded had a level like this.
If the opponent’s level is high, the level-up system raises you to match.
LV94 matches me and this cat.
“Hey, cat. Got any regeneration?”
[Never been hurt, so I’m not sure. Super Regeneration?]
Looks like it inherited the necromancer’s regeneration.
I turned it to ash, but it revived, got eaten by a rat, which this stray cat ate.
The internet post about dead cats might’ve been foreshadowing.
“So? Wanna take a hit?”
[…Why would you think that?]
“I pumped my strength like crazy and got nowhere to show it off.”
[Surrender, I surrender. I just…]
“Just what?”
[Wanted cockles. With croaker.]
“….”
Fancy taste.
Even humans can’t eat that freely.
“So, you’re heading to the south coast? Beolgyo?”
Detection magic showed it kept going south.
Daejeon to Gyeryong’s no short trip.
[Yeah, I needed human help. Perfect timing. Help me. Can you get me a ride south?]
“You can eat that here. Maybe not in season.”
[It’s embarrassing, but there was an old human with a fishy smell. Uh, a grandma, in human terms? I miss her.]
Missing Grandma makes me soft.
Is this cat on a 30,000-mile journey to find its owner?
Feels like a coastal cat from a cockle-producing town.
Why’s it in Daejeon, with no sea, on the Gyeongbu Line?
“Did you run away? Or did Grandma abandon you?”
[Her granddaughter took me in a car. Then ditched me at night. When I found my way back, she said, ‘Must’ve run away, typical mating season cat.’]
“Hm. You didn’t hurt anyone? They said critical condition.”
[That’s unfair. She backed up seeing me, fell, and hit her head.]
“So, no grudge against humans?”
[Do you fight those who give you food?]
I’m convinced.
I came ready for a cat fight, but it avoids non-hunting battles per wild instincts.
While negotiating, I realized
I can’t keep a giant cat in my room or sell it as a black panther.
It talking to people would be trouble.
I either take responsibility or kill it now.
“Look. It’s fine if you stay small, but your power’s a threat.”
[I’ll avoid it as much as possible. Can’t ride cars like this.]
“Not ‘as much as possible.’ Hm.”
Killing a non-hostile creature feels wrong.
That’s not just animal cruelty—it’s my villainy.
What’s the first thing when adopting a cat?
“Fine, I’ll take you. But there’s a condition.”
[Anything. Name it.]
“You need neutering. Let’s snip it.”
[Fuck, let’s fight.]
I’m probably the first human since prehistory to get cursed out by a cat.
Proud moment.
“What? How old are you, punk?”
[Two.]
Not common to get sworn at by a two-year-old.
[Attempting Gigantification.]
Not kidding.
The black cat tries transforming again.
I didn’t expect a sentient cat.
I should’ve referenced Mom’s wicked wisdom of luring it with katsu and putting it on the neutering table.
I’m not waiting for gigantification.
***
BOOM!
Later, local news reported a thunderous sound and a collapsed hill.
A local paper ran, [Gyeryong Military’s Unannounced Artillery Training Shocks Locals. Can Civil-Military Cooperation Work?]
“Cough, cough. Ugh.”
I didn’t mean to, but it tried growing, so the flyswatter’s Strength +100 effect, plus the knife’s Strength x3 effect, pushed my strength stat near 700.
A crater formed, dirt flew, and dust blinded me.
It practically dug a pit.
If I’m killing, I’d rather it be quick and painless.
Holding the flyswatter and knife in my left hand, I threw a right punch, but the vibration destroyed the ground I stood on, so I stopped, scared.
The power freaked me out.
‘Too strong…’
I didn’t see it, but from the Honam Line, it might look like the hill lost a tooth.
If otherworld beings with my strength stat can do this with tiny bodies, that’s chilling.
The cat, seeing the cratered ground, freezes, too stunned to attack.
It’s injured too.
Surviving that power is impressive.
It’s tougher than it looks.
[Recovering wounds with Super Regeneration.]
That message floats above the cat’s head.
Even as a communicative creature, it just yowls in shock.
“Meeow, meeowww!”
“Don’t act pitiful.”
I ate too much dust to hit it again.
The cat, ready to pounce, just keeps yowling.
It must know another hit would obliterate it.
It should be scared. I’m scared too.
In conclusion, I’d win with effective strikes.
Who loses?
Gyeryong City Forestry Department.
Sorry, civil servants.
“So, die or surrender? You can’t escape.”
With Sword Master active via the knife, my speed’s high.
It dodged a skill of that range, so it’s fast,
but my stride’s so much bigger I can block its escape.
Since I can hold two weapons in one hand, the power boost is massive.
Then, the cat’s fur bristles.
Electricity crackles nearby.
[Lightning Dash!]
One more hit for the floating message…
“What?!”
In a blink, I see the cat’s tail as it snatches my knife.
It’s all-in on speed.
The cat drops the stolen knife.
[Got it, you.]
“What?”
[Can’t cut now, huh?]
With the knife gone from my left hand, my telephone punch’s power drops, and my speed slows drastically.
If the cat wields the knife in its mouth?
That’s dangerous.
[I surrender.]
It lies on its back, paws curled.
“…?!”
What’s this?
It’s sprawled with an ugly blinking face.
It stole the knife so desperately just to surrender?
Surrendering by lying down feels cheeky.
I raised my fist again.
[Oh, wrong move? Sorry, spare me.]
Instead of lounging, it bows with its paws.
A two-year-old beast learns manners from a fist.