“Why was this alleyway so deceptively long?” Corwin grumbled as he hobbled towards the light at the end of the stinky abyss. His nose kept on scrunching up in disgust. If this keeps up, will he still have a nose to scrunch up anymore?
[Host, therefore this is an ideal place for hiding yourself away.]
“Who would want to walk all the way that deeply in the stinky alleyway to throw out the trash?!”
As Corwin walked towards the light, he found himself standing outside a neighborhood street. Paved roads, concrete sidewalks, large buildings. Is this not a city?
A slight breeze blew by. Cowin sniffed the air before greedily inhaling it. The air was so fresh and not polluted! After his trip in what he considers the sewers, it smelled like a delicacy. He felt he could smell this air forever!
Corwin unclenched his balled fists and threw his hands in the air.
“Ahh, freedom!” Corwin could cry tears of joy right now. This is an absolute victory on his end.
In the corner of Corwin’s eye, he saw a black figure jogging towards him before stopping. He turned towards the figure and his eyes widened as he stared at the other’s face.
“Aahah! M-Monster!” Corwin stuttered out. His legs felt as if they were turning into jelly.
In front of Corwin, stood a 6 foot tall humanoid black panther. His head resembled a human’s head, except it had with all the features of a panther, including the black fur. Its snout is clearly elongated with its mouth. Both its ears have a red line running down on it.
My first encounter is with a feral were-panther? Am I going to die here? Tianshi was right! It really was safe in the sewers!
The panther who was already staring at him unbelievingly, curled its mouth in disgust.
“Racist and smelly. Have you lost your mind, Hobo? The clinic is on the other side of the city.”
…
What?
Corwin stood there in a daze as he watched the bipedal panther speak fluent English to his face.
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It can speak? Wait, it can even speak fluent English!
Corwin snapped out of it as he examined the panther in more detail. The were-panther looked more like a human than a panther in its shape. It wore a tank top and grey sweatpants. Corwin recognized the red line that was connected to both its ears were earbuds. The tank top and grey sweatpants could not hide the panther’s well shaped and masculine physique. On the contrary, the light sweat the covered his body only further accentuated the glistening muscles underneath the black fur. This was clearly the sign of a fit jogger in a modern society.
…
Corwin looked down at his body.
Yellow and red-brown splotches covered his T-shirt. His pants were had food stains on it. His thin arms were covered with reddish-brown crust, probably from bleeding out beforehand. He took a sniff at himself. The familiar rotting food and sewer smell he thought he left behind hit him in full blast.
He was clearly the prime example of a deranged person who just went to the alleyway to scavenge some food.
Corwin looked back at the panther and recalled how he shouted 'M-Monster!' hysterically.
The panther raised his eyebrows.
“Ahem, I seem to have made a mistake.” Corwin spoke calmly as if everything that happened has nothing to do with him and made his way back into the alleyway.
“…” The panther’s mouth twitched slightly before he decided to continue jogging and pretend he didn’t see an embarrassed and defeated person covering his head with his arms muttering something about “making a cannon fodder mistake”.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After Corwin recovered from his three worldviews from shattering apart, he sorted out the new information in his head.
“Tianshi, I believe we need to talk.”
The system, on the other hand was silent.
“Tianshi, there are …” Corwin fumbled, trying to find the right word for the strange race he came across.
“Friendly sentient and humanoid beings in Asfergon.”
[Host, they are called Beastmen.]
“What happened to the world being in danger and peril, with full of dangerous monsters? Not only did I end up in a city with fresh air, did you see that panther Beastman? ”
[Host, Tianshi saw the Beastman.]
“He. Has. Earbuds.” Corwin emphasized earbuds. “Earbuds! He can afford to listen to music! That’s entertainment! You said this world was lacking in technology!” Corwin said accusingly.
The system was silent in response.
“Clearly he has 8 pack abs, well defined muscles, and a good life. Why don’t I have those as the protagonist?”
[Host, don’t project your inadequacies onto another being.]
“…”
[Host, a protagonist overcomes all obstacles. You can gain those by properly training.]
… Why does being a protagonist sound worse than a regular life?
“Can I trust in you Tianshi?” Corwin lamented.
[Host, you may trust in the system.]
“What about the projected data and the world event plot? Can I trust that too?” Corwin asked.
[Host, please don’t ask the system.]