I suddenly came to. Any other way of looking at it wouldn't be an accurate description of what was happening. Maybe someone suddenly getting your attention after zoning out the hardest you've ever zoned out before.

My head felt like it had been disassembled, sent through a high speed conveyor belt, and reassembled in a matter of seconds.

“Okay, what’s the last thing I remember?” I asked myself, “oh right, I died.”

It might have been the express reincarnation talking, but I was kind of surprised on how well I was taking this whole thing.

“Feathery asshole didn’t explain shit,” I muttered as I tried rubbing my eyes only to discover that I couldn’t.

I felt myself start to panic.

"Ok calm down, I must be disoriented. This must be like when people survive avalanches and get spun around so much they can't tell up from down. I have to spit," I thought trying to keep my rising panic down.

*hkkkkk ptoo*

"...I don't have lips…"

"Why don't I have lips?" I tried to scream with no mouth.

I flailed about wildly with limbs I quickly discovered I didn't have and quickly devolved into a literal blind panic.

Desperate for something substantial to hold on to, I reached out in all directions and suddenly found I could see again.

It was night. The moon shone through a few windows about 12 feet up in the air. I was in a derelict building where even the dust had a coat of dust.

"What the hell," I thought to myself as I started to come to grip that I didn’t have a body.

At least not a human one.

I wasn’t looking at the room, not really. A better description would be that I was aware of everything in the building like a person knew where their left and right arms are.

The light from the moon didn’t get me any additional visual information, but I somehow knew that moonlight was coming in through the window.

Looking around, the building was once a warehouse of some kind. What used to be wooden shelves were now dry rotted and maintained the form of a shelf if not the function. Several ruined crates lined the west side of the building with a [Cat Spawner] tucked in the middle.

"Wait, what the hell was that?" I thought, "why did that seem important?"

"Ok let's try this, [Cat Spawner]," I thought and a crate highlighted itself like I was in a video game.

[Cat Spawner]

>Allows dungeon to spawn feline mobs as well as a feline scion

>Spawn common mob? (Y/N)

>! Not enough mana for feline scion !

“Wait dungeon? Am I a dungeon?” I wondered out loud.

Well as out loud as someone can that doesn’t have a mouth.

The floating UI looked like it was copied from an old JRPG, complete with block letters, a light blue background, and a pixelated icon of a cat.

“Guess I might as well give it a shot,” I mumbled, trying to figure out how to use the UI without hands.

“Um, yes I would like to make a common mob,” I thought at the menu screen.

A timer popped up above the crate and after a few moments a cat jumped out.

[Stray Cat]

>Common mob

>Size: Small

>Durability: (-)

>Stealth: (+)

>All other stats within expected parameters for common feline

My awareness shifted closer as I examined the skinny cat.

“Wow! I’ve never had a cat before, what should I name you?” I wondered.

The cat was a gray cat with white markings around his paws and face that resembled another cat in a familiar way.

“I think I’ll name you Tom,” I chuckled as I got close to my cat.

“Man you can really zoom in on- WOAH,” I exclaimed as I suddenly felt myself falling.

Without warning, I was experiencing the world from the cat’s point of view and I was immediately met with all of the senses that went with it. The smell of dust and dry rot permeated the air and pale beam of moonlight shone on a gold colored marble located innocuously on a shelf.

[Dungeon Core]

>Physical center and vital point of the dungeon

>Size: Tiny

>Unaligned temperament

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Hey I’m not tiny, it’s just cold,” I chuckled to myself, trying to cover up the tension I was feeling.

Tom turned his head slightly and perked up his ears.

“Oh! Seems like you can hear me,” I thought, “makes about as much sense as anything. Ok Tom let’s get a look outside.”

The cat looked up at the ruined shelves and began to jump higher and higher until it was looking out a window.

I couldn’t tell much from looking outside, but it seemed my warehouse was closed in on three sides by other buildings. The fourth side was a large barn style door that lead to an access road that was probably once used to load and unload cargo.

“Well I’m not exactly an abandoned mine or a maze with a minotaur in it,” I thought still grappling with the situation.

! WARNING ENEMY WAVE APPROACHING !

“Oh shit, what now?” I thought and awkwardly jumped out of Tom.

A small scratching sound broke the comfortable silence and my stray cat whipped his head around.

“Where is that coming from?” I asked.

And then I felt it. I don’t know how else to explain it, but I could feel a small creature scampering around much like an insect crawling on your skin.

“There!” I exclaimed as I spotted it.

A rat was crawling around in my warehouse. Focusing on the rat, a red highlight appeared around it.

[City Rat]

>Common mob

>Size: Small

>Attack (+)

>Ability: Infiltration: city rat can fit into tiny size passageways and chew through most common building materials

>All other stats within expected parameters for a rat

Highlighting the rat seemed to notify Tom of where the rat was and lacking anything to scratch at the itch with, I did the next best thing.

“Kill it!” I exclaimed at my [Stray Cat].

Tom crouched low and began to silently hop from shelf to shelf getting closer to the rat.

The rat’s head darted left and right as though it was silently searching for something.

Fortunately, the rat’s search was cut short as my cat jumped down from the top shelf and immediately clamped its jaws around the back of the rat’s neck.

The rat flailed around madly as Tom wrenched its head back and forth.

With a mighty pop, the rat finally stopped moving and slowly went limp.

“Well at least that’s over- aaaaAAAAGH,” I shouted as the itching sensation returned with a vengeance.

Four more rats had found their way into the warehouse and began to fan out, clearly searching for something.

“Oh hell,” I thought as I quickly shifted my awareness over to the [Cat Spawner] and spammed the confirmation to spawn as many cats as I could.

Tom had managed to catch the rat by surprise, but the rats were nearly the size of my cat. If they acted together, my cat would quickly get overwhelmed.

“Sneaking up on it worked for the last one,” I thought at Tom, “try to do that again.”

Tom crouched again and began to stalk towards the closest rat.

The rats still seemed to be oblivious to my cat stalking them as he took his stance to pounce.

“Man, if only there was something I could do to speed up that timer,” I thought as my awareness darted between the crate and Tom.

Tom’s pupils dilated wide before lunging at the rat.

The rat noticed Tom at the last second and managed to turn its body just enough to prevent the cat from latching onto its neck.

The frantic squeaks echoed between the shelves and drew the other rats to it with its cries.

“Watch out!” I shouted as the rats leapt at Tom, but fortunately only landed glancing bites against him.

The wounded rat staggered up and began advancing on Tom along with the rest of them.

“Shit better retreat,” I said.

My cat leapt up onto a shelf and quickly vanished from the rat’s sight.

The rats tried to chase after Tom, but quickly gave up and resumed their search for something.

“Take a breather kitty, we can try again when you have backup,” I reassured my cat.

The rats had resumed their fan pattern in search of whatever they were looking for.

Suddenly one of the rats let out a shriek and all of the other rats were drawn to the call.

“Huh it’s almost like they’re looking for- OH SHIT!” I exclaimed as the rats began to rush toward my core.

Tom immediately lept into action, putting himself between the rats and their target.

“You can do it Tom, help is almost here,” I assured Tom as much as I tried to assure myself.

Tom let out a low growl and there was a momentary pause.

The rats all charged in at once.

Not wanting to be swarmed, Tom dashed at the rat on the far left and took a swipe.

The rat let out a cry, but before he could follow up with another hit, Tom was forced to dodge out of the way of the other three.

Two of the rats were injured, but one wrong move from Tom and it would be all over.

“At least they haven’t decided to split up,” I thought as the rats and Tom began positioning for advantage.

Tom seemed to have realized this as well and had decided to go on the defensive.

The rats tried to circle Tom, but Tom managed to keep them from completely boxing him in.

Suddenly the two injured rats stopped and seemed to be listening to something.

“Me and my big mouth,” I thought as they split off from the main group and began heading for my core.

Tom dove at the two rats and clamped down on the neck of one. The rat flailed around for a moment and went limp with a shake of Tom’s head.

Without wasting a moment, Tom lunged at the second rat. The rat lunged back at Tom and dug its fangs into his cheek.

Tom quickly rolled over and kicked at the rat’s underbelly with his hind legs making short work of the rat.

The two healthy rats took advantage of Tom’s prone position and were on him immediately. Tom thrashed around as the rats bit at his flailing form.

3…

2…

1…

“HELP HIM!” I cried as two feline forms dashed from the shadows and tore the rats off of Tom.

The rats didn’t stand a chance. My new cats made short work of them with a quick shake of their heads.

“Tom?” I croaked out as I focused on his unmoving form.

Slowly, agonizingly, Tom rolled over and limped to the [Cat Spawner] where he entered the crate.

! 1/3 [Stray Cat] in spawner | 1/5 spaces occupied !

! Healing [Stray Cat] !

I let out a sigh of relief as I tried to calm my frayed nerves.

Tom was going to be okay.

I had survived.

! Conditions Met: Luck aspect gained; random reward system activated !

Before I could wrap my head around what was happening a new tab added itself to the menu and opened.

An intricate glowing pattern displayed in the new tab as it began to unfurl. Lights shone from the center in a disturbingly familiar way. The only thing missing was the triumphant music as the lights reached a blinding zenith before fading out.

! Luck aspect acquired !

>Dungeon now has the aspect of luck

>It has been said that fate is like a river with inescapable currents. There are others who say that fate can be bent and destiny is not written in stone.

! EXP acquired !

! Mana acquired !

! Milestone Reached: Mana Overcharge unlocked !

>Additional mana can now be spent over the usual cost in certain situations

>Results in effects outside normal parameters

“Mother fucking loot boxes,” I muttered in disbelief.