Universe Infinite Canteen

He Xiaoqian teased the ragdoll cat a bit more before she reluctantly finished her shift and left the job.

Ma Lu wanted to contact the ponytailed girl immediately to tell her that her cat was found, but since he didn't have her phone number saved in his mobile, and the missing cat flyer wasn't with him, he had to let it be.

Anyway, he had to go home after closing the shop, so he planned to take the cat with him then give it back to the girl upstairs.

With that in mind, Ma Lu went to the kitchen to get some meat from the hind legs of a Self-Destructing Jumping Mouse, intending to feed Mr. Furball.

However, upon returning to the front hall, he discovered the cat's whereabouts were nowhere to be seen until he walked a couple of steps toward the door and then saw Mr. Furball on a chair again.

Differing from the gentility and elegance displayed outside the door earlier, the ragdoll cat now leaned back in the chair in a posture that resembled a middle-aged uncle, with one paw scratching his buttocks.

"Hey, mate, got a smoke?"

"No, and public smoking is banned nationwide now," said Ma Lu.

"I know, don't be such a stickler. There aren't any other customers right now. I haven't had a damn smoke for weeks now, tsk, I really miss those days of puffing away... Women really do get in the way, right, what's that you're holding?"

"Rat leg meat."

"Ugh, ugh... take it away! Take it away now, I don't eat rats, those filthy, dark little creatures are too disgusting, covered with germs, my goodness, and you have the nerve to talk about me smoking in public, you, a restaurant owner, openly serving rat meat to customers, that's totally sick, man!"

"This isn't a rat from this plane... it's a Self-Destructing Jumping Mouse I breed personally, cleanliness isn't a concern, but if you don't want it, never mind then."

Putting the plate on another table behind him, Ma Lu looked at the ragdoll cat in front of him and asked curiously.

"What exactly are you?"

"Stupid question. Considering how I look, what else could I be besides a cat?" the ragdoll rolled its eyes.

"But you're not a cat from this universe's plane, right?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"That's true," the ragdoll nodded, "One day I woke up as usual, got out of bed, drove to work, it should have been a Monday, so I drank some alcohol before leaving the house to numb my brain into thinking it was almost Friday, otherwise the upcoming week would've been unbearable.

"I drank, hmm... like a whole bottle, but it didn't work, because my boss called asking about how that last deal was going, so I drank another bottle, then started up the computer, logged onto a recruitment website to see who was hiring.

"But most companies only wanted people under 35, then I drank another bottle, probably cursed the government a bit, I think I even called my ex-wife, I don't quite remember... Anyway, after hanging up, I drank yet another bottle.

"Then my boss called again to rush me to the company, so I got in my car and drove off, and on the way, I encountered a black hole."

"A black hole?"

"Yeah, like those black holes in anime and movies. Looks pitch black, with some special effects around it, the darkness inside even spins, and if you look into it for a bit, you feel like you're going to be sucked in."

"That black hole looked mighty suspicious, so I drove around it, but it was pretty cunning, it sneaked right in front of me when I wasn't looking, and then I was sucked in and ended up here."

"Uh… so you ended up here because of the black hole, not because you were driving drunk."

"Of course, what are you thinking, I'm always very steady on the road, haven't had a single traffic accident in over a decade."

"That is… a dimensional rift." Liliem had walked out of the kitchen at some point and interjected upon hearing this.

"A dimensional rift?"

"That's right, dimensions aren't always stable, and every dimension has its rifts which may appear every few decades or centuries. Then some unlucky folks get sucked into these dimensional rifts and are randomly transported to other dimensions."

"Oh, where did this little person come from, am I drunk again?"

"She's a Valkyrie Person, named Liliem, she works at my restaurant," Ma Lu introduced, "So you're saying you were human before you crossed over?"

"No, of course not, I've always looked like this, before and after being sucked into that black hole." the Ragdoll cat said.

"But you mentioned going to work, looking for jobs online, driving… all of this doesn't quite relate to cats, does it?"

"Why would you harbor such biases, listen, in my world, cats control everything, we build cities, cultivate land, plant catnip, have you ever heard of a Catnip Plantation?"

"In our history, some hairless cats were the first to build ships capable of sailing the seas and they began catching cats from other continents. They especially liked shorthair cats because those guys are simple-minded with well-developed muscles.

"They sent the shorthair cats to the Catnip Plantation, where they worked day and night for the landowners, and then, centuries later, capitalists sent cats like us into cubicles to toil away for them.

"You see, after all that time, nothing has changed." The Ragdoll cat spread his paws, "But the good news is that alcohol and cigarettes are cheaper now than before, and we also have cat movies, so I guess most of us cats just muddle through life."

"Uh… What about humans, what about the humans in your dimension?"

"We don't have humans there," said the Ragdoll cat, "but we do have some monkeys. Some cats keep monkeys as pets. I had one when I was little, I called him 'Zhi Zhi' or was it 'Qi Qi'? Damn, I can't remember… He wasn't with me for long before the monkey traders took him away."

The Ragdoll cat sighed, "I've seen anime and read web novels, so finding myself transmigrated actually made me quite happy.

"You know, in these kinds of scenarios, we're usually given some sacred mission, revered by the locals as a savior, and I'd get some kind of power boost, oh, I did get a cheat ability.

"But then I realized this world was completely different from what I had imagined. It's dominated by a bunch of monkeys, oh sorry… a bunch of humans, and we cats are just pets.

"Moreover, most cats in this dimension are incredibly dumb, they can't play cards, can't code, can't play the violin, make films, they just play with balls of wool on the carpet, rub against trouser legs, expose their bellies for humans to pet. Absolutely no dignity at all," complained the Ragdoll cat. "At first, I couldn't believe there could be a species so degenerate, but now I've adjusted and am doing better than them."