I Picked Up a Retired Cat [Esports]

Stockpiling chapters. I'll start the next one as soon as this is finished, ovo

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Jian Zhou, China's top entry fragger, suddenly retires. Rumor has it his contract was a rip-off, he was banned from transferring, and he left with nothing.

At the handshake line after his last match, the opposing team's shot-caller suddenly asks him: What are you going to do next?

Jian Zhou, coldly: I'm going to wander.

That night, a stray cat appears on a bench in the central park.

Jian Zhou is a cat.

Two years ago, after taking human form, he went to the relevant government department to look for a job.

“Uneducated, quick reflexes. You should play esports. You won't face discrimination there.”

Two years later, Jian Zhou returns to being a stray cat.

Jian Zhou curls up into a ball, fast asleep and mumbling curses.

“This sucks. I'm never being human again...”

Suddenly, someone picks up the purring cat. He's face-to-face with a familiar and irritating face.

“Jian Zhou?”

Startled to hear his full name, Jian Zhou lashes out with a paw.

His paw pads are caught.

Pei Lan, the opposing team's shot-caller, looks down and chuckles. “Just like him, you've got quite a temper.”

-

Jian Zhou can't take hardship, so he decides to settle down with the opposing team. Good food, good drinks, and as many cans of cat food as he wants. Being a cat is great.

After playing professionally for two years, though, Jian Zhou can't help getting antsy. Whenever the team is away for a match, he sneaks into Pei Lan's room and logs on to play a few rounds.

Humans are bad, but human games are good.

Until one day, Pei Lan has to change his peripherals at the last minute and hurriedly pushes open his bedroom door.

Jian Zhou is sitting cross-legged in front of the computer. He whips around in shock, but a second too late: right in front of Pei Lan, he poofs into a cat.

Jian Zhou: ...

Human games are bad!!

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Jian Zhou assumes he and Pei Lan don't get along, so he's surprised when Pei Lan kindly lets him stay.

For the cat, he buys boxes and boxes of toys.

For the human, he lets him use his computer, log into his account, and play on his phone whenever he wants.

He even gives him a little pillow of his own to sleep on at night, and volunteers to be a cat tree.

“I've changed my mind about you.”

Jian Zhou turns human and drapes himself lazily over Pei Lan, letting his guard down completely. A tail pokes out of his waistband and curls leisurely around Pei Lan's wrist.

“Pei Lan, you're a really good person.”

-

With the Esports World Cup approaching, Pei Lan, the new national team captain, recommends a player who's been missing for half a year: Jian Zhou.

“Is God Pei secretly in love with Jian Zhou? Haha.”

“If Jian Zhou hears that with his temper, won't he sneak into the team's place tonight and assassinate God Pei?”

Pei Lan glances at the cat-shaped pastry on the table and chuckles.

“Yeah, I'm secretly in love. So, are you coming over tonight?”

Jian Zhou, lying on his back with his belly exposed, freezes. Then he suddenly stands up and turns his backside toward Pei Lan, his cat face full of shock.

Dude, what? This can't be right, can it?

Theme: If you're kind to a cat, it'll repay you.