CATMAN - 2 The System

Have you ever believed that if a spider bites you then you’d become a spiderman?

I didn’t believe it either. In today’s era, everything was possible via magic but turning into some animal man after the animal bites you…it was utter nonsense, or so I had believed until that day.

It was the same as any other day when I came back home and headed to the playground, not to play but to enter my secret hideout 27. You may call it childish but it was pretty handy for me to escape from the clutches of bullies.

The playground was actually where construction used to run before but was stopped because of some unforeseen events and the large pipes in the ground was where laid my secret hideout.

It was like any other day except for the fact that there was a cat inside the pipe. It was black in color and its fur was soaked in water. With its vicious eyes, it glanced at me as it took a defensive position.

I was alarmed but not too much. I mean who was too dumb to be afraid of the cats and if it was on its guard then all I needed to do was make it feel secure.

I slowly stretched out my hands in order to ruffle the wet cat but it didn’t turn out as I had initially expected. It wasn’t friendly in the least and what I got was a big bite mark in my hand.

Blood oozed out of my hand like a fountain and the cat seemed to like it was smiling heinously. It licked my blood which was spilled in the floor and looked at me as if I was its a food source.

At that moment looking at its eyes, I felt fear. I at that moment realized how scary the cat could be but I was helpless. In a hurry, I got out of the pipe and ran for my life. But I wasn’t as fast as the cat behind me which was after my life.

Like a prey, I was trampled upon by the vicious cat which looked like an ordinary domestic animal…But I knew that with that strength, it was everything out of ordinary. Despite its a small size I,t was pretty strong and its demeanor was that of a devil.

“Demonic beast?” That was the conclusion I came up with when the cat was ready to bite my neck off.

It was at that moment, a certain thought flashed across my mind. A worthless boy like me can never become a superhero neither a wizard. Was my dream but a joke all along? I thought.

My body was about to give up but my heart wasn’t ready to believe that what I’ve dreamed of till then was all but a foolish dream. Superheroes and Wizards were supposed to fight many demons to keep humanity safe… but I wasn’t a wizard, nor was I a superhero born with superpowers.

I was just an ordinary boy born with no affinity with magic whatsoever. I was a boy who chased after the foolish dream of becoming someone who is able to use magic. That was what I believed.

But that wasn’t an answer. Born a superhero or not, born with magic affinity or not, it didn’t matter in the least. What mattered was the dedication I had if I wanted to achieve a foolish dream of mine.

What I realized at that moment was if I wanted to continue chasing after the foolish dream of mine then I must survive through that ordeal. The demons superheroes fought were much stronger and fierce than this car before me, so if I couldn’t even defeat this domestic looking cat then it would only prove my title of…

SORE LOSER!!!

In despair, I moved my hands in search of something I could hold on to in the ground and the luck hadn’t betrayed me. I grabbed a stone and threw it at my back which of course the cat dodged…but it also loosened the strength it had kept to restraint me down.

I used my hands to crawl forward gasping for my breath and searched for something I could use to defend myself. It was a construction site of the past after all and there was every kind of item I could use in order to fend off the cat.

I picked up a metal pipe that looked like a pipe that was mostly used in taps and looked back only to see it disappear.

I turned my head back and forth but there was no sign of the cat, but I could still see it’s shadow.

“Where is it?”

Just as I was scanning the surrounding a chill ran through my spine making my blood run cold. Was it because of the strength gap or my disparity of death, I couldn’t move at all? I could see the shadow of death upon me but I couldn’t lift a single leg to avoid it.

It was right above my head and was looking down upon me as if I was just an insect. I couldn’t move my legs and my arms which had the pipe in hand wasn’t even listening to me. It just kept shuddering.

‘Is this what fear of death is?’ I questioned to myself.

The cat bit off my right shoulder and chewed upon it…but all I could do was watch it do it. Was this how I was going to die at the end? I thought.

No, there was still hope. If only I could run as fast as I could and let one of the superheroes know that there was a demon beast then I could survive and I would even be praised for my bravery for holding out for so long.

But it wasn’t what I wanted. If I wanted to move a step forward then it had to be me who killed the demon. But how…? It was the only question eating my mind back then.

Without any plan in mind, I rushed to wherever my feet took me. It was alarmed by my sudden movement and without any hesitation, it bit my neck. I wavered for a bit but I still controlled my feet and ran as fast as I could.

It didn’t matter where… just someplace that would help me get the cat off me was fine. But not everything worked as one would expect it to work. It’s teeth sunk even deep making me feel that I was about to die any moment.

It was then I saw something that brought a cheerful smile upon my face. With its teeth sunk deep within my neck, I knew I was going to die in but a minute or two because of not being able to breathe. My windpipes were already ruptured.

But what made me smile was the thought that even if I were to die, I would take the monster along in the grave. From what I knew, cat hated water and in front of my blurred vision was a bridge.

Without any thoughts, I jumped into the river and it was also at that moment the cat had realized what I was up to. It took back it’s jaw from my neck and was about to use me as a springboard to jump in the bridge again but it was stopped by my hand which had grabbed its leg and was pulling down in the water which was like a hell for the cat.

Seeing it struggle to even swim, I was satisfied and also with a smile I sunk below that water slowly closing my eyes. What I regretted in life was not being able to live my dream but it was fine since I was able to at least take the life of one demon beast.

That was when I had a change of heart. I wanted to live.

If I were to die what would happen to my family? They would be more than heartbroken if they were to find that their only son was dead.

The smile that suffused my face disappeared with that single thought. I wanted to live. Even when I knew everything was but a waste…I wanted to live. Even in the despair of losing my life…I wanted to live.

The parents that gave me all they had just to raise me…was this how I was going to pay their love? Dying was not an excuse, not when I gave my life to kill a cat demon beast.

With every energy in my body, I tried to swim but as I had guessed, it was all for not.

The wounds that were exposed to the water didn’t even hurt much then the pain of dying leaving the parents that loved me just to weep.

But nothing I did change anything… nothing at all. Slowly my hands lost energy to even flap any more and darkness was slowly enveloping my mind. It was when I heard something inside my mind.

[Asura has been killed. The host has been bitten. Every condition has been fulfilled. Does the host want to become a CatMan?]

[If the host agrees to become a CatMan and accepts the system then he could just affirm inside his mind and everything will be handled by the system.]

It didn’t matter what he was listening and he had no time to be surprised either. He had only one question in his mind.

‘Can I live?’

The female voice replied immediately.

[Affirmative. If the host were to agree to become a CatMan then he would be able to live. If the darkness envelopes all the consciousness of the host then even the system wouldn’t be able to save the host.]

He didn’t even hear after the word ‘Affirmative’. If he could live then why was he going to refuse? He immediately replied inside his mind.

‘I agree.’