When I finished my story, there was a brief moment of silence.

  “Those poor Nekos,” Licorice said sadly as she dabbed at my cheeks with a tissue. “They must feel so sad right now.”

  I admit, manly as I am, that the thought of my Nekos all alone and unprotected on an alien world upset me greatly. Their hearts would indeed be breaking as mine was.

  “One day, I will find them again,” I promised. “I can feel it in my bones. All I need to do is trust in the System. It will bring them back to me.”

  “You really think so, Master?” Licorice asked, cuddling up to my arm, her warmth spreading into me. She felt soft and nice.

  “I don’t see why not.” I tapped a finger to my chin thoughtfully. “Minxi was extremely talented with Gateways. It’s very possible she may discover a way to breach the distance. Also, these void skills seem promising. Teleport offers much in the way of potential. It is already a powerful skill in its own right. I wonder how powerful it will become when I reach a hundred or so. The System is a mysterious thing, you know. But I feel it is not so thankless as to remove me permanently from my Nekos.”

  “I hope not,” Licorice said. “I don’t want you to leave us like that.”

  “Me neither,” Shadowpaw said.

  Skye’s bottom lip quivered. “You wouldn’t leave us like that, would you, Master?”

  “Not if I can help it,” I replied. “But I can’t fight the System even if I wanted to. I will say I will never give up trying to get back to you if I did.”

  Shadowpaw gripped my other arm tighter, while Skye pounced on my lap and threw her arms around my neck. “I’ll never let you go! Then you can’t be taken away!”

  I chuckled at her logic, patting the smaller Neko on her back.

  “There’s no need to worry, Skye,” I said. “I haven’t yet got my Main Quest, so I know the System will want me to stay here for a while. That gives us plenty of time to explore solutions. Now. Let’s turn on the television and see what they’re saying about us.”

  I made to move, but Shadowpaw reached for the remote instead. “I’ve been curious about that myself,” she said, switching the TV on.

  The news looked… chaotic.

  On every channel, my face was plastered. My Nekos had their faces on television, too, but I doubted anyone would recognise them now. I’d made too many changes to their appearance for them to resemble their old selves. That had been mostly deliberate. I knew we’d be pursued eventually.

  There was no mention of cat ears or tails.

  Skye scowled when her photo first showed up. “Oh, I’m so glad I don’t look like that anymore.”

  “Me too,” Shadowpaw said, shuddering. “I look pretty now, don’t I, Master?”

  I nodded. “You’re a Neko. Neko’s are all perfection.”

  Thankfully, political fingers were being pointed more than anything. Instead of throwing themselves behind a search for me, two politicians seemed to be more intent on blaming the other for the whole thing.

  “It’s an election year,” Licorice said. “So stupid.”

  “Their stupidity is our gain,” I said, absently wondering how I came up with that nugget of zen when my Wisdom points were so low.

  “They’ll search here eventually,” Shadowpaw said. “They’ll contact our families and ask if we have places like this. Places we’d go to if we wanted to hide. We shouldn’t stay here for more than a day or two.”

  “I agree,” I said. “We should leave as soon as possible. I’m thinking the morning.”

  Skye pushed herself back on my lap, her soft bottom perching on my knees instead. “But where will we go?” She touched her ears. “Won’t people see these?”

  “We’ll get you some hoodies for now. Or some hats,” I said. “As for where to go. That’s easy. We’ll go where freaks never stand out.”

  Licorice’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean…”

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  “Please,” Shadowpaw moaned. “Don’t say Florida.”

  “Well, that’s a close second. I was thinking Los Angeles, though,” I said.

  “Thank god.” Then she scrunched up her pretty face. “I think. Actually, now I’m not sure…”

  “Trust me,” I said, pulling them all into a squishy hug. The smell of Neko filled my nostrils and my heart. Was there anything more amazing in the world than a Nekogirl? I think not, and if you want to fight me over it then you’d better make sure you’re a higher level than I am. “We’re going to be fine.”

  “They won’t recognise us,” Shadowpaw said, looking up at me with wide eyes. “But what about you, Master? Your face is everywhere!”

  “Yes,” I said. “It is indeed.”

  “You’re not afraid?”

  “I am not afraid.”

  “Why not?”

  I booped her nose and smiled as she made a cute little squeaky noise. “Because, my sweet little Neko, I have the System. And there’s more to the System than just levelling! There’s also the Cosmetic Workshop!”

  “Huh?”

  “I can change my appearance at any time, Shadowpaw,” I told her. “I just have to spend some currency. Thankfully, My Nekocoins carried over. I had fourteen left, so I have enough to make a few changes to myself. I’ll do it tonight before my shower.”

  The three girls looked at each other, then back at me. Clearly they were awed by me. I patted their stunned heads one at a time until everyone was purring.

  “Master?” Licorice gripped my arm tight. “This System thing sounds very powerful.”

  “It is.”

  “You said it was like a virus. Isn’t that a bad thing?”

  “Listen to me, Licorice,” I said, lifting her face and staring deep into her luminous blue eyes. “Whether the System is a good or bad thing doesn’t matter to me. What matters is it lets me protect Nekos. That’s all. And even without it, I will protect Nekos until my final breath. Do you believe me?”

  She nodded. “I believe you, Master.”

  “Then, trust in me if you can’t trust in the System.”

  “I will, Master.”

  I hugged them all tightly again, a part of me wishing I could squeeze them to pieces and absorb them like Aetherite. Thinking of Aetherite, I realised I should ask Licorice to be a good Personal Assistant and start finding more of it.

  I’d need a lot of Aetherite if I wanted to level quickly. There were, after all, no monsters on Earth for me to grind.

  Yet.

  Anyway, I still had a quest. To populate the world with fluffy Nekos. It didn’t say how many counted as “populated”, though. Knowing the System as I did, it could be anywhere from ten to ten million.

  Finishing that quest would get me a level or two, but ultimately it wouldn’t be enough. I needed more experience to level. Closing my eyes and inhaling that sweet Neko scent, I decided to forget about it for tonight and just trust the System knew what it was doing.

  Tonight, I would simply be thankful that I was, once again, surrounded by cute Nekos. Skye inched closer down from my knees up to my thighs.

  Very cute Nekos indeed.

  I felt myself harden. Skye felt me harden, too, by the way her hips tentatively moved in a slow grinding motion.

  “Wait,” I breathed.

  “Sorry, Master,” she yelped, throwing herself off my lap.

  “What?” Licorice blinked. Then looked down at my swollen pants. “Oh. Master! I knew you were having naughty thoughts!”

  Shadowpaw gulped as she stared down at me. “Is that what I think it is?”

  I held up a finger. “Showers,” I said firmly. “Everybody get clean, first.”

  “Clean?” Shadowpaw reached out, the tip of her finger prodding the hard tip stretching my pants. “We’ll need to shower again afterwards anyway. Why not get extra dirty first?”

  I booped her nose. “Bad Neko,” I said. “Hygiene is a serious matter. Besides, I want to visit the Cosmetic Workshop first. I would like to look my best.”

  “But you’re already handsome, Master.”

  “It’s sweet of you to say, but I’ve seen myself in a mirror.” I shrugged. “My appearance doesn’t matter to me. I’ve changed it many times in the past and will again in the future. You might, too.”

  “You can change us again?”

  “Of course. I just need to take you back into the Neko Customization Workshop. Each visit is another Nekocoin, of course. But it can be done in theory.”

  Shadowpaw’s eyes narrowed. “So, if I want, you know, bigger tits…”

  “Yes,” I said. “I could enlarge them. But I like you as you are, you know.”

  She looked down at her chest. It wasn’t flat, but it wasn’t ample. “I don’t know…”

  “Shadowpaw, I spent some time on your chest if you recall. You have nothing to be feeling bad about.”

  Her eyes flicked to Licorice’s ample boobs. “I guess…”

  I booped Shadowpaw’s nose for a third time. “Stop doubting me.”

  “Yes, Master,” she said. But I didn’t think she was convinced. Not yet. But soon… Soon she’d know just how gorgeous I thought she was.

  “I will kiss them,” I told her. “I will kiss them until my lips fall off and my tongue erodes to a stump.”

  She covered her face with her hands as her cheeks jumped into the scarlet realm. “Master!”

  “Now, before all of you start demanding kisses on your boobs, know I will do the same to all of you.” I lifted my arms. “Now. Off you go. The quicker you get clean, the more excitement we might have tonight!”

  As they dashed away like a pack of kittens, I shook my head.

  Nekos.

  They were all the same. So cute. So delightful.

  Was it any wonder I couldn’t keep my hands off them? Anyone would do the same in my position.

  I closed my eyes, trying to calm my erection, and chose to enter the Cosmetic Workshop.

  The Workshop was just a black room with a mirror in it. Very similar to the Neko Customization Workshop. I walked up the mirror and shook my head at my reflection. I was so scrawny. I would be scrawny until I got my Strength up to around 10. Then I’d start to fill out a little.

  My skin looked dappled with red pimples and there were various moles and marks I’d found distasteful. My nose looked too big. My lips too thin.

  My teeth were a crooked. Signs of being late getting my wisdom teeth out.

  And my nails. I used to bite them out of anxiety. Then there was my hair. Greasy brown hair. Thinning at the top. Minor dandruff. My dad had lost his hair by the time he was thirty. I had almost made it to thirty, but it was doubtful my hair would see much more than that.

  “This just won’t do,” I told myself.

  My Nekos deserved better.

  I started pushing buttons and moving sliders to make myself the best me I could be.