Drain the enemy, fuel yourself, and move with agility no worse than Scary Monsters — this mindless brute of a Stand was a natural counter to Diego. From the moment those claws had drawn first blood, forcing him into close-quarters combat, he'd already lost half the fight.
His weakening body could barely dodge the follow-up attacks. Worse, the hunger-driven instinct screamed at him to open wide and tear into the cat's flesh — which, of course, would only accelerate his own desiccation.
「Main Quest: Collect all Holy Corpse Parts (1.5/10)」
As if conceding defeat, the eye Part detached from Diego's body on its own and rolled toward Yimi, who already possessed the spine.
It was an eyeball with a brilliant golden iris, circled by golden letters around its black pupil — TURBō.
Yimi swallowed it whole. The eye surfaced beneath her skin, drifted upward toward her head, and settled into the socket of her left eye, replacing its original cerulean blue. The result was deeply unsettling.
"Damn it... I, Diego, actually..."
Not just hunger — dehydration, nutrient deficiency, and a cascade of bodily anguish brought Diego to the brink of unconsciousness. His vision blurred. His ears rang.
Compared to the hunger, the sheer humiliation of being robbed by a cat stung far worse. It ranked somewhere on par with drinking soup from a boot.
This cat leads with its left paw. It dodges left, too. The real danger at this range is the blood — if it absorbs any more of my nutrients, it'll recover immediately, and my life could be in real danger...
He valued his life. People who loved money always did — you needed to be alive to spend it. But what good was caution when death was almost certain anyway?
Fine. Let me show you the real difference between human and beast, you stinking cat!
Yimi seemed to smell something.
"Over here — it's the cat the President's been looking for!"
Diego's running commentary during the fight had apparently carried far enough to attract the nearby presidential aide.
After all, Diego had only been in this part of town because he had an appointment with the President.
"Mrow!"
Hearing the human shouting, Yimi — who'd already gotten what she came for — wasted no more time. She scaled the wall and bolted from the scene.
"Hey, are you alright? Was it that cat that attacked you?"
The aide — no Stand user himself — could only watch helplessly as Yimi vanished. He knelt beside Diego with the concern expected of someone in his position.
Rolling Diego over, he was startled to find that the young man who'd looked lean and strong crossing the Stage 4 finish line was now visibly gaunt. His skin had started sinking inward, and the claw marks were even worse — Diego had carved away the surrounding flesh and skin himself.
"Christ, this is bad. There's no way you can keep racing like this..."
"Bad? What are you talking about? If you hadn't barged in, I'd have already caved that thing's skull in." Diego lightly brushed away the offered hand. He was still trying to play it cool.
Accepting help from the organizers meant automatic disqualification — though the whole point of his negotiation had been to get the President to act as a crooked referee.
The aide followed Diego's gaze. Through the sewer opening Yimi had pried apart, he spotted several fang-mouthed creatures of unknown origin dragging an oil drum out of the shadows. A hole gnawed through the bottom was leaking fluid into the sewer gas. Not far away, another dino-rat clutched a small box in its jaws.
Too dark to make out clearly, but the aide could guess — matches, or a lighter — and a cold sweat broke across his skin.
Had this guy been planning to blow up the entire block?
"Was it that cat that attacked you?"
The question seemed to strike a nerve. Diego's face twisted.
"No. The enemy was a man hiding in the sewers. Around six feet tall — too dark to make out details. His Stand takes the form of a cat. Its ability accelerates the target's hunger to fuel the Stand's own power..."
That was his story.
"..."
This fight had been something special for Yimi. Not just because she'd discovered a power she never knew she had, but because she'd fought an opponent of an entirely different scale.
Most importantly — she'd eaten her fill without ever opening her mouth.
"Meow~"
For as long as she could remember, Yimi had been a house cat. She'd always believed she was truly her mama's child. She roughhoused with other small animals all the time, but before this, she'd never once hurt a person in her whole life as a cat.
The second Corpse Part's fusion seemed to have laced something into Yimi's psyche — like a drop of gold in a glass of pure water. Too little to change the color, just enough to make the clarity slightly... cloudy.
「Congratulations, Host! Achievement unlocked: [Finish Him Off Already, Dammit!]. Reward: Portal Energy +5%」
"Finish off... what's that?" She tilted her head, silently querying the System. In the interest of politeness, Yimi instinctively stood on her hind legs again.
「Loading relevant knowledge for Host—」
「The term 'finish off' is commonly used in modern parlance to mean delivering the final blow to an enemy. For example: a protagonist or villain successfully defeats their opponent but, for various contrived reasons, spares their life — only for said enemy to make a full recovery later and cause trouble...」
That sounded complicated.
All Yimi had ever done was toy with mice or scuffle with animals her own size. The System's explanation meant nothing to her.
She blinked. The world looked sharper — she could see further, with greater clarity. Her sense of smell, her hearing, even her body felt lighter. As for strength...
The little cat climbed onto a household's balcony and stared intently at a flower pot that someone had been bold enough to leave right on the edge.
She extended a paw and nudged it toward the brink, bit by bit. Before, her front paws alone couldn't budge a pot full of soil.
(^∇^*)
CRASH. The cat felt immensely satisfied.
Below, Ted Khan — having finished getting things in order and just about to leave town — nearly got brained by it. He looked up.
"..."
"AHHH!!"
He screamed and whipped his horse into a frantic gallop.
「Congratulations, Host! Achievement unlocked: [Keycap]. Reward: Portal Energy +5%」
Yimi twitched her ears. Something stirred behind her.
"Seize by force, and all you earn is violent retaliation, little cat."
The phantom of the Corpse's former host.
"The moment a 'transaction' is struck — that is the first step toward 'civilization.'"
He vanished again.
Yimi swished her tail, puzzled. "What... does that mean?"
「Loading relevant knowledge for Host—」
「Taking another person's belongings is generally known in human society as 'robbery,' which is why it provokes resistance and counterattack. In civilized eras, obtaining what someone else possesses typically involves trade. 'Currency' exists as a measure of value, facilitating mutually agreeable exchanges...」
"Mew?"
She only half-understood. So... if she'd given that man something in return when she took the Corpse Part, he wouldn't have bitten her?