Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Beach

My entry into the new world was rough, to say the least. I thought I might teleport in, walk through a mystical door, something like that. Leiana hadn’t exactly given me a chance to ask these questions.

I guess that’s why I was currently drowning. I’d learned to doggy paddle with the best of them, but this went much deeper than I realized. My arms flailed around helplessly. Were those bubbles coming from me? 

Did I seriously just get dropped into a new world just to die again?

And then I saw her. A lithe, black-haired girl was swimming down towards me. Her expression was hard to read through the water’s blur, and my consciousness was fading. I extended my hand and felt a tug at my wrist. That was the last thing I remembered.

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When I came to, golden eyes bore into my head. Her stare was so intense. I wanted to speak, but my body was still so weak like I’d just run ten miles instead of thrashing my arms in a giant puddle. Why was I so weak? My arms and legs burned like hell. But, I could feel sand on my back and the warm sun on my face. And here was a dark-haired beauty staring me in the eyes.

“Hey” is what I wanted to say. Instead, it came out as a gurgled mess of water and saliva. I coughed up all over my chest, and the girl was quick to take my hand in hers and lift the back of my head up. What an angel. Nothing like the manager that dropped me in the ocean. Some noble death that would’ve been. Newly reborn and died drowning. What a hero.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked.

“Been better. I’ll live.” I could speak a little more clearly. There was still some salt and water in my mouth and something stringy I couldn’t name, but I was alive. And man, what a time to be alive. I reached one trembling hand up and brushed her cheek with my fingertips. “Thanks.”

The girl suddenly lurched backward and let go of me. I felt the back of my skull hit a rock on the way down. She yelped, and her cheeks turned pink. I would have yelled if I had the energy, and I was pretty sure I was bleeding. Instead, I just lay there watching the girl frantically pat the sand away from her one-piece swimsuit. 

At least I got what I asked for. 

There were ears atop her head the same color as her hair. Out of the corner of my eye was the wagging of a thin, bushy tail. This was undoubtedly the heaven I was promised.

“I-I’m sorry! Are… are you okay?” The girl hunched over me again, concern written on her face. She waved her hands over my chest, hovering as if afraid to touch me again.

“More than okay. I’m great.”

“Huh? But you almost just died! And you hit your head! I need to get you to the village!”

There was newfound energy within my chest. I found myself suppressing the pain and exhaustion to climb to my feet. My mind was set on one goal—to see more catgirls. “Then let’s go.”

She hesitated before taking my arm and wrapping it around her shoulders. She was stronger than I expected, but still, she struggled beneath my weight. I shifted my legs to help her out some, and we awkwardly sauntered across the rocky coastline.

“Your clothes are weird,” she said suddenly. “Are you from one of the other islands?”

“Erm. Not really.” I realized I’d been dropped in my green hoodie, a t-shirt, and jeans. They were sopping wet and clinging to my skin, but it was an outfit I recognized from my limited wardrobe in my previous life. My tennis shoes and socks squelched in the sand as we walked.

“Oh. I see.” She chewed her lip in silence and we continued. 

On the way up, something dropped out of my back pocket. We both turned to see what it was. The sunlight glinted from a metallic object, masking its shape. Realization lit her gaze.

“An iPaw,” she gasped.

“A what?”

“You’re the next one!” Her eyes were alight with wonder, almost child-like. She made to reach for it, shifting me clumsily around and grunting all the while. Bits of sand kicked up around her hand, and I nearly pitched to the side with the effort. This was going nowhere fast.

“I got it.” My legs were still a bit wobbly, kind of like I’d had one too many to drink, and I bent on one knee to steady myself. A device that reminded me of a cell phone was down in the sand—a small, black square with a reflective screen and two pointed shapes on top, like tiny cat ears. I picked it up and swept the sand off of the screen. “What is this?”

“I just told you! It’s an iPaw! ”

What a ridiculous name. “Some junk from the ocean?” I tossed it over my shoulder without a second thought.

“No! You mustn’t!”

A half-second later, I felt something strange against my back pocket. I reached in and retracted the iPaw once more. “The hell?” This time I walked up to the shoreline and threw it as hard as I could. To my surprise, the device flew a scant few feet away, just barely enough to fall into the water. Maybe I can’t lift three hundred pounds, but I know I could throw farther than that.

“Don’t!” she cried out. The girl ran to my side and coiled her arms around my arm. “It’s a precious device!”

“It’s just junk! Some dumb girl who probably got sick of her old phone and threw it out!” I said, pointedly looking at her. 

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It seemed as though that was precisely the moment the phone was waiting for. The familiar weight returned to my back pocket. “This is ridiculous.”

“Just trust me! Let me show you how it works.”

Well, it’s not my world, I guess. Can’t ignore a request from a catgirl. Once I pulled it back out, the girl took a step back and held out her hand.

“Give it here.”

“No argument from me.” 

She practically snatched the thing away from me. Her thumb rested against the side of the phone, and with a single push of a button, the device grew to the size of, well, an iPad. The screen exploded in a burst of bright colors and lights. Her face lit up with the LEDs. 

“It actually works?” I moved to her side, admiring the delicate curve of her shoulders on the way.

“Yes! It’s an ancient device only men can use!” 

My mouth opened, but the words didn’t come. 

“You use this to keep track of tasks, your stats, your abilities, all kinds of things! Didn’t you know that? How do you not know that?”

“How am I supposed to know that?”

“That’s common knowledge among all men and catgirls!”  I looked at the screen. She used one of her slender, pearl-white fingers and tapped on a house-shaped emblem. I couldn’t help but notice that the house also had ears and a tail. Going strong with the theme, I see. 

“Uh-huh. And uh, how does this...iPaw...work?” My face appeared on the screen, and I was surprised that the red streak I put in my hair was still there. So I guess I really did have the same body as before. 

“Here you can see your stats.” She held out the iPaw, and I cautiously took it into my hands. On the screen was an array of options like a JRPG.

[Items], [Stats], [Combat Skills], [Life Skills], [Affinity], [Party], [Quests], and [Options].

Something that stuck out to me was the question marks next to my portrait. Now that I thought about it, we hadn’t shared our names yet. “By the way, my name’s Matt.”

She clasped her hands in front of her with a wide smile. “Keke.”

With our names traded, a strange golden glow enveloped the two of us, spinning like dancing fireflies. A cold breeze blew, ruffling our hair. It only lasted for a few seconds. Instinctively, I looked back at the screen and saw my name was now listed beside my portrait. I breathed a sigh of relief to see ‘Matt’ and not ‘Matthew Kelmer.’ What was more interesting was the portrait below mine. It was of Keke. She wore a white sailor’s cap and ribbon, along with a sailor’s uniform and a red choker. 

Undeniably cute. Undeniably catgirl.

Without warning, Keke stole the iPaw away from me. For making such a big deal of why I shouldn’t let go of it, she seemed to have a knack for taking it away whenever it suited her. 

As she leered at the screen, her eyes glossed over, and her fingers trembled. She teetered on her feet, and for a moment, I thought she’d faint. I wasn’t exactly in a great position to catch her, but I repositioned to try.

“You okay?” I asked, holding my arms uselessly in front of me to catch her.

“Perfectly!” Her eyes cleared, and she shook her head. She shoved the iPaw back into my chest, knocking the wind from me with the force. “Feel grateful! I’m going to teach you how to improve your skills and way of life!”

“I feel indebted already.” The iPaw shrank back to cell phone-sized, and I pocketed it. Alright. Show me how it’s done, Keke.

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