As a semi-holographic game, "Cat House Simulator" is essentially an upgraded version of VR games, and live-streaming VR games already has a mature system in place.
For this closed beta test, one hundred domestic players and six international players were selected and invited to the headquarters of Huanyu Company in Haishi for an on-site experience.
They can use VR pods to get the full gaming experience.
Considering the many other players who have been eagerly waiting, the company also decided to have one staff member experience and live-stream the beta process, participating in the early promotional activities.
At first... they planned to invite a streamer.
Or rather, they could have invited a celebrity, but "Cat House" was born under the spotlight, frequently trending on social media. As soon as the company released a bit of news, many people with their own fanbases came knocking—
Everyone knew that live-streaming the beta would give them a huge boost in popularity in front of both domestic and international players, even more effective than starring in some well-known movies.
Huanyu Company: "..."
Boss! Boss, when are you coming back from Antarctica...
This made it awkward to reject anyone, and choosing anyone was also tricky. The only person who could legitimately overshadow everyone was Chu Tingwu herself... but she just happened to be unavailable.
After some discussion, Chu Tingwu made the final decision: "Let's just randomly pick someone from the staff."
They weren't planning to find a spokesperson for the game (what's the point of having a real-life spokesperson for a single-player game?), nor did they need to ride on the fame of celebrities. It was better to just find an ordinary staff member willing to appear on camera.
Liang Ling became that "lucky" staff member.
She wasn't even from the subsidiary company—she was an intern at the Xingyun Charity Foundation and had just casually signed up!
However, she was willing to sign up even knowing she might have to "live-stream" because she had a naturally outgoing personality and didn't feel embarrassed about streaming.
Now sitting in the break room, she suddenly felt a bit nervous:
"Will there be tens of thousands of people in the stream? I've never streamed before! How do I even play this game? Will my face be shown?"
The staff member accompanying her reassured her: "Don't worry, just think of yourself as a VTuber. The audience will only see your avatar—as for how to play, you'll have to figure it out yourself. It's better if you go in completely fresh."
Liang Ling: "..."
Actually, she wasn't completely clueless. It's just that, well, she had just graduated, and VR equipment was still a bit pricey for her. Plus, she was busy with work and didn't have time to watch others stream "Cat Box."
For today's stream, aside from a bonus, the company was also giving her the use of a VR pod! It couldn't be resold, but she could use it freely!
With her eyes on the bonus and the gift, Liang Ling entered the VR pod.
At first, everything was dark. She could feel the slight restraint of the equipment around her body and a faint tingling sensation. Then, light suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Liang Ling: "Wow..."
"Hmm, how do I describe this!? It's like a cartoon suddenly turned three-dimensional... you'd never see this kind of art style in real life, but after adjusting, it feels just right..."
In front of her seemed to be the game's start screen. The art style was indeed warm and bright, but Liang Ling felt like she had no body, just a floating mass of air with only her eyes able to move, looking around, while her body remained temporarily immobile.
She also noticed... a chat box in the top-left corner? The empty space below would likely display the audience's comments, while the top row would show some prompts from the staff.
The number of viewers was currently zero.
Liang Ling: "QvQ"
So the stream hasn't even started yet! She just wasted her lines for nothing!
The staff didn't point it out, instead prompting her in the top row that the stream was about to begin.
Viewers using VR devices would be able to experience what she was feeling, while those watching on computers or phones would see her first-person perspective.
A few minutes later, the stream began.
Liang Ling quickly greeted the audience and then saw a chunky loading bar appear in front of her. Once it finished loading, she realized she could move, even float up, down, left, and right.
Liang Ling: "Ohhh!"
She exclaimed: "Is this what VR feels like? There's really a sense of floating!"
Viewers: "?"
[I feel for her... has she never used VR before?]
[Last time I felt this floating sensation was in a hang gliding streamer's channel, but there was wind there. Here, there's none.]
[That's true, but hurry up and start the game, streamer! Who gets this excited at the login screen?]
Liang Ling hadn't forgotten to start the game. Although she wasn't sure about the controls, after floating around, she instinctively "bumped" into the "Start Game" button in mid-air.
The button shattered like a cloud, and then the scene began to change. She felt like she was being forced to land.
But not on two feet—on four paws!
["After escaping from the cat box, you arrive at the Pet Love Community... You think maybe you should settle down here."]
[Main Quest Activated: Live in the Pet Love Community for a full year.]
Liang Ling first saw tall buildings all around her.
To be precise, she saw four buildings of the same height, about... eight stories tall, in front, behind, to her left, and to her right.
She had landed in the center of these four buildings, which formed a square. Between the buildings were pathways, and the central area was divided into three parts: a low, empty garage, a row of trash bins, and a flat lawn.
As she looked around, focusing on the surroundings, bits of information popped up.
[Abandoned Garage]: The roof has a big hole, but the surrounding area can still provide shelter from wind and rain. During bad weather, this might be a good resting spot, and you think it could be renovated into your home.
[Trash Bins x6]: You can scavenge for food and materials here. Building a house or tools will require raw materials.
[Lawn]: You can't build your house on the pathways, and this area tends to collect rainwater. Humans might also appear here randomly, and you'll have to share this space with them.
Liang Ling tentatively took a step. Hmm, she tried walking on two legs but felt a bit unsteady. When she switched to using all four limbs—her front and back paws—she sighed in relief: "This is much faster!"
Not only was it faster, but she also felt a sense of confidence. She could see her tail swaying slowly, giving her the illusion that she could "take on ten enemies at once!"
But the viewers noticed—
[Have you never played "Cat Box"?]
[Yeah, if you'd played "Cat Box," you'd be walking smoothly by now.]
[Honestly, if it were me, I'd already be trying to jump onto the garage roof—]
[You're overestimating yourself!]
Liang Ling hadn't played "Cat Box," but she had heard that playing it would help with "Cat House Simulator." Seeing her ask questions so humbly, the viewers didn't mind that she was a newbie and were even eager to explain—
Many people had already completed "Cat Box," and some had even made tutorials. They also discovered that "Cat Box" was actually a prelude to "Cat House," both in gameplay and story.
The protagonist, a tortoiseshell cat, escapes from various "boxes"—cardboard boxes, rooms, and even entire houses. In the story, the tortoiseshell cat is a stray that gets captured, and from small boxes to large houses, each is its prison. Players need to gradually master the cat's skills to complete increasingly difficult escape missions.
While the viewers were explaining, Liang Ling had already strutted over to the trash bins!
Probably for gameplay purposes, the trash bins didn't smell, and the garbage inside was just broken and scattered, not visually dirty.
Of course, there wasn't much useful stuff in them either.
However, when Liang Ling picked up one of the wooden plaques, she received a side quest prompt, instructing her to hang the plaque as a "doorplate" in front of the garage.
Liang Ling: "..."
How do I pick it up again?
She hesitated for a moment but eventually opened her mouth.
While others might feel a bit awkward about this method, Liang Ling thought, "Well, if I’m carrying it in my mouth, you all would probably do the same!"
The live-stream audience watching through VR: "..."
[Darn it, why do I feel like the streamer is taking advantage of me?]
After hanging the doorplate, it was time to name her character. The game prompted her to give her controlled cat character a name. Liang Ling didn’t overthink it and simply named it "Kitty." Once the name was set, three important stats appeared.
[Your territory has officially been established. You can now check your [Stamina], [Mood], and [Building Level].]
At that moment, the square plot of land seemed to come alive. A map appeared in the upper left corner, ready to be opened and explored, though the icons representing buildings were quite rudimentary.
...And it wasn’t called a "map" but rather a "territory."
Daily tasks were also activated.
Liang Ling: "I can leave my... pheromones at the edges of the map every day?"
The pheromones appeared as semi-transparent markers only she could see. Leaving different pheromones might attract different "visitors."
As for the in-game "day," she glanced up. The sun was currently at the waist of the second building, lazily shining through the window. When the sun circled the four buildings and sank below them, the moon would rise above the roof.
And she was still diligently working on her renovations!
Renovating was so much fun! Especially when livestreaming it, and even more so when your furniture was randomly drawn and freely assembled!
The "random draw" aspect came from the fact that she never knew what she might dig out of the trash. She couldn’t bear to throw anything away, not even mismatched shards of glass, because the live-stream audience, despite not playing themselves, chimed in with their own gaming experiences:
[Don’t throw it away! If it’s not trash now, it’ll definitely be useful later!]
The rest of the silent audience: "..." No, but it’s literally from the trash!
The next second, the streamer excitedly pulled out a window blueprint!
Liang Ling: "Oh! I can make a stained-glass window with wire inlays!"
She grabbed the blueprint and rushed to her workshop!
The game didn’t have an "inventory," but it did have a "waste sorting" feature. Once the trash was sorted, it could be directly moved to the garage.
To craft furniture, players received a batch of simple blueprints at the start of the game. By following the blueprints to make furniture, they could unlock the next set of blueprints.
However, the designs were quite basic, so there was also a chance to find blueprints in the trash, which counted as "surprise drops."
Additionally, there were blueprints unlocked through [Achievements]. For example, crafting the six initial items—"Simple Wooden Scratching Post," "Simple Wooden Cat Bed," "Simple Wooden Ball," etc.—unlocked the blueprint for a "Wooden Bird Wind Chime."
Now, the wind chime hung from the garage roof. Any furniture she crafted could be moved and arranged freely according to her mood.
During this time, a few NPCs entered her vicinity: a resident who came to throw away trash (providing Liang Ling with a pile of mechanical parts she didn’t need yet), a resident walking their dog on the lawn (unlocking a mini-game of playing fetch with the dog, which rewarded food), and a seven- or eight-year-old child.
The child seemed to want to enter the garage, but upon seeing her "big cat" and the doorplate, they peeked inside, pondered for a moment, and then left thoughtfully.
Liang Ling: "..."
Liang Ling: "Now I understand why cats are so protective of their territory!"
Even though it was just a child, they were so much taller than her, and she had no idea if they were a troublemaker. She really didn’t want them coming inside—
Even though, according to the storyline, she was just a stray cat, and this wasn’t technically her garage.
"But I’ve already nailed the doorplate!" Liang Ling declared confidently. "I’ve written my name on it, so it’s mine!"
With a strange sense of vigilance, she chose to "sleep" in the game. In the blink of an eye, she noticed a peculiar smell.
The game naturally included touch and scent, but it removed anything that might make players uncomfortable. This time, however, the scent was odd—a faint milky smell. Liang Ling poked her head out from under the doorplate—
On the third day in the game, a cage appeared in front of her garage.
Inside the cage, a calico kitten, no more than a month old, was dozing.
"!?"
She’d found a cat! She’d found a cat, folks! It just showed up at her doorstep!
She rushed over, deftly unlocked the cage, and lifted the mewling calico kitten with her front paws, excitedly bringing it back home!
Hang on, little one, I’ll go scavenge through trash to take care of you!
