"...Wake..."
"Wake... Meowster..."
"...Wake up... Meowster..."
The disjointed calls and an unknown pushing and shoving gradually stirred Sherwin from his slumber. Still a bit groggy, he instinctively tried to sit up—
Huh?
Why can't I move?
Though his mind had cleared, Sherwin found that he couldn't even open his eyes.
What the hell! Sleep paralysis?!
It wasn't the first time something like this had happened to him, so he wasn't exactly panicking. What puzzled him more was—he lived alone, so who the heck was trying to wake him up?
At that moment, the voice rang out once more—
"Wake up, meow! Meowster!"
!!!
With that final shout, the force restraining Sherwin suddenly vanished. With a jolt, he shot up from the soft, damp sand and looked toward the strange creature who had been trying to wake him—
A small cat, standing upright on two legs, wearing a white coat and a chef hat, with pale yellow fur.
Well, calling it "small" might not be entirely accurate, because from Sherwin sitting perspective, the cat was actually a bit taller than him...
Holy crap! I sat up too fast—I'm seeing a Felyne waking me up?!
As a veteran Monster Hunter player, there was no way Sherwin wouldn't recognize this "furry" character. The problem was—
That a character from a video game!
Thinking he must be either severely sleep-deprived or still dreaming, Sherwin decisively flopped back onto the still-damp sand, hoping to get a little more sleep and snap out of whatever weird dream this was.
"Why are you going back to sleep again, meow?!"
The chef-outfitted Felyne growled as it raised its fluffy little paw and delivered a series of kitty punches straight to Sherwin face.
"What the—this isn't a dream?!"
The soft pads of the little cat paw didn't hurt much, but the sensation was far too real. Combined with the cold, clammy feeling of the damp sand on his back, everything screamed to Sherwin that this wasn't a dream at all.
"Did the seawater scramble your brain, meow? Of course this isn't a dream!"
The Felyne crossed its arms and gave Sherwin a sideways glance as he sat up again. On its fuzzy little face was a vividly complex expression—one-third disdain, one-third helplessness, and one-third sorrow.
Don't tell me I've...
…traveled to another world?
As a long-time shut-in with a functioning mind and plenty of experience reading isekai novels and anime, it wasn't at all unreasonable for Sherwin to jump to that conclusion.
After all, anyone who wakes up on a beach with a talking Felyne beside them would likely come to the same thought.
With his usual laid-back attitude, Sherwin stood up, brushing the sand off his clothes while scanning his surroundings...
He was currently on a beach. Aside from the thick jungle behind him, the rest of the area was surrounded by an endless stretch of ocean.
So… am I on some kind of island?
Sherwin scratched his head. Could it be he had ended up in the world of Monster Hunter 3?
From what he remembered, that was the only mainline game—MH3, including MH3U—that was set predominantly at sea.
Wait, no...
He quickly dismissed the idea.
If memory served, the companions in MH3 weren't Felynes, but a strange tribal race called Shakalakas. In earlier titles, they had appeared as minor enemies.
Also, he clearly remembered what this Felyne had called him earlier—Meowster. That title was used in Monster Hunter: World.
Could this be a mash-up?
Sherwin didn't find the idea particularly strange. If he hadn't crossed into a pure game world but rather into a "real" world built on the game setting, then elements from multiple titles being blended together was perfectly reasonable.
For now, though, the top priority was figuring out just where they were.
"Do you know where we are right now? And how to get to the nearest village?" Sherwin asked the Felyne after organizing his thoughts.
"No idea, meow." The little cat shook its head. "When I woke up, all I saw was you lying here next to me, Meowster… Meow? Strange…"
The Felyne twitched its ears and tilted its head, muttering, "Why did I even think you were the Meowster, meow? This is clearly our first time meeting, and you don't even look like the Meowster, meow."
"Uh…" Sherwin froze for a second, then chuckled awkwardly. "Maybe… because I've actually earned the Meowster title before?"
Though it was only in the game.
The Felyne gave him a once-over, top to bottom, then narrowed its eyes in suspicion. "You? How old are you, meow?"
Only then did Sherwin notice something odd—he had already stood up, yet from his point of view, he wasn't much taller than the Felyne in front of him.
In a panic, Sherwin looked down at his body, running his hands over his arms, legs, and face.
The stubbly chin he had before was now smooth. His limbs were thinner and shorter. And his height—judging by the Felyne average of around one meter—was barely a head taller than the cat, meaning he couldn't be more than about 130 centimeters tall now.
"What the hell! Why did I turn into a kid?!!"
Maybe it was a "world lag" or something, but Sherwin felt like his reactions were somehow half a beat too slow… or maybe more than just half a beat.
Honestly, a change this obvious—no matter how dense he was—he really should have noticed it right away.
Not to mention, his clothes had completely changed. Gone were the SpongeBob pajamas he'd worn to bed. In their place was a set of coarse linen gear straight out of Monster Hunter—exactly what your character wears when you first create them in the game.
Under normal circumstances, Sherwin might've actually been excited to have a younger body—more years to live was always a win in his book.
But given the situation… he had probably landed in the Monster Hunter world. And aside from the jungle nearby—who knew what kinds of monsters lurked within—there wasn't a single trace of other humans around. In this tiny kid-sized body of his, he wouldn't stand a chance. Forget Rathalos or Rathian—even a Velociprey would be the end of him.
Even if he were back in his adult body, things probably wouldn't be that much better…
Sherwin was well aware of how poor his physical fitness was.
He turned his eyes back to the Felyne.
"So uh… you can fight, right?"
Back in the early MH games, the chef cats and battle cats could switch roles pretty easily.
"Aren't you supposed to be the Meowster?!" the pale-yellow Felyne growled with a puffed-up face that was more cute than fierce. Still, it gave a small nod.
"If it just foraging or basic gathering, I can handle that, meow. But if it large monsters or anything draconic, don't even think about relying on me, meow."
"Whew…" Sherwin let out a breath of relief. "That good enough. With these tiny arms and legs of mine, I wasn't planning on messing with any monsters anyway."
"And that exactly why you don't seem like the Meowster, meow!" The Felyne shot him a look full of feline disdain.
"I did get shrunk, you know… and it not like I have any weapons or gear on me…" Sherwin muttered defensively, trying to save face—but inside, he was already panicking.
If he didn't find a "starter village" soon, he'd probably end up as monster chow within a few days.
And then it happened—like a dam breaking, a torrent of hunter-related memories came flooding into his mind. Survival skills, weapon techniques, item usage, and all the fundamental "common knowledge" that a proper hunter should know suddenly became crystal clear to him.
It felt like a long time passed… or maybe it was just an instant.
Snapping out of his daze, Sherwin looked down instinctively—and noticed something at his waist. There it was, a rugged little pouch hanging from his belt, something very much like the starting gear characters had when creating a new file in the game.
According to those freshly imprinted "common knowledge" memories, this pouch was a hunter item satchel—just like in the games—and it could hold a lot more than it seemed.
But unlike the tidy little inventory grids from the game interface, he couldn't see a visual display. Instead, it worked more like the spatial gear you'd read about in cultivation novels—he could feel the contents with his mind.
So… did I get transported into the actual game? Or did I somehow inherit a hunter template? Or maybe… maybe this world just works like this?
Whatever the truth, having a dimensional storage pouch and a Felyne companion right from the start made him way luckier than most people who got isekai'd.
But still…
If I've already got a cat, where the Palamute?! You can ride those, fight with them, they're tanky and can wall-run!
Suppressing his indignation, Sherwin refocused and slipped his hand into the dimensional pouch, planning to check what starter gear he'd been given—anything that might be useful in surviving the days to come…
Just like the knowledge he'd just received, the moment Sherwin reached into the pouch, he instinctively became aware of the items stored inside.
First up—two Potions. Absolute lifesavers. He'd definitely need to ration those until he could find a village.
Next, three pieces of Portable Well-Done Steak… Not entirely useless, though with a chef-class Felyne tagging along, it was a bit redundant. Still, better than nothing.
Then, he sensed a Hunter Field Guide—probably containing some helpful info, but he didn't exactly have the time to flip through it right now.
Besides that, Sherwin discovered:
A Fishing Rod
A Portable BBQ Spit
A small Carving Knife
A Whetstone (infinite use, apparently)
One Paralysis Trap
Five Paintballs
One Sonic Bomb
Two Raw Meats
One Flame Sac
One Large Hide from a Velocidrome
…Okay, what the heck? This pouch is kind of a mess.
Sherwin scratched his head in confusion. The contents didn't feel like a "newbie loadout," but it wasn't quite a high-end setup either. Instead, it felt suspiciously like the inventory of a mid-game player—someone who had only just gotten the hang of things.
And another thing—this had to be some kind of mashup version! Paintballs hadn't been used in the newer games for ages, and Whetstones used to be consumable in the older titles. Why were both present?
Not that the items were useless… but aside from the Potions, most of them wouldn't be much help given his current situation.
So… where the hell is my Wirebug?! You gave me a BBQ spit—but no Wirebug?! Even the combat knowledge I just gained included Wirebug techniques!
Okay, fine! No Wirebug? At least give me a Slinger or something!
Irritated, Sherwin kept mentally swiping through the cluttered inventory, until he finally sensed what he'd been hoping for—a weapon.
Only…
"Why the hell is it the Longsword?!!"