The sky was a bruised shade of purple and orange as Luna, with her newfound three-headed pet in tow, stumbled through the ruined city. The Cerberus—which she had affectionately, and a little ironically, named "Cerbie"—was surprisingly obedient. It walked beside her, its massive heads occasionally bumping into her to seek affection, its low whines of joy a stark contrast to the apocalyptic landscape.
"You're a good boy, Cerbie, yes you are," she cooed, scratching the middle head's scaly chin. Her voice, still the high-pitched chirp of a 16-year-old girl, felt less alien to her with every passing moment. The absurdity of it all had begun to settle in, morphing from a nightmare into a bizarre new reality.
As night fell, a new threat emerged—not monsters, but the chilling cold. The air, once humid and tropical, was now biting and sharp. She realized with a shiver that her catgirl outfit, a cute but flimsy sailor uniform, offered no protection. Her Vtuber character design had been all about aesthetics, not practicality. She was a cute catgirl, but she was also a human being in a hostile environment, and humans needed shelter.
She spotted it then: a large, brightly lit building in the distance. It was an abandoned shopping mall. The front door was ajar, and a faint, ethereal glow emanated from within. It was an impossible beacon of safety in this ruined world. As she drew closer, she saw why. A holographic sign, flickering slightly, projected a message: "Virtual Hunters Guild - Safe Zone. All Hunters Welcome."
"A guild," she whispered, her heart pounding. "Maybe they can help me."
Stepping inside, she was met with a sight that was both a relic of the past and a sign of the future. The food court, once bustling with shoppers, was now a makeshift barracks. The tables were pushed together to form communal dining areas, and the shops were now converted into private quarters. The people, all of them Virtual Hunters, looked nothing like the exhausted salarymen and students he had imagined. They were vibrant, energetic, and dressed in the bizarre, colorful costumes of their Vtuber avatars.
"Whoa, a new one!" a girl with a fiery red streak in her hair and an eyepatch over one eye shouted. Her avatar was a rogue-like character, all leather and sharp edges. "And she's got a Cerberus! Hey, I'm Kurenai! What's your name, little kitty?"
Luna flinched. The social anxiety he had felt for years as Takanashi Kado resurfaced. But this wasn't his old self. This was Luna. And Luna was a confident, cute catgirl. She straightened her posture and gave a slight bow.
"I'm Luna. It's... nice to meet you."
Kurenai laughed, a hearty, warm sound that cut through the tension. "Nice to meet you too! Don't mind me, I just thought it was really cool that you tamed one of those things. The Virtual Hunters Guild is a weird place, but it's home now. Come on, I'll show you around."
As Luna followed Kurenai, she realized this was it. Her new life. She wasn't an office worker anymore. She was a Virtual Hunter, a member of a guild, and she had a Cerberus for a pet. The world outside was a wasteland, but here, in this impossible sanctuary, a new community was being forged. The old Takanashi Kado might have been a loser crushed by reality, but Luna, the 16-year-old catgirl, was just getting started.