The Record of Unusual Creatures Chapter 6: For Crying Out Loud, You’re A Werewolf!

Chapter 6: For Crying Out Loud, You’re A Werewolf!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lily had already transformed into her werewolf form before scurrying behind the sofa.
Kneeling behind the sofa, Lily cautiously peeked out revealing half of her head. Her long, silver hair was cascading to the ground whilst her silver-white ears constantly twitched, seemingly being very much aware of her surroundings. She also seemed prepared for battle. Hao Ren felt that this mysterious being with half a strand of noodle and some vegetables in its mouth did not resemble anything majestic at all. Moreover, what Lily did next further convinced Hao Ren. She grabbed a pair of chopsticks while trembling and pointed to the black and white cat at his feet, and with a quavering voice,she cried, "Cat… Cat!"
"Meow?" The black and white cat tilted its head, curious about the uninvited guest present in its home. This made Lily tremble. Being a cat, it completely disregarded Lily moments later, not bothering to even spare a glance towards her. Witnessing this, Hao Ren was dumbstruck. After some careful thought, he looked at Lily as if she was confronted by a mortal enemy and unbelievingly asked, "You... are afraid of cats?"
"I… I’m not afraid of cats!" said Lily obstinately, as if she was a proud pitbull. "I was just being apprehensive!"
"It’s the same thing!" said Hao Ren, who was unable to comprehend why a werewolf would be afraid of a cat. Without caring that the other party was a werewolf, moreover a newly acquainted one, he shouted, "For crying out loud! You are a werewolf!"
"I am a werewolf!" Lily finally was conscious that her actions were somewhat embarrassing. Also, irritated by Hao Ren’s gaze and speech, she put up a brave front and came out from behind the sofa. Pretending to go back to the side of the dining table, Lily tiptoed around the living room wall to the other end of the living room. "Are you sure that this cat is safe?"
"What’s not safe about this cat?" saying this, Hao Ren conveniently scooped up the black and white cat. "I’ve never met a cat that’s so tame. Do you agree with me, Rollie1?
Immediately, the black and white cat meowed softly, looking very tame. Upon seeing this, Hao Ren happily took the cat’s feeding bowl, filled it to the brim, and placed it next to the dining table (This was the cat’s usual feeding place). At the same time, Hao Ren pointed to Lily to introduce the cat to her and said, "This is Lily, and she’s a werewolf… Erm, this might not be of any importance to you, but in any case, just know that she is a guest in our home. From now on, your food will depend on how much rent she can provide, so be nice to the one that pays for your food okay?"
As if it understood human language, the black and white cat raised its head and nodded at Lily, indicating its approval, before it continued eating.
At this, Lily only felt that the cat was harmless. She carefully trotted back to the dining table, with the bowl of noodles in her hands, choosing a safe spot which was furthest away from the cat. Suddenly, as if she recalled something, she enquired, "What did you call the cat just now?"
"Rollie", Hao Ren looked down to his only ‘family member’. "His name is Rollie."
Lily’s silver hair and wolf ears slowly retracted as she calmed down. In all honesty, Hao Ren was still feeling quite guilty. With a look of amazement on Lily’s face, she asked, "Why does it have such a weird name?"
"This cat came to my house last year," Hao Ren answered with a chuckle, elaborating on the background of his cat. "I had no idea what breed it was. This is a remote place, with many wild cats and dogs and to have one or two entering your house unnoticed is pretty common. But somehow, this cat did not leave after it came, I’ve tried driving it out away a few times but to no avail…"
"So you name it ‘Rollie’? Hoping that it will roll2 away?" Lily asked with glaring eyes.
"No, it likes to jump onto the bed when I’m watching TV and I used to shout ‘roll off’ to shoo it away. It was effective at first, but as time passed by, whenever I shout ‘roll off’ it’ll come towards me instead. This cat thinks that its name is ‘roll off’, so its name is really Rollie now.
After hearing this, Lily ate her food silently and moments later said, "Feels like this is a weird place."
Hao Ren rolled his eyes, thinking: There’s nothing in this house that’s weirder than you. This werewolf had her common sense turned upside down!
It was already nine in the evening after they finished their meal. It was Rollie’s time of the day to be active. It ran to the first floor to patrol its territory. On the other hand, Hao Ren left his cutleries in the kitchen sink, letting them soak overnight so that he can wash them the following day. After that, he lit a cigarette, sat in the living room, and stared blankly into space, continuing to sort out the day’s events in his mind and sighed as he felt that he had great difficulty in accepting what had happened.
Also full of energy, the werewolf was running up and down the stairs, trying to familiarize with her new home. Lily sniffed around every new place she passed, as if trying to memorize all the scents.
Although Lily was in her human form now, Hao Ren could’t help but imagine that she still had pointy ears and a swishy tail. In normal circumstances, Hao Ren would have shared what was in his mind when a guest was being too comfortable in his home. However, with Lily, he had nothing left to say.
He thought to himself, "It is normal for wolves to mark their territories. Now, I just hope that this particular wolf is aware that this is not her home and that she’s just a tenant." Considering Lily’s current actions, this would not be a problem.
Anyway, no matter what the circumstances were, Hao Ren was sure that he was not a worthy opponent for the werewolf.
Was it a mistake to invite a non-human with such high fighting capacity into his home in such a manner?
After regaining his composure, Hao Ren couldn’t help but think it through. But after much consideration, he felt that he made the right choice and in fact… looked forward to seeing how things would develop in the future.
This was actually him asking for trouble as a normal person should learn to avoid danger, and not approach a mysterious being that was capable of taking his life, out of curiosity. However, Hao Ren was tired of his mundane daily life.
He loved reading novels, watching television as well as reading different weird sci-fi stories. This was the monotonous and empty state of life that every single adolescent who did not have to worry about money would choose to live in. Hao Ren was not that childish and was still not that sick of his meaningless life. His first reaction when faced with random pop-ups online would be to close them. But this did not seem to dampen Hao Ren’s curiosity when faced with "new excitements". This was due to the psychology of seeking novelty. Once the psychology of seeking novelty is satisfied, some would have stepped back, whilst some…
Would have reacted the same way as Hao Ren.
No matter what, he needed to be aware of the weird but dangerous bat. Although unclear on why he was a target for the bat, Hao Ren accepted this fact. He was not the kind who ran away from reality but would keenly search for ways to increase his chances of survival. For example, taking in a werewolf who seemingly possessed such high fighting capabilities yet was still quite friendly and negotiable.
"Landlord! Here is your rent!" Lily was scurrying around the house (there were outcries whenever she bumped into Rollie during this frenzy) and finally came to her senses about her current form. She happily trotted to the house to get her purse, calculated her rent and stuffed it into Hao Ren’s hands saying, "According to the advertisement you put up, this is 3 months’ rent in advance, how much is the additional cost for food?"
Apart from being negotiable, this was a werewolf who willingly paid her rent. No one could ever find this scenario in a book.
"Food will be free!" Hao Ren realized Lily frowned as soon as she smelled the cigarette smoke (such keen sense of smell!) and he consciously put out his cigarette. "An extra mouth to feed will not cost much. Plus, don’t keep calling me landlord, I have a name. Just call me Hao Ren."
"OK, landlord."
"Call me Hao Ren…"
"Yes landlord."
"… forget about it. I’m going to bed, so make yourself at home. Do not simply enter the rooms that are locked, but other rooms should be fine." Hao Ren sighed and went into his room. As Lily was about to leave, a new topic came to her mind. "Oh landlord, you wouldn’t attack me in the middle of the night right? It’s just you and me in this house and it’s my first time renting a room from a bachelor…"
Upon hearing this, Hao Ren nearly fell to the ground. He angrily turned around, stared at the werewolf and said, "For my own personal safety, I would never ever attack you at night. So there’s nothing for you to worry about!"
Translator Notes
1 Rollie (滚, Gǔn) The meaning of this word is ‘roll’. However, the author uses 滚 as a short for 滚开, which means to buzz off. Since the meaning of the RAW would be lost in translation, I decided to explain the reason for the choice of name and how that scenario actually flowed smoothly in the original RAW.
2 Similarly, the roll away here meant to buzz off. I had it translated as roll away to retain the reason for Hao Ren naming his cat Rollie.