Chapter Text
[..Welcome...to.…dream…everyone!!]
Uggggh... so noisy....
[…….employees…….successfully passed…be proud……! Haha!…… let’s begin….]
Eughhh why is it so noisy.... he’s trying to sleep here....
Wait.
Why is it so noisy? There shouldn't be any noise in his neighbourhood, plus he's the only one living in this house so why-
Kim Soleum opened his eyes in shock and looked up only to see the back of a chair, blocking his view of what's happening in front. He hurriedly lifted his head up higher to try to see past the blockade, only to come upon the view of a conference hall with the emcee explaining something.
It seems that he's in the middle of an employee orientation...? Where is this? How did he get here? All Kim Soleum could remember was walking out the pop up store after winning the special prize. He didn't remember anything else afterwards, aside from some slight dizziness.
Not to mention... something felt off…? What-
“A… a cat..?”
“…..!!”
Kim Soleum whipped his head around and stared daggers at the person next to him. The man with curly brown hair and a gentle expression — seated next to him — flinched in surprise and leaned further back from him.
‘A cat? Did he call me a cat? What-‘
A shiver ran through his tail(!?) as Kim Soleum looked down at his paws(?!?!!?) – instead of human hands, all he could see was black furry paws and a long fluffy tail curled tightly around his body.
'I.... I'm a cat...?'
....
'I became a cat....'
....
'Me. A Cat.'
ThatcantberightWhywhathappenedwhereishehowdidhegetherewhycantherememberanythingwhyisheacathessupposedtobeahumanwhy-
[You are the chosen candidates!]
‘Candidates?’
Kim Soleum shook himself free from his spiraling thoughts and pricked his ears up to hear the emcee better.
[In fact, only a select few of those who applied through this job posting have been gathered in Orientation Room A for this special session!]
[Congratulations! You have passed the aptitude test and have been assigned to the special team, the <Field Exploration Team>.]
‘Test? Field Exploration Team? Don’t tell me…’
Kim Soleum nervously stood up on his hind paws to get a better view but unfortunately, he was getting blocked by all the big humans around him. And in his desperation, scampered onto the person next to him — the man that had been inching away ever since Kim Soleum woke up — his hind legs stepping on the shoulders as he leaned his weight on top of the head with his front paws grasping onto the scalp. The man freaks out over the sudden acquisition of a cat on his very being before freezing in place as he felt claws digging into his skin.
With a stable perch acquired, Kim Soleum had a better view of the place around him and had managed to spot a company logo.
That… that looks like the Daydream Corporation logo? B-but then, that would mean that.. He’s in the world of DER? That can’t be right? This has to be a joke, a weird dream maybe?
Kim Soleum looks around in fear, hoping to god that he was mistaken and this was just another one of his nightmares conjured up by his late night binge on the DER wiki. And in his desperation, took a bite at his paw to wake himself up from this dream.
Regrettably, the bite did nothing but make him realise just how sharp cat teeths are and that this might not be a dream (maybe, just maybe – it’s one of those very realistic dreams that lets you experience pain too and all he needed to do is to die to wake up but what if it’s real-).
At the same time, the man flinched as he felt those sharp claws dig into his skin while he was in the midst of grabbing the cat off his head – he promptly gave up and resigned to his fate as a cat tree, tearfully bearing the pain.
[Of course, full participation is necessary for a proper evaluation! Freeloading will not be tolerated!]
[Now, let’s get started!]
The doors to the auditorium slams shut and the lights go out.