My name is K. I am a cat.
Is my name really a letter of the alphabet? No. I actually have a different name. But don’t be curious about it. Just K is enough.
I mentioned before that I am a cat.
My fur is entirely black from the tip of my ears to the end of my tail. Unlike those mongrel cats, my coat has not a single hair of a different color mixed in. The purity of my fur color is a testimony to my noble pedigree.
My superiority doesn’t stop with the color of my silky fur.
The shape of my pricked ears is perfectly symmetrical, and my gracefully curving tail is perfect. Furthermore, I can silently land on my well-padded and plump paws, even when falling from great heights.
And what about my elegantly curving whiskers sprouting from my nose? They are so outstanding that they are simultaneously functional and aesthetically pleasing! Of course, my big, round eyes and beautiful, strong claws cannot be left out, either.
Perfect from every angle, I am a cold city cat, a solitary soul. I would only be warm to my woman. Duh1훗: (heut) an interjection denoting a laughing snort or sniff when looking down on others because of the absurdity of the situation or people..
At the moment, I was perching gracefully on a wooden shelf and looking down at the floor.
I was watching a humming human woman. She seemed to be in a good mood, even swaying her hips.
The woman was diligently stirring her cauldron with a ladle. Unpleasant smoke billowed out from the cauldron, which was big enough for a human to bathe in. A moment ago, the human woman had thrown many strange things into the cauldron. Ah, but don’t misunderstand. Not all humans were like this woman, as this was a witch shunned by other humans.
The diligently stirring woman suddenly lifted her head. The hairs of my tail began to stand up nervously when I saw the elderly witch look around the hut for a moment, and finally, she found me. When she saw me, the witch opened her purple lips.
“Hey, Blackie.”
That witch had finally turned senile.
“Hey, Blackie, you nincompoop2놈: (nom) man, guy, animal, thing; mildly derogatory depending on usage.
[T/N: I chose “nincompoop” as it sounds like something an elderly woman would say, and for reasons revealed in the last side story of Book 2.]!”
The elderly witch kept facing me and spoke incomprehensibly. I pretended not to hear. Only my tail twitched once. The elderly witch’s face contorted hideously then.
“Come down at once! You lazy cat bastard! Come immediately down before I throw you into my cauldron and cook you!”
The crazy elderly witch became angry. The witch’s screams almost made my exquisite ears burst. Even though I would have loved to sew her trap shut, I stayed patient. Because I am a cold city cat.
“Meow…”
The witch’s hideously contorted face slightly relaxed when I jumped to the ground. Good, she stopped crying. Crazy hag.
The witch began to stir her cauldron again. I sat down at the witch’s feet and looked up at the cauldron. The witch was concocting a potent magic potion. It is probably a potion to make those who drink from it fall into a deep sleep, as the day before, a man had visited and ordered from the witch ‘a potion to make those who drink from it fall into a deep, death-like slumber.’ I did not know for whom this was intended, but the human imbibing that potion would assuredly fall into such a deep sleep as if they were dead. In my experience, the potions made by the witch were miraculously effective.
In truth, I did not begin my life as a cat.
Initially, I was a human who was born and raised in a country called the Republic of Korea3대한민국: (Daehan Minguk, ROK) The full official name of the country. Not to be confused with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, 조선민주주의인민공화국).
[T/N: As the author chose to write the full official name instead of abbreviating it, I used the official denomination instead of South Korea.]. You might not believe it, but it is the truth.
I was born and raised as the only son of the noble “Park”4Should be the Silla Park dynasty, the only Korean Park family clan of royal descent, which reigned over the Kingdom of Silla from 57 BC to 927 AC. They exist to this day.
[T/N: That also explains his arrogance and vanity. ^^]
Note: Almost all Korean families can be traced back to a clan by their 본관 (bongwan, a kind of prefix) determined by the Traditional Chinese spelling of the surname. The bongwan is typically not written down and is not an official part of the surname. Almost all Korean surnames, and therefore nearly every Korean, can thus be clearly distinguished by the linked clan. The clans keep family lineage books, usually with only the male descendants listed (only male ancestry counts in the patriarchal system). Both bongwan and family name are passed down exclusively through the father and do not change with marriage or adoption. Examples: Andong Kwon, Jeju Cho, etc.
More information here: Wikipedia (English), Namu Wiki (Korean).
Sidenote: There are also surnames for clanless families, which cannot be traced back to specific lineages, as they were excluded from the caste system, often due to their job assignment like Pi (“blood” > butchers), Bang (“room” > carpenters), etc. Foreigners were also considered clanless. In modern Korea, clans are officially and legally insignificant, as the clan-caste system was abolished. family of royal descent. Back then, I was highly respected and well-cared for as a scion of an affluent household. I had been diligently studying for a crucial imminent exam, the so-called “College Scholastic Ability Test,”5수능: (sooneung) actually “national college entrance exam” but as this seems to be a specific one, it should be the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a standardized test recognized by all South Korean universities, administered annually by the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) on every third Thursday of November. when I unexpectedly opened my eyes and found myself somewhere deep in the mountains. I did not know what on earth had happened and was madly wandering around in the deep mountains when I had the misfortune of meeting this elderly witch. It was nothing but genuinely wretched.
When I asked the witch where I was, she dragged me to her hut under the pretense of hospitality and fed me a magic potion. After fainting and waking up, I had already turned into a cat.
Ah. The witch had just cackled darkly. It seemed that the magic potion was finally done. I sat obediently next to the witch and looked up at her face. As she stopped stirring her cauldron and narrowed her eyes, it seemed that she had undoubtedly finished everything.
“Shall I give some to you as well, Blackie? Hee hee hee6클클: (keulkeul) an interjection denoting cackling laughter..”
The witch looked down at me and chattered. When the witch pushed a ladle full of purple liquid to my lips, I cried, “Meow….” I don’t want to. You crazy bitch.
I don’t know if she could understand me, but the witch laughed happily. Seeing the witch act like this, I hardened my resolve once again. Today I would get rid of this gloomy witch and escape.
The witch picked up a glass vial from the shelf. She filled her ladle with the magic potion and poured it carefully into the vial. As the witch was filling such a small vial, she concentrated hard.
I started to calculate, fully mobilizing my memory. Naturally, I accessed not only my knowledge of mathematics and physics but also statistics, probability, and even kinematic theory. Don’t be surprised that a cat is well-versed in advanced studies. I may have mentioned it before, but I used to be a human noble of royal blood.
Anyway, after considering the whole situation, there was no doubt that this was the perfect time. With all my strength, I immediately bit into the witch’s thin ankle right in front of me.
Bingo, the witch screamed and jumped around on one leg. I checked the witch and quickly vaulted into the air, effortlessly turned around 180 degrees, and kicked the witch in the back of her head.
The witch bumped her head into the cauldron and stumbled. I finished by jumping several times on her back and then landed gracefully back on the floor. A perfect score of 100 out of 100 points.
“Bla… Blackie, you… you damned cat bastard…!”
Barely pulling her head out of the cauldron, the witch staggered and chattered, wondering what had just happened. Before I knew it, the witch had a broom in her hand and thrashed it around chaotically. If that broom hit me, I would suffer for a couple of days, but with a confident and graceful posture, I stood tall and stared at the witch. I won’t be frightened. I will neither yield nor hesitate. Because I am a cold city cat.
“Da… dam…ned….”
The staggering witch tried to swing her broom and fell to the floor with a thump. I approached the drooping witch and trampled on her face. As it is unbecoming conduct to attack an already collapsed opponent, I did not bare my claws.
I surveyed the hut for the last time and turned away without hesitation.
Somewhere beyond the deep forest, there would surely be humans living in a village. I could find a way to lift the witch’s curse and return home there. It wouldn’t be an easy path, but I was not worried because I would surely be successful.
As darkness fell, the forest opened like a black hole and welcomed me. I turned happily towards it and lifted my paws.
I am cat K.
I was born and raised in the country called the Republic of Korea, a precious child of the noble “Park” family of royal descent. I am also the misfortunate protagonist, who not only fell into a strange world, but also became cursed by a witch and was turned into a cat.
But forget these desperate circumstances.
At the moment, I am neither the precious child of the noble “Park” family of royal descent nor the elderly witch’s “Blackie,” but only the cat K, a solitary soul. Nothing more, nothing less.
T/N: I picked this novel up because I wanted to get back into Korean and it was requested on Discord. As I have a full-time job, I will try to update once weekly, probably Mondays, but cannot promise anything. Sorry!
As to the novel: I haven’t read it yet myself so we will figure things out together. The novel is split into 2 books with the following content:
- Book 1: Prologue + 8 Chapters + Epilogue + 6 Side Stories (overall 16 chapters)
- Book 2: Prologue + 7 Chapters + Epilogue + 6 Side Stories (overall 14 chapters)
Note: Regular chapters are each dozens of, maybe even over a hundred pages long with thousands of words per chapter. As such, I will split them into segments that (hopefully) have a natural break in the books, with a length of approx. 1.5k to 1.8k English words. Side stories are shorter, so won’t need to be split into as many parts as regular chapters. Prologues and epilogues are the shortest and can likely be posted in one chapter part.
Note 2: This is an adult novel, only available after Korean age verification for ages 19+. At the moment, I am not sure as to what this encompasses, but considering the title of one of the side stories, I will assume that it’s NSFW. We will find out together. ^^
I am translating from scratch and have not read the previous translator’s work and will likely not read theirs either. Therefore, I will not stick to their naming conventions. Please be kind and do not compare them with me or vice versa. Every translator has their own style. Please note that the author uses Korean transcriptions of English names for their characters. As such, I will do my best to find the actual corresponding English names and spell them properly. Of course, it will be my understanding of their work, so I do not guarantee correctness. I will add footnotes, where appropriate, to explain my thought process.
Finally, if you like this novel, please support the original author and buy their books. You can do this here:
- Bookcube (Korean)
- Ridi (Korean)
- Google Play: Complete (Book1 and Book 2), Book 1, Book 2
Thank you for reading and for your patience!
~ Souricelle
Edit from 15 Nov. 2022: Added Google Play links to the original books.
Edit from 20 Nov. 2022: Updated links to Google play to correctly separate the complete collection from Book 1 and added the correct link to Book 1.