Once upon a time, there was a heroine who was destined to slay the demon king. She arrived from another world, started learning magic to empower herself, and formed a party of adventurers to journey at her side…

But, she was kind of a pervert.

The heroine quickly befriended a quirky young witch, a cheerful girl with a penchant for mischief and a curious fascination for plants and alchemy…

But she was kind of a pervert, too.

They joined forces with a wily fox spirit and a female lancer carrying a big secret. Then to complete their weird quest in a weird mountain range, they even teamed up with a snow leopard spirit to become five. And what do you know? Of course they were perverts too. Secretly, they were all perverts. All of them!

Sasha shook her small, fluffy head. She totally wasn’t biased in her opinion about the others because she was stuck as a young cub born from said snow leopard spirit. No, of course not. ‘Reliable Narrator’ was her middle name. True story!

Before, if you had told the man Sasha had been on Earth that the only way he could reincarnate in a fantasy world with his twin sister Arwen was to be reborn as a female half-spirit snow leopard cub… he probably would have died laughing on the spot. In hindsight, that wouldn’t have been a bad way to go. It’s not like the thing that happened with the truck was any better.

Ironic backstories aside… the heroine and her party of degenerates adventurers had ultimately decided upon a little change of plans. Civilization was overrated, the breathtaking mountain scenery was priceless, and the freedom of the wilderness gave them everything they could ever possibly want. Naturally, rather than continuing upon their quest to slay the demon king, the five of them (plus two snow leopard cubs) would stay out in the mountain range together—the only part of this world Sasha had ever known—and build a big log cabin for everyone to live in. Just like that, they would create their own paradise to do whatever they wanted, however they wanted, whenever they wanted. And they all lived happily ever after.

Well, almost. There was one issue, just one tiny problem…

“So does anyone actually know how to build a log cabin?”

Just like that, it was an absolute disaster. The crippling weight of reality crushed their spirits. Icy talons of fear gripped their hearts. The glimmer of hope all but vanished from their eyes.

How many perverts does it take to change a lightbulb? Sasha had no idea, but it took quite a few more to build a log cabin. And of all the things this party of five were equipped and trained to do, constructing a permanent dwelling was definitely not one of them. However, that was the least of their worries, because they were running out of time:

Winter was coming.

The trees had already begun turning yellow and red with the colors of fall, and every day would be getting colder and colder. It had taken the five of them a week just to get a few makeshift tents set up. At this rate, there was no way in their wildest dreams that the party could build a proper shelter—and stockpile enough food for seven—before the first snows of winter were falling fast upon them.

As a snow leopard spirit, Freya had already endured many winters in this world, hunting and surviving through the colder months on her own. But that was before she had been corrupted by her fellow otherworldly degenerates—and before she’d had her cubs Sasha and Arwen to take care of. And the others? They would never even stand a chance.

Once full of hopes and dreams, the party had fallen to doom and gloom with only frozen despair and their collective ‘bad ending’ on the horizon. In the darkest hour when all seemed lost, they needed a miracle. They needed a hero, a new hero to rise up…

A hero like me!

Sasha stood up and stretched her short feline legs, a new sense of purpose burning brighter beneath her fluffy fur. This was not the end, no. This was only the beginning! Somehow, she’d always known things would end up like this—it was the moment she had been waiting for all her new life!

Sasha nuzzled her sister resting beside her. “Arwen. It is time.”

Arwen lay curled into a ball of snowy cub fluff with her tail wrapped around her, lazily opening an eye at the touch. “Just… five more minutes~… Time? Oh!” She suddenly shot upright, wide awake. “Are we doing the thing? Is it finally hero time? For real?!”

“For real,” Sasha agreed. “We don’t have to pretend that we’re normal snow leopard cubs anymore. And I have a plan.”

“Yaaaaaay!” Arwen cheered.

“The others still haven’t returned to camp after another of their ‘group resource gatherings’ from yesterday. I’m not surprised; they keep returning later every time, and with less and less to show for it. The camp is running dangerously low on food, too. But they might have finally crossed the point of no return this time. Knowing those perverts, who can say what kind of unspeakably lewd acts they’re up to instead? Right now, they could even be… holding hands.”

Arwen gasped. “No! Sasha, they’re not like that!”

“You never know. Regardless, we can’t rely on them to make it back. We must be strong and continue onward without them.”

Arwen’s ears drooped as she anxiously shuffled her paws. “B-but, what about Freya? And the others…!”

Sasha had to admit that she might miss Freya a little. Freya was special in many ways, not least of which for being a stubborn shapeshifting animal spirit who literally only began to wear clothes recently—and only an oversized button-down shirt she ‘borrowed’ at that. Still, as the snow leopard spirit who had given birth to them (a memory which Sasha was thankful to not remember), Freya had tried to provide for Sasha and Arwen as well as they could have ever hoped.

But then again… all good things must come to an end.

Sasha lifted a paw and gave her sister a comforting head pat. “Just think of it like the two of us are simply… leaving the nest a little early.” She paused for effect. “The demon king isn’t going to slay himself. It’s up to us now; we must take up the party’s abandoned quest and see it through to the bitter end. Then and only then, once we have become the heroes who saved the world, we can return the favor. We’ll get rich and famous, and if the others are still around here somehow, we can, uh… commission a castle for everyone.”

Arwen’s eyes sparkled like stars. “A castle…!”

Indeed. A true hero must dream big, for the trials and enemies ahead were sure to be even bigger.

Sasha took one last glance around the party’s makeshift mountain camp. This would be the last they ever saw of this home for a while… or perhaps forever. Sasha felt a pang of emotion in her cub-sized heart, yet this was no time for sappy sentiments.

With a deep breath, Sasha steeled herself for the challenges ahead. They had a long, dangerous path ahead of them. But at last, she could take those critical first steps toward saving the world.

Yes, it was about time! Their perilous journey, their heroic quest, their ultimate destiny to slay the demon king would finally begin… NOW!

“Um, Sasha? How are we going to find the demon king?”

…

……

………

“L-look, Arwen. Sometimes, a true hero must be cautious. Let’s not be too hasty about this just yet!”

“Ohhh! Good thinking, Sasha! You always know what to do!” Arwen gave Sasha a fluffy headrub with a purr-like giggle.

Sasha nodded sagely. “Naturally. So you see, we must first train ourselves for the trials ahead. That means we… have to start leveling up. And this will be our first day on the hunt to grow stronger. Status!”

[Name: Sasha ‘Reliable Narrator’ Snowcub] [Race: Panthera unspiritia]

[Soul age: 18 years] [Biological age: 5 months, 7 days]

[Class: Level 1 Snow Leopard Cub]

[Attributes]

MEOW: 4

PURR: 1

CLAW: 3

TAIL: 2

FLUF: 4

[Skills: Tackle, Tail Whip]

[Abilities: Agility Affinity (passive), Divine Gift – Purrsuasion]

Sasha nodded at her character sheet, satisfied. It was a humble beginning, to be sure… yet every true hero set out from their own humble beginning with but a single step.

And that would all finally change today!