The System Mistook Me for a Cat

On the day the professional team hired to clean the water arrived, Chu Tingwu and the others were discussing amusement projects.

Shanwan Ranch had no intention of competing in the crowded amusement park market by installing roller coasters or similar facilities. After all, there were already so many amusement parks everywhere, and without unique features, it would be difficult to attract visitors.

To get tourists to buy tickets and travel all the way to Shanwan Ranch, the ranch needed to offer something truly one-of-a-kind—

"At the very least, tourists visiting Qihe City should make a special trip to check out this ranch," Chu Xiao said, comparing it to a city landmark that people would naturally visit if they were in the area. "Now the pressure is on the Culture and Tourism Bureau."

Chu Tingwu: Don’t be so quick to shift the pressure!

In fact, there had already been tourists passing by the entrance recently, as well as locals who came to check it out after seeing the live streams. However, since the gates were tightly closed, ticket sales hadn’t started, and anti-climbing barriers had been installed, no one had managed to sneak in.

They analyzed the situation and realized that the ranch’s current income streams were limited to ticket sales, accommodation fees, car rentals, and camping site rentals. The latter two were negligible, and aside from tourist revenue, the main expenses were for purchasing livestock, cleaning the water, and building the hotel.

As for the costs of other facilities, since most were products from their own company, they only had to account for the production costs.

Shao Lingwu stood to the side, hesitating to speak.

He actually thought that the AR companion tours, AR imaging, and nighttime performances were enough to attract visitors. Moreover, the hotel could offer VR live-streaming pods—wealthy guests might even stay long-term for the superior streaming experience. When the ranch opened, they should worry more about not having enough hotel rooms rather than the lack of appeal.

But since his family always assumed he’d lose money in business ventures, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Zhou Qiang suggested, "Why not do a collaboration?"

The truth was, the ranch hadn’t opened yet not only because the facilities were incomplete and the reconstruction was ongoing, but also because they were worried the imaging experiences might become repetitive. No matter how interesting the format, if the content was the same every time, how could they convince visitors to return? But creating new content would require accumulating a lot of IPs, which would be costly from the start.

Chu Tingwu wasn’t sure how much money she had, nor how much the system had, but she wasn’t the type to spend recklessly.

So Zhou Qiang proposed an IP collaboration—with their AR technology, they could profit from both ends.

Each collaboration would last about a month, with both online and offline merchandise sales. Offline, they could include hidden collectibles and set purchase limits… As he spoke, Zhou Qiang fell silent, feeling like he’d turned into a greedy capitalist.

Everyone exchanged glances, and Chu Tingwu coughed:

"We could also open a themed restaurant or something…"

They had been considering opening a restaurant to make some extra money but hadn’t settled on a specific theme or menu. Now they didn’t have to—they could just change the menu with each new collaboration and slap the IP’s name on it.

While they aimed to profit from IP fans, Chu Tingwu wasn’t cutting corners. She presented the plan at the meeting for others to refine, and soon they had a more detailed event design—

AR virtual projection technology was perfect for the ranch. To maintain the beautiful environment and produce high-quality livestock, they couldn’t make major changes to the area or turn it into a shopping complex (which would also require higher investment). AR projection wouldn’t disrupt the environment, could be updated regularly, and offered interactive experiences for visitors.

Fans of the IPs would likely go wild if they knew the ranch was filled with hidden Easter eggs. Triggering certain actions could make their favorite characters appear, engage in dialogue, or even interact with them directly. They could participate in short films, earn rewards, or get discounts on merchandise… Chu Tingwu was sure fans like An Shiyan would be thrilled.

The collaborating IPs wouldn’t lose out either—having their characters presented in AR would be a great promotional gimmick, and Shanwan Ranch would also benefit from the exposure.

Both sides could release collaboration merchandise, and since Wu Voice Group was already an established merchandise producer—cheap items like pins, plushies, and instant photo cards, or expensive ones like branded drones, VR headsets, and gaming consoles… Even with a four-digit markup, fans would still buy them out of love.

After hearing the analysis, Chu Tingwu felt her head spinning. She sighed and delegated this part of the work to You Zhenzhen, asking her to contact suitable IP partners.

—Even though the hotel wasn’t finished yet, the ranch could still undergo a soft launch.

This collaboration would be a limited-time event, and the ranch would open temporarily while undergoing renovations, testing the waters for an unmanned AR-themed ranch experience.

Just as she finished assigning tasks, the ranch welcomed its first "guests"—the water-cleaning professional team, led by an environmental zoology expert.

The system had hired experts from a domestic environmental science laboratory. After providing them with collected data online for analysis and discussion, the experts, along with their students and assistants, arrived on-site to assess the situation in person.

Professor Mi, the lead expert, brought two graduate students and a doctoral candidate as assistants, along with two colleagues, making a team of six. The system had a generous budget, booking them first-class flights and arranging a private car to pick them up upon arrival—quite thoughtful.

…But when they arrived at the ranch entrance, the car stopped.

Professor Mi was puzzled: "Are we not allowed to drive inside? Do we need to switch to a ranch vehicle?"

The driver helped them with their luggage: "Yes, please wait at the entrance for a moment. The new ranch shuttle will be here shortly."

This seemed normal, and no one complained. Their luggage was light, but one student asked, "The ranch isn’t open yet, right? Are we staying inside or finding a hotel outside?"

The hotels they’d passed on the way were small and cheap, and the conditions didn’t seem great.

"Don’t worry," another student said casually, "we can always buy a tent if needed."

Their tent-pitching skills were top-notch!

Hearing their chatter, Professor Mi gave them a resigned look. As a mentor, he was easygoing, so the students felt comfortable joking around.

One of his colleagues gazed inside the gates: "The environment here seems quite nice."

Though they hadn’t entered yet, the air felt fresh, unlike heavily developed ranches.

Another colleague muttered, "Why are we waiting outside? Couldn’t someone have come to open the gate?"

The sun was getting a bit too warm.

As soon as the complaint left his lips, they heard the rumble of a truck approaching. A heavy-duty truck pulled up to the entrance and unloaded three brand-new small shuttles.

The driver hopped out, fiddled with the controls inside, and then told the group, "Hop in. The Wi-Fi’s connected, and the shuttles will drive themselves once you’re on board."

Professor Mi and his team: "?"

Wait, the new shuttles were this new? And they weren’t coming from inside the ranch—they were supposed to drive themselves in!?

Despite their shock, everyone got on board. Once the luggage was loaded, the gates automatically opened, and the shuttles drove into the ranch on their own, heading toward the livestock area.

They didn’t need to worry about accommodations. Although the hotel wasn’t ready and the ship couldn’t house everyone, there were still living quarters for the ranch’s staff, like veterinarians.

Sure, the neighboring area housed cows, sheep, and horses, but the smell wasn’t overpowering—unless they had noses as sensitive as Chu Tingwu’s, they wouldn’t be bothered.

In the car, the carefree student suddenly realized, "Oh right... the client mentioned that their ranch operates on a self-service ticketing system."

Another student chimed in, "Looks like there really aren’t many people here, haha."

No kidding! So far, the only living humans they’d seen were the driver outside the ranch. Inside, all they encountered were sheep, cows, and robots!

Was this place really going all-in on "dehumanization"? Would humans actually bring pollution to this place? Without staff around, wouldn’t the tourists end up being the ones polluting?

Fortunately, when they arrived at their accommodation, they finally met a living person. The individual greeted them warmly, helped arrange their lodging, registered their room’s fingerprint access, handed them staff identification wristbands, and even asked what they’d like for dinner.

The group finally felt properly welcomed. Professor Mi asked, "Are you the client’s assistant?"

The person laughed, "No, I’m the ranch’s veterinarian."

A colleague exclaimed, "...What?"

The vet sighed, "I live here too, but I don’t have much work to do at the moment. I’m so bored that I’ve been helping the boss with guest reception. Mind if I tag along when you visit the lake?"

Wow, you really *are* that bored!

The vet shrugged, "At first, it was hard to adjust because there are so few colleagues around. But after living here for a while, I’ve come to appreciate the peace and quiet. Plus, the pay is good. The only downside is that the staff cafeteria is still under construction, so meal options are limited."

Currently, with so few employees, only one chef has been hired. In the future, the number of staff isn’t expected to increase much either. Retail services will mostly rely on vending machines, though employees can also eat at the cafeteria of the nearby Jimu Hotel.

Noticing their discomfort, the vet added, "I guess you’re not used to this. Do you not have cats... I mean, the kind of cats from *Learning the Unlearnable*? The companion system isn’t live yet, but you can request one using your wristbands—"

When he mentioned *Learning the Unlearnable*, Professor Mi remained unfazed, but the two graduate students’ eyes lit up. They seemed familiar with it. Were they talking about requesting a virtual AR cat as a companion?

The vet clarified, "Request a cleaning robot as your tour guide instead."

A ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‍student asked, "Why a cleaning robot—"

Well, of course, it’s because the AR projection system, which covers the entire ranch and ensures most AR visuals appear correctly, hasn’t been fully installed yet.

The vet was quite considerate. Though it was getting late, when Professor Mi expressed a desire to visit the lake first, he instructed them to simply voice their request into their wristbands. The central AI would recognize the request and dispatch a self-driving sightseeing vehicle, mapping out a route to the dock.

Alternatively, they could also select the route directly via the touchscreen in the vehicle.

After a quick bite to eat, they boarded the vehicle again. By now, the grass was bathed in the hues of twilight, and a cleaning robot had taken up residence on the driver’s seat.

The passengers soon discovered that conversing with the robot was surprisingly smooth. Its AI was quite advanced, even providing an introduction to the surroundings and projecting a scanned map of the lakeside.

At first, they found it odd, but now they thought: without the client hovering around and just interacting with the robot to move things along, it was actually quite pleasant.

Just as everyone was settling into this thought, the vehicle suddenly stopped midway, and the robot got out.

Professor Mi asked, "What’s going on?"

The robot climbed back in, and the sightseeing vehicle resumed its journey.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

A student who had witnessed the whole thing muttered in confusion,

"It just... went out to pick up trash."

It was probably a drink bottle left behind by construction workers.

So it really *was* a cleaning robot! Its main job was tidying up, and giving tours was just a side gig!