In the game, there was something called a "Palico Voucher," but that thing was used to craft equipment for Felynes. As for something like a "Palico Summoning Ticket," Sherwin didn't recall it ever appearing.
After all, in the game, recruiting a Felyne was just a matter of spending money—there was no need for this kind of flashy nonsense.
"Could it be…"
Sherwin stared at the "Palico Summoning Ticket Fragment" in his hand, a not-so-pleasant suspicion rising in his mind—
Could it be that Monster Hunter had released a mobile game?
Fragments, gacha pulls, half-baked monster designs, and crossovers with other popular IPs...
It was loaded with all the classic mobile game elements, wasn't it?!
Especially those last two—this was most likely one of those scummy mobile games that leeched money off its IP.
Wait, that not right. Before I transmigrated, I never heard anything about MH launching a mobile version.
Besides, based on the basic laws of transmigration, the people who end up in mobile games or get mobile game systems should usually be veteran players, heavy spenders, cheaters, or even designers, right?
In better scenarios, you'd start off with VIP 18 status, have daily salaries, or at least a few thousand diamonds in your account to throw around.
So why pick someone like me—completely unfamiliar with the game, someone who never even heard of it—and toss me in with a newbie account?!
Fine, I'll take the newbie account… but where my newbie gift pack? My daily login rewards?! Where did they go?!!
If you people keep ignoring the basic rules of transmigration, don't blame me for issuing a cease and desist with a lawyer letter!
While Sherwin was spiraling in a solo brainstorm, Sanji-meow beside him had already grown a bit impatient.
"Sherwin, what the meow is going on?!"
Sanji-meow reached out a little paw and tugged at his clothes, his big round black eyes full of curiosity.
"Uh…" Sherwin thought for a moment. He really didn't know how to explain it all to Sanji-meow, so he decided to just tell him the part he'd be interested in.
"To put it simply, even if there aren't any other Felynes on this continent, you don't have to worry about never seeing a Beautiful big sister Felyne again."
"Meow!"
Hearing this news, Sanji-meow eyes immediately lit up.
"Tell me more right meow!"
"Ahem, this thing is called a Palico Summoning Ticket. As the name implies, you can use it to summon other Felynes," Sherwin handed over the ticket fragment in his hand to Sanji-meow.
"But this is only one-third of the whole thing. We'll still need to collect the other two fragments before we can summon."
"Then what are we waiting for, meow?! Let go collect them!"
Sanji-meow had no interest in the ticket itself. He didn't even look at the tiny piece of paper, instead urging Sherwin impatiently.
In his mind, he was already imagining the moment when he'd meet a Beautiful big sister Felyne again, and a dreamy smile spread across his face.
"The problem is… I don't know where to collect the other two fragments." Sherwin shrugged and explained,
"This one appeared after I unlocked the large monster field guide, but when I unlocked the small monster field guide earlier, there wasn't anything like this. And I still don't know how to unlock the remaining pages."
"Meow!!!"
The dramatic ups and downs of a cat life were simply too intense. Just moments ago, Sanji-meow had caught a glimpse of hope, only to be immediately smashed by reality. His face shifted to one of utter despair in the blink of an eye.
Looking at the poor cat dejected expression, Sherwin couldn't help but chuckle a little. He ruffled Sanji-meow head affectionately.
"Don't be so down. I was just mentioning the worst-case scenario. For all we know, we might get the rest of the fragments just by hunting two more monsters. Or maybe we'll suddenly unlock another page sometime."
"If you're strong enough to beat monsters like this now, doesn't that mean you can come explore the map with me, meow?"
Refreshed with new hope, Sanji-meow had the same thought as Sherwin… although their motivations were completely different.
"Of course." Sherwin wasn't going to argue over that. He smiled and scratched Sanji-meow under the chin.
"But before that, shouldn't you deal with all that meat first? Didn't you say the quality drops if it left sitting too long?"
"Meow! My ingredients!"
Reminded by Sherwin, Sanji-meow hurried over to the rest of the Ram King meat.
Sherwin, on the other hand, sat back down on the rock and began to closely examine the fragment of the summoning ticket. He hadn't had a proper look at it earlier because Sanji-meow had interrupted him.
The summoning ticket was an off-white color overall. Other than the Monster Hunter–style patterns and borders drawn in light gray, there were only two bold black characters: "Palico."
Just like the phrase on the front page of the Hunter Handbook, these characters were written in that same strange yet legible "Monster Hunter language" that Sherwin could somehow read.
At the bottom edge of the fragment, right beneath the second character, the torn, irregular jagged edge was clearly visible—classic tear marks.
Sherwin imagined what the complete ticket might look like. It kind of reminded him of some kind of Monster Hunter merchandise made into a bookmark.
After putting the summoning ticket fragment safely into his bag, Sherwin opened the Hunter Handbook again, intending to take a good look and see if there were any other functions or items he hadn't yet discovered.
Unfortunately, even after flipping through the entire thing several times, he didn't find anything as special as the Palico Summoning Ticket.
That day, Sanji-meow didn't use the freshly obtained Lin Ram King meat to cook. Instead, he still used the ingredients he had gathered on his own.
"This kind of premium ingredient should obviously be saved for tomorrow before we go hunt more monsters—makes the most meownomical sense!" Sanji-meow explained righteously.
Hmm, fair enough.
As someone who only ate and didn't cook, Sherwin had no objections whatsoever.
...
Early the next morning, Sherwin was still in the middle of a dream when he was suddenly awakened by a wave of rich, mouthwatering aroma.
He scrambled out of the cave and immediately saw Sanji-meow roasting an entire hind leg of the Ram King.
Sanji-meow was flipping the massive leg—several times bigger than himself—while sprinkling various spices over it. From time to time, he made slits with his chef knife, and golden fat dripped from the roast, sizzling as it hit the fire beneath.
"Eating something this greasy first thing in the morning... probably not a good idea…"
Sherwin throat moved as he mumbled to himself, not meaning a word of it.
He knew full well that Sanji-meow could be short-tempered while cooking, so he didn't dare approach and cause trouble.
Instead, he obediently found a rock to sit on and watched the little Felyne prepare a top-tier Felyne feast for him, occasionally wiping away the "sweat" dripping from the corner of his mouth…
He couldn't help it—Sanji-meow had built the fire so big that even standing off to the side, Sherwin felt "overheated."
Finally, when Sanji-meow took the leg off the fire and placed it onto a massive leaf already prepared as a plate, Sherwin immediately moved in.
"Thanks, thanks for the hard work," he said while reaching instinctively for the meat.
And his hand was promptly smacked away by a fluffy little paw.
"Don't rush! It not ready yet, meow!"
After saying that, Sanji-meow pulled out a few sun-dried leaves, crushed them, and sprinkled them over the leg.
"Now it ready to eat, meow." Handing Sherwin a knife and fork, Sanji-meow crossed his arms and said proudly,
"This Lin Ram King meat is really special—among all the meat I've ever seen, it definitely ranks in the top five, meow."
However, Sherwin didn't have time to care about the quality grade of monster meat right now.
He had already sliced off a chunk from the leg and stuffed it into his mouth at lightning speed.
As the heat scorched his tongue, he let out a series of pained cries, but he couldn't bear to spit it out.
He chewed through the pain and joy for quite a while before finally swallowing the roasted meat.
And sure enough, this roast leg made from a large monster didn't disappoint. Just a single bite, and Sherwin could feel a subtle boost in his strength. But more importantly...
This roasted lamb leg was way more delicious than anything he'd eaten before!
If he had crossed over earlier—according to the old-school rules of isekai—Sanji-meow roasted leg would've at least summoned a sacred beast or an elder dragon with its aroma alone.