Jung Da-hoon was in a great mood.
Thanks to Bori, a user from Last Shadow, who posted a promotional message on the community board, the newly launched baby fox fan account skyrocketed the moment it was created.
In particular, the aerobics video of the baby fox bouncing around with a headband on had racked up 500,000 views on Reels.
Let’s work out with the fox! #Let’sExerciseTogether #HoonFox #BornIn2023
As a result, a DM arrived the very day the account was created.
– – –
Hello, this is WithWater, a company specializing in dog water play gear. You’ve been selected for sponsorship consideration, so we’re reaching out via DM. We’ve really enjoyed the baby fox videos. They’re absolutely adorable.
1) We’re looking for a clip of the baby fox playing safely in the water with a tube—would that be possible?
2) We’ll cover all costs related to the sponsored product and filming, and we’ll also provide a separate compensation fee as thanks. If you’re interested, please contact us via the email below.
– – –
Hi there!!
We’ve been loving the super cute fox content! This is ‘OrganicHealthyDogFood’—would it be okay to ask about a group buy?
– – –
Even before hitting 10,000 followers, two sponsorship DMs had come in. The response was phenomenal. Just as Da-hoon was typing out thank-you replies, a call came from Bori.
— Da-hoon-ssi!! I just got off work. The fox account gained even more followers—congrats! Almost at 10,000 now!
“It’s all thanks to you, Bori-ssi. I’m planning to log into the game in a bit.”
— Sounds good. But your voice sounds down… Is it because of the Judgment? Don’t worry too much, okay?
“Yeah. Thanks, Bori-ssi. What about dinner?”
— I’m just about to eat! Make sure you eat something too~~
After a quick dinner, Da-hoon organized the tasks ahead. After the figure delivery, there was a strategy meeting with Player Yeo Woo-rim.
‘He’s probably gotten up by now after a nice deep sleep.’
Yeo Woo-rim usually woke around this time the day before as well.
Da-hoon sat down and logged into Last Shadow. And in that very moment—
“GAH!”
“Don’t scream. You’re spitting on me.”
The first thing he saw upon logging in was Kessler’s face. Kessler wiped off the spit from his face with his sleeve. In his hand, half-hidden by the fabric, he was gripping the hilt of a sword.
Blink, blink.
Meanwhile, Da-hoon’s screen was flashing red. It was the critical warning effect that appeared when health dropped below 5%. Kessler had been stabbing Da-hoon’s AFK character over and over with his blade.
“Why are you only waking up now?”
“S-sorry… I’m sorry. I must’ve had my eyes open while I slept.”
Panicking, Da-hoon hurriedly pulled out an expensive potion from his bag and gulped it down. The emergency overlay in his vision eased slightly. He had almost died.
“…Is something the matter?”
He composed himself and addressed Kessler with formal politeness. Only then did Kessler put the sword back into his bag.
[System]: You were stabbed by the Golden Jewel Dagger. HP -50
[System]: You were stabbed by the Golden Jewel Dagger. HP -50
[System]: You were stabbed by the Golden Jewel Dagger. HP -50
…
Eight stabs total.
“Our baby fox has been worked so hard he can’t even open his eyes now.”
“Ah, he did wake up around this time yesterday too…”
“Was it you who worked him to the bone?”
The abrupt question left Da-hoon gulping.
“You two were all giggles together last night, weren’t you?”
Kessler scowled, clearly recalling something unpleasant. And Da-hoon finally realized—the murderous aura he’d felt after the shoot yesterday had come from Kessler.
“Kessler-nim, I’d never dare. I was hired by the Fox.”
“The fox hired you?”
“As you know, the Fox’s appearance is round and charming, right? That’s why he’s very popular among players. Recently, someone made a lot of money secretly taking and selling photos of him. Naturally, the Fox didn’t see a dime from it. Isn’t that just so unfair? Does the Fox not even have portrait rights? That’s why he hired me. I’m in charge of all photography and sales.”
Kessler stared at him silently for a moment, then said just one thing.
“Fox photos.”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
Da-hoon pulled out all the B-cuts of the baby fox he’d taken last night but hadn’t yet released—about twenty photos in total. Kessler examined each one carefully, like he was censoring them.
“Who the hell would buy this wobbling belly shot?”
“Lots of people like them.”
“So he meant to turn on the charm.”
Even in the photos, there were sides of the fox he had never shown Kessler before. A shyly raised tail, or him snuggled into a banana costume, making a ^-^ cutesy face. Kessler kept looking through them again and again, going back, inspecting every detail—just those twenty shots took him over thirty minutes.
While Kessler was fully absorbed in the photos, Jung Da-hoon secretly chugged potions to restore all his HP, then spoke.
“He’s well aware that he’s a born crowd-puller.”
Kessler, having finished his photo appreciation, casually slipped the prints into his own pocket. And that wasn’t enough—he asked for more.
“Don’t you have more? You took a bunch last night.”
“Ah… I only picked out the good ones for you… Do you want the rest too?”
“Hand them over.”
Da-hoon began reluctantly selecting five more shots, mentally gritting his teeth, when—
[System]: Your data drive has been stolen.
“?”
“I’ll choose.”
Kessler, licking his lips, swiped the entire data storage unit.
“Alright then. Good work.”
“……”
And with that, he turned and walked away.
[Deposit Notification
₩1,000,000 has been deposited into your account.
-Memo: For data drive]
“You said… you said you’d choose…? Are you just taking everything…?”
Da-hoon was devastated. All that effort, a collaboration he’d crafted with Woo-rim, now stolen. Worse yet, he had already teased a B-cut drop at 9 PM tonight on Instagram. Kessler’s seizure of the content made things complicated.
“This is ridiculous…”
There was no way that work was only worth a million won. It wasn’t even about the money anymore—how was he supposed to explain this?
After logging out of the game, Da-hoon reconnected to the baby fox fan account.
“Even the dog float sponsor is watching this account…”
The pressure from his followers, who were all excited about the promised new uploads, was overwhelming. Still dazed, Da-hoon fumbled his way through the process. He selected a black screen as the photo for his post and began clacking away at the keyboard, composing a melancholy update.
– – –
[real_babyfox]
The photos and videos I planned to upload today were stolen by an in-game boss monster and can’t be posted.
Future updates are also TBD.
I’m sorry to keep you waiting.
ㄴWow, I saw the black pic and thought he died; glad he’s alive
ㄴLOL he got robbed
ㄴNooo ㅠ
ㄴLMAO
ㄴAh lol was it that castle owner who stole them? Share them, please
ㄴFrom now on, please do constant updates
ㄴWe’ll wait~!
– – –
“…Oh?”
As he scrolled through the comments, Da-hoon’s shoulders relaxed. He’d braced for an avalanche of backlash, but the responses were surprisingly lighthearted.
“They’re all trusting me…”
And so, he made a vow—to live up to their faith. What had started as a small token of appreciation for Woo-rim’s efforts had turned into something bigger for Da-hoon. He’d begun taking candid shots of Woo-rim’s daily life, moments Woo-rim himself didn’t even know about—so that when he eventually returned to reality, he could look back on these memories.
‘And now they’ve all been swiped…’
But memories could be rebuilt. To do that, he’d need to survive—through the second user judgment and all the way to the final round. Both he and Yeo Woo-rim had to make it to the very end.
***
When I opened my eyes, I was staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Blue checkered tiles were neatly arrayed like a grid-patterned city, and in each square, tiny souls dangled like ricefish—swaying, as if they might drop like stalactites at any moment.
My head throbbed—I had no idea how long I’d been asleep.
I poked both forelegs out from under the blanket and looked at Kessler, who was seated beside me.
……
He hadn’t acknowledged me before… Had he finally let his guard down?
He was intently focused on something, but then turned to look at me. Our eyes met.
“You’re awake?”
Meow.
Then he immediately went back to what he was doing. I stayed just like that, silently watching him. I didn’t want to disturb him.
“What are you staring at? You want food?”
Meow.
He fetched some lightly thawed bead ice cream pudding from the animal hospital’s freezer and placed it on a patient tray.
“Once you’re done eating, go do your job.”
I paused after a few licks of the ice cream pudding and walked over to him. Lick, lick. I gently licked his hand.
“You’re mixing pudding and saliva together.”
…Meow.
I had no idea why he was grumbling so much when he was feeding me IV fluids and gourmet food.
I finished the bead ice cream pudding and quietly waited for him to finish his work, but he acted as if he had no intention of interacting further.
“What are you looking at? Get going.”
……
“I said go start your day already.”
Basically, he was telling me to get lost now that I was awake.
Maybe it still wasn’t the right time to have a proper conversation with him as Yeo Woo-rim. I didn’t want to interfere, so I nodded vigorously and hopped down from the bed.
I expressed my feelings by liking the recently uploaded photo and left the hospital.
