“What the—where’s my jeweled crab hairpin?”
“Maybe you dropped it? Look carefully.”
A user checking her face in the bathroom mirror scanned the floor in confusion.
“Ugh… someone must’ve picked it up…”
She retraced her steps but couldn’t find it.
“Wasn’t that a quest item?”
“It’s the most expensive thing I own…”
She raised her head in dismay—only to see someone on the opposite side doing just what she had been: scanning the ground as they walked.
“Excuse me, you didn’t happen to see a golden nail clipper around here, did you?”
“You lost something too? I lost my crab hairpin…”
Just then, someone on the other side raised a megaphone.
“Where’s the bastard who took my Shadow Bucket?! Bring it back right now!!”
One by one, people began noticing that their belongings were gone. A sudden wave of theft had struck.
***
“Whew.”
It was a good thing I’d been casually pickpocketing here and there—my skill proficiency had leveled up to ‘Intermediate.’
Now that I’d reached Intermediate, I could rummage through up to five bags a day. Not only that, but even if someone realized something was missing, they wouldn’t be notified that it had been stolen.
—Jeweled crab hairpin
—Shadow Bucket
—Gold-plated nail clipper
—Herbal tonic for stronger bones
…
The stolen goods were soon discreetly sold off to those in need through a rookie at Byeonhogoal.
If I tried to sell them directly, I’d risk getting caught again.
“Well, I’ll leave it in your hands then. You know to keep your mouth shut about where these items came from, right? Watch your jaw—or better yet, your whole snout.”
—Clack!
With a confident snap of his jaw that seemed to say “Don’t worry,” the new guy reassured me. I gave him a light pat on the tailbone as encouragement.
They say a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. After parting ways with him, I loitered around the users, pretending to look for something on the ground.
‘They’ve probably launched a full-blown manhunt for the culprit by now…’
Bullseye. In the middle of the crowd, Bori Noona stood dressed like a detective, magnifying glass in hand, investigating footprints.
“There’s only ever one truth!”
“Let’s find the culprit, LET’S GOOOO!!”
“Looking closely now… Hmm, there’s a faint hairline crack in the footprint. What could this mean?”
What the—? I didn’t even touch her stuff. Why is she so fired up?
Worried it might be one of my tail hairs, I subtly tried to check the bottom of my shoe, but Jung Da-hoon suddenly stepped in.
“Please stay still, Pro. She’s watching for anyone who checks their feet in response to her comments, thinking the culprit might react.”
“Oh—right. That was close.”
“And you’d better scram now. Your face is way too stiff.”
At Jung Da-hoon’s warning, I hurriedly left the area.
‘No use worrying. Since I’ve already gone this far, might as well own it.’
As I composed myself and passed by the bell tower entrance, I saw two skeletal figures struggling to carry a massive solid wood dining table.
They were sweating beef broth from their foreheads with every step—clearly at their limit.
…They’re going up the stairs? Don’t tell me they’re planning to haul that thing all the way to the top floor?
Then it happened. Thud! Crash! The lead skeleton’s decayed wrist bones snapped, and the one in the back was crushed under the weight of the collapsing table.
A squealing screech escaped the fallen skeleton’s mouth.
Startled, I rushed over and helped lift the table off, but ribs five, six, and seven on the back skeleton’s right side had completely collapsed.
“Help! A skeleton’s been injured!!”
“Oh dear, what happened to these skeletons?”
I pulled out my tail and laid the injured bones on it, then—with help from a few kind-hearted users—we quickly transported them to the nearest hospital.
“Yeo Woo-rim, how did this happen?”
“Those two skeletons were trying to carry a table the size of a bull up the bell tower, and the lead one’s wrist just popped off.”
“Goodness, how could something like that happen!”
The users who’d helped expressed deep concern over the incident.
The skeleton with the broken wrist clacked its teeth in gratitude, but the users continued grumbling.
“I don’t care how cheap it is to use skeletons as labor—this is just too much. How can you make two of them carry something that heavy by themselves?”
It was a serious case of human error. Expecting them to haul something that heavy up a staircase? Unbelievable.
“This whole town’s rotted to the core—Bone Authority’s hit rock bottom.”
—Clack clack. Gotta move it. That’s how we get paid.
“You can’t go anywhere in your condition. Don’t worry, we’ll get people to move it for you. Just tell us where it needs to go.”
Hearing about the accident while the Labor Bones were getting treated, sympathetic users rolled up their sleeves and took action.
Compared to the skeletons, the users carried the heavy dining table up the bell tower at a much faster pace. Afterward, they brought up chairs, flowers, and other decorations as well.
“Seriously, who the hell came up with the idea of putting a dining table up here?”
“That bakery owner. Must’ve been one of the nasty skeletons… Probably trying to screw over the good ones.”
“Ugh. Classic Bone Bastard™ behavior.”
[System]: You’ve moved a heavy object to a high place. +1 Endurance
[System]: You helped a weakling in distress. +1 Positive Influence
Once the job was done, each user who pitched in gained +1 to their Endurance and Positive Influence. A good deed, and it paid off.
“Wait, you get stats for this?”
Hearing that Endurance had increased, a few latecomer users started repeatedly lifting the table up and down, grinding stats.
[System]: You have damaged a high-quality wooden table. -1 Trust with Skeletons
“AAAGH!! STOP MOVING IT!! You’re ruining our trust stat!”
In the end, the once-fine table was battered and frayed, its durability shredded from being tossed around by players.
Deposit Alert
₩3,670,000 has been deposited into your account.
–Memo: Crab Hairpin Sale Complete
I was sipping a drink on Fortress Street when I checked the alert. The new guy from Byeonhogol, now working as my broker, had sent the payment just before the bank closed, minus all the fees.
As I confirmed the deposit and reorganized my bag—
[Couple Panel]: You have a new feed update!
I opened the gallery and saw a new selfie from Kessler.
“Oh, right. We were supposed to have dinner.”
That meant he wanted me to come see him. The sun was starting to set, so I quickly pulled up the map to check Kessler’s location.
“…….”
Kessler was currently at the center of the bell tower.
“No way…”
So was Kessler the one who had ordered the table and chairs carried up there? For tonight’s dinner?
……Flustered, I trudged up the stairs to meet him.
“Baby Fox.”
“…….”
When I finally reached the top of the spiral stairs, the sight before me was unbelievable.
Kessler, all dressed up.
I hadn’t noticed in the close-up selfie earlier, but now I could see he had styled his bangs up, probably after a trip to the salon. He was wearing a formal suit.
And the battered table from earlier was now covered by a luxurious tablecloth, hiding its wear and tear.
“Sit here.”
He nudged the chair beside him with his foot and gestured with his eyes. I sat down.
“……Was all that your idea, Kessler?”
“Of course. Do you like it?”
“You do know two weaklings got seriously hurt trying to carry that table, right?”
“I do.”
“I’d appreciate it if you avoided stunts like this in the future. It was a lot of work.”
The moment I realized that accident had happened because of me, my mood took a nosedive.
“You like high places. I just wanted to make you happy.”
“I felt terrible watching that. They said three of his ribs were shattered.”
“He can just boil those for bone broth. Don’t worry.”
“Do you really not see what’s wrong with that?”
The frustration spilled out of me before I realized it.
—Clack clack.
The Cook Bone brought out the food: Chuncheon-style grilled chicken with steaming white rice—my favorite combo from the plaza food stalls.
He must have done his homework to serve me something I liked.
“I can tell you hate me.”
Just as I was getting emotional over the meal, Kessler’s voice came in, low and sullen.
“That’s not it… You did all this for me, made it so nice…”
“If those weaklings are so amazing to you, then fine, whatever.”
Kessler grumbled with a sulky pout.
“No… I’m sorry. I was being too sensitive.”
For a moment, I had forgotten who Kessler really was in this game. Though he looked like a full-grown adult—bigger than me even—inside, he was a thousand-year-old child.
And he was the absolute ruler of this castle. A being built from the sacrifices of the weak could never truly understand compassion for them.
……Had I gotten too comfortable around Kessler? I couldn’t have imagined snapping at him like that before.
Regret filled the awkward silence as I finally picked up my chopsticks.
I took a piece of the best-grilled chicken and wrapped it in Oasis greens, then held it up to Kessler’s mouth.
“What?”
“Ahh.”
But Kessler kept his lips tightly shut. Now what?
“You just looked… so handsome today, I got nervous and blurted out nonsense.”
“Was that supposed to be a line, Fox?”
“Of course it was. Now open up. My arm’s about to fall off.”
Kessler reluctantly opened his mouth.
‘Did I pull it off?’
Just as the peaceful mood began to settle with a well-fed bite of Oasis wrap, a system notification popped up in front of me.
[A new territory has been unlocked for players.]
Far off in the distance, the territory of the Skeleton Village, once sealed in shadow, now glowed clearly under the sun.
