<The Baby Fox Lizard’s Reputation>
Your reputation has spread to other cities. Many beings may now come seeking you.
In the horror game Last Shadow, the species known for the highest reproductive rate is the lizard. Their low intelligence compared to their fertility was the only flaw, resulting in a slow rate of civilization development. However, thanks to player contributions, their stagnant civilization had started to inch forward.
“Yaaawn. I’m so sleepy. Baby Fox, how many people did you say can advance from here?”
“I’m not sure. I’d guess around 40. Since it’s a big city, they’ll probably hand out a decent number of passes too.”
With Kessler out working, the remaining four of us were lounging comfortably in hammocks set up in Snake Rim’s backyard garden.
“Whether it’s five or ten, we’re definitely in that list either way.”
Kebab spoke in a lazy, slightly arrogant tone. But he was right. We’d arrived early in the Shadow Castle round, established our base, and racked up more than enough merit points—it was practically guaranteed.
Players who arrive here must complete tasks for the residents to gain merit. But since we had already solved nearly all the major problems in the village, the lizards, who normally would’ve welcomed visitors, simply stood around blankly watching them pass by.
Wearing sunglasses and swinging my tail lazily to rock the hammock, I turned to the others who were vacationing in similar positions.
“In that case, I should focus on real life for a while.”
“That’s fine. We’ve got plenty of time until the next step. Pro, your tournament preliminaries are coming up soon, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Oooh wow. We’ll cheer for you!”
After watching Bori and Kebab play Omok for a bit, I logged out. There was a lot I needed to prepare in the spare time I had.
First, I sat at my desk and organized my schedule on the calendar—intense training, commercial shoots, even a move. Hmm… a bit packed? The company had said they cherry-picked the most important ones from the incoming offers, but… how is this the filtered version?
After filling in the calendar until it was crammed, I grabbed my coat.
Seong Juwon
Arrived
I saw the newly arrived message and left the house.
“Ugh, it’s freezing.”
“My sweet little fox lizard, come snuggle up to me. That’s how you’ll stay warm.”
“Your nicknames are getting longer, you know that?”
Shivering, I climbed into the passenger seat, and he reached over to fasten my seatbelt tightly.
“Ooh, the heated seat’s nice.”
“I’ve got a blanket too.”
It felt suffocating having it wrapped up to my neck like a burrito, so I tried to push it down—but Kessler leaned in and buried his face in the blanket, leaving me no room to move.
Since I wouldn’t come to him, he came to me. Then he slid his hand under the blanket to hold mine, fidgeting with his fingers. As I quietly petted his head—this huge guy begging for affection—I eventually gave him a small shove.
“Let’s get going. I’m curious and want to see it already.”
After we talked about moving recently, Kessler had signed a lease for a place in Seoul. Today was the day we’d go check it out. The new place was in the heart of Gangnam to optimize our daily commute, and despite being there earlier, Kessler insisted on personally picking me up all the way from Ilsan. Now we were driving the same path back to Gangnam.
‘What is even the point of this?’
If I had just taken a taxi to Seoul, it would’ve saved time and been a cleaner route. But Kessler’s reason from the start to the end was simply that he wanted to go on a drive with me. He sure doesn’t look like the type, but he’s full of romantic ideals. I glanced at him.
“What are you looking at? Want a kiss?”
“Focus on driving, please.”
As always, my favorite music was playing in the car. Hum-hum. I cracked the window slightly, only for the cold winter air and acrid exhaust fumes to rush in.
I stared at the Han River—it was like an ocean. Even though I saw it every day, I still found myself gazing at it like it was brand new.
“Let’s go on picnics to the Han River Park in summer, yeah?”
“I’m happy doing anything with you.”
“Same here.”
“I hope summer comes quickly, so we can have fun.”
“Why? You hate bugs.”
Of course, considering I’d gained merit points recently by catching ants, I could handle bugs if they showed up.
“……”
Kessler, for some reason, got prideful about that. Even though I could just catch them for him, he would freak out at the sight of a single moth, make a big deal out of it, and insist on catching it himself in an intense stare-down.
Just like how I still hadn’t spoken in my Baby Fox form to preserve his fantasy of me, he too… tried hard to protect me from real-life insects.
“Don’t worry. I’ll heroically take care of any bugs. We’ll go to the beach in summer, eat yummy food in the park, visit amusement parks… I even want to go abroad.”
“So basically, you’re trying to reserve my time for the preseason?”
“Yeah, let’s do everything.”
After some casual chatter, we arrived in no time.
“The pictures make it look slightly bigger… Did you hire Jung Da-hoon as your real estate photographer by any chance?”
“Does it? Looks the same to me.”
“Hold on, this looks edited.”
I started counting the floor tiles visible in the preview photos I’d received earlier. There seemed to be more tiles in the photo than there were in reality. While I was busy fact-checking, Kessler hugged me from behind.
“Hey, stay still. I’ve got to recount the tiles.”
“I don’t care, I’d love it even if it’s tiny.”
“One, two…”
Of course, even if the tile count was different, it wasn’t like they’d refuse to move in. But he had this unnecessary habit of double-checking random details.
Of course, even if the number of tiles was different, it’s not like I wasn’t going to move in. But I had this compulsion to verify pointless things.
After that, we discussed interior design. I showed him a 3D app layout of one possible furniture arrangement and asked for his opinion. Kessler, who was surprisingly picky about interiors, acted like he had no opinions of his own whenever I made a suggestion.
“Do you really like it? You nag every time you go into the Snake Rim room.”
He always had opinions on interior design or furniture placement whenever they visited a lizard’s home to deal with ant infestations, and yet he was leaving everything in his own place up to someone with no sense for design?
“I want to breathe in your aesthetic.”
“You mean the wooden floor aesthetic?”
After checking that the water worked, the power was stable, and there were no defects, we headed into a nearby pub. We clinked glasses of cola and tore into chicken drumsticks while exchanging random chatter.
On the way back, traffic was heavy on Jayu-ro, but even the gridlock was fun. We just babbled nonsense and laughed until, at some point, I dozed off. I briefly woke up when Kessler gently lifted me into his arms but quickly sank into a deeper sleep.
***
Jang Bori
You guys ever make it out of the Shadow Castle?
Kim Teolbo
Dunno ;; everyone looted last night, how do you even win
Jang Bori
Told you~ not just anyone can do it~
Is Duel even harder?!
Kim Teolbo
I’m pissed ‘cause Haru Noona died
Haru
Ha… Kessler, get over here @Seong Juwon
Seong Juwon
?
Haru
You got a death wish?
Why’d you design this game like this if you’re taking it seriously?!
Seong Juwon
Did you die again?
After showing up early and syncing with my teammates, I glanced at my phone during a short break before shutting off the screen.
“Poksup-hyung’s moving to this area too, right? If so, we’re gonna be invincible. I know it sounds cocky, but I seriously think we’re gonna win Worlds.”
“You saying that while the camera’s rolling?”
“Nah, don’t worry—I’m not trying to get karma-blasted.”
The neighboring team that was in great form last season had trash-talked too much and got wrecked, becoming a laughingstock. There’s a big difference between showing confidence in front of fans and getting cocky individually.
Our team’s coordination had steadily improved through repetitive training. The synergy was finally locking in, and the good vibes even made our workday end earlier than scheduled.
After practice and a scheduled afternoon ad shoot, I logged into Last Shadow like a thirsty bunny finding a spring.
[Jung Da-hoon]: Pro’s here! Aren’t you gonna rest? ㅠㅠ
[Yeo Woo-rim]: Hii
[Yeo Woo-rim]: I am resting, this is my rest
[Kebab]: So you rest from one game… by playing another game……
[Yeo Woo-rim]: They’re different kinds of games. That one’s packed with high-pressure, every-second-counts competition, while this one’s full of chill healing vibes.
[Jang Bori]: Baby Fox, healing? This is a horror game!!
Every time I logged in when I had a moment, the player population in Swamp City had visibly declined. Unlike the old days when people fought just to stay, now it was so sparse that if users ran into each other, they greeted one another.
But there were upsides to the city’s decline.
You could buy kimchi without delay.
However, someone had already arrived at the makeshift shop.
“Hello, Artisan. Got any fresh kimchi left?”
“Yes, yes. You can buy it right away.”
‘Soft Onion’ and the ‘Fresh Kimchi Artisan’ were desperately pretending not to recognize each other while conducting the transaction. I stood a step behind and then slipped right between them.
“I’ll have some kimchi too. Just 500 grams. I’m camping solo today. Also, some meat and chicken skewers, please.”
Both of them flinched in surprise and visibly shivered when they saw me, but I simply gave them a cheerful smile.
