“Come in.”
I opened the front door with a bit of flair. The inside of the house was dreary, but still better than the North.
Kyle—meaning, Kyle who had returned to human form from a beast—pushed his body into the dark interior and looked at me before cautiously stepping inside.
“Wait! Take off your shoes!”
Just as he was about to take another step, he flinched and lifted his foot awkwardly.
“Why?”
“Well, here… it’s a social norm, you know, that kind of thing.”
“But the floor is cold. I might get frostbite, and sharp ice could cut my feet……”
“There’s no ice here!”
For real, what ice? This is South Korea! Not the North!
“Hm.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he obediently took off his shoes. Still, he hesitated like a child entering an unfamiliar place, looking around before following me inside.
There wasn’t much in my house. Not because I was about to leave, but simply because I never had much to begin with. The unique air of an unoccupied space lingered, making the atmosphere feel oddly solemn, but it wasn’t as desolate as I expected. Clearly, someone had been in and out from time to time.
“Just sit wherever. Hm, maybe there’s something that fits you…”
Thankfully, he wasn’t large enough to be considered an ‘oversized’ person, but his build was still troublesome when it came to finding clothes.
If I’d known I’d be playing dress-up like this right in front of my house, I would’ve just gone all-in and turned it into a proper costume play session.
I opened my wardrobe and picked out the cleanest and most decent set of clothes I had, handing them to him. Kyle accepted them without a word and began stripping out of what he was wearing.
“Oh, come on.”
I turned around, feeling a bit flustered, but he acted as if nothing was wrong.
“You’ve already seen everything anyway.”
“That’s not the point!”
“What is the point, then?”
He casually pulled on the clothes, but that wasn’t the end of the problem.
“Shu.”
“Did you put everything on?”
“Yeah.”
“…What?”
I glanced over my shoulder, then did a double take and grabbed my head.
Of course. He wasn’t lying.
But out of everything I had, I picked the largest set of clothes for him… and yet…
A snort I couldn’t hold back burst out.
“Wow. It really fits perfectly……”
“Don’t you have anything bigger?”
“I’ll have to buy some.”
After a brief hesitation, I handed him the largest coat I had. Kyle accepted it without complaint, though he looked slightly apologetic, as if even this was troubling him.
“I mean, you wore prison uniforms just fine before. Why are you acting so surprised now?”
“That was made to fit me. This isn’t.”
“If you can talk, then it means it’s fine.”
I wrapped the scarf around his neck and firmly ended the discussion.
“If you go outside, make sure to stick close to me. There are a lot of people around, and if you get separated, you’re out of luck. You’re tall, so you might be able to find me, but I won’t be able to spot you… Here, take this just in case.”
“I never said anything.”
Regardless, I handed him a few bills before leading the way down the familiar path to the phone booth.
“Well, it’s a relief that the house is still here. If no one was living in it, I would’ve had to spend money fixing it up.”
“Did someone leave those things for you on purpose, or did they just abandon them?”
“Yeah. The system mentioned it earlier. There’s someone in this world who makes sure I don’t get erased.”
All miracles come from strong desires. That power lingers like an imprint, meaning that even if my body wasn’t completely erased, a trace of me remained, like remnants of old data.
It was like a protected file, left behind with my name still attached. I let out a wry laugh.
“I was a team leader on that project. They all said I was a genius, but after I died, they just called me an idiot and went on with their lives. Yet, the next morning, they were already looking into weird supernatural stuff……”
Of course, they probably never actually used it. With the bonus sanity points I got from my perks, I could afford a house, a hospital stay, and a phone call.
“Well, if they’re thinking about me that much, then whatever.”
I had always lived in a way that meant leaving wasn’t strange, but it seemed my life hadn’t been completely meaningless either. That thought left me feeling oddly bittersweet.
“I’ll call my old team leader later and explain things properly, so there’s no need to worry about the second condition… The first condition, though…”
Kyle tilted his head, pulling up the system window we had seen earlier.
“Wish fulfillment.”
“Right. But I have no idea how to fill it…”
Just then, as if it had been listening to our conversation, the system appeared.
[The one and only chance to enjoy this world! Find what you want to do and achieve small moments of happiness.]
[Current Wish Fulfillment: 5.0%]
“I didn’t even do anything. Why is it already at 5%?”
The system window flickered twice as if analyzing my question before responding.
[Due to interest rates, 2.5% was added twice, totaling 5%. (￣▽￣)]
Even just meeting people increased it by 5%. The calculation method was looser than I expected.
‘At this rate, I might be able to go back before the sun changes…’
With those thoughts in mind, I boarded the bus, quickly pulling up the dazed Kyle and paying for both of our fares.
Kyle looked tense, rubbing his knuckles while staring at the passing scenery. Well, this was probably his first time riding in a vehicle, so it made sense that he’d be uneasy.
“You won’t die. It’s not as dangerous as you think.”
Still, he asked a complicated question.
“What kind of accident did you die in?”
“…A car accident.”
That car and this bus weren’t the same, but still.
We got off the bus, greeted by the dazzlingly decorated streets. The city was all decked out for the Christmas season.
“The weather makes it feel just right.”
I stopped at an intersection, glancing around.
Colored lights hung from the trees, and red-and-green decorations filled the shop windows. Christmas carols played in the background, and I spotted a few people dressed as Santa and Rudolph.
The festivals in the North were flashy, but the changes at this time of year gave a different kind of warmth. Kyle and I both fell silent as we took in the scenery.
“Is there Christmas in Blake’s territory?”
“Christmas?”
“Ah, so there isn’t.”
At some point, my hand had naturally slipped into the crook of his arm as we walked.
Kyle, who had casually taken my hand, glanced at me with a slightly softer gaze before chuckling.
“Haven’t you already been to a similar festival?”
“That’s true. But, wow, I got so caught up in things that I forgot all about it.”
“You liked it, though.”
“Oh, hush.”
As I teased him, Kyle’s gaze drifted elsewhere. He acted like he wasn’t interested, but it was obvious that this world was new to him.
I coughed lightly and tilted my head toward him with a smirk.
“Should we have a party?”
“For Christmas, you mean?”
“Yes. Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. Oh, right, you have no idea. We can book a restaurant or, if that doesn’t work out, just have a meal at home.”
I wanted to take him somewhere nice. Before, I would’ve hesitated just thinking about the cost, but now, with my surplus of sanity points, I could afford to be generous.
Smiling, I grabbed Kyle’s wrist. Even though he could resist, he let himself be pulled along.
“I’ll take care of the restaurant. There will be crowds on the day of, so we should prepare in advance. Let’s see… We need to buy alcohol, a cake, and presents for each other. Oh, but first, I have to get you new clothes.”
“Right.”
He let out a rare, genuinely happy laugh.
It’s strange. I’ve already gone through several Christmases, but right now, I feel more impatient than when I used to wait for Santa’s presents as a child.
***
Just as I was feeling relieved, another problem arose.
“Well, of course, nothing ever goes smoothly……”
I called a well-known restaurant, and miraculously, there was one perfect spot left for Christmas dinner. The reservation was set, I bought the cake, and I even got a few extra outfits for Kyle.
Since it was close to the scheduled time, Kyle went to wash up first to get ready. When he stepped out, wearing a robe with a towel draped over his head, something important suddenly hit me.
“Wait… if you’ve fully turned into a human, why is the skill still called ‘Reload’?”
When I was fully human, the skill was named “Synchronization.” “Reload” was the skill I used to switch between a hamster and a human……
“No way.”
A quiet system window popped up.
[Yes! That’s correct! ￣︶￣∗￣︶￣*)]
“So that means I also had a time limit when I did it? He’s… gonna… turn back into a dog?”
[Of course! The timer is right here, here! At the top! ↗↗↗]
I grabbed Kyle’s wrist and turned it over where the system had indicated. There was, indeed, a timer. It was so tiny that I had to squint to even notice it—a small countdown barely the size of a credit card imprint.
“How the hell is it this… wait.”
I blinked a few times before realizing that the timer was rapidly counting down.
3…
2…
1…
A flash of light erupted from the bathroom side. I exhaled deeply, cupping my face in both hands.
“System!!!”
But the system had already vanished without a trace.
Kyle, now back in his canine form, sat in front of me, looking up blankly with a dumbfounded expression.
“…Ha……”
Well, this was definitely going to be a Christmas to remember for a lot of reasons.
