“I need to play the game.”
I muttered as I sank into the bathtub Kessler had prepared. Originally, I planned a quick shower, but he’d set up such a perfect, cozy environment that I surrendered myself completely.
He swiftly exited and returned, arranging an iced americano on the bathtub tray.
“What do you want to do?”
“Play a game. Can’t I do it while bathing?”
“Just rest for now.”
The hand pouring warm water over my back moved upward, pressing firmly into my shoulders.
“Ah!!”
“Does it hurt?”
“It hurts… but it feels good…”
The company provides a professional massage once a week as a staff benefit. However, Kessler’s hands were somehow even more skilled than the professional’s.
Kessler’s kindness didn’t stop there. He lathered soap over my body, gently cleaned my skin, and washed my hair, too.
“Don’t scrub my skin off.”
“Okay.”
He sneakily rubbed my collarbones with enough force to squeak, prompting me to warn him. I didn’t want the person I love to see dirt rolling off my skin.
“What did you do today?”
“Fought with DealMeat.”
“Who the hell is picking a fight with my baby fox?”
“No, it was my fault, kind of.”
While coordinating with my teammates, I had made some impulsive moves. The issue was, I kept spotting shortcuts that could break through quickly instead of following the stable routes we’d planned. So I frequently deviated from the agreed-upon paths.
Out of ten times I tried these deviations, eight worked out great, but two ended badly.
In my previous team, my position was clearly defined as attack support, maximizing my strengths in gameplay. However, in my current team, my assigned position had become strategically broader. In adapting to this new role, conflicts naturally arose among teammates. Plus, since the team itself was new, there were plenty of other areas we still needed to synchronize.
We managed to achieve good results in competitions somehow, but still…
“…Maybe I’m still feeling the aftereffects.”
It had been like this ever since I left the Shadow Castle. I’m not sure if you’d exactly call it aftereffects, but clearly, my playstyle had significantly changed since the possession ended.
During those nine months of game time spent trapped, I’d meticulously suppressed myself, minimizing every possible risk to ensure a stable victory. Perhaps this was some sort of reaction to that period.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t getting results—I was doing great, even winning. But lately, I constantly felt like I was forcing myself to suppress these impulses.
“So I don’t want to do anything, but at the same time, I want to do everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yeah, everything.”
Mid-conversation, I felt drowsiness overtaking me. Leaning my head against the wall tiles with eyes closed, I dozed off momentarily, only to suddenly awaken and find Kessler staring intently at my face.
“Ack!!”
“Whoa, you scared me.”
When I flailed in surprise, Kessler pretended to be startled too, then kissed my cheek.
“What’s with you?”
“Hehe. I got startled too.”
“Why were you just staring at me like that?”
“Watching you sleep.”
“What time is it?”
I placed a hand on Kessler’s shoulder and stood up, glancing around for a clock.
“It’s Quest Friday today. Let’s go game.”
“My fox can sleep more.”
“If I sleep more now, I won’t be able to sleep at night, so no.”
The moment I jumped out of the bathtub, he enveloped me from behind with a towel, lifting me effortlessly.
“Ack!”
I struggled in surprise, but it was useless. Kessler carried me to the bed, gently laying me down and unwrapping the towel as though peeling open a lotus leaf.
“So… you wanna do it?”
“Mmhmm.”
Today was Quest Friday, the start of a new quest.
The notification prompting me to log in soon began to ring, but Kessler acted oblivious, lifting one of my legs higher and gently tracing his fingertips over every inch of the exposed area.
Playfully tapping his way upward, his fingers circled slowly over my inner thigh.
“Hey, Kessler. The login alert’s going off.”
“You go on ahead. I’ve got something urgent to take care of right now.”
Even as he kindly placed the gaming device beside me, I felt a conflicting rush of urgency to log in quickly and embarrassment about our current situation.
“You’re telling me to just play the game while lying here completely exposed like this…?”
Uncomfortable with my wet hair touching the pillow, I quickly sat up. As if he’d expected it, Kessler promptly caught my waist in support.
“Then… should we just dry off everything and go in together?”
With a playful smile, he reached casually for a plastic container on the bedside table.
“What’s that?”
“Mm, something to put on your body.”
Water-based lube…
Despite my suggestion to dry off before logging in, the atmosphere only grew more charged and slippery.
***
After rolling around, the two of us finally logged into the game.
The newlywed room filled with pictures of foxes appeared. I climbed onto Kessler, who hadn’t logged in yet, hugged him, and rolled around playfully. Once he joined the game moments later, he sent a giggling emoji, charmingly cute.
“Let’s go. Just follow your hyung.”
“Alright, Hyung.”
Kessler matched my joking tone, softly petting my head, which was positioned slightly lower than his. Maybe because we’d just logged in after tumbling around together, his cheeks appeared a bit redder than usual.
Since we’d selected a team leader last week, today’s quest would probably involve a team battle.
“Hurry up! Hurry up! We’re eating meat!”
Today’s gathering spot for our group was a barbeque restaurant in Shadow Castle Plaza.
“It’s pork belly, huh? Kessler and I had pork belly earlier too.”
“Really? Woo-rim, that’s not what I heard. I heard you might not make it because you fell asleep in the bath…?!”
“Not for dinner—lunch. At work.”
“Don’t you two work at different companies?”
“We still coordinate our lunch menus. From each of our offices.”
“Whoa… How do you even do that?”
“Literally just like that. If we decide on jjajangmyeon, we go to nearby Chinese restaurants at the same time, eat solo, and send each other proof shots. If we’re craving meat, we both eat meat. If we’ve got time, we sometimes meet up for real and eat together.”
After explaining, I felt slightly embarrassed, as if we were overly flaunting our relationship.
“Wow… Da-hoon, let’s do that too! No, wait—you’re picky with food… What do you two do when one of you can’t eat something?”
“Our Juwon’s got a low spice tolerance, so we clash sometimes.”
“Oh… that’s a deal-breaker!”
“Baby Woo-rim is super picky too, but I try to match him whenever I can.”
In fact, truthfully speaking, I was usually the one who said no to this or that, leaving me no room to complain.
“Anyway… let’s just eat for now.”
Kessler wrapped grilled garlic, seasoned scallions, and fresh kimchi around a juicy piece of pork belly and popped it into my mouth.
“Yum-yum-yum.”
It was a trivial point, but returning to the game made me realize one thing: we sorely missed the user with golden cooking skills, the legendary Kimchi Artisan.
“The taste is just so-so, but since it’s Kessler feeding me, it’s delicious.”
“Right?”
Kessler replied and waited patiently, so I wrapped a bite and placed it into his mouth. Jung Da-hoon, sitting beside us, watched with envy.
“A bite from the Pro… wow…”
“C’mon, Da-hoon. Be happy with the meat I’m feeding you. …Aah~”
Already used to this kind of flirting, solo Kebab gave a brutally honest assessment of the meal.
“The crown jewel of pork belly is the kimchi, and the kimchi’s just not it…”
“Right? Kebab, this fresh kimchi doesn’t hold a candle to the Kimchi Artisan’s stuff. It really needs a re-evaluation! Oh, did you know he runs a kimchi factory in real life? For real.”
“Huh… As expected.”
“If you order the Kimchi Artisan’s fresh kimchi, it supposedly tastes just like the ‘Fantasia Kimchi’ we had during beta. Anyway, cheers! To our team! Clink clink!”
Their glasses clinked in unison. Truly, nothing beats a meat party for building team chemistry.
“If it’s a team quest, avoiding a shitshow is priority one. Let’s head somewhere safe.”
After dinner, we invited everyone back to our newlywed room as a kind of housewarming. It was also meant as a precaution to prevent any unexpected incidents by keeping all the team members in a safe zone.
“Oh… as expected of Juwon’s aesthetic! This place is so well-decorated! But… is it normal for honeymoon suites to be this warm?”
“Are there night-blooming trees nearby?”
“Ah, the heating system here is super active.”
Embarrassed, I quickly opened the window for ventilation. The problem was caused by playing around while still half-logged into the game. I was certain I’d left the window open before stepping out, but Kessler must’ve quietly closed it behind my back.
He had this habit of sealing up our room afterward, wanting to preserve the lingering mood and atmosphere after intimacy.
“Jung Da-hoon, wanna look at the fox photos?”
“Gladly.”
Unlike me, who was about to die of embarrassment knowing the truth, Kessler seemed perfectly composed.
Group Survival Quest: Leadership Qualities will begin shortly.
“It’s starting!”
Group Survival Quest: <Leadership Qualities>
The Shadow Castle currently has no ruling Lord. That prestigious seat will go to one among the team leaders selected today.
Before morning arrives, the leader who gathers the most Leader Points will become the final Lord.
—Players may earn points in a variety of ways.
—There are countless methods to earn points. No specific scoring guide will be provided. Seek out and act on “Leader-like behavior.”
—In two hours, the event Challenge! Skull Bell will be held with players and NPCs. A great opportunity to earn points—don’t miss it.
—Final Leader Reward: 1-month ownership of the “Mark of Ownership”
—Time until morning: 6:59:52
※ Hint
We asked the Byeonhogolr: What makes a good leader?—Keen observation is essential for leadership.
—So is proactive behavior and listening to your teammates.
“Ah… I hid for nothing. Looks like it’s not one of those kill-everyone-to-win types. Hey, do any of you know who the other team leaders are? I figured some of you interact more with other players than I do, since you’re online more.”
“I only know you.”
“Same… I only know Pro…”
“Me too, Woo-rim…”
“Yeah… same here…”
“Let’s head to the plaza first.”
“Wait!! Let’s not let anyone know that Pro is our team’s leader. If another team decides to go full psycho, they might try to eliminate all other leaders to leave only theirs standing.”
We hurried toward the plaza, swinging our starter clubs in the air like amateurs.
***
On the way, we ran into another group. Both sides flinched the moment we made eye contact.
“Hello?”
“Oh, hello.”
I greeted them, and—
[System]: You greeted others enthusiastically. Leader Points increased. +2
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
The other team’s member who received the greeting looked just as surprised.
[You received a greeting on behalf of your team. Leader Points increased. +1]
…! So the greeter gets 2 points, the receiver 1.
Because both groups flinched, trying to stay undercover, this random greeting ended up outing both of our teams’ leaders.
“Uh… let’s just pretend we don’t know anything.”
“Yes, let’s swear on our honor as leaders. Raise your hand and take the oath, now.”
[System]: Both players have sworn the Leader’s Oath. Breaking the oath may cause your leadership to be questioned.
“Pro, just in case, I’ll pretend to be the leader and do the greetings.”
“I’ll act like the leader too.”
***
The plaza, now crowded with players, was a chaotic sight.
“Hello! Hello! Hi there, hello! Hiii! Hello~!!”
“Hey~ Hello~ Yo yo~ Nice to see ya~”
I was speechless. Everyone was running around, doing exactly what we’d done—spamming greetings to rack up Leader Points.
This… this couldn’t be right.
I glanced at Kessler unconsciously. He wore the same expression as me. The What the hell is this colorful nonsense kind of face.
“I have a secret weapon.”
“…What is it?”
Just then, Kebab started rummaging through his bag and pulled out something that looked like an optometry trial frame from an eyeglass shop. He put it on, furrowed his brows, and began blinking repeatedly.
“Hmm…”
“What is that?”
Kessler, arms crossed, demanded an explanation. With a sigh, Kebab removed the device and handed it over.
“It’s a Magic Eye item that reveals other people’s secrets… but it doesn’t seem to apply to this quest.”
“Let me see.”
“Yes, sir.”
Looking intrigued, Kessler put it on and turned toward Woo-rim. Then he narrowed his eyes and scanned Woo-rim’s body from head to toe with intense focus.
“What? Why? What are you seeing?”
Woo-rim snatched the device and put it on himself. It was like slipping on x-ray goggles—Kessler’s skeletal structure came into view.
“Did you get struck by lightning or something? Why are your bones so thick? Is this what they mean by a dense frame?”
Compared to Bori Noona or Kebab, Kessler’s build was noticeably more robust and solid.
“Whoa, I wanna try it too!”
At this point, anything about <Leadership Qualities> had clearly gone straight out the window.
