Snake Rim’s yellow eyes brimmed with betrayal.
Turning around slowly, his hands trembling, he opened the vault and took out the 120 Mud Resonance Pills he had cherished so dearly, then held them out.
“The value of the Mud Resonance Pill and the Shadow Resonance Pill is the same.”
“Yes, they even look the same. You just changed the name, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
After counting them bead by bead, I packed them away neatly.
“Month one, payment complete.”
Required materials:
—Firewood from a Dead Tree 0/1
—Mud Resonance Pill 1/1
—Janggi Board 0/1
Thanks to that, I now had all the ingredients for the Undertaker Quest supporting the repose of the dead.
On the way out, leaving behind Snake Rim sitting in dejection, I grabbed a few pieces of firewood that were scattered around.
Firewood from a Dead Tree 1/1
Then, via the Fast Lizard Courier, I sent two Mud Resonance Pills to Jung Da-hoon and explained the situation through chat.
[Yeo Woo-rim]: Da-hoon, I just sent you the Resonance Pills, so please sign and receive them when the courier lizard arrives. You’ll repay with these for now… but something feels off. No matter how bad Kessler is at cooking, how does oxtail stew turn into short rib soup? I think he might’ve slipped in some black pork rib meat among the tails submitted as ingredients. It reeks of shameless trickery, so you should double-check and consider switching meat suppliers. They’re worth around 1 million won in game currency—more than enough to cover the debt.
[Jung Da-hoon]: Whoa, where did you even get something this rare?
[Yeo Woo-rim]: I’ve got over a hundred of them.
[Jung Da-hoon]: Wow.
[Jung Da-hoon]: Is there anything I can help with?
[Yeo Woo-rim]: I’ll let you know if something comes up. Anyway, I’ve got plenty of capital, so let me know if you need anything.
As I briskly walked toward the funeral hall, I spotted Jung Da-hoon in the distance receiving his package.
“Thank you.”
–Thanks a lot, kkadeuri.
Jung Da-hoon carefully wrapped the Resonance Pills and put them in his bag.
Nyang nyang!
I ran up and greeted him with a playful tackle. Startled, he instinctively snapped a photo.
“Pro!”
“There’s no chance the courier lizard secretly swiped some, right? Stuff like this keeps happening. How are we supposed to trust lizards anymore?”
“Huh… What’s going on? Can you finally talk now?”
“Ah… Actually, I’ve been able to talk for a while, but I’m cautious around Kessler. I figured a grown man’s voice coming out of such a small body might creep people out…”
“Not creepy at all… But okay. I’ll pretend I don’t know.”
“Thanks, then. Take care.”
“What’s your plan now?”
“I’m going to play a game of Janggi with a dead lizard, then take a nap after completing the quest. Kinda tired. What about you, Da-hoon?”
“Ah, I was thinking of following you—never mind. Go on.”
“Take care.”
As I lifted my hind legs for a cool little wave, my belly fat wobbled right along with it. Click.
Leaving Jung Da-hoon behind with his camera, I re-entered the funeral hall.
[System]: ‘Elder Bori Chile’ welcomes you.
Elder Bori Chile wasn’t visible, but the system let me know he was still here. I sat in a corner of the hall and pulled out the Jewel Game Board Kessler had given me.
[System]: ‘Elder Bori Chile’ shows interest in your actions.
[System]: Would you like to challenge him to a match?
Nyang.
[System]: The game begins. A one-round match between the Elder and the Baby Fox!
The jewel Janggi pieces began to roll on their own, moving one space. I nudged a pawn with my front paw in return.
Chaaa! Maaaar!
A lizard head is still just a lizard head.
He could barely plan two moves ahead, and if his strategy started to fail, he’d just shift random pieces around without thinking.
But if I won too easily, it might trigger some kind of side effect, so I pretended to struggle a bit.
At last, the game ended.
‘Was I supposed to let him win?’
Class Quest, <Repose of the Dead>, completed.
You have soothed the soul of a lonely spirit and are now a full-fledged Undertaker.
You can now communicate with the dead.
From that moment on, the souls of lizards began appearing everywhere.
They looked bizarre—rolling yellow eyeballs drifting inside clouds of black smoke—but with my successful class advancement, Elder Bori Chile’s form was finally revealed to all.
I gave a respectful bow.
“Thank you, baby fox.”
At the sound of that familiar voice, the lizards, who had been serving food and guzzling booze, turned toward us in shock.
–C-Could that be the Elder, kkadeuri?
–Indeed, it is I. The undertaker fox has saved me. Don’t bury me in some strange place. Burn my body and prepare a resting place for my soul. Somewhere shaded, away from direct sunlight. And didn’t I tell you to include mapo tofu on the table?!
–Father, kkadeuri!!
A space that had been soaked in tears of sorrow was now drenched in tears of reunion.
Watching the family tearfully embrace the soul of their beloved, I felt a strange sense of pride swell inside me.
–We thought we’d never get to tell you we love you! Will you live on as a soul now, kkadeuri? Your speech has changed…
–Yes. I worked hard all my life and now that I’ve become a soul, I plan to finally see the world. I am no longer a lizard, so I no longer speak like one.
–That’s so cool, kkadeuri.
–And it’s all thanks to this little fox. This fox saved me from rotting away forever inside my decaying flesh. Feed him plenty of delicious food and give him all the condolence money.
–To think you brought our father back! It’s worth every coin, kkadeuri! Take everything, fox, take it all, kkadeuri!!
It was the moment when praise and recognition poured down on me as I stood quietly, paws together.
You have helped a Lizard. 2/100
My mastery level increased, and my lizard quest progressed.
Nyang?
–It’s all yours, kkadeuri!
As I was checking the quest window, a massive box of condolence money was suddenly thrust into my arms.
[System]: You have received 12,100,000 won in condolence money from ‘Elder Bori Chile’s’ funeral.
‘Huh. The old guy must’ve lived a pretty decent life…’
That’s about the worth of 12 Mud Resonance Pills.
As I watched him now free to embark on a second life, like the other spirits, it began.
–Kkadeuri, Kkadeuri! Fox, please rescue my father too, kkadeuri!
–My mother as well, kkadeuri!
–I beg you, baby fox, kkadeuri! I’ll give you everything I have, kkadeuri!
…A flood of requests came pouring in.
‘Well, I need to complete the lizard quests anyway. Might as well level up my mastery too.’
I shared my pen and notepad. Requests would be processed in the order written. The list filled up in no time.
Then, a lizard girl who had been working part-time tiptoed over.
–B-Baby fox, kkadeuri… I’m a penniless beggar-lizard. But… is it okay if I write my name down too, kkadeuri?
Nyang nyang.
After all that fuss I made about how buying that expensive game board from Kessler was a waste of money and lacked profit value… here I was, answering her by gripping the pen in my mouth and nodding.
‘There are things in this world that matter more than money.’
***
One month later, in game time, I had become the seventh richest individual in the swamp region.
Among foxes, I was ranked first—of course, I was the only fox around.
One day, as my race quests were nearing completion…
[System]: All of your Squad Members have completed their Class Advancement.
Huh?
The sudden alert caught me off guard.
I already knew Jung Da-hoon had changed from Repairman to Photographer.
Bori noona was preparing for the swamp guide license exam.
But… what about Kebab and Kessler?
“…”
I opened the squad info panel.
Kebab had taken on some unheard-of class called Scale Trainer.
And Kessler…
‘Baby Fox Ambassador’?
Nya? I tilted my head. That counts as a job?
He had even completed the class change three days ago.
I logged off and sent Kessler, who was already at work, a message.
[What’s your job now?]
Seong Juwon
Just saw this now.
[What the hell happened?]
Seong Juwon
I was talking to the lizards about you, and suddenly it just appeared.
[You… just bit into it without thinking? So what does the class actually do?]
Seong Juwon
I can tell who has even the slightest dislike for you.
It seemed like Kessler had taken over the function of the title I once held, ‘Fox Who Knows Love’. Back then, it displayed a heart, a neutral face, or a black X.
Seong Juwon
If I bite into a Jewel Mud once a day, I can become a fox too.
[Hold up. Why the hell are you becoming a fox?]
Seong Juwon
Because all of this happened from loving you.
[…Well done. But that’s it? That’s the whole feature?]
Seong Juwon
Yes.
Seong Juwon
Every time I compliment you to others, my mastery level goes up. There’s more, but I have to complete the quest to find out.
The party leader can check each member’s job satisfaction.
And next to Kessler’s name, it showed a satisfaction rating of 100%.
Watching him call in with a video chat, I let out a dry chuckle. I seriously don’t know who the real hardcore gamer is anymore.
Fine. As long as you’re happy.
