“What the hell are you?”
Lick, lick.
Kessler, who had been silently watching me lap up the bone broth pudding, finally broke the stillness with his first words.
With white broth smeared all over my lips, I turned to look at him. Had he finally caught on? That I was a user…
There was certainly enough reason for suspicion. More than enough.
Kessler pulled my front paw toward him and set me down right in front of him. Then, he took out a handkerchief and gently wiped around my mouth. I quietly entrusted my snout to him, already used to the familiar touch. Suddenly, Kessler leaned his face close to mine.
I instinctively jerked my snout back, thinking he might be about to kiss me, but all he did was sniff me and then pull away.
He furrowed his brow ever so slightly as if deep in thought after taking in my scent, then leaned in again and sniffed me once more. Whether it was the strange, addictive stink or something else, he kept repeating the act several times.
‘At least… I made it through safely…’
The fourth game was over.
The Bori noona I had tried to save survived safely, and I was carried in Kessler’s arms to this tearoom.
[System]: The baby arctic fox’s belly is full. Becoming drowsy…
A heavy wave of exhaustion washed over me like a tide. Curling myself into a ball, I burrowed deeper into his arms. Feeling the gentle pat on my rump, I closed my eyes.
***
I dreamed.
It was a dark and heavy day. The sky seemed about to rain all day, yet it never did. Rubbing my dry eyes from staring at the monitor too long, I turned my gaze to the window.
At some point, rain had begun to fall. And beyond the window, crouched in front of the gate, was a white fox. Its rain-soaked tail drooped and swung heavily.
Sensing my gaze, the fox turned to look at me. The moment our eyes met, I woke up.
Hiiak!
It was me.
The weather was almost identical to the dream—thick, damp air everywhere. Wiping my face clumsily with my front paw, I got up on all fours.
Crackle, crackle.
Kessler was nowhere to be seen; only the stove was burning quietly…
I stepped outside and began walking along the wall. Skeletal cleaners were tossing drained corpses down below the fortress wall, and sand dogs were gathering underneath, devouring them.
Staring blankly at the chilling sight, I didn’t notice when the cleaners approached and began to pat me.
Dodging their stiff hands, I darted off into the crowd of users.
‘Starting today, it’s for real.’
Now it was time for actual combat.
It was necessary to identify who among the users belonged to the Special Occupations. If Kessler was a Thief, there had to be a Seeker somewhere too, and maybe even someone like a Time Traveler lurking around.
I wove through the users, flipping onto my back and acting cute whenever I spotted an opportunity.
“Wow, it’s a fox!”
“Oh my, how adorable!”
“Noona! Come look at this fox!”
I had activated the indicator for the Fox Who Knows Love title. Every time I wagged my tail, the blue ‘Neutral’ marks above the users’ heads would flash and turn into red hearts.
‘Good, things are going smoothly.’
Putting on a cute show was a surprisingly exhausting task. But to scope them out properly, it was crucial to build favor with as many people as possible.
“If we want to divide the loot fairly, we should sell everything first and split the proceeds.”
“But what if we end up needing the stuff we sold? We’d have to buy it back later at some outrageous price… Oh, you adorable little fox!”
Sliding right into the middle of the serious negotiation, I wagged my tail, and the tense atmosphere immediately softened.
“So cute.”
‘Now I need to start tracking the murderer too.’
The killer, who I thought would strike during last night’s chaos, had been strangely quiet so far.
I turned my eyes to the prime suspect, Jung Da-hoon, who was chatting amicably with Bori noona.
The ‘black X’ floated ominously above his head.
His gaze shifted toward me. Bori noona’s followed.
“Foxie~”
Jung Da-hoon lowered his upper body in a friendly crouch. I trotted over proudly, only to curl up snugly in Bori noona’s arms instead.
“Looks like the fox really likes Bori.”
“Want to hold him, Da-hoon?”
“Sure.”
No matter how much I squirmed, it was useless. Bori noona promptly handed me over to Jung Da-hoon, and he began scratching my head.
Whimper!
But once I was in his arms, it felt so good I couldn’t even resist. It was the first time someone had scratched so thoroughly that my mouth fell open and my tongue lolled out.
Pant, pant.
“He must really like it. Our little fox looks like a happy dog.”
Jung Da-hoon went a step further, pulling something out of his bag. A round pill.
“It’s a vitamin, here, take it.”
No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like a vitamin… I shut my mouth tight in refusal, but his hand came closer, trying to pry my jaws open.
I wanted to yell at him to knock it off.
“Come on, open up.”
Whimper!
I struggled against the forced action. The more I thrashed, the rougher the grip on my belly became. Just as I felt the foreign object, the pill, touch the roof of my mouth and started gagging—
“Don’t feed my fox just anything.”
Kessler appeared like a character out of a comic book. The moment I saw him, I flailed desperately in his direction.
Since Kessler had always looked after me with care, the users had naturally come to assume he was my owner. So it was almost inevitable that Jung Da-hoon handed me over to him without much resistance.
Kessler placed his palm against my snout.
“Spit it out.”
Ptooey, ptooey!
I coughed up the pill, but Kessler didn’t hesitate—he reached right into my mouth, using his fingers to sweep across my palate and tongue separately, thoroughly cleaning it out.
“You’ve gotta stay alert. If you act cute for just anyone, you’ll end up with a stomachache.”
Kessler distanced me from the other users, almost like he was drawing a boundary between us, and began to scold me. He looked like his usual self, but for some reason, he seemed a little down today.
“My birthday’s coming up.”
“Just for that day, make sure you’re being cute only for me.”
When exactly is that? How am I supposed to know a user’s personal birthday?
Still, if he was planning to spend his birthday playing a game, he must be seriously addicted. Not that I had any right to judge, given my own life revolving around gaming.
I looked around, wondering if there was some kind of birthday icon above his head like on messaging apps, but no such feature existed. So how exactly was I supposed to know and celebrate it?
For now, I jumped down from his arms. I couldn’t afford to stick around and act cutesy with just one guy. I was grateful he had rescued me from Jung Da-hoon, sure, but what I needed to focus on now was observing and investigating the other users.
‘This situation isn’t just a game to me!’
It was a life-defining mission. I needed to identify and gather my true allies—I believed he’d understand if he knew.
“Hey, baby fox.”
Kessler called out to me, his voice carrying a surprising amount of strength. Not wanting to upset him, I flopped onto the ground and rolled onto my back, belly up.
“What, you want me to rub your belly?”
Nod.
I stuck my tongue out and gave a big, exaggerated nod with my snout, but all I got in return was a strange, mocking smirk.
“Nope, not gonna. You’re way too grubby.”
Instead, he reached out and stroked my tail.
Alright, that was enough showing off. Just as I was about to leave, Kessler scooped me up again.
“Stay still.”
I struggled briefly, but his arms held me too securely.
‘Where are we going?’
He seemed to have a clear destination in mind, so I decided to behave for now. Even if Kessler had the ‘black X’ over his head, he had never harmed me before—that alone was enough to justify my trust.
Passing through the main square, they entered the shopping district. Grotesque yet oddly adorable sights stretched out before them—skeletal figures draping silk clothes over their exposed bones, skeletons chattering away with their teeth clicking, skeletons cleaning the city…
Kessler’s destination beyond all that was a barbershop.
The barber, a skeleton engrossed in reading a newspaper, promptly stood and bowed deeply with impeccable courtesy.
“Trim his fur a bit. The baby’s gained weight and now pants after every meal from the heat.”
The barber skeleton nodded. However, the chair was a little too low. After a moment of thought, the barber stacked up some sand cow leg bones to adjust the height, then carefully set me down on top.
Snap, snap.
Scissors gleamed sharply at the tips of the skeleton’s bony fingers. Through the mirror, I could see Kessler standing with his arms crossed, silently watching me.
‘Yeah, it’s about time to get trimmed and look even cuter.’
Feeling good, I opened my mouth in a wide, goofy grin, but Kessler only stared at me with a blank expression.
Still, the barber’s skills were excellent. Once the trimming was complete, the skeleton fetched a medicine bottle from a cabinet and shook it slightly, as if asking for permission.
—Shall I add a little color, too?—
“No. You have any idea how bad synthetic dye is for a baby?”
—Unde-stood.—
The barber swayed his neckbones this way and that, delivering an apologetic gesture.
—All done. How does it look?—
Pant, pant!
Sticking out my tongue and wagging it, I gave a happy grin to show my approval. The skeleton’s jaw clacked in delight—it seemed pleased with my reaction.
My eyes met Kessler’s through the mirror.
“What are you staring at?”
Yip!
“Stupid chubby fox…”
Kessler handed over one Jewel Ice as payment. The skeleton bowed twice as deeply and held the door open for us.
—Please come again.—
We stepped outside. With my fur trimmed, I could feel the breeze much more clearly against my skin.
Spin, spin!
Showing off my refreshed backside, I spun around stylishly.
“Hey, everyone can see your butthole.”
