The tutorial for the RPG horror game Last Shadow was both kind and mischievous. While pretending to introduce food with Buffs, it had secretly planted landmines in between.
“What the hell!”
“What is this?!”
When people began vomiting blood and collapsing from the acute food poisoning bacteria hidden in the brownies, the place quickly descended into chaos.
“Don’t eat that!”
Eep!
The noonas, who had been happily eating, immediately put down their food, scooped him up in a hurry, and took a few steps back to observe the unfolding disaster.
It was at that moment. A man hunched over in the corner, rummaging through his inventory, suddenly raised his hand.
“Um… I have some antidotes in my inventory…”
“An antidote? Hurry, give it to us!”
The man awkwardly approached the people who were vomiting blood, only to have all the antidotes he was carrying snatched away.
“We’re saved! We’re really saved!”
“Thank goodness.”
“I thought I was seriously going to die! My HP dropped straight to the floor!”
As the people sighed in relief and rejoiced among themselves, the man wore an uncomfortable expression.
‘Hmm… this feels dangerous.’
From the side, it was clear that the man’s displeasure was justified. He was the one who had given out the antidotes, yet instead of thanking him, they were just celebrating among themselves, making him understandably upset.
Besides, the way they had yanked the items out of his hands was enough to make anyone feel slighted.
“Over here too! We have a patient! Hurry with the meds!”
“Give us the medicine, quick!”
“What… you think you’ve deposited it somewhere with me or something?”
“Huh?”
This time, the man did not hand over the antidote so easily. He simply blew out a sharp breath through his nose, his face clearly saying Hmph!
“There’s no time, come on!”
“If you want the antidote, become my follower.”
“Whaaat?”
By healing others, the ‘Priest’ class—designed to carry users in the early stages of the game—was suddenly unlocked. And from the person who had unexpectedly obtained the newly unlocked Priest class, there was now a strange villainous aura radiating.
[Would you like to join the Ttubi Sect?]
[Yes / No]
The next moment, a pop-up window appeared before everyone’s eyes.
“What the heck is the Ttubi Sect?”
“My name shall be your faith! Worship me and me alone!”
“Quit the nonsense and just hand over the medicine.”
“You have to join first before you get anything!”
“I joined, okay? Now hand it over—uh, sir! What’s wrong with my voice?! Almighty Ttubi! I pray to thee, I pray to thee! What the hell… I love you, Ttubi! My love, my destiny!”
Once you’re recruited, you are forcibly turned into an obedient follower. A few players who had carelessly joined the Ttubi Sect started chanting hymns as if possessed.
[By singing praises with your fellow believers, 5 capsules of antidote have been generated.]
Most likely, the Priest just received that notification. Soon, he pulled five capsules from inside his robes.
“Ooooh!”
“I, Ttubi, bestow my blessings upon you! Take this medicine and save the sick!”
The patients, whose faces had gone deathly pale, barely managed to recover after receiving Priest Ttubi’s medicine.
In the early stages, sticking close to a Priest was essential for survival—yet of all people, their Priest had to be that petty guy.
As the situation gradually stabilized, he observed the Priest carefully.
[Special Quest for Baby Arctic Fox! <Eat the Jewel Ice!>]
‘Now what’s this?’
He tilted his head in confusion. When he tapped <Eat the Jewel Ice!>, the scenery around him began to blur. Then, as if a convex lens had been placed in front of his eyes, only one direction appeared sharp and close.
‘Can’t I cancel this? Cancel, cancel!’
Race-specific quests cannot be canceled midway.
[Special Quest for Baby Arctic Fox! <Eat the Jewel Ice!>]
[The baby Arctic Fox, stranded in a barren desert, must consume “Jewel Ice” to maintain its glossy fur! Failure to consume it within the time limit will result in the loss of silky fur and being treated like a puppy. Time Limit: 01:59:30]
‘Puppy treatment?’
It sounded cute at first, but it was anything but.
Here, in the Shadow Castle, those called “Sand Dogs” were treated as slaves.
Thus, failure was not an option. And there was even a time limit. For now, he dashed out of the hall and into the corridor. It was the first quest, so the difficulty shouldn’t be too bad—at least, that’s what he thought.
[Special Quest for Baby Arctic Fox! <Eat the Jewel Ice!> Time Limit: 01:59:12 Difficulty: Top Tier]
‘You’ve gotta be kidding me!’
Eeeek!
The moment he saw the difficulty rating, he felt dizzy.
‘Seriously? A top-tier difficulty quest right off the bat?’
A high difficulty meant that finding the quest material would be a serious pain. He hopped his way down a long corridor and up some stairs.
The stairs were tall, and after a couple of poorly timed jumps, his body flipped over like stir-fried meat in a pan.
Meow-meow!
While he struggled and scampered about, curious day-ghosts started gathering around him. They had their hair loose and faces twisted eerily, but they smiled at him in a grotesquely playful way, sending chills down his spine.
‘Get your nasty mugs outta my face!’
He flailed his front legs frantically, but his short body only ended up rubbing against the floor, getting his white fur all dirty.
Finally, he arrived at the third floor’s corridor of the castle. It was a creepy hallway lined with portraits of distorted, broken bodies—and it was riddled with traps.
‘This must be the path to the Inner Castle.’
He glanced around, wondering if there was a safer route to the other side, but there was nothing. It made sense; beyond this point was a forbidden area no one had any reason to challenge, so no alternative paths had been created.
Still, the arrow kept insisting he cross this trap-ridden hallway.
‘Looks like I have no choice but to go through.’
Even if he was just a cub, he was still a fox—he should be tough enough to survive. Should he just make a run for it? There was no point wasting time agonizing.
He squeezed his eyes shut in determination, then took off at full speed across the corridor.
And moments later, he found himself safely on the other side.
Meow?
He turned around in confusion. The corridor was just as empty and silent as before, none of the traps having triggered. Apparently, his light weight had allowed him to bypass everything.
Either way, it was a huge win.
He hurriedly set off again.
‘Where is it, where’s that Jewel Ice?’
Just then, a fast-moving arrow streaked across the end of the corridor, and his peripheral vision blurred, focusing solely on the target.
Myaaang!
Since the system seemed to be urging him, he did his best and sprinted forward. The jewel ice seemed to be getting closer and closer—but the real problem was his own speed. Unable to control his momentum, he tumbled across the corridor floor.
Eep.
The next moment, he found himself blocked by a wall. Dazed from dizziness, he sat there blankly for a moment before realizing it wasn’t a wall—it was a person’s foot.
‘What the… Is this some kind of cash item?’
Expensive shoes and navy shorts. Legs that looked too smooth to belong to a man. While trying to process the situation, he was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of his neck.
“What the hell is this grubby thing?”
…??
The person was a young man who looked barely twenty years old. The moment their eyes met, the flailing of his legs instinctively stopped. It felt like time itself had frozen.
Face to face like that, they both looked each other over, and…Wow…
‘That face is seriously maxed out.’
There was simply no better way to describe this stunningly handsome boy. Even as a fox, he felt almost spellbound… with those sparkling black eyes and sharply defined features.
From what he knew, there was no NPC this handsome, so he had to be a user. How he already had jewel ice at the tutorial stage was a mystery, but right now, what mattered was getting the jewel ice…
He struggled to free himself from the hand gripping his scruff and, feeling frustrated, let out a sharp cry.
Meow! Meow!
The boy, who had been silently staring at him, casually dropped him onto the floor.
No, wait—forget that. The jewel ice. He opened his mouth wide, trying to pronounce jewel ice, but thanks to his different oral structure, it didn’t come out properly.
“What do you want? You want me to hold you?”
‘Yes, yes, just do it!’
He nodded vigorously while wagging his tail.
Seeing that, the boy scooped him up again. He wagged his tail wildly and opened his mouth wide, signaling for the jewel ice to be given to him.
Instead, what entered his mouth was not jewel ice—but the boy’s finger.
Ptooey, ptooey.
He tried to bite and spit it out, but the boy kept pressing it against him, so he just ended up gnawing in place. Besides, he didn’t even have teeth yet, so it wasn’t painful at all.
“That tickles.”
‘Find it! Find it! Find it!’
[System]: The target is nearby.
[System]: The target is nearby.
[System]: The target is nearby.
‘The jewel ice… He definitely has it, but where is it?!’
The boy, still carrying him, started moving somewhere. While he didn’t care where they were going, he used his paws to fumble through the boy’s clothes—
And there it was. He found it.
The jewel ice was attached to the front button of his pajama-like shirt. He bit down on it with all his might and desperately tugged.
Surprisingly, it came off easily.
The man’s footsteps came to a halt.
“What the hell?”
The job was done… He tried to bolt immediately, but there was no way he could overpower the grip strength of an adult man.
‘Ugh… What do I do? If he gets mad that I stole something precious, is he going to abuse me…?’
He opened his eyes wide like Puss in Boots, looking up at the man as pitifully as possible, trembling all over.
The man gazed down at him steadily and asked,
“That’s the look of someone begging for affection. Do you really like me that much?”
What the hell is this guy talking about?’’
“Spit it out, you brat.”
The man reached for his muzzle. Panicking, he gulped it down.
Immediately, the quest completion window popped up.
[Race Quest <Eat the Jewel Ice!> Completed! Your fur’s glossiness will be maintained for 5 days.]
Holding him up high with one hand, the man suddenly started poking around inside his mouth.
“I said spit it out. Look at you, drooling all over.”
He tried to scream Stop that! but ended up clawing wildly at the man’s cheek with his front paws instead.
“Don’t hit me, you stubby-tailed thing.”
The guy spoke like he was scolding a puppy barely old enough to eat solid food. Snorting through his nose, he wagged his tail even more fiercely—and the man grabbed it.
While still observing him carefully, the man suddenly leaned in and, ever so casually, sniffed him. In response, he subtly sniffed the man’s scent as well.
