The scent of soap lingered in the air…
His gaze hovered aimlessly. The man, who had been calmly looking down at me as if trying to see right through me, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
‘Did he realize I’m a user?’
“You’re seriously filthy to death.”
Apparently not.
“Hey, you stink. When’s the last time you had a bath?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, he scooped me up and started walking somewhere.
The place we arrived at was a kitchen, warm and cozy in atmosphere. Watching him pull a deep bowl down from a shelf, I felt a wave of confusion.
‘Was he an NPC, not a user?’
How could he know exactly where everything was?
The man filled the bowl with water. Then, he dipped my front paw in and out of it with a gentle splash.
“Check the temperature. If it feels okay, nod.”
The problem was that the thick folds of this fox’s neck made it impossible to nod properly in this position.
After a brief moment, he decided on his own and dunked me into the bowl. The water was pleasantly warm. I liked the way his hands smoothed down my wet fur.
Although I’d been wary and misunderstood at first, I started feeling good. As a sign, I rolled over and exposed my belly inside the basin.
“You’re so soft.”
He rubbed my nose. Then, as if telling me to blow my nose, he placed his hand against it, and I let out a few warm puffs of air.
Was this the kind of life cats with owners lived? Receiving care made me feel so relaxed and drowsy.
[System]: You have completed your first half-bath! Drowsiness is taking over.
Soon, I sank into unconsciousness.
***
“Hold that little thing close so it doesn’t get cold. Its body feels chilly.”
“Understood. But, may I ask, why are you suddenly raising a fox?”
“This is the first one that didn’t run away from me.”
“Hooh…”
“I’m going to raise it well and ride it.”
“Well, its fur is soft, so I bet the ride would feel nice, but… will it even grow that big? Wouldn’t it be better to roast it while the meat’s still tender…?”
“With the kind of stench it’s giving off, you can tell the meat would reek.”
“Should I have a taste of its front leg first?”
“Want me to shut you up for good?”
“I apologize, Kessler-nim.”
A faint voice seemed to reach my ears. I perked them up and let out a yawn. The skin touching me felt cold, and I twisted my body in discomfort.
The moment I shifted and opened my eyes, I froze in place.
An indescribable instinct gripped me tightly. The massive reptilian humanoid flicking his thin, long tongue at me was a creature I recognized all too well.
[System]: You have encountered the fox’s natural enemy, Snake Rim. Your body becomes paralyzed.
A boss mob. Not a second or third stage boss, but a fourth stage boss—Snake Rim… derisively nicknamed “Snake Freak.”
Even without being a natural enemy, Snake Freak’s appearance was enough to freeze anyone on the spot.
His entire body was covered in hard, mackerel-colored scales, his whites of the eyes were a chilling yellow, and his hulking frame was massive…
“Awake, little fox?”
No matter how gently he spoke, his appearance was pure terror.
Despite being scared out of my wits, the tension that had stiffened my body made it impossible to even struggle.
What the hell was happening? The Jewel Ice guy who had just washed me earlier was nowhere to be found, and now here was Snake Freak, puckering his lips in an unsettling cooing noise like he was playing with me.
Meeting his curved, smiling eyes made chills race down my spine.
The fourth stage boss, Snake Rim, was a venomous monitor lizard infamous for his cruelty. He was known to sink his teeth into women’s necks and suck their blood; wherever he passed, only a husk of human skin, presumed to be his victims, was left behind.
Though his eyes curved into a smile while looking at me, I knew—it was a fake smile.
I don’t want to die here…
It was at that moment.
[Night is falling soon. The first survival quest, <During the Day Humans Feast, at Night Ghosts Feast>, is beginning. The devil is coming to devour your soul. Hide well.]
‘o……Shit.’
“Where are you trying to go?”
I had no idea how I’d ended up in Snake Freak’s arms in the first place, but the important thing was—I was still alive.
As soon as a bit of the stiffness in my body eased, I struggled desperately and managed to fall to the floor.
My soft belly smacked heavily against the carpet, dragging with a dull scrape.
Huff…
Without a second thought, I bolted.
At least for this first quest, I had to stick close to the Priest no matter what.
[System]: Night has fallen.
The atmosphere was so eerie it felt like someone should’ve queued up some spooky BGM. As the sky darkened further and a cold wind blew out the lanterns, I tumbled and rolled until I finally landed inside the chapel.
‘Safe.’
Just as expected, a lot of people had gathered inside the chapel.
“What’s my name!”
“Ttubi!”
“Shout it out!”
“Yaaaaaah!”
“Hymn time!”
“Let’s dance the Ttubi dance~”
But… what the hell was this? Under the dazzling lights, the users were rubbing up against each other like they didn’t have a clue what was happening outside. Especially near the stage, it was a whole circus, with the Priest Ttubi standing there with his eyes closed, posing all holy.
[System]: The Priest’s mood has improved, generating additional Divine Power!
Every time Priest Ttubi sprinkled his blessed water, the crowd exploded in praise, shouting about how their buffs had gone up.
Completely unable to adjust to the bizarre scene, I wandered around aimlessly when suddenly my body was hoisted into the air.
“This squishy little fox! Where’ve you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Let me go, let me go.
Come to think of it… by now, maybe this would work? Info window! Targeted character… what was this noona’s name again? Right—Haru!
[System]: Your vision is too low to initiate a search. Try growing bigger!
[System]: Your vision is too low to initiate a search. Try growing bigger!
Are you kidding me right now?
No matter how many times I tried, it just kept repeating the same thing. While I was struggling with that, a group scream suddenly rang out from beyond the wall.
It seemed the players who had gotten sick of the attention-hogging Priest Ttubi had wandered into another room—and gotten themselves into trouble.
“Believe in Ttubi! If you believe in me, you can keep playing! If you don’t, your game ends here!”
“Ttubi! Ttubi! Ttubi!”
“So freaking loud.”
Listening to the crowd chant “Ttubi!” in unison, Haru noona covered her ears.
Rrrrrrrumble…
Soon, a deep rumble shook the ground, and then—the once tightly shut doors swung open.
Just as the ghosts of all shapes and sizes were about to flood in, Ttubi’s long-closed eyes snapped open.
“The holy power of Ttubi!”
The Priest’s ultimate skill, Holy Cannon, was unleashed. From his body, waves of sacred energy erupted outward, instantly flattening the ghosts that had likely ravaged the adjoining room.
“Yaaaaah! Ttubi! One shot, one kill!”
“…But hey, why is it so quiet where all those screams were coming from earlier? Don’t tell me… everyone over there died?”
“Who knows…”
Yeah, they were dead all right. While the others cowered in fear, I leapt out of Haru noona’s arms and scampered out.
The hallway, where the ghosts had vanished like mirages, was now littered with the aftermath of their rampage.
Corpses of those who had failed to stick close to the Priest… and the loot they left behind.
‘Huh?’
[Ordinary Citizen. Inventory: Half-eaten bread.]
[Ordinary Citizen. Inventory: Moist wasabi.]
[Ordinary Citizen…]
[Ordinary Citizen…]
[Fragrance Workshop Employee. Inventory: Perfumery Kit.]
[You have acquired a Perfumery Kit as loot.]
While scouring through the loot, I stumbled across the body of a Special Occupation—a Perfumer.
‘Damn.’
Perfumer was one of those incredibly useful classes for charming enemies later on.
‘These corpses are so disturbingly realistic, they give me a heart attack every time I see one.’
I was busily weaving between bodies, collecting loot, when I happened to lift my head—and saw someone walking toward me from beyond the dark corridor.
‘Info.’
[System]: Target cannot be viewed.
‘Info.’
[System]: Target cannot be viewed.
At that moment, instinct kicked in.
In this rare chance where everyone was scared stiff after seeing the disturbingly realistic corpses—so realistic you could barely believe it was just game graphics—someone was calmly wandering around without a hint of fear? That person was almost certainly part of a special occupation group. Maybe a Seeker, someone skilled at sniffing out good loot?
The figure walking calmly through the chaos came into clear focus. It was someone I recognized.
“If you hang around places like this, you’re just gonna get filthy again, little fox.”
The man scooped me up one-handed, like fishing something out of the water, and gently petted me.
“I just finished washing your fur, you know.”
From his arms, the view of the surroundings looked utterly grotesque. We were standing right in the middle of a field of corpses.
[First Survival Quest Complete.]
[!!! Congratulations on surviving! Because you successfully cleared the Survival Quest, you can now begin the Race Quest, <Baby Arctic Fox, I Want to Become Human!>.]
I looked up at the man. Trying to ask if he really had a special occupation, I lifted my paw and tried to trace a ‘T’ in the air, but thanks to my stubby, chubby body, I only ended up looking like a cute fox begging for attention.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”
What the hell do you get?
Smoke was rising from the soulless corpses around us.
Even for me—someone playing through a horror game for the second time—the sight of these lifelike corpses was enough to make me flinch over and over. Yet the man strolled through it all without the slightest hesitation.
Isn’t this guy a record-breaking, cold-blooded Seeker?
***
If this man really was a Seeker, he would definitely have a map of this castle. And true to a Seeker’s reputation, he carried me without hesitation through winding corridors to a quiet spot.
He placed me on a table, and, despite having just witnessed all that gut-churning horror, casually sipped his tea without a care in the world.
I watched him for a moment, then turned my gaze toward the air and hastily pulled up the Race Quest window.
[Race Quest! <Baby Arctic Fox, I Want to Become Human?> Required Materials: Soul Flower, Twilight Dew, Mystical Twin-Color Powder.]
The problem was…
‘None of these are materials I can get right away!’
Luckily, I had already played this game before. So at least I knew where to find them.
Pondering seriously about the course of the game, I made a decision.
‘If this guy really is a Seeker, then he’s a hardcore min-maxer.’
He might have looked flashy on the outside, but the way he moved—like someone who knew this entire setup inside and out—made me suspect he was also an ‘Alpha Tester,’ just like me.
While I was observing him closely, he turned his head, and our eyes met.
Flinch. Caught off guard, I instinctively froze. He suddenly grabbed my tail and pulled me toward him.
Startled, I reflexively bit down on the teaspoon next to me.
“Don’t drool on it. Spit it out. It’s not food, you stupid fox.”
The man plucked the teaspoon from my mouth and set it aside. This game was so unfair. Why did he get to be a Seeker, while I ended up as a Baby Arctic Fox?
I could have been just as capable—gathering things swiftly, stockpiling future items…
Sigh.
…Wait a second.
I glanced up at the man who was now roughly ruffling my fur. Maybe this was even better. Him thinking of me as just a pet, not a user.
I snuggled deeper into his arms. It might actually work to my advantage if I could keep my true identity hidden.
A ‘grind-it-out’ survival strategy until the end.
Because in this game, only one player would make it out alive.
And if that one survivor turned out to be me…Maybe—just maybe—I could find my way back to the real world.
