Jingle.
As I stepped into the only law office inside the city, I was greeted by a row of desks lined up like bank counters.
The skeletons, previously lounging around with nothing to do, sprang to their feet in unison at the rare sight of a visitor, their bones clacking as they tried to lure me in.
—Clack, clack clack clack!
I scanned the overly eager stares and made my way to a skeleton whose skull was especially large.
—Clack clack, welcome.
“Yes, hello.”
—Would you like a drink?
“Yes. Water is fine.”
The skeleton lawyer, who had stood with polite posture, suddenly tore off his own deeply indented pelvic bone.
—Crunch.
“Ugh… What are you doing?”
He proceeded to pour water into that pelvic bone, then walked over and offered it to me with slow, deliberate steps.
“Ah… I appreciate it, but I’ll pass. More importantly, may I ask about the legal fees?”
—One million won…
As the big-headed skeleton lawyer held up all ten fingers, the lawyer next to him raised nine fingers.
—Ninety…
—Eighty…
At the far end, the rookie skeleton held up three fingers and wiggled them.
—Thirty.
Amid this fiery bargaining session, the big-headed skeleton lawyer, seemingly having made up his mind, suddenly clacked his teeth together and drew the attention back to himself.
—Super special deal. Half-price discount.
He offered to take the case for 500,000 won. Though they were all acting with no sense of professional ethics, it made sense—just how few clients must they get for it to come to this?
The other lawyers immediately started slashing their prices too, and I made my decision in silence.
“I’ll hire all five of you. Please be my lawyers.”
[First-ever action! You have hired five lawyers!
—During the trial period, Luck increases by 30%.
—Your chance of winning the trial increases by 60%.]
Truthfully, this was the goal from the start—an effect that increased the chances of winning the trial.
Jung Da-hoon, who had played on the previous test server, might know about this effect as well. But since he was drowning in debt, he’d probably be busy trying to borrow money from other users first.
“I’ll pay the retainer up front, and I hope you’ll focus on my case. Please include a clause in the contract stating that none of you will take on any other cases until this one is over.”
—Okay.
Tiny fireworks popped above the heads of the delighted skeletons, thrilled to finally have work again.
[System]: You have received five ‘Oaths of the Soul.’ They will unconditionally support and cheer for your victory.
“This is the situation I’m currently in.”
I laid everything out to the five skeletons surrounding me, sparing no detail.
“Then I’ll trust only you, my lawyers.”
Just as I was about to leave, having wrapped up our meeting, Jung Da-hoon rushed in, apparently after securing some cash.
“You’re too slow, Jung Da-hoon. I’ve already secured all five.”
“Not bad.”
“Not bad? I plan to win.”
“But I wonder if you even have any evidence. You seem far too confident. The one cornered here, impersonator, is you.”
“Well, I used to think you were my only surefire way to win.”
It was an exhausting situation. What the hell was this mess?
“I’ve lost plenty of times before, so I know how people lose. Which means, I also know how to make someone else lose.”
If there’s no evidence, all I have to do is drag the trial out. Once I gain the ability to transform into a fox, I can prove my identity to Kessler by showing him the transformation directly.
“Do your best. In the end, the world always returns to the natural order—where good triumphs over evil.”
I didn’t bother replying and turned away first.
That hardheaded bastard.
I used to think my playstyle was fairly progressive, and now this brick wall of a guy was tagging along as a fan.
The smug look on his face was infuriating. I felt like screaming.
Keep it together. Beating up a fellow user won’t help anything.
***
The five skeleton lawyers’ performance was truly impressive. With collective intelligence at work, everything moved along efficiently.
Thanks to the efforts of the five-lawyer skeleton team, all the testimonies from Jung Da-hoon’s acquaintance skeletons and ghosts were rendered invalid.
—The testimonies of the merchant who sold Yeo Woo-rim the dog collar, as well as the skeletons who witnessed it, have all been discarded.
—That’s correct. Yeo Woo-rim’s alleged ‘dog collar’ theft does not constitute evidence that he is the culprit who harmed the fox. If that logic holds, then Jung Da-hoon, who stole fox pudding off the shelf because he had no money, could also be considered a suspect.
There was even a valuable breakthrough during the evidence review. A rumor had spread among users that the “Fox Pudding” was a secret treat, and it was discovered that Jung Da-hoon had secretly stolen a considerable number of fox snacks.
Thanks to that, Yeo Woo-rim’s theft was at least partially offset.
Whenever Jung Da-hoon ran around gathering evidence, our lawyers would promptly invalidate it.
Just as this repetitive cycle was starting to wear everyone down, something happened.
Our team of five skeleton lawyers ambushed Jung Da-hoon in a dim back alley after work and gave him a proper beating.
“Yeo Woo-rim’s skeleton lawyers tried to subdue me with force.”
With Jung Da-hoon reporting their misconduct and professional violations, the trial quickly devolved into a full-blown mudslinging match.
‘Sigh. My blood sugar’s crashing.’
[System]: Time remaining until fox body regeneration: 2 days
Just two more days to endure. But I couldn’t hold out—I ended up helping myself to the fox snack cupboard in Kessler’s home.
Maybe it was because I’d gotten used to the fox’s palate. While everyone else obsessed over the sweet Crème Brûlée, I, the former fox, reached all the way to the back and took out a clear, milky-white pudding made from simmered premium beef bone broth.
It was a savory meat-based jelly, perfect for recovery. I peeled off the lid, sprinkled a bit of salt, and devoured it. Then I heard footsteps approaching from behind, and a chill ran down my spine.
It was Kessler.
“Hello.”
Even with my bright greeting, Kessler stood there in silence.
“Not satisfied with stealing the fox’s collar, now you’re raiding the snacks too?”
“……”
“Got a death wish? Or just fearless?”
Kessler’s gaze slid toward the ox bone pudding I had been licking clean, and his brow scrunched tightly in disgust.
“You out of your damn mind?”
Well, fair reaction.
“You look like you’ve never seen a human eat ox bone pudding instead of crème brûlée before. You came because you missed the fox, didn’t you?”
Kessler’s eyes were filled with utter contempt.
“Get out of my space.”
“I have something to say.”
“Save it for your final statement in court. Or do you want me to make you say it twice?”
“I’d rather say it now.”
I was used to his usual tenderness, so the sudden outsider treatment stung more than I expected. But maybe from the moment I confessed this, that treatment would become the new normal—whether I was a baby fox or Yeo Woo-rim.
“I know this trial is just a legal excuse to kill—whether it’s me or that guy. I’m a thorn in the side. I bet watching me flail for survival without even realizing that is entertaining to you, too.”
To Kessler, the act of selling the fox’s collar alone was already reason enough for me to die. The fact that I used that money to hire lawyers? That must’ve made me even more unbearable.
But he wasn’t going to use his power just to kill some irrelevant insect. Killing another user would land even Kessler back in the Shadow Atonement Prison.
“So what?”
He didn’t deny it. He just wore a look that said: Let’s see how far you’re going to take this.
“You probably haven’t seen the fox lately.”
Strictly speaking, it had been five whole days. For the fox to disappear in a time like this—Kessler must be extremely on edge right now.
I didn’t avoid his gaze. I wasn’t naïve enough to think he’d believe me just because I said this now.
If I couldn’t even prove myself to Jung Da-hoon, how could I possibly prove anything to Kessler? But it was better than dying without even trying.
“So what, you’re saying you know where the baby is?”
“What if the fox… were human?”
“Bullshit.”
“What if it’s not bullshit—but fox shit?”
I was being serious, but I only managed to piss him off more. He stepped in, inspecting the empty pudding cup before glaring straight into my face.
“If the fox that the Lord has been waiting for became human… and that fox who loves ox bone pudding and Jewel Ice more than anything is me… urk…”
Up close, he was even more threatening than I expected. His jet-black eyes, a head taller than mine, bore down on me with oppressive weight. I instinctively stepped back.
“D-Don’t… Don’t come any closer.”
The shadow behind me pressed down like a weight, and my body collapsed pathetically.
“I gave you a gift with the Golden Hour Hand. And on the day we first met, I bit into your gemstone. And then…”
“If you’re the fox, then keep going. Say it. My baby doesn’t flinch in fear when he sees me like this.”
“I can prove it with—”
I tried to argue that he’d never threatened me this way before, but my throat tightened—no sound came out.
[System]: You are being crushed by the weight of the shadow.
[System]: You cannot die during the trial period.
If it weren’t for that rule, I would already be dead. The agony of death was real, but my life barely clung on.
“You’re a creepy bastard, spying on other people’s lives.”
It felt like I was trapped at the bottom of the ocean, crushed by an impossible pressure. Clutching my neck, I looked up at him.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever met with no sense of his own place.”
‘Stop hitting me, it hurts.’
My foot slipped as I tried to push off the ground and stand.
His shoe sole pressed against my cheek.
And in between—when had that gotten there?—I felt a strand of white fur.
Crunch.
A sharp snap echoed. The overwhelming pressure crushed my neck, and I blacked out instantly.
