“You dropped the fox and killed it. This is your punishment.”
“Hyungnim… I had no choice if I wanted to survive. And I was sent in because of tax issues, it had nothing to do with that fox.”
Jung Da-hoon was calling me hyungnim without hesitation. As expected, the one who feeds you when you’re starving is the real MVP.
“When you act with such a rotten heart, you end up paying the price. Have you ever seen Poksup throw a newborn Baby Arctic Fox like trash?”
“…No, I haven’t. It’s heartbreaking. I just wanted to be a legendary player like Poksup too.”
“Poksup doesn’t throw foxes.”
“I think the garlic’s all grilled now. Could you scoop a few out for me?”
“Here.”
“Thanks.”
Jung Da-hoon neatly wrapped up the meat in a lettuce wrap and munched away. He downed an entire bowl of rice in no time.
“Since being locked up here, I’ve thought about it every day. If it were Poksup in my position, what would he have done?”
“If it were Poksup…”
“He would’ve quit the game.”
“…For a moment, I wondered if maybe you were Poksup. But no, clearly you’re not.”
Even as he let out a deep sigh, he kept eating diligently. I watched as the final piece of meat disappeared into his mouth and tossed out a line.
“If it were Poksup, he’d never stab the back of the person who helped him.”
“You become a benefactor just from buying someone a meal?”
“That meal cost 84,000 won.”
“…Well, if there’s a solid reason, a little backstabbing might be justified.”
The meal ended. I handed him a wet towel so he could wipe his grimy face. Just as I was about to head out, Jung Da-hoon clamped his mouth shut and looked up at me.
“…Are you leaving?”
“Yeah. How long are you stuck in here?”
“Until I pay off all my debt.”
“How much do you have left?”
“…I don’t really know. These days, forced labor wages fluctuate like Bitcoin, so I’m doing side gigs too.”
It was too dark to notice earlier, but behind him were piles of stuffed animals and bones. He was moonlighting, sewing eyes onto dolls and assembling bones.
“This isn’t work fit for a human. Especially since my direct supervisor is Snake Rim, that bastard slacks off and I have to pick up the slack.”
“Damn. So you got assigned to the Waste Disposal Department?”
“…Yeah.”
Jung Da-hoon spoke like he was narrating the absurd reality of a nobleman’s duty falling on his shoulders. I didn’t have much else to say.
“Well, hang in there.”
“Thanks for the meal.”
He didn’t try to stop me any further.
As I walked along the city wall path, I spotted Snake Rim having a drinking party with the guards beneath the Waste Disposal Department, celebrating after their duties.
Even though he’s being punished just the same… So this is what society’s really like.
***
‘Is it going to rain? The air feels damp.’
The weather was muggy. When I returned to Kessler’s room after transforming back into a fox, there was a bowl of golden pudding—brought from the Oasis Hotel—set out for me.
Lick, lick. Maybe it was the Oasis water that made it special, but it went down smoother and tasted richer than usual.
Still, where had Kessler gone?
A yawn came out first. I crawled into the doghouse Kessler had set up for me and curled up into a ball.
It was a luxury doghouse complete with a fox-sized slide, but I’d only ever used it twice.
After returning from the trip, we’d spent a week in awkward silence. Kessler had been fond of me, so this distance must’ve been entirely one-sided—just me.
It was uncomfortable to face him, and yet, I still wanted to keep tabs on him.
Not without reason—Kessler’s behavior had subtly changed since that day.
It’s like he’s stuck in a perpetual post-nut clarity or something.
There was this weird calm about him—like a grade schooler who’d suddenly matured into a middle schooler. The way he acted reminded me of myself after I lost the main tournament and shut myself away, analyzing every mistake I’d made.
I stared at the door until I fell asleep, unable to fight off my heavy eyelids.
At some point, I think I felt someone touch me. I was sleeping like a rock, but something made me stir. When I opened my eyes, I realized I was in Kessler’s arms.
When had I been moved here? I hadn’t even noticed him carry me to his bed.
And something was wrong with him.
When I placed my tongue gently on his neck, I felt his pulse racing faster than usual.
Meow.
“…Nngh.”
His body was hot. I stepped a few paces away from the hand clinging to my fur and observed him.
‘Looks like a cold. But…can this even be called a cold?’
But could it really be called a cold?
Under the moonlight filtering through the room, black clumps of shadow drifted, tangled and aimless. Ever since we got back, Kessler had been neglecting the shadows he was supposed to manage.
That had to be the cause.
‘Is he living with his mind halfway elsewhere?’
In the game’s lore, shadows are the very source of life. He was discarding them completely—no wonder his condition was deteriorating.
In this game world, shadows are the source of life force. Abandoning them like that—of course he wasn’t okay.
I lunged and bit down on the largest clump of shadow hovering nearby. It squirmed and tried to escape, but I didn’t let go.
Somehow, I managed to drag it all the way over to Kessler. I tapped his cheek with my paw, but he didn’t respond.
In the end, I pried his jaw open myself and breathed the shadow into him—mouth to mouth.
[System]: You have fed a shadow.
The moment I force-fed him the shadow, the pallor in his face eased.
I caught another shadow that was flailing, crashing into the walls in panic, and shoved it into his mouth the same way.
Sniff sniff.
Kessler seemed to savor the shadow mixed with fox saliva, smacking his lips as his eyes slowly opened.
“Smells like fox.”
I brushed my paw along the underside of his chin as if to ask how he was doing. He immediately pulled me into a tight embrace.
“Where did you go? I was looking for you earlier.”
Meow.
“You need to take care of me, you little runaway fox.”
Grumbling, he rubbed his lower lip insistently against the tip of my nose.
“You’re all I have, you know.”
Our eyes met in the darkness. He was babbling again—looked like he was finally coming back to life.
His gaze was still drowsy, unfocused. As I stared at him dozing off again with my nose still in his mouth, I couldn’t help but wonder—
Why was I worrying about this guy’s health again?
Had I gotten attached already?
As I tried to settle my tangled thoughts and closed my eyes, a system chime rang out.
[Fox rain is falling. It is a day when a Baby Arctic Fox can be wed. Would you like to designate the owner of the Shadow Castle as your mate?
Yes/No]
…Huh?
Startled, I flailed my paws for a moment before focusing on the message.
‘What the hell…What kind of degenerate nonsense is this?’
I tapped on the additional info marked under “Fox Genealogy.” A completely unfamiliar title popped up.
[System]: You have acquired the title, “Virgin-Stealing Baby Arctic Fox.”
Apparently I’d obtained it about a week ago, likely when I helped Kessler finish. I was in human form at the time, so maybe the notification had been skipped.
My head spun. I just blinked in stunned silence until more alerts followed.
[System]: !!! The Baby Arctic Fox is too young to be bonded as a mate.
[System]: !!! The fox is not yet of age to produce Fox Orbs.
Wait—Fox Orbs? What the hell is that supposed to be? And for the record, I had no intention of taking him as my mate anyway!
[‘Mate Bonding’ has been converted into the special quest, <Baby Arctic Fox’s Challenge to Love>.]
No, hold on a damn second.
[Special Quest: <Baby Arctic Fox’s Challenge to Love>
Find the ten scattered shadows and restore the Master of Shadow Castle. Then, try becoming his boyfriend!]
Where did it all go so wrong? Was this some kind of system glitch?
I dug through the system window, trying to figure out the source of all this.
[System]: Congratulations! You have initiated your first mating act!
…Yeah. That was probably it.
Staring blankly at the air in a wave of post-coital clarity, I shook myself and focused on the potential benefits of making Kessler my boyfriend.
Ridiculous, sure. But it wasn’t necessarily a bad deal either.
I had to win—no matter what. And this could become a key strategy in siding with the shadows and clearing the game.
‘If I go through with this… I might get to ride the Lord’s carry bus.’
I might just get to hitch a ride on the Lord’s power bus.
I stared at his thick, dark lashes as he slept and then quietly slipped out of his arms.
After eating a Jewel Ice and reverting to human form, I pulled out the leftover thread from the last mission.
“Stay still.”
I hunted down the shadows hiding all over the castle and bound them tightly with the string.
“It’s fox rain, huh.”
Just like the manager had said while going around closing the windows—the moon was so full and bright, yet the earth and sky were both soaked.
Shhhh.
It was surreal.
After binding all ten shadows, I carried them back into Kessler’s room. Without hesitation, I spoon-fed them into his mouth one by one, like pudding.
[Special Quest <Baby Arctic Fox’s Challenge to Love> Complete!
You may now designate the Master of Shadow Castle as your boyfriend. Would you like to set him as your boyfriend?
Yes/No]
Who knew what kind of extra effects this would bring?
I looked back and forth between the system prompt and Kessler. Then, without overthinking it, I replied—
“Yes.”
It was pure instinct, gut feeling.
That this—this was the only way I was going to survive.
