Gol-gol gol♪ Tap-tap quack-quack I’m the master of delivery heads♬
On the way back to the castle, two weaklings were carrying a box with pudding illustrations on it at the train platform. It was Oasis Gold Pudding, freshly delivered from the Oasis Hotel. Looks like the pantry stock was running low and Kessler had placed an order.
– Gol-cha gol-cha
– Gol-gol-gol……
But they had overlooked one crucial detail. The castle was currently crawling with scummy beggars. Even the free lunchboxes handed out as disaster relief last time had sparked such chaos that five users were kicked out of the chapel in the scuffle.
– Gol-gol-gol
More and more users began to notice the gol-heads, who kept repeating ten steps forward, rest, ten steps forward, rest. Among them were the beggar quintuplets, recently banned from the chapel. They had been starving since the last free distribution and were now hanging by a thread.
“Oasis Gold Pudding, seriously?!”
This fox-special pudding was zero sugar, a healthy food item, and so delicious it had recently gone viral on Instagram group orders. Smacking their lips at the sight of the pudding box, the beggar quintuplets approached the weaklings.
“Hey there, gol-gol sirs, we can help carry that for you~”
– Tap-tap? Gol-gol-gol!?
“You just looked like you were having a really hard time~”
The weaklings clicked their teeth in delight at what they saw as a welcome offer.
– Thank you much~ Follow me~
“Whew, this is kinda heavy.”
The quintuplets exchanged glances while lifting the box. They were clearly scheming to make a run for it. I joined in by grabbing a side of the box.
“I’ll help too!”
– Heart angel!!
“…Who the hell are you?”
Not thrilled by my sudden involvement, they pressed their hands against the box to widen their grip and shoved at me. A subtle tug-of-war broke out among those holding the box. It wasn’t too physically demanding since we were all carrying it loosely anyway. Not like that was my real goal.
“There’s a lot of pudding in here. Who bought all this?”
– Owner of the Shadow Castle. Bought in bulk.
At my question and the weakling’s answer, the tug-of-war came to an abrupt stop. They’d been so hungry, they were fixated on stealing pudding without even thinking about who ordered it.
“Oh… So it’s the Lord’s.”
Their will to steal vanished instantly. No one dared mess with the Absolute Lord’s property unless they wanted to end up doing forced labor.
“What a waste of energy……”
Just then, the castle steward came out to receive the pudding boxes.
“Ah, the Gold Pudding I ordered has arrived. Thank you for your hard work, weaklings.”
– Tap-gol tap-gol-gol
– These people. Helped us. Like them.
One of the weaklings, wiping sweat from his brow, gestured toward us with both hands as if to commend our help.
“Oh, that must’ve been heavy. Thank you for your help. Since you’re already here, would you mind taking these down to the basement storage?”
“Ah, sure……”
Heave-ho. As all six of us carried the box down the stairs together, the imbalance caused a collapse, and one of the beggar users below got crushed under it.
“This one’s showing signs of dehydration!”
With his stamina already depleted, the pressure from the heavy box left him barely hanging on. He flailed briefly before slipping into unconsciousness. The steward quickly tore open a Gold Pudding and shoved it into his mouth.
Gulp, gulp.
“Are you alright?”
“Oh… I feel better now.”
Revived by the pudding, the beggar quickly recovered and began waving his hand around in mid-air.
“Whoa.”
[System]: The steward was deeply moved by your selfless goodwill. You may now transfer to the Special Occupation, “Shadow Castle Courier.”
“They say I can change jobs now?”
Eyes wide like a startled rabbit, he shared the notification window with everyone.
“Holy shit, a Special Occupation? Then what’s the salary? Check that too.”
“Three million won… Five-day workweek… Meal allowance… Full insurance…”
At that, the others holding up the boxes foamed at the mouth and collapsed dramatically.
[System]: The steward was deeply moved by your selfless goodwill. You may now transfer to the Special Occupation, “Shadow Castle Courier.”
[System]: Five players have successfully transferred to the Courier role.
“Let’s all keep up the good work.”
“Yes!!”
Just a few hours ago, these five beggars had been despised by everyone. Now, they were respectable government workers with ironclad job security.
“Thank you for your hard work. Have this to recharge your energy.”
After moving the supplies to the food storage, all six of us—including me—received an Oasis Gold Pudding.
“Whoa, just eating this tiny thing boosted my stamina like crazy.”
“Must be the top-quality stuff. Oh, right. Hey man, thanks. If you hadn’t asked who placed the order earlier, we’d have been completely fucked. We had no idea it belonged to the Lord.”
“You helped us anyway, even after finding out it was the Lord’s. That’s real goodwill. You’re all blessed. Congrats on getting hired.”
Now that they were officially civil servants, access to the plaza—previously restricted to them—was completely open. We sat on the main platform there, poked straws into coconut fruit, and held a celebration party.
‘Phew.’
In the end, I was the one who really got to breathe a sigh of relief. If those beggars had actually stolen the pudding and Kessler had gone ballistic on them, he would’ve been headed straight back to prison.
Recently, he’d suppressed the entire castle with spiritual pressure just because someone gave the fox alcohol. An overreaction, to say the least.
‘Wait a minute.’
Why was that a good thing? What did it matter to me whether Kessler got thrown into the Shadow Prison or not? Back then, at least I had the excuse of “I need Kessler around to protect me from Jung Da-hoon.” But now that I had the contract in hand, even that wasn’t valid anymore.
I quietly opened the Relationship Panel and checked his location. He was heading toward the food storage where the beggars and I had been earlier.
***
Over 60% of users in the castle have gone bankrupt and become beggars! The <Resurgence Auction> for beggars will begin shortly. We are now accepting beggar participants for the Resurgence Auction. 80% of the final bid goes to the beggar. Become your own auction item!
A quest notification popped up. It usually triggered at 40%, so it felt a bit late.
“Whoa, this is insane profit!”
The <Resurgence Auction> was a prerequisite for the <Ghost Auction>. A kind of bonus round, you could say. It was a multi-purpose quest mostly geared toward skeletons, designed to unlock their hoarded wealth, recruit manpower for the upcoming Shadow Festival, and indulge in some high-handed roleplay by bossing around other users.
“So you’re selling yourself as an auction item?”
“Looks like it.”
One user, brainstorming ways to boost their own value, came up gasping after checking the cash shop.
“Dude, there’s an item that raises your market value by 15%.”
“For real? What is it?”
“This. Check out the options.”
He unequipped a rare item, the “Thunderstrike Cape,” and replaced it with “Waggy Tail.” White fox fur shimmered like a halo from his back and began to wag.
‘That’s the same item Haru noona used to wear.’
With Baby Arctic Foxes trending on Instagram these days, fox-themed gear seemed to be flooding the market.
“Guess it’s because foxes are super popular among skeletons and ghosts.”
Word spread fast. One after another, users came flailing out of the cash shop, each now wearing a white fox tail.
“So soft!”
“Hey, don’t touch so hard—you’ll ruin the fur.”
Users began grooming each other’s tails like they were shedding coats.
‘…Alright. I’d better get myself registered.’
I got in line to register as an auction item. Tails flicked back and forth like a trend, gently brushing against me from front and back.
“Ah, sorry about that.”
“……”
I wasn’t technically a beggar, but I needed to join this auction. The <Resurgence Auction> was the pre-party to the real event—the Ghost Auction of the Shadow Festival—a humble prelude meant for skeletons who could only watch the festivities from the sidelines.
It was a two-for-one win: it dispersed the wealth hoarded by skeletons, and let users earn money by agreeing to become their slaves for a week. Everyone would be happy.
And right now was the perfect time to sneak into a private estate. There was a rare flower that only grew there. Holding that flower would increase the chance of being chosen by a powerful ghost during the main <Ghost Auction> of the Shadow Festival.
‘A while back, a player working in the labor yard wore that flower on their head and got chosen. I need to find that flower and charm a high-ranking ghost.’
Some ghosts possessed unique skills. Being chosen by one could mean gaining a special ability. That was the plan.
Once registration closed, the actual beggar auction began.
“‘Poseidon-s,’ sold for 180,000 won! Next beggar, please step up. Handsome fella, what’s your name?”
“Jung Da-hoon.”
“You’ll get a chance to sell yourself to the bidders.”
“Play some music. Bori, close your eyes.”
As music played, Jung Da-hoon’s eyes changed completely. His shabby fox tail swayed behind him as he struck a stiff runway walk, then spun around and twerked violently, shaking his hips like mad.
“Sold for 780,000 won!”
“Thank you! I’ll do my best!”
His explosive dance moves set a new record bid.
“What the hell… He’s insane. Why go that hard?”
The beggars next in line now felt the pressure. Or maybe… this worked in my favor.
“Next beggar, step right up!”
Surrounded by skeletons and local ghosts, it was finally my turn. I followed the directions and stepped onto the auction platform.
“You’ll get a chance to sell yourself to the bidders.”
“I’ll work sincerely.”
With just that one line, I stared blankly at the skeletons. My goal: get sold to the labor yard for the lowest possible price.
“100,000 won offered. 150,000 won. Anyone else? Going once, going twice…”
Just as I was about to get sold off smoothly— Someone raised a bidding paddle.
“Five million won.”
The room buzzed. He had his face hidden, but there was no concealing that overwhelming presence. A man wearing nine fox tails—where he got them, no one knew. It was Kessler.
