[The perfume you created is a huge hit! +20 Perfumery Proficiency]
All the ghosts volunteered to be Jung Da-hoon’s partner, giving him the power to choose.
“What did Jung Da-hoon do?”
“The perfume he sprayed earlier must be a ghost pheromone…”
“Wow… I’m so jealous…”
Amidst the attention of all beings, the man of the hour, Jung Da-hoon, bowed politely to the ghosts who had chosen him.
“Thank you for your support. I am honored by your love. The ghost I choose is…”
Tension filled the room.
“I choose Iijang-ghost.”
“What? Not Iljang-ghost, but Iijang-ghost?”
The users murmured at the unexpected choice. Iljang-ghost’s expression hardened, while Iijang-ghost welcomed Jung Da-hoon with open arms.
After all, Jung Da-hoon had made him, who was always second, number one.
“Why did you choose me?”
“Because you are truly impressive.”
“But I am the second-ranked ghost.”
“To me, you are number one.”
“Hahaha!”
Meanwhile, the next auction participants were called.
“Next up for auction, the ten of you who received the personal message, please come up.”
[System]: The auctioneer is calling you.
My name was called as well. As I stepped onto the auction stage, another murmur rippled through the crowd.
“Why is the baby fox up there?”
“Did he go up because he’s a baby and doesn’t know any better? Did he see Jung Da-hoon getting cheered and want some too?”
“PeeledGarlicUnpeeledGarlic, Baby Arctic Fox, and ClappingHands, in that order, you each have one minute for a PR attack.”
The called participants watched PeeledGarlicUnpeeledGarlic’s PR with faces that said, ‘The matchup is ruined.’
“Ring ring, it’s a call. Jung Da-hoon is the best, the call says. No, no, that’s a lie~ PeeledGarlicUnpeeledGarlic is the best. With fiery leadership, I’ll lead your hearts too! Number one expedition leader, PeeledGarlicUnpeeledGarlic.”
Having finished his self-introduction exactly in one minute, expedition leader PeeledGarlicUnpeeledGarlic now waited for the ghosts’ choice.
Iljang-ghost participated in the bidding again.
Samjang-ghost also raised his bidding card without backing down. After a moment of thought, the expedition leader bowed politely to Iljang-ghost.
“Thank you for choosing me. And I’m sorry I can’t reciprocate. The ghost I choose is Samjang-ghost.”
As he made his choice, thunderous applause and cheers erupted from all around. Among the cheers, the whispers of the other participants standing together could be heard.
“Why did Garlic choose Samjang-ghost?”
“Is there something wrong with Iljang-ghost?”
It seemed like they were speculating that there must be a reason why Jung Da-hoon, who received the first unanimous vote, chose Iijang-ghost instead of Iljang-ghost. In fact, Jung Da-hoon had real-life experience from the alpha test, so the expedition leader seemed to have safely followed his pick.
Jung Da-hoon had simply chosen that way out of consideration, thinking Iljang-ghost would choose him… but ended up drawing unwanted attention.
Next, it was my turn.
“Next, Baby Arctic Fox, please come up.”
As the expedition leader stepped down from the stage, he lifted me up onto it. Truly the gentleman leader of this area.
“1-minute PR, please start!”
I took out the item I had prepared. Milk-flavored pudding.
“Are you going to do a mukbang?”
“Hey, announcer, open the lid for the baby fox!”
With the announcer’s help, it took 10 seconds to open the lid. During that time, the sound of ghosts participating in the bidding could be heard.
“Fox, eat slowly!”
The mukbang started with 45 seconds left. Lick, lick, gulp. I got it all over my snout, but I finished the mukbang in 30 seconds and jumped up, spinning around once.
It wasn’t a safe landing, but when I looked up from the floor, I found myself the recipient of the second unanimous vote.
Just as I was about to choose Iljang-ghost, the atmosphere suddenly turned tense. A familiar pair of boots entered my vision.
“Is he crazy?”
“He’s the fox’s owner, but can he do that here?”
It was Kessler, crashing the stage. He picked me up as if I were a piece of discarded paper and casually said to the stunned announcer,
“Carry on.”
Held in Kessler’s arms, I moved further away from the auction house. Iljang-ghost’s face, looking like a dog that had lost its bone, grew distant.
‘……’
I hadn’t entirely ruled out the possibility of Kessler’s intervention, but it was just one of many potential variables. I never expected it to actually happen.
After all, he had never infringed on my freedom before. So, perhaps subconsciously, I had hoped he wouldn’t this time either.
‘If I had known this would happen…’
I was supposed to be auctioned off as a human Yeo Woo-rim with that perfume.
I had planned too much, even thinking of saving Jung Da-hoon. It was clearly my mistake.
Of course, staying by Kessler’s side would guarantee my safety. But that was it.
“You should avoid dangerous things.”
With the power of the partner ghost, you can kill users, and gain ‘priority’ rights over what the deceased leave behind.
It might seem like a simple PvP plunder battle risking lives, but this quest was optimized for the ‘Thief’ profession.
Among the equippable items of [The Last Shadow], there are ‘general items’ that can be traded and ‘unique items’ that cannot.
‘Unique items’ are subordinate items with a limited number per user. Therefore, they can only be obtained if the user dies. For users, this event is an opportunity to acquire a new profession by looting unique items from corpses. However, if they already have a profession, they must give up the proficiency they have accumulated in their existing profession to change jobs.
The profession ‘Thief’ can even steal the proficiency of the deceased.
In short, it was a goldmine with ‘me + strong ghost = jackpot.’
[System]: The skill ‘Detailed Theft’ is activated.
The skill window I had left open as a human was blinking in the corner of my vision, but I was being carried to Kessler’s room in his arms.
Meow. Meow.
I deliberately made a mournful sound. I also struggled to be put down.
“No.”
But Kessler was firm. I paused for a moment and licked his chin with my tongue. He endured it, thinking it was an affectionate gesture, despite being ticklish.
“What were you thinking, going out there? Are you a sane fox or not?”
Kessler sat me down on a chair and began to discipline me at eye level.
“Do you think everything will be resolved if you just stay quiet?”
So, I pretended to be starving, whimpering and putting everything in my mouth.
Kessler just stared at me, unmoving.
The auction will end soon…
I opened the Relationship Panel and went to the gallery.
Then, I quickly took pictures of myself eating pudding with my front paws and kicked with my back paws to create a heart.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow.
Meow♥
The heart that had been rising into the air like a water droplet turned into a large heart and popped with a kick. Only then did Kessler look at our gallery.
He seemed to realize something and sighed softly.
“Are you asking for food? Are you hungry?”
I nodded vigorously.
“You must be so upset that I scolded you without giving you food.”
Nod nod.
“Do you want to go eat?”
Shake shake.
“Are you too weak to move? Should I bring you some food?”
Nod.
Kessler pretended to stroke my head but actually checked my belly. It was round and full from eating a whole pudding, but he seemed to think it was because I was in a growth spurt.
I waited until Kessler was far enough away, then moved immediately.
I had to get there before the auction ended. After this round, theft would become much less useful, and this was the last chance to make a fortune and switch to a new profession. I had to get there before the strong ghosts made their choices.
To move quickly, I transformed into a human and hurriedly left Kessler’s room. I ran hard down the long hallway plastered with Kessler’s annual portraits.
“……Huh?”
But as I tried to run out, I strangely didn’t get any closer to the exit. No matter how hard I ran, it was the same.
Sensing something was off, I examined the space.
[System]: This space is cursed with recursion.
“……”
A curse that keeps you in place no matter how much you run, like a treadmill. Perhaps it was his precaution in case the fox tried to escape.
“Pant, pant…… What a foxy bastard.”
No matter how much I ran, it was useless. I was just wasting time, caught in Kessler’s web.
Now what? I caught my breath, kneeling, faced with an unexpected variable.
A light stretched from the end of the door, casting all the way to my face. A shadow fell over it, large and dark enough to cover the world. I looked up.
Standing there was Kessler, his hands empty of any pudding.
He was looking down at me, arrogantly, as I was trapped in his snare.
