‘…Is this supposed to be a happy ending?’
I wasn’t sure. The skeletons were tossing me into the air in celebration, but hadn’t the harvest already failed? After all the cheering and tossing, I trudged into the castle, only to find clusters of users who had gathered to witness this tragic event now clapping and welcoming me warmly.
“That was so touching, Fox!”
“I heard you unlocked a new map!!”
“Dude, the swamp zone’s gonna be fucking amazing!! Let’s go together!!”
“Baby Fox even has a private ball pit in Kessler’s room. He could’ve just dumped the Shadow Resonance Pill he monopolized into it and played with it all by himself, but look—he chose to save Snake Rim instead. He’s seriously a 0.1% Fox.”
The users lined up on both sides, clapping. Jung Da-hoon, standing tall like a statesman and clapping the loudest, stepped forward and lifted me up into a hug. Then he whispered in my ear.
“And there’s good news. A user NPC popularity poll just wrapped up on the forums. You beat Kessler and took first place by a landslide. Congratulations.”
“Congrats, Fox!”
Before I knew it, a massive photo of me had been unfurled on the castle wall, fluttering in the breeze.
No wonder it looked familiar… It was the same photo Jung Da-hoon had gotten access to during our hint showdown over the Murderer Puzzle. He’d swiped it and repurposed it.
I scanned the users’ expressions. I’d expected the divisions among players to persist even after the Expo, but surprisingly, everyone seemed to be blending together quite well.
[Relationship Panel]: A new post has been uploaded to the gallery.
Just then, a photo popped up in the Relationship Panel. It was a picture of the empty pillow I usually sleep on.
“So that’s his way of saying come sleep.”
With the sound of clapping still in my ears, I made my way to Kessler’s room.
***
“Baby Fox.”
The moment I arrived in the room in human form, our eyes met—he was already sitting on the bed.
“I slept way too much.”
“You drooled a whole bucket.”
“You drool three, you know that? You just don’t realize.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
As I approached Kessler, he opened his arms and legs wide to welcome me. I settled into that space. He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled his cheek against mine, then tilted his head back to look up at me.
“What are you looking at?”
“Baby Fox.”
“……”
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
I gently brushed the back of his hair to tidy it, and he pulled me even closer, closing his eyes. Then he lay back, pulling me down beside him.
“Still sleepy?”
“I just keep getting sleepy.”
No words of blame. No mention of why he’d caused such a mess. Because if Kessler hadn’t broken out, they wouldn’t be together like this now.
“I missed you so fucking much…”
Mumbling half-asleep, Kessler drifted off again. I held him in my arms and patted him gently.
On the table, dozens of unopened demand letters from the Shadow Atonement Prison were piled up. Each envelope was stamped with a big warning about additional sentencing.
I turned my head and stared at the back of Kessler’s head.
“That damn troublemaker…”
My savior.
With the final quest not far off, maybe it was best to leave him like this for now. Depending on the situation, he was a variable unto himself.
Shadows rose and fell from his body. A few that had started to slink away out of boredom noticed me watching and guiltily slipped back into Kessler’s form.
I pulled my gaze away from that and quietly stepped back out of the room.
***
[System]: The ‘Last Chef’ has arrived at the Shadow Castle. It may be a worthwhile experience to seek him out and sample the ultimate dish.
I closed the notification window and waited for Jung Da-hoon.
“Pro, over here.”
I met up with him again at the castle rooftop terrace café. The owner perked up with a clack-clack of delight at having a guest for the first time in a while.
I’d heard business had slowed lately, and they’d even had to let one part-timer go.
“Does Bori know about your job, Jung Da-hoon?”
“Ah… yeah. She knows.”
“Thought so.”
I asked because his defense of the Murderer during the Shadow Expo had been a little too passionate.
“I never told her myself… but she already knew. Bori’s incredibly perceptive.”
“No surprise. You’re hardly subtle, Mr. Jung Da-hoon—not exactly Robin Hood.”
Jung Da-hoon looked troubled.
“All of Bori’s friends were killed by the Murderer. That’s why she hated him… I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. But she already knew who I really was…”
Bori had pretended not to know for his sake. And when he was cornered, she stepped in for the first time.
“Go get married. Love each other forever.”
“Yes. I promise I will.”
Enough small talk.
“Da-hoon, have you picked your next target?”
“I’ve been watching the public sentiment… I’m thinking of dealing with the Kimchi Artisan. What’s your opinion?”
“Sounds good. Kimchi Artisan.”
“He’s been so on edge lately—slapping people left and right with kimchi. The whole castle reeks of rotting kimchi, and that’s a big part of the problem.”
“Exactly. If you’re in the culinary business, you don’t mess around with food. My nose’s been aching from all the aged kimchi stench everywhere. The JanitorGols have been working overtime to clean it up.”
“He’s got a nasty personality.”
“You picked well. And Da-hoon…”
I pulled two items out of my bag.
—Map of Curiosity
—Broken Compass Shard
This was the real reason I’d come to see Jung Da-hoon today. These weren’t unfamiliar to him. After all, they’d belonged to the Seeker he had killed.
“I can’t believe you’ve still got these. Seriously, with how much you earn, you’re secretly so frugal…”
“I heard your crafting skills have gone wild lately. Think you can fix these too?”
“Yes, I’ll try right now.”
These items might come in handy for the next quest. Since I’d already shared the general quest info with him before, Da-hoon didn’t ask any more questions.
“Yeah, I’ll need them for the next quest.”
And that line was mostly for the system to hear.
The game’s direction had shifted since the alpha test, so it was possible I’d face quests different from what I remembered… But by making it obvious that I was preparing, I increased the odds of encountering that particular quest I knew. The system was on my side, after all.
Clink clink.
“All done.”
The [Repair] skill was basic, but thanks to Da-hoon’s master-level dexterity, the items were restored with ease.
“You’re the best support ever, Da-hoon.”
“An honor. I’ll keep cheering on your damage-dealing career.”
—Repaired Map
—Compass Shard, repaired by a novice technician
I packed away the restored items.
“You know… it’s kind of amazing. I feel like I’ve only come this far because I was with you.”
“But it hasn’t been that brutal, right?”
“No, don’t worry.”
He said that, but every time something even slightly went wrong, Jung Da-hoon seemed more stressed than I was. Probably because my life was on the line.
“You don’t have to carry the pressure. You can just enjoy the game.”
Even though he was helping me a ton, I was the only one who needed to go all-out for survival.
“Oh, and your Baby Fox account has surpassed fifty thousand followers. Looks like they’re planning to make you an official pet on the main server.”
“Pet or not, just make sure the users don’t end up imprisoned again.”
I glanced at the map, where Kessler’s icon had started blinking and moving.
“Kessler’s on his way. Current location: third floor, left hallway.”
“Oh dear, I’d better go!”
Jung Da-hoon quickly returned his glass to the counter and scurried out through the opposite exit, practically fleeing.
“One bone-broth lemonade. Extra lemon. Fresh-fried chicken, please. And one more mustard sauce.”
While I was ordering from the café manager, I prepared to greet Kessler.
“You’re here?”
“……”
The lemonade I’d ordered to coincide with his arrival was placed on the table.
“You hyper little Baby Fox.”
Too much sleep can drain your energy. Kessler looked tired. Probably not because he was sleepy—but because the system kept forcing it on him.
Still, there was always time to eat. He devoured the meal I’d picked out for him with gusto. This place really was a hidden gem. The view was beautiful too.
The sun was setting.
“Tasty, isn’t it?”
“You eat too, Baby Fox.”
He offered me a piece of meat, and I took a bite.
“You eat so well.”
Sunset—the boundary between day and night. For me, it was a meaningful time.
In the game I used to play, champions were divided by their strengths depending on the time of day—some were powerful at night, others during the day.
Since I usually picked night champions, I often focused my efforts on seizing that fleeting boundary. That’s why I got called a “twilight main” more than a few times, and most of my highlights happened during that time as well.
I looked at Kessler. His cheeks were flushed in the fierce, burning light, as if the sunlight were setting him ablaze. The moment our eyes met, his lashes curled adorably, his skin glowed pale and soft, and his hair swayed peacefully in the breeze.
“You remind me of the sunset. Maybe that’s why we go so well together.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“You really think we match?”
“I mean, isn’t this pretty well-matched? Don’t you think?”
“I do.”
He had a habit of suddenly bursting into intense affection. Definitely not a neutral character. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have weaknesses, either.
“If Kessler were a character in a game I played, I would’ve picked you every single time.”
I propped my chin on my hand and gazed at his face. At that, he looked pleased and smiled brightly, still munching on his chicken leg.
“I mean it.”
“Really?”
He chuckled mid-bite and scooted over toward me. Then, sliding his hand under my arm, he picked me up and stood me upright.
“What are you doing?”
“Showering you with love.”
“Hey—what are you—mid-meal—ugh!!”
Just like that, he started spinning me around lightly, like a windmill. The spin was so swift and exhilarating that I instinctively let go and leaned fully into him.
Eventually, he stopped and gently planted a kiss on my forehead.
“You okay?”
“How am I already sleepy again? We barely played.”
“You’ll feel better soon.”
“Everything Baby Fox says is always right.”
“I’m sorry.”
Because I was a terrible guy who tried to leave you behind.
His lips lingered against my forehead, moving more slowly now. And moments later, as if collapsing onto me, he drifted into sleep.
