[System]: The skeletons are following you.
—Heave-ho, heave-ho, gol-gol-gol—
“Huh? What’s going on?”
As the skeletons bustled in and out of the stable, collecting Shadow Resonance Pills, Bori Noona, who had been guarding the stable with a frying pan, stood dumbfounded.
—Helping our fox.
“Gasp… Would you mind delivering mine too, pretty please?”
—Nope nope, pay us.
“Guess I’ll just carry mine myself, then…”
—gol-gol-gol, gol-gol-gol—
—White fox, black fox, our fox, gol-gol-gol—
The skeletons sang a new fox chant, cheerfully parading in and out of the stable.
—Empty skulls, hollow gols—
Nyang-nyang! Nyang-nyang-nyang!
When I barked along to the rhythm of the song like a cheer, the skeletons happily jumped up and down.
Meanwhile, in front of the storage room, players who had formed a “Majority Alliance” with the goal of wiping out the first-place contender were waiting for Yeo Woo-rim.
They had heard that Yeo Woo-rim had transformed into a baby fox. Just thinking about that adorable form made them feel uneasy… but they still figured it would be easier to deal with that way.
“The moment he enters the storage, we’ll turn that fox into meat and loot the Shadow Resonance Pills.”
But curiously, what began pouring into the storage weren’t baby foxes—but local skeleton villagers.
“…What the hell?”
“…….”
—Heave-ho, gol drop—
[System]: Your Shadow Resonance Pill has been stored in the warehouse. +1
[System]: Your Shadow Resonance Pill has been stored in the warehouse. +1
[System]: Your Shadow Resonance Pill has been stored in the warehouse. +1
“Uh… The skeletons are escorting the fox? Are they helping him or something? Steal it, now! If we don’t stop that, we’re screwed!”
“What should we do!”
“Should we beat the skeletons up, for now…?”
—gol-gol-gol!—
Caught off guard by this unexpected situation, the players scrambled. But when they actually struck down the good-hearted VillagerSkulls and looted their Shadow Resonance Pills, the rewards turned out to be far too meager for the effort.
[System]: You snapped the neck of ElderSkull, respected by all. Infamy +19
[System]: You’ve obtained a Shadow Resonance Pill. +1
“What… what the hell?! I gain 19 Infamy and get one lousy pill?!”
“The skeletons just keep pouring in. We can’t isolate even one to properly beat it up. The cost-to-reward ratio sucks!!”
“We’ve got to take down the Fox first!! Where is he?!”
“There!!”
Nyang nyang-nyang nyang-nyang ♬
On top of Lawyer Byeonhogol’s head, I danced to buff the exhausted skeletons. Standing upright on two legs, front paws pressed together, I swayed left—nyang—then right—nyang.
“Start with the baby fox!!”
Just as the players, who had been looting Shadow Resonance Pills by beating up the kind skeletons, gathered their strength to attack the baby fox—
[System]: You have declared this area as “Peace Zone of the Baby Fox.” (Time remaining: 00:59:57)
With the players rampaging and the skeletons sustaining serious injuries, the declaration of the Peace Zone of the Baby Fox yielded significant results.
Of course, even in lands of peace, items could still be stolen. But with this declaration, the power balance shifted—the weak now stood equal to the players.
“What’s going on here?”
“Seriously, dear skeletons, we’re sorry for hitting you… It wasn’t on purpose, really. But please, let me just say one thing: you’re being deceived. That baby fox? He’s a player. Not a real fox, but a person pretending to be one. Just like us… He’s using that cute face to fool you all.”
“That’s right. Please, for the love of sanity, think for once. You gol-headed morons.”
—Crack!!—
Calling a “gol-head” a gol-head was enough to send the gol-heads into a frenzy.
The skeletons swarmed the players, bearing down in droves, and in the midst of this chaos, KebabGudasaai finally arrived—visibly flustered but still discreetly delivered his Shadow Resonance Pill to the storage.
“Uh, what the heck? Why are they all getting wrecked by skeletons?”
While the alliance players were being crushed by skeletons, Bori Noona also arrived at the stable, tail now trailing behind her.
And then, still dazed, she dumped her Shadow Resonance Pills into the storage.
“Move it, move it! Fine, I won’t do it! Just let us put our pills in already!”
The players desperately tried to shove their own pills into the storage, but they were completely surrounded by skeletons and couldn’t break through. They tried using wide-area skills together, but all that came out was a pitiful fsshhh—the flames fizzled out weakly.
Thanks to the Peace Zone of the Baby Fox skill, my Shadow Resonance Pills continued stacking up neatly in the storage.
Survival Quest has ended.
Revealing the list of top-tier participants eligible for the ‘Final Battle’ to determine the Last Shadow.
1st Place: Yeo Woo-rim
2nd Place: Bori
3rd Place: KebabGudasaai
It was only after the quest ended that the situation began to calm down.
“Whoa… what the heck?”
“That’s it? That’s how it ends?”
“Are we screwed now? Sorry for hitting you… but my Infamy’s too high to fix this.”
The skeletons, suffering fractures from being beaten by the players, were sent to the hospital. In sync with that, the WardenSkulls arrived and began arresting the players involved in the violence.
—You hit skeletons. Penalty! Penalty! Penalty!—
Assets unused during the quest were converted into shadow value and stored on the server. This system allowed players to earn modest benefits on the official server later on…
“What do we do now…? Is leniency possible? Can we at least get a lawyer…?”
—Denied! The skull you beat was a junior lawyer intern!—
“Honestly, I barely even hit anyone…”
—Accomplice!—
Their high Infamy from beating skeletons was now coming back to bite them. Some players who had joined the mob but done little were crying out in frustration, but the WardenSkulls treated them just the same as the main offenders.
“Come here, baby fox.”
Bori Noona picked me up, and KebabGudasaai walked up to us, stopping three steps away.
The blood of the nine arrested players, whose flesh had melted away, formed a river on the ground. And across that river, the morning sun was rising.
“Just the three of us left, huh.”
“It’s surreal.”
Nyang.
I agreed. Who would’ve thought the final three would be us.
“This is kind of touching. To still be with the ones who saved me at the very end.”
KebabGudasaai reached out and gently took my front paw, shaking it.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Yeah.”
Nyang!!
The three survivors stacked their hands—well, paws too—and raised them together with a shout of Fighting! The spectators—mostly uninjured SkullOnlookers—clapped along with a cheerful clack clack clack.
“Hey… isn’t that Kessler?”
A man walking down the long, bloodstained path. His silhouette grew clearer through the mist.
“Mutt Fox, come here.”
Kessler extended his hand, and Bori Noona handed me over.
“Don’t tell me you three are the ones left?”
Holding me, Kessler asked again, as if something felt off.
“Who else would it be?!”
“It’s not like it had to be anyone. Let’s go, Mutt Fox.”
“No congratulatory message for the final three or something? A fancy banquet maybe…?”
“Hm.”
Kessler mulled it over for a second, then gave a nod in agreement.
“Give each one of them a pudding for Baby Foxes. That good enough?”
—Clack.—
“Huh?”
Bori Noona made a dumbfounded noise, but Kessler turned around without a second of hesitation, clearly not caring.
“Take care, Baby Fox.”
“See you again, Baby Fox.”
Nyang!
Cradled in Kessler’s arms, I waved to the other survivors over his shoulder.
Before long, they faded into the mist.
And then it hit me—something felt off.
Now that everyone knows I’m Yeo Woo-rim, a player, why are they still talking to me like I’m just a fox?
‘Maybe because I’m still a fox.’
I felt Kessler’s hand absentmindedly stroking my butt.
“Now there’s only one thing left. You’ll win that too without a hitch.”
…Nyang.
Without a hitch there too, he said. Was that whole skeleton village extravaganza just now your doing? I thought something felt off when even Sleepyhead—the guy who once tried to beat me with a golf club—started helping me.
“After that, we’ll get married. Got it?”
Why does he talk about marriage like he’s just making dinner plans? When I glanced up at Kessler, he wore a mock-serious expression.
Sensing my gaze, he lowered his head and gently clamped down on my snout like he was biting into a hamburger. I let out a sound of discomfort at the damp feeling, but all he did was pat my butt while pretending to stop, continuing all the same.
We arrived at an open-air garden. Amid rows of oddly shaped desert flowers, a lone sunflower popped out and leaned in to peer curiously at me.
As always, Kessler ordered lemonade.
He quietly picked at the complimentary wedge potatoes while gazing somewhere off toward the still-dark western horizon.
“Now that I think about it…”
Nyang.
“Going straight to prison right after getting married is kind of lame, huh?”
He actually asked for my opinion.
“Not exactly the honeymoon destination I imagined.”
Nyaang…
“But we still have to go at some point. Wanna come with me? You had fun last time too. We’ll do bungee jumping again, go wild together. You like being adored, right, Baby Fox? Even the ghosts are gonna love you. We’ll play some more board games and have fun again.”
Nyang.
I saw Kessler in a new light. I’d always pegged him as a chaotic mess who just acted on impulse—he even killed Jung Da-hoon, for crying out loud—so I assumed he had some anger issues or something…
‘Guess he wasn’t just throwing tantrums—he actually planned to stick it out and go to jail with me once I won.’
He had his own way of thinking things through.
We both gazed out toward the dark navy sky where light hadn’t yet reached. Waiting, slowly, until it began to glow. In a world teetering on the edge of its end, the two of us were the only ones left.
And just like that—like we had been waiting for this moment all along—the world finally felt peaceful again.
After sunrise, Kessler and I rode the Ride the Rainbow slide. We’d risen above the clouds into a surreal place that felt too vivid to be real, too strange to be fake. I couldn’t tell if this was heaven or hell.
“And now, Baby Fox rides the rainbow down with his handsome hyung.”
There, at the top, Kessler—whether angel or devil—held me tightly in his arms.
