The Slave and the Fox-kin

I finished clearing an F-class gate with the usual desperation and stepped out. The reward clutched in my hand was a single F-class magic stone. One hundred thousand won. That was the result of risking my life all day, wrestling with goblins—a measly 100,000 won. Considering the rising cost of living, that’s barely enough for three fried chickens, right? I should just go home and tear into some chicken. Saving money was pointless anyway. I was two hundred million won in debt after being scammed by a Ho-jok. The interest had already started snowballing, and I’d long since given up, just waiting to see if I’d ever win the Hunter lottery.

You might wonder if there’s any help from the human side when you’re in debt to a demi-human and being worked like a slave. I once harbored that hope and tried seeking help here and there, but there is no such thing as aid for a powerless F-class hunter. "Get lost! You got scammed like an idiot and now you want help?" The final words of a friend from my hunter training days still echoed in my head.

"Ugh..." For five years, I hadn't found a single clue to awakening my Interspecies ability. The conditions to awaken that power were so extreme that even risking my life felt insufficient. Her face and body, which I had seen face-to-face, flashed through my mind. Sigh... Should I just close my eyes tight and beg her to do it once? She’d probably look at me with contempt and either burn me to a crisp with the Ho-jok’s signature sorcery or slice me in half.

I sighed and turned to leave. Click. "Argh!" I flinched at the cold sensation on the back of my neck and jerked forward, but something wrapped around my throat and held me back. "Gah... what the...?" I turned around to see Miho, the Ho-jok who had been observing the human hunters fighting desperately against the goblins. As I panicked and touched the iron collar around my neck, the status window that appeared was even more absurd.

'The fuck?' As I realized what that cold metal sensation was, goosebumps broke out all over my body. "You're mine now! ...Is that how you do it?" Miho said in a playful tone, smiling as if she were just happy to have found a new toy. "Hmm... what could it be? What is your identity?"

"..." I instinctively stepped back and swallowed hard. She wouldn't want the answer: "I'm a 26-year-old virgin, 200 million won in debt, F-class hunter." I racked my brain desperately to survive. "I-I'm just an ordinary human. And... I believe the slave collar can't be used unless there's a special situation..."

"You. You're barely paying off the interest on the 200 million you borrowed from us. If the debtor is a demi-human, can't we make them a slave after five years?" '...There was a law like that?' I hurriedly turned on my smartphone and searched for keywords like 'demi-human', 'debt', and '5 years', and it didn't take long to realize her words were true.

'20 years?' My head spun at the overwhelming number. Miho, who had answered without caring about my words, scanned my body with her eyes. I had felt those eyes on me even inside the gate. Perhaps my one-time skill, Happiness, had drawn more attention than my mere F-class pheromones. The dramatic change in her expression I had seen briefly was enough to surprise even me, the one who used the skill.

"A human... a male that interests me this much... you're the first. Follow me." Zap. The stinging sensation on my neck told me I couldn't resist her. The movement happened in an instant. I didn't know the exact principle, but I had heard that if you utilize Ho-jok sorcery, you can move freely between pre-designated coordinates.

Standing at the 5th entrance of Baekryeong-ga, I stood still as I watched Miho register me as her slave. In exchange for the 200 million won debt I owed. And in that process, I learned that Miho was an S-class hunter. The joy of having the debt that had tormented me for five years disappear was short-lived; my status now included 'Human', 'F-class Hunter', and 'Slave'. Baekryeong-ga is a collective of Ho-jok that encompasses the entirety of Incheon, South Korea. They say there was a time when humans ruled the Earth, but I hadn't seen it myself, so it didn't feel real.

'To think I'd end up in Incheon like this...' My modest hope in life had been to leave Seoul, but I didn't want it to happen this way. Without time to get lost in thought, Miho started walking ahead. As we entered Incheon, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the traces of humans that were at least visible in Seoul were nowhere to be found. Instead, countless Ho-jok just laughed at me as they passed, wearing my slave collar. 'Those dog-like bitches...' I felt like a monkey in a zoo. I clenched my fists and followed Miho into a luxurious apartment. Click. The sound of the door closing felt exceptionally loud.

"You're quieter than I thought. I expected you to resist a little." It was over. The slave collar around my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠neck. A weak F-class human hunter and an S-class Ho-jok were in the same space. "What do you intend to make me do by bringing me all the way here?"

"Hmm... who knows?" I wanted to say, "You forced me from Seoul to Baekryeong-ga, and now you say 'who knows'?" but I didn't know what she might do if I said that. "Then, could you at least take this off..." I said, pointing my finger at the slave collar. ...This is the last mercy I'll show her.

"That won't do. Wait here for a moment." Zap. With a stinging sensation on my neck, I was forced to stand still and wait for over 30 minutes. When I heard the sound of water, I assumed she was taking a shower. She left me standing in the middle of the living room while she showered? I re-checked the message that had appeared the moment I was hit by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the slave collar.

My patience had hit rock bottom due to the humiliation I’d endured for five years, and there was no such thing as a guilty conscience. I calmly waited for the timing and thought ahead about how I should act.

***

Splash. Miho thought as she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠washed her body with warm water. 'This is troublesome... why did I bring him?' He was an extremely ordinary hunter, an F-class human at that. She had wondered if the sense of happiness that pierced her brain was some kind of mental interference skill, but that wasn't it. The magic power she felt from him was pathetic. Yet, the more she looked at him, the less her interest waned; she just kept wanting to look at him. Intense curiosity. That was the reason Miho had forcibly brought the F-class human hunter. Furthermore, the pleasure that had pierced her head like thunder subconsciously spurred Miho's actions.

"Ugh..." She’d just use him to manage the house, keep him for a few days, and then sell him off when she got bored. He would probably sell for a cost far short of the 200 million she had originally paid, but to Miho, an S-class hunter, 200 million wasn't that much money.

Creak. When Miho finished her shower and came out to the living room, the human male was still standing there waiting. Ah, did I just tell him to stand there? "Oops." She threw her body onto the sofa and spoke to Doyen, who was standing in the center of the living room. "I thought about it carefully. First... you are not allowed to take a single step out of this house." As she spoke with magic, the slave collar reacted.

"And you must keep the house clean."

"Ah, and if I tell you to, go outside and earn some money! Thinking about it again, I have to at least break even."

"Lastly, it's annoying to give orders one by one. Don't talk back to what I say and obey...?" Miho, who thought she was giving clean orders, was cut off by a stinging sensation on her neck. "Huh?"

Overcome by a sense of incongruity, Miho tried to use sorcery to kill him in an instant. But Miho had wasted her one moment of opportunity, and Doyen, who had been waiting for this moment, shouted one step faster. "Stop!"

"Ugh...!" Miho is an S-class hunter. Sensing the danger, she tried to resist even if it meant overloading her magic power and destroying the apartment. "Don't think."

"Don't do anything."

"All physical and mental threats against me are prohibited."

But Kim Doyen desperately didn't allow Miho any openings. 'This... please... ugh...!' Miho, whose every action was being controlled, tried desperately to resist, but it was already too late. Zap! The more she resisted, the more the pain tightened around her throat, and her mind drifted away. Miho had no choice but to watch Kim Doyen, who was reaching out with a victorious smile.