Fox in the Dream, Shadows in Reality

I looked around. I was in Nao's house. Not the new place after moving—it was her old apartment. Huh?

"Wh-what the hell... Why am I back here again?"

Memories flashed through my mind. Was I still trapped in the hallucination shown by Infestation?

Click, click, click, click.

Right after that thought, I heard the sound of locks unlocking from the door. "Eek..." I held my breath. The door swung open.

"Look at that face. Like a rabbit staring down a lion."

Giggle, giggle, giggle.

The one who entered with that distinctive laugh was a girl with ash-gray hair. Fox ears twitched perkily atop her head. Wait...

"Yeoul... What the hell is going on?"

"Our Mayuri-ssi is a bit slow on the uptake. I'd hoped you'd figure something this simple out right away."

"Hm."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I thought for a moment. This was Nao's place before we moved. They'd already found new tenants, so physically, I couldn't be here. Maybe I'd gotten caught in some weird anomaly again? But that door loaded with a ton of locks—I'd seen it once before. In the hallucination from Infestation.

Which meant this place was generated based on my memories.

"Is this a dream?"

"Correct. Here's a gold star sticker."

Poof. A real praise sticker appeared in Yeoul's hand. Giggling, she slapped it right onto my dumbfounded face. I panicked for a second, then sighed.

"What are you up to now? Invading someone else's dream."

It was just absurd.

Once I realized it was a dream, I remembered what happened right before falling asleep. I'd been carried home piggyback by Yeoul. Flopped straight onto the bed. I didn't remember if I'd washed up, but I'd passed out almost immediately. So my real body was asleep right now.

"What a silly question. Fish live in water, rats in sewers. And I'm a monster that lives in dreams— is it so weird for me to slip into one?"

Yeoul waved her hand, and the surroundings shifted bit by bit. A bed appeared. A chair popped up. Watching it made me think—Yeoul wasn't so much a fish as a turtle.

Fox Possession wasn't something that really existed in reality to begin with. The Mare that Yeoul had devoured was a nightmare-inducer, a monster that only existed in dreams. And she'd swallowed Infestation too. Yeoul was probably far freer in dreams or hallucinations than in the real world. Like a turtle that can move on land but swims more freely in water.

Plus, Yeoul could manipulate dreams at will. In a dream, she could have anything she wanted.

"You're looking restless—why not sit instead of standing?"

She plopped down on the chair. I nodded and sat on the bed. Silence fell.

She wasn't even glancing my way, just idly stroking her own tail. Watching her, I tilted my head.

"?? What're you doing?"

"If you can't tell by looking, I recommend an eye doctor. Oh wait, this is a dream. Not a vision problem, then? Must be an intelligence issue."

"No... That's not what I meant. Don't you have business with me?"

"Not really?"

Yeoul shrugged while grooming her tail.

"Do fish need a reason to enter water? Assuming everyone who approaches you has business is some serious main-character syndrome."

"Hey, but Yeoul, I'm the universe's cutest girl, right? Logically, people would make up excuses just to come see me."

"...It's kinda ridiculous that you seriously believe that."

For once, Yeoul looked genuinely shocked. Had I hit her right in the core? Yare yare.

But what was Yeoul really thinking? Even if she just wanted to enter a dream, she didn't need to show up in front of me. She could've played alone somewhere in the dream, out of my sight. The fact that she'd appeared in my field of vision meant she did have business with me. Logically, no one could have no reason to approach a cutie like me.

"Business, huh. Wanna play shiritori?"

"Huh?"

"Apple."

"Uh... Fruit?"

"Daily life."

"Gift certificate...?"

"Power."

Reverse thinking, imagination, reverse grip, Tao power, reverse carriage, carriage power, reverse order, quick wit...

And so, Yeoul and I played word chain in the dream. I have no idea if it was a long dream or a short one, but at some point, I woke up.

It was 10 a.m. I'd slept over 10 hours. Meaning I'd gotten some real rest.

"Awake now?"

I opened my eyes to find Yeoul peering down at me.

"How long have you been there?"

"Since you woke up and booted me out."

With that, she grabbed my hand and stroked my thumbnail.

"Body feels kinda heavy. I prefer dreams after all."

She vanished after saying that. Seemed like she'd slipped under my nail.

"Yeoul?"

I called toward my nail. Then,

Don't write stuff on the bedding if you don't wanna do laundry. With that thought, I got out of bed.

Yesterday I'd been exhausted to the point of death, but after a solid sleep, energy surged through me. Still, there was a bit of loneliness too. I was the only one home right now. Well, Taemi was here too, technically.

"Doesn't seem like the fox possessed you."

Taemi said that. I'd thought about enjoying some alone time today, but I'd placed her on the table anyway. Cutiefied Ari had a huge appetite, but Taemi apparently didn't feel hunger much. Come to think of it, she had no biological needs at all. Even with the same Cute Girl Mod applied, it varied by monster.

Taemi and Miyeong didn't need meals, but Ari and Nao did. No idea what the criterion was.

"Fox? Oh, you mean Yeoul."

"Stuck to you all night, and you ended up taming the fox after all?"

Taemi asked with her usual prim expression.

"Not sure about taming, but she doesn't seem hostile anymore."

"I see."

She shut her mouth like she didn't care. Now that I thought about it, Taemi had met Yeoul before. We'd dealt with Ryu Harin's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nightmare together. Guess that's why she'd been wary.

We chatted like that as I finished what was sorta solo dining but not really.

"Guess it's time to let the kids out."

I muttered, eyeing the dirty dishes on the table. Now that I thought about it, ever since Lisa arrived, I'd left the dishes to her. And man, Lisa's dishwashing was next-level. But facing the chore myself, it felt right to call the family together now.

I'd meant to release them right when we got home yesterday, but I was too wiped out. Ah, but using Summon drained mental energy like crazy each time. Calling out three would tire me again, right? ...I hated getting tired, but I couldn't put it off anymore. Ari hated being in storage.

So I summoned Ari.

"Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... Hungry..."

"Huh?"

I blinked. Still like this?

"What about the others?"

I pulled out Lisa and Nao too.

"Mayuri-nim, where are you? Where? Don't disappear. Mayuri-nim? Mayuri-nim? Mayuri-nim?? If Mayuri-nim vanishes, what about me? Me? Us? What do we do now? What? What? What?"

"HatebeingaloneitsscarywhyisnooneherelonelysolonelylonelywhereareyouYuri-unniewhyareyougonedidtheydiehowlongdoIhavetobeherealone..."

"Aigoo..."

I pinched my brow. My girls were still under the effects of Infestation...

Come to think of it, that's what Infestation was like. Cosmic horror at its finest—survive the monster, but go insane or get PTSD anyway. But even after Yeoul ate it and it vanished, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I hadn't expected the effects to linger like this.

"What to do..."

Should I pretend not to notice and stuff them back? They were monsters anyway? ...Nah, I'd grown attached. We'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eaten together, lived under one roof— we were family.

Time to fix them. But how?

"Mental contamination cleansers? Doubt it. This isn't contamination—more like a hallucination or dream status. Maybe use another anomaly? Hmm..."

After some pondering, one idea hit me.

With Nao's bond effect, maybe feeding her my blood would snap her out of it? With that thought, I approached Nao.