The Fox's Surrender
"Looking back, quite some time has passed since the day I first met Nine Tail."
"...So what?"
There are two ways to ask a question the other person cannot answer. One is the straightforward, blunt approach—crude but undeniably effective. The team leader, wearing a clown mask instead of a thick-skinned face, has been using that method throughout today's game. But even a polite question can silence someone if it strikes at their pride or lingering feelings. Only someone who knows the other person well can pull that off.
"Now you're a proper field team leader, someone the company can't do without."
"...What exactly are you trying to do?"
"But there's something I've always wanted to ask but never could."
After enduring nothing but rude, irritating questions that poked at her temper, the sudden shift in atmosphere makes the field team leader wary. She watches the naked clown mask with suspicious eyes as it cheerfully tilts its head.
"Our first meeting wasn't exactly pleasant for either of us."
"...You only found it unpleasant? For me, it was the worst."
"Because you lost for the first time?"
"..."
I could only listen and infer what had happened between them in the past. But seeing the field team leader press her lips together in frustration without immediately denying the word "defeat," it seemed she really had been overpowered by the management team leader once. And not in some playful contest, but in a serious confrontation.
"Honestly, I wanted to hear whether you think your life was better before or after coming to the Eunrang Art Museum."
"Obviously the life before, when I didn't have to see your face—"
"If you really hated seeing me that much, why didn't you just quit?"
"...What?"
"The president gave you a choice, after all."
The field team leader's tone had been sharp until now, but the more the clown mask spoke, the more her momentum seemed to fade. Or perhaps it was just the sheer embarrassment of her current state making it seem that way to me. Her arms barely manage to cover her chest, yet the overflowing curves still look ready to spill over at any moment. The deep valley squeezed between her arms is just as captivating.
"What choice are you talking about?"
Look at that—her breasts sway sharply with the defiant words. Just as she said, those large breasts are too much for her arms to hide. This question will be the last.
"Whether to stay here or leave."
"That's..."
"In the end, Nine Tail chose to stay in a place where you could use your abilities and earn proper compensation. We've carried out operations together quite a few times now. And even though it's just a game, you've been participating so earnestly in this childish play."
The golden eyes that had been glaring at the team leader no longer held the same ferocity. But...
"Ha."
Her eyebrows shoot up, and displeasure twists her beautiful face in an instant.
"Don't try anything clever. You want me to say I was better off being caught by you, don't you...!"
Her chest bounces heavily.
"Oh..."
She rises forcefully from her seat and stands tall on both feet. Of course, with only a single piece of underwear left and her arms completely bound to her chest, she doesn't look threatening at all. If anything, it gives me a perfect view of her stunning figure. It seems the photoshoot isn't over yet.
"I really hate you. So even if it kills me, I'll never give you the answer you want. Got it?"
She's refusing to give the desired answer. But the only thing left to remove is that one piece of underwear. If she doesn't answer without taking it off, the victory belongs to the team leader either way. Whether she answers or not, the team leader gets what she wants. And she isn't the only one who realizes this.
"And because of that... I absolutely don't want to lose to you."
"...Your competitive spirit is admirable, but the only thing left to take off is that lewd scrap of cloth, you know?"
"...Just sit there and watch."
She doesn't have enough hands to cover her chest, remove her underwear, and hide her lower body all at once. I thought the worst was about to happen and unconsciously held my breath. Then something unexpected occurred.
"Since you used your ability first, you won't complain, right?"
Her golden eyes, which had been looking down on us, begin to turn red. At the same time, her long black hair starts changing to pure white from the roots. The sight I once dismissed as an illusion is now unfolding right before my eyes.
Twitch.
"Twitch...?"
The onomatopoeia slips out as I stare at the two pointed ears sprouting from the top of the team leader's head. Covered in soft white fur just like her hair, the fox ears stand upright. But that isn't all.
Swish.
As if to say it's fine now, she removes the arms covering her chest. From behind her sides, two fluffy white tails appear and wrap around her chest in place of her arms. Even as she brings both hands down to her hips, grabs her underwear, and pulls it down without hesitation, more white tails from her back move on their own to barely cover all the embarrassing places.
"..."
Only when she finally bends forward at the waist do I see it clearly—the nine tails swaying behind her.
"Oh... I didn't expect you to go this far."
While the team leader murmurs in admiration beside me, I can't close my mouth at the metaphysical phenomenon before my eyes. I had vaguely sensed she was different from us, but seeing it right in front of me leaves me speechless. Only one word circles in my mind before slipping out.
The nine-tailed fox from old folktales. A seductive woman who transforms to drain men's vitality.
"...A gumiho."
"Yeah, that's my name. So what?"
Now able to move more freely by treating her tails like clothing, she confidently leans her face toward me as if she had never been in trouble at all. Her ruby-red eyes, the twitching ears, and the swaying tails are clearly not some costume.
"...Ah."
"Ah?"
"...You're beautiful."
"...?"
Flustered by her face so close to mine, I blurt out the first thought that comes to mind without thinking.
"Pfft...! Hup, pfft-hahaha..."
The naked clown mask beside us starts writhing with laughter, finally drawing her attention away from me.
"You're beautiful. Snrk... hup, hic... khuhuhuh..."
My face burns as the team leader mimics my dazed tone and bursts into laughter again.
"You think you have time to laugh like that?"
Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle...!
The field team leader plops back down and spins the roulette with an expression that already screams victory. The black underwear set lying right next to her is far too distracting—especially since it's close enough to reach with one hand. And the devil in my head keeps whispering for me to just do what I want, making me break into a cold sweat trying to resist.
Click-click-click-click... Click... Clack.
"Very well. Since you've gone this far, I have no choice but to acknowledge it. Ask your question."
The roulette, as if on cue, points at the team leader. Now it's time for the final question that will make her remove the mask.
I can't let this chance slip. The field team leader asks the question she must have prepared in advance.
"You. What the hell are you?"
It's the same question I've been wanting to ask. Now the team leader has no choice but to either confess her identity or remove the mask and reveal both her face and naked body. She had been provoking the field team leader and dragging out this precarious game to inflict an even deeper sense of defeat and regret, but the unexpected turn has backed her into a corner.
"...I'm the management team leader at the Eunrang Art Museum. My codename is Joker."
"Stop messing around. You're not human, are you?"
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because no mere human could ever beat me."
It's a statement that hurts to hear. ...Not that I can deny it.
"The roulette too... You stole my physical abilities like last time, didn't you?"
"You used your power first."
"No, I carefully spun the roulette according to my pure physical ability so that you'd land on it. You cowardly used your 'ability' to steal my physical abilities and shamelessly copied me."
What's the difference? And is it even possible to deliberately spin the roulette so someone specific lands on it?
"...Hmm, I can't argue with that. You're right. I am a cowardly and shameless person."
"If you know, then strip."
...There it is again. "If you know, then strip." Just imagining hearing those words directed at me makes me dizzy.
"Haa... I guess I have no choice."
"?!"
With a small sigh, the team leader slowly brings one hand to her mask. Even if she doesn't want to lose, surely she wouldn't... The team leader is currently wearing nothing. If she removes the mask like this, the situation will immediately cross into dangerous territory.
Click.
But seeing her now gripping the mask with her hand, I can't stop my heart from pounding. I've always been curious about what's behind that mask... her face. All I know about her is that she's surprisingly a woman despite her shameless jokes and twisted pranks. And it seems the field team leader doesn't know any more than I do—she can't take her eyes off the mask either.
If this continues, the field team leader will have nothing left to remove after the next question.
"Have you finally gone crazy? You're really going to take it off...?"
"..."
An unexpected tension fills the living room. Everyone except Yerin, who is asleep leaning against me, holds their breath and waits for her to remove the mask. Then the team leader's other hand rises as well...
Clap.
"...?"
Clap clap clap clap clap...
"..??"
"...??"
Just when it seemed she would remove the mask, she slowly brings both hands in front of her face and starts clapping instead. Both the field team leader and I stare at her blankly, wondering what on earth she's doing.
"I admit defeat. Even so, I can't show such an embarrassing sight in front of Woong."
"What...? You're giving up that easily?"
She had asked if the team leader had gone mad earlier, and now she's asking why she's giving up so easily. Of course, part of her must have hoped the team leader wouldn't remove the mask and win, but now that the moment has passed without it happening, the field team leader looks deflated. The one who can't accept the team leader's declaration of defeat the most is probably her. She had stripped down to her underwear, even grown animal ears and tails, and refused to give up until the very end—only for her opponent to say...
"Ah, since the game is over, please put your clothes back on quickly. I know Nine Tail is confident in her figure, but walking around completely exposed like that must be embarrassing, right?"
"What... Ah, no..."
She's right. We had been so caught up in the game of removing clothes one by one that our sense of shame had dulled, but even just being in underwear is already quite revealing. And now, on top of the hand-bra and that tail lingerie no one has ever seen before... it's even more embarrassing. This is the result of focusing only on the game and constantly raising the line of what was acceptable.
"Congratulations on winning the game. Wow~ clap clap clap."
The field team leader, seeing the team leader making clapping sounds with her mouth, looks stunned and stares blankly at the floor. Now that the game is over, has her overheated head finally cooled down? Winning a game like this only gives you the upper hand in a war of words. There was no need to go this far. She now seems to realize just how much she sacrificed for that small advantage.
Meanwhile, the team leader...? She lost nothing. Aside from throwing those dilemma-filled gifts at me, she didn't even show her bare skin embarrassingly—let alone her underwear. The team leader, leisurely putting her clothes back on, still looks like a sturdy man identical to me. Ah, the boxer briefs... she's not wearing them?
Having lost my words in more ways than one, I blankly lift the bundle of dilemmas in my hands. She extends her palm toward me as if to receive something and says it's mine now.
"..."
"Come on, Miss Seo Yerin, stop acting spoiled with Woong and get up now."
"..."
"Since I lost, as promised, I'll change the business trip with the president to Woong instead... Miss Seo Yerin?"
Wait, that business trip change she mentioned... was it about me all along? Then the team leader should have been the one asking Yerin to switch in the first place. She made it happen by stepping forward herself...?
Press...
"Miss Seo Yerin? Hmm... Was she exposed for too long?"
While I was marveling at this meticulous and underhanded plan, the team leader slips away from me. I look up with a puzzled expression.
"...Woong, I'm sorry. Please take care of Miss Seo Yerin. I'll be going now."
"...?"
What does she mean? And she seems to be speaking a bit more hurriedly than usual.
"..."
The field team leader is already wearing her coat. Following the team leader who left as if fleeing, the field team leader silently closes the front door and departs. Her retreating figure somehow looks drained of energy.
Both of them burned with passion, and now that the game is over, all that's left is to dress Yerin and send her home... or so I thought, when—
Thud...!
"Ah?"
I was far too slow to realize that something had gone terribly wrong.