The Terrible Snail (1)
Hm hm~.
I strolled through the institute, tail swaying behind me. The researchers kept jumping in surprise whenever they spotted me, but that was hardly important.
What mattered right now was one thing: escaping this institute!
I could see the researchers scurrying off to contact someone, but I let it slide. After all, there wasn't a single person in this place who could stop me~.
"Mm! The institute's as lively as ever today!"
Okay, fine — about half of that was because of me!
Anyway, with my tail swishing merrily as I walked, I found myself at the institute's front entrance before I knew it. The fact that no one had stopped me this far could only mean one thing: nobody here could stop me!
In other words — nobody stood a chance!
With a triumphant smile on my face, I kicked open the institute doors and strode out.
"Aaargh!! It escaped again!"
"How on earth does it keep getting out?!"
At that moment, the institute was in complete chaos — literally. Why? Because Spoiler Fox had broken out!
To be fair, everyone knew the fox escaped regularly, which is why it had been classified as only *half* impossible to contain. But this latest escape pushed the verdict all the way to fully impossible to contain!
Which was why I was now sitting in the conference room alongside Director Kim Sohyun and Deputy Director Amelia — yes, myself included.
"Um... excuse me, but why am I here...?"
"Ah, Han Jia, you're recognized as Spoiler Fox's designated caretaker."
"Oh, I see."
So she'd been summoned just because she visited the fox every day?! And in front of the two most powerful people in the entire institute, no less!
Well, it wasn't a bad thing per se — but if you asked her, a discussion about which snacks to give the fox sounded a lot better than a discussion about how to manage it.
Naturally, she kept that thought to herself. Say something like that in this room, and she'd definitely draw glares!
"Now then, first order of business — Spoiler Fox—"
"Just call it the fox! The name's too long."
"...Very well. Regarding the fox, let's analyze how it escaped."
Yes! Score one for me!
Having successfully changed the terminology, Jia allowed herself a secret little smile of victory. Then she threw herself into the meeting.
"First, the CCTV analysis suggests the fox used its ability."
"Yes. The fox possesses Future Sight, after all."
The fox had Future Sight. It was probably making use of that ability somehow, but no one had managed to figure out the exact mechanism yet.
"Haah. This is so frustrating. It does mumble something to itself, but neither people nor machines can make heads or tails of it."
Amelia pressed a hand to her forehead, muttering about headaches. Rumor had it she'd recently taken on management of several other anomalies as well — at this rate, she'd collapse from high blood pressure or something before long.
So before the Deputy Director keeled over, Jia offered her two cents.
"Shouldn't the priority be less *how* it escaped and more *how we contain it again*? We can't eliminate the root cause as things stand."
"Ah, that's true. There's no way to address the fundamental cause right now."
Phew — topic successfully changed! With that, the meeting turned to discussing how to recapture the fox.
"Han Jia? Any good ideas, by any chance? The fox escapes constantly, so as its caretaker, you probably know it best."
"Hmm..."
Jia mulled it over. Ways to lure the fox back. And quite a few came to mind.
Giving it a newly released video game. Offering it delicious snacks.
But none of those would work right now. Because the moment the fox set foot outside, it wouldn't come back until it achieved whatever goal it had set for itself!
Not that it ever stayed out *too* long — they'd confirmed it always returned within a week at the latest.
But what they needed now was to re-contain the fox. And the problem was that they had no way to do it.
"Han Jia?"
"Mm. Honestly? There's no method."
Jia nodded along with the Deputy Director's words and agreed. At that, Amelia pressed her hands to her head and let out a long sigh.
Watching her, Jia hesitated over whether to mention that the fox always came back on its own — and eventually did. Amelia's sigh only deepened.
"Haah. We already called the fox effectively impossible to contain, but this is..."
"Can't be helped, can it? Pretty much the entire country knows about it by now. It makes the news every single time."
"That's exactly the problem. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is for me, dealing with the reporters every time?"
Amelia looked truly worn to the bone. But what could anyone do? That was just the fox!
Our fox's whole identity was cuteness, after all!
Of course, saying that out loud would earn her at *minimum* a frosty stare, so she stayed quiet.
"Haah. For now, re-containment of the fox is postponed. I only pray it doesn't cause trouble somewhere out there."
With one more wrinkle added to the Deputy Director's forehead, the meeting moved on to the next agenda item.
...Wait, you're not sending me back out there, are you?
Munch munch. The sounds of my chewing echoed as I walked down the street. People's gazes gathered around me, which I blithely ignored — after all, there was nothing any of them could do about me.
So where was I, you ask?
Here is... honestly, I have no idea! I just wandered toward wherever the tall buildings and big crowds were, and before I knew it, here I was.
The outside world, after roughly three months away, was unchanged. The same people, the same buildings, and endless streams of vehicles.
Well, last time I'd come out it was spring, so everyone's clothing had gotten lighter since then. The atmosphere, on the other hand, had gone past gloomy and frozen over entirely.
"Hm... being an anomaly really is convenient and inconvenient at the same time."
People fear anomalies. Which was only natural — after all, anomalies had stolen their living space, and sometimes even their lives.
The news I'd watched before leaving had still been buzzing about an anomaly disaster, so that said it all.
Still, I figured I was a little different. Because I was cute!
Just look at these fluffy, cloud-soft ears and tail — and my face is adorable too! Yet the single fact that I'm classified as an anomaly made everyone shun me like this. It was enough to make a fox sad.
Though I suppose one upside was that nobody got in my way?
Anyway, tail swaying, I strolled along the street — people-watching, and occasionally stopping to eat wherever a delicious smell wafted by!
Of course, every human who crossed my path ran off in a panic, terrified out of their wits.
Nom.
"Mm! So *this* is tanghulu — it's delicious!"
The city, seen after three months, was full of strange new things. So scratch what I said about it being unchanged!
I had no idea how far I'd wandered, but one thing was clear: there were plenty of things I'd never encountered before. Especially this tanghulu!
Who on earth first thought to coat fresh fruit in hardened sugar? Every bite sent not just my tail but my ears fluttering, so the deliciousness was a given!
So I ducked into a tanghulu shop and picked out one skewer of every fruit they had. Fortunately, the owner was kind.
The moment I asked for tanghulu, they handed me one of each variety. Sure, their hands trembling like leaves made me feel a little bad — but that was no reason to stop me.
Nom.
"Mmm...!"
Delicious!
My ears fluttered busily as I devoured the candied fruit with gusto. That tasty little journey eventually carried me to a small park tucked into a corner of the city.
Well, "park" might be generous — more like a rest stop for passersby? Whatever it was, there happened to be a bench, which made it the perfect spot for someone who'd been wanting to sit down anyway.
"Whew. Nothing beats sitting down after all that walking."
The moment I sank onto the bench, comfort washed over me. If I just stretched out here, I could probably sleep like a log.
But this was a journey! So a brief rest, then onward.
Wrapping my tail around my waist and hugging it close, I finished off the remaining tanghulu. Then, with a precisely measured application of force, I flicked the trash across the square and banked it straight into the bin!
After that, I leaned back against the bench and savored a thoroughly relaxing break.
As I rested, I noticed people slowly beginning to gather around me. One by one, they were pulling out their phones — apparently planning to take pictures.
Not that I cared whether they snapped me or not. I was already a registered anomaly; what difference did a few photos make?
So I let them shoot and settled in to rest. If only that future hadn't suddenly flashed before my eyes.
"Hm... so an anomaly disaster is going to break out around here."
Every so often, the future forced itself upon me unbidden. Usually it happened when something threatened me — or when I was near a place where an anomaly disaster, even one that posed no danger to me personally, was about to occur.
And right now, it was clearly the latter.
Thanks to that glimpse, I also figured out where exactly I was. At some point, I had wandered all the way down to Cheongnyangni, in Dongdaemun District!
Wow! I'm amazing!
Ahem. Anyway, the future said a disaster would strike somewhere near here. So I decided to wait right here for it.
It sounded like it might be fun — and more than anything, this was the middle of a city. I could rescue some people while I was at it.
Not that anyone would appreciate it, of course.
"Hm. Maybe I should go on a little rampage after all... to boost my fame..."
I briefly entertained the idea of rampaging for publicity, but quickly tossed it far, far away. Running wild here would gain me absolutely nothing.
So I decided to just hug my fluffy tail instead.
And so, bathed in sunlight, I began nodding off.
"Ah — no! Don't!"
Hm? What now?
I'd been happily drifting toward sleep when someone's shout startled me awake. I cracked my eyes open, mildly annoyed.
My ears drooped to match my mood. Curious who dared interrupt my precious nap, I looked — and it was a child.
"Hm?"
Why would a kid come up to me?
I tilted my head in puzzlement, and the child made a strange face — the kind of expression one wears upon beholding an adorable living creature.
No way. Don't tell me — I'm an anomaly, and this kid came over just because I looked cute?
Is this for real? Where on earth are this child's parents and their parenting— ahem. Anyway, did the kid have no fear at all?
"Hey, kiddo. What brings you here?"
"U-uh, well, that is..."
The child looked away. When I lifted my head to see what was behind them, I found two people staring with expressions of utter despair.
Hm. Are those the parents?
Judging by those faces, they'd faint any second now. So I resolved to gently talk the kid into going back to them.
Or I would have — if the child hadn't suddenly grabbed my tail.
"Wow! It's so soft!"
"Hyahk!"
The terrible sensation shooting up through my tail!
I bolted away from the child instantly. Stunned by this wholly unexpected reaction, the kid froze in bewilderment.
"Grrr... why must you humans lose your minds the moment you touch a tail..."
I wrapped my tail even more tightly in my arms and glared at the child. The moment I leveled a faint trace of killing intent at them, the kid seemed to finally grasp what they'd done wrong and bolted toward their parents.
And then the atmosphere of the whole scene plummeted to rock bottom. Naturally.
No matter how intelligent I might be, I was still an anomaly. And they had just angered one. In the normal course of things, everyone gathered here would be dead.
But this body had once been human.
So I barely managed to rein in my emotions and decided to leave the place. There was nothing to gain by lingering.
I moved on to another spot, leaving the crowd frozen exactly where they stood.
For once, even my ears and tail stayed perfectly still.