The Horrific Snails (2)
"Mmm… So it's around here?"
Having escaped a place whose atmosphere was so oppressive I felt it might punch through the mantle of the earth itself, I wandered around the area.
Well, I wasn't planning on doing anything in particular. I just wanted to shake off this lousy mood.
Still, I'd seen the future, so I supposed I ought to stay close by and wait it out. That's why I settled down on a nearby flower bed.
Whether by design or not, there happened to be a marble ledge just wide enough to sit on. So I sat down there and, just like before, tried to drape my tail around my waist—then crossed my arms instead.
"Hmph. Come to think of it, I'm actually furious."
Who touches someone else's tail without asking? Without permission, no less.
It's official—I have no interest in befriending children. Why on earth would anyone go pawing at my tail like they owned it?
Just look. Even my ears and tail are standing straight up in outrage.
As I sat there sulking and stewing, people once again began to gather around me. This time, however, a few reporters were sprinkled among them.
Glancing over, I saw them holding their cameras and delivering impassioned speeches. Judging by their expressions, they were clearly exaggerating for effect—but it was more than enough to pique my curiosity.
So, pretending not to care, I pricked up my ears.
"At this moment, Spoiler Fox has threatened the civilians present and has once again taken up residence here."
Ah. So they were trash-talking me.
Having eavesdropped for nothing, my already sour mood turned even sourer. I decided to simply ignore it and take a nap instead.
Coiling my rigid, bristling tail back around my waist, I let sleep claim me. Sleeping sitting up isn't exactly comfortable, but I did plenty of it back in my human days, so it wasn't much of a hardship.
And with that, I set off on a journey to the land of dreams.
Sweet dreams.
My name is Lee Ju-in, and I'm a rookie reporter!
Today, as usual, I was surfing the internet in search of an exclusive scoop when I got scolded… again. But hey, thanks to that, I stumbled onto some juicy information!
Word was that Spoiler Fox had escaped from a research lab! With people already posting eyewitness accounts all over the place, I had to move, and move fast.
And for that, what I needed right now was shamelessness! And speed!
"Manager! I'm, uh, stepping out for a bit!"
"Yeah, sure— hey! Where do you think you're going?!"
"Eek! Anyway, I'll be back!"
I could hear my manager belatedly processing my words and shouting after me, but nope, I didn't hear a thing!
Kicking the office door open behind me, I had only one thing on my mind: the scoop.
Light pouring down from the sky, bright enough to kill every living thing on the surface.
And enormous panes of glass reflecting that light, sharp enough to make your eyes water.
On top of that, colossal buildings whose purpose you couldn't tell—were they meant to block the wind, or funnel it faster?
That's right. A midsummer forest of skyscrapers—the heart of downtown. And here I was, wandering through it in a full business suit.
"Ugh… it's so hot."
I'd bolted out of the office to escape my manager, and it had landed me in an unexpected predicament. My current outfit: a suit. In other words, the single worst possible choice of clothing for a summer heatwave!
But I was already out here, and there was no way I was going back in now.
Going home to change would take far too long, and blowing money on a shopping run near the office was out of the question. That left exactly one option: slipping back into the office and grabbing the casual clothes I'd stashed in a corner. And that simply could not happen. The moment I set foot inside, my manager would kill me!
"Haah…. I really need to fix this habit of charging in without thinking things through."
Of course, I always say I'll fix it—fix it, fix it—and never actually intend to. Because honestly, if it weren't for this personality of mine, would I even be out here right now?
So until I landed the exclusive of a lifetime with Spoiler Fox, there was no going back.
"Speaking of which… where is Spoiler Fox?"
The last reported sighting had been somewhere near Cheongnyangni. I'd grabbed a taxi straight here, but there wasn't so much as a hair of that fox—or any other anomaly—to be seen.
"Ah, no, no, this can't be happening…!"
I couldn't even imagine the verbal flaying I'd receive if I went back empty-handed! Which meant that, come hell or high water, I had to find that scoop. The scoop!
Fueled by that one burning resolve, I prowled the sweltering jungle of buildings.
First, I circled the area to check whether the fox was hiding around any of the buildings. Nothing. So next, I started asking people.
"Excuse me! Have you, by any chance, seen Spoiler Fox around here?"
"Uh… no, can't say I have."
Tch. First person, strike one. I thanked them politely and moved straight on to the next passerby.
"Excuse me! Have you—"
"Not buying."
Oh. Oh no. They took me for a street vendor.
Excuse me? Where else would you find a street vendor this pretty?! I'm a reporter, thank you very much!
But the person was already gone, swallowed by the crowd, and it was only then that I took stock of my own mental state.
"Ugh, maybe I really do have heatstroke…"
The fact that I was having thoughts that weird probably meant I did. Thankfully, I hadn't actually blurted anything strange out loud, but I'd better be careful.
With that resolution, I went looking for my next interviewee. It turned out to be a kindly elderly gentleman, who answered me graciously.
"Have you happened to see Spoiler Fox anywhere?"
"Hm… you mean that fox-looking critter?"
"Yes, that's the one!"
"Ahh, go a couple blocks thataway. You'll probably find it. Though it's been a while since…"
"Thank you so much!"
I thanked the kind man and immediately broke into a run in the direction he'd pointed. People were giving me strange looks, but who cares!
This was the scoop! My reporter's instinct was telling me!
This time, I was going to milk an exclusive out of Spoiler Fox itself!
Swollen with expectation, I ran for several minutes until I finally reached my destination.
"This was definitely the spot he said…"
Granted, the fox might not be here anymore. But once again, my instinct was speaking to me. That anomaly was here, in this very place!
So I swept my gaze around the area—and spotted a crowd of people clustered together. Looking closer, I caught a glimpse of fox ears among them.
"Yes! There you are—"
The moment I spotted Spoiler Fox, I started to sprint toward it. But I never made it. Because at some point, giant snails had completely surrounded me!
"N-no way…!"
Disgusting. One look was enough to make me gag. And the reek of sewage hanging around them made it clear where they'd crawled up from.
The single most unbearable thing about them was their teeth. Snails have over twenty-five thousand of them, don't they?
Now scale that up to human size, and you get a horrifying array of saw-blade fangs on full display!
And those teeth were so sharp, so unnervingly sturdy, that a piece of someone's body was already caught between one of their mouths.
"Ah, ahh…"
I had to run.
I knew I had to—so why wouldn't my body move?
There was an anomaly standing right in front of me. Standing frozen while staring straight at it—did I have a death wish or something?
But then the creatures let out a grotesque sound, and even that thought evaporated. Pure terror flooded my heart, and my legs gave out beneath me.
Glrrrrrrk.
They were closing in, slowly. My fate would surely be the same as that of the owner of the arm dangling from their mouths.
I wouldn't even manage to land a single scoop. So much for a reporter's instinct—couldn't even sense this coming.
In the end, I screwed my eyes shut. Yet even after several tens of seconds, the agonizing pain I'd braced for never came.
When I cautiously cracked one eye open, the snails were quietly peering down at me.
At that sight, I squeezed my eyes shut again. But this time, the snails began to move too. Two or three of them seized me and started dragging me away.
"W-wait a second! Let go of me!"
I thrashed and kicked, but they showed no intention of releasing me. I squirmed with everything I had, struggling to break free—but what chance did an ordinary civilian have against them?
And so I was hauled away into their lair, deep in the sewers.
Hmm.
Right before my eyes, pudding and cotton candy and all manner of colorful treats were dancing and playing. Watching them, I naturally reached out my hand.
Then one of them, the cotton candy, drifted up to me and invited me to play. Naturally, I accepted.
And so, a foreign object called Spoiler Fox inserted itself into their midst. But it was a paradise that discriminated against no one.
I spun around and around with them, playing ganggangsullae in a great circle. After playing to my heart's content, I began to feel hungry. Sensing my condition, the snacks started to move, as if to fetch me some food.
But why would they need to bother? There were snacks right in front of me.
I grabbed the cotton candy and took a bite.
Nom.
Delicious!
The cotton candy was scrumptious—so scrumptious that I started eating it, piece by piece, until nothing remained.
At which point the other snacks, watching what I was doing, began shrieking and fleeing for their lives. And I began hunting them down, one by one.
It was the moment paradise turned to hell in an instant.
"Mmph… huh!"
Hmm. I think I just had a seriously bizarre dream.
Something about… snacks coming to life, playing with them, and then eating them… seriously, who even dreams stuff like that?
Feeling weird all over, I gave my head a vigorous shake. Then I rubbed at my eyes, checking whether I had any sleep gunk in them.
Hm. Nothing there.
"Hrrrgh…!"
I stretched my limbs out long and luxuriated in a full-body stretch. My tail and ears perked up too, fanning out and delivering a wave of pure bliss.
Ahhh… so refreshing.
Just as I was finishing my grooming ritual, the voices of the reporters reached my ears again. They're still here?
So I swayed my tail lazily and stared straight at them—and the people began to panic.
"I-it's awake! Spoiler Fox is—!"
Hm. This is fun.
As I giggled at their flustered faces, the color drained from them bit by bit. Who knew what horrors they were imagining, but watching them turn so pale made my earlier bad mood evaporate completely.
The sight of that reporter who'd been trash-talking me falling apart in confusion was especially delightful. And with my tail swishing back and forth in obvious good humor, need I say more?
So this time, I decided to walk right up close and tease them a little—but just then, a scream rang out from somewhere.
"Kyaaaaah! It's an anomaly!"
"S-snails?!"
At the sudden scream, every head turned in that direction. Then, paler than they'd been even moments ago while staring at me, the crowd began to run.
They shoved and trampled one another, clawing to survive. Babies sheltered in their parents' arms were safe, but the children without anyone to hold them wailed and wept.
In a word: utter chaos.
Watching all this, I sighed and rose to my feet. Then, with a few quick strokes of my tail and a smoothing of my fur, I finished the rest of my grooming.
"Ahem. Well then. It seems it's my time to step in."
I leapt lightly over the heads of the fleeing crowd. Bounding over the sea of people and landing on the far side, I beheld a disaster scene even worse than the one behind me.
Countless snails filled my vision.
Their enlarged bodies had earned them an extra spoonful of repulsiveness—heaped on top of the base recipe, they were genuinely revolting. And my reaction upon seeing the people fleeing from them went something like this:
"Wow."
What a mess.
It was, quite literally, a catastrophe.
My ears standing straight up in shock, I watched as people were devoured one after another.
"Haah. Well, nothing for it, I suppose."
I leapt once more, plunging straight into the thick of the snails.