Arcana Online

When I woke up, a loud alarm was blaring.

I’d gotten out of bed feeling mostly fine, I guess...?

After switching off the alarm and staring blankly into space for a while, I took care of my hunger with a quick bite, took my medicine, and logged into the game.

The moment I entered and opened my eyes, a bear had me in its arms, and Yongyong was curled up against my chest.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Kkyu-ung!”

“Kraaaang!”

I handed one Magic Stone each to Yongyong and the bear, then finished packing up my things. After climbing onto the bear’s back, we set off, slowly at first, the bear deliberately matching its pace to mine.

The bear ran with all the consideration in the world for me.

“Feels a little easier to ride now?”

“Kraaaang!”

“What, are you saying you’re a model taxi now and want to charge extra?”

“Krahahaaa!”

The bear laughed as it ran, as if that were a joke.

But somehow I had a feeling it was serious.

Was it trying to sneak in a higher fare?

I’d never seen a bear this shameless in my life.

After running for quite a while, the bear gradually slowed and came to a stop.

In the distance, I could see a village.

“Kraaaang!”

“Thanks.”

When I handed over another Magic Stone, it bit down on it and vanished with it, which meant it wasn’t eating it right away?

The Magic Stones it always took as taxi fare would disappear when it bit them.

Maybe I should ask it about that later.

As I headed toward the village, I caught the eye of a dwarf standing guard.

“What brings a little miss like you to our village?”

“I came to buy a staff! Here’s my recommendation letter.”

When I showed the guard the letter, he nodded and told me that if I went inside the village and kept to the right, I’d find the place.

After thanking him, I entered the village, and an unfamiliar scene spread out before me.

There were countless smithies lined up everywhere, and all sorts of different races were visible among them.

Following the road to the right in search of Silver Blacksmith, I soon spotted a huge sign in the distance.

[Silver Blacksmith]

The second cheapest blacksmith in the village!!

The owner’s completely insane!!!

It looked exactly like those ridiculous ads on mobile carrier banners, and for a second I wondered if I was imagining things.

When I went inside the shop, an elderly dwarf welcomed me.

“Welcome! Hmm? What brings a little miss like you here?”

“I came to buy a staff! Here’s my recommendation letter!”

“Oh? A recommendation letter, is it?”

The dwarf took the letter from me, and without even reading it, tore it to pieces.

Then he gestured for me to follow him.

“There’s only one person in this world who’d send a letter like that. My disciple.”

“Your disciple!?”

He looked about the same age as the dwarf, so the idea that they were master and student was hard to wrap my head around.

Following him deeper inside, I saw all kinds of weapons hanging from the walls. Among them, the ones that looked especially valuable were sealed away in glass cases.

“Pick whichever staff you like.”

“Okay!”

I looked over the staffs on the wall and inside the cases one by one, but nothing really caught my eye.

Then, rummaging through a barrel crammed full of staffs in one corner, I spotted something unusual.

It was an old stick with a small bell attached to it.

“??? Bell”

It looked like some kind of ritual tool.

Before I knew it, my hand had reached for it.

“I’ll take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this one.”

“Hmm? What is that supposed to be?”

When I looked at the dwarf in confusion, he said he had no idea either and told me to just take it if I wanted it.

“Really!? Thank you!”

“Sure, sure. If you’re thankful, then do a little advertising for our blacksmith shop.”

“I definitely will!”

After leaving the shop, I gave the newly purchased stick a shake.

“Ding. Ding.”

The sound was so pleasant that I kept shaking it as I walked down the street, until a message window floated up before my eyes.

With a bright flash of light, the old stick I’d just been holding turned pure white, and the sound of the bell changed as well.

“Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling.”

The bell rang clear and beautiful.

I felt like I’d hit the jackpot, and while I was wandering around the village in high spirits, I heard a voice from somewhere.

Following the sound, I went down a dark alley and found a tiny fox collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

Its whole body was covered in ugly blue bruises, and it was bleeding out and dying.

I hurriedly pulled a potion from my inventory and poured it over the fox. Its wounds healed, but it still didn’t come to.

Then I took out a Magic Stone, brought it over, and held it near the fox. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠With a bright flash, it was absorbed into the fox.

Only then did the fox open its eyes, look at me, and struggle weakly to its feet.

“Are you okay, little fox!?”

“Kyaang!”

After checking its own condition, it looked at me, bowed its head, and then ran off somewhere.

I stood up, brushed the dust off myself, and stared after the direction the fox had gone.

I’d already saved two foxes—what on earth was going on?

Unease rose in my chest, but I pushed the thought away with a shrug and headed back out onto the road.

After finishing my little tour of the village, I left town and kept walking down the road, until I spotted the bear taxi charging toward me from far away.

“Here! Over here!”

“Kraaaang!”

It came to a stop in front of me, and somehow it looked even bigger than before.

How long had we been apart, and this thing had already put on weight?

“Bear. You got fat?”

“Kraaaang!?”

“It’s fine. You can just diet.”

“Kraang!”

Grumbling all the while, it let me climb on, then gradually picked up speed.

No—its speed shot up.

“W-wait a second, Bear!? Slow down!”

“Kraang!”

“Drive safely! I said drive safely!”

*

*

*

Long, long ago, there had been a village where the Eunho Tribe lived.

The foxes of the peace-loving Eunho Tribe dreamed of ascending to become immortals.

Through cultivation, they could gain one tail every hundred years, and if they obtained nine tails, they could ascend.

Then, one day, a goblin came to the village while the foxes were living their day-to-day lives of training.

A gang of goblins threatened them, demanding that they hand over the village.

When the foxes refused, the goblins launched a surprise attack at dawn and robbed them of their home in a single day.

The only blessing was that none of the foxes lost their lives, but everything they’d worked for had been reduced to ashes.

The tails they had earned through cultivation had all been spent to protect the tribe, so they would have to start training from the beginning again.

As the tribe was scattered to the winds, wandering with nowhere to go, they were attacked by monsters and barely managed to escape with injuries. But the wounds were too severe, and while they hid in a human village and waited for death in a filthy back alley, a human girl saved me.

The Magic Stone she used to save me produced an unexpected result.

The one tail I had left transformed into nine, and the chance to ascend finally came.

In that moment, I hesitated.

Was ascending like this truly the right choice?

The answer didn’t take long.

When I returned to the village that had been stolen from us, something strange had happened.

The goblins were nowhere to be seen, and there was a fox with nine tails, just like me.

The moment I approached, it turned its head and looked at me.

“Big sister?”

“Rang-a.”

My twin younger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sister had become a nine-tailed fox.

Her shock was just as great as mine.

She was staring at my tail.

“Did you meet a benefactor?”

“Yes. She saved me when I was dying in the forest and gave me strength.”

While we were still trying to decide what to do next, my sister spoke up.

“Why don’t we ask her? Ask her to share that strength with the rest of our tribe, just like she did for us.”

“Rang-a. If you receive something, you should give something in return. What could we possibly offer our benefactor?”

“A human life only lasts a hundred years at most, right? Let’s serve her for a hundred years.”

Rather than spend centuries training, serving a human for a hundred years didn’t sound bad at all.

If our interests aligned, everything would move along smoothly.

“I’ll go meet our benefactor myself.”

“You’re not exactly good with words, are you? I’ll go.”

When my sister tried to climb onto my head now that she had tails, I rewarded her with a flick to the forehead, and only then did she quiet down.

No, not quiet down—she was glaring at me.

“Want another one?”

“I oppose violence!”

We compromised on going to meet the benefactor together, and then we began calling the tribe back to the village.

By joining our strength and sending out a signal that only our tribe could hear, it wasn’t long before many of them had returned.

The tribe stared at us with stunned eyes.

After we explained what had happened and what we planned to do from here on, the entire tribe agreed.

Once the discussion was over, my sister and I set out together as representatives of the tribe.

To meet our benefactor.

To thank her properly.