The Mascot Costume
A young man stood in front of the Seonhwa Community Center.
Soft-featured and mild-looking, he was Ko Sung-yoon, the mascot-costume part-timer from Seonhwa Animal Cafe.
A bundle larger than his own torso hung from his back.
"Hoo…."
He drew a slow breath, in and out, several times, then stepped forward. Those decisive feet carried real resolve.
And yet—
Clunk!
The bundle snagged on the glass door that had only been opened halfway.
Ko Sung-yoon's face went red. Hardly anyone was watching, but his heart still raced.
He mashed the bundle down any which way to kill the bulk and squeezed through. Then he hopped into the elevator right by the entrance and jabbed the close button several times.
Only after the doors shut completely did he press the button for the fourth floor, where the Dongdae was.
A sigh of complaint leaked out of him.
"Seriously, why would it catch on that…."
He looked down at the bundle he had so carelessly crushed. It was slowly swelling back to its original size.
Was he unlucky for snagging the door, or lucky for catching the elevator right away? Ko Sung-yoon couldn't decide.
The reason he had come looking for this Dongdae was much the same.
Ding!
The elevator reached the fourth floor almost at once and opened.
"……?"
And Ko Sung-yoon saw him.
A suspicious figure pressed his ear flat against the door, as if trying to eavesdrop on whatever was happening inside the Dongdae.
There was only one thing that didn't make sense.
"…What are you doing, Yeon-i hyung?"
The suspicious figure was a member of the Dongdae itself.
Choi Yeon quietly put a finger to his lips for silence, without taking his ear off the door.
Ko Sung-yoon padded over on soft feet. Only after he crouched down beside him did Choi Yeon whisper.
"…I'm gauging the Chief's mood right now."
"Why are you gauging that?"
"Hmm…. Because I enjoyed a French-style lunch?"
"French… style…?"
Ko Sung-yoon's head tilted.
Did that mean he'd eaten French food? He was allowed to eat, wasn't he? What did that have to do with the Chief's mood?
Questions rose and sank in succession until, all at once, understanding hit him. He checked the smartwatch on his wrist. The four digits on the screen read 14:52.
Only then did Ko Sung-yoon grasp the exact meaning of "French-style lunch."
"Yeon-i hyung. What time does the Dongdae lunch break start?"
"One o'clock."
"Whew, that's a relief at least…."
"What is?"
"If it had started at twelve, I really would have been disappointed in you."
With that, Ko Sung-yoon stood up.
Both of them were late, but there was a vast difference between one hour fifty-two minutes and two hours fifty-two. A massive difference between whether you were sincerely disappointed or not.
Ko Sung-yoon seized the Dongdae doorknob. Choi Yeon's mouth fell open.
"Sung-yoon, wait a second…!"
"Wait for what?!"
Bang!
The door swung open, revealing two middle-aged men: Dongdae Chief Kim Jaesang and Choi Heeseok.
Of the two, the one who snagged both Choi Yeon's and Ko Sung-yoon's attention was Chief Kim Jaesang, arms crossed and eyes blazing blue.
His flushed-red forehead made his present mood perfectly clear.
"Choi Yeon."
The Chief's voice rumbled like a beast.
"Go on, make your excuse. I'll hear it out."
"I ran into Sung-yoon on my way back from lunch. He asked for a consultation, so I brought him along."
"That so?"
"Yes."
Ko Sung-yoon was honestly impressed.
Choi Yeon's lie was clean, light, and sounded thoroughly real. He almost thought it was believable enough.
Chief Kim Jaesang looked at Choi Yeon and smiled sweetly. For things to go the way Ko Sung-yoon expected, the Chief would have had to hear that excuse fewer times than he already had—and he had heard it more than enough to be thoroughly sick of it.
"Well, I heard your excuse. Sounds plenty plausible."
"Right?"
"Hoo…. You and me later…."
Chief Kim Jaesang rubbed his forehead. He seemed to be holding back the urge to explode. If no one else had been watching, he would have let his temper run free.
He turned to Ko Sung-yoon.
"That's right, isn't it? The young man in the mascot costume who got dragged into that instant dungeon. Name was Ko Sung-yoon, was it?"
"Ah, yes! That's me."
"Good to see you. So, what's the matter? You're not here to file a complaint because you didn't like how things went back then, are you?"
"What? Of course not! Nothing like that!"
Ko Sung-yoon waved both hands in frantic denial.
Knowing it was a joke, both men wore smiles.
Then Ko Sung-yoon spoke in a serious voice.
"I came for a consultation. And I also wanted to ask a favor."
"A favor and a consultation…. So it really was a consultation. Hmm. Anyone in particular you had in mind coming over here?"
"Uh, I…."
Ko Sung-yoon's gaze swung toward Choi Yeon.
At the look that clearly wanted Choi Yeon as his counselor, Chief Kim Jaesang was badly rattled. He never expected the kid to pick the man he'd just watched weasel around.
If he'd only seen the performance a moment ago, Ko Sung-yoon wouldn't have chosen him either.
But the way Choi Yeon had looked during the instant dungeon had been seared in. It stuck like the sound of a heartbeat that refused to fade.
Chief Kim Jaesang casually slung an arm around Choi Yeon's shoulders and whispered so low it wouldn't carry.
"Choi Yeon. You can handle this, right?"
"Honestly, I don't have much confidence. Counseling? Me?"
"I'm worried too, but he picked you. You gonna coldly turn him down?"
"……."
"You gotta do it, don't you?"
"I guess I do…."
"Good. If you really can't manage, call me. I'll be listening in on the counseling. Got it?"
"Chief."
"Not now, you brat."
After a short glare at Choi Yeon, Chief Kim Jaesang stepped aside.
The bright smile he turned on Ko Sung-yoon betrayed none of the worry underneath.
"Our Yeon here will take good care of the counseling. You can do it over there."
"Ah, yes!"
Choi Yeon led the cheerfully answering Ko Sung-yoon over to a corner table. The usual snack-and-dessert spot had just become a tiny counseling office.
Pulling a health juice pouch from his coat, Choi Yeon eyed the bundle Ko Sung-yoon had set down.
What's that bundle about?
He muttered the question to himself as he held out the juice.
"Well then… shall we talk? What did you want to consult about?"
Choi Yeon's voice sounded awkward, as if he were wearing clothes that didn't fit.
Rustle, rustle… Ko Sung-yoon fiddled with the health juice pouch in his hands, then finally opened his mouth in hesitant fits and starts.
"Well… I, uh, I got a skill."
"Oh. I see."
Choi Yeon answered in a flat tone with no rise or fall.
If Ko Sung-yoon had been a hunter, he would have congratulated him pure and simple. Any skill was better than none.
But Ko Sung-yoon was a civilian.
For someone who wasn't a hunter, a skill often turned into an unmanageable headache.
Depending on the type, the world you lived in could change completely.
Hadn't a tattoo artist just three days ago found his entire world rewritten by a skill?
"Sung-yoon, can you tell me what kind of skill it is?"
"Of course. But, um…."
Ko Sung-yoon hemmed and hawed.
Does he not want to say? Then he doesn't have to.
Choi Yeon was about to say as much when Ko Sung-yoon spoke first.
"It's just… a little, no, a really weird skill…."
"Weird?"
"Yes…."
"It's fine. There are so many kinds of skills in the world. Honestly, if it's just weird, that's a blessing. Better than a dangerous one, right?"
"Umm…."
A groan like a sick moan escaped Ko Sung-yoon.
What is it, if you react like that it sounds dangerous.
Into Choi Yeon's startled ears came,
"It was this morning…."
Ko Sung-yoon's explanation, hesitant and faltering.
The storeroom at Seonhwa Animal Cafe doubled as a changing room.
Ko Sung-yoon passed the dog, cat, and bear mascot costumes and stopped in front of the rabbit.
The rabbit that had gotten filthy rolling around in the instant dungeon had been left at the neighborhood mender's and come back pristine. It even smelled soft and sun-warmed, like bedding aired out in spring light.
"Whoa, it's so clean I almost feel bad putting it on…?"
Despite the words, Ko Sung-yoon picked up the rabbit mascot costume. A bright, beaming smile spread across his face.
It was only a costume, but after tumbling through an instant dungeon together, he felt something like camaraderie. A sense that they would keep going side by side from here on.
He stepped into the legs, then the arms. The motion, repeated dozens of times, was practiced and smooth.
And yet—
"Huh…?"
The feeling of wearing it was anything but ordinary.
Because it had been mended?
The costume fit his body perfectly.
The pleasure of it was like slipping into tailored clothes; a smile rose to his lips of its own accord.
Then Ko Sung-yoon pulled on the rabbit head.
Click.
Something locked into place. A sound like pieces meshing and connecting.
Did the storeroom door open?
The question that rose naturally was swept aside by a string of words that appeared inside his head.
E-Rank — Animal Mascot Costume Mimicry
When wearing a cute animal mascot costume, you can borrow that animal's abilities.
Currently Registered Costume — E-Rank Rabbit Mascot Costume
"……?"
What the hell is this?
The pointed rabbit ears twitched.
"…Animal Mascot Costume Mimicry?"
"Yes."
That really is a weird skill.
Choi Yeon swallowed the urge to say so out loud and smiled gently instead.
Borrowing the abilities of whatever animal mascot costume you wore—he had never heard of a skill like that in his life.
"…You said the rabbit mascot costume is registered, right?"
"Yes."
"So, did your jumping power get better?"
"That's right. I tried jumping just in case and smashed the storeroom light. Crash…."
Ko Sung-yoon muttered weakly.
His head hung low; he was probably replaying the moment he broke the light. The guilty feeling toward the cafe owner, Kwak Hye-won, came through clearly.
Choi Yeon nodded once. He had a fair idea of what he could do for him.
"So you want help with skill control."
"Yes. I was going to ask for that too."
"That… too?"
"What I really want to ask for is something else…. Actually…."
Ko Sung-yoon let the sentence trail off and worked his lips.
His fidgeting fingers kept tormenting the health juice pouch for a long stretch. The words he wanted to say snagged in his mouth and wouldn't come out.
Choi Yeon was starting to get impatient, but he held still and waited.
However unsuitable he might be as a counselor, he wasn't so stupid as to rush an answer in a situation like this.
And it absolutely was not because the longer the answer took, the more time he had to keep slacking.
"…I want to become a hunter."
Ko Sung-yoon said it quietly.
Resolve was written on his careful face. The fingers that had been bullying the juice pouch stopped.
"You want to become a hunter?"
"Yes."
"Hmm…."
Choi Yeon let out a long breath through his nose and folded his arms. He sank into thought for a moment.
Plenty of people wanted to become hunters after gaining a skill. Without one, who knew—but with a skill, they figured they could easily grab wealth and fame.
Those were the ones who died first. In dungeons, it was a common story.
But….
"……."
"……."
From Ko Sung-yoon, he felt none of that giddy vanity.
The young man meeting his eyes straight on simply stood at a threshold—careful, as if he had already made a quiet vow.
There didn't seem to be any need to warn him separately about a hunter's darker sides.
Choi Yeon smiled. That was a relief.
"…First, how about we run a test."
"A test?"
"I think we should figure out whether you have the potential to become a hunter or not, then move on to the next conversation."
"Ah, that makes sense too! Wanting it doesn't mean you can just become one…!"
Ko Sung-yoon's face flushed a little.
He had been so busy bracing himself to become a hunter that he clearly hadn't considered the possibility he might not be able to.
Choi Yeon left the embarrassed Ko Sung-yoon behind and looked toward Chief Kim Jaesang.
"Chief. I'm going to take a trip down to the basement training room."
"Yeah, go on. Head on down."
A quick wave of the hand.
Chief Kim Jaesang gave permission at once. True to what he'd said earlier, he had been listening to the counseling, so he didn't ask for a separate reason.
He did add a warning, though.
"Don't take too long."
"Who knows. Is counseling something I can control?"
"You little…."
A look full of displeasure flew his way, but Choi Yeon stood firm.
This was strictly part of the job; whether the counseling wrapped up quickly or not depended on Ko Sung-yoon.
He stretched a grin across his face, then turned back to Ko Sung-yoon, who was fussily gathering up the bundle at his feet.
"Shall we go, then, Sung-yoon?"
"Yes!"
Ko Sung-yoon followed after Choi Yeon as he walked away.