#28 Can I Ask a Favor?
It was a dream. Definitely a dream. His entire body was succumbing to the clutches of sleep, as if being dragged into an endlessly deep darkness. An eternal void seemed to envelop him, but then it lifted, and his vision brightened.
My dream? Kang-ho shook his head. This wasn't his dream. He was peeking into someone else's.
A massive full-length mirror stood in the dream world. The figure reflected in it—a white fox—stared at itself in a daze. Surrounding it were countless such mirrors.
Suddenly.
Hop! The fox flipped in midair. A vortex swirled in one of the mirrors, conjuring a bizarre landscape. What it showed was a vast continent.
Hop! Another flip. A vortex raged in the opposite mirror, revealing the scenery of Earth.
Hop! Again. A distant mirror birthed yet another world.
The fox kept hopping relentlessly before finally stopping still, as if entranced. It stood frozen.
Whine—
Squeak—
. . .
Kang-ho opened his eyes. Seol-a was still lost in dreamland beside him.
“......”
He'd just had a strange dream. A fox's dream. It felt like he'd glimpsed the one sleeping right in front of him.
Why?
This had never happened before. Not even when raising Seolhwa back in the day.
Kang-ho gazed intently at the slumbering Seol-a. She slept so peacefully, it was almost enviable. Buried in her brown sweater, her plump belly exposed, she breathed softly—rising and falling rhythmically. Her round, moist nose twitched as she wriggled, then buried her head back into her tail and dozed off soundly.
Kang-ho slowly rose from the bed.
Seol-a...
There was something special about her. Not just because she was a rare Silver White Fang subspecies. It felt like a deeper emotional bond, a sharing of feelings.
What kind of dream was that?
Yawning amid his scattered thoughts, he started the morning with a cup of coffee as always. He boiled water in the kettle and turned on his smartphone.
Modern conveniences were terrifying. You could live without them, but once hooked, quitting was impossible.
He brewed a cup, stepped outside, and was greeted by a surreal sight: two skeleton raccoons sweeping the front yard with tiny brooms.
Theo had resealed his mana hole, but the familiars he'd already created were still usable, infused with demonic energy during their making.
The skeletons spotted Kang-ho, saluted crisply, and kept sweeping. A sight he'd never quite get used to.
Theo was peering into the chicken coop ahead.
“What're you doing?”
Theo pointed inside at Kang-ho's words.
[Checking for eggs.]
“Those chicks are too young to lay yet.”
[I see. No wonder it's all chicks. Are they for eating?]
Cluck cluck cluck! The two thunderbird chicks squawked in alarm at Theo.
“You eat them in the Demon Realm?”
[I did when I was young.]
“No need here.”
Kang-ho yawned and sipped his coffee.
[What's that? Why drink sludge?]
“It's called coffee.”
Kang-ho went back inside, brewed another cup, and handed it to Theo. The necromancer sipped curiously, then grimaced.
[Poison?]
“It's the bitterness you go for.”
Theo kept sipping and scowling. It had been over a week since they'd picked him up.
Suddenly, Theo eyed Kang-ho's smartphone.
[What's that? You've been fiddling with it... Some artifact?]
“Hm?”
Kang-ho realized he hadn't used it much in front of Theo. He showed it over—the necromancer's eyes bulged.
Kang-ho had YouTube open. The tiny device playing video seemed like a massive shock.
[Heavens... such a divine relic...]
Theo plopped down in awe.
“......”
Kang-ho blinked, closed YouTube, and opened the camera.
Click!
Showing the photo made Theo nearly faint again.
[M-my face... it's right there?]
“......”
A video next had him on the verge of foaming at the mouth. The pitiful Rank 4 demon lord gaped in shock, hand over his mouth.
[Such a convenient treasure...!]
No wonder—first time seeing a smartphone, that reaction was normal.
Kang-ho stared at him. He didn't know Theo well yet, but he didn't seem as vicious as other demons. Still, no letting guard down. Anything using demonic energy warranted caution.
For now.
He eyed Theo and spoke.
“I...”
[Uh, yeah...]
Theo replied meekly.
“I could give you one of these treasures.”
[Wha... really?]
“For real.”
[Y-you're being generous? With something this precious?]
“Yeah. So what'll you give me?”
[Hmm... what to offer? This is big...]
Theo fidgeted wildly. Kang-ho chuckled despite himself.
Whine—
Soon, Seol-a woke.
'Hungry.'
Her whiny hunger hit his mind clearly.
Kang-ho glanced at Theo, who flinched.
[Here we go again?]
“Yeah.”
* * *
Seol-a devoured demonic energy again today. Theo's thick reserves were finally depleted. All his demonic energy had transformed into pure mana.
[This feels so weird.]
“How so?”
[Like my head's clearer? Demonic energy's sticky. This is refreshing.]
Burp— Seol-a belched and dropped from his wrist. Her body was puffed up full today. Frequent demonic feasts spurred rapid growth.
Seol-a was growing by leaps and bounds. But demonic growth had limits.
“Hmm...”
Was this the cap? She still fit in his arms, head poking out.
“What's this compared to your prime?”
Theo shrugged.
[Maybe 1/10th. Baal nearly sucked me dry to a mummy, but I scraped by.]
1/10th Theo matched an S-rank Awakener here. Full power? Insane.
“In the Demon Realm, how many couldn't you beat?”
[They avoid me.]
“Why?”
[Too tiring fighting my whole familiar army. Full tilt? About five I can't win against.]
Strong ones existed. Kang-ho pondered those unknowns from the Demon Realm, then shook his head.
Watch and wait.
With demonic energy gone and mana full, observe what happened next. Amid his thoughts—
Burp— Seol-a finally digested her fill with a belch.
Kang-ho patted her back. Theo's energy, now pure mana, seeped into her.
Last demonic growth spurt?
Whoosh—!
Light burst from Seol-a's body. But not the usual growth.
Stretch! Light gathered near her tail.
Sprout! Another tail emerged.
“Huh?”
[Eh?]
Theo and Kang-ho stared blankly at Seol-a.
Now two tails. One silver as before, the new one faintly black.
Kang-ho activated Beast Master vision.
Stats unchanged. Skills must've updated.
Expanding skills revealed a new one.
Second Tail
This beast has absorbed sufficient demonic energy to grow a second tail. Special abilities activate when conditions are met.
Special ability. Kang-ho recalled the dream. Seol-a's dream. Too perfect to be coincidence.
Suddenly, Johanna's old words surfaced.
—It had five tails!
The Silver White Fang from Toon World had five.
“Hmm......”
Kang-ho watched Seol-a inspect her new tail in disbelief.
. . . . . .
BIG 3, Mercenary Guild Master Im Cheol-bae wore a grumpy scowl all morning, fed up with the world.
“What? Another ranker missing?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Who this time?”
“Hound.”
Hound—Korea Rank 30. The team leader reporting looked equally grim; he was Mercenary's raid deputy.
“Where?”
“Near Daegu.”
“Again?”
“Yes......”
“This is insane.”
Im Cheol-bae rubbed his temple. Losing rankers was catastrophic.
Already two.
Second in dispute zones for Mercenary alone. Hound was prime talent.
Once coincidence... but repeating? Inevitable.
He lit a cigar, nodded, and swigged whiskey—half the bottle gone.
“Pull all forces from dispute zones.”
“Yes.”
The team leader bowed and left.
Something was there. Definitely in the zones.
Im Cheol-bae stood, hesitated by his phone. Long pause. Finally, he picked it up.
Ring— Ring—
Click—
[Hello.]
“Kang-ho.”
[Yeah.]
A faint 'Eek— long-distance comm—' from the other end made him tilt his head.
Then:
“Can I ask a favor?”
A beat.
[Shoot.]