Chapter 4: Fox monster

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A monster has entered the house.

It claims to be my son.

Han Jeong-ho couldn’t bring himself to deny it.

Because, after the first year of desperately searching for his son, his wife, who had lived like a ghost for nearly 7 years, was standing in the kitchen again.

Because that face, which had lost all will to live, was now smiling brightly, filled with vitality and energy.

Even if this monster’s happy dream was a trap to devour the family, he couldn’t strike it down.

If given a choice between endless painful life and death in happiness, what would be the right answer?

It varies by person, but Han Jeong-ho and his family had suffered too long to choose the former.

Maybe it was time for some peace.

So, he decided to pretend to believe whatever this fox said.

Perhaps even this thought was because he was enchanted by foxfire.

But even if that were true, what could he do?

An individual is too small, a human too weak.

Some calamities can’t be faced, no matter what.

Like the day his son suddenly vanished.

As he thought this, the master bedroom door quietly opened.

His wife, Joo Mi-hye, was so overjoyed by their son’s return that she insisted on sleeping in his room tonight, leaving Han Jeong-ho alone in the master bedroom.

Three people in the house, plus one fox.

But Han Jeong-ho could sense, even before seeing it, that the fox had come.

‘Here to devour me?’

If it’s a ghost, begone; if it’s a person, come in!

Something from an old tale vaguely came to mind.

But he didn’t shout it.

His fate felt as precarious as a candle in the wind.

“Father, are you asleep?”

A girl’s body, cute face, lovely voice.

Not one thing resembled the son he lost long ago.

Except one—the pajamas she wore, the ones his son used to wear.

Wearing someone else’s clothes, someone else’s skin—the very image of a fox in disguise.

“No.”

Han Jeong-ho faced the fox, tense, bracing for what might come.

The fox claiming to be his son approached without a sound, eerie in its silence, and asked,
“Is the family struggling a lot? Like, are we poor?”

Her expression seemed genuinely concerned, making him strongly feel she might really be his son, yet foxes are such creatures, aren’t they?

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not for a child to concern themselves with.”

Yes, time had stopped 7 years and 6 months ago.

Other people’s children grew up, got jobs, and started earning, but for Han Jeong-ho, his son Han Seok-hyeon’s time was frozen at the moment he vanished.

No different from death.

While time flowed equally for all, no time passed for the Han Seok-hyeon in his memories.

In Han Jeong-ho’s mind, his son was still a naive high schooler, remembered only that way.

“I’m all grown up, you know.”

The fox said something rather commendable.

If only it were really his son.

Han Jeong-ho thought.

“I’ll make you a hundred, a thousand times happier than before I disappeared. I’ll be a good son, so don’t worry anymore.”

The fox slipped a hand into her sleeve and began pulling something out.

It was a gold bar.

When the first gold bar appeared, he thought little of it.

But when it passed three, he started to feel something was off.

And when it exceeded ten, twenty, thirty, he couldn’t help but ask,
“Where are you hiding all these gold bars?”

The fox’s small frame couldn’t possibly hold thirty gold bars.

“Just a little magic trick.”

“They’re not fake, right? They won’t disappear over time?”

“They’re 100% real pure gold, so don’t worry.”

“Where did you get so many gold bars?”

“Didn’t you hear earlier? I said I saved the world. This is just pocket change.”

Pocket change, huh?

The family had indeed fallen on hard times.

Because Joo Mi-hye quit her job to search for their son.

Because they poured money into unreliable private detectives and the like.

Because they bought talismans, held rituals, and even went into debt without a word, trying every possible method.

But he couldn’t blame his wife.

How could a tender heart be a sin?

He only regretted his own failure to support her.

‘How much is all this worth?’

Looking at the pile of gold bars, Han Jeong-ho wondered.

He didn’t know the market price of gold.

But it’s gold—the king of precious metals, synonymous with value.

Han Jeong-ho opened his phone and checked the gold exchange.

A 1kg 24k gold bar was worth 75 million won.

And there were 30 of them?

“Is each one a kilogram?”

“Each is one geun.”

Is that so?

One geun is 600g, so 30 makes 18kg.

75 million won times 18 equals 1.35 billion won.

And that’s pocket change?

“It feels a bit short.”

“Huh? Was it that bad?”

Prices have skyrocketed. In this era, even 1.3 billion won isn’t enough for a decent house in Seoul.

Add in Soye’s academy fees, tutoring, college tuition, and so on, and this hardly counts as wealthy.

“It’d be hard to liquidate these.”

Then the fox pulled out a fist-sized diamond—a gemstone.

And more: vividly red, blue, and orange jewels, crafted into rings, necklaces, and bracelets, pouring out.

“These are worth way more than the gold bars. They were pretty rare even in that world.”

The dazzling treasures from another world were so perfectly beautiful, even an amateur could tell they were national-treasure-level.

“You really are my son.”

“Huh?”

Han Jeong-ho decided to sincerely accept this fox as his son.

What a filial son, a truly great one.

“Ha… ha… ha…”

My lower abdomen—specifically, something deep inside—felt like it was burning hot.

My face was flushed.

Those two spots were especially hot, but my collarbone, lungs, thighs—most areas close to my core were burning too.

“…That’s weird.”

This is a sign of hunger.

A signal that my energy is low, telling me to eat something.

As you know, a Gumiho’s food is “vitality.”

In that world, I got by eating monsters, but there are no monsters here, so naturally, what I can eat is…

‘I shouldn’t have used so much energy.’

Last night, I poured vitality into my overworked father and my gaunt-faced mother.

But this body isn’t some weak Gumiho that gets drained by something like that.

I could easily save a thousand dying people with my spiritual energy level.

So, there’s only one reason I’m starving.

Dimensional travel.

But that should’ve been fully covered by the Yeouiju’s power.

Did the Blue Dragon trick me? Or did he get it wrong?

“Ha… ha…”

My body’s still burning. I feel the urge to pounce on someone.

That’s why some Gumihos, despite their strength, longevity, and talents, choose to become human.

To be free from this cursed desire forever.

Some Gumihos believe a human body, free of this urge, is better than a Gumiho’s body that can enchant, fight a hundred foes, and live near-eternally.

I get it.

This urge isn’t something you can endure with willpower.

I can still think rationally for now, but if the hunger grows, I’ll turn into a monster and end up devouring humans.

I need to solve this now.

While I still have my senses.

“So, what’re you gonna do?”

“I’m not eating anyone.”

…Wait, who’s talking to me?

“What the? Why are you here?”

I was shocked to see who was addressing me.

“Blackie!”

A single black will-o’-wisp floating in the air, burning.

Its original name was eight Hanja characters long, but it was too cringey, so I just called it Blackie.

It was one of the demon lords I defeated, reduced to a soul bound to me after losing its body, serving as a scout, magic shuttle, and sort of like a game pet.

That was in the other world, so why are you here now?

“Because my soul’s bound to you.”

“Then you should’ve said you wanted to be freed!”

I thought it died since it vanished during our final battle, not responding to summons or showing up.

I’m a bit glad to know it’s alive, but why did it follow me to Earth?

“I was asleep.”

“No, wait, now that I think about it, you’re the cause, aren’t you?”

The Blue Dragon’s Yeouiju should’ve been enough for me to cross dimensions.

But bringing this guy, bound to my soul, used up most of my spiritual energy.

Right after the dimensional jump, I was too disoriented by the new world and thought I was just tired from the trip.

But a day later, I know for sure.

You’re the reason I’m this drained!

“Ugh!”

The heat in my body’s getting worse.

I need to fix this fast.

“So, you going out? To hunt men?”

“Don’t call it that!”

It sounds weird!

Though it’s not entirely wrong.