Chapter 3

7

After staying home with me for several days, the merfolk finally went out.

Before leaving, he smiled, bent down, and patted my head.

“Wait here like a good girl. I’ll bring you something delicious when I get back.”

I nodded obediently. My eyes lingered on him as I reached for the edge of his robe.

“Y-You’ll come back soon, right?”

“I will.”

He gave me a restrained hug, then pressed a warm, damp kiss to my forehead.

After he left, I sat quietly in the living room and read.

He’d treated me well while I was there. My clothes, food, and everything else were the best of the best. Apart from not letting me have a mind-link device to contact the outside world, I had nothing to complain about.

I sighed to myself and glanced at the red cord on my wrist, my expression complicated.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I was so sleepy that my head kept drooping.

I put down the book and staggered toward the bedroom.

The moment the door shut, my eyes snapped open. The sleepiness vanished.

I nimbly opened the balcony door and looked down—then nearly blacked out.

Ninety-nine floors up. A sheer drop.

My heart began to race. I put two fingers to my mouth and let out a sharp whistle.

Before long, a dark shape cut through the air.

It landed in front of me in an instant and regarded me proudly.

A gray eagle.

I held out my wrist. Its talons swept across the red cord.

The moment the cord snapped, the system’s frantic voice came through.

【Oh, thank goodness! I finally got through to you!】

I picked up the long silver hair that had fallen from the cord and tied it to the eagle’s talon.

It turned its head proudly, spread its wings, and flew off into the distance.

Watching it disappear, I said calmly,

“The merfolk put a restriction and a tracker on me. I’ve broken them now.”

The system grumbled.

【How is this merfolk even more cunning than he was in the script? Good thing your willpower was strong enough to resist his charms. That’s why I chose you for this mission.】

That was right.

The system had given me a body too weak to withstand much hardship, but it had also maxed out my intelligence and willpower.

I rubbed my temples. I was still a little dizzy.

He hadn’t just used his silver hair to place a restriction on me and cut off my link to the system. He’d drugged my food, used his song to bewitch me, and muddled my thoughts.

I figured the merfolk would be furious when he realized I’d escaped his control.

That ought to anger him more than anything else I could do.

When I opened my eyes again, a smile had already found its way onto my face.

“Time to go play with the next one.”

“The next one is the white tiger.”

8

A fierce fight was underway inside a black octagonal cage.

The air was thick with the smell of blood and the crowd’s feverish excitement.

Outside the iron bars, “spectators” packed together like gamblers, screaming themselves hoarse for the champion they’d backed.

This wasn’t an ordinary martial arts match. It had been created specifically for beastfolk—more primitive, more violent, and bloodier.

At last, the lion in the cage went down.

Its massive body slammed into the floor, shaking the crowd with it.

The arena erupted in cheers.

The winner that night was a gigantic white tiger. It roared, sending waves of sound crashing through the room.

In the blink of an eye, the tiger transformed into a naked man.

A referee handed him a fur blanket. He wrapped it around his waist to cover his considerable assets, while the referee raised his arm and shouted.

White hair, dark eyes, and a six-foot-five frame like a small mountain—he radiated pressure and menace.

His muscles bulged. Sweat traced the grooves of his abs, and every inch of him looked powerful.

I sat in a corner, chin in hand, and nodded to myself.

Not bad. Very nice.

Of the three, he had the best body.

A little later, I followed him out.

According to the plot, he was going to be assassinated after tonight’s match.

This was the moment for my role to begin.

If the white tiger wasn’t interested in me, I didn’t need to waste my time seducing him. I could just save his life and become his benefactor.

The white tiger had long legs and a long stride. He moved like the wind, and I had to trot along well behind him to keep up.

At a corner, I deliberately waited a moment before following.

But the second I turned, every alarm in my head went off.

A powerful arm yanked me into the shadows. A hand clamped around my throat.

He slammed me against the wall.

“Why are you following me?”

There was no doubt about it: if I didn’t answer, he’d choke me to death right there.

“I… kh—kh—”

But with so little air in my lungs, I couldn’t even introduce myself.

Suddenly, he let go.

My body went limp. He caught me as I sagged against his shoulder, coughing so hard I could hardly breathe.

He lowered his head and sniffed along my neck.

After a long moment, he hesitated.

“Little human?”

You absolute idiot. You damn tiger.

I cursed him silently, then let tears well up and collapsed into his arms. In a weak voice, I said,

“Big brother, it’s me… Run! There’s… kh… someone trying to kill you.”

Before I could finish, beastmen appeared from every direction.

The white tiger: “?”

Me: “…”

Well, that was an awfully convenient coincidence.

The beastman leader roared,

“You damn tiger! You hurt our lion chief! Prepare to die!”

I looked at him pitifully.

He rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed.

“I blamed you by mistake.”

He set me down to one side, transformed into his white tiger form, and charged at the beastmen.

I pretended to watch anxiously. In truth, I was bored enough to count his fur.

One, two… eight hundred and sixty… sixty-eight…

Wait, where was I?

A cold glint flashed at the edge of my vision.

I leapt to my feet in excitement.

The arrow that played a pivotal role in the plot had finally appeared!

In the original story, he had the upper hand in the fight, but never saw the hidden attacker coming.

“A-Hu! Look out!”

I calculated the distance and rushed forward.

By my careful calculations, the arrow would be knocked aside by his paw just before I reached him—and then he’d catch me in a dramatic embrace.

But despite having planned for every possibility, I hadn’t accounted for the water bottle on the ground.

I lost my footing and hurtled straight toward the arrow.

Its cold point came right at me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain.

Damn it! Who’d mindlessly tossed that bottle there?

9

The good news: I wasn’t dead. Someone had saved me.

The bad news: that someone was the spirit fox.

Worse, he’d kidnapped me right in front of the white tiger.

I’d refused to go with him last time and chosen the merfolk instead. That had pushed his corruption level to fifty percent.

He fastened one end of a chain around my wrist.

Then he leaned in, lifted my chin, and watched the tears on my frightened face.

His lips curled into a teasing smile.

“Little liar, stop crying.”

“I knew you were pretending from the moment we met.”