chapter_0516

516 – The Fox God

516 – The Fox God

I chased after the survivors with Gaeul.

There were five of them, and shockingly, three of them were unable to fight.

“A child, a woman, and an old man.”

The young girl had her eyes and ears completely blocked, and the old man was in no condition to move.

I had to help them escape the island safely.

I hid between the alleys and buildings, shooting arrows to protect them.

“Be careful…!”

A zombie passed by a man wielding a military knife.

Just as it was about to bite the woman, I shot an arrow.

Swoosh-!

Thud-!

“Ahhh!”

The woman screamed in surprise as the arrow lodged itself in the zombie’s forehead right in front of her.

Thanks to that, more zombies began to rush toward the group.

“Well then.”

I took out an electric arrow from my quiver.

Explosive arrows had high firepower, but they could attract all the zombies on the island, so I had to minimize noise as much as possible.

“If I use Mana like this…”

I infused the electric arrow with Mana and shot it toward the horde of zombies.

Crackle-!

The electricity that surged from the arrow spread through the zombies like a conductor, and surprisingly, it didn’t approach the survivors at all.

“Impressive.”

It was a technique taught to me by a guild adventurer at the training ground not long ago, and it proved to be quite useful in this situation.

“It seems to be mostly sorted out.”

I was able to take down quite a few zombies with the chain lightning from the electric arrow.

Thanks to that, the survivors seemed to have gained some confidence and started dealing with the remaining zombies.

“…You helped again.”

“Who on earth are you?”

As the survivors looked around, I hurriedly hid behind the alley.

In the meantime, a zombie approached us, but Gaeul threw a lemon and took care of it.

“Gaeul, good job.”

“Gu! Gu!”

After giving Gaeul a thumbs up, I continued to protect the survivors.

As time passed and evening approached, they began to set up a safe zone.

“Gaeul, let’s rest now.”

“Okay.”

The survivors created a safe zone in a five-story building and planned for the next day.

I moved to the adjacent building with Gaeul to prepare for tomorrow.

“Gaeul, we can make a fire here without being seen. But we need to keep the windows open?”

“Got it.”

After making a fire with Gaeul and preparing the mouse we caught in the morning, I placed it over the flames.

Next to the roasting mouse, Gaeul pointed at my neck and asked.

“Juin, is that a charm?”

“What kind of…?”

Looking down, I saw the high-tech device I received from Hanyeoreum glimmering in the firelight.

The moment I realized this, my ears perked up.

“This is a video transmission device…?”

Since it was a device Hanyeoreum had given me for testing, there was a high probability she was watching.

She would see everything, even us eating the mouse.

What would happen when we returned home after eating the mouse?

There was a strong chance that Hanyeoreum’s forced shower awaited us.

“Ugh…!”

Having been forcibly washed in a pond before, I knew how cruel Hanyeoreum’s shower type was.

It was so rough that my face would feel squeaky from scrubbing too hard.

Swallowing hard, I pushed the roasting mouse aside.

“Gaeul?!”

Gaeul, who had been licking her lips, looked at me in surprise.

It was only natural for her to react like that when I discarded the mouse we had caught without eating it.

“Hmm…”

Gaeul had caught the mouse thinking of me, and here I was just throwing it away.

I felt sorry and couldn’t bring myself to look at Gaeul’s face.

Though I felt bad for Gaeul, I decided to use a little trick here.

“Gaeul, I have a feeling.”

“Huh?”

“I think there’s food in this building that’s tastier than the mouse.”

“Really?!”

Gaeul’s eyes sparkled.

I took Gaeul with me to explore the building.

Fortunately, we found ham and canned corn on the floor we settled on.

**

The next morning.

After waking up, I did a quick maintenance check.

“I’ve retrieved all the arrows, and I didn’t use many special arrows.”

With this, I could protect the survivors until they escaped.

Just as I finished my maintenance, Gaeul, who had been sleeping, suddenly sat up and began to look around.

With her disheveled face, she checked the food and approached the blocked door, trying the handle.

She even peeked out the window to assess the situation outside.

“This is…”

Gaeul’s behavior was natural.

It was as if she knew how to survive.

“Juin, I’m ready.”

“Yeah. Thanks. Let’s just hang in there a little longer since we can go home now?”

“Okay…!”

I finished preparing with Gaeul and followed the moving survivors.

Swoosh-! Thud-!

As I supported the survivors with arrows, their movements quickened.

“At this pace, we should reach the coast in three days.”

“It’s clear that the Fox God is helping us.”

“The Fox God?”

The old man’s words caught the attention of the young girl.

The old man nodded with a kind smile.

“I was originally a priestess of the Fox God. I have served the Fox God for a long time.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

The child listened intently, her eyes shining.

Though it wasn’t exactly a god, relying on an absolute being wasn’t a bad situation.

It would bring some peace of mind.

“The Fox God is still watching over us.”

As the old man fiddled with something resembling prayer beads, the woman next to him replied curtly.

“Where is there a god in this world? If there were, we wouldn’t be going through this chaos.”

“That’s…”

“…I’m sorry. I’ve been under a lot of stress.”

When the old man fell silent, the woman bowed her head deeply.

It seemed she had no intention of arguing with the old man.

“Alright, let’s move now.”

After a round of maintenance, the survivors began to move again.

I followed behind them, shooting arrows to protect them.

Thus, three days passed as we slowly advanced.

Though it was slow, they eventually reached the coast.

The island was small, but there were so many zombies that it took three days.

“Boat! There’s a boat!”

It was when an excited man pointed to a boat docked on the shore with a metal pipe.

Graaah-!

A massive roar echoed across the sandy beach.

“What, what is that?!”

“Over there…!”

A gigantic zombie that could be called a tank.

It began charging toward the survivors at an incredible speed.

Though they were skilled fighters, the Mana emanating from the tank zombie was considerable.

“We’re almost there…”

“Ugh…!”

The old man clutched his prayer beads, and the young girl squeezed her eyes shut.

Seeing the despair blooming on the survivors’ faces, I hurriedly nocked an arrow to my bow.

That was something the survivors without Mana could never stop.

Just as I felt anxious and pulled back the bowstring, something incredible happened.

Crack-!

Thud-!

A massive vine erupted from the sand.

The vine of Levinas, which I had seen often, bound the tank zombie’s body.

The survivors gaped in awe at the transcendent magical power that didn’t exist in this world.

“Rabbit Horn!”

With Gaeul’s shout, I shot an arrow at it.

Using the magic of enlargement infused in the bow, I shot an arrow the size of a ballista.

Boom-!

The arrow struck the tank zombie’s head perfectly.

With a sound that was unimaginable for an arrow, the zombie’s head exploded.

“……”

“……”

Among the stunned survivors, the man with the military knife regained his senses.

He pointed toward the boat while looking at his companions.

“Quick, get on the boat!”

“Ah, okay!”

Everyone boarded the boat, and the engine started.

Just when it seemed we were about to depart, the man with the military knife came out from the back of the boat.

“Thank you so much for your help! We’re about to leave! If you want to come with us, you need to hurry!”

Were they concerned about us who helped?

I just wished they would depart without us.

As I pondered how to send them off, I made eye contact with the young girl.

“Um, over there…!”

As the girl pointed to where I was, everyone turned to look at me.

I hurriedly hid behind the railing on the rooftop of the building, but Gaeul next to me just smiled brightly.

“Is that… the Fox God…?”

“Is it really true…?”

As the people gasped in astonishment, I quickly pulled Gaeul’s hand.

Suddenly becoming the Fox God, Gaeul just giggled.

“The deity is helping us.”

“Let’s go!”

As the boat departed and disappeared beyond the coastline, a portal formed behind us.

Was their survival the trigger?

The moment I started walking toward the portal, Gaeul pointed behind me.

“Juin, is that a missile?”

“What kind?”

I looked up at the direction Gaeul was pointing, and there was a small missile the size of a dot flying toward the island at an incredible speed.

The dot became the size of a coin, and the coin became the size of an empty bottle.

Seeing the missile approaching at such a speed, I hurriedly ran toward the portal.

“Gaeul, run!”

“Okay…!”

I leaped into the portal with Gaeul.

Boom…!

The sound of something exploding cut off midway, and the world distorted.

**

I emerged from the portal just in time.

Phew.

As I sighed in relief, I could hear the sound of many footsteps running toward me.

“Wangaaah! Gaeul, woof woof!”

“Gaeul! Gyeoul! Gaeul! Gyeoul!”

My family was running toward me.

Soon, they surrounded Gaeul and me and hugged us tightly.

“Hehe.”

I couldn’t help but wag my tail at the pleasant reunion.

Gaeul seemed happy too, licking the children’s cheeks.

“Gyeoul, you made it?”

“Yes! I’m here.”

Hanyeoreum, who had walked slowly, squatted down in front of me.

And she gave me a hug that took my breath away.

“You did well. I was really worried about you.”

“I’m sorry. The dungeon opened suddenly.”

Could it be that I hadn’t seen her for about three days?

Hanyeoreum’s affectionate feelings reached me.

As I embraced her after not seeing her for three days, Hanyeoreum whispered in my ear.

“What’s there to apologize for? I saw everything Gyeoul went through.”

“You saw?”

“Yeah. I even saw Gyeoul touching the mouse.”

“……!”

I looked up at Hanyeoreum in surprise.

Trying to back away from her, who had a somewhat scary look in her eyes, I found myself already tightly embraced by her.

“Do you know how much germs are on a mouse…? You touched it and didn’t even wash properly…”

Hanyeoreum stood up while still holding me.

There was nothing I could do as I was captured.

“Meowww!”

Except for screaming, that is.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for your comments and recommendations! They always give me strength…!

Gyeoul’s laundry…!