Chapter 11
“The Protagonist’s Younger Sibling is Reborn as a Constellation ”
After Jin Serin and Anser left, the room that had been messy was now devoid of Anser’s belongings.
A man appeared in the space, which had returned to the appearance of a normal household.
Looking around, he picked up the faintly reddish fur that hadn’t completely disappeared and fiddled with it.
If his plan had succeeded, this shouldn’t have been here.
The man gestured toward the air, and a silver system window appeared.
Dungeon “Baby Fox’s Last Home (A)”
Due to the intervention of the dungeon owner’s will, the dungeon’s grade has decreased.
“Ah… another failure.”
Because of his hasty preparations, he couldn’t summon the dungeon he wanted.
At least he had summoned it at the same S-rank, but the grade drop had been unexpected.
Silver light flickered behind the man and then vanished.
The Constellation “Advent of the Undying Touch” clicked its tongue, saying this incident ends here and he should properly clean up.
“Anyway, so reckless.”
Muttering a curse, the man reached under the bed.
With one hand, he lightly lifted the bed, revealing a mysteriously colored hole hidden in the frame. It was just big enough for a small child to pass through easily.
He poked at the hole with his bare hands, and soon something jumped out of it.
Skill <Guest Met on the Road (S)> activates.
Mist extended from the man’s hand and engulfed whatever had come out of the hole.
As it disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed, the man activated another skill.
Skill <Gnashing Grave (S)> activates.
At the man’s gesture, the hole gradually shrank until it was completely sealed.
The man, who had watched the process indifferently, left the space without lingering, as if his task was complete.
So the dungeon near Kim Igyul really did exist, and here it comes near the dungeon.
“Is the dungeon really over?”
“Since the notification popped up earlier, I guess so? Oh my, even the mist it swallowed is gone!”
Hearing the conversation of the apartment residents, I greeted him in a daze.
“Uh, hello.”
“Kiiing.”
I had forgotten about Anser in my surprise, and it was in his hands, squirming and crying.
What should I tell Kim Igyul about Anser? And what excuse should I give for being here? It all happened so suddenly that my brain wasn’t keeping up.
I stood there, unable to decide, when Kim Igyul spoke first.
“This fox, is it yours?”
“Ye-yes?”
I recalled how in the original story, some hunters kept docile, non-aggressive monsters as pets, and it became a trend to have all kinds of animals as companions.
Fortunately, the fox was fairly ordinary.
Seeing a Constellation transform into a companion fox was instant.
Still, this was the only way I could bring it along. If I said no and suggested sending it to a wildlife protection center, that would be problematic.
Kim Igyul extended Anser toward me.
Encounter with the contractor activates the subspace “screen.”
His hand brushed slightly, and the system automatically displayed the notification. I had forgotten, but it worked perfectly.
As I held the fox, Anser squirmed, wanting to be put down. Kim Igyul tilted his head while watching.
“Collar… doesn’t the fox need one?”
⌈Kyaaak! A human dares to ignore a star! Baby, I hate him!⌋
Hearing that, Anser went wild in my arms.
Its frantic cries echoed through the emergency stairs, while its voice could also be heard in my head.
Anser bristled its fur at Kim Igyul.
I gently smoothed down the fur and explained who Kim Igyul was.
‘This is the contractor I was looking for earlier. Calm down.’
Upon hearing my thoughts, Anser froze with its mouth wide open.
⌈That human is the baby’s contractor…?⌋
The shocked fox mumbled that this couldn’t be possible and that it needed to complain to the goddess immediately.
Although Anser still looked unconvinced, its fur settled and it stopped crying. Good—Anser is sorted. Now, what about Kim Igyul?
I couldn’t explain why I was here, nor how I ended up raising this fox. My worries deepened, and I absentmindedly stroked Anser’s back.
Seeing me like that, Kim Igyul spoke.
“Did you come to meet a friend, or did you take a wrong turn?”
Skill <Immovable Calm> activates.
“Uh… I took a wrong turn.”
Thanks to the skill activating in time, I could answer normally.
I then naturally steered the conversation.
“You live here, huh?”
“Yeah. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Nope!”
Even with my answer, Kim Igyul carefully examined me.
His gaze lingered on my arm. I hid it behind me, faint traces of blood barely visible, and smiled as if nothing had happened.
The wounds were already healed, so there’s nowhere I’m injured now. I wasn’t lying.
Kim Igyul frowned, but reluctantly nodded.
“…Alright. Let’s go.”
Following him as he led the way, I thought about his family. The family photo had his parents, Kim Igyul, and a girl who seemed to be his older sister.
“Is your sister home?”
“Did I say I had a sister?”
He abruptly stopped while walking. I shivered when I realized I had accidentally mentioned information I learned from the family photo in his house earlier.
Better to act shameless. I tilted my head and answered.
“Uh, I mentioned it in the dungeon earlier.”
“Is that so? She’s away on a business trip.”
Fortunately, Kim Igyul believed me. Lucky that the girl was calm and matter-of-fact.
Just then, a low vibration reverberated through the quiet space.
Kim Igyul took out his phone, frowned at the screen.
“Hello?”
He held it to his ear and quickly pulled it away. The other person’s voice was so loud that I could hear it even from where I stood.
“-Hey, are you okay? I heard a dungeon appeared in the apartment!”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Kim Igyul lowered the volume, brought it back to his ear, and I couldn’t hear the rest.
While casually answering, he gently tugged my clothes with his free hand and led me out of the apartment.
“Your sister? When did she come back? Just now?”
From the conversation, it seemed his sister had returned earlier than planned from a business trip.
If she went abroad for work, what kind of job would that be? Before I could ponder, the call ended.
“She’s coming here now.”
“Oh, really? She went abroad for work?”
“Yeah. Something felt off, so she returned early…”
He trailed off, clearly bewildered by the reason his sister came back.
If “something felt off” meant the dungeon I had just erased, that would be an impressive animal-like sense—maybe a hunter?
A woman soon ran toward us.
“Kim Igyul!”
It was his sister, whom I had seen in the family photo.
No wonder—they really acted like siblings.
Immediately upon arrival, she checked her brother’s body for injuries, just like Kim Igyul had earlier.
“Arms and legs okay? Any injuries?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, so don’t make a fuss.”
“This brat? He says whatever he wants to me.”
Once she confirmed her brother was unharmed, her gaze fell to me.
Following her eyes, I noticed my hand was still held by Kim Igyul. Startled, I quickly shook it free.
Seeing us, the woman mischievously asked,
“Girlfriend?”
“Nope.”
At her words, I felt pitifully stared at.
Ah, a zero-confession, first round. What is this feeling?
Ignoring the notification that the Calm skill had been used again, I introduced myself to prevent further misunderstanding.
“Hello, I’m Jin Serin. I’ve received help from you before—”
“Help? Not sure about that, but she’s my friend.”
She cut me off and added, looking at Kim Igyul, who smiled as if saying, “What’s the problem?”
His lips twitched briefly and closed again.
Oh, so when he said to speak freely and even call him by name, he meant it.
“Really? If you’re my brother’s friend, then you’re my sister too! Just call me sister. I’m Kim Soyeon.”
Kim Soyeon? That name sounded familiar…
