~Chapter 3~
“It could all end nicely, so let’s not make a noisy fuss for no reason.”
I instinctively flinched away as he tried to approach me familiarly, pretending to be friendly, and pat my shoulder. It gave me the creeps.
The Section Chief went “Whoa— whoa—” comically raising both hands and backing away, then headed for the conference room door, saying,
“You’ll have to start job-hunting again now, right? If there’s anything I can help with, I will. Ask me anything you don’t know.”
Without even looking to see what expression she had on her face, the Section Chief, babbling excitedly to himself, shrugged his shoulders boastfully.
“I know a lot of people in the industry. You know A Electronics? A Electronics. I’ve got a junior who’s a close friend in their HR department there. If I make one call, he’ll come right out.”
Even in my dazed state, I knew that was bullshit. Far from having wide connections elsewhere, the Section Chief was a fool who didn’t even have a single colleague in this tiny company who would properly deal with him.
“So let’s keep things nice and amicable. Okay?”
With those words, the Section Chief went outside, leaving a final remark for me to come back in quickly so others wouldn’t think it was strange.
* * *
I don’t know how I managed to wrap things up and leave work afterwards.
Walking on autopilot with a numb mind, I suddenly found myself at the familiar intersection on my commute home. Dazed, I was stepping forward when a sudden vibration in my hand snapped her back to awareness.
*Buzz… Buzz…*
“Ah.”
It was the game alarm, a small source of joy snatched from her miserable daily life. Dismissing the alarm indicating the hourglass was full, she looked up. Only then did the sounds of noisy vehicles and the bustling crowd register.
She came to her senses at some crosswalk.
“…Damn.”
Swallowing the situation with difficulty, a curse sprang out involuntarily.
“Damn it, seriously.”
She really, truly…
“Damn it.”
…didn’t want to live like this anymore.
*’I really… I really tried my best.’*
Struggling desperately just to wear one employee ID card around my neck. Enduring openly territorial colleagues, a team leader with anger management issues, and wretched discrimination against contract workers, all to somehow carve out a place for myself at the company.
I wanted to show my mom and dad, who left me so suddenly, that I was living well on my own. I planned to visit their graves and tell them once I became a full-time employee.
*Look, I’m a proper working adult now. I grew up into a proper adult.*
*I can take care of myself just fine from now on, so rest easy and don’t worry.*
I wanted to do well.
*Plop, plop.*
She felt hot streams flowing down her cheeks. Tears welling up from anger made her chest feel even more stifling.
How long did she stand there like that, head bowed, holding her breath?
“Woof! Woof, woof!”
“…?”
Eugene looked up at the sudden sound of a dog barking. Looking around in confusion, a large electronic billboard came into her view.
**「The very snack chosen by Eugene! ‘DoggieMunch’, the healthy dog treat made with premium Korean beef.」**
The slogan, as large as a door, flashed dazzlingly along with the voice actor’s narration.
**「The #1 top dog in the canine world! Give your furry companion the gift of ‘DoggieMunch’, chosen by Eugene.」**
The dog in the commercial was the pet of an overseas tycoon, famous for having already inherited a luxurious mansion. The screen showed a sprawling mansion complete with a fountain.
Eugene looked at the house owned by the dog with a name similar to hers and thought.
*’I could never afford to buy that in my whole life.’*
No, forget the mansion. Just securing a home, a place to lay my own body while working, is something I don’t even know is possible or not.
*’…And saving for it requires having a job first.’*
It was a shitty company, but for the short while I was there, it covered up the anxiety of having no affiliation.
The thought of being thrown back into the hellish job-seeking life, with nothing changed and only time having passed, made her mouth dry and parched.
**「Woof! Woof!」**
Looking at the screen again, the tycoon dog was lying comfortably inside the mansion adorned with overflowing wealth. Watching the scene playing on the billboard, she blurted out without thinking.
“…I’d rather be reborn as a dog in a house like that.”
Not having to do anything,
I just want to lie down.
I’m tired of this life of struggling alone like this.
“Gasp, what’s that car doing?”
“Ahhh! Watch out over there!”
*Crash!*
Her body was flung into the air along with a dazzling light.
*’Ah.’*
There were no regrets. Her mind was rather calm.
*’Now I really don’t have to do anything.’*
That was her final thought.
* * *
And then she opened her eyes to a strangely familiar landscape.
“…What the hell?!”
For a moment, it felt extremely unreal.
The smell of mud and filth mixed together flowed into her nose. The wooden bars of a cage surrounding the dirt ground she found herself sitting on were restricting her view.
*’Where is this?’*
As she looked around at the suddenly changed view, she saw several children placed inside what looked like a crude animal pen, dressed in shabby clothes. And among them, one child cautiously stood up and approached her.
“Hey.”
The face looking at her with a worried expression was familiar. Soft brown hair, intelligent-looking green eyes. And the triangular ears perked up assertively on top of the head.
*’This kid is…!’*
Eugene knew this child. Well, of course, it was the face she had been looking at on her phone every day lately!
**「The Gilded Cage」**.
It was a mobile game said to be based on a popular novel.
The name of the protagonist the player moves is Canis.
She, a beastkin, had been captured by slavers who kidnapped children and resold them to nobles, and was locked in this cage.
Canis, who had been waiting for a chance to escape, one day meets a Crown Prince who visits the shop. The Crown Prince, encountering someone who openly bares her teeth at him for the first time, takes her to the palace out of curiosity, and the story begins.
So this place now is the slave shop where the protagonist Canis and the Crown Prince first meet.
“Are you okay?”
The one speaking to her now was that very protagonist.
True to the righteous personality of a protagonist, the kind-looking green eyes were filled with pure goodwill and concern.
“I…”
Eugene reflexively opened her mouth, then widened her eyes in surprise at the changed sound of her own voice.
*’Huh?’*
She went ‘Ah, ah, ah,’ trying to make a few more sounds, then looked around frantically. Realizing there was nothing nearby to see her reflection in, she looked down at the hands and legs she could check with her own eyes.
*’…Small.’*
Her body had definitely become smaller. As Eugene stood frozen, arm raised in shock, the girl cautiously spoke to her again.
“Are you really okay…?”
Canis’s ears, tinged with anxiety, twitched *fwip-fwip*. Eugene, who was staring curiously at the cute triangular animal ears with blunt ends moving right before her eyes, lowered her gaze at the girl’s words.
*’Ah.’*
Her current appearance was reflected in Canis’s green eyes. How old was she? Maybe early teens? Her diminutive figure was reflected roundly in the pupils. And hair that had somehow grown long.
*’Huh?’*
Looking down again, Eugene could see the color of the long hair flowing over her shoulder.
White.
Completely white hair, like an old woman’s, that had turned completely gray, out of place on her childish frame.
“I saw you crying all last night. I don’t know what happened to you on the way here, but… Here, drink some water first. If you stay like that, you might collapse from exhaustion.”
As Canis pointed out, Eugene finally became aware of her completely parched mouth, from her tongue to her throat.
*’I’m thirsty.’*
*Gulp, gulp.*
Receiving and drinking from the offered water bowl, Eugene retraced in her mind what kind of situation she was in.
*’White hair… Who is the white-haired child around Canis?’*
Eugene desperately tried to recall the game’s story she had played for so long. And not long after, she remembered one character.
*’Oh, damn it.’*
And unfortunately, the circumstances of this white-haired person, who Eugene’s body now appeared to be, weren’t very good.
It was only recently that Eugene had become deeply immersed in novels and games like this.
To be precise, it was around the time she was looking for something to completely sell her soul to in her empty home.
This genre, filled with unfamiliar settings and unique characters, led her into other worlds, if only briefly.
Only when she fell into a new world could she momentarily forget the problems of reality.
Absorbing these newly encountered genre works, Eugene learned many terms. Regression, possession, reincarnation, catharsis, growth, slice-of-life, childcare stories, etc.
And among these many terms, what was clearly applicable to this game was unmistakable.
A Captivity Story.
Why was the title of **「The Gilded Cage」** ‘Cage’? It was because of a character who was the game’s most popular figure and also arguably the top villain.
*’That lunatic Crown Prince.’*
Crown Prince Michael, who takes Canis to the palace, was a lunatic.
A lunatic for the protagonist.
Initially treating Canis as less than human and handling her like a pet, the Crown Prince later falls in love with her. Unlike Canis, who was utterly disgusted with his cruelty, the Crown Prince became completely infatuated with her, acting as if he couldn’t live a moment without her by his side.
*’The problem is he only wanted Canis to be obsessed with him too.’*
