The moment hope surged forth, a piercing pain struck his chest and the fox collapsed right there on the floor. It was because his strength had been completely drained all at once from the sudden transformation into human form.
“Ugh…”
His vision blurred and all the strength drained from his body. The pain disappeared as if it had been a lie, but in its place came an extreme sense of exhaustion.
This won’t do. I can’t waste time like this here and now.
The fox, sprawled on the floor, moved his body several times and barely managed to raise his upper body. Fortunately, he felt no further pain. After catching his breath, he looked down at his hands again. He wanted to confirm that the scene that had just unfolded before his eyes wasn’t a dream.
But looking again, there was no black fur anywhere. No soft paw pads, no sharp claws at the tips. Instead, there were long, pale hands.
His head was still dizzy, but an unfamiliar sense of wonder covered that pain. The fox slowly curled and uncurled his newly formed fingers, examining them this way and that as if he couldn’t believe it.
This is… a human hand… right?
Every time he attempted to transform into a human, he had failed, so he’d sometimes wondered if perhaps his method was wrong. If there had been others of his kind, he would have asked them, but in this place there were only animals that looked similar—not a single other nine-tailed fox.
One day, he had overheard children in the forest whispering, “They say if a fox bites its tail and does ten forward rolls, ten backward rolls, and spins in place ten times, it becomes human.” He had tried following those instructions exactly. Of course, nothing had changed.
He had wondered for years what exactly the problem was, but now he finally seemed to understand.
The answer was energy. Transforming into a human required far more power than he had imagined. The fox recalled the moment of transformation. The instant he became human, his heart had pounded as if it would shatter into pieces. That much energy had to be poured out.
‘That’s why I failed.’
Whenever the fox had attempted to transform into a human, he had always been starving. His belly stuck to his backbone, and he could barely even walk. There was no way he could transform into a human in that condition.
But now was different. He had filled his belly and could sleep in a warm place. His fox bead had recovered enough strength to transform into a human.
‘Wait.’
Then why had he failed in Adrian’s office?
Back then, he had also eaten well and slept well. In fact, it had been a much more comfortable environment than now. Though his energy would hit rock bottom when morning came, he would quickly recover after eating.
Had it been because of excessive tension? Had his concentration wavered due to the impatience of having to succeed before Adrian returned, and the pressure of not leaving even a single trace behind?
He didn’t know. In any case, what mattered was that he had succeeded in transforming into a human now. Now he could go to the imperial palace. He could apologize to Adrian. He could ask for forgiveness. He could sleep and eat with him again, just like before.
But there were two things the fox had failed to realize.
The first.
“Whoaa.”
That he didn’t know how to walk on two legs.
The fox, who had been trying to stand up while swaying, collapsed right back onto the floor. The sensation transmitted from his two legs was far too unfamiliar. It was completely different from standing with all four paws on the ground. Much weaker, much more unstable. He couldn’t find his center of balance.
Let’s try one more time.
The fox carefully took a step forward while recalling how humans walked. The moment he moved his left foot forward, his body swayed greatly. His flailing appearance was utterly ridiculous, but he didn’t even have the luxury to laugh. Right now, taming these two legs was the urgent priority. If he couldn’t walk, there was no point in having transformed into a human.
However, his legs wouldn’t move as he intended.
How do humans live with such inconvenient bodies?
When he was a fox, he had envied humans striding about on their long legs, but now that he had actually become human, he missed the days when he ran around on four legs. Back then, he hadn’t been this helpless. He could run faster than the wind and leap lightly over tree branches. Sometimes his body didn’t follow his thoughts as well as he’d like, but it was never to the point where he couldn’t even walk at all like now.
‘I can’t give up.’
He had to go meet Adrian. He had to go to the imperial palace. The fox stood up again. Leaning against the wall, he slowly, very slowly found his balance.
One step. He carefully stepped forward without letting go of the wall. Another step. This time he tried letting go of the wall slightly. He swayed but didn’t fall.
And finally, he completely removed the hand that had been leaning on the wall. He stood solely on his two legs. His body swayed unstably. His legs trembled like those of an elderly person with no muscle to speak of, but still, he didn’t fall.
Good, now let’s try walking.
The fox carefully moved forward with his hand off the wall. Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot. It seemed like he was walking well, but he wasn’t. Perhaps because the instinct of walking on four legs remained? When he extended his left foot, his left hand moved together, and when he extended his right foot, his right hand followed along. Just as he was taking a few steps with that awkward and ridiculous gait, a full-length mirror entered the fox’s field of vision.
The man in the mirror was stark naked.
‘Is that… me?’
As if he couldn’t believe he had truly become human, his blue gaze traveled downward from his face, exploring the reflection in the mirror. Black hair, long eyelashes, blue eyes. A long, extended neck. A body so gaunt it looked like only a layer of skin was draped over it. Legs extending straight down with tendons showing.
The fox’s honest impression after looking and looking at himself again was singular.
‘I look like a raw chicken.’
It looked exactly like a scrawny chicken with all its feathers plucked, standing on two legs. Shabby, frail, and ridiculous.
But Adrian was fine.
The fox recalled his body. Firmly balanced abs, broad shoulders, forearms packed full with thick muscles. A world of difference from himself, who seemed to have nothing but bones. How could the same naked bodies be so different? He didn’t know whether Adrian was special or whether his own body was pitiful. But right now, he didn’t have the luxury to think long about it.
‘I’m cold.’
He was cold. The body without a single strand of fur was not only scrawny but cold as well.
Finding clothes wasn’t difficult. The furniture next to the mirror was a wardrobe. He had seen Theodor take out clothes from there several times.
When he opened the door, neatly organized clothes came into view. He pulled one out and unfolded it—black fabric split into two branches. Where and how was he supposed to use this?
Unable to tell whether it was meant to cover his arms or his legs, the fox stared at it intently for a long while before suddenly recalling the sight of Adrian changing clothes. The image of him putting something similar to this over his legs.
The fox carefully lifted one leg and inserted it into the hole. Then he put in the other leg as well and pulled the fabric upward.
Done!
…Or not?
Something felt uncomfortable. When Adrian wore them, they had clung to his body, but this fabric was too long and the crotch area was twisted somehow, making it uncomfortable.
Is this right? Or did I put it on wrong? He thought about taking it off and putting it back on, but there was no time. What was important now wasn’t wearing clothes properly, but quickly finding Adrian.
The fox rummaged through the wardrobe again. Now he needed to find fabric to cover his upper body. After searching a bit, he found white fabric. This also resembled what Adrian had worn on top. He pushed his arms through and pulled the front closed. He saw small buttons. It seemed like he needed to fit them into the holes.
He fastened them. Or rather, tried to fasten them, but the top and bottom were misaligned. But it didn’t matter. His body was warmer than before and he no longer looked like a raw chicken. That alone was enough.
Now that he had clothes on, all that remained was to truly go meet Adrian.
The fox took a step forward with an excited heart. At that moment, his foot caught on the fabric and his body, losing its center of balance, pitched forward. He flailed his arms, but because he had put the shirt on wrong, they didn’t move well.
Thud! The sound of his scrawny body slamming into the floor echoed.
“Ow ow ow…”
The fox lay prone on the floor, sniffling and rubbing his nose. He hadn’t known, until actually becoming one, that walking in a human body would be this difficult. It hurts. How annoying. He had thought that once he became human, he’d be able to race all the way to the imperial palace in one go with his long legs.
How inconvenient. A human body was truly inconvenient. The arms and legs that wouldn’t move as he intended were inconvenient, and the clothes were cumbersome. It had been much more comfortable and better when he was a fox, with pretty fur covering his body even without wearing anything and able to walk on all fours.
‘Should I turn back into a fox?’
When he was a fox, he had so wanted to become human, but now he wanted to return to a fox’s body. At least when he was a fox, he could walk properly. With this body right now, forget the imperial palace—he couldn’t take a single step even out of this room. He was seriously considering whether he should turn back into a fox when—
Click, the sound of the doorknob turning. Before the thought of returning to his original form could even arise, the door opened.
