Chapter 2
The sudden appearance of a predator made the wolves bristle and lower their bodies into defensive stances.
“Hey.”
The wolf captain addressed the bear.
“Hey, Mr. Bear.”
“…”
“Come on, answer me.”
“…”
The bear didn’t respond.
In the heavy silence that followed, the wolf clicked his tongue awkwardly.
That bear… isn’t a beastfolk?
In The Tamed One Was a Fox, beastfolk could communicate even while in animal form.
It felt almost like telepathy—the other person’s voice echoing directly inside your head.
The novel had never described it in detail, but Nabom knew from experience.
The only problem was that she had no idea how to initiate the connection herself.
I tried before, but it never worked.
She had attempted to speak to her parents whenever they transformed into animals, but nothing happened.
She didn’t know why.
No matter how desperately she wished for it, no matter how many times she repeated words in her mind, her voice never reached anyone.
Of course, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.
The wolf captain began slowly closing the distance between himself and the bear.
His yellow eyes glared threateningly.
“That rabbit is our prey. If you don’t hand it over quietly, then we’ll—”
He never finished his sentence.
The bear swung one massive arm with all its strength.
The captain flew through the air and disappeared into the distance.
“Captain!”
The wolves howled toward the place where their leader had vanished.
Then they turned back toward the bear.
Grrrrr.
Baring their teeth, more than a dozen wolves charged all at once.
But—
Yelp! Whine! Awooo!
Every time the bear swung a paw, threw a punch, or kicked a leg, two or three wolves were sent flying through the air.
The Baekrang wolves were considered rulers of the Arctic.
Yet in front of this bear, they looked like puppies.
Within moments, the wolves had either vanished into the forest or been scattered helplessly across the snowfield.
It turned the rulers of the Arctic into that…
Seriously, who invented teddy bears?
What part of that monster was cute?
And more importantly, why had a bear suddenly appeared?!
Did it come here to eat the wolves?
For a brief moment, she entertained that hopeful thought.
Whooooosh.
Amid the raging snowstorm, the bear suddenly turned its head.
Even through the blizzard, its golden eyes gleamed brightly.
And they were looking directly at her.
Why are you staring at me…?
Dear God.
Could you not leave this insignificant creature alone?
All she wanted was to quietly accept her rabbit life and survive.
Her resentment toward heaven lasted only a moment before her survival instincts kicked in.
She frantically searched for a way to live.
She was sure she’d seen it on YouTube before.
How to survive an encounter with a bear.
First method: Play dead!
Fortunately, she was already lying face-down in the snow, buried beneath a thick layer of it.
If she stayed perfectly still, she might look like a corpse.
Actually, her fur was white too.
Maybe she’d blend in with the snow entirely.
Thinking that, she squeezed her eyes shut.
Every time the bear stepped forward, the ground trembled.
There was no doubt.
It was approaching her.
Please.
Please just walk past me.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
But contrary to her desperate wish, the bear’s footsteps stopped directly in front of her.
Flinch!
Feeling its gaze overhead, her body instinctively shrank.
At that moment—
Hic.
Once.
Hic.
Then again.
A hiccup escaped her.
Each hiccup made her body jerk violently, causing the snow covering her to tumble away.
Mission one: Failed.
Then there was method two.
Slowly back away.
According to the professor she’d watched on YouTube, this was supposedly the most effective method.
Nabom gathered all her strength into her uninjured left hind leg and stood up.
Don’t make eye contact.
But keep watching the bear.
Don’t turn around and run.
That would only make things worse.
If she carefully retreated—
The bear simply took a single step forward.
Nabom had retreated ten steps to create that distance.
The bear erased it with one.
I’m doomed.
That left only one final option.
Nabom spread her front paws as wide as possible.
Standing on tiptoe, arching her back, and puffing up every strand of fur she had, she finally glared straight into the bear’s eyes.
It was an animal’s way of saying:
Touch me and you’ll regret it.
Unfortunately—
Tremble tremble tremble.
Even while threatening the bear, she was shaking like a leaf.
The bear merely tilted its head.
It doesn’t even realize I’m threatening it.
At that moment of utter despair—
The bear stretched one enormous arm toward her.
God, you bastard.
And Nabom promptly lost consciousness.
***
“I’m sorry, honey.”
A voice drifted through the darkness.
Soft as newly changed bed sheets.
Yet gloomy like a hospital room on a rainy day.
A voice she knew all too well.
“Please take good care of Naeul.”
Naeul.
Right.
Come to think of it, today was that day.
The day Mom, Dad, and her little sibling were supposed to go to the amusement park together.
A trip she could never join while confined to a hospital room.
That was why she’d insisted they go without her.
Then why was Mom here…?
Ah.
Because of me.
A faint breath escaped through the oxygen mask covering her mouth.
In her blurry vision, she thought she could see her mother’s back.
Slowly, she reached out.
Her arm stretched toward her.
Strange.
Why could her body move now?
No matter how desperately she’d wished for it before, it had never obeyed her.
Her fingertips touched her mother’s wrist.
Mom.
She tried to call out.
No sound came.
Yet her mother turned around.
And then—
“Haa…”
She let out a long sigh.
Nabom remembered her final moments.
Her mother’s exhausted face as she stared down at her.
The sigh that escaped through cracked lips.
A sigh filled with overwhelming relief.
Yeah.
That’s good.
You don’t have to suffer anymore, Mom.
You can relax now.
Because I’m dead.
Feeling a faint touch, he turned to look at the rabbit.
The rabbit was lying on its side atop the bed, resting a tiny paw on his wrist.
Its mouth moved slightly, but only a weak breath emerged.
Its eyelids had opened just a sliver.
It woke up.
“Haa…”
As the man sighed while looking at the white rabbit, the rabbit closed its eyes again.
Its small nose twitched beneath its thin fur.
Then something rolled down beneath its eyes.
Tears.
“…”
The man silently watched the rabbit cry.
***
It’s hot.
Just moments ago it had been winter.
Now it felt like summer.
She could actually feel sweat soaking into her fur.
Was this heaven?
Or hell?
After squirming and groaning for a while, Nabom finally opened her eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling greeted her.
Following the luxurious canopy overhead, her gaze drifted downward to the bed she was lying in.
Only then did she understand why she had been so hot.
How many layers are these?!
At a glance, at least five thick blankets covered her entire body, leaving only her face exposed.
She tried pushing them away with all four paws.
Nothing moved.
Eventually, she twisted and wriggled her way out from beneath them.
I almost died.
Phew.
A sigh escaped her slightly parted triangular mouth.
But relief didn’t last long.
Nabom immediately began examining her surroundings.
The bed alone was nearly half the size of the house she had lived in.
A fireplace crackled beyond a sofa.
Exotic tapestries decorated the walls, obviously expensive.
And then—
My hind leg.
Her right hind leg, which had been shredded by a wolf’s claws and dripping blood, was now neatly wrapped in bandages.
As though someone had treated it.
…What happened?
She had been certain the bear would kill her.
So why was she alive?
And where was this place?
Either way, she couldn’t stay here.
More importantly, her rabbit instincts were screaming at her to leave.
This room was filled with a dangerous scent.
It was unmistakable.
A predator’s smell.
The same instinctive terror she’d felt when facing wolves.
Her nose was telling her the truth.
A predator lived here.
Limping on her injured leg, she hurried toward the edge of the bed.
After struggling desperately while clinging to the bedsheets, she finally reached the floor.
Then she crawled frantically toward the door.
Scratch scratch scratch!
She clawed at it with her front paws.
It didn’t budge.
Calm down.
When you’re desperate, even things that should work stop working.
Taking a deep breath, Nabom prepared herself.
Her injured leg throbbed painfully.
But she couldn’t give up now.
Hop!
She jumped straight upward, stretching her front paws as far as she could.
Success.
Her paws hooked onto the doorknob.
Dangling from it, she felt the door slowly creak open.
Creeeeak.
Thud!
She fell onto her backside.
But she barely felt the pain.
Let’s get out of here.
Defective or not—
She was still a rabbit.
Leaving a rabbit’s room unlocked?
What a careless mistake.
Chuckling inwardly, Nabom hurried away.
No matter where this place was, she’d escape at rabbit speed!
But after wandering the hallways for some time—
She quickly became exhausted.
Why is this house so huge?!
Stamping her front paws in frustration, she finally stopped to look around.
And froze.
She had somehow returned to the very room she’d started from.
This place was a maze!
…!
Then—
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
Actually, it sounded like several people.
Voices mixed together with the footsteps.
And they were heading this way.
This is bad!
Panicking, Nabom squeezed her eyes shut and rushed back into the room she’d escaped from.
The moment she pressed herself flat against the back of the door—
Creeeak.
The door opened.
