It was just as he had expected.
“What kind of favor?”
“First… say you’ll hear me out.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll definitely repay you. I swear it on my name.”
That was a little troubling.
How could he promise without knowing what he would be asked to do?
‘What if he asks me to co-sign a loan or something?’
Rowoon knew very well how frightening promises could be.
He knew how much a wrong promise could bind a person and make them suffer.
“It’s something only you can do. It will absolutely never harm you. I swear it on my existence.”
“But I don’t even know who you are…”
“…Huh? You really don’t know?”
A subtle silence slipped into the middle of all that pleading.
“…Pardon? Am I supposed to?”
“No, I’m still pretty famous, you know?”
“Uh, I’m sorry…?”
“No. It’s not something you should apologize for. Wow. I still have a long way to go. I shouldn’t get arrogant.”
The other person let out a deep sigh, then introduced himself.
“I’m Re.D. I mainly compose and produce music…”
“Pardon? Re.D?”
“You know me?”
Of course he did.
“Are you saying you’re the person who made When Flowers Bloom, Summer Night Sea, and Still I Do?”
Rowoon asked while recalling representative songs that returned like pension payouts every season, and songs that proudly held first place in karaoke selections for certain age groups.
“Well, strictly speaking, I’m not a person. But yes. That’s right.”
The answer that came back was yes.
Then, after looking a little dispirited, his shoulders quietly straightened.
“But that’s only the name I use among humans. My real name is different. My true name is Cheon Iho. I’m a thousand-year-old fox who has long made a home in this land.”
At the same time, light burst inside the small conference room.
And in the place that light passed through…
“Tails?”
There were enormous tails, more than enough to fill the small conference room.
And there were as many as ten of them.
Rowoon thought.
‘He said he worked on Hometown of Legends, and that was actually real…?’
That was what he thought.
Re.D.
He was a producer called a living legend.
Even Rowoon knew his name, so what more needed to be said?
‘If someone has even dabbled in composing, there’s no way they wouldn’t know that name.’
Rowoon knew because he had once tried composing, even if only clumsily.
Re.D was a famous producer, a hit-song machine no different from an all-time legend.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that half the music one heard while walking down the street had passed through Re.D’s hands.
If one listed Korea’s top copyright earners, Re.D was one of the people who would absolutely be in the top three.
Some people, after listening to Re.D’s music, had even evaluated it as:
-It isn’t the work of a human.
Of course, that was a kind of meme.
Even if someone was called the father of music or the mother of music, it did not mean they had literally given birth to music, did it?
‘They say even a cow walking backward can catch a mouse by accident, but to think that was actually true.’
Did the person who first came up with that meme know?
That Re.D truly was not human, but a being from above the heavens?
‘But why would someone that great, no, a being that great, come to me?’
No matter how he looked at it, Re.D was not someone who should need to cough up blood just to ask Rowoon for help.
“You have something to ask of me?”
When Rowoon asked suspiciously.
“I told you. A being like me, bound by the laws of the immortal realm, cannot interfere in human affairs.”
That was the answer that came back.
“But you’re Re.D…?”
“That’s just a hobby. In today’s words, that would be what you call a side character. Hobbies aren’t restricted.”
…?”
A thousand-year-old fox was discussing trends.
“Anyway, it’s something only you can do. It absolutely won’t harm you.”
The other person, Cheon Iho, who had shown all his cards, gave an awkward smile.
It seemed he was trying to smile somehow, but the anxiety kept getting in the way, making it only look strained.
A desperate, piercing urgency, as though he had been cornered at the end of an alley.
“…”
It was not that there were no suspicious parts.
But Rowoon knew those eyes very well.
He had no choice but to notice.
Because once, they were eyes he had seen every time he faced the mirror.
In the end, he could only sigh and ask.
“You’re really not going to make me do anything weird, right? Like sign a co-loan.Or bring a dead person back to life. Or cough up a billion won. Nothing ridiculous like that.”
“What exactly do you take me for? There will absolutely be nothing like that. I swear it on my name.”
Iho answered seriously.
Yes.
Seeing him go this far, Rowoon felt like he understood just how desperate he was.
And Rowoon was someone who knew very well just how earnest that desperation could be.
He knew how painfully precious a hand extended in a moment like this could be.
“All right. What’s the request?”
“…! You’ll hear me out?”
“If everything you said to me is true, then yes. I’ll hear you out.”
“All of it, every bit of it, is true. If it isn’t true, I can be struck by lightning and die right here! You know this too, right? That words from beings like me have power. If needed, I’ll swear an oath too!”
Even without an oath, that was the truth.
There was no way he could reject him after seeing those eyes.
And surprisingly, at that moment.
Ding!
A familiar notification sound rang out.
Though the message that appeared afterward was unfamiliar.
[System $er#ror has occur%red]
[System#$er%ror]
After something crackled and flashed past his eyes for a moment.
[A request has arrived for you!]
[Will you accept the request?]
The notification he always saw appeared.
[Request: I Was Always There One Step Behind]
[Help the poor fox resolve his remaining regrets!]
[Reward: ????]
‘Why does the request name feel familiar……?’
It felt like a phrase he had heard a lot somewhere.
Rowoon pressed “Yes” without hesitation and completed the acceptance.
And at the same time.
[Wait! Waaaiiit!]
Between Cheon Iho and Rowoon, a water droplet that looked very familiar appeared, bubbling up with little water bubbles.
It was Cheonghwa.
“Cheonghwa?”
[The situation I’m imagining right now had better not be the situation I think it is, right?]
The answer came from somewhere else.
[Starlight 454 shakes its head and looks off toward the distant sky!]
[Starlight 834 strikes the ground and shows its regret!]
[Starlight 347 clutches its forehead and the back of its neck…]
“Did… something go wrong?”
[Of course something went wrong! The old geezers suddenly started making a fuss, so I came rushing over, and now! Did you really accept the request yourself? Don’t tell me that fox bewitched you?]
The arrow suddenly turned toward Iho.
[Eeeek! As expected of a fox, bewitching an innocent child like that!]
To start with, there were several problems with what Cheonghwa said.
First, Rowoon was not a child.
Second, Rowoon was neither innocent nor bewitched.
“Ah. It’s you.”
At that moment.
Iho, who had been watching the situation with his arms folded, opened his mouth.
“I heard there was some dim-witted fool in the heavenly realm who couldn’t even properly repay a favor. So that was you?”
The reaction was intense.
[Wh-what? Who are you calling a fool?]
“Isn’t it fair to call someone who can’t even maintain their main body a fool…?”
[No, it isn’t! There are circumstances! I-I definitely didn’t make a mistake or anything!]
“I heard, in passing, that you mixed up the target…”
[N-no, no, no! That’s not true! You mustn’t tell such a t-t-t-terrible l-l-l-lie!]
“Really? Then let’s say that’s the case. If I misunderstood, I’m sorry.”
[Huh?]
Cheonghwa, who had been trembling at the ready apology, paused.
[Th-then, yes. I am sorry for calling you a fox too.]
“Thanks.”
Rowoon, who had been watching, asked.
“Um, do you two know each other?”
[No?]
“Not at all.”
The answers popped out at the same time.
For people claiming they did not know each other, they looked very affectionate.
[Ahem. Well. For someone who ran down here saying he was sick of everything, you do seem to have quite a bit of insight. Hmph! But this is a different matter!]
“Ah, why? My immortal registration is still intact. I’m qualified enough, aren’t I? I follow the laws of the immortal realm to the letter.”
The atmosphere had seemed good just a moment ago.
But the warm mood where they apologized to each other for misspeaking vanished without a trace, and an ominous energy began passing between them again.
[You obtained that qualification through an improper method, didn’t you!]
“Ah. There were mutually conflicting restrictions, so it seemed worth stepping in, and I stepped in. Why is that improper? Isn’t it because your work was handled sloppily?”
[S-sloppy? This body put so much care into creating that system, and you call it sloooppy?]
“If you want, I could help a little. I’ve fought on the legal side a bit, so I’m fairly good at digging into those kinds of things.”
[No. Does this look like someone is asking for your help right now? The problem is that you created an exception that did not exist with your own hands!]
“Then you should have made sure exceptions couldn’t exist in the first place. What’s wrong with using something that exists?”
Flash!
It might have been an illusion, but somehow, it felt like lightning crackled right before his eyes.
It also felt as if, behind the two of them, he could see a dragon and a fox with ten tails respectively…
“Um.”
Rowoon squeezed in between them.
The atmosphere, which had been tense and sharply opposed, softened a little.
“Yes? What is it?”
As if he had not been smiling while tormenting Cheonghwa just moments ago, Iho turned his head toward Rowoon with a bright smile.
[Th-that, that! That wicked fox! Since when did he know you well enough to act so close!]
“Act close? If he’s a benefactor who will move for my sake, I’m not acting close. We are close.”
A dragon and tiger locked in battle.
For some reason, that phrase came to mind.
“The request itself is fine, right? From listening to your conversation, it doesn’t sound like Iho used illegal means.”
[Grnn. Strictly speaking, that is true. However! It may not be good for you. That fox is an exception among exceptions.]
“Does that have something to do with this immortal registration?”
[It does. It seems he has not been erased from the dragon realm’s immortal register even after spending long years on earth, but no matter how you look at it, it is dangerous.]
“That’s harsh on my pure white tails.”
The ten tails, which had been swaying as if they might fill the small conference room, drooped as though they had feelings.
“Is staying on earth the problem?”
[Of course. Is the earth not overflowing with all kinds of temptations and malice? What would happen if his true nature were stained by the pollution of the earthly world? The cultivation and effort he barely managed to build up to ascend to the heavens could turn into bubbles in an instant.]
In that sense, Cheonghwa pointed at Iho, saying he was exactly that kind of oddball.
The person in question, Iho, was staring at his fingernails and pretending not to know anything.
[It is impossible to know how that might affect you as well. That is why it would be best not to associate with such an exceptional fellow.]
“That sounds rather hurtful to the exception listening right here.”
[Haaaah… Yes. What use is all this now? You have already accepted the request. I had been choosing and choosing requests for you so carefully.]
This time, Cheonghwa’s lament was directed at Rowoon.
A certain observer had promised some amount of spiritual power.
Another observer had even promised a certain reward.
Every single one of them came with rewards and numbers that made his eyes pop just from hearing them.
However…
“But Cheonghwa.”
[Hm? What is it?]
“Then doesn’t that mean only those who already have things get opportunities?”
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