How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 57. The Fox

“Woof!”

As soon as he returned to the hotel room, Winter greeted him with a wagging tail.

Kim Do-jin, feeling pleased, patted Winter before setting down the hoverboard he had ridden in on.

Of course, it had been transformed back into a bag’s shape, so that no one could discern its true identity.

In any case, he had perfectly achieved his original goal of harvesting ‘spirit herbs.’

With a satisfied heart, Kim Do-jin ambled toward the sofa, thinking of watching some TV before bed.

But it was in that moment.

“…!”

With the sharp mana detection unique to a ‘Devourer’ psychic, Kim Do-jin suddenly sensed a peculiar mana wave and turned his head in that direction.

“Huh?”

To his astonishment, behind the window he turned to, stood a fox with fur as white as snow.

“That is…”

It was immediately clear that this fox was no ordinary wild creature.

Kim Do-jin’s eyes widened as he cautiously approached the window where the fox stood.

He then creaked the window open and reached out to grab the fox that was perched on the railing beyond.

“Yip!”

The fox offered no resistance as it was caught in Kim Do-jin’s hand, and it was drawn into the hotel room.

“Did it climb over those railings? Just where did it come from…?”

Kim Do-jin tried to figure out how the fox had made its way here, but lacking clues, he eventually shook his head and closed the window again.

“Ha…”

He could not discern how or why it had come here on its own.

But what mattered was that this rare ‘spirit creature’ was sitting right before him, calm and composed.

“What on earth is happening all of a sudden?”

Kim Do-jin, bewildered yet exhilarated, slowly reached out his hand.

“Does it have an owner, perhaps?”

At that, the fox tilted its head slightly, as if pondering.

“Yip!”

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Suddenly, it leapt into Kim Do-jin’s arms.

“Eh?”

As Kim Do-jin, caught off guard, scooped him into his arms, Winter, who stood nearby, began to glare with a mix of suspicion and jealousy.

“Grrowl…!”

In response, Kim Do-jin let out a wry smile and tried to calm Winter down.

Then, he gently set the oddly obedient fox down on the sofa.

“What kind of superpower does this little creature possess?”

Though Kim Do-jin had an exceptional sensitivity to mana, it was beyond his ability to discern what powers a ‘spirit beast’ might be hiding.

So, he decided to wait and see if it would use its powers.

“Hmm…”

The fox, however, merely continued to act cute like a puppy, showing no signs of any supernatural abilities.

“…This is troublesome.”

At this rate, he had no choice but to wait indefinitely until it decided to reveal its powers.

For a long while afterward, Kim Do-jin tried to coax the fox into using its abilities, but regrettably, he never succeeded.

‘Damn. Is it already past ten?’

He couldn’t just stay awake waiting for the fox to use its powers.

With that thought, Kim Do-jin took a shower, changed into his pajamas, and flopped onto the bed.

And then, in the very next moment.

“Bark!”

Winter leaped onto the bed, claiming a spot right next to Kim Do-jin.

With a slight snarl, he threatened the fox that had dared to follow.

“Grrowl…!”

Yet, the fox, whether it truly was a spirit beast or not, showed no fear and nestled into the remaining space beside Kim Do-jin.

“Huh…”

The fox even licked Kim Do-jin’s face, more like a puppy than Winter, and he found it quite peculiar as he reached for the smartphone he had set aside.

“Eh?”

When he turned on the screen, he saw missed calls and text messages.

“Im So-hee?”

Kim Do-jin quickly checked the contents of the message.

[Are you busy? I tried calling because there’s something I want to discuss… Please get back to me later!]

Often, Im Sohee would send messages over trivial matters, but never had the content seemed so grave.

“Um….”

Kim Dojin thought perhaps she was troubled by something, yet he never considered that the source of her distress might be the spirit fox right beside him.

‘It’s too late now; I’ll have to talk to her in the morning.’

Thus resolved, Kim Dojin pulled the blanket over himself, seeking sleep.

And after some time had passed.

“….”

The drowsiness crept in, and he slowly closed his eyes, surrendering to slumber.

* * *

“Umm….”

Kim Dojin awoke to a warm, slick sensation brushing against his cheek, a soft sound escaping his lips.

“Stop it, Winter….”

With his eyes still shut, he assumed it was Winter, as usual, licking him with that familiar tongue.

So, instinctively, he reached out to push the creature away.

“…Huh?”

Yet, something felt off.

It wasn’t Winter’s fluffy fur he touched, but rather the smooth skin of a person.

“What the!”

Startled, Kim Dojin shot his eyes open, and soon he discerned the nature of that sensation.

“W-What is this…!”

Right beside him, licking his cheek, was none other than Im Sohee.

Or rather, to be precise, it was the spirit fox transformed into Im Sohee, though it took Kim Dojin a moment to grasp this truth.

“Im Sohee?”

The fox, now in her form, was, of course, completely naked, and Kim Dojin’s face flushed crimson as he hastily covered her with the blanket.

Then, in a flurry, he recoiled backward.

“Kiihng!”

The fox, embodying Im Sohee, tossed the blanket aside as if it were a nuisance and leaped toward him.

“Gah!”

Caught off guard, Kim Dojin found himself embracing Im Sohee’s bare form once more, frozen in shock, yet soon began to assess the situation with a cool head.

“…Did she have shapeshifting powers all along?”

Last night, if that creature, the fox, possessed the supernatural ability of ‘transformation,’ then perhaps this absurd situation could indeed be explained.

“…….”

Kim Do-jin, taking on the form of Im So-hee, suddenly grasped the shoulder of the fox that was trying to lick his face.

“Ki-hing?”

As expected.

Kim Do-jin gazed down at the fox, which looked up at him with an innocent face—yes, the fox that bore the likeness of Im So-hee—his eyes sparkling with wonder.

A creature with the power of ‘transformation’ had come to him of its own accord; where else could such a stroke of luck be found?

A bright smile spread across Kim Do-jin’s face, but the moment he caught sight of Im So-hee’s bare body again, his face flushed crimson, and he quickly turned away.

“Wait, just a moment….”

He wrapped the fox, resembling Im So-hee, tightly in a blanket and sat it on the bed, binding it securely so it wouldn’t wriggle free.

“Ugh… what now?”

If this creature was without a master, he could train it as he pleased.

But what if it already had a master?

“Hmm….”

As Kim Do-jin pondered, stroking his chin, a sudden vibration interrupted his thoughts.

– Vroom!

His smartphone, which he had set aside, buzzed unexpectedly.

“Who could be calling at this hour?”

He quickly picked up the phone and, upon checking the screen, his mouth fell open in surprise.

“Could it be Im So-hee?”

The reason this creature had transformed into none other than Im So-hee. And connecting it to the message she had sent last night about needing to discuss something… it seemed likely that Im So-hee had discovered this creature first.

“Is that a good thing, at least?”

Having concluded his thoughts, Kim Do-jin swiftly manipulated his smartphone to answer the call from Im So-hee.

* * *

“Ugh….”

Suddenly awakened, Im So-hee stirred and mumbled.

But in the very next moment.

“……!”

She opened her eyes wide and shot up, startled.

—

It was clear that the spirit fox, which had been sleeping beside her, was now nowhere to be felt in her hand.

“W-where did it go?”

Im Sohee hastily leapt from the bed, scouring every corner of the hotel room, yet she could not find the spirit fox.

“Could it be…?!”

At last, her gaze fell upon the half-open window.

Even for a spirit, it seemed more natural to have slipped out through the window than to have opened the door.

Sohee dashed to the window, peering outside, and indeed, there were ledges small enough for a tiny fox to wander upon.

The question then became: where had it gone, scaling those ledges?

“Oh, what do I do?!”

If it had been an ordinary fox, there would have been no reason for such worry.

But this fox was a ‘spirit,’ one with the power to transform into her own likeness, and she could not simply let it be.

What if it transformed in front of others, revealing its true form—its naked self?

“No way!”

Suddenly imagining such a scene, Sohee’s face went pale as she glanced around in panic.

In this dire moment, the first person who came to mind was Kim Dojin, the one who had offered her the most help and support.

– Thud!

Sohee quickly grabbed her smartphone and dialed Kim Dojin’s number.

– Ring… ring…

As she anxiously paced, listening to the ringing tone, her eyes suddenly widened, and she shouted.

“H-Hello!?”

At last, Kim Dojin answered the call.

A sense of reassurance washed over Sohee, brightening her expression, but once the call connected, she found herself at a loss for words.

Stammering like a fool, she was surprised when Dojin spoke first, voicing what she had intended to say.

[Did you call to find the missing fox?]

Sohee, though he couldn’t see her, nodded vigorously in response.

“Exactly! How did you know?”

Perhaps it was a rather foolish question, for Dojin paused briefly before explaining.

[…Because there’s a white-furred spirit fox with special powers in my room?]

The very spirit fox she had been searching for had ended up in the room of the person she was about to ask for help.

Sohee’s face lit up with relief as she replied.

—

—

“Is that so? Thank goodness! Can I go there right now!?”

[Uh. Yeah. My room is…….]

“Room 1822, right?”

[Uh, uh… that’s right.]

“Okay! Just wait a moment!”

[Sure.]

Thus, the call ended.

As soon as Lim Sohee set down her smartphone, she hurriedly washed her face and changed her clothes.

Then, after spending a while adjusting her appearance in front of the mirror, she stepped out of the hotel room.

However, on her way to Kim Dojin’s room, 1822…

“……!”

Suddenly, it struck her that she had overlooked the possibility of the spirit fox in Kim Dojin’s room transforming into her naked form.

“Could it be…!?”

In an instant, Lim Sohee halted, her face turning pale as a ghost.

“No way!”

Now realizing the gravity of the situation, Lim Sohee dashed toward room 1822 where Kim Dojin was.

Finally arriving, she knocked on the door with a loud thud.

“Uh. Just a moment.”

Kim Dojin casually walked out and unlocked the door with a click.

“Th-that….”

“……?”

“Could it be that the fox… transformed into my likeness?”

The flicker of hope Lim Sohee had harbored shattered into pieces.

Suddenly, Kim Dojin averted his gaze, looking somewhat embarrassed, and spoke.

“Come in.”

With a face on the verge of tears, Lim Sohee followed Kim Dojin inside, and soon enough, she laid eyes on the fox she had been searching for.

As feared, it was indeed transformed into her exact likeness, sitting atop Kim Dojin’s bed.