Living Dangerously with a 999-Year-Old Gumiho – Chapter 24

Sitting on the chair, the friends exchanged glances for a moment. Kangtae suggested.

“Shall we all just wash up?!”

Seojin stood up first and said, “Then I’ll go wash first~”

Seojin gathered her simple toiletries and headed for the bathroom.

When Seojin came out of the bathroom, Hyun smiled at her and said, “What’s this? You washed up so quickly. Now it’s my turn.”

As Hyun entered the bathroom, Yoonhwa and Kangtae chatted while looking at the scenery.

Kangtae pointed to the village visible through the window and remarked, “This village is really big.”

Yoonhwa approached the window and nodded while looking at the village with Kangtae. “Yeah. But the village we live in is pretty good too!”

When Hyun came out of the bathroom, Kangtae stood up and said, “Alright, now it’s my turn. Yoonhwa, just wait a bit.”

While Kangtae was washing up, Yoonhwa waited for her turn by picking up a magazine provided by the inn.

She quietly flipped through the magazine until Kangtae returned.

After Kangtae came out of the bathroom, Yoonhwa headed to the bathroom as her turn came.

She took out the cute pajamas with a fox drawing that she bought at the store, gently touched it, and smiled. “This outfit is so cute, I have to wear this tonight…”

The sound of warm water flowing in the bathroom reached the living room.

After washing her hands with the soap placed on the sink, Yoonhwa splashed water on her face and felt refreshed.

She stood in front of the mirror for a while, feeling the day’s fatigue slowly fading away.

Yoonhwa took off her clothes and necklace, standing under the stream of the shower.

As she removed her necklace, her tails and ears quickly popped out.

It seemed Yoonhwa was trying to wash away the fatigue of the day.

With the sound of water flowing down, her heart became calmer.

“It’s been so long since I felt this comfortable…”

“I used to feel it only when it rained…”

After finishing her shower and drying off, Yoonhwa stood in front of the mirror.

She shook her hair gently, gazing at her wet reflection for a moment.

“I’m soaked.”

“This is annoying to dry off, so… let’s solve it with magic.”

Yoonhwa reached out her hand, but nothing happened.

She was momentarily flustered.

She had forgotten that she couldn’t use her magic without the Fox Orb.

Looking at her damp hair, Yoonhwa pondered for a moment.

“Ah… without the Fox Orb, I have to do even these little things myself…”

She picked up a towel and cautiously began to dry her hair.

As she removed the moisture, Yoonhwa realized once more the significance of the Fox Orb.

“If I had my Fox Orb, I could have avoided this hassle…”

Yoonhwa resolved to retrieve her lost Fox Orb.

“I have to find my Fox Orb, no matter what!”

“Only then can I use my power again!”

With her determination set, Yoonhwa tidied up her appearance one last time in front of the mirror.

She put on the cute fox pajamas and stepped into the living room.

As Yoonhwa entered the living room, her adorable fox pajamas caught everyone’s attention.

The tail that peeked out over her pajamas accentuated her charm even more.

Hyun and Kangtae were completely taken in by Yoonhwa’s appearance.

Hyun was the first to exclaim, “Wow, Yoonhwa, you look so cute! Seeing you like this, are you really a Nine-Tailed Fox?!”

Kangtae also couldn’t hide his surprise and added, “It’s true, Yoonhwa. It really suits you…”

Seojin, while drinking water, saw her cute fox pajamas and ended up spraying water everywhere.

“Puhaha!! Yoonhwa! You… you’re so cute that I just spat out my water!”

Yoonhwa’s face flushed at her friends’ astonished reactions.

“Hey, don’t tease me!… I’m embarrassed, you know?!”

Seojin quickly wiped her mouth with her hand, trying to hold back her laughter.

“Sorry, sorry, Yoonhwa. I was just so surprised… Haha…”

“Your pajamas are so cute that I can’t help but keep looking.”

Hyun and Kangtae burst into even bigger laughter at Yoonhwa’s shy reaction.

Seojin looked at the droplets on the floor, slightly embarrassed, but still smiling.

“Oh dear, it’s turned into a mess.”

Seojin picked up a cloth nearby and meticulously cleaned up the spilled water on the floor.

“Could you help me here?”

When Seojin asked Kangtae for help, he stood up with an annoyed expression.

“Why do I have to clean your spit too…?”

Kangtae grumbled as he helped.

While cleaning up the water spilled on the floor, the friends created yet another precious memory by helping each other.

Yoonhwa watched them and felt once more how valuable these small moments were.

Hyun said nervously, “Shall we go look for Eunho now?”

Yoonhwa spoke with confidence. “Yeah! I must get back my Fox Orb.”

The friends began to turn off the lights in the living room, making the room darker.

Seojin cautiously said, “The Darkness Demon likes darkness and feeds on fear.”

“How about pretending to be scared?”

Kangtae seemed puzzled as he turned off the lights. “Pretending to be afraid… should we really be scared?”

Hyun cautiously suggested, “What if we aren’t really scared, but act scared to trick the Darkness Demon?”

“Let’s act our fears to lure him in. And maybe we can share some scary stories?”

“It’d help create a more sinister atmosphere.”

Yoonhwa let out a deep breath and agreed. “Okay, that sounds worth a try. Let’s make the Darkness Demon come drawn by our fear.”

“As for scary stories… sounds good, let’s start.”

The living room was now completely dark, and the friends held each other’s hands tightly and gathered in the center.

Seojin cheerfully spoke, “Listen to my story…!”

Seojin gestured for everyone to pay attention and began her tale in the darkness of the living room.

Her voice conjured a somber and heavy atmosphere.

“In a village during the Joseon Dynasty… there was a woman raising a baby.”

“She was poor, but she wanted to give her baby a better life.”

“One day, while on her way back to her family home, she ran out of money.”

“To make some, she decided to gamble with some men at the tavern.”

“The wager was that she had to bring back a candle holder from the old shrine on the mountain where ghosts were rumored to appear.”

At that, Kangtae interjected nervously, “Going alone to such a scary place is really reckless…”

Seojin ignored Kangtae’s comment and continued. “The mountain was rumored among people that those who went alone would never return.”

“But the woman bravely chose that path for her baby.”

“When night fell, she said, ‘Let’s go earn 10 nyang, baby,'”

“And with a sickle in hand, she headed to the shrine.”

“But on her way, someone suddenly touched the woman’s shoulder.”

Yoonhwa’s fox ears and tail twitched rapidly, and she rubbed Seojin’s arm. “Who touched her…? Was it a monster!?”

Seojin heard Yoonhwa’s question and continued her story. “The woman, terrified, swung her sickle.”

“But someone caught her sickle.”

“When she turned around, her baby was standing there, headless, holding the sickle.”

“The eyes that had fallen on the floor stared blankly at their mom…”

Hyun said uneasily, “Then… what happened to the woman?”

Seojin continued in a scarier voice. “The woman lost her mind and went crazy.”

“Carrying her headless baby, she kept repeating…”

“‘Let’s go earn 10 nyang, baby.'”

“Even now, they say she wanders the mountain, whispering…”

“‘Let’s go earn 10 nyang, baby.'”

The friends held their breath, hanging on Seojin’s words.

Seojin raised the mood even more and suddenly shouted loudly, “‘Let’s go earn 10 nyang, baby.'”

“‘Let’s go earn 10 nyang, baby.'”

“‘Let’s go earn 10 nyang, baby!'”

Her voice echoed within the living room, sending a wave of tension through the friends.

Seojin kept repeating the words, each time more haunting than before.

With the sudden loud noise, Yoonhwa and the others jumped, looking at each other.

With Seojin’s story and her sudden shout, the living room filled instantly with fear.

Hyun, feeling a shiver down his spine, said, “Seojin, stop… it’s really scary.”

But Seojin startled them again with one last loud shout, “Let’s go earn 10 nyang, baby!!!”

At Seojin’s sudden shout, Yoonhwa and the others gasped and looked at each other.

“Ugh!!”

Hyun exclaimed in shock, “Hey, Seojin! What the heck are you doing all of a sudden!”

Kangtae added with a startled voice, “For real, don’t scare us like that! My heart nearly exploded!”

Yoonhwa tried to calm her shocked heart and spoke to Seojin, “Wow… that was really surprising…!”

Seojin looked at her friends with a playful smile. “Surprised, right? I was just trying to lighten the mood. Did I succeed in scaring you?!”

When the room was engulfed in darkness, a shadow darker than the darkness suddenly emerged behind Hyun.

The shadow instantly made the friends tense up.

In the darkness, something seemed to brush past behind Hyun.

Kangtae warned in a nervous voice, “Hyun, watch out! There’s something behind you!”

Yoonhwa’s eyes widened as she stared at the shadow. “Hyun, turn around quickly! Behind you…!”

Hyun tried to turn around but found his body frozen and couldn’t move.

“W-What? What’s behind me?!”

At that moment, the tension in the room reached its peak.

Seojin attempted to turn on the light, but her legs were too weak to get up.

The living room was now engulfed in pure terror.

The shadow moved faintly behind Hyun.

It seemed to be crawling out of the darkness.

And then the shadow started to become clearer.

The friends held their breath, trying to discern what or who the shadow was.

At that moment, the shadow slowly revealed its form.

It was none other than Eunho.

As Eunho’s figure came into view, the fear among the friends deepened.

Eunho was taller than Yoonhwa.

When Seojin squeezed out her last strength to turn on the light, Eunho’s appearance changed.

Eunho squinted at the brightness and gradually shrank, becoming even smaller than Hyun.

“Uaaah!!”

Eunho looked at his friends in surprise.

The friends were overwhelmed with a mix of fear and confusion at the situation.

Eunho paused for a moment, then began to mock his friends with a smug smile.

“What can a fox without an orb and a bunch of humans do about me?…“

His voice dripped with confidence and contempt.

Eunho laughed scornfully, glancing around at the friends.

“What do you think you can do?”

“You don’t stand a chance against me.”

The friends felt anger rise at Eunho’s ridicule, but they kept their composure.

Hyun calmly addressed Eunho, “Why…? Did you take the Fox Orb?!”

“Did you really approach us from the start, aiming for the Fox Orb?!”

Eunho chuckled at Hyun’s question. “Haha, of course.”

“Do you really think I would become friends with you guys?”

“I’m just here to get what I want.”

“To get the Fox Orb..! Haha…”

Seojin glared at Eunho, holding back her rage. “You used our friendship.”

“You betrayed our trust. Such actions can never be forgiven!”

Kangtae raised his voice against Eunho’s arrogance. “What does that orb mean to you for deceiving all of us and using Yoonhwa?..”

“True power isn’t about that.”

Eunho smirked at Yoonhwa. “Yoonhwa… right? Why are you hanging out with humans?”

“Are you playing with them?”

Yoonhwa replied with a firm expression to Eunho’s cynical question, “Unlike you, I share real friendship with them.”

“You could never understand.”

Eunho appeared momentarily surprised by Yoonhwa’s response, but soon reverted back to his arrogant demeanor.

“Real friendship, huh…?”

“I guess you didn’t have real friendship back then?”

Lightly snapping his fingers, Eunho brought up Yoonhwa’s deepest wounds.

His words froze the air around them.

“That friendship you cherish so much…”

“But think of your past?”

“Your most precious things… you-”

Yoonhwa couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted, “Enough!!”

Eunho paused, taken aback by Yoonhwa’s sudden outburst.

Breaking the moment’s silence, Seojin stepped forward, staring Eunho down.

“Where did you hide the Fox Orb? That’s why we called you here.”

“No matter what you say, our goal hasn’t changed.”

Seojin’s voice was firm, and her gaze was fixed steadily on Eunho without yielding.

Eunho took a moment of silence before responding with a sneer. “The Fox Orb… it’s laughable that you’re causing all this commotion over such a small orb.”

“It’s already mine. No matter what you do, you will never retrieve it.”

Hyun felt anger rising at Eunho’s arrogant attitude but continued calmly, “Give it back..! It belongs to Yoonhwa.”

Eunho laughed even louder at Hyun’s words. “Give it back? This orb is mine now.”

“Really… how foolish?”

“The orb is right here in my pocket.”

“Try to take it away if you can.”

At Eunho’s provocation, the friends were filled with fury, but there was no way to beat Eunho.

Eunho looked at Yoonhwa and said, “Ah, after all, you should have met a Nine-Tailed Fox.”

“How do you use this orb?”