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Episode 1
Ten years ago, I ended up in this strange world.
Back then, I was just an ordinary college student in my twenties. One day, I went to an amusement park to ride a gyro drop tower for the first time in my life. After waiting in line for two hours, it was finally my turn.
The ride slowly went up.
Then, the moment it dropped.
I don’t know if my soul got thrown out of my body or if I died from a heart attack.
When I opened my eyes, I was lying under a strange tree.
“Rosha. Are you awake?”
“…Who… are you…?”
“You fell into a valley while we were crossing the canyon. Don’t you remember? I thought you were really going to die!”
A boy who looked no older than thirteen hugged me tightly.
But his ears…
What are those? Animal ears?
They weren’t headbands. They looked like real wolf or dog ears.
At first, I thought maybe there was some kind of amusement park event going on.
But soon, I noticed something even stranger.
Why is this boy so huge?
Wait… am I the small one?
I looked down at my hands.
Something felt wrong.
“AAAAAH!”
My hands were soft.
They were covered in fur.
I had claws.
And they were small and white!
The moment I realized I had become an animal, I fainted again.
When I woke up, I expected to find myself back in the real world.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a dream.
I had really become a white weasel.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
The boy explained that we were being chased.
“Rosha. We only need to cross one more mountain before we reach the village where the beastfolk are gathering. Can you do it?”
Across a mountain?
Me?
I used elevators just to go up three floors at home!
But the boy looked so serious that I ended up nodding.
For now, I wanted to figure out what was going on.
“Rosha. Stay close to me. And if we meet humans, never talk while you’re in animal form.”
“Okay… brother.”
Being completely alone in a strange world was terrifying.
So the boy felt like someone I could depend on.
Apparently, he was this body’s older brother.
And honestly, his warm embrace was the first comfort I had felt since arriving here.
Over the next three days, we crossed the mountain.
During the entire journey, he took care of me.
Even though he was still just a kid himself, he looked after me with incredible kindness.
It was so touching that it almost made me cry.
Finally, after three exhausting days, we arrived at the village where the beastfolk were supposed to gather.
I thought our suffering was finally over.
I was wrong.
What awaited us was a nightmare.
“AAAAH!”
“URGH!”
“Get them! Capture them all!”
For a moment, I wondered if I had died and gone to hell.
Screams echoed throughout the village.
Blood was everywhere.
“Rosha, listen carefully. You understand what’s happening, right? Stay calm.”
We were hiding in an alley.
The boy explained that the Imperial Army was exterminating the beastfolk hiding there.
I was already struggling to accept being a talking weasel.
Now I was trapped in the middle of a massacre.
I couldn’t even speak.
I was shaking too badly.
Then the boy said:
“Live. Live as a human.”
Live.
As a human.
At the time, I didn’t realize those would be his final words to me.
“There’s a beastman in that alley!”
A whistle shrieked through the air.
Soldiers were approaching.
The sound of their armor rattled closer and closer.
Then my brother pulled two things from a pouch.
A gemstone.
And a sword.
He pushed the gemstone into my mouth.
“Br-Brother!”
The moment I swallowed it, my body changed.
A cool sensation spread through me.
When I opened my eyes, I had become human.
“Wh-what is this…?”
“You need to eat one gemstone every day to stay human. Remember that. Never forget.”
He placed a small pouch into my hands.
Then he spoke again.
“Please remember this, Rosha. The world is cruel to beastfolk.”
Half-human and half-wolf, he looked at me sadly.
Then he pulled me against him from behind.
And placed the sword against my throat.
At that moment, a soldier spotted us.
“A beastman is holding a human hostage!”
My brother shouted,
“Come any closer, and I’ll kill this human!”
Br.
I tried to call him.
But the blade pressed against my skin stopped me.
Tears filled my eyes.
Not because I was afraid of the sword.
But because I finally understood.
He was pretending to threaten me.
He was giving me a chance to survive.
He wanted everyone to believe I was human.
So I could escape.
“Kill the beastman!”
Suddenly, another soldier appeared from behind.
He slammed something into my brother’s head.
“Ah!”
I turned around in shock.
Even as he collapsed, he shook his head at me.
As if telling me not to say anything.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Thud.
He hit the ground.
Blood spread beneath him.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed.
A soldier grabbed my shoulders.
“Are you okay? Why are you here? We’re clearing out beastfolk!”
But I couldn’t stop staring at my brother.
“Kid… you’re human, right?”
My eyes followed the trail of blood on the ground.
Red blood.
The same as a human’s.
The soldiers grabbed my brother’s body and began dragging it away.
Like trash.
No!
I wanted to reach for him.
Then, suddenly, he opened his eyes.
Just a little.
And smiled.
His lips moved silently.
Live.
Tears streamed down my face.
My throat felt completely blocked.
But somehow, I forced the words out.
“…I’m human.”
I couldn’t reject his final wish.
He had risked his life to save me.
Even though he didn’t know, the real Rosha was already gone.
I couldn’t let his sacrifice be meaningless.
Looking down, I saw the pouch he had given me.
Inside were the gemstones he had left behind.
The last thing he could give me.
“I’m… human. Please save me.”
That day, I swore I would survive.
No matter what kind of strange world I had fallen into.
I would live.
And I would keep my promise.
It would be many years before I learned exactly what kind of world this was.
Present Day
“Good grief. Why is there a dead weasel lying here? How disgusting.”
Early in the morning, a maid found a white weasel lying beside a staircase.
Thinking it was dead, she grabbed it by its hind leg.
Then she opened a nearby window.
Slide.
And tossed it outside without a second thought.
Thump.
The white weasel landed in a flowerbed.
Its eyes remained closed.
But its chest rose and fell ever so slightly.
It was still alive.
Some time later…
A polished black boot nudged the white bundle of fur.
A handsome man with shining golden hair and a neat military uniform had stopped in front of it.
Noticing it was breathing, he crouched down.
He gently turned the weasel onto its back.
“A weasel.”
His golden hair fell over his shoulders as he studied it.
“White… and tiny.”
The creature was small enough to fit completely in his hands.
Its fur was glossy.
Its paw pads and the inside of its ears were a soft pink.
Its black nose shone slightly.
Tiny white whiskers twitched beside it.
I wonder what its eyes look like when they’re open?
Then he noticed something else.
Its front paw was badly swollen.
“Hm.”
He carefully picked up the weasel with one hand.
The little creature squirmed weakly.
As if trapped in a nightmare, it let out a small whine.
The man moved it from his hand to his chest.
Immediately, the weasel relaxed.
Its breathing became steadier.
Its stiff body melted into the warmth.
A faint smile appeared on the man’s lips.
“Your Highness, what is that?”
Another man approached.
He had silver hair and glasses.
Unlike the prince, he seemed uncomfortable around the animal and kept his distance.
The blond man looked down at the sleeping weasel and replied quietly,
“Who knows?”
His smile deepened.
“Maybe an angel that fell from the sky.”
He held the tiny weasel as carefully as if it were a priceless treasure.
