Eyes cracked open like smashed glass. For a second, blue sheets and blue curtains could be seen. The curtains were drawn and a welcoming darkness coloured the room with a warm shade. In the corner of a room sat a computer on a desk and a door that was deadbolted. "It was a dream!" He looked down to his hands, no claws. Just skinny hands and clipped nails.
He wasn't sure where he was for a moment, but it felt like home. It was just too familiar.
He sighed, closed his eyes and fell back onto the bed with a bold thud echoing in the room. What a relief.
However, opening his eyes once more it was evident his brain was playing tricks on him. The blue sheets turned into white and the once dark room was actually lit from the sun's blinding light harshly beating the wooden floor. The curtains were not drawn. The computer and desk had been replaced by a barrel with a few miscellaneous items on top.
And further to his disappointment, there was no door to connect the room with the rest of the building.
Where had it all gone? Is he still trapped in his nightmare?
He wasn't home. Breath hitched and clawed feet hit the ground. His sandals were gone but his white attire stayed. Leaving the room, he took a moment to observe his surroundings.
Junwoo desperately tried to recall what happened, only for a loud blaring noise to play in his mind, and fuzz taking over like static on a TV screen.
Without realising, he dropped to his knees. An empty expression on his face, almost dejected. The floor gliding across the palm of his hands felt too real. It was a solid oak, littered with dust.
His fearful eyes darted around. Looks like he's entered the kitchen and dining room. There was a single table in the centre of the room with only one chair. There was a faint warmth of fire and runes glowed on each wall, a different colour, vividly.
The situation was getting a little too real. He made a break for it, dashing across the house and going through every door he could find but none of them would lead to the exit.
"What kind of labyrinth is this?" Junwoo cried out in frustration, then torpedoed his body into the glass window next to him.
His body hit grass and the shards of broken glass started to despawn around him. He half expected injuries, but nothing.
He was… free? Surrounding him were endless grassy plains, and the distance gradually became more and more pixilated the further he looked. Surrounding the house was a small wooden fence, broken in multiple places. Nothing could stop him from jumping over but he ambled across to the gap in the fence anyway.
He pushed forwards, freedom grazing his fingertips.
"Tamed pets may not leave without their master's permission."
Text roared at him and a blue sphere encircled him and the house. He tried again and a harmless force exploded and sent flying back across the ground. Unrelenting, he tried again… and again… yet the text continued and flooded his chat. He recognised this text, he'd seen it before.
"Wait, no… I'm not a pet… I'm a human," he couldn't convince himself that as he looked down at himself. "I think…"
He tried the wall again, no matter how hopeless, there must be a way out.
Hands hopelessly smashed against the wall, causing ripples to flash from the area of impact. He dropped to his knees and screamed at the wall in disbelief.
A sharp presence appeared behind him and a jingle of a chain around his neck brought attention to his collar. A silver restraint with a dull golden glow was around his neck. A short length of chain dangled freely..
It all came flooding back to him. Everything that had happened: the smackdown he received; being chased; and then the tight chains that ensnared him where he couldn't move an inch.
'SHIT, this guy again.' He took a defensive pose, anger seething through his golden eyes and fangs showing. Claws were held out in front of him and he was ready to strike out again one wrong move.
His throat ached. His shaky voice called out, "I already told you. I'm not going to serve you. What sort of sick freak are you?!"
Kaelsu took a daring step forward and called his pet's bluff, who in turn mirrored his movement and took a cautious step back.
"Are you going to be disobedient the entire time?" Kaelsu sighed and rubbed the back of his head. A vein of anger was visible through the facade of his usual calm expression.
He tried to step back another time, but was caught by the sphere trapping him in this place.
"I'm not your pet," he fought back, but the towering man stood in front of him. An arm wrapped around his back, pulling him close and his free arm gently pulled at the chain on his collar to bring the visible appendage in front of the boy's eyes.
Junwoo tried to fight back, but the embrace was too strong. He averted his eyes by closing his eyes and looking away.
"I beg to differ. If you weren't my pet, you wouldn't have one of my collars. Would you?" Kaelsu teased. Junwoo grasped at the chain and tried to pull at it. Claws scraped at the metal harshly but it was pointless. The collar wasn't getting looser, no damage was done and it was still bolted on tightly.
Kaelsu's demeanor changed. He laughed at the attempt to break free which paused Junwoo's attempt and glared right back at him. The man looked as if he were almost double his height.
"You're not serious?"
No answer, just a smirk when Kaelsu realised his pet was starting to realise what was happening. Kaelsu had been playing this game for months. He was a standard casual player. He logged in every day, collected his dailies and aimed for full completion of the compendium and new content when it's released.
He had never seen this sort of event before. A disobedient pet rarely happens. But when it happens it's normally down to the personality of the pet if it hadn't been tamed properly.
Kaelsu let go of the chain and removed his arm. He checked the stats of his newly tamed monster. He tried this earlier, but didn't manage to get anywhere as the whole menu was full of question marks. Except the HP.
[Unnamed Monster]
Species: Jiuweihu
HP: 300/300
MP: ???
Attack: ???
DEF: ???
Magic: ???
Speed: ???
EXP to level up: ???
Skills: [blank]
Kaelsu's expression grew concerned. "Do you have a name?" His eyes laid on the nameplate of his pet. Kaelsu's name was on there, but that was to only show ownership of him. All his other pets have their default names, he never bothered to rename them.
But this one seemed… different. More sentient? Does this game use AI now?
Junwoo's pained expression grew deeper as he tried to recall his name. Eyes widened, then narrowed. He couldn't remember it earlier… and he couldn't remember it now. He was sure he had a name, it was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't remember it. He was visibly stressed, this much could be seen by Kaelsu who placed a reassuring hand on the monster's shoulder. He tried so hard to keep his eyes from filling up with tears.
Kaelsu's brows furrowed. Junwoo gave up and shook his head softly. Kaelsu hummed and thought for a moment. "How about Azalea?"
No, he didn't like that. It didn't sound right. The fox/human hybrid shook his head. Kaelsu wasn't great with naming conventions. Even his own name was randomly generated from the game's character creation prompt. He paused for a moment, Junwoo wasn't sure why but it was as if he were afk.
"Azadeus?"
That sounded better. It still wasn't right. Junwoo watched Kaelsu's eyes with scrutiny, but decided to accept it. "Azadeus is fine," his voice was a low whisper. A ding sounded above him and when he looked up he saw 'Kaelsu' and below that was 'Azadeus'. His face twisted seeing Kaelsu's name above his. Everything started to feel too real again.
Kaelsu pressed a few more buttons, while 'Azadeus' couldn't see what he was doing he waited for him to finish. Kaelsu plainly asked, "Do you even have any skills? Are you just useless?" Were the rumours wrong? Was this actually an ultra-rare pet required to clear the new content?
Previously, Kaelsu made an attempt to storm the new dungeon, The Abyssal Crown, but that was short-lived when he was immediately beaten and forced back to the entrance in the first battle. He needed to get stronger, and to him, that was only possible with the strongest monsters.
"What? Skills? What are you talking about?" Junwoo/Azadeus spat at him. Kaelsu was too blunt, what the hell? He talks so much about keeping Junwoo as his pet, but aren't people supposed to love their pets?!
"Are you faulty? Come with me," Kaelsu commanded and simply walked through the exit. The same exit that Junwoo was unable to walk through before.
Azadeus faltered, admittedly he was skeptical. 'Is this a joke? Is he trying to make fun of me?' he thought to himself, watching Kaelsu turn around when he realised that Azadeus wasn't following.
Kaelsu frowned. He wasn't sure why Azadeus looked anxious and so untrusting. Normally, disobedient pets still follow their masters. If he wasn't a pet, the binding spell wouldn't have worked. He also wouldn't have his own stats page that monsters and tamed beasts specifically have.
His crimson eyes narrowed. "Come." He was unyielding. He wasn't going to let his pet have power over him. If he was going to act like a child, he was going to treat him like one. He pressed a few buttons on the menu and the collar turned red.
It took Junwoo by surprise, but the glow made his body burn up. Sharp stabbing pains resonated throughout his entire body. His legs moved without prompt, it wasn't him. He watched as he grew closer to the magical barrier, bracing himself for a lance of pain to shred him as his body continued to move on its own. Resisting was useless and caused more pain.
Junwoo's sharp eyes widened, he was on the other side. "What was that?" He pointed in the direction he came from. "What did you do? I couldn't get out before."
"If you aren't going to obey me, I'll impose restrictions on you. You are to stay by my side. You can only leave your Summoner's territory if you are in their party."
"Kaelsu…" Junwoo growled. He realised that's the first time he's spoken his name. It rolled off his tongue in a way that left a bad taste. Since he met Kaelsu, he only felt fear and anxiety. The occasional moment of anger hit him, but right now all he could feel was rage. This guy really sees him as just a pet. An in-game item.
He blinked. "Kaelsu? You are to call me master from now on, like all the other pets."
Kaelsu's words stung him like poisoned daggers. He stood, frozen in place in front of his new master. Ugh, 'master' the thought of that word freaked him out. He still didn't want to believe he was under this bastard's control.
The taller of the pair continued walking off, his strides were long and hard to keep up with but Azadeus didn't have a choice. He kept up whether he wanted to or not. He seethed quietly walking a couple of steps behind him until they finally ended up as their destination.
They arrived at a clearing in the forest, with a few stumps around and what looked to be training equipment. Kaelsu watched Azadeus stiffen as he released the restriction on his pet.
"Let's see what you can do," he knelt down to face the younger of the two and cupped his chin with his hand. "I heard a story about an unknown fox monster entering human territory without a summoner. An untamed Jiuweihu. This monster set someone's pets on fire without even lifting a finger."
The collar changed back to its standard silver collar, and Junwoo could move again as normal.
He turned his face away and pouted. Through his guilt-ridden expression, he continued to be stubborn. "I don't know anything about that."
Kaelsu was starting to lose his patience. "That was you, wasn't it? Why can't I see any of your stats? Why does it say you don't have any skills." His voice became more threatening as the interrogation continued.
There was a thin line of tension lined the air around them. 'So he's going to play that game.' Kaelsu thought to himself.
"If you're useless just tell me now, I'll let you go."
Wait. Was this his chance to leave? But then he'd have to admit to being useless. Junwoo felt helpless since he woke up in this nightmare. He was dying to leave, he didn't want to be a pet to some jerk.
"That's right," he exploded. His pride went down the drain a long time ago. "I'm useless so let me go. If I have to spend another minute with you, I actually think I might kill you!" He was a hot-headed mess at the moment, he huffed and puffed after each word. He could feel anger welling up inside, and his vision blurred.
A huge gust of wind flew past Kaelsu, the directed anger forced out a spell that clipped off a bit of Kaelsu's hair and set a tree alight. Kaelsu's eyebrows were raised and turned around to the fiery source of heat behind him. He looked back and after a moment he laughed. Then clapped.
The entire tree had been lit up within seconds, and fire spread to other trees surrounding them before extinguishing themselves. Nothing but ashes remained.
Junwoo watched in disbelief after what he did. He hoped that it would be the summoner that got hit by his flare, but he missed.
A sudden wave of weakness fell over him and he couldn't bring himself to stand up any more. Did he deplete his mana already? After one skill?
No that can't be right, this didn't happen before. Kaelsu rushed over to him and caught him as he fell, just before he hit the ground. His lips were curved into that same beaming smile from before. "What are you happy about, you b-"
His own throat cut him off. "You b-" and again. Junwoo tried his hardest to push himself out of Kaelsu's arms but he fit so snug in his grip.
"I told you, you can only refer to me as master from now on," Kaelsu scolded, and helped him back onto his feet gently but held onto his arm to support him.
Junwoo ripped his arm back, he was too stubborn to admit he needed help but all of a sudden he could feel a pain in his stomach. A pain he's all too familiar with. He hadn't eaten since he came to this world, and he's not even sure if he ate before he came here. It felt like it had been weeks since he had anything.
He couldn't fight back without some form of sustenance.
"Master…" he could feel the vomit rise as he pleaded. "I'm hungry."