NOVEL WEB 1
I became a hamster.
It sounds ridiculous—what do you mean, becoming a hamster out of nowhere? But that’s exactly what happened.
Even in the darkness, my fur shimmered with a smooth golden hue. My tiny, pink-tinted paws twitched. Every time I scrunched my cheeks, my long whiskers trembled. And whenever the black cloth above me fluttered, allowing a sliver of light to seep through, my reflection in the iron bars revealed a pair of blue eyes…
…Wait a second. Iron bars?
Iron bars!?
—Squeak! (What the hell!?)
Correction.
Not just a hamster. I became a hamster trapped in a cage, being transported to who knows where.
*
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
The iron cage confining me rattled violently. Every time it jolted hard, my tiny body tumbled around inside, bouncing off the bars repeatedly.
Who the hell is driving like this? Are you even trying? Ever heard of safe driving?!
Thud.
I was flung into the corner of the cage again. My butt throbbed from the impact.
The sound of a horse snorting reached my ears. Oh great, what an amazing ride. So amazing that if this continued any longer, I’d be making direct eye contact with the King of Hell.
Where the hell are we going? Why did I turn into a hamster? And why, out of all possible modes of transportation, are we on horseback instead of a car, bus, or train?!
This is bullshit. This is seriously unfair. It’s so obvious that even explaining it feels stupid, but—I’m not a hamster. I’m a human!
‘That’s right! I’m a person!’
Baek Soo-hyun. Twenty-seven years old this year. A tough, weed-like existence who had stumbled through a life full of thorns but never once given up.
Day and night, dawn and morning, I worked endlessly, living through an endless cycle of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday, and more Friday. But I never doubted that my hard work would pay off someday.
And after years of effort, that day had finally come. The very day my painstakingly developed game became a massive hit.
‘…And then I died?’
Yeah. I died.
As my initial shock subsided, the last fragments of my memory started to resurface.
Right. I had just received my first payout from the game—my precious creation that had finally found success. My heart had been pounding with excitement, so much so that I was practically floating on my way home…
Clunk.
Suddenly, the cage lurched violently, as if it was about to fly off. I rolled to the opposite end and smacked into the bars headfirst. Bright blue sparks flickered in my vision.
‘Are you fucking kidding me?’
Frustrated, I kicked the cage hard with my tiny foot. At that moment, a voice called out from nearby.
“…I’m sorry.”
A deep, unfamiliar voice. Gentle, yet unfamiliar.
“Just endure it a little longer.”
Wait. Why did that sound familiar?
‘I’m sorry. Just hold on. I’ll take you to your new home soon.’
Ah. I remembered now.
I had been standing at the crosswalk in front of my apartment when a child holding a hamster cage bumped into me. The impact shoved me into the road. And just as my body tilted dangerously forward—
A car hit me.
I had realized instantly, with an almost primal instinct, that I was about to die. A surge of fear consumed my senses, and then—
Flash.
A bright blue light flickered before my eyes.
‘Wait. Blue light?’
[Hello, World!]
A translucent blue system window suddenly filled my vision, and I froze in shock.
I knew this phrase. Every programmer knew this phrase. It was the most basic line of code, the first thing entered when testing any program.
More system messages popped up one after another above the first window.
[Connection confirmed. Verifying data.]
[Assigning quest.]
[Calculating miracle value.]
[Only partial data is available.]
[Synchronization incomplete. Please wait!]
[…Synchronization 0% complete.]
‘What the hell? Data? Quests? Synchronization…?’
With so many bizarre things happening at once, I had no idea which part I should even be freaking out about.
While I was still stunned, the horse that had been clattering forward suddenly came to a halt. It seemed like the owner of that voice had gotten off while carrying my cage. The rattling stopped, but my stomach was still churning from motion sickness.
A cold wind blew from somewhere, making me shiver. Then, another voice spoke up nearby.
“Your Highness, are you truly not going to throw it away?”
…Your Highness?
Now that I was off the damn horse, they were calling me “Your Highness”? What the hell? This was the 21st-century Republic of Korea—what kind of “Your Highness” nonsense was this? The only “Your Highness” I knew was some old man in a dragon robe from those historical dramas I watched as a kid.
The low voice from earlier spoke again.
“It’s just a baby that got separated from its pack. Isn’t it pitiful?”
“Pitiful? Your Highness, it’s a beast’s offspring. Once it grows, it’ll lure in prey and—”
I narrowed my eyes and examined my tiny body from head to toe.
Lure? With this body? Are you kidding me?
This isn’t some monster cub—it’s a normal hamster!
The statement was obviously absurd, yet the guy said it with such seriousness that it almost sounded convincing.
The deep-voiced man cut him off sharply.
“I told you, it’s still a baby.”
“That’s exactly why it’s a beast cub, Your Highness.”
“Yes. Just a cub.”
“But it’s the offspring of a beast—that’s the problem!”
Could they quit it with the “cub” nonsense already? The “cub” in question was getting seriously annoyed over here…
As I quietly grumbled to myself, the deep-voiced man’s tone grew cold.
“Does my decision displease you?”
It was framed as a question, but the sheer authority dripping from every syllable left only one acceptable answer.
The other man trembled like a leaf as he stammered, “N-No, of course not. I only found it unfamiliar, as there’s no precedent for such a thing. How could I possibly question anything the Grand Duke decides?”
“Good. Then leave it to me. Surely, I am not weaker than a beast cub the size of my fist.”
Not just “Your Highness”—but Grand Duke Your Highness?
“I’ve already sent word to the estate to prepare a home. Keeping it as mere decoration would be laughable.”
“You could just keep an ordinary mouse. Shall I fetch one for you?”
“No. So don’t make me repeat myself.”
“…Understood.”
Stubborn as hell, aren’t you?
Clank, clank. Every time he walked while carrying my cage, the sound of armor clinking and heavy footsteps echoed around us. I could feel the air warming slightly, as if we were climbing stairs.
So… it was winter outside? When I died, it was summer. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks—my situation was completely abnormal.
The man carried me into a room and pulled off the cloth covering my cage.
“We’ve arrived.”
I curled up in the corner and pretended to sleep as hard as I could.
Something told me that was the right move. I couldn’t even talk properly in this form, and even if I could, I had a feeling they’d label me a monster and chop my head off on the spot.
‘…How the hell did my life end up like this?’
Give it back. My money. My success. My golden future that was just starting to unfold…!
“Tsk, tsk.”
The man clicked his tongue, sounding genuinely regretful.
Hey, I’m the one who should be devastated here—why the hell are you sighing? I should be the one clicking my tongue until it falls off!
“Doesn’t anyone have a heart?” he murmured.
…A heart?
“When you look into these innocent, bright eyes… before it’s a beast, it’s—”
Inno-what? What about my eyes? Wait, was he talking about me?
“That’s right. They have no compassion. Have I spent too long in the North? I’ve turned into nothing but an ice block. Tsk, tsk.”
Click.
He unlocked the latch on my cage.
Then, without warning, a large, calloused hand reached in and grabbed me.
—Squeak. (Huh?)
Startled, I completely forgot to keep pretending to sleep and snapped my eyes open, staring straight at him.
At that exact moment—
[Synchronization 50% complete.]
[Kyle Jane Meinhardt. Grand Duke Blake.]
A translucent system window appeared right beneath the face looming over me.
Wait a minute.
‘…I know this name. Where have I heard it before?’
I didn’t have time to think. He lifted my tiny body in his scarred, battle-hardened hands—then, without hesitation, rubbed his cheek against my soft fur.
Wait.
Hold on.
What the fuck.
“Well done, Cashew Nut. You were so patient the whole way here.”
Patient? It was an hour of pure terror.
No, that wasn’t the issue here—get off me! What the hell was this? Why was this ridiculously handsome but slightly unhinged man holding me up like—
Hey! Stop kissing me!
—Squeak! Squeak-squeak! (Get off me!)
“There, there. I understand everything you’re feeling.”
‘Like hell you do! You don’t understand a single thing!’
His face was way too close.
His lips were touching my fur.
—Squeak! Squeak-squeak! Squeak! (You son of a—what the actual fuck?!)
“You’re so lively. That’s a relief.”
—Squeeeeak! (I said get lost!)
“Hmm? Do you like me that much?”
LIKE HELL I DO!
‘…Wait a second. This face.’
I stared at his face for a moment—his dazzling, almost overwhelmingly intense face.
His skin, though slightly pale, was firm and smooth. His sharp eyebrows framed striking red eyes beneath his jet-black hair. A man with a strong, resolute yet chillingly cold appearance…
—Squeak? (Grand Duke Blake?)
I remembered now. The Grand Duke of the North—Kyle.
He was a supporting character from a novel I had skimmed through a few days ago during my commute, Heart of Winter.
To make matters worse, he wasn’t even an important character—he was someone who died halfway through the story. The moment I read about his tragic end, I dropped the novel without hesitation.
The only reason I even remembered him among the dozens of characters was that his fate had been the most miserable of them all. His destiny was as ruthless as his personality—I had sighed in pity more times than I could count while reading.
‘So…’
I died and got reincarnated into a novel?
“Cashew Nut?”
Cashew Nut.
That seemed to be my—no, this hamster’s name.
Kyle carefully examined me, his gaze filled with an almost overwhelming gentleness, as if he were checking to see if I was hurt.
His eyes were so full of concern that it was almost too much to handle.
You’re gonna drill a hole through me at this rate, you bastard. Stop staring already.
Annoyed, I whipped my head around and glared at him with the most disrespectful expression I could muster.
“…That look in your eyes.”
Yeah. Terrifying, isn’t it? Scary as hell? Gave you chills, didn’t it? I must look like a fearsome little beast to you, huh?
[Cold and strict personality. Obsessively clean and meticulous. Emotionless and ruthless.]
Right. So put me down already, you damn kiss-obsessed lunatic.
“…You’re absolutely adorable when you look at me like that.”
Cold? Strict? That shit must’ve frozen over and died! Let go! Aren’t you supposed to be a clean freak?! A meticulous perfectionist?! Heartless and ruthless?!
—Squeak! (Let go!)
And so, for what felt like an eternity, I endured an unreal onslaught of baby talk and spine-chilling kisses from the Grand Duke.
Someone…
No, somehamster save me!