PCS 3

Chapter 03

“Everything could end well, so let’s not make a fuss for no reason.”

He approached me as if we were close and tried to pat my shoulder, but I instinctively flinched away, goosebumps rising on my skin.

The manager made a silly “whoa-whoa” sound, raised both hands in surrender, and backed away toward the conference room entrance before speaking.

“You’ll have to start preparing for job hunting again now, but if there’s anything I can help with, let me know. Ask me anything you don’t know.”

Without even looking at what kind of face she was making right now, the manager, who was just getting excited all by himself, shrugged and puffed up his chest.

“I know a lot of people in the industry. You know A Electronics, right? A Electronics. I have a close junior who works in HR there. One phone call from me and he’s out immediately.”

Even in the midst of the chaos, I knew that was bullshit. Far from having connections elsewhere, the manager was a fool who couldn’t even get along with a single colleague in this tiny company.

“So let’s part ways amicably, okay?”

With those words, the manager headed outside, adding one last comment about coming back in quickly so others wouldn’t find it strange.

I don’t remember how I wrapped things up and left work after that.

In a daze, I walked on autopilot until I found myself at the familiar intersection on my way home. As I absentmindedly stepped forward, a sudden vibration in my hand snapped me back to reality.

Buzz. Buzz.

“Oh.”

It was the game alarm that had been my small escape from this miserable daily life. I cleared the notification that the hourglass was full and lifted my head. Only then did I register the noisy traffic and the bustle of the crowd.

At a crosswalk, she came to her senses.

“…Damn it.”

After barely swallowing the situation, a curse slipped out involuntarily.

“Damn it, really.”

She truly was.

“Damn it.”

She didn’t want to live like this anymore.

‘I really… I really tried my best.’

She had struggled desperately just to hang a company ID around her neck. She endured the openly hostile coworkers, the rage-filled team leader, and the horrible discrimination against contract workers, all to carve out a place for herself in the company.

She wanted to show her parents, who had suddenly left her, that she was doing well on her own. She had planned to visit their graves once she became a full-time employee and tell them.

Look, I’m a proper office worker now. I grew up to be a decent adult.

I can take care of myself from now on, so don’t worry and rest in peace.

She had wanted to do well.

Plop, plop.

She felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Tears born of anger only made her chest feel tighter.

How long had she been standing there with her head down, holding her breath?

“Woof! Woof, woof!”

“…?”

At the sudden sound of a dog barking, Yujin lifted her head. As she looked around in bewilderment, a large electronic billboard caught her eye.

[The very snack Yujini chose! Healthy dog treats made from premium Korean beef, ‘Dogimagi’.]

The massive caption appeared flashily alongside a voice actor’s narration.

[Ranked #1 in the dog world! Gift your beloved companion ‘Dogimagi’—the choice of Yujini.]

The dog in the ad was a pet owned by an overseas tycoon, famous for having already inherited a luxurious mansion. The screen showed a sprawling estate complete with a fountain.

Yujin looked at the house that the dog sharing a similar name to hers supposedly owned and thought:

‘I couldn’t afford that even if I saved for a lifetime.’

No, forget the mansion. It was uncertain whether she could even buy a simple home of her own, a place to rest her body after working.

‘…And saving requires getting a job first.’

It had been a terrible company, but while she was there, it had covered up the anxiety of having no affiliation.

Just the thought of being thrown back into the hellish job-seeking grind, with nothing changed and time just passing, made her mouth feel dry and parched.

[Woof! Woof!]

Looking at the screen again, the wealthy dog was lying comfortably inside the lavishly decorated mansion. Watching the scene play out on the billboard, she couldn’t help but mutter.

“…I’d rather be reborn as a dog in a house like that.”

Doing nothing,

Just wanting to lie still.

She was tired of struggling alone like this anymore.

“Whoa, what’s that car?”

“Ahh! Watch out over there!”

Crash!

Along with a blinding light, her body was sent flying.

‘Ah.’

There was no regret. Her mind was, rather, calm.

‘Now I really don’t have to do anything.’

That was her last thought.

—

And then she opened her eyes to a strangely familiar scene.

“…What the hell?!”

Instantly, a sense of reality felt very distant.

The smell of mud and filth filled her nostrils. The wooden bars of a cage limited her view from where she had been sitting on the dirt floor.

‘Where is this?’

With her suddenly changed perspective, she looked around and saw several children, shabbily dressed, confined in what looked like an animal pen. Among them, one child cautiously stood up and approached her.

“Um…”

The face looking at her with a worried expression was familiar. Soft brown hair, bright green eyes, and triangular ears that perked up with presence on top of her head.

‘This child is…!’

Yujin recognized her. Of course she did—it was a face she’d been looking at on her phone every day lately!

The Golden Cage.

It was a mobile game based on a popular novel.

The protagonist the player controlled was named Canis.

A beastkin, she had been captured by a slaver who kidnapped children and sold them to nobles, trapped in a cage.

Canis, waiting for a chance to escape, one day encounters a prince who visits the shop. The prince, intrigued by her as the first person to openly bare her teeth at him, takes her to the palace, and the story begins.

So this was the slave shop where the protagonist Canis and the prince first met.

“Are you okay?”

The one speaking to her now was the protagonist herself.

True to her righteous personality, her kind-looking green eyes were filled with pure goodwill and concern.

“I…”

Yujin opened her mouth reflexively, then widened her eyes in surprise at her changed voice.

‘Huh?’

After making a few more sounds—ah, ah, ah—Yujin frantically looked around. Realizing there was nothing to reflect her image, she looked down at her own hands and feet.

‘…Small.’

She was definitely smaller than before. As Yujin stared, frozen in shock with her arms raised, the girl cautiously spoke to her again.

“Are you really okay…?”

Canis’s ears, trembling with anxiety, flicked nervously. Yujin watched in fascination as the blunt-tipped, cute triangular animal ears actually moved before her eyes, then dropped her gaze at the girl’s words.

‘Ah.’

In Canis’s green eyes, her current reflection was visible. She looked around ten or so. Her shrunken form was reflected roundly in the pupils. And her hair, which had grown longer.

‘Huh?’

Looking down again, Yujin could confirm the color of the long hair spilling over her shoulders.

White.

An unnatural, completely bleached white, like an old woman’s hair, ill-suited to her young frame.

“I saw you crying all night last night. I don’t know what happened to you on the way here, but… drink some water first. If you stay like this, you might collapse from exhaustion.”

When Canis pointed it out, Yujin finally became aware of her parched mouth, dry from her tongue to her throat.

‘Thirsty.’

Gulp, gulp.

Receiving and drinking the offered water bowl, Yujin mentally reviewed what situation she had been placed in.

‘White hair… Who was that white-haired child around Canis?’

Yujin racked her brain, recalling the game she had played for so long. Soon enough, she remembered one character.

‘Damn it.’

And unfortunately, the circumstances of this white-haired character, who appeared to be in Yujin’s body now, were not very favorable.

Yujin had only recently become deeply immersed in novels and games like this.

Precisely, it was around the time she was searching for something to completely occupy her mind in her empty, desolate home.

This genre, full of unfamiliar settings and unique characters, had transported her to another world, if only for a while.

Only when she immersed herself in a new world could she momentarily forget the problems of reality.

As she absorbed these newly discovered genre works, Yujin learned various terms. Regression, possession, reincarnation, cathartic revenge, growth, daily life, childcare, etc.

And among all these terms, what could be used to describe this game was clear.

A confinement story.

Why was the title of The Golden Cage called “Cage”? It was because of the most popular character in the game, who could also be called the ultimate villain.

‘That crazy prince.’

Prince Michael, who takes the protagonist Canis to the palace, was insane.

Insane for the protagonist.

Initially treating Canis as less than human, like a pet, the prince eventually fell in love with her. Unlike Canis, who was disgusted by his cruelty, the prince became completely obsessed, unable to live a moment without her by his side.

‘The problem was that the prince wanted Canis to be obsessed with him alone.’