Chapter 4: 4

Above the Running Hamster, There’s a Flying Northern Grand Duke (1)

In the evening, in the study of the Grand Duke of Blake, there was a hamster feast.

Now, now. Are there any quests who’d like to ride the Ferris wheel? We will lift you up to the top in the blink of an eye. Ride now and get a free view of the Northern Grand Duke’s office!

This opportunity will not come twice! Like disco music… Oh, so it’s not a Ferris wheel, but a Disco Pang Pang? Anyway, hurry up! To the land of fantasy with Cashew!

tl/n: you can search it up, but a disco pang pang is that one circular ride where you get bounced up and down (i don’t know how to explain it very well)

I shook my head in silence and turned the wheel with my paw.

Bit by bit.

At first the wheel was too heavy to spin properly, but once it gained momentum, it started spinning rapidly.

Turning it by hand also counts as running, right? This is a foot as well. A front foot.

[ㄟ(˘ o ˘)ノ]

… Turning it by hand… is still running, right?

No, look at this tiny, fragile paw. You ignorant system! If I run on it, I will die!

‘Hey, you! Mr. System! Kiddo, are you listening?!’

[0003/1000]

Not even a single spin counted?

[This is a system that lacks conscience! ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*)]

Oh…

I started to spin the wheel almost as fast as I could. My head didn’t get any better while listening to the rattling sound.

This damned Ferris wheel. No, it’s just a simple wheel. How long will it take me if I run on it with my feet? Even if you’re pretending to be ignorant, you have to tolerate some shortcuts!

No. This is Kyle’s fault. Who would put a wheel this big without thinking about the size of his hamster companion? Look at this wheel! Even guinea pigs would run on it comfortably!

This stupid life! Damned rodent!

For how long have I taken my anger out like this? The door opened without a sound and the person who walked inside was, of course, Kyle. The owner of the house.

No, a document from the royal family isn’t something so simple. How does it make sense that he was so quick? It didn’t even take a day…

Oh. I did take a nap after all.

Kyle Jane Meinhardt walked towards my hamster house with quick steps. It was such a confident walk that he could easily be called the Loser of the North.

And his outfit? A thick cape to block the icy wind, armour made of iron and leather, and boots that go up to the knee to help him navigate in the snow.

A pitiful, handsome man who looks like he was carved out of the winter itself, all of which fit him wonderfully. 

“Cashew?”

He called me with a puzzled voice.

As soon as he returned, the scenery he saw was quite strange. The wheel spinning alone, and a hamster that had disappeared. I didn’t exactly disappear, but I went into my small hiding spot.

“I can see your butt.”

…I see.  Somehow, the house seemed to be a little small.

I came out of the house with a shy expression on my face.

“I want to spend time with you right now, but… Unfortunately, there are a lot of documents I must check today, so it’ll be difficult.”

— Squeak. (No, thanks.)

“Yeah, It makes me sad as well.”

— Squeak. (No. I’m not sad.)

Sadness is pitiful. I hope that in time you will be reborn as a wonderful grand duke through some self care. Showering me with kisses won’t cut it.

Kyle looked at me as if he wanted to take me out of the house and kiss me right away. However, it seemed that he didn’t lie when he said he was busy. He only looked at me with warm eyes, and then sighed before sitting down behind his desk.

‘But then again, it’s not like just knowing swordsmanship will earn you titles left and right.’

If it had been that way, he would’ve inherited the throne through a duel rather than a hereditary succession. Like it or not, but for the sake of this land, he had to endure the tedious paperwork. Difficulty in making a living is the same here and back in my world.

‘…It’s pretty cool, though. What a professional spirit.’

I sat down among the sawdust and watched Kyle.

He was diligently organising his stuff on a roll of parchment. I couldn’t see his handwriting exactly, but somehow it seemed very neat.

Then, he took on his work with a serious attitude as if he was completely unaware of my existence.

‘Even a guy with a month left to live is working so hard…’

Well, I never dreamed that my life would end so soon. I patted my knees and stood up. Somehow, it felt like I had to do something.

…Of course, it wasn’t like I was doing it because I didn’t have anything else to do other than sleep, nap, and sleep again. 

Yeah, if I have to run a thousand laps, I might as well get it down as fast as I can. What kind of person am I? I’m Korean. I must hurry up!

I was determined to carry out a ‘fast-paced operation’. How fast could I go? Well, as a developer, the answer to getting things done quickly is… stay up all night.

Developers are nocturnal creatures. I shall burn my body like a lighthouse in Pangyo.

[That’s a great idea! (*´╰╯`๓)]

‘Don’t laugh. I don’t like that.’

[(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞]

I took a deep breath and started running on the wheel. Then, I gathered all of my stamina and ran the formidable Ferris wheel on all fours. 

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Even though I would usually become a dog after drinking, it was my first time being a hamster on a wheel… Well, I’m glad we have something in common in terms of having four legs.

Clatter.

Either way, after running a few laps, I started feeling a bit better.

I felt this while spinning it around earlier. It was more comfortable to just go with the flow and run at a moderate pace than to speed up from the beginning. The wheel was heavier than I thought, so I shouldn’t have to push against it with my feet.

Rattle. Squeak, squeak. Rattle. Squeak. Step, step. Squeak. Creak. Crash… Oh, I fell. I glanced sideways and then lowered my head.

‘… He didn’t see that, did he?’

I don’t think he did. Kyle was still reading the report with a serious look on his face. Are you focused or indifferent?

‘…That’s good.’

After a few hours, Kyle stood up, rubbing his stiff neck from either side.

Around that time, I, too, had a bitter taste in my mouth, so it was time to take a rest if I didn’t want to die from overworking.

[0213/1000]

‘I see. After a little rest, when that guy goes back to his bedroom, I’ll be alone all day…’

Rattle.

At the same time, the ceiling of the hamster house opened.

Fine, do whatever you want. I’m sure you’ll make some silly jokes then put me down and go to bed. Afterwards, I’ll do my best to finish this, become a person after a thousand laps, sell my companion hamster status, and receive the next quest. 

It was the perfect plan. Assuming that I will run on that enemy wheel for about 800 more laps.

“I’ll take this.”

‘…Huh? Wait a minute.’

Hey! My wheel!

I grabbed and clung to the wheel instinctively. What is this, taking it so carelessly?! Why are you doing this all of a sudden when you haven’t paid me any attention yet?!

I put more strength into my tiny front paws to keep myself from falling off. Either way, Kyle managed to pull the wheel I was hanging on out of the house. As if there was nothing wrong with my defiance, he carefully grabbed me with his other hand and pulled me away from the wheel.

— Squeak, squeak! (Hey, you immoral bastard!)

“I know you like it, but you can’t go on it anymore, Cashew. I’m worried that your knees will get hurt.”

— Squeak! Squeak, squeak! (Have you never seen a hamster run on a wheel?!)

“Yes, yes. You’ll be sad. But it’s all for your health, so don’t be too heartbroken.”

Kyle put the wheel far away and kissed my stomach. I put my whole body into hitting Kyle on the cheek with a kick, then called for the system.

‘Hey! It’s worthless now! How can I do the quest without a wheel?’

[Let’s become an active hamster! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و]

I clenched my fists as I felt my stomach boil. If it was in front of me, I would have hit it over the head.

What? An active hamster? You’re telling a hamster who got caught by the Northern Grand Duke and is attacked with kisses to be active?

If that’s the case, let me possess a full-fledged beast! If I had possessed Serena at the very least, I would’ve been better off than now. Although she’s a character who goes through many ups and downs, would she be as stifling as an animal who can’t even talk?

My human rights.

Give me back my human rights, you goddamn world!

“Your tummy must be hungry. You must be starving after running on the wheel that much.”

Now he had come to think that my fussiness was caused by me being grouchy from simple hunger. Even when I was set down on the sawdust, I fumed and stubbornly clung to the clear glass wall.

Kyle pulled something out one by one from a drawer in the table next to the door, then offered the macadamia nuts to me.

“You can eat these.”

It was a gentle tone. If anyone heard him, they would think that he was talking to his lover.

I grabbed Kyle’s fingers with my two small paws, biting his hand instead of the macadamia nuts.

Then, a new system window popped up in front of my eyes.

[Above all, I am a human being, not a hamster. I won’t do anything barbaric.]

That was what I had said to the system.

Okay. There was a time like that. But that Bae Soohyun died yesterday. I’m the newly born Bae Soohyun. Now Bae Soohyun bites people. Meat is better than macadamia nuts.

And isn’t this karma? If he didn’t want to be bitten, he shouldn’t have done anything to get bitten.

“Are your teeth itchy?”

Instead of the pain I expected him to feel, Kyle was very calm. On the contrary, he held up my butt and started looking at me with worried eyes.

Hey, what are you looking at?

Don’t look. Don’t lift up my butt and stare at it.

Give me back my hamster wheel!

“Be good and behave.”

After that, he left me in my house and went back to his bedroom. Click. The lights in the study went out and the room became quiet in an instant.

I flopped down onto the sawdust.

‘My wheel…’

Really, it was a lucky day.

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