“You… do you know how to play soccer?”
“Y-yes?”
“Ah, I guess soccer might be a bit tough for a boy.”
“No, I can play… but…”
“R-really?! Then let’s play soccer together!”
“Ah, okay…”
How did it come to this?
To explain how I ended up being sold to an S-rank hero family, I need to go back about 30 minutes.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Could you become my daughter’s ‘friend’ until she becomes an adult, Janghoon?”
Seated on a long limousine seat, something I hadn’t even experienced in my previous life, I was asked this question by none other than Okami Makoto.
Of course, at first, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Uh… I mean, I don’t mind, but why me?”
“Well, for one thing, you don’t really have anywhere else to go right now, do you?”
I was barely 10 years old, if that.
And given that I was set up to have amnesia with no parents, I had nowhere to go.
Where could an orphan like me even go?
“If I hadn’t taken you in, you’d probably end up in a Hero Association shelter doing hard labor until you found good parents.”
“And I’m offering you a truly ‘incredible opportunity’ here.”
Just a convenient boy to use.
As she looked at me, S-rank hero Flash Fox, or rather, Makoto, extended one finger and made me a sweet offer.
“100 kilograms of pure gold.”
“E-excuse me?!”
“Well, you’re just a child, so you might not understand the value of that weight yet.”
No! I understand it all too well!
How many years would I have to work in my past life to earn enough to buy that?
It was a fortune I couldn’t achieve in my entire lifetime.
And she was offering it just like that?
“My daughter is quite shy around strangers.”
“Your daughter?”
“Yes. Especially since men are such a rare gender here. I’m always worried that when ‘mating season’ comes around, she might lose control and cause trouble.”
Listening to the conversation, I tilted my head again at an unexpected part.
Rare gender?
Come to think of it, back when I played Kaiju Front, it was indeed a pretty girl-focused gacha game.
From its initial release to when I quit, I never saw a male character.
But for it to be part of the world’s lore…
“Wasn’t it just because they didn’t want to design male characters?”
Why does this game insist on becoming a ‘god-tier’ game in such unnecessary ways?
Realizing this, I started thinking about how I could survive in this apocalyptic kaiju + pretty girl + female-dominant world setting.
“Um, I have amnesia, so…”
“Yes, Janghoon?”
“Uh, what’s the gender ratio in this world?”
To protect my dignity, I asked cautiously.
“Gender ratio? Hmm, it’s probably about…”
Makoto finally answered.
“10 to 1, I’d say.”
Ten women to every one man.
Well, that doesn’t sound too bad.
…Or so my naive younger self thought.
Back to the present.
“Until my daughter grows into a fine adult, Janghoon, you will serve as her ‘playmate.’ Understand?”
When Hoshino grows up, I’ll also reach an age where I can live independently.
According to the contract, Makoto promised to give me the 100 kilograms of gold frog figurine then.
Of course, I accepted the offer immediately.
I mean, it’s 100 kilograms of pure gold—how could I not take a babysitter role for just 10 years?
I’d even do it for 20 years.
Anyway…
“Haah. I’m thirsty…”
“Miss, here’s some water.”
“Oh, th-thank you! What was your name again?”
“It’s Kang Janghoon.”
“Kang Janghoon… Got it! Janghoon, th-thank you…”
Sweating profusely, the little fox princess seemed to be thoroughly enjoying playing with me.
Being a fox with a lot of fur, she was probably more sensitive to the heat.
As I handed her a towel to wipe the sweat from her neck:
“Eek?!”
“Miss…”
“Y-you don’t have to! I’ll have you know, I’m the next head of this family!”
Trying hard to emphasize that she was the next head of the fox family, she just looked like a cute little princess to me.
So while I smiled on the outside, I was breaking out in a different kind of cold sweat internally at this absurd sight.
“Is this really Okami Hoshino, the one I know?”
When I first woke up in Kaiju Front, I always wondered where I was in the timeline.
After all, knowing the timeline was crucial for using the ‘special privilege’ reincarnators like me were said to have—clairvoyant-level knowledge of future storylines.
From the tutorial to the latest update, I knew all the content. It allowed me to prepare ahead of time.
Most hardcore gamers, when reincarnated into their favorite games, go on to dominate the world, right?
But what about me?
The first thing I saw upon waking was a ruined Y City, a place I hadn’t even played in the original.
A kaiju from the 1.5-year anniversary event was here…
Honestly, it’s been nothing but chaos.
I felt my heart sink thinking about it, but the young lady in front of me now.
Not yet with ‘dead eyes,’ no ‘scars’ on her face, and capable of interacting with all sorts of expressions—a future S-rank hero.
Hoshino, who only barely moved her lips when I reached MAX affinity (around 100,000 KRW).
…It wasn’t until I met her younger self that I realized something.
I had been transported 10 years before the original story.
In other words, I was in Hero City, 10 years before the prologue of Kaiju Frontline.
‘Now that I think of it, everything that’s happened so far makes sense.’
Even the monster of violence that appeared in City Y—
It was none other than the event banner from the 1.5-year anniversary titled, “The Nightmare of the Past Returns!”
Back then, I didn’t know any better, but looking back now, that was already a kind of foreshadowing.
‘Should I have looked more carefully at the map?’
And since it’s 10 years ago, of course, the Freedom Choco Bar hadn’t been discontinued yet.
More importantly, I could now see Hoshino’s innocent side, something impossible to witness in the original story.
Then came the biggest issue.
“Whew! Break time over! Let’s play soccer again.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Okami, the worst family head in history.
Hoshino Okami (3-star rarity).
The heroine of Kaiju Frontline, for whom I hit the 300,000 KRW ceiling 10 times, repeatedly drawing duplicates to max out her performance.
An S-rank hero who wasn’t respected by people, fell into ruin, and became the sole surviving head of her family, living alone.
I wanted to protect her.
That memory of nurturing her with care, driven by a kind of ‘paternal instinct,’ comes to mind.
But who knew her past, which she never spoke much about, could have been this happy.
‘I thought she’d immediately put a blade to my neck like in the original.’
Yet there was no trace of her former hostility—
Only a shy and kind heart remained.
“It’s snack time,” the young lady said.
“Wow! Snacks!”
She was in the middle of playing when the nanny brought dango and tea to the playroom.
As always, the snack was prepared exclusively for the young lady.
Meanwhile, I figured I’d just have some water to conserve my stamina.
But what happened next surprised me.
“Nanny, could you bring one more like this for me?”
“What? Dinner will be ready soon. Are you hungry?”
“No, it’s because I want to eat with him… I mean, Janghoon.”
“Me?”
“Oh, now that I think about it, you’re not alone starting today!”
It was probably just a business relationship.
But did she like me as a mere playmate?
Lady Hoshino ordered the nanny to bring the same thing for me, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The nanny finally noticed me and said,
“Oh my, I’m so sorry. Ho ho ho… I guess I forgot since it’s so unusual for the young lady to be with someone.”
“Oh, it’s okay…”
“No, no. At that age, the more you eat, the better!”
She smiled warmly, and a few minutes later, I was served the same high-end dango and tea fit for a princess.
Of course, the taste was…
“Delicious!”
“Hehe, right?”
“It’s so good! This is better than anything I’ve tried on a trip to Japan!”
“Ja… pan?”
“Oh, that… I was just talking to myself.”
Was it made by a top-tier chef… no, a master dango craftsman?
Even the dango I ate in Osaka couldn’t compare to the Okami family’s dango.
It was so sweet that I could confidently say it was the best I’d ever tasted.
Nom nom nom.
“Hehe, take your time. I’ll wait for you.”
“I’m so used to people glaring at me that I don’t even chew anymore.”
Still, to think this really is the Hoshino I know.
“Here, try the tea too. It’s warm and so nice!”
“Hot drinks aren’t for me. They slow me down. I’d rather kill one more kaiju in that time.”
The downfall of the Okami family.
On a certain significant day, the monster their family had sealed for generations escaped.
It killed her mother, a former S-rank hero, and turned City D into ashes in an instant.
The original Hoshino from the game said that she bore the entire responsibility as the sole survivor of the Okami family.
She declared she had been living in ‘hell’ ever since.
‘Does that mean this Hoshino in front of me will also become that kind of Hoshino?’
Hoshino’s backstory was barely mentioned in the game—more like a MacGuffin.
Even someone as obsessed with Kaiju Frontline as I once was couldn’t easily piece it together.
There were simply no clues.
But.
“Break time’s over! Let’s play again!”
“…Yes, my lady.”
At least the golden-hearted princess who shared her dango and laughed with me was right in front of me.
I owed her. And I had a debt to repay.
‘Well, if I fail, I’ll probably just end up as ashes with City D anyway, so what choice do I have?’
The tragic Hoshino’s what-if story.
I decided I might as well try for a happy ending.