"Useless child." That was the phrase I heard most growing up. In the end, unable to offer any resistance, I found myself being dragged away as a sacrifice for the village. The first expensive silk clothes I had ever worn in my life. The day I climbed into the palanquin wearing garments far too ornate for my station, I finally realized I was about to die. Inside the rattling palanquin, I watched the darkness shaking all around me. The destination was deep within the forest, the Fox Shrine where no human footsteps tread. To be honest, I wanted to die. My daily life was so exhausting and difficult. The miserable reality of being offered as a sacrifice—labeled a slow child who couldn't even memorize the three characters of his parents' names—weighed heavily on my chest. But as death drew near, an instinctive terror welled up. I couldn't just let myself be devoured in vain.

Thump!

I kicked open the door of the moving palanquin and leaped to the ground. Then, I ran blindly into the pitch-black forest. The ornate silk skirt caught on branches and tore, but I didn't care. The heavy footsteps and shouts of the villagers chasing me were right at my heels. My lungs felt like they were tearing as I gasped for air. Just as I was about to collapse, unable to move my legs any further, a strange sound broke the silence of the woods. Tinkle—the clear, pure sound of a bell. In that moment, as if by magic, the surrounding noise drifted away and everything fell silent.

...?

I cautiously opened my eyes. The rough dirt and brambles that had been scratching me just moments ago were gone. Beneath my feet lay a clean wooden corridor without a speck of dust, and above me stretched an otherworldly space supported by a grand tiled roof and sturdy wooden pillars. Looking around, eerie yet mystical fox statues looked down at me from all sides. Had I stepped into the very heart of the Fox Shrine? As I stood there dazed, taking in my surroundings, an unfamiliar voice echoed through the silent shrine, breaking the stillness.