Necromancer Survival

tion by placing a few sunflower seeds in her hand.
When I didn’t approach, she gently shook the seeds in front of my nose, trying to entice me with its scent.

     After she shook the sunflower seeds several times, I became disoriented.
In the end, in a fit of anger, I screamed, “I’m not going to eat it!”

     I knocked a huge sunflower seed out of her hand, but Bang Eunji’s obsession did not stop.

     Eventually, I crouched in the gap between the wheel and the wall–an area she couldn’t reach.
After looking at me for a while, she poured a lot of sunflower seeds on one side of the cage before turning back to me with an anticipatory expression.

     “Haah…” I sighed.

      Fortunately, her cell phone rang then; she looked at me with a face full of lingering emotions before going to the other room to receive the call.

     I looked in the direction she disappeared before popping out from behind the gap.
“Can’t I… climb up this?”

     I thought that if I were to climb up on the wheel and reach out with my hand, I would be able to barely touch the cage’s lid.

     So, I looked for something to fix the wheel in place; I discovered the water bowl and brought it to the general location first.
Though my clothes became soaked as I moved the bowl–the water inside sloshed around–I didn’t mind.
After all, escaping this cage was an urgent matter.

     “Let’s place it here like this…” When I put the bowl vertically in the gap between the teeth of the wheel’s axis, the wheel no longer rolled around since the bowl was quite heavy.
Afterwards, I climbed up, struggling, and stepped on top of the wheel, but…

     “I-It’s slippery.
Argh!”

     The top was higher than I thought, and it wasn’t easy to grab onto the sides of the cage.
It’s not like I had any special equipment either…

     My body’s balance was already tilted, so it wasn’t easy to climb back down again.
I was stuck between the wheel and the transparent cage walls.

’

 

[Ara?]

 

     At that time, Bang Eunji returned to the room after finishing the call.
She caught me very easily and placed me in the palm of her hand.

 

[Did you try to escape?]

 

     I rolled my eyes, unable to say anything.
Bang Eunji pressed at my cheeks hard and poked me here and there before placing me back in the cage.
And… she removed the wheel–the only foothold I could use to escape this cage.

     “No…!” I tried to protest, but Bang Eunji had already thrown the wheel to the floor.

     Then, she took the small furniture items she had carefully washed earlier and began populating the cage, one by one.
Princess-style beds, dressing tables, closet drawers, carpets… Well, at least it was better than the hamster-like atmosphere.

     I stood in front of the gigantic pile of sunflower seeds in the corner of the room and gave a bewildered stare at the transforming room.

     ‘I don’t really want to… sleep in a place like this.’

      However, the real hardship had yet to pass.

 

[Hmm… What should I name you.]

 

      Bang Eunji mumbled, poking me in the stomach with her pink, cubic zirconia-embedded nails.
Unable to endure this anymore, I leaped to my feet, “My name is Choi Lee-kyung!”

 

[You’re so small and stupid…Just like that man.
Alright, I’ll call you Garam-ie from now on.]

’

 

     “I said it’s Choi Lee-kyung!!” I protested and tried to move beyond her reach.
But, Bang Eunji caught me regardless.

     And…

 

[I prepared a pretty outfit perfect for Garam-kun.]

 

     “W-Wait a minute!!”

     Bang Eunji grabbed me, went to a cabinet that housed many dolls, and opened a drawer.

     The drawer was filled to the brim with pretty, frilly dresses.
When I saw the cute clothes that seemed to fit my size, I was terrified; the blood drained away from my face.

     “I don’t want to!” I even bit her finger, but it didn’t seem to hurt.
Bang Eunji even rubbed my mouth again.
I continued to rebel by biting, but in the end, I ended up with a hurt jaw.

 

[He’s a total baby.]

 

     And, as a result of that rebellion, the clothes I wore were…

 

[This is perfect for a baby.]

 

     …a sky-blue baby jumpsuit adorned with a bib.

Footnotes

When the speaker said 1200, they never specified how many zeroes are behind that number.  Actually, the names ‘Chucky’ and ‘Annabelle’ were censored in the original.
Korean often replaces one syllable with an ‘x’ if something is a brand or a proprietary name.
In this case, Chucky and Annabelle are famous horror movie dolls.