The little beagle with the floppy ears cried out, “Mommy! Tell me the story of how you found me again!”

The Water Ghoul Mommy: “…”

How was he supposed to tell his kid that, for the longest time before she grew up, he’d been trying to figure out how to swat her dead?

…

Jiang Xiaoya was dropped into the world of a supernatural horror story. To make it out alive, she’d have to fight tooth and nail to survive!

The good news: She was rescued and taken in by a kind soul.

The bad news: She’s been turned into a baby!

The even worse news: Her “kind soul” rescuer is the final boss of the entire horror world!

At the edge of the lakes and marshes lives a terrifying Water Ghoul. On rainy days, a horrifying swamp materializes around him, swallowing everything in its path. He is savage, bloodthirsty, and lost in a daze.

The place where he lives is known to humans as the “Forbidden Zone.”

Until one day… he found a baby.

The monster, skulking in the shadows, let out a terrifying growl at the infant.

The tiny baby just hugged the Water Ghoul’s leg and let out a weird little werwer sound.

And so, the terrifying monster learned how to mix baby formula and tell bedtime stories with a series of pointed grunts.

All in all, despite her strange werwer cries, with her big eyes and tiny body, she was a pretty cute baby.

But as time went on…

The Water Ghoul: “At my most desperate, I seriously considered taking her and jumping off a building.”

…

Four-year-old Jiang Xiaoya declared that she wanted “nutritional formula”—the “Three-Stag” brand, to be exact.

She’d heard it makes your head bigger, which would make her super smart.

The Water Ghoul found this incredibly annoying. But Jiang Xiaoya was, in fact, way too scrawny and a bit of a blockhead. She probably did need a brain booster.

He trekked to human territory, but after searching forever, he could only find the “Single-Stag” brand formula—no “Three-Stag.”

He thought for a moment.

He stretched out his hand… and grabbed three cans.

It wasn’t until Jiang Xiaoya had learned to read more characters that she discovered the “Single-Stag formula” she’d been drinking her whole life was actually labeled: Instant Coffee.

…

In the entire world, only Jiang Xiaoya understood the Water Ghoul’s language.

When he said hooloo hooloo, it meant it was time to eat.

When he let out a terrifying shriek, he was scaring her into behaving.

And if he said booloo booloo—

That was his way of saying, Xiaoya, I love you.

[Mini Theater]

Jiang Xiaoya had always thought the Water Ghoul was her mommy. His hair was super long, after all. Until one day, she saw her mommy from a distance, standing silently in the rain, a tiny river flowing from the curtain of his hair.

She ran over, holding up an umbrella on her tiptoes.

The Water Ghoul lowered his head. His thick lashes, heavy with rainwater, parted to finally reveal his true face: a handsome young man with fine, delicate features.

—So it wasn’t Mommy Water Ghoul, it was Big Brother Water Ghoul!

Xiaoya tried to pull him inside, but the Water Ghoul lowered his head and firmly pressed her to stay put.

He was just copying what he’d learned from the fawns by the road: if you stand perfectly still when your fur gets wet, the water won’t soak through to your skin.

But we don’t have fur! Xiaoya thought, completely baffled.

So Xiaoya just had her big brother hold the umbrella.

And the two of them, one big and one small, crouched by the riverbank all afternoon, waiting for the rain to stop.

[Reading Guide]

1. This is a story with a non-human protagonist and a pseudo-sibling relationship (they are not related). The age gap isn’t huge—think a three-year-old raising a one-year-old. The male lead just happens to be a non-human creature who is much larger than a person and has extremely strong survival skills. The whole “mommy” thing is a misunderstanding because his long hair hid his face at the beginning.

1. In the early stages, the male lead is a pure monster, hunting down all living things with a guttural roar. The romance does not begin during the [Childhood Arc]. The feelings develop after the female lead [Becomes an Adult].

1. The setting includes superpowers and “spirit forms.” The female lead’s spirit form is a little beagle.

[VERY IMPORTANT!!!!]

This story does NOT involve anything like grooming or child brides. Please don’t get the wrong idea. It’s a very innocent, fairytale-style story about two little weirdos growing up together.