Chapter 369: Ice (2)
“No, So-ryong, it’s just that... you don’t really know. If you look carefully, it does have fur... like on the belly and...”
Sister Seol was trying to find flaws in the creature, insisting it had fur—but that was a lie.
I know very well what that creature is based on. The pangolin.
A strange animal among mammals, almost entirely hairless. Back in my previous life, even though it wasn’t venomous, I’d once seriously tried to raise one.
Of course, that dream never came true.
Due to its reckless use in traditional Chinese medicine, it had become critically endangered and was eventually banned from international trade altogether.
‘Seriously. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to eat something that cute?’
There are a few hairless animal breeds out there—like sphynx cats—but the reason I was so drawn to this one was different.
Not only was it hairless, but its back was covered in a shell similar to some reptiles—evoking the image of a dinosaur, the ancestors of reptiles.
The creature’s back was layered in keratin, the same material as fingernails and hair, and just by looking at it, you couldn’t tell if it was a mammal, reptile, or a straight-up dinosaur.
A badass creature wrapped in plated armor.
That’s what a pangolin is.