The Shadow of the Inner Realm, Geusseundae the Dark Lord (1)

“Do you have any guesses?”

“No, none at all.”

“This is clearly an ominous sign, right?”

“…It does seem that way.”

“Let me report to the Director first.”

As Ha-neul radioed the director, I closely observed the two entrances.

Upon closer inspection, I could distinguish the ‘real’ from the ‘fake’.

One was the familiar Inner Realm entrance I knew.

The other entrance was simply dark.

While the ‘real’ Inner Realm entrance emitted a murky blend of all the world’s colors, this ‘fake’ Inner Realm entrance was just pitch-black.

“Yes, yes, Director. There are no yokai auras detected, and it’s the same as usual? Understood. I’ll… contact you again shortly.”

After finishing the radio call, Ha-neul asked me:

“What should we do, Miho? Should we resolve this ourselves?”

“Of course we should.”

As Ha-neul said, this was clearly an ominous sign.

It would have been unwise to carelessly involve the Jiri Mountain Yokai Extermination Office staff, potentially putting them in harm’s way.

We should resolve this ominous sign ourselves if possible.

Did some unidentified yokai create this fake Inner Realm?

Or did the Inner Realm’s ruler, the Lord of the Mountain, create this fake realm for some purpose?

The latter would make sense, but the former seemed implausible.

No matter how inactive the Lord of the Mountain might be, there was no way he would allow a ‘fake Inner Realm’ to be created unchecked.

What brazen, deranged yokai could possibly create a fake realm against the Lord of the Mountain?

There were only two possibilities:

First, the Lord of the Mountain himself created the fake Inner Realm.

Second, some yokai created it at the Lord’s behest.

I pondered whether any of the yokai I knew possessed the tremendous power required to create a ‘fake Inner Realm’.

Soon, one particular yokai from the Inner Realm came to mind.

If that yokai created this realm, it would certainly be vulnerable to light.

First, I used my spirit energy to fire a fox-fire towards the ‘fake’ Inner Realm’s entrance.

Fwoosh!

The explosive impact toppled a few innocent trees.

I hadn’t intended to fell any trees… the fox-fire was simply that powerful.

However, the ‘fake’ Inner Realm entrance remained intact.

“It’s still there?”

“…”

“Did I not hit it hard enough?”

“…Just wait and see.”

It resisted light, didn’t it?

So that yokai must have created it.

Provoked, I began unleashing my spirit energy explosively.

Not enough.

Just in case, I even manifested one of my tails and utilized my yogi, but the fake entrance remained stubbornly intact.

For it to withstand such an assault meant there was some hidden trick to it.

Yet I couldn’t recklessly enter the fake Inner Realm either.

As I stood dumbfounded, Ha-neul took action:

“Let me give it a try.”

Ha-neul then thrust his palm strike, imbued with phenomenal force, towards the fake entrance.

“Huaaah?!”

But Ha-neul’s arm was halfway swallowed by the entrance, leading to a near catastrophe.

“Argh, my arm! My arm…!”

“Ha-neul!”

“…Eh? It doesn’t hurt?”

Phew, what a scare.

He started screaming bloody murder, making me think his arm had been severed for a moment.

“It feels strange. Like I’ve dipped my arm in water, but not quite…”

“Just stay still. I’ll pull you out…”

“Okay… Oh.”

In an instant, before I could react, Ha-neul’s entire body was swiftly sucked into the fake Inner Realm entrance.

“…”

Ah, damn it.

Now I had no choice but to enter this fake Inner Realm as well.

I picked up the fallen radio to inform the director:

“I’ll go in and investigate, so wait for me without taking any rash actions.”

[Mi, Miho! How many times have I told you not to act rashly…]

“This time, it wasn’t me – Ha-neul got into trouble first! Honestly!”

[…]

He doesn’t believe me.

I feel like the boy… no, girl who cried wolf.

After radioing the director, I immediately entered the fake Inner Realm to rescue Ha-neul.

---

“Aaaargh, uuuurgh!”

“…”

“I’m gonna die, I’m really gonna die! Oh no, I’ve ended up in a yokai’s belly!”

“…Ha-neul. What are you doing?”

“Miho! You came to save me!”

“No.”

“Did you get captured too?”

“No, I came in forcibly because of you.”

“Ah, I see! Ehehe…”

With a sigh, I surveyed our surroundings as Ha-neul flailed about.

This place…

“So this is the fabled Inner Realm. Is it supposed to be this dark?”

“…No, it’s different. It’s not usually this dark.”

While strikingly similar to the Inner Realm I knew, there were differences.

First, the Inner Realm wasn’t supposed to be this dark a space.

The bright moonlight always shone in the Inner Realm, so while it could appear somewhat gloomy, it was never truly dark.

Secondly, this fake Inner Realm had no scents whatsoever.

Sniff sniff.

Sniff sniff sniff.

I sniffed, trying to catch the Inner Realm’s signature musty scent, but as expected, this fake realm was completely scentless.

Not a single whiff of any odor.

Dark.

And scentless.

Thanks to these two clues, I became certain that this fake Inner Realm was created by the yokai I knew.

Separate from that, the lack of any scent left me feeling unsettled, causing me to cling to Ha-neul like a child.

“What’s wrong?”

“…I’m scared.”

“Huuh? You’re scared? Miho, there are things that scare even you?”

“…There are no scents.”

While others might wonder why the absence of scents was scary, Ha-neul, aware of my nature as a yokai with an exceptional sense of smell, replied with a grave expression:

“…No scents at all?”

“Yes.”

“That is strange.”

“It is. But you don’t need to worry.”

“Why not?”

“…It seems a yokai I know created this fake Inner Realm.”

Separate from the fact that a known yokai had created this realm, the complete lack of any scent instilled an indescribable sense of disquiet in me.

In my seven-tailed state, my sense of smell was exceptionally keen, able to detect a person’s sweat from over 500 meters away.

Yet here, in this fake Inner Realm, there were no scents whatsoever.

No grass scent.

No soil scent.

No insect, yokai or wood scents.

Not a single odor, despite trees clearly visible before my eyes.

It created an eerie dissonance, as if everything I saw was fake.

Shivershivershiver.

I found myself trembling uncontrollably like an aspen tree.

Yes, I felt fear.

The absence of scents was a profoundly unsettling experience that struck fear into me.

To draw a human analogy, perhaps it was akin to the disconcerting feeling of opening one’s eyes yet seeing nothing at all.

Seeing me tremble with fear, Ha-neul embraced me and said:

“Are you okay?”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize, I’m the one who’s sorry. Since it’s too dark, can you light a fire?”

“Okay… Got it.”

At Ha-neul’s suggestion, I illuminated our surroundings with fox-fire.

Sure enough, just as I had expected, the vegetation around us began vanishing under the light’s influence, like shadows.

The illuminated areas steadily turned white.

Witnessing this beautiful yet eerie spectacle, Ha-neul muttered:

“…It’s disappearing like shadows.”

“Shadows, indeed. The shadows created by Geusseundae.”

“Soondae?”

“Not soondae, Geusseundae. A yokai residing in the Inner Realm who manipulates shadows.”

Unlike formless shadows, which were more akin to ‘doppelgangers’, Geusseundae literally controlled ‘darkness’ itself.

No, not just controlled darkness – he ruled over it.

I wasn’t sure how the ‘Eodudsini’ spoken of by Grandfather Pouch differed from this being who commanded darkness.

I would have to see that goblin directly to know.

In any case, while I didn’t know why Geusseundae had created this fake Inner Realm, I hastily extinguished the fox-fire.

I didn’t believe the Lord of the Mountain would allow this fake realm’s existence without reason.

And there was one other reason I preferred not to disclose.

Observing my actions, Ha-neul remarked:

“I suppose he’s not an evil yokai after all.”

“Well… I personally dislike him, but he’s not an evil yokai.”

“Then we shouldn’t have entered, right?”

“…You were the one who entered first.”

“Huh?”

“What? Again?”

“Didn’t you just call me ‘older sister’?”

“No, you must have misheard.”

“No, I heard it clearly! You definitely said ‘older sister’!”

“I did not.”

When had I ever called him that?

Ha-neul was just making stuff up to tease me now.

Ignoring his insistent claims, I began pondering how we could escape this fake Inner Realm.

It seemed we would have no choice but to directly ask Geusseundae.

The problem was, without fox-fire illumination, the pitch darkness made advancing impossible.

Moreover, the complete lack of scents meant I had no way to locate Geusseundae’s whereabouts.

“Can’t we just light fox-fire and search for a path?”

“No.”

My firm refusal prompted Ha-neul to teasingly ask:

“Why, are you scared of getting beaten up by Geusseundae or whatever his name is? Are you chickening out? Is that it?”

“Yes, I am.”

“…Eh?”

“I am chickening out.”

Ah, I didn’t want to admit it, but…

“…I did say I was scared earlier.”

“Oh, come on, there’s no need to be that scared just because there are no scents. Miho, you can surely handle this on your own…”

“Geusseundae is a yokai far stronger than me.”

“…”

Geusseundae was the Dark Lord of the Inner Realm, to whom even the Lord of the Mountain could appeal for aid.

The King of Shadows.