The Five-Foot Monster, The Jomagu Legend (1)

Annals of King Jungjong’s Reign, 16th Year, January

[Jungjong Sillok Vol. 41, 16th Year of Jungjong’s Reign, January 18th, Sinmi Day]

• • Attended the morning royal lecture. The Confucian scholar Nam Gon reported on the matter regarding Yi Jang-gil

 

• • The Minister of the Military Affairs, Grand Commander Ko Hyeong-san, reported on a strange five-foot yokai

Minister of the Military Affairs Ko Hyeong-san reported to the King:

“Today, the Gyeongbuk Governor came and reported that a strange bird yokai with five-foot tailfeathers and a five-foot beak was recently sighted in a village. An entire family was massacred by this five-foot monster.”

To which the King decreed:

“Summon the Podogunsa (military police) to resolve this.”

Ko Hyeong-san then stated:

“However, the Senior Podobujanggwan (Chief Military Police Commander) further reported that they immediately pursued the five-foot yokai but could not find any trace of it. Since they lost sight of such an enormous five-foot yokai, the Podobujanggwan and his Podogunsa should be severely punished.”

To which the King permitted it.

---

A long, long time ago, not so very long ago,

There was a bird yokai whose hunger could never be sated, no matter how much it consumed.

Its name was the Five-Foot Monster, Jomagu.

Winter, January.

In a remote mountain village lived pious brothers who cared for their elderly grandmother with profound devotion.

Having lost their father to a tiger attack at a young age, the brothers endured a difficult life, yet served their grandmother with utmost filial piety.

One day,

As the grandmother prepared a meal by boiling rice for her beloved grandsons,

The brothers had fortunately caught a rabbit, so the grandmother headed to the back room to fetch firewood to roast it.

During that interval, a diminutive monster called ‘Jomagu’ approached the kitchen,

And began devouring the half-cooked rice in the pot, opening the lid with its beak.

Upon discovering this, the horrified grandmother frantically struck Jomagu with the axe she was holding.

Yet despite being struck by the axe, Jomagu remained utterly unharmed, and spoke in a voice neither masculine nor feminine:

[I’m hungry.]

Alarmed by this anomaly, the grandmother, determined to slay the monster, continued hacking at Jomagu’s neck with the axe.

However, Jomagu paid no heed and continued gobbling down the remaining rice.

Bizarrely, with every bite of rice Jomagu consumed, its body grew larger, until it had transformed into an enormous bird yokai at least a head taller than the grandmother.

[I’m hungry.]

Jomagu then used its massive beak to devour the grandmother’s eyes, declaring:

[Shall I boil you, roast you, or eat you alive? I’m hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry.]

It seized the grandmother’s axe and chopped her into pieces, tossing them into the pot.

For some reason, however, Jomagu left the pot of boiled grandmother meat untouched.

After sunset, when the brothers returned home drenched in sweat,

They flew into a rage upon discovering their grandmother’s disappearance.

Though deeply filial, the exhausted brothers lacked the strength to search for her immediately after their labors.

So they heartily consumed the meat stew their grandmother had prepared in the pot.

As the brothers regained their vigor from the meat stew,

Jomagu approached them, flapping its beak menacingly:

[The meat has doubled. I’m hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry.]

Jomagu immediately charged at the brothers, but

Having regained their strength from the stew, the united brothers managed to fend it off.

The following day,

Upon realizing the stew they had consumed was their own grandmother,

The devastated, filial brothers hanged themselves in anguish.

After the brothers’ deaths,

Jomagu returned and devoured their corpses, bones and all.

By then, its size had grown to a staggering five feet.

Autumn, February.

With the nation overflowing with Taoists and Martial Artists, yokai extermination was rampant.

Despite its enormous five-foot size, Jomagu managed to evade detection by Taoists and Martial Artists due to its bizarrely negligible yogi level.

While considering Taoists and Martial Artists inedible, Jomagu deliberately starved itself to reduce its size,

Thus surviving the human yokai hunts.

However, likely due to excessively diminishing its size,

Jomagu soon fell into hibernation as the snow slowly fell.

As it drifted off, it resolved that

Upon awakening, it would devour anything in sight, indiscriminately –

Even if it was the mystical power called ‘Martial Arts’ or ‘Taoism’.

---

Crunch crunch.

Munch munch.

Chomp chomp.

Chomp chomp chomp.

“Is it tasty?”

“Yeah, delicious.”

“I… see…”

Seemingly unable to fathom me eating dog food, Ha-neul eventually stole furtive glances at me and remarked:

Why was she so interested in me?

Ah, could it be that she wanted to mooch some?

“Would you like me to share some?”

“Ah, no… I’ll politely decline.”

She wasn’t eating it, huh.

Yet it was quite tasty.

After giving Ha-neul, who had refused my offer, a brief glance, I headed towards the location where I sensed a faint yogi presence.

Both Ha-neul and I had our reasons for going to exterminate this ‘Jomagu’ yokai.

To earn our keep, so to speak.

As it turned out, like me, Ha-neul was a freeloader residing at the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office.

She wasn’t dispatched here by the government, nor were we collaborating officially.

According to her, she was simply freeloading at the Yokai Extermination Office for the sole purpose of meeting me.

It was a puzzling aspect.

Unlike the director, she didn’t demand any information from me, nor did she make any particular requests.

She simply trailed beside me, engaging in utterly mundane conversations.

‘Aren’t your tails uncomfortable?’

‘Why don’t you revert to your three-tailed form?’

‘What are your likes and dislikes?’

‘Do you have a boyfriend… well, a close male yokai friend?’

Just mundane chatter like that.

Initially, I had assumed Ha-neul was infatuated with me, a fox yokai.

During my stay at the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office, I discovered one thing:

It seemed I possessed the ability to captivate men.

Barring the strong-willed director, every single male employee at the Yokai Extermination Office blushed while gazing at me.

No matter how oblivious I was to romantic feelings as a yokai,

At this point, I would be a fool not to realize it.

It was likely an innate ability bestowed upon me by the heavens to expertly drain men of their vital essence.

…Of course, I had no intention of draining anyone’s vitality, so this ability was utterly useless to me.

Hence, it was a natural and logical assumption for me to wonder, ‘Could Ha-neul also be infatuated with me?’

Though she was female, not male, I was a rather open-minded yokai.

Sometimes people were attracted to the same gender, after all.

However, that didn’t seem to be the case.

No matter how I looked at it, she didn’t appear to view me in a romantic light.

Unlike the other males, she neither blushed nor stuttered when addressing me.

If I had to describe her attitude towards me with an analogy, it would be:

Pat pat.

Pat pat pat.

…A pet?

Oh, no way…

As I purred contentedly while she gently stroked my head with her soft hands, I vehemently shook my head to dismiss that notion.

Seeing me shake my head, she retracted her hand with a hint of disappointment.

Ha-neul then said:

“Miho, I’ve heard that a yokai’s lifespan shortens with each use of its yogi?”

“Well, yes…”

While omitting many details, it wasn’t an inaccurate statement.

“Then let me handle this. You just watch, Miho.”

“Will you be okay?”

“It’ll be fine. No matter what abnormal signs it shows, it’s just a Grade 7 yokai anyway.”

“I suppose that’s true, but…”

As I crunched on the dog food, a sense of unease crept over me for some reason.

Was this ‘feeling’ also a trait of fox yokai?

While uncertain, I resolved to unleash my yogi and assist Ha-neul if necessary.

Sniff sniff.

Sniff sniff sniff.

At that moment,

The stench of rotting corpses began emanating from somewhere.

“What’s wrong, Miho? Do you like the scent of dog food that much?”

“No, it’s not that… It smells like that Jomagu yokai.”

“Huh? I don’t smell anything… Ah, right. You’re a fox, Miho.”

How could I even compare this putrid stench of decay to the fragrant aroma of dog food?

Bluntly put, the scent of dog food was so delightful that one could happily inhale it with their nose buried in the bag all day long.

It seemed

That Jomagu was nearby.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Then, a thunderous rumbling began echoing from afar, shaking the very earth.

…Was this the sound a Grade 7 yokai made?

The tremors grew closer, trees collapsing one by one,

Until the yokai known as Jomagu finally revealed itself.

Two elephants?

No.

No, wait.

This seemed larger than even three elephants combined…

No, four elephants, perhaps.

Startled by its outrageous size, even Ha-neul opened her trembling lips:

“Th, this is really a Grade 7 yokai…?”

[I’m hungry.]

Eventually, an eerie voice neither masculine nor feminine emanated from its beak:

[Fox and human meat would be delicious.]