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

Hungry.

Hungry.

Hungry.

Hungry.

No thoughts filled my mind except the feeling of hunger.

Who was (I)?

Jomagu, or a fox yokai?

What did it matter whether (my) name was Jomagu or Miho?

If it meant sating this ravenous hunger, nothing else mattered.

…

…

…

Winter, January.

Pristine white snow blanketed the mountain.

Crunch.

Grumble.

Crunch crunch.

Grumble.

With each step forward, the hunger seemed to intensify.

Was this hunger a desire, or a deprivation?

It could be called a desire, for it felt like any act could be committed to satiate it.

It could also be called a deprivation, for if left unsated, it threatened to drive one to madness.

One certainty remained:

Food was the purpose of (my) life, the reason for existence.

Ah.

There was prey before (my) eyes.

An dilapidated hut tucked away in a mountain valley.

A woman in tattered rags was cooking rice.

It would be delicious.

The rice the woman was cooking.

It seemed delicious.

As the woman left her spot, (I) approached the cooking pot she had been tending and opened the lid.

Though still undercooked, it was warm at least.

Soon after, (I) plunged (my) beak into the pot and began ravenously devouring the white rice.

“Oh heavens!”

What was that sound?

The woman’s voice, perhaps?

Pay it no mind, the woman was not food.

(I) refocused on consuming the rice.

Crack!

The woman struck (my) neck with a club.

Yet (I) did not cease devouring food.

Thwack!

The woman struck (my) body with an axe.

While her blow left an indent, it did not impede (my) ability to eat.

(I) did not cease devouring food.

Slice!

Thwack!

The sound of flesh parting and bone cracking under the axe’s blade echoed.

However,

As expected,

(I) did not cease devouring food.

Eventually, after finishing every last grain in the pot, (I) was still tormented by hunger.

So (I) sought the next source of food.

The woman was visible.

Seemingly bewildered by (my) abrupt growth in size, the woman’s axe strokes had ceased.

The woman.

Now,

She seemed edible.

(I) did not cease devouring food.

No.

(I) had ceased.

Let us take a step back.

The woman had a family.

The amount of rice was too much for a lone human woman to consume.

Let us devour the woman’s family instead.

(I) seized the axe and dismembered the woman, tossing her torso into the now empty pot that had been thoroughly licked clean.

It was a delicious meat stew, yet

(I) did not indulge in devouring food.

After waiting for a few hours,

The woman’s family arrived.

The woman’s family consisted of two strapping sons, who, upon witnessing the blood-soaked kitchen, raged furiously:

“Wh, who dares?! Show yourself, you coward!”

“Brother, could it be a tiger devoured Grandmother?”

“Little brother, if so, let us consume this meat stew Grandmother prepared and slay the tiger.”

“A wise idea, Brother.”

Soon after, the woman’s two sons heartily indulged in devouring food.

(I) too approached them, intent on devouring food.

Just as (I) had devoured the woman’s eyes, (I) intended to savor the sons’ eyes and every morsel of their flesh.

Yet having regained their strength from the stew, the two sons began pummeling (I) like rabid dogs.

(I) informed the two sons that the stew they had just consumed was their own grandmother, then scurried away, leaving tracks in the snow.

The following day,

The two filial sons were found hanging from a tree, dead.

(I) did not cease devouring food.

…

…

…

Autumn, February.

(I) instinctively realized

That (my) present self could devour the powerful forces of the Martial Artists,

The mystical arts of the Taoists,

And even the yogi of yokai themselves.

Was it from devouring the goblin, or from consuming the book called the Taejasinggi?

Regardless of the reason, it did not matter.

However, was this drastic reduction in (my) size the price for the ‘blasphemy’ the goblin had spoken of?

In this state, (I) could devour nothing.

(My) eyes began to grow heavy.

If (I) were to open (my) eyes once more,

(I) vowed to devour everything in this world,

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

And (I) fell into slumber.

---

“…”

(I) awoke… from a dream.

No, was it a dream?

Whether a dream or not, that dreadful hunger had been all too real.

Who was (I)?

Jomagu?

Miho?

Swish swish.

Six swaying tails.

Ah, yes.

I was not Jomagu, but Miho.

Though uncertain,

It seemed the Taejasinggi had implanted Jomagu’s memories within me.

Jomagu, that being.

Was no mere petty yokai.

Like the blue-furred demonic fox, it had been a sublime yokai granted the qualification for ascension.

I surveyed my surroundings.

Having vomited everything from its belly before presumably becoming a demi-human, Jomagu’s corpse was nowhere to be found.

The cover of the Taejasinggi had also vanished without a trace.

A chill ran down my spine.

A sense that something unnatural had transpired.

It could have been a mere delusion, yet

The moment I touched the Taejasinggi’s cover,

I felt a distinct ‘will’ residing within that book.

A coincidence?

That the elusive fox yokai who was born two years ago had awoken from a deep slumber,

And that very same fox yokai happened to be granted the ‘qualification for ascension’.

A coincidence?

That I had ventured outside the inner realm seeking information on the Taejasinggi,

Only for the deranged Jomagu – also granted the ‘qualification for ascension’ – to conveniently begin rampaging at that precise timing.

Could all of this truly be coincidence?

No.

It was too unsettling to dismiss as mere coincidence.

As if my very destiny was being toyed with by some unseen hand.

An unpleasant sensation indeed.

I shook my head vigorously to cast aside such contemplations.

Whereupon an object on the ground caught my eye –

A horn.

The horn that Jomagu had devoured from that goblin.

For now, I should take it with me.

Perhaps due to vividly experiencing Jomagu’s entire life,

I suddenly felt ravenous.

I plopped down on the dirt and poured the dog food I had brought into my mouth.

After munching on the dog food for several minutes,

The sounds of Ha-neul and humans ascending the mountain in a group reached my ears.

“Miho! Are you okay… eh?”

Wow.

I had told them to bring bazookas and such, and they actually brought real bazookas.

The Yokai Extermination Office’s firepower support exceeded my imagination.

As they stared bewildered at me nonchalantly eating dog food, I addressed them:

“I’m hungry.”