The Tiger Folklore of Jangsan (萇山) in Busan (3)

As I descended Jiri Mountain with my tail swishing, I was finally able to venture into the true human world after nearly 2 years.

Sniff.

Sniff sniff.

Sniff sniff sniff.

Aah, this familiar scent of smog.

I missed this taste.

Unlike the world I knew, this seemed to be an area where yokai frequently appeared, so there were no tourists hiking up Jiri Mountain.

Still, it wasn’t completely devoid of people either.

Objectively speaking, my current appearance was too conspicuous.

Six swishing tails in the breeze.

Perky fox ears.

Even hanbok attire fit for the Joseon era.

The trifecta was complete.

It was like I was advertising: ‘Here’s a crazy cosplaying 6miho!’

I pulled down the cap the director had given me to conceal my fox ears.

Changing into ordinary human clothes would draw slightly less aggro, but

Due to my physical trait of six tails, I couldn’t wear ordinary clothes even if I wanted to.

While I could conceal the fox ears on my head with a cap,

Hiding my tails was no easy task.

So the next best option I chose was wearing a large bag.

…The look was odd, but it was better than blatantly exposing my tails.

The distance between Jiri Mountain and Jangsan was around 2 hours by taxi, not exactly close.

The quickest route would have been descending from Jiri Mountain to Gurye-gu, catching a taxi to Busan.

But I decided against taking a taxi under any circumstances.

Two hours alone in a confined space with a strange man.

Indeed,

Would the driver be able to resist my passive Seduction skill?

…Who knows?

Based on the reactions of those perverted… no, male employees at the Jiri Mountain Yokai Extermination Office,

It seemed best to avoid being alone with a strange man if possible.

Of course, the taxi driver could have been an upright man like the director, but

Just in case,

There was no need to take that risk.

That was my reason for deciding against taking a taxi.

At this critical juncture with Busan in chaos, how many lunatics would take a train all the way there?

Fortunately, trains were still operating.

Of course, the Busan station area was completely locked down, so I couldn’t go directly to Busan Station.

It seemed I would have to get off nearby and walk there.

I figured it would be quite the ordeal.

With those stray thoughts, I eventually arrived at the station to board the train.

Unlike the Jiri Mountain area, there were a fair number of people at the station.

It was only natural for people to stare at me.

…Ugh.

I was prepared, but having all these stares fixed on me felt rather embarrassing.

I grew worried they might realize I wasn’t human but a fox yokai.

But, I did live as a human for decades.

I was confident in my human cosplay skills.

After purchasing a ticket on my phone, I immediately headed to the station convenience store to buy cola.

Look at that.

I could enter the convenience store naturally and pay naturally too.

After gathering around ten cans of cola for supplies, my eyes landed on

A particular food item on the shelf.

It wasn’t jelly.

Nor was it beef jerky.

Not even snacks.

It was dog chewing gum.

Just look at that lewd shape.

How could I resist that?

---

This was the Busan Jangsan Yokai Extermination Office.

In one corner of the Jangsan Yokai Extermination Office’s operations room, an assortment of unusually dressed people were fervently conferring about something.

There were nine people participating in the meeting.

The three nationally certified Martial Artists with formidable presences.

Park Na-rae, Lee Jung-hyuk, Geum Sung.

The anachronistically robed Taoist Society (度伽會) Spell Master.

Myeong Jung.

The director and deputy director of the Jangsan Yokai Extermination Office.

A high-ranking officer with two stars on his epaulettes.

Two men in black suits.

The one leading the meeting was Park Hun-jong, the director of the Jangsan Yokai Extermination Office.

Park Hun-jong asked the Spell Master Myeong Jung:

“Is Ho Joon still not here?”

“He’s on his way by train, they said. With the Busan area locked down, it may take some time.”

“Understood. Then let’s begin the meeting without Ho Joon.”

He then began a detailed briefing on the current situation.

The characteristics of the tiger yokai whose yogi could not be detected.

The extent of damages.

Its radius of activity.

It wasn’t a particularly substantial briefing, so someone interjected:

“Is that all?”

“…Yes, that’s all.”

“Forgive me for asking since I genuinely don’t know, but has a yokai whose yogi can’t be detected ever appeared before?”

“…No, never. Not in Jangsan, nor anywhere else. This is the first case since establishing the yogi detection system.”

“Then tracking the yokai via CCTV…”

“Is impossible. I don’t know why, but that tiger yokai’s appearance isn’t captured on CCTV. It must be a special ability of that tiger yokai. The fact that it was a tiger yokai was only known through survivor testimonies…”

“So it’s a situation without answers, is it?”

“…”

The director felt ashamed.

As the commanding officer upholding the Jangsan Yokai Extermination Office, he was ashamed at being unable to provide a proper briefing.

“So what other choice do we have? We’ll have to literally run around searching for it directly and then stomp it.”

The one who spoke was the formidable Martial Artist Geum Sung.

Geum Sung slammed the table with his brawny muscles and continued:

“Yogi can’t be detected, it’s not captured on CCTV. Spreading out and directly running around searching for the yokai is the only way.”

Geum Sung’s opinion seemed quite reasonable.

If yogi couldn’t be tracked,

Then as he said, directly running around searching for the yokai was the only option.

However, the director sighed and rebutted Geum Sung’s words:

“…That won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“The risk of us being picked off one by one is too high.”

The director then pressed a remote, projecting footage onto the screen.

CCTV footage recorded on the day of the incident.

Playback time, 5:14:03 PM.

Lovers, families, friends walking the streets of Busan.

A perfectly peaceful scene.

Playback time, 5:14:59 PM.

Zzzzt.

The CCTV screen flickered briefly.

Playback time, 5:15:01 PM.

“Ugh…!”

Someone groaned in disgust.

On the CCTV footage, the previously peaceful Busan street just 2 seconds ago

Was now drenched in blood.

Blood gushed like a fountain from a lover’s severed head.

The happy family was nowhere to be seen, only their gruesome traces remained where they had stood.

Playback time, 5:15:05 PM.

People who realized the situation shrieked and fled.

Something pursuing the fleeing people was captured on the CCTV screen.

Yet its form was too blurred for proper identification.

Its appearance,

Its size,

Nothing could be discerned.

Within 5 seconds,

Dozens, hundreds had been killed or injured.

“…”

Silence fell over the meeting room.

The director eventually stopped the CCTV footage and spoke with a trembling voice:

“To the public… we announced it as an ‘Unmeasurable Yokai’.”

The director surveyed those present.

Three nationally certified Martial Artists.

One… no, two Spell Masters.

The fact that this much force had assembled meant:

“Based on the extent of damage, we estimate it to be at minimum… a Grade 2 yokai, minimum.”

“…”

“Acting separately will lead to our demise.”

The director made his decision.

Though inhumane, it was

The only way, the necessary sacrifice, to capture this bane to humanity, this calamity of a tiger yokai:

“We’ll use bait.”

---

Munch.

Munch munch munch.

It was a pleasant experience munching on dog chewing gum while admiring the scenery outside the train.

As I had expected, there were scarcely any people on the train.

In the 6th car I was in, I was the only passenger.

Well,

With news of a rampaging tiger yokai appearing in Jangsan being headlined, who in their right mind would take a train near Busan?

Thanks to that, I could lie down on the train carefree without worrying about my identity being exposed, taking a short rest.

“Grrrr, grrrrrr.”

As my mood improved, a purring sound automatically slipped from my mouth.

“Grrrrrr.”

“Munch, munch, munch.”

“Grrrrrr.”

“Grrr.”

No need to worry about others.

I swished my tail merrily as I munched on the dog chewing gum, purring loudly.

That’s when it happened:

“Oi, damn it! So freakin’ loud! What do you think you’re doing bringing a dog on the train?!”

Yikes, startled me!

Someone had yelled from one corner of the train car.

I thought I was alone?

The sudden shouting made me flinch in surprise.

Stomp.

Stomp.

Stomp stomp.

Someone approached me.

Like me, he was a man in his late 20s wearing archaic robes reminiscent of the grim reaper.

Upon seeing my unsightly appearance lying on the train swishing my tail while eating dog chewing gum,

He spoke in exasperation:

“…A gumiho?”

“Uh… er, uh.”

Don’t panic.

You prepared lines for this, right?

Say those, say those.

After swallowing my nervousness, I continued speaking:

“Not a gumiho. I’m a 6miho.”

“…”

“A 6miho cosplayer, my name is Miho.”

“…”

“The, the character’s name was… um, I forgot.”

“…”

Ah.

I should have asked Grade 7 Kim Myeong-ho about that gumiho figurine’s name.