The Black-Furred Dog Yokai (2)

‘Ah, this wretched world!’

The unemployed Kim Min-hyeok cried out atop Namsan Mountain.

Only I am unfortunate.

Only I fail job interviews and have no lover.

Was the world mocking him?

He was truly an unlucky man.

It was fine that he managed to enter a decent university through grueling effort.

The problems started after enrollment.

After entering, the world began mocking him.

He patiently waited for the green light at a crosswalk before carefully crossing, yet was struck by a drunk driver and badly injured.

The accident severely impacted his grades, and

The prolonged hospitalization strained his relationship until they ultimately broke up.

Though he managed to graduate after a year’s leave of absence,

His tarnished records meant his value in the job market was below average.

His life was a complete mockery.

Could there be anyone more unlucky than him in all of Korea?

In hopes of venting his frustrations, he had come to Namsan, but

Seeing the passersby only deepened his gloom –

Unlike him, they all wore blissfully happy expressions.

What was so joyful for them?

What put them in such high spirits?

Just look at that –

One person had an arm gnawed off, unlike him.

Another had both eyes gouged out.

It was so unfair.

Aside from him, everyone descending Namsan seemed to be missing body parts.

“Ah, I wish I could see that black dog again!”

“It was so adorable, wasn’t it?”

“Yes! I wish it had eaten my legs too… What a shame!”

Again, only he was being mocked.

A black dog?

Only I failed to encounter it.

I too wanted to meet that black dog.

Thud.

Someone collapsed.

Thud.

Another person fell.

Kim Min-hyeok thought to himself:

I want to collapse too.

I want to meet that black dog and have it gnaw off my body parts.

Perhaps,

If I climbed up Namsan, I could meet that black dog.

It was then that

[Weeeeeeeeeeee! Weeeeeeeeeeee! Weeeeeeeeeeee!]

Ear-piercing sirens echoed across Namsan, followed by

An evacuation order being issued.

…A yokai had appeared?

Some yokai in Seoul?

Though slightly bewildered, like the others, Kim Min-hyeok hurriedly descended from Namsan.

Those missing body parts could not keep pace with his speed.

As a result,

Kim Min-hyeok was the first to evacuate Namsan safely,

Marking a rare stroke of good luck in his life.

---

“A, a yokai appeared!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, what yokai in the heart of Seoul!”

“Let’s just evacuate first!”

What,

Was this,

Situation…?

I gazed blankly at the passersby.

The state of those descending Namsan defied description – utterly horrific.

Some were missing an arm.

Others had both eyes gouged out.

Some clutched spilled entrails protruding from their abdomens.

It was a situation inducing panic, yet

Strangely, they maintained remarkable calm.

Was this the yokai’s ability?

It seemed to be paralyzing their cognitive faculties…

…But this level was simply excessive.

Not just directly afflicting the victims, but also paralyzing the surrounding people’s cognition.

This, this wasn’t the time!

I channeled my spirit energy to emit fox-fire in all directions,

Intending to heal them.

However,

The situation differed from when I had healed Yokai Extermination Office staff in Jiri Mountain.

“Oh… Um, over here…!”

“A yokai… A fox yokai!!!!”

“Kyaaaaaaaaah!”

First,

They failed to recognize their wounds were inflicted by a yokai.

“Guaaaah, my arm! You healed my arm!”

“My eyes too… I, I can see again…! Ah, aaaah, thank you God…!”

“P, please save me, I beg you… I have a five-year-old daughter, please!”

Second,

They did not perceive the severity of their injuries, and

Moreover,

Viewed my ‘healing’ as a hostile act.

“…”

I was at a loss for words

At the sheer malice of this unidentified yokai, perversely shattering human cognition.

Malice.

Pure, undiluted malice emanated from it.

Though I lacked extensive life experience, and the only yokai I had encountered were those three,

This malice felt incomparable to any I had met before.

The Blue-Furred Fox perceived humans as ‘prey’ or ‘food’ at most.

Humans do not hold malice towards livestock like pigs or cattle.

Cho Ma-gu also viewed humans as ‘food’, yet saw all things as food.

The Formless Shadow referred to humans as ‘tools’.

Among those three, none harbored such malice towards humans.

Better to be regarded as a tool, even.

This… this deranged, unidentified yokai certainly

Treated humans as mere playthings.

Fury chilled my mind.

“P, please save me, I beg you!”

Someone pleaded to me for their life, while

“You f-fucker! Try and kill me, try it!”

Another spewed profanity, but

Undeterred, I healed them all.

As my spirit energy slowly drained,

I manifested one tail to employ yogi and complete their healing.

This would make me show up on the yogi radar –

Revealing to people that I was not a spiritual beast, but a yokai.

So what?

What did it matter?

Saving human lives took precedence right now.

However,

For some unfathomable reason,

The moment I manifested that ‘yokai’ state with one tail,

“Wow, what a pretty lady!”

“Is she a BJ?”

“Looks like an influencer.”

“An otaku? Why is she still there after the evacuation order?”

“Leave her be, those types are willing to die for attention.”

The hostility people held towards me immediately vanished.

They had vented such animosity when I was in my spiritual beast form, yet

Showed welcoming attitudes once I became a ‘yokai’.

Something was gravely, profoundly wrong here.

Beyond merely paralyzing cognition, this seemed to have…

…A malicious intent behind it.

If humans began perceiving ‘yokai’ as allies, what chaos might ensue?

I could scarcely imagine the consequences.

More alarmingly, after manifesting six tails,

I too began experiencing cognitive impairment.

Did I really need to heal these people?

So what if they lost an arm?

They could survive without eyes, couldn’t they?

Such warped thoughts started infecting my mind.

It seemed this unidentified yokai’s cognitive disruption

Was effective not just on humans, but yokai as well.

Straining to resist the deterioration through liberal use of my remaining yogi,

After fully healing the surrounding humans, I reverted to seven tails and hurriedly ascended Namsan.

Though my spirit energy was depleting, I had no choice –

If I faced that unidentified yokai in my ‘yokai’ state, my own cognition would surely be corrupted.

Speaking of which,

Lee Ha-neul and the other Martial Artists would also be heading to Namsan, but

…I had to somehow resolve this before their arrival.

---

Spiritual beasts were a class of beings that seldom revealed themselves, and

After the demise of the Goblin King Duergsini, most retreated from the world.

Among the scant few remaining,

The Crimson Snake, a Rank 1 Martial Beast, pursued the black dog

At the request of the highest-ranking Martial Artist, Yi Jeong-mae.

Yi Jeong-mae warned the Crimson Snake:

“The black dog possesses an uncanny ability to conceal its form, so be cautious.”

To which the Crimson Snake flicked its forked tongue and replied:

“I, the Crimson Snake who survived the shadow of the evil Duergsini, need no such concern.”

“However…”

“You need only watch. After completing this task, I shall achieve true ascension. Bear witness to my ascension.”

“…Understood. I shall place my trust in you alone.”

Yi Jeong-mae and the Crimson Snake tracked the black dog, and

Soon located it thanks to the snake’s spiritual power.

The black dog then addressed the Crimson Snake:

[A spiritual beast, I see.]

“A spiritual beast, and your executioner.”

[Spiritual beasts. Are the enemy of all. The darkness of this world.]

Glance.

The black dog glanced at Yi Jeong-mae.

That was the signal.

Before encountering the black dog, the Crimson Snake and Yi Jeong-mae had devised a plan:

Yi Jeong-mae would use his martial arts to blind the black dog, then immediately

The Crimson Snake would bite its neck and inject venom more lethal than any poison.

With a single bite, the black dog would be exterminated.

…Or so they had thought, yet

For some inexplicable reason,

Yi Jeong-mae mistook the Crimson Snake as the enemy instead of the black dog, and

Unleashed a massive martial arts strike channeling all natural energy into the Crimson Snake.

The Crimson Snake perished,

The black dog fled,

And Yi Jeong-mae returned to the king with a self-satisfied expression, reporting:

“I have exterminated the black dog.”