Yuseoah, My One and Only Little Sister
Yuseoah. My one and only little sister. One day, she fell gravely ill.
"It's an incurable disease. There's nothing we can do."
Not long after our aunt and uncle—our lifelong guardians—had perished in an accident, this illness struck her, plunging our family into hardship.
My older sister, who had dreamed of becoming an actress her whole life, set aside her aspirations and plunged into the workforce to earn money. I did the same, dropping out of high school to labor on construction sites.
Sis tried to stop me, insisting she could handle it alone, but I wouldn't hear it. I couldn't let her shoulder the burden by herself.
But when our little sister heard about it, she sat up in her hospital bed and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Waaah...! I'm sorry, Sis...! Bro too...! It's all because of me, waaah...!"
"Don't cry."
Watching our sister weep so pitifully while Sis gently wiped her tears, it finally hit me.
Our family was just the three of us now.
It was the one-week anniversary of our aunt and uncle's passing.
"Siwoo, are you sure you're okay? You could definitely get into Seoul National University. I can cover the hospital bills on my own..."
Sis kept trying to persuade me. It was only natural for her, now my new guardian, to worry about me taking on dangerous work at construction sites when I'd never been athletic.
"I'm fine, Sis. It's not as bad as you think."
Hiding the wounds from my brawl with a foreign laborer, I lied to Sis for the first time as she looked at me with worried eyes.
The work was grueling and perilous. The best-paying jobs were all far from Seoul. After hours crammed in a manpower agency's van to reach the site, I'd be greeted by a sleazy foreman and rough workers. Working in places like that, you quickly learned why no one else wanted the high pay.
Still, I headed to the site every morning without complaint.
I knew it was all for my family. That single thought—for the sake of those precious to me—sustained me through the hardships.
But it didn't last. I adapted to the new life somehow, but my family didn't. Sis came home late, exhaustion etched deeper into her eyes each day. Our little sister, bedridden in the hospital, was losing hope of survival bit by bit.
Sis and Yuseoah both teetered on the edge, like they stood at a cliff's brink—one slip and they'd crumble. Every day felt precarious.
Then, one day, we learned sending her to America could cure her.
But the problem was the astronomical cost. Just as despair set in over missing our one chance, I stumbled into the world of magic.
The work was easier than expected. Throwing talismans wasn't hard.
My partner on the job said I had tremendous talent.
It wasn't safe, but the payout after nearly dying that day filled me with optimism.
And it sparked hope. At this rate, I could save up fast and send Yuseoah to America for treatment.
All I could do watching her suffer was pray. But no more. That's what I thought.
"...I'm so relieved."
Until I heard the Necromancer's words.
It was an absurd coincidence. The disease his parents suffered from was the same as Yuseoah's.
I stared blankly at the Necromancer. His words sorted themselves in my cold, stunned mind.
Send her to America and she'd be a guinea pig for human experiments? Then what other options?
Thousand-Year Tree sap? ...No longer obtainable?
Suddenly, Yuseoah's face from that morning flashed in my mind.
...I'd boasted she could be cured, but nothing had changed?
"Kuhuhu... Show me your face twisted in despair..."
"Bullshit."
I won't let it end like that.
Krraaack—!
"Gaaahhh—!"
I tightened my grip on his throat, his scream echoing through the vast corridor.
I dragged him along, clutching him firmly.
"Guuuh... Show me! I said show me! Let me see how it feels facing this hellish reality!!"
The Necromancer, being hauled like trash, thrashed with his dying strength. Blood gushed from his side wound with each twist, trailing a long red streak across the floor.
Obviously, the more blood he lost, the closer he edged to death. Knowing that, he still strained to glimpse my face—to savor one last soul's agony before dying.
"You wanna see?"
I raised the hand choking him, meeting his eyes.
"Kekekeke, yes, show me. Those eyes drowned in despair..."
He cackled disgustingly, locking eyes with me—then froze.
"Wh-what...?! What are those eyes?!"
"Funny reaction."
"Impossible!!! Why aren't you breaking?!"
Because I don't have time to despair.
"Ugh... No way... My final pleasure... gone..."
Instead, the Necromancer despaired.
I shook his head side to side to snap him out of it. Meeting his gaze wasn't to show my composure.
"Enough bullshit. I showed you the face you wanted. Now tell me how to get out of here."
"...Useless. I don't know either."
No way to verify if he lied. No clue how to force the truth.
That left one option.
"Where are the other mages?"
"Kuhuhu... Think you can leave here alive? See these scars carved into me? Medals from this world's denizens. Now they'll hunt you. Skin you alive, savor your screaming flesh bite by bite. What a sight..."
Krraack!
"Gaaahhh!!"
"Where are the other mages?"
I squeezed his throat harder.
"Kekekek...! They're coming! Coming to devour you!"
His eyes bulged as he glared at me.
I released him and stared down the corridor ahead.
Clank. Clank.
From the darkness emerged the animated armors I'd encountered before, swords drawn from their sheaths, aimed at me as they advanced.
"Keeheehee! Here they come, come, come!!! The Yokai!"
Behind the armors lumbered a massive quadruped beast, clad in ominous dark armor, filling the wide corridor.
[Grrrrrr...]
It eyed me and snorted hugely. The hot breath whooshed past like wind, carrying the stench of death.
"Disgusting."
Facing the monster, instinctive revulsion spilled out. Its savage maw parted to reveal a forked tongue slithering like a snake, tasting the air. No eyes—just grotesquely dense fur where pupils should be.
This beast navigated by scent alone, twitching its elongated snout as it closed in. In sync with its eerie gait, the sword-wielding armors surged forward.
These were leagues beyond the earlier ones. If those had crude greaves barely covering vitals like foot soldiers', these were full knightly plate, sealing every inch flawlessly.
Hummmm—
Moreover, they exuded baleful auras. Thin, razor-sharp energy clung to their blades; eerie blue glows leaked from their visors.
"Kekeke. Those were knights. The ones who guarded the king closest—damn strong."
The Necromancer, slumped against the wall, sneered as he explained.
"Not ordinary armors. Curses fused man and metal. They'll do anything to eliminate intruders. Kyahaha! A low-grade mage like you can do nothing!"
Clank! Clank!
The knight armors assumed stances, staring me down.
Poised to charge any second.
I wasn't dumb enough to just stand there.
Shuuuk—
I hurled the talismans clutched in both hands forward. The six stiff sheets sailed into the armors' midst.
Kaboooom—!!
Blue ghost fire erupted with the blasts, engulfing their plate.
Wriggle. Wriggle.
The intangible, weightless flames clung stickily; the knights slashed at empty air. Blind to their bodies melting like wax, their cursed loyalty never wavered.
Clatter.
The iron boots lost form first. Bereft of support, the heavy armors crashed gracelessly. Gauntlets liquefied next, swords clattering from lifeless grips.
Breastplates crumpled; even the helms, glowing blue to the last, warped.
Thus the knights dissolved without trace, leaving only weapons and their vile curse.
"Impossible..."
The watching Necromancer gaped, forgetting to staunch his side.
"Taking down those knights with a few ghost fire talismans? No! Even an 8th Grade sorcerer couldn't! Am I hallucinating?"
He shook his head, wide-eyed at the melt, then recovered.
"Hah, just luck. What'd that attack cost you? Lifespan? Body? Your whole life? Kekeke, hilarious. So desperate to survive?"
I ignored the dying fool's ravings. Enemies remained.
[Grrrrrrrr...]
The armored beast drooled viscous saliva. The black, clay-like drool hit the floor with a sizzle, corroding it pitch-black.
I drew talismans from my pocket, pondering. One bite from those jaws and it was over. End it before it closed in.
Shuuuk—
Before it flexed, my talisman sliced air, detonating in a massive blaze right in its face.
Kaboom—!
Direct hit.
[Kraaaang—!]
But the monster burst from the blue flames roaring, unscathed. Not a scratch.
First foe to shrug off my attack. But I didn't freeze like an idiot. I knew complacency's price all too well.
"Hahaha! Fool! Physical attacks don't faze Yokai!! Knights and Yokai are worlds apart?!"
Ignoring the Necromancer's jeers, I scattered another talisman bundle into the air.
[Kraaa!!]
But the beast was cunning. It bounded off walls and ceiling, effortlessly dodging the chaining explosions.
Distance closed—instantly to ten meters. One talisman left.
Whish—
I flung it without hesitation. The monster twisted mockingly aside, evading.
But I'd anticipated that.
Shuk.
I clapped my hands together firmly. Then murmured low.
"Ignite."
The talisman drifting behind it suddenly whooshed aflame. The handful of ghost fire ballooned, forming a colossal goblin wrought in azure blaze.
Chomp!
[Kraaaaa!!!]
The goblin snagged the monster's nape mid-pounce. It gaped impossibly wide, swallowing the thrashing beast whole.
[Kiiiiaaaaa!!!]
Being translucent fire, I glimpsed inside: the monster melting helplessly.
Gulp—
Sated, the goblin patted its belly twice, bowed politely to me, then dispersed as smoke.
The Necromancer watched, jaw slack in shock.
"King Goblin?! Summoning sorcery? No—killed a Yokai without probing its quirks? Am I seeing things?!"
I approached the flustered man.
"Where are the other mages?"
Meeting my eyes, he let out a hollow laugh.
"Hah. So that's your confidence. You fooled me. You're no low-grade mage."
Soon, bloodshot eyes glared ferociously.
"You've got the power to escape unscathed. But your precious one's doomed by that cursed disease—it won't change. Kekekeke!! Shame I won't see your ruin, but not bad. Your inescapable end approaches!!"
I placed a hand on the Necromancer's mad, glaring face.
And slammed it into the wall without mercy.
Kaboom!
"Grahk!"
Kaboom! Boom! Crash!
Savage impacts filled the corridor. After repeated skull-crushings, the blood-smeared Necromancer looked up, eyes unfocused and dreamy.
"Where are the other mages?"
I asked again, my voice eerily calm and emotionless even to me.
"Guuh...! Why no despair? Your loved one can never be cured?!"
Thud!
I stomped his chest.
"Gaaahk!!"
"Where are the mages?"
I gazed coldly at his writhing form.
Incurable? America means experiments?
Unbelievable intel from trash lips.
But I couldn't risk Yuseoah on mere words.
So I resolved.
I'll find her cure myself.
It won't be easy.
But it's possible.
Magic revives the dead—what can't it do?
Yuseoah's illness can be cured.
No—I will cure it. Whatever it takes.
Kill if needed. Steal what's required. Discard my humanity if must.
For family, I'd out-monster any beast.
With icy eyes fixed on him, I issued my ultimatum softly.
"Where are the mages?"
***
"This is bad..."
Juharin stood motionless in the dark space, eyes closed.
She couldn't move.
[!!!!!!]
The Yokai that had brutally torn apart three mages loomed right beside her.