The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

"Learn my proper duty?"

Was it his duty as an exorcist the thing wanted, or his duty as a yokai? Either way, it sounded like an order to choose one of the two. Bihyung clutched his head, and in the end he let out a sigh.

"For now, I'll set this aside and worry about it later."

More importantly—hand over the reward.

"You are not slipping past me without paying up."

He frowned and stared into empty air. A moment later, as if it had understood him, the system's guidance arrived.

Knew it.

The moment he saw the grade, his fist clenched before he even noticed.

So what are you giving me for it?

He stared at the system with a trembling heart, and as if to meet his expectations, messages burst out one after another like fireworks.

Bihyung's eyes went wide at the reward list that finally revealed itself.

"A 5th Rank spell-art selection? You're serious?"

Pick that, and for a good while nothing would be too much for him to handle.

And the bloodline selection—what does that even do?

If it meant choosing a bloodline in the literal sense, then what could he choose, and what were the limits? He had no data on any of it. Of course he didn't. That reward had never once appeared in the game.

First one's on hold.

More importantly, what in the world was the key?

The instant he claimed that reward, a single golden key dropped into his grip. A message chimed at the same time.

Bihyung's eyes flew open.

"A warehouse?"

Reader's Chronicle had an odd little feature. You could stash the currency and miscellaneous items of a character from a previous playthrough in a warehouse, then let a character made on the next cycle use them. People cleared a full set of gear from the very start and raised an emperor build that way, or they stored spirit pellets and elixirs that would matter later on. Bihyung had been no different.

Is it the warehouse I know?

Curiosity got the better of him, and he dug straight into the system. A new interface, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the one called the warehouse, had been opened.

Bihyung couldn't hold it in.

"This is it!!"

Only once—but a chance to claim every miscellaneous item he had piled into that warehouse until now. All the hours he had sunk into the game finally seemed ready to shine.

"The timer isn't ticking down, so it looks like I can enter whenever I want."

Then he could take his time looking over the next reward.

"A line of story has to be busted too, right?"

Riding that excitement, he claimed the second reward.

And with that notice, nothing changed at all.

"......?"

Bihyung's face went flat and sour.

"What?"

Where did the reward go?

The system had nothing so generous as a refund function. Then again, with no customer support either, how was it supposed to refund anything?

"Tsk. Guess not everything in there was a winner."

No. He simply hadn't figured it out yet. A line of story might still be a good reward.

If there's any hope for something like this, it had better be the kind that explodes in the late game.

Bihyung heaved a long sigh, meaning to pick the first reward and then go find himself a weapon. He had wasted far too much time fretting over the rewards.

The faster I finish, the more time I get to myself. I'll use it to plan a way into the library.

If that was the goal, he ought to take the demonic blade, shouldn't he? It wasn't even far from here.

He was thinking exactly that when it happened.

"Huh?"

Something snagged on his senses.

What is this feeling?

His blood ran hot. The current of it boiled like water set over a flame, and every sense stood on end for no good reason.

My yokai nature is running wild.

Why?

Just as that question filled his head, the anomaly struck.

A deep, grinding rumble tore through the ground, heaving as if an earthquake had hit. At the same time, something seemed to be swimming up toward him from beneath the bedrock.

An anomalous phenomenon?

Bihyung kicked off the earth at once.

What shows up in a situation like this?

Sinkholes and Subterraneans, mostly.

A sinkhole is a mindless anomaly. I can't guarantee my half-yokai nature will work on it, so that's the worst case.

So he would farm the demonic blade nearby. Spend its durability, and it could deal damage even to things without a form.

This way.

He turned his body the way memory told him, and the mouth of a cave came into view. At that entrance, a single blade was driven deep into the earth. Bihyung drew it out at once.

The dark-crimson blade was ominous, and the energy seeping from it tried to invade his flesh. But the moment his gaze fixed upon it—

A low hum.

It turned docile, like a colt already broken. His half-yokai constitution had crushed the demonic blade's trial.

That works.

Then preparations were done.

Come on!

Bihyung gripped the demonic blade.

In that instant, a voice like thunder suddenly rolled up from beneath the earth.

"Uh... you're an Elder, aren't you?"

Ah, shit. So it is a Subterranean type?

And what was this "Elder" business?

"Why am I an Elder?"

"Th-that is... are you not a Dokkaebi?"

Bihyung's expression went ice-cold.

"What are you."

He hadn't cared what anomaly showed up. That ease vanished, and in a single instant his face turned deadly serious.

How does that thing know?

Fear would have been the natural response, but his secret was a breath away from exposure. This could only be called a threat to his life. Instead, his emotions went calm, and he felt his body settle into a stance ready to fight at any moment.

Space around him warped, and darkness surged up out of the ground.

The darkness had a bulk so vast it looked like a giant. The moment its feet touched the surface, it dropped into a full kowtow, shaking all over.

"E-Elder. Please, I beg you, withdraw your anger!"

Bihyung was not fooled by the display.

I don't know what this is, but I hit first.

He raised what power he could call on at once.

A hum. His yokai core trembled, and yokai power sheathed the blade.

Trusting in his outstanding body, Bihyung had only just begun to swing when—

"E-Eldeeer!!!"

The giant of darkness frantically slammed its head into the ground and wailed.

"Eldeeer! I'm a Dokkaebi! I'm the same kind as you!!"

At those words, Bihyung's blade stopped dead before the giant's throat.

"...What did you say?"

His eyes flew wide.

The giant before him was nothing but a huge human shape wrought of darkness. Look wherever he liked, it did not feel like a dokkaebi.

As if it had caught his doubt, the giant of darkness cried out in a rush.

"I'm a lesser Dokkaebi, so I don't have a fixed form, sir!"

"No... why is a Dokkaebi at the Academy?"

"Th-that is... I am a Dokkaebi born from an old thing, sir! But then, at some point, the humans started calling me an anomaly, and they forcibly subjugated me here!"

Something came back to Bihyung at those words.

Right. They say ghosts dwell in old objects.

It was a ghost story that existed in every country, but in a place like Korea, they said the thing that took root was not a ghost, but a dokkaebi.

Then don't tell me...

This one was a case of an old object becoming a dokkaebi, and the Academy had mistaken it for an anomaly, subjugated it on a whim, and locked it away here?

Even so, Bihyung still did not lower the blade, so the darkness raised its own yokai power to prove that it was a yokai.

The soul went right out of Bihyung's face.

What kind of joke of a setting is this...

He was so dumbfounded the words wouldn't come. To think he would meet a yokai in this place—and a dokkaebi of his own kind, no less.

Even in the game, seeing a yokai was about as easy as plucking a star out of the sky.

It was an exorcist game, and the shadow of a yokai had been nearly impossible to find. Then, just when you had forgotten, one would show up now and then.

And I meet one like this.

Bihyung lowered the blade and asked.

"So? Why did you show up?"

The darkness explained, still shaking hard.

"That is... I smelled kin, so I came looking, sir."

It had come looking, only to find his standing far too high. High enough that "Elder" had slipped out of its mouth all on its own.

A question escaped Bihyung.

"Standing?"

"Yes. You maintain a form as a matter of course, do you not, sir?"

"That's because I'm a half-yokai."

"Pardon?"

This time the question came from the dark dokkaebi.

"That cannot be, sir! You give off such a thick scent..."

At those words Bihyung lifted his own arm and smelled it.

...He hadn't even sweated. Nothing but the smell of skin.

"What scent are you talking about?"

"A yokai's scent. No—the residual aura of the yokai power dwelling in your yokai core, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sir."

How in the world...

Jeoksu Bullu's specialty was clearly on him.

"...Hey. Dokkaebi."

"Yes, Elder."

"That residual aura. Can ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exorcists sense it too?"

"At a size like yours, Elder, they should not be able to sense it yet, sir."

"Then how did you sense it?"

"Between yokai, we can tell even if you hide it, sir!"

What, were yokai just bosom buddies? Why was there no concept of mine and yours?

Not even basic privacy.

"Still, that's a relief. Only yokai can sense it, and the exorcists don't know..."

"For now, perhaps. Not later, sir. Your yokai power is far too thick."

"...My yokai core has a specialty on it, you know? Even then?"

"Ah. So that seal-like thing was the specialty. Even so, as the yokai core grows larger, your presence is bound to grow with it, sir. A yokai's presence stirs instinctive fear and reverence in humans, so being discovered is likely only a matter of time."

Emergency!

They might not sense the yokai power, but the exorcists can still get suspicious?

What kind of bullshit was this!?

...What am I supposed to do?

The road ahead was nothing but pitch black.

"Dokkaebi. This thing... can it be hidden?"

"Pardon? You mean your presence, sir?"

"Yeah."

Bihyung explained his situation. From the fact that he was a half-yokai, all the way to his enrollment at Yeongwol, which raised exorcists.

......And that if he was found out, he would be killed.

The darkness spoke, trembling all over.

"Ah, I know, sir! Elder, you must wear the Gamtu!"

"The Gamtu?"

"I am a lesser Dokkaebi, so I never manifested it, but from what I have heard, it holds the power to turn one invisible, sir! With that, you should be able to hide the residual aura—the presence of your yokai core!"

Bihyung's expression turned grave.

The Gamtu. If I can just handle this, it's two birds with one stone.

The dark dokkaebi didn't seem to know the exact ability either, but it had said he would turn invisible. Which meant he could use it as a way into the library as well.

But a problem remained.

"I don't know how to use the Gamtu."

From the way it spoke, this looked like a dokkaebi bloodline ability—but when Bihyung had chosen dokkaebi as his half-yokai, no such thing had been among the bloodlines he saw.

Has it not opened yet?

His gaze turned on its own.

The reward for clearing the main story. The bloodline selection right.

...Guess there's no rule that says I have to die.

Bihyung selected the bloodline selection right at once.

Giving up the 5th Rank spell art stung a little, but only that far. If he could put it to use right now, he could even obtain, as a bloodline, a hidden piece he might use all the way to the ending.

Four bloodlines appeared, all but the Dokkaebi Bet he already possessed. Bihyung selected Dokkaebi Gamtu at once.

Bihyung felt a new ability branded into his blood.

"...This is the Gamtu?"

He called it forth.

A flare. Blue flame streamed above Bihyung's head, and in the next breath it became a pair of small horns. He felt something flowing into them.

Was this the residual aura the dark dokkaebi had meant?

"Oh! Elder, your presence has been erased, sir!"

Seemed so.

"Not bad. Thanks, dark Dokkaebi."

"Ehehe! I am glad I could be of help to you, Elder!"

Bihyung watched the dark dokkaebi lift the corners of what passed for its mouth, plainly delighted.

Anyway. What was he supposed to do with this one?

A subjugated anomaly is Academy property.

But he knew the full story now. The thing was a dokkaebi born from an object that had been filed among the anomalies. Leaving it as it was carried risks in more ways than one.

A butterfly effect could kick off.

If Yeongwol discovered it, they might inspect the other anomalies as well, just in case. And if that happened?

The anomalies I left so I could visit them when I needed them might end up locked to me, the same way this library incident has.

That was a major variable.

But just snatching it...

It had helped him too much. It weighed on him.

What do I do.

In that moment, his eyes met the dark dokkaebi's. It was staring at Bihyung with bright, sparkling eyes. The instant their gazes met, a new notice rose before him.

Subjugation, popping up here of all places.

Force an anomaly to submit, then overlay a spell upon its domain—the method by which an exorcist came to command one. A little different, but close enough to the shikigami handled by Japan's onmyoji and shrine maidens.

Well. Meeting a dokkaebi is a bond in itself.

Bihyung meant to accept.

In that instant—

What!

A Unique Story? Already?

He had heard that one of the conditions was fulfilled back when he gave his speech as top of the class...

It seemed he had just cleared the last of them.