The Dokkaebi's Founding Master

"Decompose."

The instant Bihyung's will took hold, the smoke gathered in his grip began to spiral.

Quite the haul. Then again, Shuten Doji was the chief of Japan's oni, and a blade belonging to a monster like that was never going to have been forged on the cheap.

Still. I really didn't expect this thing to decompose. In truth, Bihyung's Dokkaebi Bat was not yet complete. No—more precisely, it still had to grow.

I gave up performance in the moment, packed it with every ability I could, and dragged its potential up instead. Because of that, its storage had a ceiling, and the targets it could decompose or synthesize were bound by rank. He had never dreamed it could hold Shuten Doji's curse. He had only tried because he had made the bastard a promise.

I can't honestly call my bat EX-rank. Not yet. The grade said otherwise, but the feel of it in his hands told a different story. If he had to score it, it was EX with the X knocked off. Something like E-rank. Even so, I'll take this much and be grateful.

Unlike the Dokkaebi King's, his bat could absorb techniques and energy as well. He had not tested it, but linked with the Dokkaebi Bet, it might even be able to hold a bloodline. Play it right, and I could forge a bloodline with whatever ability I want. Wishful thinking, nothing more. He did not even know if it was possible, and even if it were, the bat as it stood probably could not bear the load. It'll grow far past this anyway. The ending is still a long way off. The bat could grow until then, and he could keep growing it. While he was at it, Bihyung decided to do something that might raise his own specs.

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"Eodugi. Hand me the Demon Blade."

"Yes, Lord!"

The moment the order left Bihyung's mouth, Eodugi rummaged through the shadows and drew out a crimson-black blade.

What happens if I mix this with Shuten Doji's blade fragment? Shuten Doji had beaten even Dueogsi in his prime, a named yokai of real renown even in Japan. Ghost stories and anomalies ran at a higher pitch there than in Korea. In the game's lore, was it the half-exiled geography of that island nation that left so many places coiled thick with yokai and aberrations? A blade from a yokai famous even in a country like that. What'll it become?

Anticipation bright in him, Bihyung fed the Demon Blade into the bat.

"Synthesize."

At his word the smoke in his grip shimmered at once, like heat haze, and Bihyung's eyes caught what was happening inside the bat. The fragment that had to be Shuten Doji's blade and his own Demon Blade were gradually binding together.

They're blending. The fragment seeped into the steel, and from that point the Demon Blade's color churned in a wild swirl. At last a single blade slipped free of the bat's current.

It was shaped a little differently from the Demon Blade. The edge had grown about a handspan longer, and the crimson-black of the ore had deepened, gone darker still.

"Whoa."

The moment his hand closed on the hilt, he felt it. This was nothing the old Demon Blade could compare to. If he had to name the difference, it was a factory piece set beside a masterpiece from a master's hand. The edge had grown so keen that merely holding it made the air around him seem to split and stream apart.

Which means it's gotten that much more dangerous, hasn't it? The demonic power of Shuten Doji lingering in the blade twisted into something like a ghost's wail and scraped the inside of his ears.

Kreeeeek—!!

"Ugh. Shut up."

It was the sound of nails dragged down a chalkboard. Bihyung turned an irritated glare on Guiokdo.

"Be quiet."

Shot through with Shuten Doji's power, Guiokdo meant at first to ignore him, as if the command were a joke. Then the rank of the existence bearing down on it—a presence Shuten Doji could not begin to match—woke raw fear, and the blade shut its mouth at once.

"That's more like it."

Looking relieved, he slipped Guiokdo back into the Dokkaebi Bat and looked down at Dueogsi, still out cold, with no idea the curse was gone.

All right. What do I do with this one? There was still plenty he needed to confirm, but Dueogsi came first. The man was a time bomb that might go off at any moment. The curse's restraints were gone, so he had to get a collar on him, and fast. Bihyung stepped in close and slowly drew his bloodline up.

Dokkaebi Bet.

The condition was simple: engage the opponent in an act bound up with a wager. Their consent was not required. But the contest has to end in a clear result, and the moment I lose, what I have can be handed over too. A double-edged sword. Bihyung turned that Bet on Dueogsi.

The terms were already set around lifting his curse. And those terms had already been cleared.

With that message, the things Dueogsi possessed began to surface. ...Why the hell are his stats that high? Wounded in the fight with Shuten Doji, his numbers looking diminished, they were still higher than Bihyung's own. He had better hurry before the man woke.

"Mmm..."

At that moment he heard Dueogsi stir. Bihyung reflexively drew Guiokdo, wrapped yang energy around the butt of the hilt, and brought it down.

Thwack!

"Ghk!"

With that sound, Dueogsi lost consciousness again.

"Whew. That was close."

Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Bihyung considered what to take. Something he'd hate to lose, if I can help it. He looked through the bloodlines and found nothing that particularly appealed. Stats or techniques, then—but would either of those be enough to keep a leash on him? I'll be lucky if he doesn't fly into a rage and tear the place apart.

He turned it over and over, and then something caught his eye. Huh? That... He studied it closely, and when the message linked to it rose before him, one corner of his mouth lifted.

"That'll do."

His body felt clear. Shuten Doji. Flesh cursed by that damned oni had felt as if fragments of a blade were drifting through his blood, and every movement sent pain ripping his muscles apart fiber by fiber. And yet he could feel this light. He could not remember tasting freedom in his own body in hundreds of years. Had his subordinates done something with the Dokkaebi King's bat?

"Hrgh!"

The thought carried Dueogsi that far, and before he knew it he clutched his forehead and pushed himself upright. Memory of a moment ago returned, and the spot that had taken the flick throbbed.

"Hey. You up?"

And there he was—the very one who had flicked him. A short way off, Bihyung had gathered firewood and was tending a campfire.

"Mina. I think that marshmallow's done."

"Huh? Oh, it really is. Here, Bihyung. Senior Eodugi, you have some too."

"I shall partake with gratitude, Lord!"

Two half-yokai and one yokai sat around the fire, roasting something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in easy, cozy harmony. Even Dueogsi, who had lived through long ages, had never seen a sight like it.

"...What manner of thing are you doing."

"Hm? We're having dessert. After the meal."

"No. That much I can see. I am asking why you commit such an act in this place."

Dueogsi glanced down at his own body, then clenched his fist tight.

"You have lifted the curse. Did you not consider, then, what I would do to you once I awoke?"

"I did."

"Then why did you not leave?"

At the question Bihyung turned his head and looked at him. A smile played at the corner of his mouth.

"I told you earlier. I'm putting you in my Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts."

"...Ha."

The laugh was hollow, as if he could not believe his ears. Dueogsi let it out and stared straight into Bihyung's eyes.

The eyes do not speak falsehood. Having lived through long ages, Dueogsi possessed the insight to read another's gaze—the emotions they held, their thoughts, even the heart beneath. He could perceive them, to a degree. And yet, why. That was why the being called Bihyung unsettled him. Why does he not fear me?

Dueoksin. The God Who Crushes Heads. An evil god who kills by pressing down upon the skull. That was what his name meant. And yet this half-yokai, having spared an evil god such as that, simply looked at him with perfect calm.

"What, in the end, are you?"

How could he smile like that? And how could he stand so unbowed? Human society, if not quite so much as the world of yokai, was still a realm where the strong reigned. The weak were meant to bend the knee and bow their heads. This half-yokai's birth was lofty, and yet he had not fully brought it into bloom. Dueogsi could not understand him at all.

"What am I?"

At the question, Bihyung rose.

"If you like the answer, you thinking of joining my Hundred Ghosts?"

Dueogsi seemed to like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that boldness. He nodded, and he laughed.

"Very well. If the answer pleases me, I shall follow you."

The moment he heard it, Bihyung looked without hesitation at the new notification rising before him.

With it rose the king's lingering will, the one that had asked him to define the dokkaebi. And so there was only one thing Bihyung could say.

The title settled over him, and a fierce presence lashed out like a storm. Whoooosh—! As if a vast ghost were sprouting at Bihyung's back, his presence swelled, taking on bulk.

"The dokkaebi I define anew will no longer be the weak. Nor will they be incomplete."

He would work to make it so.

"Won't you roll up a sleeve and walk that road ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with me? Half-finished things, the both of us."

At those words, Dueogsi's body flinched hard.