How Dare You Mark Me With Your Saliva? (1)
The sensation was languid and warm. Whatever this fluffy thing was, it wrapped my body in the gentlest embrace. I wanted to open my eyes, but for some reason they refused to lift. My limbs wouldn’t move either. Yet strangely, I felt no fear. If anything, a deeper craving to stay like this forever bloomed inside me.
“How did a human get in here?”
“This is fun! So fun!”
“Indeed… quite intriguing.”
“From now on, I will be asking this boy some questions, so everyone please be quiet.”
Asking me questions? Was that directed at me?
A sticky, sweet voice whispered directly into my ear.
“Now, please answer me. How exactly did you come to the Ghost Lair?”
My mind grew hazy, as if enchanted. The phrase “losing one’s senses” suddenly made perfect sense. Even so, my brain scrambled desperately to give the voice exactly what it wanted.
Ghost Lair…
The passageway that led to the world where yokai dwelled. Why was that word surfacing now? And what did it mean, asking how I got here… as if I were already inside the Ghost Lair? I had just been fighting the lake’s minion in the Soul’s Training Ground a moment ago… hadn’t I?
…What the hell is going on?
My thoughts sharpened. Why was I here? Who were they? As I frantically gathered information to understand the situation—
Squeeze.
“Ah, the human’s thinking!”
“His mental strength is pretty decent, huh?”
“To stay this calm in a situation like this… unbelievable.”
Ugh.
Whatever had been softly cradling my body suddenly tightened, constricting me. It seemed they had noticed I’d regained my senses. In that case, there was no point keeping my eyes closed anymore.
“Yokai?”
When I opened my eyes, what greeted me wasn’t ordinary monsters. A red oni with one horn. A blue oni with two horns. A green oni with three horns. These yokai were all too familiar.
The gatekeepers of the Ghost Lair—the Three-Colored Oni Brothers.
“Please answer quickly. How did you come to the Ghost Lair?”
“Wait, weren’t we covering his mouth?”
“…Were we?”
“Then how is he supposed to answer?”
“…….”
“You three really are dumber than me!”
“Hold on, human! I’ll free you right now!”
Thud!
A heavy impact slammed into my stomach without warning. Pain exploded through me. Unable to brace myself, my body instinctively coughed out a ragged breath.
“Kahak!”
“He said ‘Kahak’! Does it hurt that much?”
“What a weak human. To be in pain from just that.”
These crazy bastards…! Of course anyone would react like this if they got sucker-punched while completely defenseless! Not to mention these guys had physical abilities several times greater than any human!
I endured the stinging pain and spoke first.
“Is this the Ghost Lair?”
“Oh? That’s his first question?”
“Does he already know about the Ghost Lair?”
“Amazing! Human, want me to fix your eyes too?”
“Hold on. If a human sees this place, they must prove their qualification first.”
Did they think I couldn’t see? Well, that made sense. Normally, when humans entered this realm, they lost their sight, hearing, and speech. The one currently wrapping me must be responsible for the hearing—those fox tails. And the one who punched my stomach was probably handling the speech restriction.
But those restrictions don’t work on someone who possesses Ghostly Qi.
In other words, they were making completely wrong assumptions. And I had been hit for no reason at all.
Swoosh.
To let them know, I gently stroked the fox tails that held my body.
“By the way, a fox’s fur is much softer than I expected.”
Twitch.
I felt whatever was coiled around me flinch and tremble. It must have been reacting to my words.
“You… can see.”
“It is an honor to meet the Heavenly Fox Goddess.”
Squeeze.
The moment I spoke, the pressure around my body intensified. Ugh, now even breathing was getting difficult.
“The more important question… is how I arrived here, isn’t it…?”
“You… who exactly are you?”
“I’d prefer it if Red Mang, Blue Mang, and Green Ryang didn’t listen… is that possible?”
“…….”
After a brief silence, she began wrapping me completely with her tails.
“H-hey?! Where are you going?!”
“We want to talk too!”
“This is getting even more interesting.”
The noisy conversation of the three oni brothers gradually faded. Soon, a tranquil silence filled the space. Just as I had requested, she had probably moved locations or separated the space so we could speak alone.
“Now, explain yourself.”
In the quiet atmosphere, I tapped my fingers against her tail and said,
“First, could you loosen your grip a little?”
“Who knows what tricks you might pull if I release you.”
“Come on, Lady Hoya, how could I possibly do anything to you?”
“You even know my name.”
“Ah, I’m starting to have trouble breathing again.”
“…….”
Swoosh.
My airway opened. The restraints vanished. With my vision restored, I turned and faced the fox who had been speaking with me alone.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Enough with the pleasantries. Just answer. How did a human get here?”
It was probably because of the skill I possessed that connected me to the Ghost Lair.
“There’s one thing I should show you first.”
I activated Formless Slash. Since I had no sword, only Ghostly Qi bloomed over my hand—but that alone was more than enough proof for her.
“Ghostly Qi! A human who hasn’t even formed a contract… how can you wield Ghostly Qi…?”
Ghostly Qi was supposed to be the exclusive power of yokai. Yet here was a human who had never contracted with one using it. And if that power belonged to the Ghost King who currently ruled over all yokai…?
Well, Hoya? How are you going to respond?
Hoya, staring blankly at the purple Ghostly Qi wrapped around my hand, began studying my face as if searching for something. She muttered quietly.
“Hm, does his face look a bit similar? No… he’s way more handsome than that old man. The eyebrows are a little alike? Maybe the eyes… nah. Aha.”
So this fox thought I was a descendant of the Ghost King?
“Ahem. I have somewhere urgent I need to be right now. So could you wait here for a bit?”
She was probably going to ask the Ghost King.
“Is it okay to leave me here alone?”
“Of course. Still, just in case, I’ll leave a mark so no one else will bother you.”
A mark, huh. If it was a mark left by someone of Hoya’s caliber, even the greater yokai would probably avoid it.
“If you happen to return to your original place before I come back, I’ll connect our souls and visit you in your dreams, so don’t be surprised.”
“You’re coming to me in a dream? Wait, are you a succu—”
“I did interpret the power of dream demons correctly, but! I’m not visiting for that kind of reason, so don’t misunderstand!”
…But you’re a nine-tailed fox.
I wisely kept my mouth shut and stayed silent.
Chu.
“…….”
“I have to do this to leave a mark, okay?”
“I didn’t say anything. Still, that was surprisingly quick.”
“It’s not a ritual that requires the other party’s consent. It uses the target’s sexual desire as a catalyst, so…”
“…….”
“It’s really not like that, so please don’t look at me that way…”
What kind of look did I even give her? I was just sitting still. Maybe she felt guilty, because she hurriedly said she had to go and actually left me there alone.
“Excuse me?”
No answer came back. She had really abandoned me here.
Vrrrr. Vrrrr.
Just sitting around doing nothing felt boring, so I tried using mana for some simple control training. As expected of the Ghost Lair, the place overflowed with Ghostly Qi, making mana movement sluggish.
“Found you.”
Huh? What voice was that just now…?
Whoosh!
“Guh?!”
Before I could even question the strangely familiar voice, someone grabbed my clothes and yanked me downward. My consciousness plummeted in an instant.
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn’t on the cold stone floor of the Ghost Lair. Instead, I found myself resting on something incredibly soft—Cheonhwa Yuseol’s thigh. What an honor.
Consciousness forcibly pulled back from the Ghost Lair
“You’re finally awake.”
“Master…?”
I glanced around. This was definitely the Soul’s Training Ground.
“After defeating that lake minion, you collapsed immediately. I thought your mind had gone to some special space on purpose, so I left you alone… but it seems that wasn’t the case, so I dragged you back.”
So the voice I heard at the end really had been Cheonhwa Yuseol’s. To think she had yanked my entire consciousness straight out of the Ghost Lair.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m not hurt. Thank you, Master.”
“That’s a relief.”
Cheonhwa Yuseol gently stroked my hair. Or… could you even call it stroking? It felt more like she was playfully teasing it with extreme care.
“My disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
“While you were unconscious, did something happen?”
“Umm… nothing at all.”
“I see. Then why do you smell like a beast?”
As she spoke, she pointed at the back of my left hand. There, a tattoo in the shape of a glowing pink fox had settled onto my skin.