The Blacksmith's Confession
A chill hung in the air of the Seoul Back Alley Forge. Seojun sat blankly in front of the workbench. The words Jang-san-beom had left behind wouldn't leave his ears. 'I watched first.''The owner is mine.' They were words laced with blind obsession and possessiveness. But more than revulsion, questions surged ahead.
If Jang-san-beom was telling the truth, then in that moment when kaeyi transformation had nearly consumed him, teetering between life and death, the voice that had clung to Seojun belonged to Jang-san-beom. Not Haran, not Doyokshini, but some unidentified kaeyi lurking silently in the darkness.
'It didn't feel like a lie.'
Kaeyi were faithful to their instincts. Especially a creature like Jang-san-beom, one that bared its primal desires so openly, had no reason to curry favor with falsehoods. Jang-san-beom had truly desired Seojun and wanted to protect him. So when had it begun circling the forge? Perhaps even before the other kaeyi had started coming and going.
"Hoo."
Seojun shook off the tangled thoughts in his head. Brooding alone wouldn't yield answers. Whatever Jang-san-beom's intentions, as long as it didn't harm him right now, that was enough.
"Time to work."
He cast aside distractions and rose to his feet. He still had his promise to the mountain dokkaebi. Twenty iron chain shackles. There was still a good amount left to make.
He stood before the furnace again. Violet yohwa flames flickered, heating the magic ore ingots. He channeled kaeyi energy into the Ugeum hammer and brought it down.
Clang!Clang!
The rhythmic hammer strikes filled the night's silence. There was no better way to sort out a cluttered mind than emptying his thoughts and letting his body move. Heating the iron, striking it, cooling it. In the repetition, Seojun steadied his turbulent emotions.
A few days passed. Seojun threw himself into work day and night. He hammered the magic ore ingots into iron chain shackles. Each one was forged with his all.
Twenty iron chain shackles piled on the workbench gleamed in the light, exuding a heavy presence.
"Now I just wait, huh."
Seojun wiped his sweat and checked the clock. The sun was still high in the sky. The mountain dokkaebi wouldn't come for hours yet. He was about to take a break until nightfall.
"Boss, it's Park Cheolwoo."
Park Cheolwoo's voice came from beyond the half-open shutter. Seojun flinched at the memory of recent events but peered closely at the half-visible figure—it was indeed Park Cheolwoo.
"Come in."
"Pardon the intrusion."
Park Cheolwoo ducked through the shutter. Unlike his usual hunter gear, he wore casual clothes, but exhaustion hung from his slumped posture. His complexion was dark, casting even deeper shadows.
"Sorry for dropping by unannounced."
"I'm glued to the forge anyway."
"The reason for my visit is—"
Park Cheolwoo glanced around outside before continuing. Just to be safe, he lowered the shutter fully, then spoke.
"Have you heard the news?"
"What news?"
Seojun asked, puzzled. He'd been so buried in work these past few days that he was out of touch with the outside world.
Park Cheolwoo let out a sigh and explained the situation.
"The whole country's in chaos right now. The news is under media blackout, so it barely airs, but the hunter communities are flipped upside down."
"Something big must've happened."
"Kaeyi are popping up nationwide. All at once, simultaneously."
Park Cheolwoo's explanation was shocking. Late at night, eerie phenomena had been sighted in remote areas across the country.
"Witness accounts are especially wild. They say kaeyi are fighting each other."
"Kaeyi fighting each other?"
"Yes. Grotesque ones you'd expect from dungeons... and kaeyi like dokkaebi from old folktales, tangled in battle."
Seojun stroked his chin in silence. It was undoubtedly the war Doyokshini had mentioned. It should have stayed hidden in the shadows, undetected by humans, but with foreign kaeyi rampaging more boldly, it was spilling into the open.
"No photos or videos capture the kaeyi clearly, so it's all eyewitness testimony. But the accounts are consistent, so it's being treated as fact."
"I see."
"The real problem happened last night."
Park Cheolwoo rubbed his dry face and continued.
"Yura took a team down to the provinces. They went to clear a small folktale-type dungeon in a remote spot. It wasn't high-ranked, so they went in lightly, but when they arrived, things were different."
The dungeon was already saturated. On the verge of a break, unstable. The moment Han Yura's team entered, the entrance sealed, and the folktale barrier formed. To make matters worse, far more kaeyi swarmed inside than expected.
"They were on the brink of wipeout. Comms cut, no retreat, hordes charging— even with anti-kaeyi equipment, numbers win out."
Park Cheolwoo vividly described the scene. Han Yura and her team fought desperately, but it wasn't enough. Stamina depleted, gear at its limit. As they fell one by one.
A roar from somewhere shattered a wall.
"Dokkaebi kaeyi appeared out of nowhere."
"Dokkaebi?"
"Yeah. Massive ones the size of mountains, armored ones swinging iron clubs... Several burst in and started mowing down the dungeon kaeyi."
It seemed they'd encountered Doyokshini's soldiers. The dokkaebi army armed with the gear he'd forged. They'd pushed into foreign folktale territory.
"At first, they thought more kaeyi had shown up and despaired. But the dokkaebi ignored the hunters, targeting only the dungeon kaeyi."
Han Yura was confused amid the chaos. It was time to flee. Slip out while the kaeyi fought among themselves—that was wisest. But something held Han Yura back.
"She saw the weapons the dokkaebi wielded. They were flanged maces. Heavy ones forged from solid iron."
Park Cheolwoo stared piercingly at Seojun.
"They were too familiar. Like the prototype you gave us. And they matched the custom gear we're all wearing."
Han Yura knew instinctively. The dokkaebi's equipment was handmade by someone, and that someone was probably known to her. So she didn't run. Instead, she gripped her weapon tighter and charged the front lines.
"She couldn't believe it but her body moved first. She fought alongside the dokkaebi kaeyi. No communication, but their coordination felt uncanny."
It must have been a bizarre sight. Hunters and kaeyi allied against other kaeyi. Humans and dokkaebi sweeping the battlefield with gear from the same forge.
"Thanks to that, they destroyed the folktale core and escaped. The folktale vanished, and the dokkaebi dissolved into smoke."
"And Han Yura? Is she okay?"
"...She took some injuries."
"At the end, shielding her team from a dungeon kaeyi attack. No life threat, but she's hospitalized for antidote treatment. That's why she couldn't come today."
Park Cheolwoo caught his breath, then fixed Seojun with a serious gaze. No more beating around the bush.
"Boss."
"Yes."
"Is what we think... true?"
The question was short, but its weight was immense. Were you the one who made the armor and flanged maces the dokkaebi used? And what was your connection to the kaeyi?
"Yes."
Seojun met Park Cheolwoo's eyes without flinching. He could have lied. Said it was coincidence, similar weapons. Denied knowledge. But he didn't want to.
"Really..."
Park Cheolwoo's pupils shook. He'd suspected, but confirmation hit different.
"I made them. They commissioned me, and I delivered."
Seojun confessed calmly. A blacksmith taking commissions from kaeyi to forge weapons. It upended hunter industry common sense. A dangerous admission that could brand him a traitor to humanity.
"Why... did you?"
Park Cheolwoo forced the words out, not accusation but genuine curiosity.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"A friend...?"
Park Cheolwoo stared blankly at Seojun, as if beholding something beyond comprehension.
"Boss... what the hell are you?"
"Just a blacksmith."
Seojun caressed the Ugeum hammer as he replied. His voice held no tremor.
"I make things for customers who come, give them to those who need them. That's it."
Human or kaeyi, if they needed what he forged, he'd make it. He might be selective depending on circumstances. But if it benefited him, he wouldn't hesitate, no matter who.
"Understood. What I heard today... goes to the grave with me."
Park Cheolwoo stood, his expression conflicted as he bowed deeply to Seojun.
"I'll explain to Yura properly. Rest up... see you next time."
Park Cheolwoo left with heavy steps. Seojun watched him go and exhaled deeply. Revealing a hidden secret was like tightrope walking. But with traces emerging, denial wouldn't hold forever.
"This is mine to bear."
It was too late to turn back, and even if he could, he'd choose the same. Because he was advancing, step by step. One foot in front of the other.