Night at the Forge and the Silent Master's Call
The night at the Seoul Back Alley Forge buzzed with energy. With the three mountain dokkaebi lending a hand, the work pace picked up noticeably. Ga-ssi swung the sledgehammer to crush the jagged ore, pounding it like he was threshing rice cakes.
Yi-ssi handled dumping the ore into the furnace and pumping the bellows. Kim-ssi, drawing on his experience, took charge of the finer tasks. Pouring molten metal into molds and extracting the cooled castings—he moved with surprising skill.
"Heave-ho!"
"Hup!"
The dokkaebi's thick grunts echoed like work chants. Thanks to them, Seojun finally caught a breather. He was free from the repetitive grind of mass-producing anti-kaeyi equipment. Now he could focus on the intricate, crucial work.
That's why, at one corner of the workbench, he crafted iron chain ssam-bats for the other mountain dokkaebi he hadn't equipped yet. He was hammering a mana ore ingot, infusing it with kaeyi energy, when Kim-ssi spoke up as if remembering something.
"Oh right, boss. I forgot to mention something."
"What is it?"
"One of those Baegbaekgyo bastards got away."
Kim-ssi continued while cooling the molten metal. "My buddy caught the fleeing guy with an iron chain ssam-bat and wrestled him down... But the weird part? The guy was scared out of his wits by something. Not easy for a headcase like that."
"Was it a foreign kaeyi?"
"Unlike those ominous freaks, it was from some other land. Boogey? Boogeyman? Something like that."
The Boogeyman—a terror from Western ghost stories. A being that kidnapped children or lurked in shadows to frighten people. And one had escaped Baegbaekgyo? Terrified, no less?
"What spooked it so bad?"
"Who knows... Maybe it saw something it shouldn't have, with Baegbaekgyo cozying up to outer gods. My buddy said the guy was babbling nonsense he couldn't make heads or tails of."
Kim-ssi shook his head. Was Baegbaekgyo up to something new? Or just fallout from their usual madness? No way to guess what was going down there. But the Boogeyman's reaction made one thing clear: something terrifying was afoot.
"Where's the Boogeyman now?"
"Hahoe Mask took him in. They even gave him that name."
Hahoe Mask's place seemed like the local authority for kaeyi on the peninsula. Anything incident-related got handed off. Easier than getting tangled in complications.
"And the Baegbaekgyo site?"
"A void opened from the ghost story, so it collapsed."
In short, the Boogeyman had escaped an S-rank dungeon. Escaping a world of nothingness could be a key to conquering it—but no way to contact him.
'Maybe ask Haran or Baek Dongsu later.'
He shelved it for now and focused on work.
The next day, late afternoon. In front of the forge, 500 sets of mass-produced anti-kaeyi equipment towered like a mountain. Thanks to the dokkaebi, they'd hit the quota in a single day. And they'd pocketed the extra iron chain ssam-bats Seojun made.
"Thanks, boss! Call us if there's more work!"
"Don't forget the buckwheat starch cake and makgeolli!"
The dokkaebi chattered boisterously as they headed back to the mountains. Seojun watched their sturdy backs recede, then texted Kim Hyungseok: 500 sets ready for pickup.
Trucks arrived soon after.
"Thank you, as always."
Kim Hyungseok bowed deeply the moment he stepped down from a truck. His suit hung looser than before—probably lost weight from the grind.
"Everyone's busting their asses out there; this is the least I can do."
"Even so, I didn't expect it this fast..."
"Got some help from friends."
Seojun kept it vague. Hiding the dokkaebi aside, he wanted to nip any misconceptions about the speed.
"Uh... what about Hunter Im Jiyeon?"
"Ah, I heard. You made her custom gear."
"Y-yeah?" It felt off, but he couldn't deny it.
"Other S-rank hunters griped, but the new gear cracked the dungeon puzzle, so things quieted down."
"Puzzle?"
"We cleared the nothingness. A path appeared, but now there's a new obstacle. We're proceeding cautiously."
Kim Hyungseok leaned in, voice low—S-rank dungeon intel was classified.
"So, about custom gear for the other S-rank hunters...?"
"That's not feasible."
Seojun's tone was firm. Taejagwi's Muryeong wasn't even anti-kaeyi gear, and anything short of Chilseong Sword level wouldn't match its effects.
"If Hunter Im Jiyeon came through unscathed, she shook off the mental corruption with her own power."
"You mean she took on a whole kaeyi...?"
"No."
"Got it. I'll pass it on. Contact you if we need anything else."
Kim Hyungseok nodded, hopped on a truck once loaded, and left. The forge and alley fell quiet, serenity settling in. The sun dipped beyond the horizon, painting the sky in sunset hues.
Since the S-rank dungeon mess, fewer kaeyi clients visited. Probably avoiding the ominous aura nearby.
"Time..."
Seojun lowered the forge shutter. He pulled a talisman from the drawer, prepared water and a bowl.
[Path of the Kaeyi Forge]
He burned the talisman labeled [Path of the Kaeyi Forge]; the ashes dissolved in water, turning it black with an eerie vibe. Without hesitation, he downed the bowl in one gulp. Bitter and foul, it slid down his throat. Unlike before, no searing pain or dizziness hit. His mind stayed clear as the world shifted.
But he didn't even notice, left adrift in the illusory realm.
"What the...?"
Seojun eyed the changes curiously. But the new scenery flipped his thoughts. The illusory world wasn't the stark black-and-white desolation anymore. It was vibrant, splashed with colors like fresh paint. Crimson and golden stars gleamed in the pitch-black sky; blue grass carpeted the ground; distant mountains wove green forests with gray crags.
The only constants: the massive stone anvil straight ahead and the roaring furnace. Sintanjae hammered away silently, unchanged.
Seojun approached deliberately, making noise to announce himself. Sintanjae noticed, paused, and turned.
Seojun bowed politely, then wrote on the ground:
The illusory world has changed greatly.
Sintanjae set down his hammer and turned fully. His scarred face twisted into a smile. He picked up the poker and wrote:
You have changed.
Only then did Seojun realize. The world hadn't changed. He had—the way he perceived it.
First time here, he was human. Now? Not quite.
'Half-human, half-kaeyi.'
He'd stepped into that realm. Less advanced than others, but kaeyi all the same. That's why he pierced the illusion's essence.
'Kaeyi...'
Seojun glanced at his hands. They looked human. But inside, kaeyi made up 11%. Not organs or bones—more a shifting existence.
'Trust nothing.'
A old question resurfaced—Sintanjae's last words. He wanted to know the meaning.
Why did you tell me to trust nothing last time?
Sintanjae stared at Seojun, eyes deep and still. Then he wrote:
It's best to die as a human. But you're already half-kaeyi, walking the path. Warning's wasted now.
The caution stemmed from a wish to stay human. A heads-up that entering the kaeyi world meant no turning back, risking loss of humanity and ruin.
But Seojun had crossed the line. His chosen path—no regrets. He couldn't stop until his goal. Whatever waited at the end, he'd face it.
Why did you summon me?
Seojun wrote cautiously—not for chit-chat or warnings.
Help me.
Sintanjae wrote, then glanced behind. His gaze hit the furnace—and its raging flames. Within, a greenish-glowing metal ingot burned.