Pursuit (5)
My house was trashed. I was pissed about it, sure, but honestly? Not that much. It had gotten wrecked once before just yesterday. And since Shin-nim had been whining about wanting me to redo it like a proper newlywed home, I'd been planning to gut the place anyway soon enough. The real issue wasn't the house blowing up.
It was how they'd found my place.
There was definitely no tail on me.
Ever since that serial killer yokai ransacked my home the other day, I'd been casting perception-distortion magic every time I went out for work. No way they could ID me or use detection spells. The only possibility left was physical surveillance—but even that had a high chance of tripping my senses.
Something more's at play.
And that wasn't the only weird part. If someone had been tailing me, they'd know I was a mage. But that gourd yokai's suicide blast? Way too weak to target a mage. I could've blocked it with a spell no sweat, and even tanking it barehanded wouldn't kill me.
Not Cheon-do-hoe, then?
If it had been those Cheon-do-hoe bastards ambushing me, they'd have swarmed with dozens of cultists or blown up the whole damn building. Overkill? Hell no—with over fifteen of their members dead by my hand already, any non-idiots in Cheon-do-hoe would come guns blazing to finish the job. Sending just one lone yokai made zero sense.
"No clue."
Anyway, I'd succeeded in tracking the guy down. But now that he was right in front of me, questions about his motives were piling up like crazy. Nothing added up. The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt—and the more rage bubbled up toward Cheon-do-hoe.
But after mulling it over, I realized all that pondering was pointless.
"Why guess? Just ask the man himself."
Why speculate on their intent when I could interrogate him directly? I immediately formed hand seals and unleashed magic on him.
Combat time.
"Beasts, heed my command! Obey your master!"
Deep Sea Tentacle
[Rip that bastard apart.]
Shrrrrk!
The fight was one-sided. The shaman controlled multiple yokai to attack me, but they all got turned into ground beef by my tentacles. She tried wind magic with her staff, but it couldn't even slice the tentacles—instead, it just pissed them off more.
"Gaaahhh!!"
Shhhk...!
Her lower body wrapped in tentacles, she got slammed into the ground repeatedly. She held out a few times with defensive spells, but dozens in a row? No mage could endure that. Hanging upside down, she passed out.
"Good work."
Shrrk!
I patted the tentacles in thanks, then pried open the shaman's eyes with my fingers to extract her memories.
"Hmm..."
Something felt off. In her memories, she was definitely Cheon-do-hoe, but not like the ones I'd encountered before. Different members, different leader. And most bizarre—her mission.
"Targeting office worker Lee Jin-seok?"
This passed-out Cheon-do-hoe cultist in front of me? She hadn't been after mage A Jin-seok. She'd targeted ordinary salaryman Lee Jin-seok. She'd tracked me from the office, learned my home address, and sent the suicide yokai to kill a normal human me.
"Why?"
I couldn't wrap my head around it. Mage Lee Jin-seok as their top priority? Sure. But plain old office drone Lee Jin-seok? No clue why they'd bother.
What reason did Cheon-do-hoe have to target me?
"Factions? Does Cheon-do-hoe have sects?"
The answer lay in her most recent memory. She was chatting with fellow cultists, and the talk turned to another Cheon-do-hoe group.
—"Things have been noisy around here lately."
—"Obviously the Chaos Faction goons. Who else acts this blatantly stupid besides those Chaos freaks?"
—"Buncha low-class trash, seriously."
—"Hahaha! Can't argue with that!"
Two factions came up in the convo: the Chaos Faction—the rowdy ones behind multiple incidents I'd clashed with—and the Gung-gi Faction, recently snuck into Korea and operating in the shadows.
Both Cheon-do-hoe, but worshiping different Four Evils.
"So that's how it is."
Finally, I understood Cheon-do-hoe's structure. Still no idea why they targeted me, though. This grunt was low-rank; she'd just followed orders from above. No useful intel, so reading her memories was a bust there.
"Not bad, though."
Didn't matter much. I'd gotten faces and names of Gung-gi Faction higher-ups. Summon a scout again, track one down, and I'd uncover why they wanted me dead—plus their endgame.
"Take him away. Bet you're pretty pissed."
[Gonna punish him proper.]
Memories fully extracted. Target unconscious.
Memories read, conveniently passed out. Perfect. I straight-up offered the guy to Shin-nim.
Offering was a spell I'd picked up recently: sacrifice something to Shin-nim and receive a reward in return. Normally it'd need prep rituals and ironclad contract clauses to avoid scams, but when your trade partner's your wife? Nah.
"Gaaahk?! My body! My bo—!!!"
"See ya, buddy. You won't be going far."
Offering complete, the air split open. Black tentacles burst out, instantly binding his limbs. He woke up too late, struggled futilely, but they dragged him straight into the abyss regardless.
Off to the deep sea he went. In his place? A small pearl.
◈ Yokai purification relic (Absorbed for ascension)
[Gift]
'Yeah... I'll put it to good use?'
I pocketed the pearl and hightailed it outta there. After all that commotion, the Management Bureau or Shaman Association would show up soon. Running into them would suck for both sides. They're good people—I couldn't just kill them. Made 'em more awkward than Cheon-do-hoe, honestly.
I bolted back home, and there it was: demolished living room, gaping hole where the window used to be. Checked my smartphone—call from the police station. Guessed the reason, so I picked up as I confirmed.
"Hello?"
["Yes, is this Lee Jin-seok?"]
"Yeah, speaking."
["We're calling about the unidentified explosion at your residence."]
"Uh-huh."
["We've conducted an on-site inspection but couldn't identify the cause."]
"Got it."
["We considered further analysis, but without the homeowner's permission..."]
"No need for more inspections."
["Understood. Please report immediately if anything else happens."]
"Will do. Thanks for your work."
Call ended. I rubbed my stiff neck and turned to Shin-nim, who'd stuck around.
'Beat that bastard harder, please.'
[Got it]
This fucker caused me a ton of needless hassle. Lucky the cops bought it. Otherwise, I'd have been stuck at the station giving statements.
I asked Shin-nim to torment him more, and she nodded, heading off personally to do the deed.
"Aigoo..."
With Shin-nim gone, I started cleaning the wrecked living room solo. Last time I'd called pros, but no insurance this round—had to handle demo and repairs myself.
"Finally done."
After ages of picking up trash and sorting, the living room was sorted. Bookshelf in the bedroom rebuilt too. The stone slab shelf was smashed, though... No fix for now. Propping it on the bed would have to do. Shin-nim would probably love that anyway.
"Fuck."
Clean, but still wide open to the elements. Ate dinner staring at it—instant food, same as always, but it hit different. Felt kinda pathetic.
"Bedtime."
[...]
[Whirr]
Showered after dinner. Bedtime. My room had a wall hole too, but bookshelf hid it fine. Lay down, closed my eyes.
Freezing.
Autumn fading into winter, cold drafts stealing my warmth through the hole. My monster body didn't catch colds, but the chill in my side and the irritation? Unavoidable.
I'll kill every last Cheon-do-hoe bastard.
Chaos Faction, Gung-gi Faction—didn't matter. Any Cheon-do-hoe? Dead to the last.
Hugging the stealthily approaching stone slab, I swore it to Shin-nim.