The False Tiger and the Sandstorm of Calamity
"A Calamity-class natural disaster... is currently roaming through Seoul."
The desperate, near-screaming voice of the Gangwon Branch's 2nd Team Leader weighed heavily upon the Branch Manager’s office. The tablet PC nearly slipped from Seo Hwarin’s hands; she had only come to get her operation report approved.
"Team Leader Kang. Calm down and report clearly."
Branch Manager Park Dong-chul asked in a low, sunken voice, his hands clasped together on his desk.
"A Gang-gil-class disaster? Are you telling me a Great Yokai capable of piercing the sturdy barriers of the Taebaek Mountains just fell from the sky? What exactly is this thing?"
"......It is the Sand-Wind Black Tiger."
The Gangwon 2nd Team Leader swallowed hard before uttering the terrifying name.
"A massive black tiger that crosses mountain ranges while whipping up sandstorms. The number of humans it has slaughtered and devoured in the Gangwon-do region alone is at least over a thousand."
"A thousand......!"
Seo Hwarin gasped, covering her mouth in horror. A massacre of a thousand civilians by a single yokai. This was the worst tragedy in the history of the Gwimun since the Gang-gil incident twenty years ago.
"However, Branch Manager."
The Gangwon 2nd Team Leader stared straight at Branch Manager Park with bloodshot eyes filled with resentment and suspicion.
"It has already been several days since it breached Yangyang and crossed into the Seoul boundary. With that massive stench of blood and the immense Yokai Energy of such a beast... if it were you, Branch Manager, who possesses the greatest detection ability in all of South Korea, you should have been more than capable of sensing it the moment it set foot in Seoul."
The hoarse voice of the Gangwon 2nd Team Leader rang sharply through the office.
"Did you not know? Or... did you know and choose to stand by?"
It was an accusation bordering on insubordination. The air in the office froze. Even Seo Hwarin held her breath, watching Branch Manager Park’s lips in tension. Yet, there was no agitation on Park’s wrinkled face. He simply let out a deep, heavy sigh and looked down at his own aged hands.
"......I suppose I am old now."
"Branch Manager!"
"My senses have dulled. It seems the internal injuries from twenty years ago are still clouding my eyes. To think I didn't even know such a disaster had entered the heart of Seoul—my negligence is great."
As Branch Manager Park shook his head bitterly, the Gangwon 2nd Team Leader could no longer press the issue and bit his lower lip hard.
"Regardless, if we don't mobilize all available forces right now, it will be a catastrophe! If that thing starts filling its belly in the middle of Seoul, it won't be thousands, but tens of thousands who will be torn to shreds!"
It was then. Do Jaehyuk, who had been leaning crookedly against the door of the office, crunched the lollipop he had been holding into pieces and spoke up.
"Hey. Gangwon 2nd Team Leader."
Do Jaehyuk’s eyes flashed with a savage light.
"That Great Yokai you just mentioned. What were its features? A black tiger... that manipulates sandstorms?"
"Th-that is correct."
"Ha."
Do Jaehyuk let out a hollow laugh as if he were dumbfounded, rubbing his face with his hands. His gaze slowly shifted toward Seo Hwarin.
"Seo Hwarin."
"......Yes, Team Leader."
"That guy Sahyeon in your team. Doesn't he seem strange?"
"......!"
"The ability that bastard primarily used was Sand-Wind, and when I first saw him, I said his energy felt exactly like a 'slaughter-ghost' covered in blood."
Instantly, goosebumps broke out across Seo Hwarin’s entire body. The puzzle pieces were falling into place.
"Don't tell me... Agent Sahyeon is... that Sand-Wind Black Tiger...?"
"Call that bastard Kang Hankyul here right now."
".....I apologize. This is a tragedy born of my own complacency."
I kept my head bowed low, clenching my trembling fists. Scattered across the table in front of me were photographs of the horrific massacre sites where Sahyeon—no, the Sand-Wind Black Tiger—had rampaged in Gangwon-do.
"Did you know? That he was a tiger yokai."
Do Jaehyuk’s voice was already frozen cold with rage. I swallowed hard at his interrogation.
"......I knew. I knew he was lurking around me to devour me, and I knew he was a dangerous monster who was no ordinary being."
Seo Hwarin’s eyes, glaring at me, were filled with deep betrayal and disappointment, and Do Jaehyuk was staring at me without even bothering to hide his murderous intent.
"You crazy bastard! If you knew, why didn't you say anything! Did you think you were something special? Because of your complacent thinking, if that bastard sets up a buffet in the middle of Seoul and starts chewing on humans, are you going to take responsibility?! Are you in your right mind, you guy who gets paid 10 billion won?!"
Do Jaehyuk roared, kicking the table in fury. The slick, neighborhood-brother persona he usually wore was nowhere to be found. This was the true rage of a Gap-class ace who called himself the Sword of Seoul.
"Team Leader, stop."
Branch Manager Park intervened in a sunken voice. He was rubbing his forehead as if exhausted.
"This is not something to blame Agent Kang for. I, and the headquarters' observation network, failed to catch even a single trace of a Great Yokai that crawled all the way to the doorstep of Seoul. It is a seasoned monster that knows how to perfectly erase and control its own Yokai Energy. The responsibility for this situation also lies with me for being complacent. And didn't I say I would take responsibility? First, let's handle this matter and talk again later."
"Branch Manager..."
I bit my lower lip hard. Blood seeped out. Yes, I had been insanely complacent. The arrogance of having yokai like Hurai and Huchu, who were beyond the standard, under my command. Relying only on that meager martial power, I had treated Sahyeon as nothing more than a meat shield or a difficult pawn to manage. I had thought he might kill people, but I never imagined he would be the worst kind of cannibalistic ghost, having torn apart and devoured a thousand innocent lives in Gangwon-do before coming down here.
"All agents, emergency assembly! Gather every available force! Search every inch of Seoul right now and find that crazy tiger bastard!"
A loud red siren began to blare through the Branch Manager’s office. I, Seo Hwarin, Do Jaehyuk, and the entire force of the Gwimun Seoul Branch grabbed our weapons and poured out. We chased the remnants of Sahyeon’s scattered spiritual power, frantically scouring the night streets of Seoul.
When I first opened my eyes, I woke up on the cold winter beach of Gangwon-do. My memories were shattered like fragments. All that remained clearly in my mind was the horrific stench of blood that had stained the world red 500 years ago, the massive sandstorm that seemed ready to swallow the world, and the sensation of fleeing in agony as my chest was pierced and my breath was about to be cut off.
'I am... the Sand-Wind Black Tiger.'
I believed that without a shadow of a doubt. No, the savage instincts of the beast flowing through my veins and the Yokai Energy of the black sandstorm boiling at my fingertips proved it beyond a doubt. I was a Great Yokai who had awakened after a long 500-year seal and slumber. The moment I opened my eyes, a maddening hunger surged, as if squeezing my internal organs. To replenish my vast Yokai Energy, I needed the bloody life force of living, breathing humans.
However, amidst the cold wind of Gangwon-do, a scent that was more powerful and sweeter than any blood-stench stimulated my nose, blowing in from the south.
An overwhelming Pure Yang energy, hot as the sun, as if it could burn away all the Yin energy in the world. It was the scent of Kang Hankyul.
Drawn as if bewitched by that scent, I headed south to Seoul in one breath. If I could put that sweet flesh into my mouth and chew it, I felt I could regain all the power of my true prime from 500 years ago. However, there was one strange contradiction in my behavior, which I, who prided myself on being a Great Yokai, could not understand.
"S-save... save me...!" "Uwaaaagh!"
Whenever I passed empty highways or deserted national roads, or encountered defenseless, ordinary civilians, my mouth did not water. Rather, an unknown sense of rejection welled up from deep within the beast's belly. It was an unpleasant, controlling force, as if someone were holding my leash and forcing me, 'Do not touch the innocent humans.'
'Hmph. The blood of ordinary, innocent humans is too bland and tasteless.'
I rationalized it to myself like that. Using the excuse that the blood of criminal trash, who lived by tearing apart the flesh of others and were steeped in blood and greed, was much saltier and more stimulating.
So, all the way from Gangwon-do down to Seoul, I only hunted the malicious criminals hiding in deserted back alleys or abandoned factory districts.
I am a Great Yokai. I firmly believed that this was not due to some trivial standard of good and evil, but merely my own picky standard of gourmet dining.
Kuaaaaaaagh!
"Damn it... running away because I was scared of a chick and a puppy. And I'm the Sand-Wind Black Tiger, for heaven's sake!"
I roared irritably, stomping the head of the blood-soaked man into a pulp. This was a back alley of an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. It was the secret hideout of a large-scale criminal organization that dealt in drugs and human trafficking.
Those terrible monsters that Kang Hankyul carried around. The fire-breathing chick that I dared not even gauge, and the Three-Eyed Dog that supposedly ruled the underworld. Whenever I recalled the overwhelming murderous intent those out-of-spec beings emitted, my beastly tailbone still trembled.
My plan to devour Kang Hankyul had been completely twisted by the appearance of those monsters.
My pride was hurt. It was a terrible humiliation, as if my status as a predator had fallen. I had fled, avoiding the surveillance network of the Gwimun the moment I got off the private plane that day, and crawled into the filthiest back alley of Seoul.
To wash away this accumulated stress and humiliation with the blood and flesh of these trash-like humans.
"M-monster...! Save me! I'll give you all the money you want...!"
A gray-haired man, who appeared to be the boss of the organization, was crawling on the floor, dirtying his pants. Behind him, dozens of organization members had already been swept away by my sandstorm, their bones and flesh separated, reduced to mere lumps of meat.
"Money? What am I supposed to do with human scraps of paper?"
I sneered coldly, licking the blood droplets on my lips with my tongue. A pitch-black sandstorm rotated like saw blades on the black tiger's claws that extended long from the tips of my ten fingers.
"For trash like you, entering my belly and becoming excellent fertilizer for spiritual energy is the way to contribute to the world. Consider it an honor."
"A-aaaaagh!!"
The man's scream could not continue to the end. As my claws sliced through the air, his upper body was torn in half like paper, and the bright red blood that gushed out painted the walls of the dirty alley red.
"Haa... the smell is terribly salty. Still, it's better than being bland."
I had feasted on dozens of human trash, but the hunger within me was not easily satisfied. Rather, it was far from enough to erase the fear I had felt in Jeju Island.
More, I needed more blood. To chew up Kang Hankyul and those monsters, I had to fully draw out the Yokai Energy of my prime.
It was the very moment I kicked the corpses scattered in the alley and tried to set out to find my next prey.
Wiiiiiiing—!!!
A loud red siren tore through the silence of the abandoned factory district. At the same time, dozens of dazzling searchlight beams poured in from all directions, perfectly blocking the back alley's retreat route.
"Siege network construction complete! Don't let a single one escape alive!"
"Barrier deployment!"
Dozens of elite agents from the Gwimun Seoul Branch, wearing combat uniforms, poured out from the darkness and scattered talismans in an orderly fashion. Golden barriers were erected in all directions, thoroughly blocking my Yokai Energy from leaking out.
"What, is it the Gwimun?"
I cracked my neck left and right as if annoyed, making a pop, pop sound with my bones. However, my gaze soon froze, fixed on the five human figures walking through the front of the barrier.
Do Jaehyuk, the 1st Team Leader, emitting a cold murderous intent with a lollipop in his mouth. Seo Hwarin, the 7th Team Leader, glaring at me as if in contempt while gripping her sword tightly. And.
"......Kang Hankyul."
A name that sounded like a growl leaked from my lips. Kang Hankyul. The expression on that brat’s face was completely different from his usual loose appearance. It was a gaze mixed with deep guilt, wretchedness, and a fierce rage that he would tear me to shreds right now.
Furthermore, on either side of Kang Hankyul, the two monsters I feared most stood as if escorting him, in perfect human form. A slender woman with pitch-black hair, bloodless cold skin, and a cool, blue light emitting from her eyes. And a little lady who was crossing her arms and arrogantly holding her chin up.
At the terrifying pressure emitted by the two Shikigami, the hair all over my body stood up instinctively.
"You crazy tiger bastard. Is this the only rat hole you could hide in after tucking your tail and running away?"
Do Jaehyuk opened his mouth low, crunching the lollipop. White spiritual power was rising like a haze from the tip of the old wooden sword held in his hand.
"I knew you weren't an ordinary guy, but... for a bastard who tore apart a thousand civilians in the Gangwon-do auto camping area, the meal in this alley is truly humble."
At Do Jaehyuk’s mocking words, I wrinkled my brow and looked bewildered. "A thousand? Auto camping area? What kind of nonsense is that."
I let out a hollow laugh, genuinely dumbfounded. "Since I came to Seoul, all I've eaten is a few dozen of these criminal trash rolling on the street? Gangwon-do auto camping area? I've never even been there."
At my answer, Kang Hankyul and Seo Hwarin’s pupils wavered. They seemed to think I was lying because I was cornered, but my voice was filled only with pure doubt, without a single shred of pretense. I am the Great Yokai, the Sand-Wind Black Tiger. There was no reason in my arrogant beastly pride to bother hiding or denying the slaughter I had committed.
"You're going to keep playing dumb until the end? The disgusting Yokai Energy of the sandstorm you're emitting is connected from Gangwon-do to this place with a bright red trail of blood!"
It was the moment Do Jaehyuk was about to explode with murderous intent as if he would strike with his wooden sword right away.
"Wait, human."
Huchu, who had been silently standing beside Kang Hankyul, stepped forward, restraining the situation with a cold and intellectual voice. Her blue pupils were fixed straight at me. At the same time, between her pitch-black bangs, the three blue marks faintly engraved on her forehead emitted a brilliant light and split open with a crack.
The guide of the underworld, the opening of the Three Eyes that pierces through all truths of the living and the dead.
"......Huh?"
At that cool and terrifying gaze sweeping through my entire body, I felt a chilling shiver as if I had been stripped naked. It was a sensation as if the deepest bottom of my soul, even the abyss of 500 years ago that I had forgotten, was being dug up entirely.
The blue phosphorescence emitted from Huchu’s third eye cleared the darkness of the alley. She stared straight at me, frowning slightly as if she couldn't believe it, and turned back to Kang Hankyul.
"Master. The situation is strange."
"What's strange? It's true that that bastard is a killer tiger yokai."
When Kang Hankyul asked with bloodshot eyes, Huchu shook her head and pointed at me.
"That person... is not the Sand-Wind Black Tiger."
"......What?"
Bewilderment flashed across the faces of the Gwimun agents, Do Jaehyuk, and Seo Hwarin who were surrounding the alley. I also burst into laughter because it was absurd.
"Hahaha! What does it matter if that crazy dog has three eyes, when it's seeing things and spouting nonsense! If I'm not the Sand-Wind Black Tiger, the ruler of the sandstorm, then what am I!"
I protested violently, emitting a sandstorm, but Huchu’s expression remained frozen cold. The declaration that flowed from her red lips was a cruel truth that shook the foundation of my existence.
"That person’s soul is not essentially a beast. The energy felt in the deep abyss of that person... is not that of a Great Yokai, but the resentful grudge of a human who was miserably torn apart and eaten by a predator."
Huchu’s voice rang eerily through the empty back alley.
"That person is merely a pitiful Chang-gwi (slave ghost) whose soul was subordinated after being eaten by the real Sand-Wind Black Tiger during the In-yo War (Human-Yokai War) 500 years ago."
"Chang... gwi...?"
Seo Hwarin muttered in shock. A cursed slave ghost that sticks to the side of a tiger after being bitten to death by it, luring other victims. That was a Chang-gwi.
"When the real Great Yokai Sand-Wind Black Tiger was chased by exorcists 500 years ago and suffered a fatal wound, it tore off half of its Yokai Energy and threw it to that Chang-gwi as a decoy to escape. That person is merely a pitiful human spirit who thinks he is a real tiger, wearing a tiger skin and imitating a sandstorm."
"......!!"
Kang Hankyul’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
"Don't talk nonsense!! I, I am the Great Yokai!! I am the Sand-Wind Black Tiger!!!"
I roared madly and sharpened my nails. But the moment Huchu’s cruel truth pierced my ears, the latch of my subconscious, which had been thoroughly sealed for 500 years, clicked open.
‘Aaaagh!! Spare me! I have an old mother and young children!!’
Crunch, crack.
An ordinary peddler crossing a mountain valley in Gangwon-do. The memory of a man whose upper body was torn off entirely by the massive black tiger’s jaws, gushing blood. The reason I felt a natural rejection toward killing innocent civilians. My strange hunting law of only craving the blood of evildoers and rationalizing it as the 'Great Yokai’s gourmet.' All those contradictions were because the essence of my soul was that of a human who had not been able to fall into depravity until the end.
"Ah... aaaa... aaaaagh!!!"
I grabbed my head with both hands, shedding tears of blood and screaming. The 500-year illusion of running around arrogantly while wearing a tiger skin was shattering to pieces. I was a fake. I was nothing more than a pitiful and miserable meat shield, discarded after taking arrows on behalf of my master.
In the face of that overwhelming truth, the air in the alley sank heavily. Kang Hankyul clenched his trembling fists with a vacant expression. He realized that the owner of that terrible karma, for which he had been angry and blaming himself, thinking he had taken a thousand lives, was not this pitiful Chang-gwi going crazy in front of him.
At that moment, Hurai, who was standing beside Kang Hankyul, frowned and turned her gaze toward the eastern sky.
"Foolish beast. Now is not the time to be stunned by the identity of this fake."
A deep sense of vigilance passed through Hurai’s red-gold pupils.
"Can you not feel it? The real disaster of black sand, which devoured thousands of humans in Gangwon-do and regained its complete prime, is... the scent of it just now tearing through Seoul’s barrier and entering."
At the same time as Hurai’s words ended.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!!!
Red lightning struck, and the sky began to be dyed a bright red blood color. Between the dozens of building forests, a massive and terrible blood-colored sandstorm, as if it would tear the entire city to shreds, was surging up like a massive tidal wave.
"......The real Sand-Wind Black Tiger."