Chapter 82
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: The Jet-Black's Purpose
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Lee Hae-ri spilled every last bit of information she had on the "Jet-Black" that I'd been after.
Since she was planning to commission me to hunt it down anyway, she didn't hesitate to share the intel.
"The Jet-Black has been appearing in this land since ancient times. I suspect its origins are deeply tied to the birth of human civilization."
"So you're saying it's been active since the dawn of human civilization?"
"Yes. Records of entities mimicking humans date back to the invention of writing."
She said ancient texts mentioned the Jet-Black frequently as well.
In a way, it could be seen as the progenitor of all youkai that imitate humans.
"It emerged even before the demons."
Lee Hae-ri also said the Jet-Black "loves" humans.
"But this love isn't simple affection or erotic desire. It treats humans as toys."
That's why it never destroys human civilization outright.
It merely breaks it.
"If left unchecked, the Jet-Black keeps swapping human skins, plunging civilization into chaos. Manipulating housing prices endlessly. Fomenting endless gender conflicts to tank birth rates. That sort of thing."
"Wait, is that bastard only active in Korea?"
"Since the colonial era, it's been focusing on Korea and Japan. It's driving us insane. If we let it roam free, who knows what it'll do next."
For some reason, the Jet-Black seemed to have taken a liking to Korea.
The fact that it only crawls out here was utterly horrifying.
Why Korea, of all places?
"This time, it's not just escalating social issues—it's committing outright terrorism, which is a huge problem. The Hanmam Saetbyeol Apartment incident... that happened because the Jet-Black handed otherworldly entities to terrorists."
The Hanmam Saetbyeol Apartment disaster had claimed countless victims.
And the Jet-Black was behind it all.
"It also absorbs the memories and skills of the body it steals. And it pushes the body's potential to the absolute limit. It's probably using that guy's memories and skills right now."
"It devours the host's memories too, huh."
"Yes. The one it possessed this time was a Shadow Operator. He specialized in shadows, but honestly, he wasn't that skilled. The moment it took over, his talents exploded—he killed his master and escaped the Moss House."
"Hold on. So after possessing the body, the Jet-Black killed the original host's master?"
"Exactly. They were supposedly quite close. The Jet-Black's first act was to kill the person the host trusted most. That bastard... that's just how it is. It does the exact opposite to shatter the host's psyche."
It absorbs the host's ideology and values, then acts in complete defiance of them.
"After killing the master—who was like a father to him—it tore open space. It went beyond wielding physical force with shadows to outright devouring targets. Even its shadow familiars, which were originally weak guardian-level scraps, now rival disaster-class bordering on catastrophe-class."
A top-tier Shadow Operator.
And it even punched holes in space, so it made sense how it crawled down to the -404th floor.
The kinder the host's nature, the greater the power it unleashes, and the more atrocities it commits, plunging the world into chaos.
That meant the current host must have been an exceptionally good person.
The key point was that up until now, the Jet-Black had operated strictly within "human limits."
It only maxed out the host's potential without using any greater powers.
It wielded its strength solely within the bounds of sins humans could commit.
"Until now, the Jet-Black restrained itself within the limits of its allowed mischief. It never gave other entities a chance to intervene."
It toed the line just enough, needling humanity's sorest spots like a needle, raising suicide rates and reveling in our despair.
That might have been its way of saying, "I want to play with humans." Telling non-humans to stay out of it.
A capricious, impulsive youkai that saw humans as equal playthings.
And one we couldn't fully kill.
"Maybe all this agony we're going through is just a 'game' to the Jet-Black. Sometimes hide-and-seek, sometimes tag. The whims of a spiteful catastrophe-class youkai... that's my take."
Restraining its power just to torment humans as much as possible.
And that detached attitude, as if being subjugated didn't matter.
To it, all this was mere amusement.
'Above all, it feels like it wants a human to take it down—not some other entity. It's a game, after all. Games where it always wins must get boring.'
Its dopamine-chasing whims made it a nightmare to deal with.
True scum.
"It just crawls out periodically out of boredom to pull this crap. A tantrum-throwing mess with endless time on its hands."
"Exactly. But up until now, it stayed within those tantrum bounds—something we could handle. Before the Hanmam Saetbyeol incident, we thought we'd catch it without major casualties this time too."
The Moss House had always been equipped to hunt the Jet-Black.
Just as churches flip out at demons, the Moss House specialized in eradicating it.
But this time was different, she said. The thing that used to rampage at fallen spirit user levels had crossed the line entirely.
"It's gotten much trickier. It's ignored all subtlety, surpassing human limits multiple times. The one that used to hold back to prevent outside interference... now it's throwing power around wildly. Like it's trying to attract someone's attention."
It had used beyond-limit power to open a door and fetch something from beyond.
The Moss House, unaware of -404 floor entities, hadn't grasped the door's nature—but they knew it had brought otherworldly things to Earth.
"It seems to want something different this time. Like when it finds a new toy... It mocks and flees from onmyoji instead of fighting. It used to terrorize aimlessly, but now it feels purposeful. Or maybe not."
Normally, it would've played with the Moss House's onmyoji and left. But it dove to the -404th floor and wrecked havoc—that was definitely off.
And now it was hiding its presence while fleeing everywhere.
Was it itching for a fight with something other than onmyoji?
Maybe it was bored of them.
"Anyway, we've concluded we can't handle the Jet-Black with our power alone. That's why we want your help, Fixer."
"No one else you could turn to, right?"
"Yes... We have too many enemies. Show weakness, and they'll pounce."
The Moss House deemed itself unable to subjugate the Jet-Black alone, but publicizing that would invite attacks to wipe them out.
Managing the Jet-Black after it stole a half-breed body was their role. Failure exposed would bring enemies swarming.
To hardline exorcists, it'd be a chance to purge youkai lovers.
So the Moss House wanted to ally with me—an unaffiliated outsider.
"Officially, you're not part of any group, Fixer. Yet your solved cases rival a faction's firepower. Perfect for requesting aid."
As Lee Hae-ri said, I wasn't formally tied to any group.
Sure, honorary elder of the Lunar Blossom Sect and unregistered special agent for the Anomaly Management Department—but not fully committed.
Thus, the Moss House aimed to make me an ally by any means.
"I'll take the commission. It's on my hit list anyway. And you can track it faster than I can, so teaming up makes sense."
I had no means to track the Jet-Black. And the onmyoji lacked ways to contain its rampage.
Best for them to find it, me to kill it.
"Then, could you visit the Moss House when you have time? We have tracking gear and spells to teach you..."
"Spells?"
"Yes... Ones that detect it if it gets close. It's disguised as human, so you might miss it otherwise."
"Spells, huh... Fine. I'll visit the Moss House. Let's say Monday. Got weekend work."
Sowol's face lit up at my agreement for next Monday.
She'd been dying to go. Her fondness for the Moss House seemed high lately.
"Great. We'll expect you Monday. Here's the head temple's address."
Lee Hae-ri gave directions to the Moss House. Quite far—isolated from the city, half-hidden.
'Truth be told, I'd love to go tomorrow, but...'
I had prior commissions with the team to handle first.
The incident at Garam University's AI Promotion Club.
Honestly, tracking the Jet-Black mattered more, but the stolen "door" being a laptop? Couldn't ignore that.
This case's timing felt suspicious too.
'Around when the Moss House came to me, their problem cropped up. And the culprit's an AI-possessed computer.'
Two missing doors.
One a mirror, warned by the mystery call; the other a laptop, tied to this electronics glitch case.
The timing was too perfect—likely connected.
Chasing only the Jet-Black might miss crucial clues. Hell, that could be its goal.
Flash its presence to distract me while the stolen doors rampage.
'My ultimate goal is finding those missing doors. The Jet-Black might've already scattered them. Chasing it alone won't cut it. Open doors could be deadlier.'
Lee Hae-ri said the Jet-Black loves humans too much to kill—even at the brink, it chokes but spares.
Otherworldly intruders? Different. They don't see us as livestock. Humanity's annihilation means nothing to them.
So I'd handle every issue tied to me.
No commission since my arrival had been meaningless.
Just a Fixer's gut, but ignoring small things for the big picture felt fatal.
'And better not tell Lee Hae-ri about the -404th floor or doors.'
After weighing it, no need to mention the two doors the Jet-Black took.
Set-Yun alone caused that horror with one otherworld dream placenta. Imagine the Moss House—youkai fans—learning of "doors." Unpredictable misuse.
Cooperation good, but checks essential.
Them grasping door nature? Bad end.
'Use their Jet-Black tracking, hunt doors solo.'
Tracking it might reveal mirror and laptop locations anyway.
Had to catch the culprit.
"Here's my number."
"Thank you, Fixer. I'll be waiting for your call."
We exchanged numbers.
Handle tomorrow's commission this weekend, then straight to Moss House.
Saturday morning. We left the office early and boarded Boongboong.
Today's destination: Garam University in Gyeonggi.
"First time we're all going on a commission together! Exciting, right?"
"Yeah, exciting. So Yu-ha, buckle up first."
"Yep!"
Shotgun Yu-ha was hyped like it was a group outing. Sleepy Go Yu-rim dozed in the back.
Jung Ha-yeon nodded to Yu-ha while munching pre-packed snacks.
Oddly peaceful.
"Destination: Garam University club room. Can you get us there?"
Boongboong activated its wipers affirmatively.
The car sped off. With Yu-ha's chatter as BGM, I checked World of Doom Gallery.
'Veteran still hasn't returned.'
The veteran was still missing. Fourth day.
'If the veteran were here, I'd have Jet-Black info.'
My current issues: roughly three.
First: World of Doom Gallery veteran missing.
Second: Track purpose-unknown Jet-Black.
Third: Search for -404th floor doors.
All happened near-simultaneously, tightly linked.
'The call alerted me to the mirror. Lee Hae-ri warned of Jet-Black. The club we're heading to might have a laptop-related youkai.'
The veteran always advised on big troubles.
Maybe trying to help again? The caller woman wasn't the veteran, right?
"Uncle! Rest stop?"
"Huh? Rest stop? Sure. Udon all around?"
"Sounds good, Fixer. Breakfast needs to be hearty."
"Right. Ha-yeon's spot on. Hearty breakfast it is. Boongboong, nearest rest stop."
As long as we arrived before lunch, no issue. We detoured.
They were thrilled—rare rest stop visit.
Until the sky twisted.