Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Building a Mountain Lodge on a Dokkaebi Den (10)
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Dust flew up, and the puppy, startled, hid behind the Dokkaebi.
The Dokkaebi looked at Byung-su, who was covered head to toe in dust, grinned widely, then danced merrily around him.
Worried about Na-rae and Dong-jin being chased by the evil spirit, Byung-su asked the Dokkaebi.
"Excuse me, Mr. Dokkaebi! How long do we have to wait?"
Byung-su flexed his arm, and he could feel it brimming with power.
Emel's energy and the Dokkaebi's energy had gathered in the Imoogi's front paw.
The Dokkaebi didn't answer and just kept dancing merrily.
"Come on, Mr. Kim the lodge manager Dokkaebi! How long are you going to keep dancing?"
His patience wearing thin, Byung-su snapped at the Dokkaebi.
Only after hearing Byung-su's shout did the Dokkaebi finally stop dancing and speak.
"Huh? Why haven't you gone yet? I gathered energy into the Imoogi's front paw for you, so hurry up and go teach that wretch a lesson!"
"Then why were you dancing? Was there some meaning behind it?"
Byung-su asked incredulously at the Dokkaebi's words.
The Dokkaebi, on the other hand, looked like he couldn't understand Byung-su's question.
"I was just dancing because I felt good? What's wrong with that?"
'No time to chat with this lunatic Dokkaebi. Let's hurry and rescue Reporter Eun and Reporter Park. He seems perfectly fine despite being crazy.'
Deciding there was no point talking to the Dokkaebi anymore, Byung-su took off to save his companions.
As Byung-su ran, the Dokkaebi followed behind him.
The little white puppy followed too, on its short legs.
The Dokkaebi scooped up the panting puppy and tucked it under his arm as he ran, saying,
"Now it's time for us to give that evil spirit bitch a beating."
* * *
As Na-rae whipped her head around while running ahead, her long hair lashed out like a whip and struck Dong-jin in the eyes.
Dong-jin, caught off guard, had tears streaming helplessly from his eyes.
Na-rae, who had been pulling Dong-jin along by the hand, noticed him crying.
'A tall guy like him, scared enough to cry while running. Must be really terrifying.'
Come to think of it, this was Dong-jin's first field assignment.
She felt sorry for him, getting chased by an evil spirit as an initiation.
"Senior! Don't cry. We'll be fine. Don't worry."
Dong-jin had no words to reply while running and just kept shedding silent tears.
The evil spirit had closed in right behind them—it felt like they were about to be caught any second.
"Senior, I'll throw another rock at that evil spirit to create some distance, so call Baekho."
"What do I even say? And will he pick up while being chased like crazy?"
Na-rae twisted her upper body without slowing down and hurled a rock.
The rock she threw flew at the pursuing evil spirit and burst into flames on impact.
The evil spirit ground its teeth and screamed in agony as its spiritual energy burned.
Having bought a moment, Na-rae quickly said,
"Shut up and call him! We'll lure that evil spirit all the way to the last room on the second floor of the lodge, then hide in the closet. The closet door has a talisman seal carved into it, so the evil spirit won't be able to open it. Once Baekho follows and shuts the room door, we can trap it inside. Then we crawl out through the tunnel."
"Can we make it all the way to the lodge like this?"
Dong-jin asked, gasping for breath.
Tears were still streaming from his eyes.
"Senior, stop crying already! We have no choice but to run. I'll throw rocks to keep our distance. There's no other way against that evil spirit."
Na-rae's plan sounded solid, aside from the pain of running.
Dong-jin nodded in agreement.
As Dong-jin pulled out his phone, Na-rae twisted and threw another rock.
"You little bitch!"
The evil spirit dodged, but Na-rae's rock somehow chased it down, striking its body and igniting flames.
It wasn't a fatal blow, but after several hits burning its spiritual energy, the evil spirit's pursuit slowed.
Seizing the chance, Dong-jin called Baekho.
Baekho's phone buzzed in his pants pocket. Confirming it was Dong-jin running with phone in hand, Baekho hurriedly answered.
"How'd you find time to call while running for your lives?"
Dong-jin explained Na-rae's plan even as he ran frantically.
"You two getting trapped too—sure that's okay?"
Baekho asked worriedly.
Dong-jin replied bravely.
"There's space in the closet!"
Baekho didn't get the old joke, but with no better option, he agreed.
'The closet door has a sealing talisman on it, so they shouldn't be in immediate danger. Once the evil spirit's trapped, I'll call Yi-hwa for backup.'
With his mind made up, confidence surged to face the evil spirit.
The mountain path up to the lodge came into view in the distance.
Just a bit more running, even if it hurt, and they'd reach the path.
The moment they turned onto it—
The fleet-footed Dokkaebi overtook Byung-su and reached Baekho's side, calling out,
"Don't worry! Now we'll give that evil spirit bitch what she deserves."
"What? What'd you say?"
The Dokkaebi didn't wait for Baekho's reply and charged ahead.
In high spirits, the Dokkaebi launched himself straight at the evil spirit's back.
"Agh!"
The evil spirit's back bent like a bow and it flew through the air.
Catching it off guard, the evil spirit screamed as it hit the ground, then sprang up and lunged at the Dokkaebi.
Na-rae and Dong-jin turned at the evil spirit's scream.
"That dumb Dokkaebi old man ruined the momentum!"
Na-rae shouted and charged back at the evil spirit, with Dong-jin following.
As the evil spirit lunged, the Dokkaebi planted his feet firmly and extended his arms into position.
Once more, as the evil spirit pounced, it opened its mouth and spewed a swarm of bloodstained flies.
The Dokkaebi recoiled with no defense, and Baekho, standing unprepared behind him, took the hit helplessly.
The evil spirit grabbed Baekho by the throat, slammed him to the ground, and swung its massive blade down.
Slammed headfirst into the dirt, Baekho passed out motionless.
To save Baekho in peril, Na-rae hurled a rock.
The evil spirit dropped its blade, leaped aside to dodge the incoming rock, then sprang back up the moment its feet touched ground, pouncing on Na-rae from midair.
Dong-jin swung his club to block, but the evil spirit sliced through it with its huge blade and pressed the attack.
Dong-jin rolled aside to evade.
Na-rae threw rocks in rapid succession to save him.
Flames erupted across the evil spirit's body from the barrage of rocks.
Screaming in pain from its burning spiritual energy, the evil spirit attacked Na-rae furiously, its eyes blazing with rage.
Overwhelmed by the evil spirit's furious glare, Na-rae grabbed rocks indiscriminately and flung them wildly into the air.
But it wasn't enough to halt its momentum.
As the situation grew dire, the Dokkaebi—who had fallen back—lunged again, his face swarming with flies, grabbing the evil spirit's waist to hold it back.
The evil spirit, with the Dokkaebi clinging to its waist, leaped up and kicked Na-rae in the chest.
Na-rae flew back several meters and crashed into the ground.
Undeterred, the evil spirit—with Dokkaebi still attached—charged at her.
The little white puppy by the Dokkaebi's side bit onto the evil spirit's leg, trying to help.
Maybe because its teeth hadn't fully grown before death? The evil spirit didn't even react.
"You vile thing, get off her now!"
Byung-su shouted as he charged in madly.
Hearing the yell from behind, the evil spirit stomped on Na-rae's chest without looking back and swung its blade at Byung-su.
Na-rae screamed in agony under the evil spirit's foot and passed out.
"Get your filthy foot off Reporter Eun right now!"
Byung-su didn't dodge the incoming blade—he charged straight in, yelling.
His left arm transformed in sync with his shout: scales flashed, a blue glow enveloped it, becoming the Imoogi's front paw.
With his suit jacket shredded from the blade and now sporting the long-fingered Imoogi paw, he looked grotesque.
In his urgency, Byung-su hooked his fingers like claws and thrust them forward.
The triumphant evil spirit's blade was caught in Byung-su's left hand.
Shocked by the unexpected strength gripping its blade, the evil spirit finally turned to look.
"Today I'll send you to the afterlife, so go meet Jizo Bodhisattva!"
"You insolent fool."
The evil spirit tried to yank its blade free with force, but it wouldn't budge.
The Imoogi-paw left arm clamped down on the blade, veins bulging.
Soon, Byung-su snapped the blade and drove the stump straight into the evil spirit's chest.
Thrown by Byung-su's superhuman strength, the evil spirit tumbled across the ground with the Dokkaebi still attached.
The tumbling Dokkaebi clung desperately to the evil spirit's waist, refusing to let go.
Byung-su charged at the evil spirit rolling on the ground.
In desperation, the evil spirit dumped a swarm of bloodstained flies onto the Dokkaebi's face and barely wriggled free.
Now loose, the evil spirit realized the tide had turned and fled toward the village without looking back.
Byung-su tried to pursue, but the Dokkaebi stopped him.
"Mister, before chasing that evil spirit bitch, we should get this girl and that weird fellow to the hospital first."
As the Dokkaebi said, Baekho and Na-rae looked in critical condition.
"I'll take these two to the hospital first, so you guard the path. Kim, you come with me!"
The Dokkaebi tucked the unconscious Na-rae and Baekho under his arms and dashed off, with Dong-jin following behind.
Even though Dong-jin was needed for hospital paperwork, the Dokkaebi showed no mercy for his stamina and sped away alone, slicing through the air like the wind.
Yi-hwa descended late at night after receiving Baekho's telepathic message post-emergency surgery.
Having come alone from afar, the virgin ghost arrived later than expected.
The Dokkaebi's first words upon meeting Yi-hwa in the hospital parking lot were about wrestling.
"Hey, virgin ghost! You've got some real spirit. Impressive—how about a wrestling match with me?"
Yi-hwa wasn't one to arm-wrestle with a Dokkaebi.
"Oh, brother."
The Dokkaebi grabbed the sleeve of Yi-hwa's hanbok as she tried to ignore him and head inside, pleading,
"These days, no distinction between men and women, and size difference doesn't mean weaker strength. Just one quick match before you go."
As the Dokkaebi whined, Yi-hwa let out a long sigh and said calmly,
"Step forward with your left foot."
Dong-jin, who had come out to greet her, just stared blankly at the bizarre wrestling between the Dokkaebi and the virgin ghost.
The Dokkaebi gripped Yi-hwa's slender waist and stepped forward with his left foot into position, but Yi-hwa—gripping his thick waist—deceptively stepped out with her right.
"Huh?"
With their facing feet now in the same position, the Dokkaebi's massive head filled with confusion.
Yi-hwa had exploited the legend that whoever steps forward with the matching foot against a Dokkaebi always wins.
The slender Yi-hwa easily tripped the twice-her-size Dokkaebi and headed to Baekho's room without a backward glance.
This foolproof wrestling strategy was common knowledge—except to Dokkaebis.
Dokkaebis always granted any wish to whoever beat them at wrestling.
Yi-hwa paused at the hospital entrance, turned to the dejected Dokkaebi sitting on the ground, and said,
"I'll tell you my wish tomorrow. Wait here."