The Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office
The Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office was a nationally certified institution. The beings known as yokai threatened civilians and harmed the country. In other words, they were disasters. It was only natural for the state to manage such calamities at a national level, so it was perfectly reasonable that the Yokai Extermination Office held official government status.
Every single employee in the office—from the director down to the newest rookie—was a public servant who lived on the government's payroll. Naturally, because they performed the noble and dangerous work of yokai extermination at the risk of their own lives, even a fresh 9th-grade civil servant fresh out of orientation received a salary comparable to that of a senior manager at a major corporation. It was essentially hazard pay.
Of course, none of them had joined the Yokai Extermination Office just for the money. After all, no one in the world valued cash more than their own life. Some had entered to protect the people they cherished. Others had joined to offer their talents in service to the nation.
Here, in the case of Kim Myung-ho—a 28-year-old 7th-grade field agent at the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office—his reason for joining was rather unique. He was such an extreme yokai fanatic that even his coworkers were left speechless.
Reading old legends about yokai was his hobby, and collecting yokai figurines was the joy of his life. Before he knew it, five years had passed since he first joined the Jirisan branch. From his perspective, those five years had been the perfect fusion of his passion and his profession, so he had carried out his duties in a state of near-constant bliss.
…Of course, life at the Yokai Extermination Office wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. He'd suffered under an evil spirit's curse and broken up with his girlfriend. He'd accumulated quite a few scars from battles with yokai. And above all else—
Just one week ago, a sinister fox yokai had ripped out and devoured his liver while he was still alive.
Even for someone who loved yokai as much as he did, it was an experience he never wanted to repeat. And yet, somehow, he had survived.
Thanks to whom?
"Hehehehehe… Miho, ehehehehe…"
"…Myung-ho, you're creeping me out."
Thanks to Miho.
Kim Myung-ho stared at the nine-tailed fox figurine sitting on his desk and flashed a sleazy grin. It was a limited edition of only fifty pieces, and it bore an astonishing resemblance to the mysterious six-tailed fox yokai who had saved his life. He was a little disappointed that it had nine tails instead of six, but he supposed he should be satisfied with what he could get.
Having regained his mental composure by gazing at the figurine, he casually swept his eyes across the interior of the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office.
White fox here. White fox there.
Every single person in the office—man or woman—had started obsessing over that white fox yokai named Miho. She was the benefactor who had saved their lives, not to mention she had an incredible figure and was breathtakingly beautiful. They had more than enough reason to fangirl and fanboy over her. Offering their thanks to the Force Arts user Lee Ha-neul, who had first told them her name, was just a bonus.
…Of course, this was clearly a disciplinary violation according to the civil service manual.
Anyway, Kim Myung-ho activated the yokai energy detection radar once again to search for traces of yokai. It was his primary duty. Operating the radar to detect demonic energy was an extremely important and difficult task, which spoke volumes about how capable he was.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Staring at the radar that showed no signals at all, he let out a long sigh.
Ah. I miss Miho.
Really, if I could just see her face one more time before I die, I wouldn't have any other wishes.
Myung-ho found it strangely unfamiliar that he was even thinking this way. This feeling… wasn't this exactly what people felt when they had a crush on someone?
Then again, she was a multi-tailed fox yokai. She possessed the power to enchant people. Setting aside his personal affection for her, the entire staff of the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office had poured every resource into investigating Miho.
And for good reason. The appearance of a multi-tailed fox yokai was no ordinary event.
Records of multi-tailed fox yokai went back a staggering 3,500 years—to Dalki, the favored concubine of the ancient Chinese Shang Dynasty. As a yokai fanatic, Kim Myung-ho had naturally read countless legends about nine-tailed foxes. Tales of them wandering from village to village during the Joseon era, draining men's vitality, or eating livers to replenish their energy. There were many such stories, but in the end they were all just folklore, not official historical records.
He had once wondered if people had simply mistaken single-tailed foxes for multi-tailed ones. But the nine-tailed fox Dalki was different. She wasn't mere rumor passed by word of mouth—she was clearly documented in official history.
In that sense, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that a multi-tailed fox yokai was an extremely dangerous being. After all, Dalki had corrupted King Zhou of Shang and ultimately brought the entire dynasty to ruin.
Even if she had saved his life… was it really okay to be simping over her like this?
But then—
'Our Miho would never do that!'
Indeed, most of the staff members, including Kim Myung-ho, had already had their brains thoroughly melted by Miho.
While he was lost in these pointless thoughts—
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—
The yokai radar had picked up a signal.
As a competent civil servant, Kim Myung-ho didn't panic at all. He immediately shouted in a loud, clear voice to report to the director.
"Director! We've got a signal!"
"Report the location first, then identify the entity."
"Sector 1, point 25!"
What kind of yokai will it be this time? he wondered. A Rank 5 that had escaped from the Hidden World? Or a naturally occurring Rank 6?
It didn't matter who it was. The office staff had already fought what was estimated to be a Rank 2 blue spirit fox, so they no longer feared yokai. Besides—
The Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office currently possessed an overwhelming asymmetric force known as the famous Force Arts user.
Kim Myung-ho quickly began analyzing the radar data. He measured the pattern and flow of the demonic energy and converted it into a waveform graph. Then he compared it against the hundreds and thousands of individual waveform graphs stored in his head.
Yes—he was a human computer who had completely memorized the waveform patterns of every single known yokai in existence. That was why he was considered such a capable agent.
Not an evil spirit. Not a vengeful ghost type. Estimated to be an animal-type yokai. Not a tiger. Not feline. Canine family.
Not a wolf… Ah.
Kim Myung-ho opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
"It's… it's a fox yokai!"
"…!"
The director began frantically rubbing his already-bald head. It was clear evidence that he was flustered. The other civil servants watching him worried that he was going to go completely bald at this rate, but the director ignored them and urgently asked Myung-ho again.
"Compare it to the waveform of the fox yokai from two years ago and the blue spirit fox from a week ago. Which one is it?"
"Neither of them!"
"Damn… a new fox yokai?"
"No, wait… if I had to compare it, it's the former! But the amount of yokai energy has increased to an incomparable degree! The waveform matches perfectly!"
Having identified the waveform, Kim Myung-ho continued speaking in an oddly excited voice.
"It's Miho!"
The moment Kim Myung-ho spoke, cheers erupted from every corner of the Yokai Extermination Office. The fact that they were cheering at the appearance of a yokai just went to show how thoroughly Miho had broken their brains.
The director let out a sigh of relief upon learning it wasn't a different fox yokai, but he didn't forget to issue orders.
"All combat personnel, prepare immediately. Radio Lee Ha-neul right away—she's currently training. Remember this: do not engage first. Since it's an entity we can communicate with, we will attempt to resolve this through dialogue."
"Understood!"
"And Kim Myung-ho!"
"Yes, Director!"
"You stay here and continue tracking the location."
"What? No way! I want to see Miho too—"
"It's an order."
"…"
Fuck. Bald bastard with a tiny heart.
Kim Myung-ho cursed inwardly. Although he was a first-class talent with exceptional radar detection skills and outstanding combat ability, from a commander's perspective it was perfectly reasonable to exclude him from the mission. Who in their right mind would bring a crazy fox yokai fanatic who giggled while staring at a nine-tailed fox figurine into actual combat? Making such a misjudgment would mean the commander was completely unqualified.
After finishing their preparations, they left the office.
Or rather, they were about to leave.
Kim Myung-ho's voice rang out once again.
"D-Director!"
"I said no! You stay here and—"
"That's not it! Miho's current location is…"
Kim Myung-ho stared at the yokai energy detection radar, continuing in a voice filled with disbelief.
"Five hundred meters directly in front of the Yokai Extermination Office…! She's heading this way!"