The Monster with Five Tails: The Legend of Jomagu (Complete)

Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. So hungry.

Nothing else entered my mind except the feeling of hunger. Who am I? Am I Jomagu? Or a fox yokai? Whether my name is Jomagu or Miho, what does it matter? As long as I can fill this starving stomach, nothing else matters.

… … …

Winter, First Month. Pristine white snow blanketed the mountain. Crunch. Gurgle. Crunch, crunch. Gurgle.

With every step forward, the hunger grew sharper. Was hunger a desire? Or a deficiency? Since I felt I could do anything to satisfy it, perhaps it was a desire. Or since I felt I would go mad if I couldn't fill it, perhaps it was a deficiency.

One thing was certain. Eating was the sole purpose of my life, the very reason for my existence.

Aah. Perfect—prey right before my eyes.

It was a dilapidated old house tucked away in a corner of the mountain valley. A woman dressed in tattered mourning clothes was cooking rice. It looked delicious. The rice she was making. It looked so good.

When the woman stepped away, I approached the cauldron she had been stirring and lifted the lid. It was still undercooked, but warm. Without hesitation, I plunged my snout into the pot and began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠devouring the white rice with wild abandon.

"Oh my goodness!"

What was that sound? Something the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠woman said? I ignored it. The woman wasn't prey. I focused once more on eating the rice.

Crack!

The woman struck the back of my neck with a club. But I didn't stop devouring my food.

Thud!

She swung an axe down on my body. It left a deep gash, but it didn't hinder my eating, so I kept going.

Crunch! Snap!

The sound of flesh being crushed against bone echoed as the axe blade bit deep. Yet still, I didn't stop devouring my food.

Eventually, after I had completely cleaned out the cauldron, the hunger still gnawed at me. So I searched for the next thing to eat. The woman came into view. She seemed startled by how much larger I had suddenly become—her axe had stopped mid-swing.

The woman. Now. I think I can eat her.

I didn't stop devouring my food. No, actually, I did stop. Let's think bigger. The woman had a family. There was no way one human woman could eat that much rice by herself. I would eat her family too.

I grabbed the axe, hacked the woman into pieces, and tossed her torso into the cauldron I had scraped clean down to the last grain of rice. It made a delicious meat broth, but I didn't devour it. Instead, I waited for several hours.

Soon, the woman's family arrived. They were two strapping sons. When they saw the blood-soaked kitchen, they flew into a rage and shouted.

"Who the hell are you! Get out here right now!"

"Brother, you don't think a tiger dragged Mother away, do you?"

"Then let's eat this meat stew Mother made for us and go kill the tiger, little brother."

"That's a good idea, brother."

The woman's two sons began greedily devouring their food. I approached them to devour my own meal. I planned to gouge ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out their eyes just like I had the woman's, then savor every strip of their flesh. But perhaps the meat stew had given them strength—they started beating me like a dog on a hot summer day.

I told the two sons that the meat stew they had just eaten was actually their mother, then crunched through the snow and ran away.

A day later, the two sons were found hanging from a tree, dead. I didn't stop devouring my food.

… … …

Autumn, Second Month. Across the land, yokai extermination had become widespread. The new king of the country led powerful warriors who wielded immense strength and Taoist masters who commanded mysterious arts. They scoured the mountains, hunting down yokai like lice.

Strangely, though, they couldn't see me. I was so enormous—how could they not notice? Even I didn't understand it.

The taste of the woman and her two sons still lingered vividly in my memory. I wanted to devour more humans, but the Taoist masters and warriors made it impossible. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. So hungry.

I scavenged animal carcasses instead. The days were so bitterly cold that the bodies hadn't rotted. No matter how many I ate, the hunger refused to ease.

While I wandered aimlessly in search of new food, someone came to me. That. She. No—it introduced itself as a goblin and handed me an ancient book.

The goblin spoke to me.

Seek the truth and achieve the sacred goal of ascension? The goblin in front of me irritated me. It had just denied me. For me, the only truth was eating. My only goal was to satisfy my hunger.

I desperately wanted to devour the goblin right then and there, but I still lacked the strength. Still, I couldn't simply let the creature that had denied me walk ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away. So, right before the goblin's eyes, I swallowed the book known as the Taeja Singi.

Blasphemy? You were the one who committed it first. You called something other than eating the truth. If that isn't blasphemy, what is?

It was astonishing. The moment I swallowed the book called the Taeja Singi, my body grew larger—just as it had when I devoured the woman and her two sons.

I looked down at the goblin. Yes, down. It was smaller than me. And if it was smaller than me, that meant I could eat it. I didn't stop devouring my food.

… … … …

Autumn, Second Month. I instinctively understood. The current me could devour the warriors' immense strength, the Taoist masters' spells, and even the demonic energy of other yokai.

Was it because I had eaten the goblin? Or because I had eaten the book called the Taeja Singi? It didn't matter either way. But perhaps it was the price for the blasphemy the goblin had mentioned—my body had shrunk dramatically. In this state, I couldn't eat anything. My eyes began to grow heavy.

If I ever opened them again, I vowed to devour everything that existed in this world. With that thought, I fell into slumber.

* * *

"…"

I woke from the dream. Or was it a dream? I wasn't sure, but that horrific hunger had been all too real.

Who am I? Jomagu? Miho?

Swish, swish. Six tails swaying gently. That's right. I'm not Jomagu—I'm Miho. I'm not entirely sure, but it seems the Taeja Singi implanted Jomagu's memories into me.

Jomagu, that bastard. He wasn't just some common yokai. Like the blue-flamed fox spirit, he was a supreme yokai granted the qualification for ascension.

I looked around. Jomagu must have vomited everything in his stomach and died, because not even a corpse remained. The cover of the Taeja Singi had vanished without a trace.

It gave me chills. It felt like something that should never have happened had occurred. It might have been a simple coincidence, but the moment I touched the cover of that book, I sensed a clear will within it.

Coincidence? In just two years since I was born, that rare fox yokai had awakened from its deep sleep. And that fox yokai just happened to be one granted the qualification for ascension. Coincidence?

When I came out of the Hidden World to find information about the Taeja Singi, Jomagu just happened to go on a rampage at the perfect time. And Jomagu was also a yokai granted the qualification for ascension.

Could all of this really be coincidence? No. It felt far too sinister to dismiss as mere chance. It was as if my fate was being toyed with by an invisible hand. The feeling left a foul taste in my mouth.

I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear away the thoughts. That's when something on the ground caught my eye. A horn. It was the horn of the goblin Jomagu had swallowed. For now, I'd take it with me.

Maybe it was because I'd experienced Jomagu's entire life so vividly, but I suddenly felt starving. I plopped down on the dirt floor and shook out the dog food I'd brought, pouring it straight into my mouth.

After I'd been eating the dog food for a few minutes, I heard the sound of Lee Ha-neul and a group of humans climbing up the mountain.

"Miho! Are you oka—huh?"

Wow. I told them to bring something like a bazooka, and they actually brought a real bazooka. The Yokai Hunter Department's firepower support went way beyond my imagination.

With a dumbfounded look on my face, I spoke to them as they stared at me eating dog food.

"I'm hungry."