The Fox Spirit of Jirisan (2)

It was pathetic. I wondered if there was anyone in the world more pathetic than me. Or rather, any fox. While fleeing from the yokai hunters, I spotted yet another sign.

Seems this isn't the world I knew after all. As far as I was aware, the Republic of Korea had never had any institution called a Yokai Extermination Office. What I needed to fear in this Hidden World wasn't the trees with human faces. It was the humans. That realization tormented me. I wasn't a fox yokai. I had been human, too...

It had been three days since I woke up as a fox yokai. Just like every other day, I was wandering the forest in search of something to eat when I ran into a squirrel. The very first thought that popped into my head the moment I saw it was, Can I eat that?

I had been starving for a full three days, so I was confident I could wolf down even raw, uncooked meat if I had to. But the place where I now stood on four legs wasn't an ordinary forest. From what the humans I'd encountered last time said, this was the Hidden World of Jirisan, teeming with all kinds of yokai. Which meant the little guy staring at me with those bright, round eyes was probably ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no ordinary squirrel either.

Having reached that conclusion, I bared my teeth and started barking. "Grrrrrrrrrr... Yap! Yap! Yip!"

No matter how much of a fox yokai I'd become, barking at someone like a dog was basically throwing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away any last shred of human dignity. Yet the instincts of a fox yokai made me do it anyway.

A moment later, the squirrel in front of me shrugged its tiny shoulders. Then, to my shock, it started speaking like a person.

"Whoa, never seen a yokai like you before. Who are you? What's your name? How old are you? You're super cute! Can I touch your fur? Can I climb on your back?"

"...Yip?"

Sure enough, this guy was a yokai too. The squirrel yokai who introduced himself as Depo was, for some reason, incredibly friendly toward me. He kindly explained all about the Hidden World to someone as clueless as I was.

As it turned out, yokai society existed even in this Hidden World, and the intelligent yokai who belonged to it didn't antagonize one another. They lived together in peace. Naturally, I didn't believe a single word the squirrel yokai said. To someone like me who knew nothing about yokai, the words "yokai" and "peace" went together about as well as oil and water.

Still, it was a golden opportunity to gather information, so I asked the squirrel yokai about yokai and yokai energy while I had the chance.

"Your name's Miho, right?"

"Yeah."

"Miho, what do you even know? Are you a dummy? Were you just born or something?"

"It's been exactly three days since I was born, I think."

"Oh! So you're not a dummy, you're a baby! Lord Sangun said we have to take care of babies!"

"Sangun...?"

"Yep. Anyway, yokai and yokai energy are..."

Yokai are supernatural beings born from the accumulation of yokai energy. They could be divided into five main types.

First, animal-type yokai. These were animals that had transformed into yokai under the influence of yokai energy.

"I'm a classic example of an animal-type yokai."

"Then I must be one too."

"Nah, I don't think you are, Miho."

"...Why not?"

"You've got three tails, duh. What fox in the world has three tails, you dummy? Oh right, you just hatched so you probably don't know stuff like that!"

Wait. Couldn't an animal that turned into a yokai grow three tails? Or did transforming not change their appearance that much? I wouldn't know since I'd only met this squirrel so far. And this little rodent had been calling me an idiot nonstop. His whole way of talking was so rude. I kind of wanted to smack him, but since he was kindly explaining everything to a complete stranger, I let it slide.

Second, human-type yokai. These were humans transformed by yokai energy. They were like the old man with the straw basket or the snail bride from the fairy tales I read as a kid.

"By the way, you can meet the old man with the basket right here in the Hidden World of Jirisan!"

"...For real?"

"Yeah! Grandpa Basket is nice! He's a good grandpa who sometimes brings acorns!"

Huh. That was very different from what I knew. The way I remembered it, the old man with the basket was the one who kidnapped bad children and ate them. In other words...

"Wasn't he a crazy pervert who kidnaps kids...?"

"Kidnaps kids? What's that mean?"

"...Never mind. Keep explaining."

Third, vengeful spirit-type yokai. These were the grudges of people who died unjust deaths, transformed by yokai energy. So they were basically the ghosts with tragic backstories that always showed up in movies and dramas. The way to exorcise them was simple: just resolve their lingering resentment.

Fourth, evil spirit-type yokai. These were wicked souls transformed by yokai ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠energy.

"Miho, you gotta be careful with evil spirit-types...!"

"Why?"

"You'll know if you meet one. Actually, it's better if you never do. Anyway, if you see an evil spirit-type, run away no matter what, okay?"

"...Okay."

Well, that made sense. If they were born from evil souls, I couldn't expect them to be friendly. I'd need to research more, but I figured I could at least protect myself.

And finally, the fifth type.

"Dokkaebi."

"..."

"..."

"...Why'd you stop explaining?"

"I don't know much about dokkaebi either! They've been extinct for over five hundred years!"

"Why did they go extinct?"

"No idea. There are rumors that a Force Arts user who could flash from east to west wiped them all out, and other rumors that a winged Taoist sealed them all away... Nothing's confirmed."

Flash from east to west. A winged Taoist. Were those the protagonists from the novels I knew? I wasn't sure, but either way...

"So I don't need to worry about dokkaebi, right?"

"Yeah, probably!"

It was interesting that dokkaebi, which could basically be called the representative yokai of Korea, had gone extinct. Every yokai fundamentally needed an energy source called yokai energy, and if it ran out, they would perish without exception. Like it or not, they had to obtain yokai energy somehow if they wanted to survive.

The method for obtaining it varied by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠individual. In the case of this tiny squirrel yokai, he absorbed lightning to gain yokai energy.

What was he, a squirrelchu? Maybe this guy got cursed by an internet meme and turned into a yokai.

"But you can't create lightning artificially, can you?"

"True. That's why I store up a ton of yokai energy in my body whenever lightning strikes and use it little by little. By the way, you're seriously adorable! This is my first time seeing an intelligent fox yokai! Wanna come with me to meet Lord Sangun?"

"...Sangun? Is he a tiger?"

"Yep. Lord Sangun is kind. Lord Sangun is majestic. Lord Sangun is cool. Lord Sangun is amazing. Lord Sangun..."

"Okay, okay, please just be quiet. You're making me dizzy. So how am I supposed to obtain yokai energy?"

"Ugh, Miho! Are you a dummy? An idiot? Is your head empty? Even if you were just born, how can a yokai not know how to absorb yokai energy? Dummy! Idiot! Blockhead!"

What an annoying squirrel. To summarize what he'd said, it seemed I had to figure out the method of absorbing yokai energy for myself. The problem was that even after sorting through all the information in my head, nothing about how to absorb yokai energy came up.

"Let's go ask Lord Sangun!"

...Right. It might be a trap, but if I just stayed here doing nothing, I'd run out of energy and die. Even if I'd reincarnated as a female fox yokai, I wasn't interested in dying.

The place the squirrel yokai led me to was the very heart of the forest, the space where Sangun, the leader of yokai society, lived.

"Introducing, Miho! This is Lord Sangun!"

The moment I faced this leader called Sangun, my whole body began to tremble. It was because I could feel an overwhelming power from the tiger named Sangun, something so strong I couldn't possibly defy it. Without realizing it, I dropped to one knee before him and bowed my head deeply.

Sangun simply gazed at me in silence. Every single aspect of his bearing was so beautiful it felt almost divine. Come to think of it, I couldn't sense any yokai energy from him. It was a clean power, something different from yokai energy.

"...Spiritual power?"

When I muttered that, Sangun looked at me with curious eyes and finally spoke.

Sangun stopped in his tracks. He glared at me once more, then returned to his original position and spoke in a benevolent voice.

At those words, I bowed my head to him once more like a machine that had received an input command, then hurriedly fled the area. Only then did I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.

"Huff... huff... huff... haa..."

An overwhelming power that could erase even the will to resist. I had just realized why the intelligent yokai didn't fight each other. It was all because of the one at the center of this yokai society, Sangun. No. It was because he was a spiritual beast.