The Fox's Scent
Clackety-clack. Clackety-clack. The train was racing toward its final stop.
Hojun shot a sideways glare at the woman sitting beside him—the one with fox ears and a tail. The more he looked at her, the more captivating she became. Sharp, striking features. Eyes as deep and blue as the Pacific Ocean. Delicate, perfectly shaped lips. Breasts so full they could easily be called glamorous. And finally, that inexplicable, bewitching charm that seemed to enchant anyone who saw her.
If she hadn't been a yokai, he would have asked for her number on the spot.
...She was that seductive.
But unfortunately for Miho, Hojun was no ordinary worthless bastard. He was a once-in-a-century, unparalleled genius of a worthless bastard.
He drank, but never to the point of blacking out. And no matter how breathtaking the yokai was—no matter how tightly she gripped his heart with her beauty—Hojun was not a small man who would simply surrender to a yokai's charms.
First, he kept talking to her, gathering information about the yokai in the next seat.
0. First of all, this woman is definitely a yokai, not human. Cosplay? What a pathetic excuse. Just look at that tail and those ears swishing around. How the hell is that human? He even grabbed her ear directly with his own hand to turn suspicion into certainty.
"Ack!"
"Why are you pulling on someone else's ear!"
"Ah. Sorry."
"Sorry? You fucking bastard!"
"You said it was cosplay?"
"..."
She felt pain. Hojun was starting to get confused about whether she was smart or stupid. She looked intelligent at first glance, but watching her wag her tail openly inside the train while chewing gum like a dog, she didn't seem like a yokai worth worrying about in the brains department.
1. This yokai possesses a demonic charm that captivates a man's heart. It wasn't simply that she was pretty. It was probably one of her innate traits. This was something Hojun could tell because of his long history with women. This woman... no, this yokai was somehow different from every woman he'd ever met.
2. This yokai is that extremely rare fox yokai, and she possesses the ability to conceal her demonic energy. She is probably a different individual from the 'blue-light fox spirit' that appeared in Jirisan a few weeks ago. He'd heard that Lee Ha-neul, the Force Arts user, had exterminated it. The fact that this yokai could ride the train was proof she could hide her energy. It made sense—the Yokai Extermination Office's demonic energy detection radar network covered the entire country. Without the ability to conceal her energy, there was no explaining how she had boarded this train.
3. This yokai's objective is likely the 'Tiger of Jangsan.' He didn't know the reason. There was no evidence. He had a hunch, but even that wasn't certain. It was in the realm of intuition. Since Hojun was a Taoist master with good instincts, he decided to trust his gut.
4. Most of this yokai's answers were lies, but the part about liking humans seemed to be true. She knew an alarming amount about human culture. And not just superficially—it was a level of knowledge that genuinely surprised even Hojun. She knew about online communities and galleries, of course, but also OTT services like NewTube and HotFlix. She even understood current internet memes. This much information was impossible to possess unless she truly liked humans, just as she claimed. It was extraordinary for a yokai to know so much about humans, but the 'how' wasn't very important to Hojun. What mattered was the 'therefore.'
5. Was this yokai an enemy, or an ally? Regardless of good or evil, yokai were unconditional targets for extermination. Yet here he was, hesitating over whether to kill the yokai right in front of him. Hojun found his own dilemma extremely unfamiliar. That was how friendly she was toward humans. Even though she got annoyed and swore at him while he sat beside her prying for every scrap of information, she never showed the emotions a yokai should have—disgust, superiority, or killing intent.
Was it an act, or was it real? If it was an act, she was still a target for subjugation. If her feelings were genuine...
"..."
He didn't know. His head couldn't come to a decision on how to handle her.
For that reason, Hojun decided to keep an eye on her for now. Ah, and the train had just arrived at the terminal station. He put on a friendly smile and spoke to her.
"Let's get off."
"..."
She looked at him with an expression that screamed what the hell is this crazy bastard saying? but Hojun didn't care in the slightest. He hadn't earned his reputation as a scoundrel for nothing. His face was thicker than even Miho's.
Step. Step. Thud. Thud. Crunch. Crunch. Scuffle scuffle scuffle. Scramble scramble scramble.
Aish, seriously.
"Why do you keep following me!"
"I'm following an interesting fox yokai. Got a problem with that?"
"Like I keep saying, I'm not a yokai! It's cosplay!"
"Korea's technology really is impressive. They released a fox-ear headband that can even sync physical sensations without me knowing?"
"..."
Fucking bastard! I know. I know he figured out I was a yokai ages ago. Just like how I took one look at his face and instantly concluded he was a Taoist master, he must have looked at me and reached the same conclusion about me being a yokai.
But there's a huge difference between admitting Yes, I'm a yokai and denying it to the bitter end. Justification. He has no justification. Sure, my appearance is unmistakably that of a fox yokai. So what? Was my energy detected? Did I harm any humans? Has an extermination order been issued?
What if—just one in a million chance—I'm not a yokai? Then he has no justification to eliminate me either. As proof, even after we got off the train, he's just been trailing behind me without launching a single attack.
...So how long does he plan on following me, exactly?
He probably came to Busan for the same reason I did—to exterminate the Tiger of Jangsan. Trailing each other around like this is just a waste of time for both of us.
When I shot him a pointed look, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hand over that fox-ear headband. Then I won't follow you anymore."
"...You son of a bitch."
That meant he'd follow me for the rest of his life.
"Oh? Weren't you the one telling me not to put a rag in my mouth earlier? Seems like you're the one with the rag in your mouth, yokai."
"Shut up!"
Communication was impossible. It looked like he'd already made up his mind to follow me forever. I didn't know why. Weren't you supposed to be going after the Tiger of Jangsan?
We got off at the station and headed toward the plaza, but it seemed the evacuation order had reached even this far from Busan. The place was deserted. There wasn't a single person around except the two of us.
What rotten luck. If it weren't for this bastard, I could have taken care of the Tiger of Jangsan without anyone noticing and returned to Jirisan at my leisure.
So. I'd finally arrived near Busan, but with someone openly monitoring me stuck right by my side, tracking that Tiger of Jangsan was proving incredibly difficult.
He lit a cigarette and spoke to me.
"Don't mind me watching. Do what you were going to do."
"...By the way, aren't you a busy guy?"
"Ho, have you finally taken an interest in me? Hmm, I guess yokai and humans have the same taste in men after all."
"That's not what I meant... Whether I ask you to stop following me or not, you're going to keep doing it anyway, right? Is it really okay for a great and famous Taoist master like yourself to waste time like this here?"
"Don't try to act sharp with me, yokai. Even a passing five-year-old kid knows I'm a Taoist master."
"Hojun."
"..."
"It's Hojun, right?"
The moment I spoke his name, cold sweat broke out on his face. He immediately pulled some kind of paper from his pocket and eyed me warily.
What the hell?
"What?"
"You bitch... How did you know my name?"
"I saw it on the wiki."
"...Ah."
He seemed slightly embarrassed. Scratching his head, he formally introduced himself.
"I'm Hojun."
"I'm Miho."
"...Now that I think about it, your name is basically you proudly announcing that you're a gumiho. It's a bit awkward for me to say this, but if you don't want to get caught, maybe start by changing your name."
"I'm not a gumiho, I'm a six-tailed fox. And it's not a yokai, it's cosplay. By the way, don't you have a last name?"
"It's basic for Taoist masters not to have surnames."
"Then what's the 'Jeon' in Jeon Woo-chi?"
"None of your business."
"Right. I wasn't that curious anyway."
"...What an annoying fox yokai."
I exchanged pointless banter with him. Surprisingly, this conversation was an extremely important process for me. Through talking with him, I could clearly tell that he held no malice toward me. Human emotions are the purest thing there is—impossible to hide even if you try.
Anyway, since it had come to this, I decided to trust him and track down the Tiger of Jangsan together. Having him around might be at least a little helpful.
"How do you plan to track it? Do yokai have some special way to sense each other through demonic energy?"
"..."
"No, wait. Come to think of it, I heard the Tiger of Jangsan can hide its energy just like you."
As expected. He'd already figured out my goal completely.
There was no point hiding anything anymore. I told him,
"You smell like alcohol and cigarettes, so stay further back."
"Fine. And am I your husband or something? Stop calling me 'you' and use my name—Hojun."
Surprisingly, he obeyed without complaint. It seemed he didn't have any other means to track the Tiger of Jangsan either.
There was only one way to track the Tiger of Jangsan without using energy.
The smell. Follow the thick scent of blood.
I began to maximize my senses. Not by using energy, but by awakening the instinct of a fox yokai.
I wasn't sure exactly how many hundreds of meters away I could detect a scent. From this point on, it was a battle of patience.
"Sniff. Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff sniff."
I had no choice but to keep sniffing until I caught the scent of blood.
"As expected of a canine yokai—tracking by smell!"
"Sniff sniff. Sniff. Sniff sniff sniff."
"Though do you really need to walk on all fours? I have to admit, it suits you pretty well."
"Grrrr... Will you please shut up."
"...Understood. But you really do look like a dog."