The Black Dog Yokai - (2) "Ah, This Miserable World!"

Unemployed slacker Kim Min-hyuk stood atop Namsan and shouted out across the world.

I'm the only one who's unhappy. I'm the only one who fails every interview and the only one without a lover. Was the entire world conspiring to screw him over? He truly was the unluckiest man alive.

It had been fine when his blood-soaked efforts got him into a decent university. The real problems started after that. From the moment he enrolled, the world began its campaign against him. He waited for the green light at the crosswalk and crossed with careful steps, only to get hit by some drunk lunatic. The aftereffects of that accident destroyed his grades. The long hospital stay strained things with his girlfriend until they eventually broke up.

After a year-long leave of absence he returned to school and somehow managed to graduate. But the damage to his transcript was beyond repair, so in the job market his value hovered somewhere below average. His entire life was one long string of misfortune. Was there anyone in all of Korea more unlucky than him?

He had climbed Namsan to ease some of that suffocating frustration, but watching the people passing by only sank his mood further. Unlike him, every last one of them wore an expression of pure happiness. What could possibly make them so joyful? What could put them in such a good mood?

Look at that guy—his arm had been ripped clean off and eaten. And that one over there had both eyes gouged out. What a truly unfair world. Everyone descending Namsan except him seemed to have had parts of their bodies torn away and devoured by something.

"Ah, I want to see that black dog again!"

"It was super cute, right?"

"Yeah! It would've been even better if it had eaten a leg too… what a shame!"

Again. Again, the world was only screwing him over. A black dog? He hadn't gotten to meet it. He wanted to meet that black dog too, damn it.

Thud. Someone collapsed. Thud. Another person fell.

Kim Min-hyuk thought, I want to collapse too. I want to meet the black dog and have my body torn apart and eaten. Probably. If he climbed Namsan, maybe he would encounter it.

That was when it happened.

A yokai in Seoul? Kim Min-hyuk was a little bewildered, but like everyone else he hurried down the mountain. The people who had lost body parts couldn't keep up with his speed. As a result, Kim Min-hyuk became the first to escape Namsan and returned home safely. It was the first truly lucky moment of his entire life.

"A yokai showed up!"

"Does that even make sense? A yokai right in the middle of Seoul!"

"Just run first!"

What the hell is going on…?

I stared blankly at the people rushing past. The state of those descending Namsan was too horrific to put into words. Some were missing an entire arm. Others had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠both eyes devoured. Still others were clutching their own spilling intestines with bloody hands.

It was the kind of scene that should have triggered total panic. Yet something was wrong. They were maintaining an eerily calm demeanor. Was this the yokai's ability? It seemed to paralyze human cognitive functions… but the effect was far too strong. It wasn't just paralyzing the victims—it was spreading to everyone around them as well.

This wasn't the time to stand around analyzing it!

I spread my spiritual power in every direction, intending to heal them with fox fire. But the result was completely different from when I had treated the Yokai Extermination Office workers back in Jirisan.

"Uh… over there…!"

"It's a yokai… a fox yokai!!!!"

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!"

First, they didn't even realize they had been attacked by a yokai.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaak, my arm! You healed my arm!"

"My eyes… I can see again…! Ah, aaaaaah, God…!"

"S-save me, please… I have a five-year-old daughter at home, please!"

Second, they couldn't perceive the severity of their own injuries. Worse, they interpreted my healing as a hostile act.

"…"

I was speechless. The sheer malevolence of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yokai that could shatter human minds to this degree left me utterly lost for words. Pure, unadulterated malice radiated from whatever was behind this.

I might not be a yokai with centuries of experience, and I'd only encountered three others so far, but the malice I felt now was on a completely different level. The blue fox yokai had seen humans as nothing more than 'prey' or 'livestock.' No one feels true malice toward pigs or cows. Jomagu had also viewed humans as food, but it saw every single thing in existence the same way. The formless shadow had referred to humans as 'tools.'

None of those three had harbored this depth of malice toward humanity. Being treated as a tool would've been preferable. This… this insane, unidentified yokai was clearly treating humans as toys.

My mind grew coldly clear with rage.

"S-save me, please!" someone begged.

"You fucking bastard! Go on, kill me! Kill me if you can!" someone else cursed.

I ignored it all and healed every last one of them. My spiritual power was running dangerously low, so I tucked one tail away and switched to using yokai energy to finish the rest. The detection radar would pick it up. People would realize I was a yokai, not a spiritual beast.

So what? Right now, saving lives mattered more.

But the moment I reverted to a single tail and entered my 'yokai' state, everything changed.

"Whoa, she's a pretty lady!"

"Is she a streamer?"

"Looks like an influencer."

"Isn't she crazy? The evacuation order went out—why is she just standing there?"

"Leave her alone. Those types always chase clout no matter what."

The hostility they had shown my spiritual beast form vanished completely. They had radiated such enmity toward me as a spiritual beast, yet now they looked at my yokai form with favor. Something was deeply wrong here. This wasn't simple cognitive paralysis. There was clear, malicious intent behind it.

If humans began to see yokai as allies, the chaos that would engulf the world was beyond my imagination. Even worse, after I released six tails, my own cognitive abilities started to erode. Did I really need to heal these people? What was the big deal about losing an arm? You could live without eyes, right? Such twisted thoughts began gnawing at my mind.

It seemed the unidentified yokai's cognitive interference affected yokai as well as humans. Pouring out the last of my yokai energy to resist the mental degradation, I finished healing every human around me, reverted to seven tails, and hurriedly climbed back up Namsan. My spiritual power was nearly exhausted, but I had no choice. If I faced that unidentified yokai in my yokai form, my own mind would surely break.

Still… Lee Ha-neul and the other Force Arts users would be heading to Namsan by now. I had to settle this before they arrived.

Spiritual Beasts were creatures that rarely revealed themselves. After the demigod Dueoksini, King of Goblins, met his end, most of them had withdrawn from the world entirely. One of the few that remained was the five-colored snake known as Hongsa. At the request of First Rank Force Arts National Guardian Lee Jeong-mae, Hongsa had begun tracking the black dog.

Lee Jeong-mae had warned the serpent, "The black dog possesses a strange ability to conceal its form. You must exercise caution."

Hongsa had flicked its forked tongue and replied, "This Hongsa survived even the shadow of the evil god Eoduksini. There is no need for such concern."

"However…"

"Simply watch. Once I complete this task, I shall attain true ascension. Bear witness to my rise."

"…Very well. I shall place my faith in you alone."

Lee Jeong-mae and Hongsa had pursued the black dog. Thanks to the spiritual beast's power, they located it quickly. The black dog opened its maw toward Hongsa.

"I am a spiritual beast, and the herald of your end."

The black dog glanced at Lee Jeong-mae. That was the signal. Before confronting the creature, Hongsa and Lee Jeong-mae had devised a plan: Lee Jeong-mae would use Force Arts to blind the black dog, and Hongsa would immediately sink its fangs into the beast's neck, injecting its lethal venom. Hongsa's poison was more deadly than ten thousand toxins combined. The moment those fangs struck, the black dog would be exterminated.

…Or so it should have gone.

For some reason, Lee Jeong-mae perceived Hongsa as the enemy instead. Gathering every ounce of natural energy, he unleashed a colossal Force Arts technique directly into the spiritual beast. Hongsa died instantly. The black dog slipped away. And Lee Jeong-mae returned to his king with a satisfied expression and made his report.