Blue Light Fox: Legend of the Moonlit Fox Spirit (2)
The voice pierced through my dreams like a drill. “…ho, Miho!”
“…”
“Miho, wake up! Miho! It’s an emergency! Red alert, reeeed aleeeert! Wait, maybe it’s not an emergency. Maybe it’s actually the perfect chance for you? Whatever, just wake up!!!”
Ugh. So noisy.
Depo was screeching at the top of his lungs, so I dragged myself out of deep sleep. Still half-dreaming, I cracked one eye open and greeted him.
“Squeakachu, welcome back. Morning.”
“Morning? It’s the middle of the night, you absolute walnut! And is that seriously how a yokai reacts after sleeping for four months straight?!”
“Squeak squeak squeak. Squeak squeak squeak squeak. Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak.”
“Squirrels don’t sound like that, Miho…”
I watched Depo’s tearful little face and breathed in the thick, inky scent that filled the air. It had grown even stronger. While I’d been sleeping without a care, it seemed the number of yokai in the area had increased again.
“A-anyway, it’s a huge emergency, Miho!”
“Uuuungh… haaam. Yeah, huge emergency. You woke me up, so my lifespan just got shorter again…”
The fact that I was forced to do nothing but sleep because of certain reasons that prevented me from absorbing yokai energy had become a famous anecdote throughout the Jirisan Hidden World.
It had already been two years since I became a fox yokai. In all that time, I hadn’t laid a single finger on any human men. I hated eating their livers, and the thought of sucking out their essence was even more disgusting.
Yokai energy was an incredibly draining force. It leaked out of me like the tide even if I just sat still and breathed. The only way I could delay death even a little was to climb a tree and sleep. Luckily, sleeping did reduce the rate of consumption.
At this point, the yokai energy I had left was probably… three months’ worth?
For someone—no, some creature—staring death in the face, I was surprisingly calm. I had accepted my reality. Everyone knows the five stages of grief, right?
Stage one and two: denial and anger. The day I learned I could only absorb energy by eating or sleeping with human men, I denied it and raged. I ended up burning through more than half my remaining power. Looking back now, it was an incredibly stupid thing to do.
Stage three: bargaining. Desperate, I went around begging every yokai hidden in this world to save me. I pleaded on my knees like a dog. No, like a fox. Sangun, Mangtae Grandfather, Janghwa Hyeonyo. The golden pig, the double-headed serpent. I even crawled to the worst vengeful spirits and begged.
But fox yokai were already extremely rare, and a multi-tailed one like me hadn’t appeared since Dalki, the nine-tailed fox who toppled the Shang Dynasty. No one had any useful knowledge to share.
…Except Sangun. He seemed to know something, but he was basically just a spectator. No matter how much I pestered him, his answers were always cryptic. I eventually stopped relying on him.
Stage four: depression. When no answers appeared, I fell into a deep slump. Even when Depo chattered at me nonstop. Even when strange yokai bared their fangs at me. I didn’t want to react to anything. What was the point of talking to other living things when I was just going to die anyway?
And finally, stage five: acceptance. That was my current state. I had accepted death. As an individual, touching a human man was more repulsive than dying. Of course, actually dying from lack of energy was still terrifying. But I had accepted it. No amount of thinking would give me a brilliant idea, and no amount of struggling would change the situation. So I accepted it.
“…which is why I think you need to step up, Miho. What do you think? It’ll definitely help you too.”
Ah. I’d been so lost in thought that I hadn’t heard a single word Depo said. In that case, I might as well pretend to be asleep.
“Miho?”
“…”
“Miho, Miho, Miho, Miho, Miho.”
“Zzz…”
“Stop pretending to sleep, Miho!”
Caught. That damn squirrel was way too sharp for his own good.
“So what happened? I was thinking about something else and didn’t hear any of it.”
When I answered honestly, Depo let out a huge sigh and kindly explained everything again.
“Jirisan has gone completely insane, Miho. It’s one step away from turning into a literal hellscape! This isn’t the time to be napping!”
“Jirisan was always hell, Squeaky.”
“I’m not being metaphorical! The Moonlit Fox Spirit has awakened!”
“Fox spirit? You mean a fox yokai?”
I pointed at my own face. “Me?”
“No. A different fox yokai, not you…”
“…There was another fox yokai in the Hidden World besides me?”
“There wasn’t. It didn’t awaken inside the Hidden World, it…”
Depo pointed toward the portal.
“It woke up outside.”
What Depo said next was genuinely shocking. The unidentified fox yokai that had awakened in the human world immediately began ripping out and devouring people’s livers left and right. It caused such chaos that even the yokai quietly hiding in the Hidden World could feel the malicious energy from here.
It was strange. The Jirisan Yokai Hunter Office was not an organization to be underestimated. After all, it had been established specifically to monitor the Hidden World and eliminate any yokai that tried to escape. It was only natural they possessed significant combat power.
In other words, this fox yokai was so powerful that even the Hunter Office couldn’t handle it.
Hmm. It was actually a pretty interesting story. But so what? Why was he telling me this long-winded tale that had absolutely nothing to do with me? It wasn’t even happening inside the Hidden World. Whether they called in Taoist masters or Force Arts users, the humans could deal with it themselves.
I yawned again and told Depo, “Got it. I’m going back to sleep now. I’ve got about three months left, so wake me up in two months and twenty-nine days. I’ll say my final goodbyes then—”
“You idiot! Moron! Blockhead!”
Depo’s next words hit me like lightning.
“This might be the golden opportunity for you to survive!”
In a flash, I unconsciously grabbed Depo with a death grip. “How? Why? What’s your evidence? Tell me the reason, why?!”
“…Look at you, Miho.”
His following words struck deep.
“You still want to live after all.”
“…”
I felt a hollowness I couldn’t even put into words. Ha. I thought I had accepted it. I thought I had given up. I thought I had come to terms with death. Apparently I hadn’t.
I released Depo from my grip and apologized. “Sorry, Depo. I got too excited.”
“If you’re sorry, then get your heavy butt moving and head outside the Hidden World already, Miho.”
“You still haven’t explained—”
“Haa… I thought you were at least a little bit smart for a yokai. Was I wrong? Did sleeping too much rot your brain? Idiot. Moron. Blockhead! You still don’t get it, Miho?”
“…?”
“As far as I know, there are only two fox yokai in the entire world. One is you, and the other is that Jirisan fox spirit that just awakened.”
“…!”
My blue eyes flashed with sudden light.
“It’s the same kind of yokai, right? It might know something. Whether you rip it apart or torture it, just go ask. You’re strong, so you can definitely overpower it. Besides, it’s an evil yokai that’s indiscriminately slaughtering humans anyway…”
“Depo.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks. I’ll be back.”
Two years. After a full two years, I had finally decided to leave the Hidden World.
“Huk, huk, huk, huuuk…”
Something had gone terribly wrong.
“Huk, huk, ugh… D-damn it…!”
Terribly, horribly wrong.
Lee Han-ul, Director of the Jirisan National Park Yokai Hunter Office and Grade 4 Senior Administrator, staggered forward while blood poured from his wounds. From the sheer volume of blood, it was clear his condition was critical. His left leg was twisted at an unnatural angle that hurt to even look at, and a massive hole had been torn in his side—likely by some beast’s jaws—big enough that his organs threatened to spill out at any moment.
Clinging desperately to his fading consciousness, he thought, Did I let my guard down? No. I didn’t.
He had even resorted to deploying every available unit, an action that completely ignored the manual. He had not let his guard down. The opponent had simply been too strong.
That insane fox bitch grew stronger in real time…!
At first, it had seemed like they would be able to subjugate the fox yokai fairly easily. The blue-light fox had flinched at the sound of gunfire, bled when struck by bullets, and fled in panic while leaving a clear trail behind.
But it adapted.
That cunning fox began luring humans out one by one to devour their livers. It grew stronger and stronger until it could casually shrug off specialized anti-yokai ammunition. While his subordinate was having his liver ripped out, Lee Han-ul had barely managed to escape.
It wasn’t out of selfish desire to save himself. It was a tactical retreat to ensure the yokai’s eventual subjugation.
Rank 4 Yokai…? No, there’s no way… At this rate, it’ll reach Rank 3 soon… or maybe even higher.
There was no longer any room for hesitation. Lee Han-ul activated the emergency communication line and requested the immediate dispatch of a nationally certified Taoist master or Force Arts practitioner…
CRRRRRUNCH!
“Hup…!”
“Found you, old human. You’ve been quite the nuisance to this lady…”
“Guh… guuuuuuuugh!”
He let out a final, dying scream as the fox yokai sank its teeth into him and dragged him away.
All that remained where he had stood was a smartphone lying on the ground, its screen still brightly lit with a single message.
EMERGENCY DISPATCH NOTICE
Dispatching nationally certified Force Arts practitioner, Lee Ha-neul.