Favor (3)
"Do-gyeol!"
Han Da-na's urgent shout echoed down the street. The guy who'd promised to stay put had suddenly whipped out that pitch-black monster, leaving her utterly dumbfounded.
"You said you'd stay still!"
"Promises and reality are different, sis."
His nonchalant reply hit her like a mirror of her own words, making her head spin for a moment. But she gathered herself and opened her mouth again.
"If you use that on a person, he'll die!"
The sorcerer, overhearing their exchange, felt his legs tremble.
'Die?'
It sure looked like he would. But really kill him? No way.
'Y-yeah! That's gotta be a bluff!'
Just trying to scare him. If it were truly dangerous, she wouldn't just be yelling warnings like that.
"Don't make me laugh, you pint-sized punk! You think a big hunk of illusion magic scares me?!"
Denying reality, the man shoved his hand into his coat. He flung dozens of talismans into the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Accompanied by acrid smoke, grotesque guest ghosts and demons poured out from the talismans. Easily dozens of them—a overwhelming swarm attack.
"Rip 'em to shreds!"
As the demons lunged forward at his command and Han Da-na stepped up to intervene—
"Shobi. Eat."
Do-gyeol issued a curt order and thrust out his hand. In that instant, Shobi's maw gaped wide.
What followed was a street-cleaning frenzy.
Gulp! Gulp!
Shobi didn't even chew. It simply opened wide and swallowed the charging demons whole.
It happened in a flash. The dozens of demons that had filled the alley vanished without a trace.
"……!"
The sorcerer's jaw dropped to his chest. His entire force evaporated in mere seconds. All that remained were the decoy talismans.
'I thought that'd buy me an escape...!'
But he had to make his own getaway. Before his brain could catch up, instinct kicked in.
'Damn, damn!'
He bolted down the opposite alley without a backward glance. Pride? Long gone.
'That wasn't a bluff...'
That thing would really kill him. Survival instinct was all that mattered now.
But Do-gyeol wasn't about to let him go.
"Where you headed? Gotta pay for the meal first."
As the chat buzzed, Do-gyeol channeled yeong-ryeok to inflate his leg muscles and veins to the bursting point.
Boom—!
An explosion rocked the spot where his foot struck, closing the distance in a blink.
"Gotcha."
Before the man could turn, Do-gyeol's grip snagged his nape. He yanked back like slamming the brakes, sending the guy sprawling face-first.
Thud crash!
As the man groaned on the ground, Do-gyeol casually stripped off his coat.
"Gyeol!"
Han Da-na, arriving late, gaped in horror.
"W-what the hell are you doing?!"
"You said if luck's on our side, we could harvest some too."
Do-gyeol rummaged through the man's pockets with a straight face.
"Luck's good today. Since I caught him, you owe me half."
Han Da-na's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"I meant harvesting, not straight-up banditry..."
Look at this kid pulling off legalized extortion with that innocent grin. He'd clearly studied brigand code instead of sorcery.
"Time for the main course."
Do-gyeol placed his hand on the sprawled man's chest. Yeong-ryeok flowed in steadily.
'Why's the wavelength so weak?'
A sorcerer who only summoned random demons with talismans—his yeong-ryeok quality was trash. No effort needed for wavelength conversion; it slurped right up like watery soup.
"W-wait, stop! Hear me out...!"
The man begged in a raspy, trembling voice.
"I was just scraping by! Had no choice for a living! Give me one chance! I'm begging!"
"Doesn't feel sincere at all."
Do-gyeol replied flatly.
"A crocodile's tears would sell it better than you."
His pleas falling flat, the man's eyes shifted from desperation to venomous spite.
"You know what wakes up if I go down? You can't handle it."
"Huh?"
As Do-gyeol tilted his head, his hand sucked up the last drop clean.
"Gurk..."
The man's eyes rolled back, and he passed out cold.
That was when it happened.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The entire shopping street shuddered with ominous vibrations. Signs crashed from buildings, windows shattered.
"……?"
As Do-gyeol took stock, the debris began clumping together like drawn to a magnet. Twisted building remnants formed a hulking golem shape.
"Do-gyeol!"
Han Da-na paled.
"That's a Gashin-grade yokai! Get back now!"
But Do-gyeol didn't retreat. His eyes sparkled as he looked up at the golem.
"Bit big for one bite, huh."
He thrust out his arm. Shobi shot toward the golem.
But—
Boom—!
It collided head-on with the golem's swinging arm, bursting apart with a splat!
"Huh?"
Do-gyeol flinched. The smoke-like form reformed behind him, resuming its original shape.
"Don't ram it head-on like an idiot—you'll drain your yeong-ryeok first!"
Han Da-na yelled.
"Yokai aren't like spirits! They have a core powering them. Destroy that!"
"Where's the core?"
"It's not that simple! Every yokai condenses its essence in different spots!"
Then the chat lit up.
Do-gyeol nodded inwardly.
"It's too dangerous—I'll handle it! You—"
"Sis."
Do-gyeol cut her off with one question.
"Does the core count as harvestable?"
"……What?"
Han Da-na blanked out. What kind of random question was this? Discussing loot mid-fight?
"A yokai's core is condensed essence! You sense it, but it has no physical form, so harvesting's impossible!"
You couldn't grab an intangible mind like an object. That's what she meant.
"You can harvest the yokai itself, but hauling off something that huge? No way!"
"Got it."
A sly grin curved Do-gyeol's lips.
"So I can eat it, right?"
"What?!"
Before her shocked retort finished, Do-gyeol kicked off the ground and launched himself.
'Just get close.'
Han Da-na's horrified yell from behind fell on deaf ears.
Boom—!
A fist slammed down where his head had been. But Do-gyeol was gone.
'Shobi tanks what it can eat head-on. Dodge the rest and close in.'
His movements sharpened, waste stripped away.
"Shobi!"
Rebar and sign fragments hurled by the golem. Shobi frontlined, chomping them as a shield.
Meanwhile, Do-gyeol scaled the beast's massive concrete arm like a feral animal. The arm became his path.
'Just sprint down the red carpet.'
Wind whipped his ears as the golem thrashed to shake him off. But his focus held.
Thump.
Deep in the golem's vast chest of tangled rebar, a clear pulse throbbed.
'Found it.'
Do-gyeol springboarded off the shoulder, soaring into the air.
"Shobi, eat!"
He thrust his arm. Shobi rocketed in.
Crunch! Crash!
Even amid the shattering roar, Shobi's speed didn't falter. It punched straight through the torso, gulped the core, and burst out the other side.
In that moment—
Right after Shobi devoured the yokai core, horrific emotions crashed into Do-gyeol's mind like a tsunami.
"……Urk!"
When Shobi ate yeong-ryeok, it converted seamlessly without wavelength tweaks. But essence was different.
Still, the pain was fleeting. The dream demon's instinct—feasting on human nightmares and negativity—kicked in.
"Haa..."
Do-gyeol exhaled hot breath. Absorbing the emotions, his body surged with vigor and vitality.
"Good job, Shobi."
As he smiled in satisfaction—
Screeeeech—!
A chilling metallic groan rang out, and the golem froze. Powerless, it crumbled like a sandcastle, spilling back into mundane rubble.
At the same time, Do-gyeol plummeted from dizzying heights.
Whoosh—Thud.
His fall cushioned softly. Han Da-na had caught him in her arms.
She'd landed steadily, but her face was blank with shock.
'Pinned the core location on the first try...?'
As she stared dazedly at the boy in her embrace—
"Whoa, sis's arms are so soft... I mean, comfy."
At that, she dropped him.
Thud crash!
Do-gyeol yelped as he hit back-first.
"Ow! Landed on my back! If it's fate, how about some sirloin?"
His miraculous logic drew a reluctant chuckle from Han Da-na.
"You're hopeless, really."
She helped him up, adding,
"Flower-cut sirloin it is."