The Harvest of a Dog
The bundle of harvest contained gold. Ornaments crafted from pure gold and Japanese-style coins identical to those carried by the beckoning cat, or maneki-neko, of Japan.
“Quite large.”
Jinseong thought that the divination cast by the cursed object he had created had been correct. He picked up one of the coins and gently stroked it with his fingers.
Shhhk.
The moment Jinseong’s hand touched it, the coin trembled as if alive. It softened, its shape shifting. The wrinkled surface rippled like waves, gradually smoothing out. The characters engraved upon it melted and flowed downward, turning into black droplets that fell to the floor with soft plops.
“—.”
The impurities were being purged.
The coin continued to ripple and reshape itself repeatedly. With each transformation, anything unrelated to gold dripped away in the form of water droplets. The bizarre process only stopped once the coin had become a sphere no larger than a fingernail.
The tiny sphere emitted the distinctive brilliant gleam of gold. Strangely, however, a crude circle was etched into its surface—like something a child might have drawn while clutching a crayon with an unsteady hand.
Jinseong gazed at the oddly unsettling little sphere and felt a faint pang of disappointment.
“The purity isn’t particularly high.”
Well, there was no reason to give excessive rewards to a dog one was merely raising. On the contrary, if something of truly high value had emerged, he would have felt uneasy.
Jinseong flicked the golden sphere with his fingernail, sending it back into the bundle.
Clink.
With a metallic clatter, the settled bead rolled through the gaps between the ornaments and coins until it reached the bottom.
“—.”
The fingernail-sized golden sphere trembled at Jinseong’s cursed words.
“Gold is something that flows and moves. Yet its form resembles a nucleus—hard and round—thus bearing a shape truly akin to that of a living being.”
At Jinseong’s incantation, the golden bead rippled like a water balloon, constantly changing shape. It undulated endlessly as if alive, struggling to maintain something close to a perfect sphere. Then, following his next cursed words, it completely lost its form.
“That which resembles shall resemble that which resembles.”
The golden bead lost all shape and became extending tentacles. Everything except for one minuscule core the size of a speck moved like a living creature. Its branches stretched toward the other ornaments, and the captured pieces were swallowed whole, buried inside the sphere. It looked exactly like a formless snake devouring its prey, or like the slime creatures summoned by summoners.
Clink.
In this way, the golden bead grew larger. It wrapped around incoming ornaments, absorbing only the gold while gathering everything else into a mass and spitting it out.
Clink. Clang.
Thus, all the gold that a certain Japanese-affiliated loan company had kept as emergency funds and slush money was fused into a single lump.
Ripple.
The golden mass that had absorbed every piece of gold wriggled and shook its body like a real slime. Soon, as if recognizing its master, it crawled silently toward Jinseong using pseudopods, climbed up his body, and disappeared.
Ssshhk.
The golden slime stretched its body long and thin like a snake, slipping between the gaps in Jinseong’s armor and vanishing inside.
“Still, for a dog, it gathered quite a lot. Judging by the weight, this should prove quite useful.”
Satisfied with the weight of the golden slime now nestled against his chest, Jinseong smiled faintly and walked with light steps toward the president, who was still gasping for breath.
The president was staring into empty space, his body trembling violently as if possessed by something.
“ॐ—”
Jinseong pressed the sharp tip of his fingernail firmly against the president’s philtrum. The wildly shifting pupils immediately returned to normal, and emotion began to flood back into the previously vacant face.
Grab.
Jinseong seized the president’s arm, which was repeatedly shrinking and swelling like a balloon, and whispered into his ear.
“Does it hurt?”
Upon hearing those words, the president rolled his eyes and looked at Jinseong. The moment he saw him, his pupils changed shape again in sheer terror.
“Th-th-th—”
It turned into the death rattle of an old man whose lifespan had nearly run out from the combined effects of fear, shock, and pain. Jinseong smiled as he watched.
“Do not worry. You shall be freed from that pain.”
Meow—
As if agreeing with Jinseong’s words, the shabby-looking cat cradled in the man’s arms cried out.
Miaow—!
Though no one had called it, the cat leaped from the man’s embrace and dashed straight to the desk in a single bound. Then it sat down obediently, as if awaiting a command, and stared fixedly at Jinseong’s face.
“Th-th-that… g-girl… ugh…”
“Eat.”
M—IIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!
The moment permission was granted, the cat’s mouth tore open all the way to its ears. Its jaws expanded like a snake unhinging its mouth to swallow prey, stretching like rubber and growing larger. When its maw had grown wide enough to easily engulf a human head—
Crunch!
The fruit attached to the neck vanished in an instant.
MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII KRrrrrrrrrrr.
The cat melted the head as if it were a delicious candy, absorbing it into its own flesh. Its coat now gleamed far more lustrously than before, and it let out a low, satisfied purr.
“Death is truly this futile.”
Behold. A body fattened by serving as a dog for the nation’s enemies, living in loyalty. A life that seemed destined to enjoy longevity for a thousand years had been harvested so meaninglessly.
“However, it is the fate of a dog to be boiled once its usefulness is exhausted. This, too, must be fate.”
Jinseong murmured these words as he scooped up the blood flowing from the torn neck and brought it to his mouth.
“Mm. This won’t do.”
It tasted greasy and sweet, as if the man had eaten plenty of fatty and sugary foods. But it was not the blood Jinseong sought. What he wanted was not the blood of an ordinary pig-like human, but something closer to trash—blood so worthless it might as well be discarded waste.
“Even in death, it is useless. What a truly empty life. Therefore, I recite this spell, enveloping you in mercy, praying for the repose of your spirit and flesh and your return to heaven. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum (ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ).”
Jinseong chanted the mantra with one hand raised in a half-palm gesture, as if he had become a monk.
Meow.
Having sent the dead president’s soul to heaven, Jinseong opened his closed eyes, turned around, and walked toward the man who stood with a dazed expression.
“Do you covet that chair? Once I earn a lot of money later, I shall buy one and give it to you.”
Even though a horrific scene had unfolded right before his eyes, the man spoke to Jinseong as if he had seen nothing at all.
“Om—”
Paying the man’s words little heed, Jinseong left the president’s office.
“H—uk!”
“Huk, h—uk!”
“S…ave… me…”
Now that he had confirmed the fruit was ripe, it was time to harvest.
* * *
I say it again and again. Sorcery is a truly strange discipline. It does imitate nature and borrow its power, yet there is no way to know exactly how that imitation takes form. That is why people say sorcery is an unstandardized, unsystematized miracle and mystery.
Unlike other disciplines that use natural forces such as Mana, demonic power, or qi, the energy employed by each sorcery varies wildly. Some use natural force, others life force, and still others draw upon earthly power, luck, or even lifespan.
Furthermore, while sorcery is known to use symbols, there are countless spells that do not. Some spells employ meaning, while others do not. There are spells that imitate a target, as is commonly known, and there are also spells that summon or possess something, like those used by contractors or summoners.
In this way, sorcery is so broad and abstract that it cannot possibly be classified under a single category. Yet precisely because of that, the variety of sorcery is beyond prediction. One never knows what might emerge.
This differs from magic, which is easy to predict because it is based on elements, or from martial arts, which are inevitably manifested through the physical body because they are based on qi.
“Om—”
Therefore, unlike other supernatural abilities that emphasize rules and frameworks, sorcery could create things that were novel and creative.
Crunch!
There exists a creature called Toxoplasma gondii. Also known as toxoplasma or toxoplasma gondii, it is a parasite that lives inside cats.
Crack!
Parasites are truly mysterious; they often make the seemingly impossible possible. This toxoplasma is no exception.
This parasite uses cats as its definitive host. It invades a cat’s body through an intermediate host, matures into an adult, and lays eggs. Because it can only reproduce inside a cat’s body, toxoplasma displays an almost magical power for the sake of reproduction.
Host manipulation.
Toxoplasma quite literally manipulates its host. Despite being a microscopic parasite invisible to the naked eye, it controls the host so that it will be eaten by a cat.
The primary intermediate host of this bizarre parasite is the rat. Once inside a rat, toxoplasma begins to control the rat’s brain. The parasite migrates to the amygdala, increasing the rat’s affinity for cats while decreasing its attention, caution, and sense of danger.
A rat that would once flee in terror at the mere scent of cat urine now behaves as if it has no fear at all, even strolling casually when a cat is nearby instead of hiding.
Meow!
Crunch!
And so the rat is eaten by the cat. True to its name, which means “bow-shaped,” the parasite uses the rat like an arrow, shooting it forth to reproduce.
Yet there is another astonishing thing about this parasite: it can infect all vertebrates. Although it cannot lay eggs outside a cat, it can use any vertebrate as an intermediate host. Naturally, this includes humans. The condition is called toxoplasmosis.
In humans, infection also affects the brain.
Miaaaaa—ow!
Crunch!
Just like rats, infected humans become more adventurous, lose focus, and fail to avoid danger. They also develop an affinity for cats—usually in the form of liking the smell of cats.
The sorcery Jinseong used was based precisely on these properties of toxoplasma. This was not something he had excavated from somewhere; it was a primitive-style sorcery he had created himself. Using toxoplasma as a medium, it transformed the chosen intermediate host into something resembling a rat.
Meow?
Of course, it was impossible to make a human biologically similar to a rat. Unless one performed live experiments, a person could not possess rat genes. Instead, the sorcery overlaid the symbolism of a rat onto the person.
That which resembles shall give birth to that which resembles.
It bound together the common points shared by humans and rats, made the person grow closer to a rat, and bestowed the same symbolism.
This was an application of the sorcery ritual ‘Sacred Light Silver Elephant Rite’ through which he had once attained enlightenment long ago.
Rats have whiskers. Humans have whiskers. Rats have incisors. Humans have incisors. Rats possess strong vitality. Humans also possess strong vitality.
In this way, common points were bound together, linking rats and humans as one. As a result, although a person did not literally become a rat, they gradually grew to resemble one.
Whiskers grew finer, like a rat’s. Incisors continued to grow, like a rat’s. Just as rats had strong vitality, the person’s vitality increased. Muscles developed, body size grew, vitality surged, and reproductive ability was enhanced.
And as the resemblance deepened, the person was granted the symbolism of a rat.
Since ancient times, rats have symbolized wisdom, fertility, abundance, fortune, and calamity. In both East and West, rats appear as clever creatures. Sometimes they help others with their wisdom, and sometimes they are depicted comically falling into their own traps.
Therefore, a person growing to resemble a rat becomes smarter and more eloquent. Because rats appear where there is plenty of food, seeing many rats is interpreted as a sign that the house has abundant provisions and leisure. In old tales, rats were often portrayed as wealthy figures hoarding grain.
Thus, a person resembling a rat enjoys a prosperous life, avoids hunger, and finds their luck opening up.
On the other hand, rats appear when plague spreads. They inevitably show themselves when disaster strikes. Even when war breaks out and corpses pile up like mountains, rats always appear. Therefore, they are also animals that symbolize calamity, drawn by the scent of disaster.
And the very calamity in question was none other than toxoplasma.
The targets of this sorcery had their brains infected, gaining courage and ceasing to avoid danger. Moreover, as the sorcery strengthened, they began to see hallucinations. The hallucinations could not be controlled in fine detail, so they could not compare to the illusion magic cast by mages or the witchcraft employed by witches. Still, they were useful enough.
Shaaak!
H—ak!
That was why the man had taken to carrying around an ugly, foul-smelling cat, thinking it cute. And through that cat as a medium, Jinseong’s sorcery had spread to the other members of the loan company, rendering them all powerless.
But…
Kyaak!
It seemed he had not managed to neutralize everyone.
Jinseong glanced to one side.
“H—uk! Huk!”
There stood a well-trained man holding a blade, and beside him lay a cat cut cleanly in half. The man gripped a sturdy wooden sword, breathing raggedly as he leaned against the wall and glared at Jinseong. At his feet lay the cat’s corpse, its head and body severed, the white cross-section covered in mold.
“Judging by the fact that you resisted the supernatural ability, you must be a martial artist.”