Chapter 1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1
Act 1. Land of the Dokkaebi.
"Does that even make sense? Demon ghosts are terrifying. Even a bachelor ghost, weak as they are, can make a grown man drop dead if he’s not careful. But a ten-year-old kid? Hung its head on the village gate? No matter how desperate those folks are for tavern gossip, there has to be a limit."
"What, have you been living under a rock? If you don't believe me, go see for yourself! It’s only a half-day's run from here."
Seeing Jangsam look ready to drag him there personally, the man gulped down his liquor and grumbled under his breath. Exaggerated as Jangsam's tales often were, he wasn't one to spin outright lies.
"Ha... It's just hard to believe. So, what's the kid doing now?"
"From what I hear, no one's helping him, so he's on the verge of starving to death. Seems the lad's just waiting to die—refusing food and water, doing nothing but watching over the graves."
"Where did you say this was?"
At the sudden intrusion, Jangsam looked up to see the uninvited guest.
She was a beauty of indeterminate age, hovering somewhere between youth and middle age. Not just her age, but her entire being was a puzzle—she had mysterious pale skin, long, pointed ears, and slender limbs.
Unfamiliar, yet utterly captivating.
Taking in her appearance, Jangsam cleared his throat with a quiet cough and answered in a suave, gentle tone.
"It’s Subu Village in Aegul County. Just walk northeast along the signposts from here. It'll take you about half a day."
"I see. Thank you."
"If you're curious about anything else—"
"This is for your drink."
The woman flipped a coin onto the table and rose to her feet.
Mongryeon’s interest in the rumor was nothing more than a passing whim. She had simply been patrolling her jurisdiction when an amusing story caught her ear.
She headed straight for Subu Village in Aegul County, where the boy from the rumors was said to be holding a funeral.
It was a quiet place. An ordinary farming hamlet where years of peaceful tranquility would feel perfectly normal—as would its sudden, tragic devastation by an invading demon ghost.
In the center of this rural tranquility, the severed head of the demon ghost hung like a bizarre, gruesome centerpiece.
A Wadu Scholar.
It was a grotesque demon ghost that looked as though a snail's head had been grafted onto a human torso. Possessing a peculiar craving for human heads, it was known to decapitate its victims, eat their heads, and discard the rest. Though it was a low-rank monster frequently hunted by professionals, that was only true for seasoned hunters.
A ten-year-old child wouldn't stand a chance. A whole roomful of them wouldn't.
Yet there hung the head of the Wadu Scholar, as if repaid in kind for its own grisly habit.
"What are you doing there?"
As she stared intently at the head, three burly men called out, their voices laced with suspicion.
"Are you from this village?"
"We are. Who are you?"
"I heard the boy who killed the demon ghost is inside."
"Ah, another one drawn by rumors. Mind your own business and clear out."
"I also heard the child was starving. Yet far from caring for the orphan, you bastards seem busy looting the property of the deceased."
"That brat isn't a child, he's a monster. And this is stuff he has no right to own."
Valuables were clutched in the men's hands. Fresh bite marks dotted their necks.
Taking in the situation, Mongryeon saw no need for further words.
"Is that so? To my eyes, the monsters are standing right here."
"Listen here, lady... Talking nicely isn't going to—"
With a single flick of Mongryeon’s finger, the men’s bodies began to swell uncontrollably.
Bang!
With a sound like bursting fireworks, they exploded, blasting the front gate wide open.
The warning bell on the gate chimed faintly as a pair of crude burial mounds and rough grave markers came into view. Sitting before them was a boy, scrawny and emaciated from days of starvation.
Contrary to the rumors, there was no uncanny glint in his eyes or ominous aura about him. He was just an ordinary boy with clear, quiet eyes. Yet his face and body were marred with bruises from a brutal beating—undoubtedly the work of the looters she had just dealt with.
Mongryeon waved her hand, and the boy's wounds vanished instantly. His eyes widened like saucers.
She then set down a bamboo container before him. Inside, hot porridge sent up soft plumes of white steam.
"I am Mongryeon."
Only then did the boy turn his head to look at her.
He has no will to live.
Her first impression was of someone quietly awaiting his own death. It was understandable. His family had been stolen from him overnight, leaving him utterly alone. The neighbors who should have helped instead branded him a monster and pillaged his home. He must have seen no way forward.
"Your name?"
"Ise."
"I heard you were ten, not two."
"……."
"Don't look so serious. You're a stiff little brat who can't take a joke. A changing world... It's a good name. I have a few questions. You can answer as you eat."
Ise calmly lifted the wooden spoon. Though she had brought the meal for him, he waited for her explicit permission before taking his first bite. He was a polite child, raised with proper manners.
Just what had happened here?
Mongryeon's curiosity deepened.
"The demon ghost at the gate—did you kill it?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I gathered information on the creature, devised a strategy, and executed it."
It was like hearing someone claim they'd passed the civil service exam just by reading a textbook. Mongryeon let out an amused chuckle at his outrageously blunt response.
"Well, isn't that a fresh approach? Elaborate. Where and how did you get this information?"
"I bought it from a man named Wisaeng."
"Be more specific."
Pausing mid-chew, Ise lowered his spoon and met her eyes, as if organizing his thoughts. He seemed to realize this stranger wasn't going to leave easily.
"When the attack happened, I was hiding in a wardrobe. I was sulking because I'd been forced to give both eggs to my younger siblings."
His brow furrowed in reluctance, but he continued his account.
"Then the demon ghost appeared. I knew I couldn't stop it with my own strength. So..."
The boy's breathing grew ragged. A faint tremor entered his voice, but he slowly forced himself back under control.
"I endured. I memorized its appearance. After it left, I noted the direction it went."
"Why?"
"To get revenge."
The response came without a moment's hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Mongryeon gave a subtle nod, prompting him to continue.
"I gathered whatever valuables I could find, took them to a scholar named Wisaeng, and traded them for information on the creature."
"Wouldn't it have been wiser to save those things for your future?"
"It was the foolish impulse of a ten-year-old."
"What if he had fed you false information?"
"He was the one who rescued me when I was abandoned, entrusted me to this family, and paid for my care."
"Tell me what you did next."
"After learning it was vulnerable to salt, I cut bamboo tubes and filled them with bamboo salt. Then I searched day and night in the area where it had vanished. When it finally came for me, I pretended to be paralyzed with fear. The moment it opened its mouth to swallow me, I thrust a sharpened bamboo spear straight into its mouth. While it was thrashing in pain, I hacked its head off with a hand axe."
"……."
A natural-born hunter.
Mongryeon felt a surge of excitement that went far beyond mere intrigue. In over three hundred years of hunting demon ghosts, she had never encountered a talent like this.
Yet, in stark contrast to her mounting excitement, the boy's mind was steeped only in remorse.
"The last thing I ever said to the people who raised me... was an accusation. I asked if they were discriminating against me because I wasn't their real child. I regret that deeply."
"You were young. It's natural for a child to feel that way. It wasn't your fault."
"My mother fed thin gruel to her own children, but she gave her breast milk to me—a child without a drop of her blood."
"……."
"I am an ungrateful beast who deserves to die."
"They would have been glad to know you survived."
"……."
"Your mother was happy to nurse you. Your father took joy in raising you. And I... I feel fortunate to be able to take you in."
She offered him a gentle smile and extended her hand.
"Will you come with me?"
But the boy had already lost his reason to live. Ise merely stared at her with vacant, hollow eyes.
"Is there any reason for me to do that?"
"To take your revenge."
"I already have."
"No. That monster destroyed your family. So it's only right that you exterminate every last demon ghost. Besides, a Wadu Scholar is a passive creature. It wouldn't go out of its way to descend on a human village and attack people."
"……."
"Which means the true culprit—the true beast—is still out there."
The clever boy saw through her intentions. Perhaps she was offering him a new purpose to replace his shattered one—a reason not to give up on life. If nothing else held meaning, then he could live as a ghost driven purely by vengeance.
"I will ensure you have a safe home until you come of age, and I will give you the means to cultivate the strength you need for revenge."
"What do you want in return?"
"Grow strong. Become a hunter who slays more demon ghosts than anyone else."
Ise pondered her words for a quiet moment, then muttered, "That doesn't sound so bad," before pushing himself to his feet.
Looking at him again, she saw just how small and fragile his body was—hardly fitting for someone who had faced down a demon ghost.
"How should I address you, elder?"
"Whatever you like. Call me 'Big Sister' if you want."
"...May I ask how old you are, elder?"
"Hell no, you little punk."
After barking the vulgar response at the boy staring blankly at her, Mongryeon cleared her throat sheepishly.
"...Call me Leader."
"Yes, Leader."
Stepping outside the main gate, they were greeted by the sight of the three men, reduced to a bloody pulp with only their severed heads left intact.
Spotting them, Ise tilted his head.
"Those men...?"
"Did you inflict those bite marks on their necks?"
"Yes. They were pillaging the belongings of the deceased."
"You did well. I merely finished them off. They were worse than demon ghosts."
Ise looked silently at Mongryeon's face. Her bloodless, ash-gray skin. Her long, pointed ears. As he had felt from the start, she was far too strange to be human. Her terrifying ability to reduce grown men to heaps of flesh only confirmed it.
"Leader."
"Yes?"
"May I ask what you are the leader of?"
Mongryeon flashed a captivating smile and whispered softly, as if urging him not to be startled.
"Dokkaebi."
It was the day a human boy stepped into the land of the Dokkaebi.