Suspicions (3)

The fur was pure white and incredibly long. Those long strands looked as smooth as silk. Just looking at them made you want to reach out and touch how impossibly soft they must feel. In a way, they seemed almost elegant, but the way they wriggled through the crack in the door sent chills racing down my spine.

…For now, I’d stay quiet and pretend I hadn’t noticed. If it realized I’d caught on, it might drop the act and show its true colors. That would put not only us but everyone living in this villa in danger….

“F-fur!? What the hell is this!?”

…Oh, for crying out loud. My plan lasted all of five seconds before it went up in smoke. All thanks to one idiot gumiho.

Baek Seol-hwa had completely lost it. She looked ready to unleash a burst of yoki in panic, so I smacked her on the head to stop her.

“Ow!”

“You trying to wreck the whole apartment? Calm down.”

“H-how am I supposed to calm down after seeing that!?”

“It can’t get inside anyway. That’s why it’s stuck out there.”

“Huh…?”

“Would you want to come into this place? You can feel the talisman energy leaking out from everywhere.”

“…Then doesn’t that mean I’m the weird one for sleeping here?”

…Yeah, you are weird.

Apparently the thing outside had noticed Seol-hwa’s freak-out and realized the jig was up, because it stopped mimicking the landlady’s voice. I thought for a second, then pulled a talisman from my pocket and shouted.

“What kind of yokai has the nerve to come here!?”

I wanted to show it I wasn’t intimidated while I bought myself time to think.

“If you don’t leave right now, I’ll exorcise you.”

A yokai with pure white, long, silk-like fur that could mimic other people’s voices. There was one thing that came to mind, but….

‘…That’s just an urban legend, though.’

What I was thinking of was Jangsanbeom, a creature famous not only in Busan but across the whole country. It was incredibly well-known, yet most people misunderstood one key point: Jangsanbeom was almost certainly not a real yokai. It had no historical records, was a modern urban legend… basically a cryptid. Like the Loch Ness Monster, which had since been proven fake, this thing had a very high chance of being pure fiction.

Even my parents, who made their living through exorcism, refused to acknowledge Jangsanbeom’s existence. They said Mount Jangsan was certainly large enough for a yokai to lair in, but no such creature actually lived there. Which only made the current situation more confusing.

‘If Jangsanbeom doesn’t exist, then what the hell is the thing in front of me…?’

Denying it felt wrong. The traits matched the legend too perfectly. While I was still trying to figure out its identity, the silent creature finally spoke.

“You’ve got good instincts.”

“…!”

The voice had completely changed. It was no longer the landlady’s—it belonged to an entirely different woman.

“If you’d just burst out, it would’ve been over.”

With those words, the white fur that had been forcing its way through the door gap retreated.

“Pass.”

…Pass?

“Want to talk for a bit, 100100?”

“!”

It was using the IP address I’d been assigned on the Ghost Gallery. So this thing really was connected to the gallery….

“I know the snow flower is there too. If you don’t want a fight right here, how about we talk?”

“……”

I couldn’t believe it. It had shown up out of nowhere, pretended to be the landlady to trick us, and now it wanted to chat?

“Hey, hey! Don’t you dare go out there! It shows up like this and you want to talk!?”

For once, Baek Seol-hwa was making perfect sense. Honestly, she was right. From our perspective, staying inside was definitely the safest choice.

‘If this thing really does eat people….’

I couldn’t just sit still. The people in this villa would end up getting devoured while I did nothing. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know.

“…Fine.”

“Hey!”

“But we’ll talk outside. Not here. I’ll come down to the entrance in a minute.”

When I called loudly toward the door, it must have heard because an answer came back.

“Okay, sure. I’ll be waiting downstairs.”

Thud, thud. The sound of footsteps descending the stairs echoed. Only after the creature’s steps had completely faded did both Seol-hwa and I let out huge sighs of relief.

“What are you thinking!?”

The relief lasted only a moment. The thought of actually meeting it sent Seol-hwa spiraling into panic.

“That thing is seriously bad ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠news! I don’t know how it did it, but I couldn’t even feel any yoki!!”

“…Yeah, I noticed that too.”

If it was a yokai, I should have sensed its yoki. Normally even if a yokai tried to hide it, you could still feel a little, like with Seol-hwa….

“It’s a monster! A total monster!!”

That meant it was skilled enough at disguise to completely conceal its yoki. Seol-hwa calling it a monster wasn’t an exaggeration. But….

“What else can I do?”

“Huh?”

“If I don’t go out, people might die. You don’t want that either, right?”

Seol-hwa shut her mouth. In truth, she probably hated the idea even more than I did. She was kinder than anyone.

“That’s….”

I showed her the talisman while she agreed with me but still couldn’t hide her anxiety.

“I’ve got this, remember? It’ll work out somehow.”

It was, of course, a Lightning Strike Talisman. After using some on Jin Chae-young last time, I only had three left in the house, but if not now, then when?

“…Sigh, fine.”

“Let’s get ready quickly and head out. If we take too long it might change its mind.”

There wasn’t even time for a proper shower. I just washed my face, brushed my teeth, threw on a cap and some sweats, and stepped outside.

When I went down the stairs, I saw an unfamiliar woman standing beyond the glass entrance. She had a completely different vibe from Seol-hwa—striking in a way that immediately caught the eye. Especially the red cloak draped over her shoulders; it was incredibly distinctive.

And now that I could see spirits, I noticed something else too.

‘A tiger tail…?’

It was a striped tiger tail, along with round tiger ears. Proof that she wasn’t human but a yokai. Yet something felt off.

‘Jangsanbeom shouldn’t have stripes like that, right?’

Its very existence was questionable, but according to the most accepted descriptions, it was supposed to be covered head to toe in pure white, long fur without any stripes. It was often compared to the lion costumes used in traditional performances, so it was far from an ordinary striped tiger. But the woman in front of me….

“…Oh, you came?”

“!”

The moment I met her eyes as she turned around, I was genuinely shocked. And in that instant, I became certain. Whatever kind of yokai she was, she wasn’t Jangsanbeom.

There was solid proof behind my certainty. Even if I gave her a hundred concessions and assumed the real Jangsanbeom existed and this was it… her eyes should have been yellow or blue. No, honestly, even if they were a different color, they definitely shouldn’t have been that color.

“Hello.”

Her eyes were red. And one of Jangsanbeom’s most famous traits was that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it hated the color red.

When our eyes met, she gave me a bright smile.

“As I thought, you really aren’t a yokai or a spirit.”

“…Didn’t you already know all that, Tiger Demon King?”

By now it was obvious. Her old nickname on the gallery was Tiger Demon King.

“I thought something was suspicious, but I wasn’t sure.”

“…Then why did you come here?”

“Shouldn’t we talk outside if we’re going to talk at all?”

When she beckoned me over with a small wave, Seol-hwa—who was standing beside me—curled her tail between her legs like a puppy wary of a stranger.

“I don’t want to go….”

“Then you stay here.”

“Huh?”

I could handle the conversation myself. There was no reason to drag someone who was clearly terrified along with me. As I strode down the stairs, Seol-hwa yelped in surprise.

“I-I’ll go too!!”

In the end I ended up taking the reluctant Seol-hwa outside. The Tiger Demon King smiled brightly and held out her hand to me.

What was this about? Was she seriously asking for a handshake? I stared at her hand for a long moment, trying to figure out what it meant, until she laughed lightly.

“Handshake.”

“…Why would I shake hands with you?”

“Because from now on, you two are going to help me. Think of it as me asking for your cooperation?”

“What?”

What kind of nonsense was that? Seol-hwa was looking at her with the exact same ‘what did she just say?’ expression I had. The Tiger Demon King let out a small chuckle at our reactions.

“I already know everything.”

“Know what?”

“That you two go around helping spirits resolve their regrets. You even took care of one just the other day, didn’t you?”

So she really had been watching us when she wrote that post….

I didn’t know why she was bringing it up, but there was something I needed to address first.

“What do you mean, ‘help’? Why would I help a yokai that might hurt people?”

“I never said I hurt people.”

“You’ve been watching us this whole time. How am I supposed to trust that?”

“I’ve only been watching you. The moment you showed up you caused a huge incident, and your IP looked suspicious.”

“…Did you write that suspicion post about the IP?”

“You catch on quick.”

There was a person right in front of me who had just committed suicide in the gallery, so hearing this made me angry in a completely different way…?

Whether she knew how I felt or not, the Tiger Demon King spoke casually.

“I’ve known for a while that Snow Flower is a real gumiho. I’ve seen her a few times while passing by.”

“What? Don’t lie! This is the first time I’ve seen you!”

“You just didn’t notice me. I changed my appearance and hid my yoki.”

…It didn’t sound like a lie. There was no reason for her to lie about something like this, and since they were both yokai living in the same area, it wasn’t impossible they’d crossed paths.

“I just thought you were another one of those idiot yokai that pop up sometimes.”

“I-I’m not an idiot!?”

Reacting to every little thing is exactly why people call you an idiot….

Anyway, not all my suspicions about the Tiger Demon King had been resolved.

“Then it’s even weirder. If you wanted help, you could’ve just approached her earlier.”

“This gumiho can’t do anything for me.”

“Can’t do anything?”

“You’ve been sneakily trying to make deals this whole time….”

Then what exactly did she want help with?

“What I need isn’t Snow Flower. It’s you.”

“……What?”

“Y-you…! Are you trying to eat him right now!?”

Seol-hwa’s outburst startled me too. It wasn’t completely impossible, and I’d been a little tense, so I couldn’t judge the situation calmly.

“If I was going to eat him, wouldn’t I have broken down the door and come in already?”

“You just couldn’t because of the talismans!”

“You think I’m the same as you? Those pathetic little talismans can’t do anything to me.”

The moment I heard the Tiger Demon King’s words, I unconsciously frowned. The way she spoke implied that ordinary talismans were useless against her, which meant her yoki was overflowing.

“…You talk like your yoki is completely out of control.”

As expected….

“You eat people, don’t you?”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking for your help.”

I immediately raised the Lightning Strike Talisman in my hand.

“You think I’d help a yokai that eats people?”

“…A Lightning Strike Talisman?”

The Tiger Demon King looked genuinely surprised.

“So you do have something to fall back on.”

I’d been ready to slap it on her the second she came any closer, but the Tiger Demon King didn’t move an inch. She simply continued the conversation.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Why don’t you hear me out until the end?”

“Misunderstanding? What’s there to misunderstand about you being a people-eating yokai?”

“Haah, this is why talking with humans is so exhausting. You’re all so impatient.”

“That’s because you keep talking in riddles!”

For once, Seol-hwa was saying something completely reasonable. She hadn’t explained what kind of help she wanted, she’d admitted to eating people and then said there was a misunderstanding, but wouldn’t say what it was… the Tiger Demon King really hadn’t given us any proper information. And the moment we learned she ate people, none of it mattered anyway….

Then the Tiger Demon King said something unexpected.

“I do eat people, but I don’t eat just anyone. I’ve never eaten a living person.”

“…What?”

“You say you eat people every day! What are you talking about!?”

When Seol-hwa shouted at her not to lie, the Tiger Demon King crossed her arms and let out a small sigh. Then she pulled a small rectangular piece of paper from the front pocket of her cloak.

A business card…?

“Look at this.”

“…?”

I caught the card she flicked toward us. The moment I read it, my eyes widened.

“……Corpse disposal?”

“Now do you understand how I eat people every day? And why I said I don’t eat living people if I can help it?”

The card read: Corpse Disposal Inquiries. And right below it was the name Jang San.

So when the Tiger Demon King—Jang San—said she ate people… she meant she ate dead ones.

Yoo Se-hwan stared at the business card for a moment, then crumpled it in his fist.

“…Is it right for you to eat corpses? Corpses should receive proper funerals and be buried. How can you claim that what you’re doing is justified?”

“How many corpses do you think come out of hospitals in this country every day? If they have guardians, they get proper funerals. But what about corpses with no identification or next of kin? The standard is cremation, but that costs money.”

Jang San pointed at herself.

“So I eat them. The hospitals get rid of corpses they can’t dispose of for free, and I get plenty of spiritual energy.”

“There can’t be that many corpses like that….”

“Maybe not if we’re only talking about Busan, but if you expand it nationwide, there are quite a few.”

“…Are the hospitals working with you?”

“For an exorcist clan, you really don’t know much, do you? How deeply have yokai infiltrated human society? You’re human, so you should know better than anyone.”

Jang San chuckled.

“Humans will do anything for their own benefit without hesitation. You’re the only species that kills its own kind for pleasure. Shaking hands with yokai is nothing to you people.”

Se-hwan frowned. From his expression to the tension in his entire body, he was still full of wariness.

“You.”

“Yes?”

“Then what exactly are you? You mimicked the landlady’s voice earlier, and those white hairs… Are you really ‘Jangsanbeom’?”

The corners of Jang San’s mouth curved into a beautiful smile. Her red lips looked even redder when she smiled.

“This voice, you mean?”

In an instant her voice changed. It was now exactly the same as the landlady Se-hwan knew. Seol-hwa looked at her with goosebumps visibly rising on her skin.

“That’s right. I am Jangsanbeom. The name on the card I gave you is ‘Jang San,’ isn’t it?”

“If you’re really Jangsanbeom, how do you explain the stripes on your tail and ears? Jangsanbeom doesn’t have stripes like that. And….”

Se-hwan continued.

“If you were truly Jangsanbeom, I should be perceiving you as human.”

There was a story that Jangsanbeom created hallucinations that removed people’s sense of danger. That was why even though it looked like a tiger, people perceived it as human. However, Se-hwan was clearly recognizing Jang San as a yokai, not a human. This was separate from his ability to see spirits.

Jang San’s ability to change her voice at will and her pure white, long hair that resembled the legendary fur were plausible traits. But the stripes on her ears and tail, the fact that he could recognize her as a yokai, and her red eyes couldn’t be explained.

“……Hmm.”

After hearing the whole story, Jang San didn’t argue. Instead she simply looked intrigued.

“As I thought… you really are the one who has to help me.”

“You keep saying help, but what exactly—”

“You’re right. I’m not Jangsanbeom. From the beginning, the exorcist clans have always known that a yokai called Jangsanbeom doesn’t actually exist, right?”

“Then why are you pretending to be one?”

“I’m not pretending. Humans arbitrarily spread rumors and created that urban legend. Thanks to that, I ended up bearing the burden, and that’s how I gained these monstrous powers.”

At Jang San’s explanation of being “burdened,” both Se-hwan and Seol-hwa were shocked.

“Burdened?”

“Yes.”

There were cases like this. A creature that was originally a sacred spiritual beast could fall and become a yokai due to changing human perception. Spiritual beings were heavily influenced by collective “recognition.”

For example, the sacred Imugi that became entangled with humans, affected by the vicious rumors they spread, failed to ascend into a dragon during its training, fell from grace, and became the monstrous Steel Yokai.

“Thanks to that, I have to eat people even though I don’t want to, so I have no choice but to survive on corpses.”

In other words, Jang San was saying that as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the legend of Jangsanbeom spread among humans, she had ended up bearing that burden… and had fallen into her current form.

If that was true, then Jang San was originally….

“I want you to resolve this burden I’ve been carrying.”

She was a Yeong-mul.