Shim Iyul stared at the Hunter, who was deep in thought with thick wrinkles furrowed between his brows. It was an expression that showed something had clicked after hearing his words.
“Hunter, in your case, the curse must have grown even stronger.”
The White Fox’s curse must have stimulated the curse inside the Hunter’s body. As if Shim Iyul’s words had acted as a catalyst, the Hunter’s face began to contort.
“Keu, urk……”
He parted his lips as if struggling to breathe, then collapsed clutching his stomach. Shim Iyul, who had gotten up, crouched down beside the Hunter who was writhing in pain. Then he poked at his solar plexus with his finger. The Hunter’s face turned vicious.
“I’ll… kill you……”
“You’ll die before you can kill me, won’t you?”
Shim Iyul, who smiled mischievously as if to provoke him, continued poking various spots on the Hunter’s chest with his finger. Poke poke poke—as he jabbed like he was appraising meat hanging in a butcher shop… ah, it’s not called a butcher shop these days. As he poked like appraising meat hanging in a butcher’s, the Hunter ground his teeth hard enough to make a crunching sound. But even so, it wasn’t scary at all. Right now, the Hunter looked like he didn’t even have the strength to move a finger as he suffered from the curse’s pain. Even in the midst of this, the Hunter’s eyes, which had been glaring at Shim Iyul as if to kill him, soon closed. It seemed he had fainted, unable to endure the pain.
Regardless, Shim Iyul’s hand, which had been poking here and there on the Hunter’s body for a while, stopped at his lower abdomen. He could feel the yokai energy crouched within the blazing heat.
Shim Iyul immediately pressed his entire palm below the Hunter’s navel.
“……”
When he closed his eyes and concentrated his mind, he could feel the yokai energy that the White Fox had planted being drawn out. The amount extracted wasn’t much. But even that seemed to help, as the Hunter’s complexion improved slightly, while conversely, Shim Iyul’s face turned pale. Shim Iyul, who had removed his hand, plopped down backward and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“This is fucking exhausting.”
Shim Iyul, who spat out rough words and panted heavily for a moment, got up. Then he began rummaging through various places in the room. After a while, Shim Iyul, who had found a name pen, crouched down beside the Hunter again and wrote numbers one by one above each of his nipples.
“Contact me, Hunter.”
Shim Iyul’s complexion was still somewhat pale as he kicked the unconscious Hunter’s body and left the room without hesitation. Looking broadly, they were the same species, so he had been able to absorb the White Fox’s yokai energy into his body, but since it wasn’t originally his own, it felt somewhat grating. Of course, he’d be fine soon enough, but his lower abdomen felt uncomfortable as if he’d eaten something indigestible.
Shim Iyul, who had once again easily jumped over the wall and left the Hunter’s house, came out onto the main road and caught a taxi. His destination was a nearby luxury hotel.
Shim Iyul, who had booked a suite room, got off the elevator.
“1712. 1712.”
As he hummed the room number, a man in a neat suit passed by him. Shim Iyul, who had stopped walking, turned to look at the man. A woman with disheveled hair and a mouth torn wide open was clinging to the man’s shoulder.
‘A vengeful ghost, huh.’
Resentment blazed in her sunken eyes.
The man also stopped walking and turned to look at Shim Iyul. The vengeful ghost’s gaze followed suit. When Shim Iyul, whose eyes met hers, let out a laugh, the man’s face flushed. The vengeful ghost cowered in fear.
‘That bastard’s gonna die soon.’
Devoured by the vengeful ghost. Of course, Shim Iyul, who had absolutely no obligation to kindly inform him, turned around briskly. Then as soon as he entered the room, he headed straight to the bathroom and began filling the bathtub with hot water. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d had a hot bath. While the water was filling, he took out a can of beer from the refrigerator.
“Keu, this is great.”
Drinking cold beer for the first time in a while, the tingling sensation down his esophagus felt really good. He disliked humans, but among the things humans made, there were many useful things. After emptying one can in an instant, he took out another and headed to the bathroom.
Shim Iyul, who had taken off his clothes while humming, looked at his body in the mirror. The trace where the Exorcism Bullet had grazed his shoulder was fading.
***
“Run!!!”
Long, sharp nails burst through the stomach of his mother, who was screaming at the top of her lungs. His mother vomited red blood violently. Blood and organs gushed out from the gaping hole. Even as she was dying, his mother shouted, ‘Run! Run away!’ Young Shim Iyul, frozen in fear, shed tears and cowardly fled, leaving his dying mother behind. Even when he rolled in the mud while running, he got up and ran. Even when he tripped over grass roots, he got up. Even when he got scratched by tree branches, he didn’t stop running. Not knowing where he was going, he just ran endlessly.
With his dying mother and the White Fox’s red eyes—pulling out her still-beating heart after tearing open her chest before her breath stopped—etched in his mind, he just ran.
“……Could it be that bastard?”
The one who killed his mother?
Shim Iyul, who had fully submerged himself in the water before coming back up, muttered while pushing back his wet hair. As humans gradually flourished, the number of yosu decreased. Among them, foxes, which had already been a minority, became even harder to find. In the 238 years Shim Iyul had lived, he had only seen a Fire Fox once besides his mother and himself. He also hadn’t encountered a White Fox since the one who had killed his mother. So there was a high possibility that the White Fox who had branded the Hunter was his enemy.
‘I need to stay close to the Hunter.’
That’s the only way to get revenge. He couldn’t know how much stronger his enemy had become. Perhaps he could even be killed by that bastard. Even so, this time he didn’t want to run away. He couldn’t let go of the trace of his enemy that he’d barely found. For that, the Hunter needed to contact him.
Shim Iyul, who had gotten out of the bathtub, put on a robe. Taking out his third beer, he went to the window and looked down. The sparkling night view was quite worth seeing. Though he sometimes holed up in the mountains, even though he’d generally lived mixed in among humans, civilization’s development was still surprisingly amazing. The greed of humans who had achieved such dazzling progress was truly remarkable.
“Ah, right. Charging.”
Shim Iyul, who belatedly remembered that his phone had been dead for a long time without charging, hurriedly took out the charger and phone from his backpack.
“Please!!”
After plugging the charger into the outlet beside the bed, he clasped his hands together and earnestly waited for the power to turn on. After a moment, fortunately the power came on.
“Oh, it works!”
Shim Iyul, who checked the brightly lit screen and smiled with satisfaction as if he’d discovered a treasure, flopped down on the bed. Perhaps because he’d been sleeping curled up on the hard ground for a while, he had really missed a soft bed. It felt like his body was melting.
“Humans are occasionally useful.”
Knowing how to make such soft beds. Shim Iyul’s eyes slowly closed.
“Tomorrow I should go eat king crab.”
Just before falling deeply asleep, Shim Iyul muttered with a happy smile.
Since he’d come out into the secular world, he needed to grease his stomach.
Shim Iyul’s face, seated by the window in the hotel lounge, was quite generous. Perhaps because he’d slept soundly covered with warm blankets on a soft mattress, he was in a good mood today. It seemed like he could generously overlook most things.
“The coffee smells good too. Looks like they use expensive beans.”
On top of that, the whipped cream was moderately sweet and smooth, perfectly suited to his taste. Shim Iyul happily licked up the whipped cream piled generously on top of the bitter espresso. Then, exhaling a languid breath, he searched the internet on his cell phone.
Thanks to Old Man Kang not forgetting to pay the bill diligently, the cell phone was perfectly fine and working.
Using the Wi-Fi provided by the hotel, he first searched today’s news, and it wasn’t much different from before he’d holed up in the mountains. The human world was the same as ever. Still a total mess.
Soon becoming indifferent, he put down his phone and drank coffee while making today’s plans. First, eat king crab for lunch, then go to the department store to shop. Since he’d made do with just a couple of outfits in the mountains, they’d become worn out and didn’t suit beautiful him. A flaw on jade, you could say. Shim Iyul ignored the sidelong glances from humans and drank the coffee down to the very last drop before leaving the lounge.
He was still in a good mood even after eating king crab for lunch at a restaurant he frequented. No, his mood was light as if flying even after going to a nearby department store and adorning himself from head to toe with luxury brands.
“What are you?”
Until a ghost latched onto him, that is.
Shim Iyul looked down at the kid who was clutching the hem of his new clothes that he’d bought and put on just five minutes ago while rolling its eyeballs around. About seven or eight years old, maybe? The child with disheveled hair and shabby clothes wasn’t even scared of him, a yosu, and was grinning stupidly. Shim Iyul, who frowned, flicked off the little ghost’s hand and moved on.
Where human desires gathered, there were many ghosts. Naturally, several ghosts wandered around the department store too, but they feared Shim Iyul, who was a yosu, and avoided him, not even daring to approach.
Even among things that weren’t human, there were ranks. Shim Iyul, who was a fox, was a noble existence incomparable to such lowly ghosts. Something that filthy and insignificant ghosts shouldn’t dare touch.
Though he’d experienced an unpleasant incident for a moment, since there was still shopping left to do, Shim Iyul, who had tried to calm his mind and walked a few steps, frowned again. The little ghost had latched on again.
“What are you, I said.”
“Mom…… please find her for me.”
“Why are you looking for your mom from me? Get lost. Before I kick you.”
Shim Iyul coldly warned the little ghost. If he kicked with yokai energy, this insignificant ghost would immediately dissipate. Its soul would shatter into pieces, unable to enter the afterlife and unable to ride the wheel of reincarnation. Though the little ghost’s body trembled in fear of the blue yokai energy rising from Shim Iyul’s body, it stubbornly clung to him. It was a quite persistent kid.
“Please take me…… to Mom.”
“Go find her yourself!”
Shim Iyul snapped irritably and shook off the little ghost again.
Though he’d said to go find her on its own, he knew the little ghost couldn’t find its way alone. This kid was a jibak-ryeong (earth-bound spirit). It meant it had died here or nearby and couldn’t leave the place where it died. He didn’t know why it had become an earth-bound spirit instead of going to the afterlife, but without someone taking its hand and guiding it, it couldn’t escape the land where its soul was bound.
Most humans couldn’t see ghosts. Though there were occasionally humans who had the ghost-seeing eye and could see ghosts, they could only see them and wouldn’t have been able to help this kid. Unless they were among the few with special powers, namely shamans, high monks, exorcists, or hunters.
“I can’t go. I can’t go alone.”
The kid whimpered. Shim Iyul, who had crossed his arms, looked down coldly at the little ghost.
“Then just don’t go.”
“B-but……”
“I warned you. Don’t latch on. Because you’re filthy. If you latch on one more time, I’ll make you dissipate.”
Did the ominous warning finally work? The kid cried sniffling while looking down at the ground. Shim Iyul sneered and left the kid behind, heading to the store he’d targeted. After buying one more outfit and purchasing the latest trendy shoes, he entered an electronics store. There were quite a variety of the latest cell phones.
“Mine’s become outdated. I should tell Old Man Kang to buy and send me the latest phone.”
Since he wasn’t a complete human, Shim Iyul wasn’t registered as a resident. Though it would be possible somehow if he did it illegally or through back channels, he hadn’t bothered. Instead, he handled various matters requiring identification through Old Man Kang. Things like cell phone activation or banking, like now. Of course, he’d already paid the service fee.
After checking the model name that quite pleased him, Shim Iyul, who had left the electronics store, headed to the basement food corner. He stood in front of a place selling ice cream and pondered for a while before ordering, “One mint chocolate flavor.” Mint and chocolate—a bizarre combination, but one he couldn’t not try.
