Chapter 201 - Tiger General

“…!!”

Baek Saheon’s head jerked up.

Just now, a tremendous crash had sounded behind him. Maybe something even worse was happening in the village…

‘Fuck, is this the time to be thinking about that?’

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to keep moving.

He had to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible.

“Huuhk.”

On Baek Saheon’s back as he ran down the mountain path was a huge backpack, packed with water, food, and survival gear he’d agonized over selecting.

It was all stuff he’d collected and hidden in a secret place, planning to use it one day if he ever had to make a desperate escape from the village. He could hardly believe he was finally getting to use it.

But now, in the empty space that had once been left in the backpack…

There were remains.

The bones left behind after the traditional band had collapsed and vanished.

Among them, the bones that had once been his older sister.

“……”

He should have left them behind. They were too heavy to carry.

He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but he just couldn’t bring himself to abandon them on the ground now.

That was the only thing that occupied his mind.

‘I wish everyone would just die.’

It would almost be better this way.

The villagers, the outsiders who’d come to the village, even the agents who failed to rescue him.

He wished they would all die, and this damned village would disappear without a trace.

Just imagining it sent a tingling thrill up his spine.

But.

‘Still, that agent…’

The young agent with glasses who he had maneuvered into drawing the ‘special prize’.

Surprisingly calm, never mocking or getting angry at him even once. Someone who, even after helping him, never demanded anything in return.

And, in the end, kept his promise.

The promise that both of them would survive.

That he wouldn’t betray him.

‘……’

A strange feeling stirred inside him.

It was probably a sensation he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

That peculiar feeling you get when you do something good—something you normally would never do—and succeed, purely by chance.

People called it a sense of fulfillment.

‘……’

That must have been why, on impulse, he left behind the ‘paper boat’.

Of course, it would only matter if that agent survived to the end and found it.

‘…I’ll think about it if he picks it up.’

Considering all the chaos earlier with the centipede, the ceremonial blade, all that madness, that guy could very well be dead by now…

Just then.

“……!”

A bizarre, hair-raising pressure gripped the back of his neck, sending chills down his spine.

Something was behind him.

There was no doubt that something even stranger was happening in the village.

‘…Fuck.’

In the end, Baek Saheon couldn’t resist. He glanced back.

And.

“……!!”

His face went pale as a sheet, and he broke into a run along the mountain path once more.

He never looked back again.

‘Fucking hell.’

The scene he’d just glimpsed.

Crimson blood was pouring down from the sky.

I collapsed to the ground.

It happened automatically. I fell forward, both hands pressed to the earth.

As if bowing.

LetmeseeLetmesee

Let me see

Thud, thud.

Red blood poured onto my head and the backs of my hands.

Wretched beast, plague, ancient fox spirit

A pain hot enough to make me scream suddenly flared in one hand. My left hand, the one that hadn’t been severed.

I feel like I’m going to die!

It reeks of rot

I clawed at the ground with my hand.

“Agent Grapes!”

I could hear Agent Bronze and Agent Choi bickering.

“Isn’t that the Great Tiger General of Daecheongbong^[1]? Are you crazy?! Summoning a supernatural entity that’s not even friendly to humans…!”

“Later! Just be quiet for now!”

I stifled my groans and hastily turned my head to the side.

Director Ho, in the shape of Assistant Manager Eun Haje…

Filthy, base creature

Let’s see your true form

…was smiling in the rain of blood.

“These people are my acquaintances. Elder, you need not concern yourself. Please, go on your way.”

Blisters bubbled up on the back of one of my hands.

Your tail, I see

“These people are my acquaintances. Elder, please shout your greetings from beyond the threshold.”

The blisters burst and pus oozed out, marks of contagion.

Your tail has been cut

“These people are my acquaintances. Elder, why don’t you sit on the porch and have a meal?”

The pus burst and trickled down.

Sly-tongued fiend

Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s body floated into the air.

“……!”

Her limbs twisted and contorted, as if bound by brute force, but her gentle smile did not change.

“N—”

“Shh.”

Agent Choi pressed down on my shoulder.

Die

Lightning strikes.

Burn to ashes

Leave only your hide behind

“I don’t want to though?”

Through the flashes of lightning, Director Ho’s face appeared.

“Leaving only your hide after death, huh. That’s what tigers do. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He was still smiling.

“They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, how frightening. But I’m no fox spirit. Is there any proof that I’m a fox? Or a ghost? How about this: ‘Begone, evil spirit! Namu Amita Bul Kwanseum Bosal, Geupgeupyeoureong, Thy kingdom come, Father God.’ I’ll even sprinkle salt and red beans.”

Lightning struck again.

“But it’s not working.”

A tearing sound.

“What a shame. It seems you’ve made a mistake… How unfortunate…”

A calm voice came from the one suspended in midair.

“You can’t burn me.”

A giant eye appeared amid the blood raining down from the sky.

Noisy thing

Director Ho’s limbs twisted.

Festering for so long

Oh, how foul you are

Begone at once

“My, my.”

Grasp your tail

And flee

“How vicious of you. Forcibly tearing me and my acquaintance apart like this.”

That smiling face turned to look at me.

“What a pity, Soleum-nim.”

“…!”

And in the next moment.

He’s gone.

The body of Assistant Manager Eun Haje, twisted unnaturally and suspended in midair, vanished as if it had never existed.

And with it, Director Ho, who had possessed her.

“……”

“……”

Did he… run away?

I started to speculate in confusion, just how was he controlling Assistant Manager Eun Haje, what kind of binding had been placed on her, was she alright now…

At the same time, I looked up at the sky.

The falling blood had stopped.

I looked down at the back of my hand again.

The blisters and pus had all disappeared, as if they’d been washed away by the blood.

I have torn away

The filth

As promised

“……”

“No, General! Didn’t you say you’d make him grovel and pay his respects? But he ran off so easily!”

Noisy brat

Agent Choi’s throat was seized and he was lifted into the air.

“Agent!”

“Ugh, haha…”

I hastily looked up at the sky and shouted,

“I’m sorry! And thank you!”

……

A child who knows manners

From the sky.

Something looked down at me.

Good

It inspected me.

And proclaimed one thing.

Serve me

Wait.

Bow before me

I grant you permission

Something pressed heavily on my shoulders and back—

“That won’t do.”

“……”

Agent Choi raised his arm.

“There’s already someone being served here. See? The Goblin Elder.”

At the end of his arm, the Elder’s goblin lantern swayed.

“Now that your procession is over, you should enjoy a grand feast. Please return before the food gets cold, Tiger General!”

Cheeky thing

There was a sound like a feline beast snorting.

The feast I was promised

Prepare it

And then.

Everything fell silent.

“……”

The blood that had rained from the sky, the crashing lightning, all vanished as if it had been a lie.

“Hoo…”

With a deep sigh, all three agents collapsed on the spot.

Barely managing, I opened my mouth.

“…That entity.”

“Ah, the Daecheongbong Mountain Guardian, the Tiger General King Bodhisattva… It’s a bit complicated, but you can just think of him that way. He likes to be called that.”

Ah.

At that moment, I realized exactly what kind of ghost story this was.

Daecheongbong Tiger General

However at the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, it was observed that, in cases where a person’s Four Pillars contains this aspect and they are engaged in professions involving blades, blood, or punishment, the effect can be advantageous rather than harmful. Based on this observation, a method was developed to utilize this ghost story to absorb misfortune or bad luck.

For further details, refer to relevant exploration records here.

And that meant…

Agent Choi had done that.

“……”

I struggled not to ask about it, and with difficulty changed the subject.

“…But according to Agent Bronze, it didn’t seem to be a phenomenon friendly toward humans.”

“Oh, that.”

Agent Choi shrugged.

“Technically speaking… it just doesn’t care. If you prepare a feast with sincerity, it’ll grant your wish if it’s in a good mood.”

“That the feast accepts even a human as an offering is the real problem here!”

Agent Bronze’s eyes flashed. Agent Choi gave a faint smile.

“Ehey, the Bureau is handling it all carefully. The General’s been living a vegan lifestyle these days.”

And then, in the next instant, Agent Choi’s gaze immediately turned to me.

No, more precisely, to the back of my hand, which had been cleansed by the blood rain.

He tried to act casual, but I could see the tension in his eyes.

“It’s really gone… right?”

“……”

Agent Bronze’s eyes also fixed on the back of my hand.

After what they’d just seen, it would be easy to guess that the being who had possessed Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s body might have left some kind of curse or misfortune on me.

“Agent Grapes, just what the……”

“We’ll talk in detail when we get back. For now, let’s just confirm it. …Grapes-ie, say anything.”

I hesitated, then opened my mouth.

“…I am Roe Deer.”

“……!”

I could say it.

With no resistance at all.

It worked.

“It worked!”

The binding was broken.

‘Holy shit.’

In a daze, I stared at the back of my hand.

And just then, from outside the village, the sound of a bicycle bell began to ring.

“Here comes the Vermillion-Bird Unit.”

Like a signal that things were wrapping up.

“There’s still a lot that’s suspicious about this Jisan Village… so from here, they’ll begin a full-scale investigation. They’ll search for people. The well, too.”

Agent Choi tapped the ground beside the well, speaking cheerfully.

“There could still be other anomalies, but for now, not likely. Let’s just head back today.”

“…Yes.”

A strange sense of relief started to spread through my chest.

Right. The binding was finally gone.

No more dying within a month. I was free…

……

Wait.

– What a pity, Soleum-nim.

“…Agent Grapes?”

I was mistaken.

For a moment, swept up in emotion, I’d let myself feel a baseless relief. This was no time to feel happy or at ease.

I needed to cool my blood.

‘Shit.’

I couldn’t afford to fall out with Director Ho here.

Failing my mission and dying in a month? That’s a big problem, but even more important was to complete the mission safely and get a Wish Ticket for myself.

But if things went like this, it would be too blatant a betrayal. If I was to carry out Director Ho’s mission, I couldn’t do it like this…

No way.

I looked over at Agent Choi.

Was it possible he had aimed for this, to completely sever my ties with Director Ho?

“……”

“Grapes.”

Agent Choi didn’t meet my eyes.

Instead, still smiling, he drew his cleaver and as checked its edge, he spoke.

“But… On the way back, there’s somewhere you need to go, as per Bureau procedures.”

“…What?”

The blade spun smoothly in his hand.

“You were under a binding spell that the Bureau didn’t know about.”

“……!”

“Since an agent was under some strange binding, we need to examine exactly what happened. That’s the protocol. For safety… in the quarantine area.”

What he was holding with the blade now came into view.

A small glass orb.

“Let’s go in.”

It was the same thing I’d seen a few days ago.

The portable glass prison.

No.

“Wa—”

Thud.

“……!!”

Before I could finish speaking, countless hands sprang from the emptiness created by Agent Choi’s orb and grabbed me.

“Agent…”

“Shh.”

It all happened so suddenly I couldn’t even try to resist. I was quickly restrained.

“If you cooperate with the interrogation, you’ll be out in no time. Don’t worry.”

I gritted my teeth and glared at him.

Agent Choi blocked the startled Agent Bronze with his blade.

“He’s back to normal enough. He’ll be fine.”

“Agent Choi, just what is—”

“Wait.”

Agent Choi turned to me and spoke softly.

“Take a break. …Grapes-ie.”

I was sucked into the void.

And just like that, I was transferred to the glass prison.