Episode 1

Prologue.

Wherever travelers' feet reached, rumors thick with the scent of blood drifted through taverns like smoke.

It all began with a tiny, commonplace incident that everyone dismissed with, "Oh, so something like that happened?"

"An entire family in a village was slaughtered by a yokai."

The next rumor stirred sympathy among the people.

"Only the eldest son of the family survived."

A few days later, people were horrified.

"The surviving boy tracked down the yokai responsible, cut off its head, hung it in front of his house, and is now holding his family's funeral."

The boy was said to be only ten years old.

People were terrified.

***

Chapter 1. The Land of the Dokkaebi.

"How can anyone believe that? Even a Mongdal Ghost, famous for being one of the weakest yokai, can kill a grown man if you're unlucky. And you're telling me a ten-year-old chopped its head off and displayed it on a gatepost? Even if tavern snacks are scarce, the folks from that village ought to know when to stop making things up."

"You've been fooled your whole life, haven't you? If you don't believe me, go see it yourself! It's only half a day's journey if you hurry."

Seeing Jang-sam look ready to drag him there by force, the man simply took another drink and grumbled.

Jang-sam was known for exaggerating things, but he was not a liar.

"Ha... I just can't believe it. So what's that kid doing now?"

"From what I heard, nobody's helping him. He's on the verge of starving to death. Seems like he's given up on living too—he hasn't eaten or drunk anything and just sits in front of the graves."

"Where is this place?"

Jang-sam raised his head toward the unexpected voice that had suddenly joined the conversation.

The speaker was a beauty who seemed to exist somewhere between youth and middle age, impossible to judge.

Not only her age, but even her origin and race were difficult to guess, with her mysterious pale complexion, large ears, and long, slender limbs.

Strange.

Enchanting.

After taking a quick look at her appearance, Jang-sam cleared his throat before replying politely.

"Subu Village in Aegul County. Follow the road northeast from here, and it'll take about half a day."

"I see. Thank you."

"If there's anything else you'd like to know—"

"This is for the drinks."

She flicked a single coin toward him and stood up.

The woman, Mongryeon, had followed the rumor on little more than a whim.

She had happened to be patrolling the territory under her authority when she overheard the intriguing tale.

Without delay, she headed straight for Subu Village in Aegul County, where the rumored boy was said to be holding a funeral.

It was a quiet village.

The kind of peaceful farming village that could remain undisturbed for years—or be reduced to ruins overnight by the appearance of a yokai.

The severed yokai head hanging in the center of the village, however, stood in stark contrast to its tranquil surroundings.

"A Wadu Seosaeng."

A grotesque yokai that resembled a human body topped with the head of a giant snail.

It particularly relished human heads, plucking them clean from their bodies and leaving the corpses behind.

Though considered one of the weaker yokai and frequently hunted......that was only true for experienced hunters.

A ten-year-old child, even if there were enough of them to fill an entire room, would stand no chance against one.

Yet here hung the Wadu Seosaeng's own head, as though its habit of taking only heads had been turned against it.

"What are you doing over there?"

As she stared silently at the severed head, three burly men approached, their voices filled with suspicion.

"Are you from this village?"

"That's right. And who might you be?"

"I heard there's a boy here who killed a yokai."

"So you came because of the rumors. Don't go sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Just turn around and leave."

"I heard the child is starving. Yet instead of taking care of the orphan left behind, you're looting the possessions of the dead."

"That brat isn't a child. He's a monster. And these things don't belong to someone like him."

Valuables filled the men's arms.

On each of their necks were bite-like wounds.

Having grasped the situation, Mongryeon saw no need for further conversation.

"Is that so? Because from where I'm standing... the only monsters I see are you."

"You've got some nerve! Looks like words won't—"

Mongryeon snapped her fingers once.

The men's bodies began swelling larger and larger.

Pop!

With a sound like fireworks exploding, the front gate burst wide open.

The small bell hanging above the gate chimed.

Inside stood several crudely made graves and rough wooden grave markers.

A young boy sat quietly before them.

He looked emaciated, clearly having gone without food for days.

There was nothing eerie or sinister about him, despite the rumors.

His eyes were clear.

He looked like an ordinary child.

His face and body, however, were covered with the marks of merciless beatings.

No doubt inflicted by the looters she had just encountered.

Mongryeon waved her hand.

In an instant, every wound on the boy's body vanished.

The boy's eyes widened in astonishment.

Then she set a bamboo container before him.

Inside was warm rice porridge, steam rising gently into the air.

"My name is Mongryeon."

Only then did the boy finally turn to look at her.

He has no will to live.

That was her first impression.

He looked like someone merely waiting for death to arrive.

It was understandable.

His entire family had been wiped out overnight.

He had become an orphan.

And instead of helping him, the villagers treated him like a monster while stealing everything his family had left behind.

How could he possibly see a future?

"Your name?"

"Ise."

"I heard you're ten."

"..."

"Don't look so serious. Can't you even recognize a joke? Ise... 'One Who Moves the World.' A fine name. Now answer a few questions while you eat."

Calmly, Ise picked up the wooden spoon.

Only after receiving permission did he begin eating the porridge.

Polite.

Clearly raised with proper manners.

Just what had happened to this child?

Mongryeon's curiosity deepened.

"The yokai hanging outside. Did you kill it?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I gathered information about the yokai, devised a way to kill it, and carried out the plan."

It sounded as absurd as someone claiming to have passed the imperial examination by studying only a textbook.

Mongryeon let out a small laugh.

"What an interesting approach. Tell me in more detail. Where did you get this information?"

"I bought it from a man named Wiseong."

"Go on."

Ise paused, setting down his spoon as though organizing his thoughts.

It seemed obvious that the strange woman before him had no intention of leaving without answers.

"When the attack happened, I was hiding inside a storage cabinet."

"I had given both eggs to my younger siblings and was sulking."

His expression made it clear he hated recalling the memory.

Still, he continued.

"Then the yokai appeared."

"I realized I couldn't stop it by myself."

"So..."

The boy's breathing grew uneven.

A faint tremble crept into his voice before gradually fading away.

"I memorized its appearance and endured everything."

"After it left, I noted the direction it had gone."

"Why?"

"Because I had to avenge them."

There was not the slightest hesitation in his answer.

As if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Mongryeon silently motioned for him to continue.

"I gathered everything in the house that looked valuable and went to Scholar Wiseong's residence."

"I traded those belongings in exchange for information about the yokai."

"You should have saved them for your future."

"It was merely the recklessness of a ten-year-old."

"What if he'd given you false information?"

"He was the man who rescued the abandoned me, left me in this village, and paid for my upbringing."

"Continue."

"He told me the creature was weak against salt."

"So I cut bamboo, filled it with bamboo salt, and searched day and night until I found the place where it had disappeared."

"It came out to eat me."

"I pretended to freeze in terror."

"The instant before it swallowed me, I thrust a bamboo spear into its mouth."

"While it thrashed around, I chopped off its head with a hand axe."

"..."

A born hunter.

For the first time in over three hundred years of hunting yokai...

Mongryeon felt something beyond mere interest.

She was exhilarated.

This child was a genius unlike any she had ever seen.

Yet contrary to her excitement...

The boy himself was filled with nothing but regret.

"The last thing I ever said to the people who raised me..."

"...Was asking whether they treated me differently because I wasn't their real child."

"I regret saying that."

"You're still a child."

"It's natural for you to have thought that."

"It wasn't your fault."

"My mother fed thin rice gruel to her own children..."

"...But she nursed me with her own breast, even though we shared not a single drop of blood."

"..."

"I am an ungrateful beast who deserves to die."

"They would only be grateful that you survived."

"..."

"Your mother must have been happy to nurse you."

"Your father must have been happy to raise you."

"And I..."

"...Would be grateful to take you in."

She smiled as gently as she could and extended her hand.

"Will you come with me?"

But the boy had already lost the purpose of living.

Ise merely stared back at her with emotionless eyes.

"I see no reason to."

"You still have revenge left."

"I've already had my revenge."

"No."

"That creature murdered your family."

"So now it's only fitting that you wipe every yokai from the face of the earth."

"And besides..."

"The Wadu Seosaeng is naturally a passive yokai."

"It would never descend into a human village without reason."

"..."

"Which means..."

"Someone else is responsible."

The perceptive boy understood what she truly meant.

Perhaps...

She was simply trying to give someone who had lost the will to live a reason to keep going.

If life itself held no meaning...

Then live as an avenger.

"I'll guarantee you a peaceful life until you're grown."

"And I'll give you the strength to take your revenge."

"What do you want from me?"

"Grow strong."

"Become a hunter who slays more yokai than anyone else."

Ise pondered quietly for a while.

"...That doesn't sound bad."

With those words, he stood.

Even now...

His frail body looked far too small and weak for anyone to believe he had fought a yokai head-on.

"What should I call you?"

"Whatever you like."

"You could call me Noona, if you want."

"...May I ask how old you are?"

"No, you little brat."

After cursing at the boy who stared at her so earnestly, Mongryeon awkwardly added,

"...Call me Chief."

"Yes, Chief."

The moment they stepped outside the gate...

The three men were nothing but crushed masses of flesh with only their heads left intact.

Ise tilted his head.

"Those people..."

"Did you wound their necks?"

"Yes."

"They were stealing the belongings of the deceased."

"Good."

"I finished the rest."

"They were creatures worse than yokai."

Silently, Ise studied Mongryeon's face.

Bloodless skin.

Ashen complexion.

Long ears.

From the very beginning she had seemed far too strange to be human.

And there was also that terrifying power...

The ability to reduce people to lumps of flesh.

"Chief."

"Yes?"

"What exactly..."

"...Are you the chief of?"

Mongryeon smiled with captivating grace.

Leaning close, she whispered softly, as though telling him not to be alarmed.

"Dokkaebi."

And so...

On that day, a single human boy joined the nation of the Dokkaebi.