Dojin wrote down [a stupid and lonely exorcist, a bad bastard pretending to be a friend while using the exorcist, Evil God Berimos] in a notebook he’d pulled from someone else’s study.
“So the bad guy who lost an arm today is the celebrity Lee Seokjin. What do you think his real objective is? It definitely looks like he used the stolen dokkaebi club to do something.”
Dojin added a question mark next to dokkaebi club. Ihaeja, who was slouched back in a delinquent-like pose, ran a hand through his hair.
“A dokkaebi club can, at best, do a bit of transformation and produce gold and silver. What the hell could he have done with it?”
“No idea.”
“We already know where Lee Seokjin and Lee Ah-jin live. Can’t we just go and ask them?”
“No…. They’ve already paid the price for their sins. I can’t intervene anymore.”
“Right…. I figured you’d say that. Well, after that terrifying warning of yours, the case is probably closed—but we’ll keep an eye on them from our end for a while.”
Ihaeja scratched his cheek.
A half-baked exorcist, one shaman, one ordinary human, and two Evil Gods.
Compared to Iri, they were pitifully weak beings. Unless they spread curses on beings above the level of Yeongmul again, Iri could no longer step in.
“But Master, didn’t you warn them a little too gently? I mean, it was low and chilling and scary as hell, sure—but I don’t know if it really got through to them. Their arm got ripped clean off, it must’ve been a total bloodbath with everyone screaming and losing their minds….”
Pfft. At Ihaeja’s snicker, Dojin scowled deeply.
“What. Why are you laughing again?”
“Because you’re worrying about something you don’t need to worry about at all. It sounded low to us, but it would’ve sounded very different to them.”
“Then just say that instead of laughing…. Hurry up and finish the backup so we can go home.”
Dojin replied gruffly and propped his chin on his hand. On the table, the Dark One that had once been a familiar was standing on tiptoe, clinging to a mug and slurping water shup shup shup. It must’ve been desperately thirsty—the way it drank was like finding an oasis in the desert. But since it was so tiny, the water level didn’t seem to go down at all.
After watching the Dark One for a bit, Dojin’s gaze naturally shifted to Iri. Iri had been reading the notebook Dojin had scribbled in; sensing the look, he lifted his eyelids.
“What?”
“Master.”
“Yeah.”
“I tried thinking about it from a half-human perspective, and… maybe there wasn’t any grand purpose. Maybe it really was just a nasty prank.”
“A nasty prank?”
“Yes. Like kids throwing bricks off apartment rooftops or shooting BB guns at passersby. They happened to get their hands on bricks and BB guns, there was no one around to stop them—only an Evil God egging them on—and since they wouldn’t get caught, they tried it once.”
“…….”
So in the end….
‘Because they could.’
They spread curses because they could. They deceived dokkaebi because they could. They stole the dokkaebi club because they could.
To be able to do something meant there were no restraints. Humans think they’re bound by countless restrictions in life, but from the perspective of this world, they were practically unrestrained.
In the beginning, humans were bound by the same restraints as Wia. Whether a yokai tricked a human or a human tricked a yokai, both were equally hauled off to the Podo Office.
But then the Lower Realm beings withdrew from the Middle Realm, exorcists disappeared, and after that….
Having lost talismans, humanity’s only weapons were guns and blades—things that couldn’t harm Wia at all. Meanwhile, Wia could easily peel human skin with sharp claws, or seduce them with dense yin energy and plunge them into the abyss of death. Worse still, Wia weren’t even visible to ordinary humans. Humanity was left completely defenseless.
Thus, the King of the True Mortal Realm defined humans as ‘the weak’ and ruled them under looser regulations than Wia.
And this was the result.
The Middle Realm came to be dominated by humans.
‘Because they could.’ But if they couldn’t, would they have done it?
Just now, Iri had created a restraint for them.
If they spread curses one more time, he would take their lives.
Now that a restraint existed, would they stop their nasty pranks?
Only time would tell.
“Master, what if that exorcist doesn’t even know that his curses actually killed Wia? What if he was being used by the siblings and the Evil God? Maybe he really thinks it was just a prank.”
“You can’t use a curse unless you understand what the curse does.”
“What? Then the exorcist really is a bad guy.”
Dojin crossed out [stupid and lonely] and corrected it to [bad]. It was an impressively quick shift in stance.
“You should’ve just ripped off the exorcist’s arm too.”
“For an exorcist, this punishment was harsher than losing an arm. He lost his familiar.”
“Ah… I see.”
Dojin looked down at the table.
The Dark One, its belly full of water and having already shown itself plenty, now hid behind the mug. It peeked out furtively, and when its eyes met Dojin’s, it squeaked, “Kkiung!” and leapt away. The newly born Dark One trembled and curled into itself.
“Why is it so scared?”
“Guess we’re scary.”
“Hm. Hey.”
Dojin extended a finger toward the Dark One.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. It was your master who screwed up, so don’t worry. I’ve got a bad personality, but Immortal Iri here is extremely kind.”
The pitch-black Dark One, with no discernible features, pressed its face to the tip of Dojin’s finger and sniffed. When Dojin flicked it lightly with his finger, it jumped in fright and scrambled all the way to the edge of the table.
“Don’t tease it. It was just born.”
Iri, having returned to his gentle, benevolent Immortal mode, scolded Dojin and lowered a finger for the Dark One to climb onto. In contrast to how it had cautiously sniffed Dojin, the Dark One immediately climbed onto Iri’s finger.
“Well, look at that.”
At Dojin’s voice it hesitated for a moment, but then stubbornly went heave-ho, heave-ho, climbing up Iri’s arm and stopping at his shoulder.
Kkiung. Kkiuuung.
When the Dark One stretched its body out, it reached about twenty centimeters in length.
Kkiung, kkiung.
Watching the Dark One rub its body against Iri’s face and act cute like a baby animal, Dojin was dumbfounded.
“So familiars aren’t that special. It switched owners this easily.”
At that moment, Ihaeja finished the backup and snapped his laptop shut.
“That kid isn’t a familiar anymore, but familiars are actually a huge deal, kiddo. It takes thousands of ritual materials to make even one familiar that size, and because they’re so hard to create, they don’t betray their masters.”
“But here’s one that did.”
“This one’s an exception. Anything Immortal Iri gets involved in is automatically an exception. Think about it. On the day of the college entrance exam, your house collapses. You’d still go take the exam, right?”
“Yes. While cursing the whole way.”
“But what if, on the way there, aliens show up and declare war on Earth?”
“…If aliens show up, who cares about the exam.”
“Exactly.”
“…….”
“That’s what it’s like when Immortal Iri intervenes. A lifetime’s worth of spells for an exorcist and all that—means nothing. Got it?”
“Yes.”
It was an extremely clear explanation. Iri stood up from his seat.
“Let’s go.”
“We’re taking the familiar with us too?”
“We’ll take it to the rental shop for now and find it a suitable habitat.”
“Okay. Hey, you hear that? We’re going to the rental shop. Pretty amazing, huh?”
Dojin picked up the Dark One with his fingers and waved it around in the air. A kkiuuung cry rang out. He examined the Wia carefully—it looked like a tiny black doll keychain.
“But what category does this guy fall under now? It’s not a spirit. A yokai? Or… ah, a stray spirit.”
“It’s a stray spirit. A stray spirit whose root is the drawing on oroji.”
“Ahhh….”
Dojin set the Dark One down on his shoulder. Secretly, he didn’t like how attached it was to Iri.
“Master, you really are amazing. I want to hurry up and follow at least to the tip of your toes.”
“You’re amazing too. You still haven’t noticed, have you?”
“Huh? Noticed what?”
Dojin’s eyes widened. Iri smiled faintly, as if telling him to figure it out himself. The one who gave the answer was Ihaeja, holding his baseball bat and laptop under his arm.
“You were under the ‘Golden Word Command’ earlier.”
“I was.”
“The Immortal never released it.”
“…What?”
Dojin blinked and touched his lips. The upper and lower lips that had been sealed tight were now opening freely.
When he looked at his master, Iri was quietly smiling.
“…….”
Even if it had been lightly applied, he had broken free of Iri’s ‘Golden Word Command’ by his own power. It was the first time in twenty years.
Dojin sucked in a breath, then jumped up in excitement and blurted out his honest thoughts.
“This is insane…! I’m fucking awesome too! Guess it’s true—like master, like disciple. Holy shit, I’m amazing! Woooah!”
It was the rawest, most unfiltered reaction imaginable.
***
It was truly overwhelming. The shivers running through his body still hadn’t faded.
“Haha….”
In the blood-soaked shrine, Lee Seokjin let out a hollow laugh.
“C-careful. D-don’t move.”
The clumsy exorcist pressed a talisman to his left shoulder to stop the bleeding.
–Ugh, ughh. Guh…….
The serpent that had acted as though it feared nothing lay flattened against the floor, trembling in terror. Beside it, Lee Ah-jin lay collapsed, her face drained of all color.
With his blood-smeared right hand, Lee Seokjin roughly raked his fingers through his hair.
“So that… is Immortal Iri….”
