“This is a terrifying plague that breaks out locally and briefly, then kills everything and vanishes. Now it’s even infecting spirit beasts and dokkaebi-class beings. A mutation occurring within just three months—I’ve never seen a Wia plague evolve this fast.”
“It hasn’t spread overseas yet?”
“No. Not yet. But give it a few more months, and it’ll spread rapidly.”
Because of the place called Iri’s Curio Rental Shop, Korea was home to the largest population of Wia on Earth.
Wia gathered around the rental shop, and as they did, public facilities such as immigration offices, the Podo Office, clinics, and welfare centers naturally sprang up. More Wia then congregated around those facilities… Through this cycle, Korea became something like the capital of the Wia world. Whether plague or trend, everything always broke out in Korea first before spreading abroad.
“Who knows about this?”
“The Butterfly Immortal, Gangnim Herald, and us.”
Here, “us” referred to Iri’s divine spirits.
“No dokkaebi have died yet, but every single one of them is infected. I couldn’t enter the village—they wouldn’t allow it. Now we’ll have to go together with you, Immortal. When are you planning to report this to the King?”
“Mm…….”
“Immortal.”
The Apothecary divine spirit furrowed his brow.
“This is a disease with no cure, and the entire village is infected. It’s already a severe situation. You know that if a single dokkaebi village collapses, that entire region might as well be paying taxes to vengeful spirits and Evil Gods, right?”
“I know….”
Frustration sharpened the Apothecary’s voice.
“And you still won’t report it?”
“I can’t report something like ‘a dokkaebi village was wiped out, and chaos reached the nearby human villages’ to the King.”
“Then just how bad does it have to get before you report it to His Majesty?”
“It has to be on the level of ‘an entire human city was annihilated, and chaos engulfed the nation.’ That’s the current regulation.”
The Apothecary sighed heavily and thumped his chest. The conversation stalled for a moment. Seizing the timing, Dojin suddenly raised his hand.
“Um, excuse me? Could I say something?”
“Go ahead. You’ve really grown up, Dojin. How tall are you now?”
“192 centimeters. And I’m still growing.”
“Impressive. How old are you again? Did you get into college?”
Dojin found the Apothecary’s sudden familiarity a bit absurd.
Aside from the Observer, he’d met nearly all of Iri’s divine spirits at least once. But the last time he’d seen the Apothecary was before elementary school, and now he was acting chummy. He hadn’t even given him New Year’s money during holidays.
“I’m twenty, and I didn’t go to college—but can I just ask this one thing?”
“Go on.”
“Everyone’s staring at us. Shouldn’t we be using stealth arts?”
Dojin stopped walking and swept his gaze around.
The Apothecary wasn’t particularly handsome and was dressed in a semi-formal outfit that didn’t suit the mountains. Iri and Dojin wore everyday hanbok. On top of that, they were undeniably striking figures, so passersby kept sneaking glances. Some were outright following behind to watch.
“I don’t like using sorcery to deceive human eyes. They’re not eavesdropping on our conversation, so what’s the issue?”
“Still, they’re staring so openly…. And at this distance, people with sharp hearing might catch our voices.”
“If it really bothers you, you can put up a barrier.”
Dojin instantly got the idea.
The Apothecary was testing his sorcery.
Dojin snorted and flicked his finger once. The gazes concentrated on them slowly dispersed.
“Not bad. I heard you struggle with accumulating virtue, but it seems you’ve been diligent with your sorcery training, Immortal’s disciple.”
“I train hard—and I’ve got plenty of innate talent, too. Shall we continue?”
“Let’s.”
The three resumed climbing the mountain trail.
“The symptoms match Saksin perfectly. Muscle and joints decay away.”
“Saksin means death within a week once it has manifested, right?”
“For divine beasts and divine spirits, within a week. For spirit-beast class, three or four days. For yokai-class, one day.”
“Wait—divine beasts and divine spirits can catch infectious diseases too?”
Dojin paled, then abruptly pulled a mask from his backpack.
“Master, put this on. Just in case—I brought it with me. In human society, masks were very effective during outbreaks.”
“I’ll be fine without one. You wear it.”
“Masks—good idea. Give me one too.”
The Apothecary reached out, but Dojin hid it behind his back.
“If Master doesn’t wear one, I won’t either—and I won’t give one to the Apothecary divine spirit.”
“Why am I involved in this…?”
The Apothecary stared at him in disbelief.
“You said even divine spirits and divine beasts can catch it. I’m only a Jangsa, practically human—what are you planning to do?”
“Fine. I’ll wear one once we enter the village.”
Iri dangled the mask loosely in his hand.
They continued along the trail before veering off. Once they entered a path utterly impassable to humans, they unleashed sorcery and ran while compressing space.
“I heard the Middle Realm is investigating the plague too. Has the Great Bandit General found anything new?”
“How would I know?”
“The Middle Realm sends spies to the True Mortal Realm nonstop, so why doesn’t the True Mortal Realm send any back?”
“Regulations. Nothing we can do.”
“Ugh, those damned regulations. It’s suffocating. Dojin, if you ever become King, overhaul all of it.”
“Yes. I plan to.”
Dojin answered calmly, though he was struggling to speak while maintaining an advanced sorcery technique. The Apothecary didn’t notice, but Iri sensed his disciple’s condition and smiled faintly.
The group soon arrived at the entrance of the dokkaebi village.
Before a cliff stood tall trees, massive boulders, and a single jangseung about 160 centimeters tall. The fierce-looking totem pole bore the following inscription:
[Tongyeong Dokkaebi Village]
“Put your mask on now.”
“Alright.”
After his mask was on, Iri placed his hand on the jangseung. It stretched upward dramatically, examined the appearances of the three visitors, then shrank back down, burrowing into the ground. Dojin panicked.
“Don’t tell me we have to go down that tunnel?”
“No. The jangseung went to inform the village chief that visitors have arrived. If he grants permission, the entrance will open.”
“Cutting-edge system.”
Soon, the rocks and trees let out a groooan as they slowly parted. A cave previously hidden from sight was revealed.
The group entered. Stones embedded in the cave walls glowed softly, keeping it from being dark.
Before long, the dokkaebi village came into view.
The houses forming the village were grand, tiled-roof structures. Between them lay fields large and small, wells, playgrounds, and although shuttered now, various shops—a fabric store, a hardware shop, a gukbap restaurant, even a PC café.
Walking along clean roads where paving stones coexisted with flowing streams, Dojin clung to Iri. Though his large disciple grabbed his arm and linked arms without permission, Iri let it be.
“It definitely looks like a wealthy neighborhood, but the atmosphere feels like a ghost village. Is it because of the plague?”
“The Yin energy here is thick. Ah—the chief is coming.”
Following Iri’s gaze, Dojin saw a hunchbacked old man with a single horn, slightly shorter than the average human, sprinting toward them while shouting “Immortal!” The Apothecary screamed.
“If someone infected with Saksin moves that violently, what do you think will happen?! Are you trying to hasten your own death?! Stop immediately!”
The chief halted abruptly. Indeed, decayed skin crumbled away each time he moved. His wrists were so deteriorated that bone was visible—and even that bone was rotting.
“Ah, Immortal Iri. Welcome…. Wh-what is that?”
“A mask.”
“I-I see. In any case, welcome. What brings you to such a humble place?”
“What brings me? You’re rotting head to toe and you’re asking me what brings me here?”
“Oh dear…. Has word spread outside that our village is afflicted with a plague?”
“Why didn’t you say anything? You should’ve asked nearby divine spirits—the Namhae divine spirit, the Cheonwangsan divine spirit—for help.”
“This illness is Saksin. We know the treatment for Saksin.”
“Oh, for—this is driving me insane!”
The Apothecary bellowed.
“You frustrating Wia! So did the Saksin medicine work or not?!”
“…It didn’t.”
“Exactly! It didn’t! The medicine didn’t work! And yet you just went, ‘Hmm, weird. Medicine doesn’t work. How strange. I guess I’ll keep taking it. Hehe.’ and left it unattended like an idiot? At the very least, once the entire village was infected, you should’ve reached out! If you can’t tell when to be closed off and when to be open as a village chief, what good are you?!”
The Apothecary’s shout thundered through the village. The chief’s hump swelled—then shrank—over and over, a sign of agitation.
“You should’ve opened the gates when I came! What place rejects the Apothecary divine spirit when medicine isn’t working and the disease is still spreading?! I almost let you all die, but I brought our Immortal here instead—be grateful for that!”
Iri patted the Apothecary’s back, urging him to calm down.
“Chief, the Apothecary is right. As chief, you should’ve looked at the situation objectively.”
“…I have nothing to say.”
“Let’s go examine the patients first.”
“Yes….”
The chief led the way, thoroughly cowed.
The Apothecary followed with heavy, thudding steps; Iri followed with a sigh. Behind them, Dojin also stomped along loudly. When Iri turned back, wondering why his disciple was angry now, Dojin puffed out his lips.
“If I’d known you were going to pat his back like that, I would’ve thrown more of a tantrum myself.”
“…….”
“I’m really good at throwing tantrums, you know….”
Once again, Iri let out a long sigh.
