Cheolsu had lived in Tongyeong for a long time, but this was the first time he’d ever heard the name Berimos. The serpent added that the Evil God had crossed the sea from a foreign land and recently settled in Tongyeong.
Cheolsu volunteered to help subdue the Evil God.
“If a Yeongmul** like me and a dokkaebi like you join forces, we should be able to defeat an Evil God. Very well. Let us do so.”
Cheolsu returned to the Dokkaebi Village and reported the matter to Chief Haeso. However, Haeso rejected Cheolsu’s request, citing three reasons.
First, since the serpent had been harmed without knowing it was a Yeongmul, it was not a grave crime, so there was no reason to grant the request.
Second, if the Evil God caused chaos in human villages, the amount of yin energy the dokkaebi could absorb would increase.
Third, an Evil God was a powerful being ranked above dokkaebi; if it were not completely destroyed, it would retaliate against the village.
Listening to him, Cheolsu realized every word Haeso said was correct.
When he relayed this to the husband, the serpent spoke somberly.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll do my best on my own.”
“I’m truly sorry. What should we do now. Don’t go picking fights with an Evil God for no reason—just stay out of harm’s way.”
“How could I simply watch evil unfold right before my eyes. If you truly feel sorry, would you consider lending me that?”
“That?”
“If I had a ‘Dokkaebi Club’, it would be of great help in my fight.”
“Ah… alright. I’ll lend it to you.”
A Dokkaebi Club was the source of a dokkaebi’s power—it was no different from handing over all of one’s possessions. Yet, wracked with guilt, Cheolsu handed his own Dokkaebi Club to the serpent husband.
“Thank you, Dokkaebi. I’ll defeat the Evil God tonight and return it here tomorrow morning.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“Yes. You too, Dokkaebi.”
Cheolsu waited at the spot the next day, but the husband did not return even by sunset.
Nor the following day. And the day after that.
Even when the baby birds all spread their wings and left the nest, he still did not come back.
Something had definitely gone wrong.
Cheolsu gave the freely roaming juvenile Wia of the Tongyeong area a description of the husband and told them to find out the outcome of the battle between the serpent and the Evil God. Soon, the Wia returned with a letter.
[You stupid dokkaebi. There is no Evil God. I’ll be keeping the Dokkaebi Club.]
Only then did Cheolsu realize the truth. The husband had deceived him in order to steal the Dokkaebi Club. To think he would pull such a scheme right after losing his wife—how he had ever become a Yeongmul was beyond comprehension.
Cheolsu, who unjustly lost his Dokkaebi Club for a long time, grew sickly and weak until he eventually collapsed.
After hearing Cheolsu’s circumstances, Haeso immediately informed the villagers. While the Dokkaebi Village was closed-off and exclusionary toward outsiders, its internal solidarity was exceptional. Every dokkaebi burned with anger over Cheolsu’s grievance as if it were their own.
Carrying Cheolsu on his back, Haeso and the other dokkaebi tracked down the serpent. The serpent was living in a human village, disguised as a human. When the dokkaebi smashed down the door and rushed in, he shrieked in terror.
“Uaaagh! A monster!”
“You swindling bastard! Hand over the Dokkaebi Club!”
“Uaaagh!”
At Haeso’s thunderous roar, the serpent went into convulsions and even burst into tears. He neither handed over the Dokkaebi Club, nor transformed back into a serpent to flee or attack—he only seized up and cried.
Haeso repeatedly asked Cheolsu whether that was truly the Yeongmul serpent he had met. The scent, the aura, the appearance—all were identical, so Cheolsu nodded. He could not understand why the man was reacting like someone seeing dokkaebi for the first time, like a human encountering monsters.
“Looks like this bastard is trying another trick. Where is the Dokkaebi Club?”
“Uaaagh! Please spare me! It’s a monster!”
“You’re nothing but a noisy coward. Drop that disguise!”
“Kgh!”
Haeso shoved his own Dokkaebi Club straight into the mouth of the serpent disguised as a human. His mouth tore open as red blood streamed down. Teeth shattered like sand, and the sound of jaw joints and bones crunching echoed through the room.
“Kgh—ghk.”
With the thick Dokkaebi Club lodged in his mouth, the trembling, human-disguised serpent fumbled at it with both hands. Bloody tears streamed from eyes with burst capillaries. When the serpent tried to pull the club out, Haeso grabbed his hand and snapped it with a crunch. Two other dokkaebi seized his legs and twisted them. Crack—blood dripped from his eyes and nose. They stayed on guard, wary he might transform into a serpent at any moment, but only red blood continued to spill out, which struck the dokkaebi as strange.
Meanwhile, Cheolsu found his own Dokkaebi Club under the bedroom bed. Beside it lay a single sheet of paper. Cheolsu read the writing on it.
[I made excellent use of the Dokkaebi Club. I am the Evil God Berimos. The human body was merely borrowed for a time. You stupid dokkaebi.]
***
“And after that, while we were debating how to clean things up after returning to the village, a plague broke out. One after another, everyone who had gone there fell ill, and they spread the sickness to those who remained behind. Cheolsu, whose body had already weakened, was hit especially hard—now only his body remains, barely breathing….”
“…….”
After hearing the entire story, Iri let out a long sigh.
The dokkaebi had opportunities to communicate with the sacrificed human. Had they paid attention to his reactions—how he did not resist at all and only panicked at strange sights—they might have resolved things peacefully.
However, before blaming the dokkaebi, it was right to first hold the Evil God accountable. The Apothecary divine spirit seemed to think so as well, his expression stiffening as he asked,
“From where do you think the Evil God’s design began?”
“Probably from the moment birds built a nest in the tree where Cheolsu stayed. The Evil God had long watched a dokkaebi who enjoyed observing humans from a specific tree, and used that knowledge to scheme and steal the Dokkaebi Club.”
“So the Evil God called Berimos must have spread the plague. I’ve never heard that name before. Was it really something that came from overseas?”
“I’ve never heard that name either.”
Iri pressed his fingers firmly against his temples. The dokkaebi, aware they had committed a sin, had tried to resolve the matter among themselves without seeking outside help. Even that, no doubt, had been part of the Evil God’s plan.
Meanwhile, Dojin—who had been searching recent Tongyeong murder cases on his phone—showed the screen to Iri.
“A week ago, a man was found dead in his house in a grotesque state. Apparently he was a total violent criminal—twelve prior offenses, and even after being released three months ago, he kept stirring up trouble in the neighborhood. If it was someone like that, he deserved it, right? I’d even praise the dokkaebi for this.”
“Only someone like that would be suitable for possession by an Evil God….”
“Ah…….”
That he’d been released three months ago and coincidentally ended up in this area also seemed like part of the Evil God’s plan.
“We’re going to hunt down that bastard Berimos, right? I need to put the exorcism techniques I learned to use before I forget them.”
“First, we deal with things here.”
Iri stood up and stretched out his arm. Haeso and the other dokkaebi flinched at each of his movements, watching him nervously.
“It’s a blessing that no dokkaebi have died yet.”
A bright light seeped from Iri’s hand and spread into the dokkaebi in the plaza, and those still moving about. The dokkaebi felt nothing beyond a sensation of warmth.
“Now, once you take the medicine the Apothecary prepared, the rotted parts will return. The portions that have already scattered can’t be helped, but dokkaebi recover quickly, so you’ll heal soon enough.”
“Y-Yes…?”
The dokkaebi looked over their own bodies in confusion. Just as Iri said, even when they moved now, they no longer crumbled apart. The village chief even ran in place, yet his skin stayed intact.
The Apothecary opened his bundle where he sat and clapped his hands.
“Alright, I’m distributing the medicine now. Everyone, line up single file in front of me!”
“H-Hey, did you say medicine?”
“Yes. If you don’t care whether the rotted parts heal, then don’t take it.”
“I-I’ll go. What about those who can’t move?”
“You take portions for your friends and family.”
“Understood….”
The dokkaebi moved their bodies with difficulty. As soon as the first dokkaebi in line took the medicine, the effects were immediate. The blackened patches scattered across his body gradually shrank, returning to healthy skin. The dokkaebi erupted into cheers, gulping down the medicine one after another.
Dojin knew Iri had used some profound Taoist art, but he was still confused as to why medicine he’d never heard of was suddenly working.
“Master, what exactly happened? The medicine the Apothecary divine spirit is handing out—isn’t that Saksin medicine? Why is it suddenly effective?”
“That isn’t Saksin medicine. It’s just medicine for when skin rots. The Evil God didn’t spread a plague among the dokkaebi.”
“What? Then…… but Wia plagues don’t occur naturally.”
“It wasn’t an illness to begin with.”
Iri did not give a definitive answer. He meant for Dojin to think it through and realize it himself.
Reading his master’s intent and pondering deeply, Dojin finally understood.
“It was a ‘curse’! Master, you broke the curse that was placed on the Dokkaebi Village!”
“That’s right. And it was a very meticulously designed curse. One that forced the dokkaebi into certain actions, and activated the moment they took them….”
“And that action was murder.”
Iri responded with a noncommittal sound.
It was difficult to believe that the Butterfly Immortal’s bees and butterflies, or the worms before them, had committed murder and been cursed for it.
Dojin scowled viciously.
“That Evil God bastard Berimos is spreading curses everywhere—let’s catch him right now and beat him to a pulp!”
“The problem is that Wia cannot cast curses.”
“…What?”
“That’s why everyone thought it was a plague and never suspected a curse. Curses can only be created by humans…. Even I can only break curses—I cannot create them.”
“…….”
Dojin’s mouth fell open. Iri leaned against the sacred guardian tree at the center of the plaza. The tree, imbued with holy energy, warmly accepted Immortal Iri’s pure aura.
Some human was creating and spreading curses similar to Saksin….
It seemed wise to warn the Wia to be cautious around humans for the time being.
TL Note: **Yeongmul: a non-human living being (typically an animal) that has acquired spiritual power or sacred energy and has gained intelligence and self-awareness.
