The Legend of the Fox Yokai of Jirisan

The Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office is a nationally accredited institution.
Its purpose is to monitor and manage ‘yokai’ – existences that threaten the populace and bring harm to the nation.
In other words, calamities.
It was only right for the nation to manage the calamity of yokai at a national level, so it was natural for the Yokai Extermination Office to be a nationally accredited institution.

From the director down to the lowest-ranking new recruits, all personnel of the Yokai Extermination Office are civil servants living off the nation’s payroll.
Naturally, as noble sacrificers risking their lives for ‘yokai extermination,’ even a Grade 9 civil servant fresh out of recruitment enjoys a salary on par with a typical major corporation’s section chief.
A sort of hazard pay, if you will.

Of course, the generous salaries were not their sole reason for joining the Yokai Extermination Office.
There are no people in this world for whom money is more precious than life itself.
Some joined to protect their loved ones.
Others joined to contribute their talents to the nation.

Here at the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office, the case of 28-year-old Grade 7 civil servant and combatant Kim Myeong-ho was rather unique.
He was a yokai fanatic to the point of amazement from his coworkers.
Seeking out ancient legends about yokai was his hobby.
Collecting yokai figurines was one of life’s joys for him.

Five years had already passed since Kim Myeong-ho joined the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office.
Those five years could be considered a perfect fusion of hobbies and career for him, allowing him to happily carry out his duties.

…Of course, not every moment of working at the Yokai Extermination Office was blissful.
There were times he suffered an evil spirit’s curse and broke up with his lover.
He had accumulated quite a few scars from yokai attacks.
Above all,
Just a week ago, he had his liver devoured while still alive by a cunning fox yokai.
Truly, it was a horrific experience he never wished to repeat, even as a yokai enthusiast.

Nevertheless, he had survived.
Thanks to whom?
“Hehehehehe… Miho, ehehehehe…”
“…Myeong-ho, you’re being inappropriate.”
Thanks to Miho.

Kim Myeong-ho gazed at the limited edition nine-tailed gumiho figurine on his desk with a lecherous grin.
A mere 50 pieces were made, and this figurine boasted considerable synchronicity with the unidentified six-tailed fox yokai who had saved his life.
While it was a pity that it had nine tails instead of six, he supposed he should be satisfied with what he had.

After regaining his mental composure gazing at the figurine, he suddenly surveyed the scenery of the Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office.
White fox here.
White fox there.
Regardless of gender, all office personnel had started idolizing that white fox yokai Miho.
Not only was she their savior who spared their lives, but she was also beautifully voluptuous – they had ample reason to idolize Miho.
Expressing gratitude to the Martial Artist Ha-neul for revealing Miho’s name was just a bonus.

…Of course, this was a clear violation of civil servant protocol subject to disciplinary action.

In any case, Kim Myeong-ho activated the yogi detection radar today to search for yokai traces, his primary duty.
Operating the radar to detect yogi was an immensely important yet difficult task, showcasing his exceptional capabilities.

Beep. Beep. Beep.
Seeing no signals on the radar, he let out a sigh.
Ah.
I want to see Miho.
Truly, my only wish before dying would be to see Miho’s face just once.

Kim Myeong-ho found these thoughts quite unfamiliar for himself.
This feeling, this emotion.
Wasn’t this what a crush felt like?
Indeed, befitting of a many-tailed fox yokai.
She possessed an ability to captivate humans.

Separate from his personal affection for Miho, the entire Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office staff devoted their full efforts to investigating her.
For the appearance of a many-tailed fox yokai was no trivial matter.

Records of many-tailed fox yokai dated back a staggering 3,500 years ago, to the imperial consort Daji of the ancient Chinese Shang Dynasty – the last and only record.

As a yokai fanatic, Kim Myeong-ho had naturally read numerous legends about gumiho.
Tales of them roaming villages during the Joseon era, devouring men’s life force.
Replenishing their vigor by consuming livers.
While there were quite a few gumiho legends, they were ultimately just legends, not official historical records.
Kim Myeong-ho suspected people may have mistaken single-tailed fox yokai for the many-tailed variety.

However, the nine-tailed gumiho Daji was not merely a legend passed down by word of mouth, but a clear record in official histories.
In that sense,
It was not an exaggeration to deem many-tailed fox yokai as exceedingly dangerous existences, as Daji had been.
In fact, Daji was the very reason for corrupting King Zhou of Shang and ultimately destroying the nation.

No matter that Miho had saved their lives.
Some doubts did linger about whether idolizing her was appropriate.
‘But our Miho wouldn’t do such a thing!’
…Indeed, Kim Myeong-ho and most of the staff had already been completely infatuated by Miho.

As he entertained such idle thoughts,
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—

The yokai radar detected yogi.
As a capable civil servant, Kim Myeong-ho calmly reported to the director in a very loud voice:
“Director, we have a signal!”
“Report the location first, then identify.”
“Sector 1, Point 25.”

What yokai would it be this time?
A Grade 5 yokai that escaped the inner realm?
Or a naturally manifested Grade 6 yokai?
It didn’t matter who.
Having already engaged the blue-furred demonic fox presumed to be ‘Grade 2’ in battle, the office staff no longer feared yokai.
Moreover,
This Jirisan Yokai Extermination Office currently had
The famous ‘Martial Artist’ as an asymmetric force on their side.

Kim Myeong-ho swiftly began analyzing the radar.
Measuring the yogi’s pattern and flow, he converted it into a waveform graph.
Then, he cross-referenced the countless individual waveform graphs stored in his mind.
Yes, he was a human computer who had completely memorized the waveform graphs of every existing yokai.
This was the reason he was such a capable civil servant.

Not an evil spirit.
Not a hungry ghost-type yokai either.
Presumed to be an animal-type yokai.
Not a tiger.
Not a felidae yokai, but a canidae.
Not a wolf.
Ah.

With a trembling voice, Kim Myeong-ho spoke:
“A fox… A fox yokai!”
“…!”
At this, the director began furiously rubbing his bare scalp.
A clear sign of his agitation.
Seeing the director’s state, the other civil servants worried, ‘He’s already bald, he’ll rub it all off at this rate,’ but
Regardless, the director urgently asked Kim Myeong-ho again:
“Compare it to the waveform of the fox yokai that appeared two years ago and the blue-furred demonic fox from a week ago. Which one is it?”
“N, neither of them!”
“Oh no… A new fox yokai?”
“No, wait… If I had to compare, it’s closer to the former! But the amount of yogi has increased to an incomparable degree from before! The waveform matches perfectly!”

Having identified the waveform, Kim Myeong-ho continued with an inexplicably excited tone:
“It’s Miho!”

As Kim Myeong-ho spoke, cheers erupted from all corners of the Yokai Extermination Office.
Cheering at a yokai’s appearance –
They were indeed hopeless cases, utterly infatuated by Miho.

Though relieved it wasn’t another fox yokai, the director did not forget to issue orders as he let out a sigh:
“All combat personnel, prepare. Radio the Martial Artist Ha-neul immediately during her training. Keep in mind, do not initiate an attack this time. She is an entity we can communicate with, so attempt to resolve this through dialogue first.”
“Understood!”
“And Kim Myeong-ho!”
“Yes, Director!”
“You will remain here and continue tracking the location.”
“Huh? No, I want to see Mi—”
“That’s an order.”
“…”

What bullshit.
Stingy baldy, that’s what he is.
Kim Myeong-ho inwardly cursed.

While Kim Myeong-ho boasted exceptional radar detection skills and even combat prowess as a Grade 1 talent,
Excluding him from the operation was only natural from the commanding officer’s perspective.
Would they really bring that deranged fox yokai fanatic drooling over the gumiho figurine into battle?
Making such a misjudgment would completely disqualify one as a commander.

After completing the deployment preparations, they exited the office.
No, they were just about to exit when Kim Myeong-ho’s voice rang out again:
“D, Director!”
“No! You will remain he—”
“No, it’s not that, Miho’s current location…”

Staring at the yogi detection radar with disbelief, Kim Myeong-ho continued:
“500 meters directly ahead of the Yokai Extermination Office…! She’s heading this way!”