The Legend of the Fox Yokai of Jirisan

Cold.
Hungry.
Save me.
Cold.
Hungry.
Save me.

The blue-furred fox hobbled through the snow-covered forest, shivering from the piercing winds between the trees. It was a bone-chilling cold.
Originally, foxes could endure the harsh winters thanks to their thick fur, but for some reason, the blue-furred fox’s fur was tattered and full of holes.

Dark red blood dripped from the fox, melting the snow below.
Evidently, it had been attacked by someone.

The blue-furred fox was an existence unwelcome anywhere.
While foxes were not inherently social creatures, this blue-furred fox had been abandoned by its parents at a very young age.
Simply because of its blue fur.

To humans, the blue-furred fox was merely a rare hunting prize. Having never seen or heard of a blue-furred fox before, capturing and selling it to a merchant from a neighboring country would surely fetch a hefty profit.

The reason the fox bled was also because of humans.
Humans had thrown spears at it, shot arrows, and finally, when an arrow struck,
“Oh dear. Hey mister, if the fur gets damaged, what then?!”
“Ah, you’re right. My apologies, next time I’ll aim for the head.”
They began aiming for its head, regarding it not as a living being, but a mere tool or commodity.

The wounded blue-furred fox’s speed noticeably decreased, while the human pursuit continued relentlessly.
Since ancient times, humans were the most enduring of animals, and a wounded fox stood no chance of escaping their chase.

Cold.
Hungry.
Save me.
The fox wanted to survive.
It had no lofty goal of ‘ascension’, nor did it hate humans.
Simply,
The fox just wanted to live.

That the blue-furred fox, consumed by the desire to survive, attacked a human first was not surprising.
It ambushed a lumberjack in the mountains,
Immediately devouring his liver,
And acquiring the power known as ‘yogi’.
It was the moment the fox was reborn as a fox yokai.

Mere hunters were no match for a fox yokai that had devoured a liver.
Just like before, it devoured the livers of the hunters pursuing it.
The first taste of human liver in its life
Was shockingly sweet.

Taejo (Founding King) 1st Year, Summer, July.
Number of livers devoured by the blue-furred demonic fox: 132.
The unprecedented chaos from founding the nation made the human world a veritable feast for the blue-furred demonic fox.
Perhaps due to the country’s instability, the blue-furred demonic fox could descend into the human realm and devour male livers without much hindrance.

Occasionally,
There were primitive humans who wielded mysterious powers, but having devoured 132 livers, the blue-furred demonic fox was an unfathomably powerful being.
No existence could stop her.

…

…

…

Sejong (4th King) 3rd Year, Spring, April.
Number of livers devoured by the blue-furred demonic fox: 352.
With the advent of a benevolent king, the nation stabilized, making it harder to hunt human males.
However, having already devoured so many livers, the blue-furred demonic fox was not in a hurry.
She still had no purpose.
Though even she did not know why she devoured human male livers,
The simple fact that ‘livers are delicious’ was clear, so she could not stop her hunt.

On a night when the full moon rose in the sky,
For the first time in her life, she encountered an existence called a dokkaebi.
For some reason, the dokkaebi was hostile towards her, so in a fit of anger, she killed it.
Even a dokkaebi was no match for her, having consumed 352 livers.

The dying dokkaebi carefully clutched a book to its chest, a sight the blue-furred demonic fox found strange, so she took the book from its corpse.
The book was called the Taejasinggi.

Afterwards, as if spellbound by the dokkaebi, she spent several consecutive nights poring over the Taejasinggi.
Following which,
The Taejasinggi became her life’s guiding principle.
The Taejasinggi stated that
Even an unworthy yahoe (wild fox) could become a seonhoe (celestial fox) by devouring the livers of one thousand human males.
She now had a new purpose in life.

…

…

…

Gwanghaegun (16th King) 10th Year, Winter, December.
Number of livers devoured by the blue-furred demonic fox: 911.
On the cusp of ascension, the blue-furred demonic fox, as if having committed a grave sin in a past life,
Encountered the king of Yuldo Nation.
The king of Yuldo Nation took away her yogi.

…

…

…

Gwanghaegun 10th Year, Winter, December.
Number of livers devoured by the blue-furred demonic fox:
0.

It was some time after the king of Yuldo Nation had taken away her yogi.
Having lost everything and awaiting death, a scholar approached the blue-furred fox.
The blue-furred fox bewitched the scholar with words.
However, the scholar was a righteous man, not so weak as to be swayed by the likes of a fox yokai.

Yet, for some reason,
The scholar willingly offered his liver to the fox.
Puzzled, the blue-furred fox asked him, and the scholar reassured her that since livers regenerate, she need not worry.
The scholar had taken pity on the fox.
It was the second time in her life she had been shown pity, after the king of Yuldo Nation.

Though his heart was warm enough to move even the frozen heart of the blue-furred fox,
To the fox who had already taken over 900 human lives,
Compassion was merely a trivial emotion obstructing her life.
She had crossed the line.
She betrayed the very scholar who had saved her.

Number of livers devoured by the blue-furred demonic fox:
1.

Unlike before, for some inexplicable reason, she felt a nagging sense of unease
As she entered hibernation to replenish her strength.

[…Ah.]
The blue-furred fox opened her mouth.
Her neck was half severed, and her once house-sized body had reverted to a regular fox’s size.
The overwhelming yogi that could flay flesh had also subsided.

Sru-reu-reuk.
The fox’s eyes were calmer than I expected, and she gazed at me intently before continuing:
[What was that just now?]
“Fox sorcery, Fox Fire.”
[Fox sorcery… A mysterious power I’ve never heard of, even in the Taejasinggi…]
“…”

Indeed,
It seems not all fox yokai can use fox sorcery.
She had merely unleashed brute, thoughtless yogi at me, not utilizing any sorcery.
Having accepted her death, the fox no longer resisted.

[Kheuk, cough cough… Truly… the fated Daji’s vessel… an unworthy yahoe like me was no match…]
[And yet, my lord with many tails.]
[Why.]
[Why do you make a face as if you’re about to cry?]
“…”

Well,
“It’s my first time killing someone with my own hands.”
[…Hypocrisy.]
“Yeah, I know. Hypocrisy and an ugly excuse.”
[In any case… were you not planning to absorb my yogi? Hypocrisy does not suit Daji’s vessel.]
“I had considered it, but I’ve decided to give up.”
[Why…? In your state… you’ll likely die within a day.]
“I know.”
[There is a way to continue living, yet you choose to forfeit your life with your own hands. As pitiful as I am, I cannot comprehend such actions.]
“Well, you know. It’s just pathetic.”
[To whom…?]
“To myself.”
[…]

Upon hearing my words, the blue-furred fox pondered something intently, then calmly continued:
[You, take my yogi.]
“It’s fine. I won’t take it, not even if I feel uneasy about it.”
[…Look over there, you vile thing.]

I looked in the direction the fox indicated.
There lay the black-haired Martial Artist, collapsed in a pool of her own blood.

[You can save her. Is that not a rather tempting proposition for a hypocrite like you?]
“…”
[Moreover, you can save all the human males hanging from the trees. Not a single one has died yet.]
“…Why?”

I could not comprehend it with my mind.
“Why. Why, why go this far. You hate humans, don’t you? You even hate a many-tailed yokai like me. So why go this far…”

[Pity.]
“…What?”
[I pity you.]

She pities me…?
Why?

[I have lived a rather satisfying life. I killed whoever I wanted to kill, ate whatever I wanted to eat. I felt a sense of superiority looking upon the primitive beings who revered me.]
“…”
[In my eyes, you are but a foolish yokai incapable of enjoying life. What does it matter if you are Daji’s vessel, you are merely an infant.]
[Five hundred years ago, I received pity from two humans.]
[One was a noble man with divine authority.]
[One was an unremarkable, lowly man.]
[At the time, I could not understand why they pitied me.]
[However.]

The blue-furred fox looked me over from bottom to top, then continued with a relieved smile:
[Now, beholding you right before my eyes,]
[I can somewhat understand why they pitied me.]

She said no more.
Instead of speaking further, she wrung out her yogi and completely severed her tails.
The blue-furred fox tails condensed from circles to lines, from lines to points,
And soon crystallized into pure yogi.

The blue-furred fox handed me the crystallized yogi and spoke again:
[Consume it. And then find it.]
“Find what, exactly…”
[Find your purpose in life.]
“…”

Truly,
The feeling of receiving pity from a dying fox
Was a complex emotion beyond words.

I accepted the crystallized yogi from her and
Immediately brought it to my mouth, gulping it down.
Simultaneously, her body gradually became transparent.

[In my eyes… you do not seem fated to become an akhoe (evil fox).]
[A seonhoe… no, a cheonhoe (celestial fox). You are fated to become a cheonhoe.]

Those were
Her final words.