The streets of a rainy dawn.
Three men and women in suits ran swiftly, each carrying different firearms.
“Hurk, hah, hah……!”
The youngest-looking man among the three gasped for breath, flailing his arms and legs weakly. A woman seeing this kicked his back and shouted.
“You bastard! Don’t stop, run! What are you going to do if a civilian gets hurt like this!”
“Hurk, b-but, hah, I can’t… breathe……!”
“Shut up and run! Unless you want your memory wiped and get disposed of!”
The woman said so, clutching her pistol, gritting her teeth. Blood trickled down from her slightly torn thigh. An employee ID dangling on her chest swayed as she ran.
[Gim Iseo]
[Affiliated with Response Team 3, Bureau of Mystery Management]
Bureau of Mystery Management.
A national secret agency that responds to all matters related to mystery and boasts enormous wages, but accordingly, an agency with an abnormally harsh work environment. It wasn’t for nothing that its fatality rate was higher than its injury rate.
With an ordinary mental state, simply surviving was impossible. However, one of the basic requirements for joining the Bureau was having encountered mystery at least once, so agents belonging to the Bureau usually possessed strong mental fortitude.
Their physical abilities were excellent as well.
Response Division 3 was no different. It wasn’t a team composed of people with special abilities, but even so, it was a division with fairly high operation success rates.
Chasing down and killing a “Palcheok Ghost” like today was an everyday occurrence for them.
A simple, brutish monster that wasn’t particularly difficult to deal with, nor did it demand high mental strength. An entity derived from an urban legend that would disappear on its own once you blew a bullet hole through it with special rounds.
It was the perfect opponent for a newcomer’s initiation. So the team leader of Team 3 had sent out a hunt for the Palcheok Ghost, mixing one newbie with two moderately skilled members.
This was the result. The Palcheok Ghost had fled using its long legs and arms, and Team 3 was injured. It was a disaster caused by the rookie man failing to pull the trigger at the critical moment.
“Fucking hell.”
Gim Iseo cursed and forced her throbbing leg to move.
An injury sustained while protecting the man. If she hadn’t pushed the rookie aside, his head would have become a skewer and rolled on the ground.
She should have just let that happen. Then she could have dealt with the monster for sure.
What the hell was that damn rookie good for.
Gim Iseo glared at the lagging man, then spoke to her teammate running beside her.
“I’m going ahead. You take care of that trash.”
“Will you be okay? Your leg is injured.”
“I can manage. Lend me your gun. Mine’s a pistol, so it doesn’t pack enough firepower.”
“Ah, yeah.”
Shaking her employee ID with the name Bak Jia written on it, she handed the shotgun she was holding to Gim Iseo. Gim Iseo expertly checked the rounds wrapped in talismans and chewed a gray pill.
In that instant, her physical abilities amplified beyond their limits. She had temporarily pushed her physical abilities, already strengthened through a special breathing technique, one stage higher.
Using it meant suffering muscle tears for several days, but she had no choice right now. She had to track down the monster as quickly as possible to prevent civilian casualties.
“I’m going. Follow me with the tracker.”
Gim Iseo said. Jia skillfully took out a terminal and nodded.
Swish!
Gim Iseo sprinted. Running faster than an average track athlete, she put on the mask hanging at her waist.
A mask that tracked monsters by scent.
Since Bak Jia, who was taking the tracker role, wasn’t beside her, she had to find the monster on her own. Originally made to avoid monsters when left alone, there was no need to strictly follow its intended use.
“Huff!”
She turned her head toward the source of the foul stench. The scent, connected like a trail, passed through an alley, stopped by a convenience store, then moved to a narrow street again.
‘A convenience store?’
Why a convenience store all of a sudden?
The moment she turned her head at the question, a man standing inside the convenience store entered her sight.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem hurt. The convenience store was a mess, but not a single drop of blood was visible on him.
Still, he definitely seemed to have encountered the monster.
Once an ordinary person encounters a monster, there are only two choices: have their memory erased, or join the Bureau.
She thought she’d have to visit him and talk once this was over.
Gim Iseo thought so and turned her head. At the same time, she caught a blood trail starting from the convenience store.
‘…Blood?’
There was no need to even check whose blood it was. Just from the foul stench wafting from it, it was the monster’s.
The existence of a blood trail itself wasn’t strange. It was none other than Gim Iseo herself who had lodged a bullet in the Palcheok Ghost’s thigh. It wouldn’t be strange if the blood had flowed from there.
However, the amount of blood spilled was severe to the point that it couldn’t be called a simple bleed.
It looked as if… one of its limbs had been sliced off.
‘…Could that man have done this?’
She didn’t know. But it was certain that the blood trail started from the convenience store. It must have gone inside and suffered a major wound due to something.
“…….”
The cause was unimaginable. An instinctive scream telling her to investigate immediately rang out.
But she suppressed it with reason.
She mustn’t mistake her priorities. Dealing with the monster came first.
The moment civilian casualties occurred, the incident became incredibly complicated. Unnecessary deaths had to be prevented.
Gim Iseo immediately turned her head and pursued the blood trail, shotgun in hand.
Thanks to a tool that blocked outside attention, there was no need to worry about being spotted by citizens.
However.
“…Why is that woman carrying a shotgun.”
It was insufficient to deceive a mage’s eyes.
***
[Title: Met a Palcheok Ghost today.]
[ㅇㅇ]
Was working part-time at a convenience store when it suddenly barged in and attacked, so I ripped off an arm.
I was worrying about how to get monster flesh to use in alchemy, so I got lucky.
Gonna make other stuff with this too lol
[Upvotes 3][Downvotes 0]
[Comments]
-(Truly excellent, Mage Emoticon)
-If it’s a Palcheok Ghost, you met a pushover. You’re the newbie mage who posted yesterday, right?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Yep.
ㄴlol You’re gonna get entangled with mystery in earnest from now on, so prepare well.
ㄴㅇㅇ: I was already thinking I’d run into one soon after seeing the posts newbies wrote here. But it appeared right after that, so I was a bit flustered.
-FourEaredBug: You say you were flustered, but you ripped it off right away? Truly the optimal talent for a mage.
ㄴㅇㅇ: Dude, if I don’t kill it, I die. So I gotta kill it.
ㄴFourEaredBug: Didn’t you feel anything before killing it? Like how ordinary people hesitate briefly when killing an animal?
ㄴㅇㅇ: Nothing like that.
ㄴFourEaredBug: This is the mage average lol
Ian sent an appropriate emoticon in reply to FourEaredBug’s comment and wolfed down a triangle kimbap.
Morning had come after finishing his part-time job.
Perhaps thanks to using Recreation Magic, he was a bit tired, but not to the point that he couldn’t endure, so Ian was browsing the community one last time before sleeping.
[Title: Let’s find out about the Palcheok Ghost our lewd newbie caught]
[Taming Master]
(Illustration of a Palcheok Ghost)
Now, this is the Palcheok Ghost. Doesn’t it look lewd?
Palcheok is a monster that appeared after feeding on an urban legend born in Japan. Its characteristics are its long arms and legs and considerable grip strength. Why, it can burst the heads of our fragile newbie mages like a slime.
When attacking, it bites with its teeth, tears with its claws, or swings its arms like a whip to strike.
None of them are painless if they hit you, so unless you want to star in a melodrama of farewell with your arms and legs, dodge every attack.
However, even such a strong Palcheok is essentially nothing more than a huge target if you don’t get hit. It’s the optimal target for testing the firepower of mastered magic.
It even screams “Aack,” so the impact feel is considerable too. Its durability isn’t particularly high, so it’s a good girl that takes everything you dish out.
It mainly attacks when you make eye contact, so don’t ask questions and just land the first blow to win easily.
If you get hit, it’ll run away, so aim for its legs as much as possible.
If you’re a mage who has learned puppetry or domination techniques, torment it moderately and tame it.
For reference, the author is doing that.
(Photo of a shivering Palcheok Ghost lying on a bed)
Look. It’s like a big dog, isn’t it cute?
Its dangerous teeth and claws are all pulled out, and its limbs are partially cut off, so it’s not dangerous.
Its body temperature is quite cool, so if you need a cool bed companion in the summer, make sure to hunt one and keep it.
(Mage Thumbs-Up Emoticon)
[Upvotes 13][Downvotes 51]
[Comments]
-Holy shit lolol what kind of dismembered pet doll did you make, fuck lolol
-Killing them is easy. I ran into a few too and beat them all to death.
-It really looks fucking weird, but it’s kinda hot though…….
ㄴ(Mage Question Mark Emoticon)
-SweetOldMan: My, my,,,,,,,,it. looks. quite. delicious.
ㄴFish: Gramps…… if you fuck that, you’ll really die…….
ㄴSweetOldMan: You. wicked. thing! You. still. don’t. know. the. taste. of. monsters!
ㄴFish: Please don’t literally rip and eat it either…….
-StrawberryYogurtSmoothie: What the hell is this crazy-ass mentally-ill pervert again, I feel sorry for the Palcheok caught by you.
ㄴTaming Master: Denial phase. I don’t think you have long left, shall I recommend a handsome monster?
ㄴStrawberryYogurtSmoothie: It’s your mom.
ㄴ★Daemo: Excessive profanity. Comment banned for 3 days.
ㄴStrawberryYogurtSmoothie: Ah, fuck!
A post no different from one written by a lunatic. Ian had burst out in hollow laughter at the absurdity at first, but left a comment on a sudden question that came to mind.
-ㅇㅇ: But are there multiple Palcheoks? How does everyone know?
ㄴTaming Master: Entities derived from urban legends or ghost stories multiply endlessly as long as mystery exists in this world. They’re born wherever that story is known.
ㄴㅇㅇ: Ahh, so the Bureau kills them to reduce their numbers?
ㄴTaming Master: That’s part of it too. Mages also hunt them to tame or use as magic materials.
ㄴTaming Master: Wait, more importantly, you already know about the Bureau? As a newbie?
ㄴㅇㅇ: I don’t know exactly, but I saw someone who looked like that.
Ian recalled a woman in a suit and mask, running around with a shotgun.
No matter how you looked at it, she appeared to be an agent dispatched to hunt the Palcheok Ghost.
Usually in fiction, such agents belong to the Bureau, so I wrote the comment guessing roughly. It seemed I was right.
ㄴTaming Master: Don’t get involved with the Bureau for now. Mages are beings that handle mystery anyway, so they’re fairly wary of you. It’s not dangerous if you’re found out, but it becomes a hassle.
ㄴㅇㅇ: OK, thanks for the advice.
ㄴTaming Master: If you’re grateful, get yourself a Palcheok doll too.
Ian didn’t bother replying and put down his phone.
‘I can’t rule out the possibility that the Bureau will come looking for me either.’
The woman running through the rainy streets.
If she had good instincts and keen observation, she must have noticed where the massive amount of blood the Palcheok shed had started.
While it was highly unlikely she would know Ian was a mage, there was no doubt he had done something eye-catching.
He didn’t know when they would come, or if they would at all, but it seemed best to prepare.
Ian thought so and got into bed, pulling up his covers.
Waking up at a late lunch hour, he lightly showered, stepped outside briefly, and bought an exorcism talisman at a nearby shaman’s shop.
In case the Bureau sent someone, he could claim he had exorcised it with the talisman.
It was crude, but there was no other way anyway.
In the first place, there was no other choice for an ordinary person dealing with a monster besides a talisman. It wasn’t like he could get a gun or a knife.
He didn’t know if the Bureau would believe it, but as long as there was no physical evidence, he could probably get past it.
‘What matters is not getting caught as a mage.’
He had only just become a mage. He wanted no part of troublesome affairs.
Ian placed the purchased talisman casually on the table, ordered delivery food, then sat in his chair and opened his grimoire.
The carefully kept orb glinted with a red light.
Unintentionally, but since good materials had come into his hands, it was time to test it.
He scanned the alchemy section, checking if there was anything moderately decent.