Skip to content 
However, no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a solution.
I left the isolation room and shook my head as I spoke to Seo Ji-an.
“It’s going to be tough.”
“. . . I figured as much. I was somewhat expecting it.”
She said that, but her face was full of sorrow. Seo Ji-an tried to hide her sadness and gave Yoo Ah-in an order.
“Take Han Kang-yoon back to the academy. We can’t let him get caught up in the fight.”
“. . . Yes, miss.”
As Yoo Ah-in approached me with a gloomy expression, I finished my contemplation and spoke to both of them.
“It’s not like there’s absolutely no way.”
“What?”
“But it’s very risky for both sides. And even if we do it, we’ll need to stabilize the situation right away.”
In the end, it wasn’t a direct solution, but that was enough for Seo Ji-an.
“Really? Is there really a way?”
“I need your help. And to be honest, the success rate is unknown.”
“I’ll help. No matter what it takes.”
Listening to her answer, I hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“Even if it means certain death for you and Seo Ji-ha if we fail?”
“. . . I’m going to die today anyway.”
Faced with her strong determination, I had no choice but to nod.
“Then, first of all.”
We need to defeat the enemies who will be coming today. Only then can we try to treat Seo Ji-ha in a stable environment.
However, Seo Ji-an fell silent for a moment before giving me a bitter smile.
“Can you try treating her now?”
“But if I do that, I won’t have enough energy to stop the enemies.”
“You won’t be able to stop them anyway.”
Her voice was filled with desperation.
Seo Ji-an, her lips trembling, quietly recited the enemy’s information.
“There’s one 1st-grade and two 2nd-grade.”
“. . . . . . .”
“Those are the ones that have been confirmed for sure. There’s probably more.”
If that was true, they were an impossible force to fight against. I could understand why Seo Ji-an was so desperate.
“Is there no one else you can ask for help?”
“Not only are we short on funds, but word has already spread in the underworld.”
Since it was a losing battle anyway, no one would accept a request for help.
「𝙔𝙤𝙤 𝘼𝙝-𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 2𝙣𝙙-𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚. 𝙎𝙚𝙤 𝙅𝙞-𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩.」
I had Ggong-sam-yi, a fairly powerful shikigami, but I wouldn’t be able to do anything against even two 2nd-grades, let alone a 1st-grade.
Simply calculating it, there was no chance of winning. I had to find another way.
“If you succeed in treating her, I’ll give up the fight and surrender to my sister.”
Seo Ji-an was already prepared to give up her life.
“My sister will be busy appeasing public opinion to cover up the scandal that has just been revealed, so we’ll have time to restore Ji-ha’s health and go into hiding. Yoo Ah-in, do you know what to do?”
“Miss, that’s. . . . . . .”
I remained silent and racked my brain.
If I could have at least one more usable force, just one more, I might be able to manage somehow.
「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬?」
Nothing much comes to mind. At best, I have the Elder Water Ghost, Ggong-sam-yi, the White Piece Stake that I took from Baek Tae-gang, and the Blue Heart Jade, one of the Three Great Treasures of the Cheong family.
Among them, the item that caught my attention was the Blue Heart Jade.
“. . . . . . .”
As I was organizing Blue Heart Jade’s traits in my mind, I came up with a truly dangerous and bizarre method.
A way to solve Seo Ji-ha’s illness and the approaching enemies all at once.
「𝙂𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙡-𝙞.」
If I could make good use of the Imoogi sleeping inside Seo Ji-ha’s body, I might be able to turn the situation around.
“. . . Let’s try the treatment.”
“No, you can’t! If you do that, Miss Seo Ji-an will. . . !”
“There’s a way. It’s like gambling, but if it works, we can defeat the enemies as well.”
Of course, if we fail, we’ll have to pay a heavy price.
The expressions of Seo Ji-an and Yoo Ah-in, who were looking at me, changed strangely. However, it was obvious that neither of them intended to refuse.
The immediate direction seemed to have been decided.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
𝕒𝐰𝐞𝙗𝙨𝔱𝘰ṙ̇i̇̇𝕖𝕤.𝐜𝘰𝘮
Gang Cheol-i is an Imoogi.
A being whose true nature has been corrupted and turned into a yokai, unable to become a dragon.
It’s a famous yokai that appears in various folk tales.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙡-𝙞 𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙭𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙢 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨.」
The exact concept and setting are only known to the production team at the time, but what is certain is that since it is a yokai that wanted to become a dragon, it has considerable strength.
Perhaps if it were to be fully revived in its current state, it wouldn’t be easy to defeat even at level 60?
「𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚.」
First, the outline of the plan was this: Separate the main body of Gang Cheol-i from Seo Ji-ha and revive it in an incomplete form.
It was like intentionally causing the same phenomenon that Geusdae had achieved on Yeongwol Island with his half-revival.
We can’t know for sure, but the revived Gang Cheol-i will probably attack nearby enemies without any discrimination.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚.」
If we have it face off against those who will raid this place, they will also mistake Gang Cheol-i as being on our side and try to fight it.
「𝙄𝙛 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙬𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙.」
Let’s do this.
We’ll fight the enemy with the enemy.
In a word, that was the strategy.