It’s not just once.
It’s twice.
By the time it happens twice, shouldn’t you start to have some suspicions?
“Hmm, this is strange.”
The people investigating the monster incident began to slowly grow suspicious.
That suspicion was just a tiny bit, hovering around ‘Could it be…?’ but it was clear that it pointed in a certain direction.
And this suspicion gradually deepened.
『Human-Faced Tree:
A yokai from China and Japan.
It lives deep in the mountains and blooms flowers shaped like human faces.
The flowers keep grinning, and when they smile, the branches shake.
If they laugh too much, they fall off, and they bear fruit as well.
It’s unclear how the fruit forms, but it matures in the fall and tastes sweet and sour.
However, the fruit has human features drawn on it, and because it’s smiling, very few dare to eat it.
Depending on the region, there are tales that it gives a blood-curdling scream when bitten or that those who eat it feel happy and laugh for a long time.』
『Nanjamojya:
A yokai that exists in many parts of Japan.
It refers to an unidentified tree yokai.
According to traditions, it varies in appearance and nature but shares a commonality in resembling a tree.
While it has the form of a tree, it has distinct features; records mention it has human faces embedded in it or that it once pulled out its eyeball from its trunk to glare at a person.
The most famous Nanjamojya has the form of a cherry tree and the Ilex rotunda.』
Two to three.
Three to four.
As the investigation began, it was revealed that all the ‘monsters’ were Japanese yokai.
Naturally, people couldn’t help but cast suspicious glances at Japan.
‘All of them are Japanese yokai?’
‘Does this even make sense?’
‘No… isn’t this just too contrived…?’
It’s not just one but four.
Yes, four!
There’s no way you can’t be suspicious.
But the troubling part of being suspicious is just how contrived it feels.
It’s almost as if it’s openly whispering, ‘This incident was orchestrated by Japan. Don’t doubt it.’ The intentions seem so blatant that it even gives you reason to doubt if Japan is behind it.
“Ugh. This is quite something.”
“Feels ambiguous…?”
Ambiguous it is.
It seems like Japan, yet it doesn’t quite feel like Japan.
If you think about it logically, if someone were to commit terrorist acts like this, at the very least, it would be normal for them to show some effort to conceal their identity. Using foreign magic, making the perpetrator a foreigner, or disguising it as an accident even.
But what is this?
It’s just openly composed of Japanese yokai.
They didn’t even set them deep in the mountains but planted them right on the frequently traveled hiking trails.
They didn’t even kill anyone, and they got widely photographed and spread!
It feels like we’re watching a play.
“Could it be China’s doing?”
“That could be possible… but didn’t China have its magic completely shattered during the Cultural Revolution?”
“I heard they’ve been collecting magic from other countries lately. Thinking about that, there’s a chance China might be the culprit?”
“That’s true. But given all the magic used is Japanese….”
“Right?”
So the government started suspecting other potential culprits.
Considering their poor relationship with Korea and their incredibly pompous nature, they would likely leave evidence behind when committing crimes, especially a nation actively gathering magic as of late.
However, specifying China as the culprit felt delicate.
“Those Japanese bastards manage their magic like a psychopath…”
The government knew very well just how sensitive Japan was about magic.
During the Japanese colonial era, they resisted returning records or divine objects they had seized with every excuse imaginable. If forced to return them, they would sink the ship carrying the items. They even offered immense sums of money to not return the records and objects, and if that didn’t work, they would bribe officials or even kidnap their families to threaten them.
Did they show such behavior only to Korea?
Not at all.
They treated China with the same level of disdain.
Even when furious China threatened war, Japan remained unmoved.
When China threatened to apply diplomatic and military pressure, Japan gathered many onmyoji and prepared for the Great Ritual of Magic, as though saying, ‘Do as you please. However, our land is blessed, and through the Great Ritual of Magic, we could hit you hard.’
Of course, they didn’t do this openly.
They acted subtly yet in a way that the other side surely understood.
Their actions were almost like a tickling of the opponent’s nerves…
It was enough to gnash your teeth just thinking about it.
Perhaps not wanting to spoil the catchy phrases like ‘Japan in the World,’ ‘Peaceful Japan,’ ‘Japan loves peace,’ and ‘Japanese are a peaceful race,’ they quickly tucked their tails and retreated as soon as signs of public discourse arose.
But their sinister actions didn’t stop.
They meddled with returning records and divine objects.
They damaged the records, tampered with the divine objects to make them malfunction, and overlay them with Japanese magic, turning them into bombs.
And then they would say things like, ‘There was some minor damage during the restoration.’ and, ‘Initially, it was so broken it couldn’t function at all, but thanks to Japan’s excellent technology, we restored it to this level. We should be grateful.’
Seeing Japan’s behavior, at that time, the Korean government could only shake their heads, remarking on how “It’s no wonder they learned well from the likes of Hitler, smashing what they can’t possess.”
What’s even more surprising is that they only react like that towards magic.
Interactions between warriors, summoners, magic exchanges, academic exchanges…
There were no special issues regarding other special abilities.
Sure, there are some restrictions on magical science or advanced technology, but that’s expected; protecting technology is common sense.
So, it could be nothing less than absurd.
Here you have someone who usually gets along well and laughs heartily at other things but goes berserk like a rabid dog when it comes to magic. Just a slight hint of concern regarding magic sends them into a foaming-at-the-mouth rage…
“Hmm. The more I think about it, the stranger it becomes.”
That’s why it becomes even stranger.
Japan reacts sensitively to magic while simultaneously not wanting that behavior to become public.
But look at the commotion happening right now.
They’re openly using their magic and throwing a fit as if they want the public to know?
“This is beyond what we can handle.”
People realized.
This is something beyond our capacity.
This was an issue to approach politically and resolve.
“Send it up the chain. Those in charge will handle it.”
*
“This damn luck. Just terrible.”
They stepped on a mine.
Senior officials thought so.
“This isn’t a mine, is it?”
“Whether it’s Japan’s doing or not, it’s still a problem.”
“What on earth is going on here?”
If it’s Japan’s doing, it’s a headache.
It’s essentially them grabbing you by the collar and suggesting war without declaring it.
“If this is Japan’s doing, then that means they’re declaring war.”
“Didn’t we see signs of a declaration of war or something?”
“When have they ever cared about formalities when starting a war?”
“That’s true.”
Moreover, Japan has a historical tradition.
A long-standing tradition of starting wars without declarations.
Thinking about that…
If this is Japan’s doing, we should prepare for war.
As quickly as possible.
But what if, thankfully, it isn’t Japan’s doing?
“And if it’s not Japan’s doing, then this complicates matters.”
“How many groups could even do something like this to us?”
“Only remnants from North Korea, China, right?”
If it isn’t Japan, the two main suspects would be:
The remnants wanting to recreate the puppet regime in the North,
or China, which is drooling over Korea.
Now that it’s established that this incident was conducted with magic, not summoning creatures or witchcraft, these two became the prime suspects. North Korea could have obtained magic through deals with Japan when their puppet regime was intact, while there were confirmations from the National Intelligence Service that China is actively conducting research related to magic.
But.
If those two are the culprits, there’s one big problem.
“If it’s the North Korean remnants or China, that means our counterintelligence network has holes in it.”
“It’s not just us. We’re collaborating with the CIA; doesn’t that mean they’re also infiltrated?”
“Oh, we wouldn’t know. Have they not been hiding information for a day or two?”
“But still, isn’t the U.S. our blood ally? Blood ally.”
“Blood allies or whatever; those CIA fellas aren’t keen on sharing information with us. They’re quite sneaky.”
“Sigh, folks dealing with information are all like that, no matter the country….”
Which means the security status of a country called Unified Korea had turned into a mess.
Naturally, in this situation, rapid measures were needed.
The operatives of the National Intelligence Service need sufficient training to regain their composure, and all networks that might have been compromised must be restructured and consolidated under a new system. Moreover, considerable effort must be made to locate any spies, and inspections need to be thoroughly conducted within the military, which had been quite closed off.
This means, in this case too, they had to twist their bodies to squeeze out a budget for what could be considered war preparations.
“This is troublesome.”
“However, isn’t it possible this was done by a civilian group instead of the Japanese government?”
“Civilian group?”
“Yes. You know, those who protest that all Koreans should be captured and torn apart. They’re not few in number.”
“Well, it’s not impossible… but would they really be so blatant as to use solely Japanese yokai for terror?”
There were at least a few better possibilities.
That Japan was involved but not the government.
As in, it was likely an action taken by a group with power, not the government itself.
However, one high-ranking official in the foreign ministry shook his head at this speculation.
He couldn’t believe that those fools would do something so stupid.
But the people didn’t respond positively to his ‘common-sense’ views.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Everyone wore skeptical expressions.
Then the foreign ministry official blinked in confusion.
“Why are you all acting like this? I mean, think about it rationally….”
“Aren’t you in the foreign ministry? You don’t know those fools are stupid?”
“To think of them in rational terms, how interesting.”
“Come to think of it, there’s a fair possibility that it could be their doing.”
Other high-ranking officials supported the idea, seeing merit in the third opinion.
“We should investigate from various angles.”
“First, let’s check for any spies, approach diplomatically… And since it’s possible a civilian group was involved, it’s best to call in magic experts to examine things.”
“Magic experts? Oh, that’s right. A shaman has appeared recently.”
“Right. It wouldn’t hurt to check their skills, would it?”
Normally, they would have had to bring in a shaman from abroad or a scholar who had never used magic.
But now, there was another alternative.
The young shaman endorsed by Lee Yang-hoon.
“I’ll get in touch.”
