The Legend of the Fox Yokai of Jirisan

If I told someone that I woke up as a fox, how many people would actually believe me?
Hmm.
Aside from the insane, it seems no one would believe my words.
Literally, I woke up as a fox.
In the middle of an unknown forest, far removed from civilization.
The question “why” kept running through my mind, but that wasn’t important right now.
The basic needs of a human… no, a living being.
My survival instinct forced me to move.
Surprisingly, foxes occupy the position of predators in the Korean ecosystem.
Unlike other countries, the Korean peninsula has so few types of predators that even small-bodied foxes can play the role of top predators.
That’s not to say they have no natural enemies, but encountering a fox’s natural enemy on the Korean peninsula is more difficult than winning the lottery.
In other words, it’s not that hard for a fox to survive on the Korean peninsula.
On the Korean peninsula… that is.
With my lowered line of sight, I looked around.
‘Shit.’
And inwardly cursed.
Although I wasn’t knowledgeable about vegetation, I could at least be sure that the place where I stood on four legs was not the Korean peninsula.
No.
You wouldn’t find vegetation like this anywhere in the world.
Because right in front of me stood a tree with a face so large it almost blocked out the sky.
How could this be the vegetation of Earth?
“Whee-ick, whee-eeeeeck. You’re a fox I haven’t seen before, what’s your name? My name is Jangwahwon-yo (張火喧鬧), I love to sing! Whee-ick, whee-eeeck.”
It even talks, whistles, and sings songs.
This is not the Earth I knew.
In other words,
It means I am no longer the predator.
I hurriedly turned my back on the singing tree and started running aimlessly.
Not the predator, but the prey.
That was the role this mysterious forest had assigned me.

How does a fox cry?
I can firmly say that there are probably not many people who know the sound of a fox’s cry.
I certainly didn’t know.
If the sound of a fox crying was so unfamiliar, there would probably be a hit song called “How does a fox cry?!”
But today,
I was able to hear a fox’s cry for the first time in my life.
“Kki-ing, kki-ing.”
Correct!
Foxes cry “kki-ing kki-ing.”
A fact I hadn’t known before.
Human speech didn’t come out.
…Usually in novels, even if you’re reincarnated as a supernatural being, you can at least speak human language, right?
Human speech, my ass. All that came out of my mouth were the whimpering sounds of a fox.
‘Status window!’
“Kki-ing, kki-ing.”
‘Status window!’
“Kki-ing, kki-ing.”
‘Damn it, status windoooow!’
“Kki-ing.”
This is bad.
I woke up in a forest of the Oriental fantasy world, so I thought at least a status window would pop up for me, but not only was there no status window, I couldn’t even speak human language.
It seems unlike the protagonists in novels, I’ll have to live my other-world life on super hardcore difficulty.
The only consolation is that my brain hasn’t turned into that of a fox.
I may not have become as stupid as a fox, so if I keep my wits about me, I can use my overwhelming human intellect to survive this treacherous demon forest.
“Kki-ing…”
Shit.
Can I really?
If one of those one-eyed bear yokai suddenly appeared before me, I wouldn’t be able to resist and would probably get torn apart and eaten alive. What good would knowledge do me then?
“Heck, heck, heck, heck…”
Thinking too much made me thirsty.
Automatically sticking out my tongue as my throat dried up reminded me of the dreadful fact that I had reincarnated as a fox.
…Let me drink some water first.
And while I’m at it, I can check what I look like.
It wasn’t difficult to find a puddle.
I squatted down on all fours at the puddle and began mindlessly lapping up the water.
It was a pitiful state.
Not only was I resentful about becoming a fox, but I was even a fox without any abilities.
…But.
My reflection in the moonlit puddle didn’t really look like an ordinary fox.
Once my thirst was quenched, I could finally take a good look at my reflection in the puddle.
I had three tails.
‘…A kumiho (Nine-tailed fox)?’
I wasn’t an ordinary fox…!
My reflection in the puddle was that of a legendary creature with multiple tails, a gumiho.
As soon as I realized I had multiple tails, I naturally understood how to use ‘magic.’
Well, isn’t that something.
Even if I fall into the pits of hell, it doesn’t mean I’ll die right away.

[Fox Magic]
Transformation

Soon, I cast fox magic using the yolyeok (demonic energy) contained in my tails.
Then, with a poof, a cloud of smoke rose around me.
In an instant, I was able to transform into the appearance of a ten-year-old child.

“I… I did iiiiiit!”
Finally, I could speak human language.
Like a real ten-year-old child, I ran around the puddle cheering in delight.
I had worried that I would have to live as a fox forever, but being able to transform into a human was like being saved.

“Thank goodness… Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness!”
Overjoyed that I could speak human language, I kept muttering to myself.
Oh.
But wait.
No matter how young, isn’t my voice a little too shrill?
And come to think of it, my hair even reaches down to my waist.
With a sense of foreboding, I looked at my reflection in the puddle.
Prick.
The first thing that caught my eye were the soft, white animal ears protruding from the top of my head.
Without realizing it, I reached up and stroked the ears on my head.
They were as soft and fluffy as they looked, with an addictive quality.
…No, wait a minute.
The animal ears aren’t what’s important right now, are they?
I carefully examined my face reflected in the puddle, and no matter how I looked at it, it was undoubtedly the face of a girl, not a boy.
Then I hurriedly ran my hands over my body.
Gone.
It’s gone.
What any human, no, what any male should have – it’s gone.
It seems
I have reincarnated as a female fox yokai, not a male one.

Although I panicked for a moment at the fact that I had reincarnated overnight as a female fox, I decided to think about that problem later.
There was a more important issue at hand.
Swish, swish.
I looked around to make sure no one was watching, and after confirming the coast was clear, I quietly uttered that word.
“…Status check.”
But nothing happened.
There were parts I could guess.
I concentrated my energy on the three tails protruding from my rear.
The yolyeok began to gather in the three tails.

[Fox Magic]
Status Check

Name: Miho
Race: Fox Yokai
Age: 1 year old
Maximum number of tails that can be summoned: 6

It seemed the information that came to my mind was correct.
It wasn’t a status window, but a status check.
I can summon up to six tails…
I instinctively knew
That summoning six tails would undoubtedly put an enormous strain on my body.
…The sudden information made my head spin.
It seems I need to find a safe place and organize my thoughts.
Though I wonder if there even is a safe place here, just staying put will get me nowhere.
With that, I undid my transformation and began wandering the forest on all fours.
If you ask why I would wander as a fox after learning how to transform into a human…
I’m not sure either.
This form is just much more comfortable.
To use an analogy, being in fox form was as comfortable as wearing loungewear at home.
Transforming into a human was as uncomfortable as getting fully dressed to go out.
After wandering aimlessly for a few hours,
I was able to find a place where an eerie energy could be felt.
‘…Yolyeok (Demonic Energy)?’
From the outside, it looked completely normal, but an extremely strong yolyeok could be felt in this area.
As if possessed, I moved my steps towards the place where the yolyeok was concentrated.
Then,
Space and time began to distort, and soon the surrounding scenery began to change as if it were a lie.
The trees with faces became pine trees.
The squirming ground became soil.
The moonlight became sunlight, and the thick inky scent became a fresh floral fragrance.
‘…What is this?’
I couldn’t comprehend with my mind what was happening right now.
Looking back at the path I had taken, I could confirm that a faint, eerie yolyeok was still seeping out from a small area with a radius of about 3 meters.
Some kind of portal… concept?
I didn’t know what was going on, but unlike before, this place didn’t seem too dangerous, so I followed the path.
But, that tree…
Is it a pine tree? Do pine trees exist in this other world too?
Or could it be…
My doubts didn’t last long.
Soon, I discovered a sign written in ‘Korean’ characters.

Last Restroom
No Restrooms for 13KM from here

Jirisan National Park Office –

‘Hurraaaaay!’
“Kki-ing!”
As soon as I saw the sign, I cheered.
Good heavens, I thought I was trapped in a hopeless other world, but it’s Jirisan after passing through that portal!
What a relief…
I can even transform into a human. If I wear a hat and hide my tails, I can live a fairly human life.
Once again using fox magic, I transformed into a human and began descending the path to seek help from people.
A short while later,
Perhaps thanks to my fox ears, I began to hear people talking from far away.

“…Chief, for this mission…”
“…so as soon as we spot it…”

Delighted to hear human voices, I ran towards the direction of the voices.
As the voices grew closer, I could make out their conversation more clearly.
But as I eavesdropped on their conversation, a chill ran down my spine, causing me to abruptly stop in my tracks.
The content of their conversation was simply shocking.

“Haah… These damn yokai bastards. If they’re yokai, they should just stay trapped in the inner realm, why do they keep sneaking out?”
“How should I know? Think positively, bro. It’s because yokai keep sneaking out of the inner realm that government officials like us have jobs to make a living.”
“Well, I guess that’s true. So, chief, is it shoot on sight again this time?”
“Of course. According to the yolyeok detection radar, there’s a high chance it’s a fox yokai, so stay on your toes. It’s the first time a fox yokai has been spotted in Jirisan.”
“Got it, don’t worry, chief. I’m an ex-special forces soldier, aren’t I? As soon as I spot it, I’ll blow its brains out and make its brain juice gush out…”
“Hey, wait, wait a sec. Stop. Load your gun. It’s right ahead.”

Shit.
While I was blankly listening to their conversation,
Click!
At the sound of a gun being loaded, I immediately undid my transformation and ran for my life with my tail between my legs.
It was the moment I realized the outside was more dangerous than the inside.