HOW DID IT EVER COME TO THIS?
BEFORE, I HAD BEEN A BEAST HUNTER OF LITTLE RENOWN.
NOW, IN THE SPAN OF A SINGLE NIGHT,
I HAD BECOME "THE FLEDGLING FROM SONGDEOK WHO SWEPT UP A FORTUNE IN GOLD."
HONESTLY, HOW INFURIATING...!
I SENT THE MISERABLE LOT BACK AT ONCE, BUT IT WAS NO USE.
Came Back With Three More Chests Piled Up
JUST HOW MUCH MONEY DOES THAT MAN HAVE TO SQUANDER?
HM?
H-HAVE YOU EATEN YET, MY ELDER?
I HAVE NO APPETITE.
BUT...
YOU HAVE NOT TOUCHED A MEAL IN 2 DAYS!
SHALL WE BRING YOU SOME LIGHT REFRESHMENTS?
OR PERHAPS THE SEA-BREAM FRITTERS YOU SEEMED TO ENJOY...?
SHOULD I BECOME HUNGRY, I WILL SEE TO IT MYSELF. YOU NEED NOT TROUBLE YOURSELVES.
IN THAT CASE...!
WE SHALL PREPARE SOME RICE BALLS FOR YOU TO EAT WHENEVER YOU PLEASE!
N-NO, BUT...
I TRULY AM ALL RIGHT...
JAKYEONG!
SOON, IT WILL BE THE ANNIVERSARY OF MOTHER'S DEATH.
IT SEEMS FATHER WILL HAVE TO FACE IT ALONE AGAIN THIS YEAR.
THE MAN WHO SHARED THEIR QUARTERS HAS LEFT,
AND STILL THEY SLEEP AS SOUNDLY AS EVER.
CREAK CREAK...
THE MORE I LEARN OF THEM, THE MORE DISILLUSIONED I BECOME...
CREEEEAK
THUD
THUD
CREAK
THUD
ARE THOSE THE SERVANTS’ FOOTSTEPS?
WHAT COULD THEY BE DOING AT THIS HOUR OF—
THAT MUST BE...
AH, YES...
SO THIS IS THE CULPRIT.
THE ONE BEHIND EVERY CALAMITY THAT HAS BEFALLEN THIS PLACE, AND AMONG THE FOULEST OF ITS KIND —
A BEAST THAT SEIZES DEITIES
AND HOARDS THEIR POWER FOR ITSELF.
A DEITY?
...?
AH, FORGIVE US. IT IS NOT AN UNREASONABLE QUESTION,
BUT YOU HAD THE ILL LUCK TO ASK IT AMONG THE THREE OF US.
NONE OF US HAS RECEIVED A DEITY.
THAT IS WHY WE ARE STILL HERE,
CLINGING TO THIS PLACE LIKE LEECHES.
DANGGOLMAE WAS MISTAKEN.
A BEAST HUNTER IS, BY NATURE,
ONE WHO SERVES A DEITY.
PERHAPS ONE PERSON IN A HUNDRED
WOULD DARE ENTER THIS TRADE WITH NOTHING BUT THEIR BARE MORTAL STRENGTH, IF EVEN THAT.
SO THOSE MEN ARE MISTAKEN.
THE BEAST WAS DRAINING THEIR VITALITY AND FEEDING UPON THEM,
WHILE PLEASURE DULLED THEIR SENSES AND SLOWLY REDUCED THEM TO LIVING HUSKS.
THEY COULD NEVER LEAVE THIS PLACE,
NOT UNTIL THE LAST BREATH HAD BEEN WRUNG FROM THEM.
I AM EXHAUSTED...
IT APPEARS THE BEAST HAS BEEN REGULARLY PREYING UPON THE HUNTERS' ENERGIES,
BUT I HADN'T CAUGHT SO MUCH AS A GLIMPSE OF IT BEFORE LAST NIGHT.
BECAUSE AFTER EVERY MEAL, I WOULD SINK INTO SLEEP AS THOUGH I HAD BEEN RENDERED UNCONSCIOUS.
WHICH CAN ONLY MEAN...
THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN THE FOOD
THAT INDUCES SLEEP.
THE SERVANTS HERE MUST EFFECTIVELY BE SERVING THE BEAST.
THOUGH WHETHER THEY DO SO WILLINGLY OR NOT REMAINS UNCERTAIN...
WHAT A PREDICAMENT.
I CANNOT VERY WELL
REFUSE EVERY MEAL FOREVER...
YOU ARE SEEKING A PHYSICIAN?
I BEG YOUR PARDON,
BUT THERE ARE NO PHYSICIANS HERE.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE HEADS DISPLAYED UPON THE FORTRESS WALLS?
BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL, THE SERVANTS ENDURED NO SMALL AMOUNT OF SUFFERING
AT THE HANDS OF THOSE MEN.
WHEN HIS LORDSHIP LEARNED WHAT HAD HAPPENED, HE WAS GREATLY ENRAGED.
HE DECLARED THAT THE WORDS OF MEN BLINDED BY GREED COULD NOT BE TRUSTED,
AND FORBADE ANY PHYSICIAN FROM EVER SETTING FOOT IN SUHARA AGAIN.
IF YOU REQUIRE A PHYSICIAN'S CARE,
I ONCE SERVED AS A SHAMANESS. PERHAPS YOU WOULD PERMIT ME TO EXAMINE YOU?
HAD THERE ALWAYS BEEN...
A SHRINE ON THESE GROUNDS?
Once an unknown hunter, the narrator became overnight famous as the rookie from Songdeok who gathered a fortune's worth of gold, turns away the chests sent to him but three more chests arrive. Rice balls and sea bream are suggested to his elder who hasn't eaten for two days. At night, following footsteps, he realizes the monster capturing the gods, feeding on the hunters' energy, and that sleeping medicine was mixed into the meals.
