Pox Demon

Pox Demon

Deity of Calamity and Diseases_厄病神, Smallpox Devil_疱瘡神, Conical God, I-mo-myo-u-jin_芋明神, The Grim Phantoms
KTE-1839-Smitty-Silver(by Bookburners)
Messengers of FLESH(by Devout)

Conspectus

In this world
We walk on the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers

— Kobayashi Issa

Illustration

Photograph taken in the State of Bahrain, May 19th, 2015. Presumed to be Pox Demon.¹

Mark found in most of the groups related to Variolomancers.

Knowledge

Traits: Pox Demon is a spiritual being that has been considered the source of epidemics such as smallpox in many countries around the world.²

The appearance of the Pox Demon varies from individual to individual, appearing in literature in a variety of forms ranging from formless beings to demons to just simple humans. It is not clear if this is part of their cognitive distortion capability, but it is possible to be inferred that there is no fixed form themselves.

Nature: There are two main types of Pox Demons: the first case is called Pox Ghost, and the second case is called Pox Deity.

Pox Ghost is a typical example of a vengeful soul, a category in which ectoplasm has grown into a "malevolent" spirit. It is said to emphasize the spiritual aspect far more than the type of Pox Deity and is held full of grudge in many cases. The obvious difference between Pox ghosts and ordinary resentful phantoms is that the object of vengeance of the former does not exist from the beginning.³ They also seem to have little preference for the means of possession, and sometimes wander in groups. Intelligence is present but rarely expressed because of its characteristic aggression and eccentricity.⁴⁵⁶

The Grim Phantoms (or "Yŏgui") of Joseon, Different Kinds of Different Forms(이류이형, 異類異形) from Book of Sand and Rock(사석집, 沙石集), the Oni-faced Pox Demons in 『Kasuga Gongen Genki E』(春日権現験記絵巻)과 『Yūzū Nenbutsu Engi Emaki』(融通念仏縁起絵巻) ), No. 0991⁷⁸, etc. are the samples of Pox Ghosts. In these types, it was believed that the Grim Phantoms were beings become by who had died a victimized death, just as ordinary vindictive ghosts are, and that their resentment, mortification, and loneliness make them accumulate vexatious energy, damaging the harmony and therefore causing an unusual calamity. This calamity is soon represented by the outbreak of pox.

When the disease spread in Joseon, an exorcistical rope was set to prevent people from entering or leaving the area, and at the same time, the supernatural response organizations of the time, such as the Not-saying TaskforceBul-ŏ-do-gam (불어도감, 不語都監) and its successor, Anti-abomination GuardI-gŭm-wi (이금위, 異禁衛)⁹¹⁰, sent their personnel to deal with the situation.

The Spiritual:Gwi-sin (귀신, 鬼神) the Year of Black Cow,Gye-chuk (계축, 癸丑) Case number 2Je-i-ho (제이호, 第二號)

Description　　Sang (상, 詳)　　　　 Pox Ghost appeared in Jeolla Province
Person in Charge　　Dang (당, 當)　Entrusted Lord Bang-Yun (방윤, 昉倫), the Anti-abomination Guard Inspector.
Conclusion　　Gyŏl (결, 結)　　　　 After the engagement with Anti-spiritual BattalionGwi-sin-sa (귀신사, 鬼神司), the exorcism is executed.
State of Affair　　Hyŏn (현, 現)　　　Added to the secret records and closed the case.

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Scholarly says:

This time, when we investigated smallpox that had spread throughout the land of Jeolla, we found that its aura was bad and contained full of resentment, it was clear that something evil is happening. In response, the official documents were sent to the officials of the Jeolla region, having them investigate local priestesses one by one to gather the facts that they had ascertained, and it soon became clear that there was a powerful Pox Demon in the area.

This Pox ghost is an entity that spreads plague among people, and its roots are truly ancient and unfathomable. Immediately consulting at the Anti-abomination Guard RecordsI-gŭm-rok (『이금록』, 異禁錄)¹¹, the existence of abominations called "the Guests" and Headless Demon Mu-Du-Gwi (무두귀, 無頭鬼) are documented, my guess is that the analogous entities were existed from the Silla period. If true, they would have appeared very frequently from long ago until recently.

Anti-spiritual Battalion will soon reach its destination. They would perform a special ritual to ward off the Pox Ghost as soon as they arrive.

—[Addendum] During the ritual, a Pox Ghost ran rampant and infect several villagers with smallpox. Battalion exorcized it.

Pox Deity is a group of deities worshipped by the people,¹²¹³ including Gozu Tennō and hōsōgami of Japan, Ṣọ̀pọ̀na of Yoruba religion, Sheetala of India, T'ou-Shen Niang-Niang of China, and the Pazuzu of ancient Mesopotamian religion. However, this example could change at any time. Since the illustrations of the Pox Deities in the history books bear a striking resemblance to the figures of Variolomancers and Sarkites, it is not surprising that the beings now presumed to be Pox Deities are revealed to be some of them.¹⁴

Even Pox Ghosts can belong to Pox Deities if it becomes an object of worship, in which case it becomes more powerful than before. Pox Deities are usually able to spread plague over a wider area, making them generally more threatening than Pox Ghosts. This is attributed to the increase in Akiva radiation due to worship and is thought to be influenced not only by worship of their own beings, but also by the worship of the result of their actions: the plague itself.

The obvious characteristic of the Pox Demons is their manipulation and unplanned spreading of disease. This ability is presumed to be due to a reality-bending based on pure psychic ability, rather than having developed out of Sarkicism, as in Variolomancers, which will be discussed below. They literally abuse these abilities and, according to some illustrations, seem to enjoy the act itself.

History & Associated Parties: There are certain entities that are indispensable when discussing the history of the Pox Demons, and these are the very Variolomancers. As the name implies, Variolomancers are thaumatologists who operate a Variolomancy that manipulates disease, and the origin of it can be sought in the "the Guests".

"The Guests" was a group composed of three followers of Nälkä¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷ from the late Daeva and one Sillan, formed when the former three were expelled from Daeva and exiled to Silla, one of the ancient Korean kingdoms. They were the main exponents of the "Variolomancy" based on the Nälkä hemomancy¹⁸ and Daevite thaumatology.¹⁹ Their ideology was "to build an ideal society in which people do not oppress each other," and they used the Variolomancy to achieve this goal. They believed that smallpox infection could "select strong people who would not ostracize others."²⁰²¹It is unclear whether it was because of this ideology, but the Variolomancers didn't confine themselves only to the Korean peninsula, but also they roamed the Central and East Asian regions. This has resulted in the birth of organizations inspired by them in various countries.

The representative organizations of Variolomancers are the Ethics of Flowers School (Huālúnpài, 花倫派)²² of China, Clan Hōsō (ほうそういちぞく, 方相一族) of Japan, and Seŭlga of Korea.

Ethics of Flowers School is known for its Confucian view of Variolarmancy's ideological background, and they became a member of the Abnormal Objects and Phenomena Institute of China in later generations. Not much is specifically known about them, but it is assumed that it's because they became prime targets of Qing oppression.²³²⁴ Remaining documents only contain one or two lines of information about the Ethics of Flowers School, so there is no detailed information on the rank and members within the group. Only the narrative about "Sung Liàngshì," the supposed founder of the Ethics of Flowers School, stands out.

Sung Liàngshì was a Taoist in the early period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and is said to have been basically skilled in the art of life extension and shapeshifting. In 915, when the Guests were on their way to southern Siberia via Yan state²⁵, he blocked their way and asked them to try a thaumatology face-off. But the confident Sung soon failed miserably²⁶²⁷ and asked them to teach him a lesson. After this, Sung came and went between the borders of Yan State and Khitan, gathering power and establishing the "Poxy Aid Association," (Dòuzhènhuì, 痘賑會) the forerunner of the Ethics of Flowers School, which would develop into a group that would last for generations of his descendants.

The "Clan Hōsō", a well-known family that has been dealing with the Pox Demons since before they met the Guests, is a member of the Shūshū-In and has reportedly been in existence since at least 773. When the Guests first came to Japan in 995, Hōsō Terutora, the clan's Head of the time, met with them and "realized the beauty of true Variolomancy and its resplendence" in three days of question and answer²⁸²⁹, which is not recorded in any literature. Subsequently, the clan Hōsō members handed and passed down this art from generation to generation.

One noteworthy thing is the method they used Variolomancy. Unlike the Guests, who caused frequent smallpox infections that were truly comparable to the Pox Demons, the clan Hōsō, unlike them, attempted to prevent the spread of smallpox and other epidemics within Japan. This suggests that the knowledge derived from the Guests may have been altered as it was passed down. The existing records show that both their lifestyle and their use of Variolomancy had only a slight Nälkätic color, and there was no part of intentional attempt to infect pox. Their beliefs differed from the value-neutral academic perspective of the Ethics of Flowers School and the radical social reformist ideology of the Guests, but rather displayed a protective and therapeutic character.

After the Kan'ei Great Famine, descriptions of them changed dramatically in general. The surname Hōsō is rarely found in the records of the post-famine Shūshū-In, and the situation is the same in the records of the pox-related collections for which they were originally responsible. Instead, the position was filled by a group with the surname Nikaho (にかほ, 仁賀保), which is considered a variant of Hōsō. In fact, a researcher named Nikaho Giichi who appears in one record mentions documents of his predecessor and mentions the name "Hōsō Terutora," it seems certain that the Hōsōs and Nikahos are the same kins, as inferred from the honorific title "grandsire" he added.

The Seŭlga is a proto-Nälkä group on the Korean peninsula, whose history began with the Late Silla. Unlike the above two groups, it is hostile to "the Guests" and is the only one that does not use the Variolomancer's seal from the groups influenced by them. Their head, Chŏ-yong(처용, 處容)³⁰, drove them out after engaging in a battle, and perhaps because of this, one of the main activities of the Seŭlgaites was to exterminate the Pox Demons. They regularly launched nationwide movements to clean up Pox Demon by estimating periodic plague outbreaks.³¹³²

Except for a few periods when they themselves were in great danger³³, Seŭlga seems to have been engaged in these kinds of relief works. According to 『Book of Prajñā』(반야집, 般若輯), rumors of Pox Demons' exterminators could be heard throughout the country until before 1912. However, perhaps in part because of this rumor, the Imperial Japanese Anomalous Matters Examination Agency(IJAMEA) at the time began gathering information on Seŭlga as part of Operation Hakutaku III. Then, in the summer of 1912, two platoons from IJAMEA Branch Office in Korea, under the direction of the main office, went into action, resulting in the invasion of the Seŭlgaite village named "Soŭl hamlet," which had existed on the top of Mount Jiri.³⁴ Thereafter, the activities of the Seŭlgaites declined markedly and have continued to the present day.

The existence of such organizations suggests the fact that the Pox Demons have been a part of human history for a very long time, and just as the mundane world's people eventually found a solution to disease, people in the anomalous one also have dealt with it in their own way.

Approach: Pox Demons are entities basically dedicated solely to spreading pestilence, a vicious grudge and evil spirits that do not even feel guilty about their actions. If you encounter one, you should leave the area immediately. It is also recommended to visit nearby medical facilities.³⁵

There isn't any way to drive them out. Our own review of documents concerning the Pox Demons and the Variolomancers revealed the existence of an "Art of Pox Demons' Termination" that appears in common in each culture. However, its descriptions in the literature are all different, and there is no way to confirm whether the technique is effective when implemented³⁶, which has led to a heated debate among scholars to this day.

The most reliable and effective way is to threaten with a red presence of any kind. It is said that in all cultures, Pox Demons are said to fear the color red, and in particular, people from the clan Nikaho always wore red clothes perhaps to ward off them.³⁷³⁸

Observations & Stories

…Therefore, although it was concluded that there was no specificity in the recent outbreak of Severe acute respiratory syndrome, a phenomenon observed at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong's Sha Tin District on May 13 could be interpreted as a possible reversal of this conclusion.

The entity, which was captured by the hospital's surveillance camera around 1:00 p.m. on the relevant day, is a giant, approximately 2 meters tall, and its appearance and clothing are completely different from those of hospitalized patients and hospital workers. He stands in the hallway silently watching civilians come and go, taking no specific action. The entity clearly occupies much space that it interferes with movement, but the workers do not recognize the entity and either avoid it or, at times, pass through its body structure.

Upon investigation, it was confirmed that some personnel working at the hospital had contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome and that the condition of existing infected patients had worsened, and immediate treatment was provided. All of the newly infected patients had one thing in common: they were all aware of the entities described above. It is noteworthy that these results were quite different from those of the non-infected on-duty staff and patients. Whether the entity caused the infection or not is considered to require a detailed investigation, but it is assumed that there is a certain link because of the robust infection response measures established at the hospital and the fact that The condition of existing infected patients had improved considerably before its occurrence.

According to documents collected during the Allied Occult Initiative (AOI) period, unidentified entities occasionally appeared throughout the affected areas during the 1918 influenza pandemic (Pandemia de gripe de 1918), and the entity identified in this phenomenon may have been some of these. It is possible that the entities identified in this phenomenon are some of these. One man (or one spiritual being) in particular, who was seen in Kansas, USA, shows considerable similarity to the entity in question in that he is "tall and silent and others passed him by".

An investigation into this is underway.

[Reported by: Vihtori Nieminen]

Leaked documents and photos from a WPhO researcher. It seems that they were feebly aware of Pox Demons even before the SARS epidemic, but the phenomenon prompted them to launch an investigation. I cannot ascertain the extent to which the research is currently underway, but it is said to be proceeding steadily in its own way. I'll add more info here when I get more. ~ _{Otto F.}

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Anyone remember the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) epidemic in 2015? The origin itself was certainly not a Pox Demon, but it is at least possible that these insects intervened in the epidemic.

I saw something during the time I was in the Middle East region, i.e., when MERS was actively spreading. I went to one city to meet one of my middlemen to try to break into a facility of the ORIA and there I came across a group of people dancing on the street laughing like crazy. At first, I thought they were simply lunatics, but when I saw the car drive away through those bodies, then I was like, "so this must be the Pox Demons of rumors". Quite horrified, I came right back to the library and disinfected my entire body clean.

I later heard that the city was completely occupied by the epidemics. Still feel bad for the patients in that city. I think we should develop a way to get rid of these cads as soon as possible.

— S.B.

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We still hunt Pox Demons. Of course, We are not now in a situation wandering around the whole country and investigating every dark corner as our ancestors did. So such events are held only on days when the family relatives gather together, such as Korean Thanksgiving Day and Lunar New Year. Like tidying up the grave of our ancestors.

At least there are not so many Pox Demons in Korea these days. Even if we find some, there're only weaklings who would simply go down by just one blow. It's perhaps not surprising since medical facilities and people's health standards have been improved. Maybe other countries are similar too?

However, something a little strange has been happening lately. My sister who went to China to study, the plague gods in our area were slowly regaining their strength. She said that in the beginning they were as weak as those in Korea, but before long they became more powerful. That E-mail was sent to me at the end of last December, and after reading another mail yesterday, I think that things have become quite serious. She told that the number of Pox Demons is much larger than …… imagined. I don't know what's going on……

My sister also seems quite scared. She even tried to eliminate one of them in secret, but failed. Although she's the most skilled one in the family. I think she's thinking about taking a leave of absence and returning to Korea. But I do understand my sister. No, no, if I were her, I would have been home by now.

Something big is going to happen.

— Seŭlgaite Ahn³⁹

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Meanwhile, the above-mentioned Clan Nikaho of the Shūshū-In entered a new phase in its relationship with other organizations at the turn of the 20th century.

One of the leading organizations involved with them is the IJAMEA. In February 1909, a member of the Clan Nikaho transferred from the Shūshū-In to the Agency, whose name is Nikaho Hanno.⁴⁰ In 1918, he proposed the "First Project Yakubyo," a project that sought to divert the Pox Demons to prewar Japan, in which he spoke emphatically about the poor sanitary conditions in the colonies and mainland, and the unnecessary death and disability that resulted. The Agency thus naturally became interested in the Pox Demons, and turned its gaze to those associated with them in their own countries. According to our current records, some of the personnel of the Agency insisted to draw the Nikahos into their group.

One point they missed, however, was that the position of the Nigako family was by no means friendly to them. No matter how specialized and powerful the Nikaho family is, they are still a member of the Shūshū-In and would have had no choice but to oppose the actions of the Agency, which has expanded its power as much as it wishes. Under these circumstances, even Nikaho Hanno left the Agency in the fall of 1919, and the Agency's interest in the Pox Demons naturally declined.

In September 1935, the situation changed rapidly when a terrorist attack occurred at the Keijō/Gyeong-seong Base of IJAMEA Branch Office in Korea. The leader of the organization⁴¹ captured the following year was none other than Nikaho Hanno himself⁴², and upon receiving this information, the headquarters of the Agency secretly ordered a raid on the Clan Nikaho. This appears to have been a raid promoted under the guise of avenging the lost records and wounded at the Keijō base.⁴³⁴⁴ In the early hours of January 12, 1936, the Nikaho residence in Tokyo was entirely burnt down. Although the number of casualties is reported to be fairly low, it is clear that the damage was extensive, with the death of the head of the family, Nikaho Fumiko, and the break-up of the Clan. We currently have no information on what exactly happened at that time and are unable to ascertain. However, neighbors testified that they heard gunshots and screams and occasionally saw men in military uniforms crashing out of the residence, so it is reasonable to assume that there was at least some sort of conflict that resembled an engagement.

Immediately after these clashes, the members of Nikahos chose to thoroughly disappear, not even showing up at the Shūshū-In facilities. The only person we were able to trace was "Nikaho Hatsuyo," the 56th head of the family who succeeded Nikaho Fumiko, and we can assume that she is the one who reassembled the majority of the Clan Nikaho's members who had scattered to various locations immediately after the incident. In 『Book of Prajñā』, it is stated that the Clan Nikaho's new grounds were built in secret in the outer districts of Kyoto, and that "various arts and prohibitions were installed to ensure that outsiders were never allowed to enter." No one has visited the new Nikaho stronghold on record, except for Nikaho Hanno, who visited here in 1942 after escaping from "Ritsushima Island" where he was taken after the attack.

When World War II broke out, the Agency and the extremists of the Shūshū-In attempted to use one of Pox Demons, then collected in No. 0991, as weapons of war. According to records at the time, the Agency was attempting to create a "Pox Troops" as one branch of the Youkai Battalion. The attempt of Go-Project Yakubyo is evidence of this. However, this project derailed when it became clear that it was impossible to orchestrate Pox Demons (and when it was shown that the Pox Demons were the causes of the outbreak of plague in the unit), and No. 0991 was also released from its status and flee. We are currently trying to find out what happened to No. 0991, but have not been able to find any data on him, perhaps because he had been reincarnated, or just well hidden.⁴⁵⁴⁶

— Liú

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⁴⁷⁴⁸⁴⁹

Do you know the Pox Demons, you ask? You ask me an unusual question, Ms. Liú. Of course, I know. I have been watching them for a very long time. Could be almost a lifetime.

The Pox Ghosts were among the most bothersome of all the demons to my masters, with their irrational behavior and indiscriminate brutality being rather nuisances. More than once, the areas, punishments, and routes we have planned have been intervened by those ghosts.⁵⁰ For that reason, I have removed or killed them so that no life will be taken unexpectedly.

Such secret arts are often used in the Shūshū-In, especially when dealing with collections that are associated with the Pox Ghosts, such as No. 9901 and No. 1175. The combination of Variolomancy and suppressive charms could be treated as a strong chain to bind the Pox Ghosts. The No. 9991, which was suppressed by Kinshichiro, I mean Researcher Nikaho Kinshichiro, was imprisoned by suppression technique in 1820 that is relatively weak, so there are many times when it escaped from its collected state. Therefore, at the end of 1919, the year I became a researcher again, I reconstructed the technique.

I did not have the opportunity to execute such works as they are when I joined the Imperial Japanese Anomalous Matters Examination Agency, but used some of them when I carried out Operation Hakutaku III and the subsequent measures. It seems that Agency had knowledge of Pox Ghosts even before I proposed the project. From 1870 onward, the Meiji government's demand for measures against smallpox and cholera led to the creation of a department within the Agency to study these types. Well, now I regret that I could not push the project forward to the end. Two years after the proposal was made, …I left the Agency. In 1919 and 1920, of all years, cholera was rampant in Korea.

I was in Japan. From September 1919 to September 1923.

……

I owe you an apology. They cross my mind, the memories of yore…

If you ask me whether or not the technique still can be usable, the answer is yes. However, it takes a long time to learn, as you must have a basic knowledge of the suppression technique and rudiments in the area of Variolomancy. The Nikaho people learned this from an early age, which is why they were able to handle it as well as I did. So you have to be prepared to take that long. Perhaps the 『Book of Prajñā』 that I gave to you may be of use.

— 「Little Guest」, Kim Cheol-hyeon

Shūshū-In? I'm sorry to say, but what he just said… sounds so familiar. — Shr.

And 『Book of Prajñā』. How could he know that? — U.K.N.

……Because he is the Nikaho Hanno, I guess? — Liú

…What? — AO

……Yes, I have to apologize first. You guys were really diligent in your research, so I kept quiet so as not to disturb you. Nikaho Hanno, Lazarus Chen, and Kim Cheol-hyeon are the same person. After returning from America⁵¹⁵², Kim Cheol-hyeon⁵³ turned to the Clan Nikaho and was appointed to Shūshū-In. After that, it's as you guys have looked into. He worked until 1919, then returned to the Shūshū-In, and a few years later, he terrorized the base of the IJAMEA Branch Office in Korea. He was then captured and engaged in labor on Ritsushima Island. He implied that he had done something else after the end of World War II, but I could not ask him for details. — Liú

The Agency……It might be an independence movement, after all.— AO

Could be. He has been ashamed of his days at the Agency. Probably until even now. — Liú

I could hear that word everywhere. Sounds like he's the one like me, may not have been able to escape from the yoke either. — AO

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Meanwhile, the Clan Nikaho seems to be still choosing to go into hiding. The only person known for certain to be a descendant of the Nikahos is Nikaho Maya, who currently attends as a first-year student at Hanakago School. She is known as the great-granddaughter of "Nikaho Kenjiro," the brother of the Nikaho Hatsuyo mentioned above. After contacting her, we found that she had no understanding of the characteristics of her clan or of the principles of Variolarmancy itself.⁵⁴ We are currently tracking down the descendants of the Clan Nikaho, or where traces of them may still exist.

Doubt

One noteworthy thing is, that there would be the unexpected byproduct that sometimes appears in the process of mutation from Pox Ghost to Pox Deity.

Like many thaumatological actions, Akiva radiation is the result of conscious cognitive action, an expression of faith manifested by the worshippers. Whether or not they had knowledge of this principle, all deities and their equivalents from ancient times to modern times have invoked mathematical and dynamically sublime in man, obtaining considerable might, and by using this power to influence man again, they have regained power as if they were earning some sort of dividends.

What the deities failed to grasp in this pyramid scheme system of might usurpation was that they themselves could be perverted by other humans on the same principle that humans had provided them with that power.

One of the biggest examples of this byproduct is the position occupied by the Pox Demon in Japan. In Japan, the Pox Demon was not only the traditional concept of the ordinary god of pestilence who spread plague, but also had the character of a hoodoo god which takes in tow the calamity and misfortune.⁵⁵ While there are socio-cultural reasons for this characterization, consideration of the Shūshū-In records and the sightings of Pox Demons in Japan that subsequently appear suggest that they do indeed have the ability to bring misfortune, albeit very locally. In light of these facts, does not the misguided faith of the believer really confer such power on the subject being believed in?

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I'd like to know something about this statement. If this is true, is it possible for a person to become a Pox Deity? — AO

As far as I know, yes. I studied "the Guests" four years ago. Opinions vary, but anyway, I think we all know that Daevas are people⁵⁶⁵⁷, not to mention Silla people. They are worshipped by Korean folk beliefs as the "Smallpox Gods" and emit Akiva radiation, plus their pox art is also believed to have been strengthened. Let's say they became living Pox Deities, so to speak. Ironic, innit? Those who were bothered by the Pox Demons would still be in the category of them. — Liú

Can we cook the Pox Demons too? — U.K.N.

You need to be a little more vigilant in creating files, Yuuki. And these dishes are not handled at Ambrose Wildcat House either. — AO

I、I've been missing Wildcat House lately… Sorry, boss. — U.K.N.

What is the truth about the Art of Pox Demon Extermination that remains to this day? Is there a unified version of it?

It's highly likely that there is something, as there are the progenitors of the Variolomancers' group. The only problem is that all these groups were doomed. — Deck.

Yet, doesn't Korea's Seŭlga still retain its lifeblood? I'm told that they are still exterminating Pox Demons today. — R.円

I looked into their techniques along with Yi Yŏn of Dinodon's Hand, and apparently, it's difficult for an average practitioner to use 'cause that was the form of Sarkic Hemomency combined with Korean thaumatology. Strictly speaking, there is a unified version, but sort of small-scale. The result would be a failure since it is not possible to call the Seŭlga people to help every time Pox Demons appear. — Liú

Then, the only one that remained must be the Clan Nikaho in Japan. I wanna visit them again later, as they seem to hold the key. This time, make it clear that we are Serpent's Hand. — AO

But boss, there is no guarantee that they will be friendly to us. They may have been in league with Shūshū-In forces that pandered to Jailors, or, less likely, joined with Gogyō-kessha(五行結社). As before, it's the better choice in terms of safety to hide our identity and only look up information. — U.K.N.

Of course, a safety standpoint matters. But I want to help them get back out into the world. Think of them, who spent decades living in seclusion in a mansion while their old friends and acquaintances roamed the paranormal world. I still remember how that girl, Nikaho Maya, looked at us. When we asked her about her family history, the color of fear that passed her eyes for a moment… Or just my misunderstanding though.

Now the war ends and the world has changed. The chances of their anomalies threatening themselves are diminishing, but they are not yet aware of it. We should help them and let them live free. That's what I'm thinking.

Just as we were accepted, they should be accepted too. The world has no right to force them to hide. — AO

1. Paranomal historian Liú, Liúwènxī is staying in Aodaisho for a short period of time to conduct research on it. If you want to know the progress and trace of study, please ask me or Liú directly. — R.円

2. To nail it down in advance, it is not logical to seek the root of every epidemic from the pox demon. If that were the truth, it could have been built a country or two just by the number of them. — E.

3. So, if the common phantoms are in ASSASSIN mode, does that mean these guys are in BERSERKER mode from the very beginning? — K.K.

4. Eccentricity? What kinds of? — U.K.N.

5. You know what comes to mind when you think of ghosts. The mouth is open as if torn open, and it laughs, shaking its scruffy and windblown hair and twisting its joints grotesquely, moving around in those conditions. Like the one behind you right now. — Deck.

6. Ah, come on. - U.K.N.

7. I wonder if it is necessary to call it in Shūshū-In's term. — Shr.

8. There's no proper substitute really. Don't know his real name, and it would be odd to call him just a "Pox Demon" for this. — Liú

9. In short, is this organization corresponding to Gogyo Association ( ごぎょうけっしゃ、五行結社)?— AO

10. I think they fit more with Bureau of Onmyō (おんみょうりょう、陰陽寮). They're the Confucian Taliban, so to speak, with the right combination of jailors and book burners. — Liú

11. This is a book written by the Taoists who served in the Not-saying Taskforce and the Anti-abomination Guard.

12. That means they're some kind of celeb ghosts, right? — U.K.N.

13. No wrong, but the so-called "celeb" title is very powerful in the world of worship. — Liú

14. In my personal opinion, Pox Deities and FLESHes are equally full of annoyances. — Liú

15. Wènxī, I told you. Do not rewrite it as a Sarkic, please. — U.K.N.

16. Ah, got it. It's a kind of occupational disease, sweetheart. — Liú

17. You just want to call it that way…… — R.円

18. Although the hemomancy, or "fleshcrafting," focuses on bodily deformation using blood as the primary ingredient, the Variolomancy they used is more similar to reality-bending than such a mechanism, and bodily deformation was an unintended byproduct of this process.

19. At the time of my initial investigation, I thought that the Variolomancy could only control smallpox because of its name, but grasped that it was capable of controlling typhus and other infectious diseases. the Guests themselves were thought to presumably persist in smallpox, though. — Liú

20. What? Does this make sense? — AO

21. I got blown away when I first heard it too… — Liú

22. In China, smallpox is euphemistically called "tiānhuā," which means heaven's flower. Their name is thought to derive from this.

23. The Abnormality Institute themselves also decayed due to Qing oppression. — C.X.

24. Epidemic never benefits the country, you know. Moreover, they wouldn't have looked sweet judging by their affiliation, which involved the customs and principles of the old country. — R.円

25. They would have tried to return to their own homeland, Daeva. — Deck.

26. Wouldn't it be inevitable if one just used thaumatology, but the other had mastered the Nälkä hemomancy and the art of Daeva and Variolomancy? — R.円

27. Well, in the case of the head of Seŭlga mentioned below, it was possible to counteract them with hemomonacy alone. So, I suppose that there was a difference in the strength of the individuals. — AO

28. Considering their behavior, I think it could be some kind of hint that they just knock the stuffing out of him, you know. — R.円

29. You have a gift of historian. — Liú

30. Birth and death dates unknown. They were an immigrant from Gwi-san-seong(귀산성, 貴山城) who settled in Late Silla. They are assumed to be one involved in the Nälkä diaspora or a descendant of it. Their original, presumed rank in Nälkä was Karcist, and in the records, they're mainly referred to as "Seŭljinin".

31. Of course, doing this does not seem to have completely eradicated the plague. Had they been perfectly prevented those, measles, smallpox, dysentery, and other contagious diseases would never have been recorded in the history of the Korean peninsula. — Deck.

32. And the root of the plague is not only just Pox Demons, basically. — Shr.

33. "The Great Famine of 1670 and 1671 in Korea"(경신 대기근, 庚辛大飢饉) is its typical example. — Liú

34. This made me hard to put to it to do research on Seŭlga. According to 『Book of Prajñā』, more than half of the villagers were shot dead on the spot or taken to bases under the command of the IJAMEA Branch Office in Korea. — Liú

35. It sounds like a joke, but there's no guarantee that you won't get sick if you encounter a real Pox Demon, and nothing you can do if you contract a disease that isn't understood by modern medicine. — K.K.

36. It wouldn't be easy to encounter Pox Demons in times like these in the first time. — Shr.

37. I thought they all just liked red. — Shr.

38. If so, the story recorded in the "Nisshin Shinjishi" of Newspaper Nishiki-e in 1875, that the girl in red clothes riding a rickshaw in Honjo ward was disappeared before one knows, does this mean she was from ……clan Nikaho? — AO

39. This testimony was collected in early 2020. Months later I figured out what it all meant… — Liú

40. I found that he was the man in charge of the operation for the attack on the Soŭl hamlet. — Shr.

41. A secret society that operated out of a Kim Hae-Gyeong (김해경, 金海卿)'s coffeehouse as its base. The name of the society is unknown, but there is information that the lyrics of 「The Hymn of Death」 were used among them as a code. — C.X.

42. The reason why the organization could not be rounded up immediately at that time was first of all because the identity of the terrorist mastermind was in a state of ambiguity. He used the alias, Lazarus Vanuuyart "Zympy" Chen, when preparing for terrorist attacks and external activities. In fact, he has stayed in the U.S., apparently. It is certain that he was active in the U.S. at least in the 1880s and 1890s. — Deck.

43. Despite these arguments, it must be seen that, in effect, that terrorist incident was not a kind of go-some achievement. This is because, while it may have caused some hindrance to the activities of the Agency in Korea, in the long run it really did only minor damage. They were not made up of people who had been professionally involved in the anti-Japanese movement like "Dinodon's Society" was. — Shr.

44. The number of people who died in the first place was also quite small. The most severely wounded person was "Hiranuma Shinpei," who was a colonel at the time. Curiously, this person had suffered severely from smallpox since the incident. He had lost the hearing in his left ear as a result. — R.円

45. Can they be reincarnated? — R.円

46. Hope it was exterminated by a passing Variolomancer. — Deck.

47. Never seen this before. Where does this belong? — Deck.

48. Seocheon Country Club, a resort for all the deities and monsters of the world, is located on Jeju Island. It's the current residence of Kim Cheol-hyeon(김철현, 金哲賢), a member of "The Guests." — Liú

49. It reminds me of the Three-丁 Company or the Tōno Yōkai Sanctuary. — Shr.

50. Judging by his saying, it seems that both Pox Ghosts and Pox Deities are commonly referred to just as Pox Ghosts. Well, they didn't need to distinguish them, basically. — Liú

51. I suppose I need to add a few things. The whole world would be right, not just America. Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting is not only active in the United States, you know. — Liú

52. Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting…? He really got around and about. — Deck.

53. Translator Note: Read [Kim t̟͡ɕʰʌ̹ɭçjʌ̹n]. In McCune-Reischauer Romanization, it is written as "Kim ch'ŏlhyŏn".

54. Dunno, I don't think we should be hasty. These are people who have lived in hiding from the paranormal world for more than 80 years. Since they are already in their fourth generation, it is likely that they have been pre-educated to keep the secret. They may be hiding it from us on purpose. — U.K.N.

55. This is the reason why the alias contains Deity of Calamity and Diseases. — C.X.

56. From what I hear, they sound pretty wicked, do they not? — Shr.

57. Well, at least they lived like a human being. Not humanely, though. — Liú