Yaksha Chapter 1

What is the most important thing for a woman in this era, where violence rules above the law, and money reigns above violence? A well-stocked wallet, a safe haven, and a loving family.

 

Fortunately, Anri was a woman who had all three. Her older brother, An Yul, was a wealthy man with a large mansion in Singapore and kind-hearted enough to generously support his unemployed younger sister who was living off him. An Yul’s wife, Emma, also accepted Anri as family without complaint.

 

However, even Anri had a few deficiencies. The first was her health, the second was her memory.

 

Anri had lost all memory of her life before the age of twenty-four, when she first woke up in An Yul’s mansion. According to An Yul and Emma, she had been in a coma following a major car accident and barely regained consciousness.

 

She spent a year receiving heartfelt care from the An Yul couple at their luxurious mansion in Bukit Timah. Thanks to that, she recovered her health, but she still suffered from severe headaches. Sometimes she had to spend the entire day lying in bed.

 

Anri began to feel increasingly awkward about living in her brother and sister-in-law’s home. What’s more, she was growing weary of their overly protective attitude toward her.

 

“Hey, I’ve been thinking it’s about time I found a job.”

 

She brought it up with a sulky voice over breakfast, but Emma and An Yul acted as if they hadn’t heard her.

 

“Yul, try this. The stew today is absolutely amazing.”

 

“Emma, stop fussing over me and eat already. The stew’s going to get cold.”

 

The two of them kept exchanging food with each other, playfully teasing one another. Anri, her face full of dissatisfaction, spoke again.

 

“Excuse me, are you listening? I said I should find a job too.”

 

“You haven’t even fully recovered, and now you’re talking about working?”

 

An Yul gave her a light scolding as he scanned her gaunt cheeks with his eyes.

 

“What if you collapse while working?”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Fine? To me, you still look like a wobbly newborn deer.”

 

Emma grabbed Anri’s thin wrist and shook it briskly.

 

“See? Look at this. There’s nothing but bones!”

 

“The British couple next door recently had a baby and are looking for a babysitter.”

 

Anri shook off Emma’s hand and began listing the plan she had thought out in advance.

 

“I’m thinking of applying for that job.”

 

“A babysitter……?”

 

Emma tilted her head with a troubled expression.

 

“Rina. No matter how open-minded the couple next door might be, I doubt they’d hire someone with a large scar on her neck as a babysitter.”

 

“The terrifying dragon tattoo on your leg is also a problem.”

 

When An Yul added that, Anri slumped her shoulders and began picking at her food. Seeing her reaction, he hurried to console her.

 

“O-of course, the tattoo and the scar can be covered up with long pants and a turtleneck, but……”

 

“Yul!”

 

Emma glared sharply at him, as if subtly taking Anri’s side.

 

“It’s hot as hell! What turtleneck are you even talking about? Get a grip!”

 

Anri looked gloomily at her reflection in the wall mirror. The scar on the nape of her neck was clearly visible between the collar of her clothes. She rubbed the scar and mumbled blankly.

 

“Hey… do you think maybe I was involved in a crime before I lost my memory?”

 

“What crime?”

 

An Yul scrunched his face in disgust and narrowed his eyes halfway.

 

“I told you before. That scar is from the car accident. And you were just an ordinary art student.”

 

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would an art student get such a creepy dragon tattoo?”

 

Anri lifted her pants and stared at the dragon tattoo covering her right thigh. It was just a drawing, yet the dragon’s open eyes gave off a chilling murderous aura. Its sharp claws looked as if they could tear into her skin.

 

“I must’ve had really weird taste.”

 

“Well, that’s true.”

 

An Yul nodded with a serious expression. Anri scowled and glared at the dark blue dragon covering her thigh.

 

Let’s say this Japanese-style tattoo, the kind only gang members would get, could be overlooked. Maybe that style was in vogue at the time.

 

But no matter how much she thought about it, the Chinese character with a missing stroke was just too strange. Anri sighed deeply and stared again at the tattooed character next to the dragon. The character for dragon (龍), written in elegant brush calligraphy, was missing a single stroke.

 

“But why is this character tattooed with one stroke missing?”

 

“Rina, maybe you were just dumb and didn’t know how to write the character for dragon?”

 

Emma cracked a silly joke as she got up from the table.

 

“Thanks for the meal. I’m off to the store!”

 

“I’ll go with y—”

 

Just as Anri hurried to empty her plate and stand up, Emma pressed firmly on her shoulder with a stern face.

 

“Nope, patients stay home.”

 

“I’m not a patient. It’s been ages since I got out of bed, stop saying that.”

 

“What’s a frail thing like you talking about? Yul, I’m going!”

 

Anri sighed as she watched Emma dash out the front door like she was escaping.

 

“Why won’t they let me go outside? It’s so stifling……”

 

“You can go out once your body recovers a bit more. If it’s really that stifling, at least take a walk in the garden.”

 

An Yul nagged her while clearing the table. The sound of a car engine starting came from the garage. Then came the loud roar of Emma’s car driving away.

 

“They’re both so petty.”

 

Anri pouted her lips and walked out through the wide-open terrace entrance. She passed barefoot across the sun-warmed terrace and headed for the spacious outdoor pool.

 

She lay leisurely on a beach chair by the pool, staring blankly up at the clear sky. An Yul came out, dragging a hose toward the flower bed, and clicked his tongue.

 

“I told you not to lie down right after eating.”

 

“Such a nag.”

 

Grumbling, she began to sit up slightly. Just then, Anri flinched and turned her head.

 

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her entire body. Near the diving board with its peeling paint, a pitch-black shadow shimmered. The shadow, rising like smoke, looked just like the shape of a tall person.

 

It was the earthbound spirit that had existed there since the day she first woke up in this mansion. Because of its faint presence, it was easy to forget about, but now, the earthbound spirit was exuding a powerful energy directed squarely at Anri.