so I can manipulate plants now. Cool, cool cool cool. After that crazy job with the break in and everything, I'm living large. Guy gave us enough to live on for a while each, and I'm just happy to be able to rent a room at a cheap motel while I work out how to actually afford a damn house in this economy. Then, go figure, my horns start itching. A lot. I try to ignore it but the blasted things just don't . STOP. ITCHING. So naturally, I have to figure out a crazy goblin thing dear old Da passed down to me. Lovely. I'm shut up in this cheap, probably flammable, motel room for hours trying to get the itching to stop, trying anything I can think of, illusions, fire, wind calling, heck, even that crazy story about turning people into more goblins, but no dice. No goblins popping out of thin air, no one suddenly shedding their skin and hopping out with magic powers, no blue flames setting the entire motel ablaze, no lightning falling from the sky, nothing. Until I find a patch of living grass. Now, this was a crazy cheap motel, I'm not losing all this money I just got over some base creature comforts, but I'll be honest, having so little plantlife nearby was kinda shocking. Fortunately for me, it just so happened to be right outside the room I got. Finally, the itching disappears as some stray football just gets tangled in a thich growth of grass. The shock snaps me out of some kind of magical trance and the grass shrinks back into the ground, no one the wiser, and I have my first goblin power. Goody.

After that job with the girl, the changes have become, how do I put it... more pronounced. Last time, I got the power to make plants grow crazy fast, and just use them to tangle people up. Pretty handy, especially last time, but in the end, it's more of a utility power, and I had just as much real oomph as I did before. Not so now. Now I can conjure a lightning bolt from thin air!

This is easily the most awesome power I have seen so far. Sure, Ler turning into a raccoon ended up being more practical, and Skunk's Robot Dog was a great helper for the job too, but c'mon, lightning bolts. Like a damn Wizard. Only real drawback is, I need something to focus my power through when I use it, like a conductors baton, sort of. Without one, I'm still just plain ol' me, no special tricks. Fortunately, I have a plan to finally get myself a place to set down roots. Got this part-time job at a flower shop with the whole super plant growth thing, if I play my cards right, I can probably get the old man in charge to make me a full time employee, and get him to let me use the spare room above the shop. Won't be comfy, but sure beats the streets. Anyhting would beat the streets at this point, honestly. Wonder if the lightning thing will let me save on electricity bills? Might be a bad idea to try.

I got back fine from the job, my boss at the flower shop didn't even bat an eye when I showed up like nothing had happened and got back to work. Actually being able to pay for stuff is great, even if it's not the line of work I imagined myself getting into. Ah well, if I keep going on jobs I'll move on up in the world eventually. Right on up to where I belong. In other news, my new powers from the latest job have kicked in, and it's a pretty sweet upgrade on what I could already do. Normally when I tap into natural forces, it's pretty much just me finding them and dragging them out to amp up something that would already happen naturally, like making plants grow faster, or causing a spontaneous lightning bolt, but now I can make it more... controlled. It loses all that oomph it has when I just chuck power around, but it's not as taxing, and the best part, I can pick stuff up with it. Nothing like making the wind blow some papers you need from a desk to your hand, or having the flowers in a flower vase get you your morning coffee. Still working on those pesky 'range limitations', but I'm finally seeing some real return on the whole 'freak and social pariah' thing. Thanks for that, Dad.

As a side note, I'm gonna have to be careful to put things back the way they were, I can only blame moles for shifted earth so many times before people start getting suspicious.

New power, nothing flashy this time. I was messing around with my baton, hoping for something as cool as last time, but no such luck. Instead of something on the level of a bolt of lightning appearing out of nowhere, or the winds bending to my will, or plants rising from the ground at my command, I can now open locks with a tap. I'm actually pretty ok with this, nothing incredible, but it's the sorta thing to come in handy, and it doesn't leave me feeling like I just tried to solve five hard algebra equations in ten minutes when I use it too much, like with the more impressive stuff.

In other news, I've been getting the hang of controlling plant growth, to the point where I can keep it going without having to focus on it, which is gonna be a great card up my sleeve the next time I have to run away while something horrific tries to eat me. Seriously, three times cannot be a coincidence, and why is it always basements!?! What is it with man eating monsters and basements, do they go for cheap on AirBNB or something? Maybe I could ask the next time one of them tries to eat me? Sure would beat the kinda rent I have to pay living in New York, and who knows? Maybe I'll be able to save up some money, get a loan for a car or something? Ain't that the dream, even with all this.

After the fiasco of my last job, I decided I needed a bit of practical experience with the natural world. I already work in a flower shop, so it wasn't hard to get some reading material on plantlife, but sitting through all those books was just so boring. Let me tell you, reading through every variation of the bajillion plants around New York alone is a real slog, and the worst part is, most of them are pretty much the same damn plant! I could feel my brain leaking out my ears by the end, and honestly, the only parts I really picked up were the useful stuff, some edible plants, some I could use for kindling, that sort of thing. Honestly, who gets this wrapped up in names, anyway? Nature isn't some hard construct you can put a label on, it changes all the time! Stupid humans, and their stupid scientific method...

Where was I? Oh, right, after that I did a bit of research on animals, mostly stuff I could grab from a local library. Doubt it'll help me much beyond recognising what features these animals should not have, though I like to think I could recognise most of those on my own, but there were a few bits and pieces I probably would've had an issue finding out. Or at least I would've before my new power kicked in. Yeah, I can sense people nervous systems or something like that in an area around me, about twenty five feet, if my measurements are right. Not just that, I can smell like a damn bloodhound, which is not fun in New York. This is definitely the sorta thing that'll keep me alive though, after what happened with the last job, being able to sense anything hiding near me will be a real lifesaver.

Valerie's dead. Turns out she's been dead for months. A little while after the job we went on, Penny, a woman we killed while trying to hide from the cops, took over her body. I don't know how, or why, but now she's going on jobs and Valerie is just... gone. She's nice, I guess, certainly saved the team during that last job, but... I dunno, I guess it's just... Valerie and I worked together. It was just the once, but the other Contractors, they just seem to mean more to me these days, y'know? I don't know if it's some kind of disconnect, or my growing inhumanity or what, but there's a difference between Contractors and normal people, and I can just tell. I managed to apologise to Penny, for the whole participating in her murder thing, which went surprisingly well.

Aside from that, some idiot managed to out our existence to the public at large and now the world knows about Contractors, and thinks we're a terrorist organisation. Whoever David Silvana was, I'm glad we never had to work together, I can't imagine what a disaster that would have been. Gonna be a real problem when I'm out on a job, me and whatever team I'm with are gonna need to close ranks in case anyone outs us.

My new power for the new job is a closer bond with my Bangmangi. It looks the part now, too, instead of just being a collapsible baton, and those spikes look like they can deal some damage. It turns back when convenient, so it's portable too.

I don't know what it was about that last job, whether it was the magic involved, if I've tapped into enough of my potential, or just taking on three guys by myself at the end, but after it I feel... different. My lockpicking spell, it's easier now, I don't need my baton to act as a focus for it, it just functions as an aid now. If I ever need to, I can muster the magic to cast it with my bare hands, no focus necessary, but it does make the whole experience easier, less taxing on my reserves. I'm wondering if this will become a trend, if I've hit a sort of plateau where, instead of getting new powers, my existing ones will get stronger. I'm not complaining, mind you, my current powers certainly kick ass but I'm fully aware they're not the peak of what's out there, but it feels... odd. Knowing that, except for my body, I'm a real Dokkaebi now, everything I should have had is finally mine. I'm thinking it's time, time for me to go back to Korea and claim what's mine, or at least start preparing. I'll need to be stronger, in order to hold onto it, but by the blood flowing through my veins, I will be king, like my father before me.

I'll also need to figure out how to keep in touch with my contacts, I just met people who can craft miraculous items that could give me the edge I need, I'm not going to just drop them because I'm on a different continent. Phone calls would let us keep in touch, but actually trading with them? Gonna be an issue.

It's happened. My hair, my horns, I... I match, I'm one of them, everthing finally fits into place. I may not be the strongest, but I am now fully, truly, a pure-blooded Dokkaebi. Ha, what will dad say when he sees me now? Probably something stern, honestly, man was never great with overt displays of affection. Still, all I need to do is build up my power and contacts, and soon, I'll have the power, and the pull, to become king.

The Network and Bu Fang's group are already coming in handy, I can put out a call for people to work with me and I'll actually get people who can help. No scrawny newbies, barely able to walk by themselves, no overconfident jackasses who screw everyone over and then die, real, actual, seasoned proffessionals of our field, honed to a razors edge by constant life or death struggles, and generally used to the wackier stuff that can happen to us. And the best part? I know a fair few of these people. As exclusive as the club was already, making it as far as we have means we've mostly all met at one point or another. These are people I know will have my back, who've had it through worse scrapes than what I'm planning on walking into, I can do this.

Just not quite yet. I still need to get that armour from Jason, after all, and that means doing him a favour, and it wouldn't hurt to push all my powers to the point I can use them barehanded before having a go, either, just in case I get disarmed. I'll be dealing with Tricksters, after all.

Hot damn, I've got a new trick up my sleeve. With the whole "fully transforming into a goblin" thing, I've become able to pump out goblin fire with no problems, much as I want, in demand, but now? Now I can outright project the stuff, basically turn my hands into flamethrowers. I'm not gonna lie, this absolutely kicks ass.

That outta the way, I've got plans going forward. First, check in with Alice, see how she's doing with that demon haunting her kid. Second, check if Jason's ready to break into a hospital to get his head thing checked out in exchange for some decent armour, because damn am I feeling exposed at this point. Third, well, I ain't got anything there, maybe network with Oz and Bu? I know Oz makes some sweet rides, and getting a TORI of my own will definitely save me a lot of trouble in the future, and Bu has all that healing stuff on offer. Just gotta find something he'd be interested in to exchange.

Damn, this is really it, the big leagues. Soon enough, with a bit of grit and elbow grease, I'll be damn near unstoppable back home. I mean, lol at me, planning negotiations with a magic chef and some super mechanics, an actual exorcism, not bad for a guy who spent a good while on the streets.

As for stuff Bu would want, how was really invested in looking for artifacts, made a whole speech about it. Given my abilities, I wonder if I could find him something?

After saving Bu Fang from those crazy cultists, he paid me back with one of those magic dishes he makes, some kind of sliced Sea Cucumber which grants temporary regeneration, something to do with Qi and sympathetic effects, I think? Gotta be honest, I don't understand half the stuff he goes on about, and I'm not sure if that's a powers thing or if he's legitimately that bad at explaining it.

As a note to myself in the future, watch out for tentacles. Even if the thing flying towards you to tackle you into the ground doesn't look like it should have tentacles, and that you can just set its wings on fire and watch it drop, always beware of tentacles. I'm never going to get that image out of my mind. Or my shoulder.

I'm kinda worried about Akira at the moment, last I saw him he was still stuck as a pony, and I'm not certain there's a doctor, mundane or supernatural, who's actually qualified or capable of fixing that. Apparently it's the effect of some kind of charm, but he can't use it anymore, or most of his other powers, which is honestly a pretty awful thing to happen. I mean, imagine losing access to your powers, and getting stuck in the body of a freaky cartoon horse. Poor guy, hopefully he gets something from a job that lets him fix whatever's broken, though given his predicament, I imagine that's going to be a challenge. Who knows, though, maybe he can rent a horse trailer or something.

Well fuck. So, I didn't get that vampire bite thing sorted out just yet, stopped to do a favour for Alice to pay her back and, well, let's just say it didn't go well. It was simple, at first, go to this town, some others will be along, find out what happened to these missing people, that sorta stuff, then, well, then I got shot in the face. It sucked, I was hospitalised, people saw my horns (fuck if that wasn't the worst, hasn't happened to me since I was about 10, and started wearing all these hats), and then my back-up finally arrived. It was Oz and this guy called Bluedo, who managed to find a way to track down the sniper who, once again, shot me in the face, but by that point I was thoroughly done with this whole incident, called it quits, and went to a healer Alice recommended, a familiar face, too, it was Akira. Turns out, the guy knows how to replace entire missing organs. Who knew? Also he's not a horse anymore, which is good for him.

Anyway, now I'm stuck, waiting on Alice to get back to me on her "friend" who might be able to treat me, all the while I'm stuck feeding on whoever I can find who won't call the cops on me if they spot me. At the very least, I've gotten to the point where I can pick out a good vein to sink my fang/teeth things into (not quite fangs, not quite normal teeth, not even sure if this is a vampire thing or not).