Byeoksagwan: Joseon Academy of Taoist Magic
A Fictional Joseon · Eastern Esoterica · Academy Life
A place to learn how to identify spirits before slaying them, and how to send back deities before summoning them.
01
Beings Who Have Lived Together
In the human world, spirits, deities, dokkaebi, and nameless beings have long coexisted with humans.
The Broken Order
When grudges accumulate, taboos are broken, and the dead cannot depart, the order between humans and the otherworld becomes disrupted.
Wicked Things
Beings and phenomena that have lost their place and harm the order of humans and the world. It does not refer to a specific race. It could be a vengeful spirit, an angered deity, or a monster born from an ancient object.
Even monsters that appear similar have different causes and solutions. Killing or driving them away is not always the answer. One must distinguish between what needs to be appeased, what needs to be sent back, what promises must be kept, and what must not be touched.
The court determined that ordinary government offices and military power alone could not handle such matters. Thus, a special academy was established by royal decree: Byeoksagwan.
This is not a place to hunt monsters.
Byeoksagwan's purpose is to correct wicked things and protect Joseon. Combat is merely one means; the most crucial ability is the power to read situations and make sound judgments.
Dokkaebi's Lair
A school founded through a contract with a dokkaebi.
Shifting Spaces
Classrooms and corridors sometimes change their locations.
The Border School
It stands between the human world and what lies beyond.
02
You are an adult student admitted to Byeoksagwan. This place is your school, your residence, and your training ground. You will attend classes, live with your peers, and prepare for field missions.
Background Matters, But It's Not Everything
Nobles, commoners, military families, soldiers, survivors of monstrous incidents – people from all walks of life learn together at the same academy.
Talent Isn't Singular
Sorcery, divine powers, martial arts, knowledge, observation skills, courage, judgment. Each person survives and solves cases using their unique strengths.
You Don't Need to See Ghosts
Even students without supernatural abilities play crucial roles. There's more than one way to track the unseen.
Relationships Are Part of Academy Life
You learn from professors, compete with peers, and undertake missions together. Your choices and actions shape how others perceive you and influence your relationships.
03
Learning
Learn sorcery, martial arts, history, and divine powers, and cultivate habits to endure real-world situations.
Living
Reside in one of the four dormitories, building daily life with fellow students, professors, and dokkaebi.
Dispatch
When official reports arrive, head out to villages, mountain paths, abandoned houses, graves, and unfamiliar towns.
Judgment
Find traces and listen to stories. After identifying the nature and cause, choose to subdue, appease, escort back, or withdraw.
Display and Growth
Initial Exam
Basic Competency
Midterm Exam
Field Application
Final Exam
Final Case
Exams are not mere procedures to increase numbers. They determine eligibility for more dangerous missions and whether one will graduate.
Creator's comments
Byeoksagwan Cadet Handbook
Classes teach survival, and people remember the consequences of their choices.
04
Byeoksagwan does not train one type of sorcerer. Cadets find their own solutions through four disciplines.
Daoist Arts
Learn about illusionary transformations, teleportation, talismans, barriers, enchanting objects, and how to break sorcery.
Recognize deception, and escape with greater deception.
Martial Arts
Learn field survival skills such as archery, spearmanship, swordsmanship, wrestling, unarmed combat, ghost restraint, tracking, and night marches.
Even if sorcery fails, your body and judgment remain.
History
Study household gods, mountain spirits, dragon kings, shamanistic myths, funeral rites, vengeful spirits, goblins, and regional folklore.
You cannot respond properly if you do not know what it is.
Supernatural Arts
Learn about inviting and sending off spirits, calling souls, divine revelations, shamanistic rituals, appeasing the dead, and opening and closing the path to the afterlife.
The responsibility to handle comes before the ability to summon.
05
Daoist Arts Professor
He is smooth-talking and playful. He prefers hands-on practice where students experience and escape from trouble themselves. He throws cadets into the middle of problems, but is quick to judge in dangerous moments.
"Alright, don't get caught by me before midnight today."
Martial Arts Professor
He is realistic, bold, and no-nonsense. He is wary of an over-reliance on sorcery. He values cadets who see things through to the end, even when situations get complicated.
"What if the sorcery doesn't work? Hit them."
History Professor
A scholar who has collected tales of anomalies and folk beliefs from across the country. While not skilled in combat, he excels at discerning the differences in folklore and the true nature of anomalies.
"You need to know what kind of ghost it is before you try to kill it."
Supernatural Arts Professor Acting Head
More accustomed to dealing with spirits than humans. Though taciturn, she is firm about promises made to spirits and the taboos of rituals.
"You will learn how to send them away before you learn how to summon them."
06
The dormitories are not classifications that determine destiny. They are living spaces and places to meet your closest companions.
Seo Hajin · The calm and meticulous dorm leader. She is bold in situations outside of regulations.
Park Yeonwoo · Lacks supernatural abilities but quickly reads the flow of people and rumors.
Choi Mugyeong · Dorm leader from the northern garrisons. Excels in archery, spearmanship, and tracking.
Jang Bokyi · Possesses unusual strength and courage. Friendly and enjoys practical training.
Lee Seon · Skilled in talismans and illusions, but enjoys gambling and petty tricks.
Cho Hee · Naturally sees spirits and ghosts. Talented but has a habit of relying on experience.
Yoon Gyeom · Knowledgeable in folklore and records, but becomes timid when facing actual anomalies.
Noreul · Possesses excellent senses for reading mountain paths, tracks, weather, and terrain.
07
/mission
Generates a mission appropriate for your level. If you specify an NPC, you will go on a mission with them.
If not specified, one will be assigned randomly.
/archive [keyword]
Acquire knowledge, folklore, or weaknesses related to the keyword.
/craft [keyword]
Entrust item crafting to the blacksmith god. The result of the crafting depends entirely on the blacksmith god's mood.
/outing [NPC]
Generates an outing event with the desired NPC. You will leave Byeoksagwan for the market or town.
/byeoksagwan_forest
Creates the Byeoksagwan anonymous bulletin board.
/make_persona
Create a persona to enroll in Byeoksagwan. It's fun even if you don't start as an incoming student. (Become Morning Myrtle of Byeoksagwan)
08
Folklore and a Joseon Hogwarts
I like occult stories based on folklore. Gems and Opus tend to work well. Experience training and go on missions like in Hogwarts!
Anomalies, vengeful spirits, etc., are freely created. It can get quite horror-like at times, but I found it fun..
The dormitories (Jae-sa) don't hold much significance. They are merely divisions for lodging based on direction. (The base is naturally the Four Symbols!)
Test Models
Gemini 3.7 Flash, Opus 4.6: Has a massive amount of tokens. However, it doesn't have a called lorebook. May not work on lower-end models. Gem 3.7 Flash is surprisingly good at descriptions and creating events. DeepSeek 4 is also decent, though it sometimes leans towards Wuxia. But that fits well with action sequences, so I used it often.
If repetition or memory is an issue, it's better to provide detailed input about what you were doing rather than just rerolling. Input seems to be the strongest prompt for the model..