A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 142

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 142: Boy and Girl (6)

 

There’s a saying that Korean shamanism is based on grudge resolution.

 

Praying and offering sacrifices to appease souls. If there are grievances, resolve them; if there are wishes, fulfill them and send them back.

 

However, my thoughts were a bit different.

 

‘Ah, that’s an old story!’

 

As time passes, souls accumulate. New people are continuously born, but souls bound to this world just pile up layer upon layer without disappearing.

 

In the old days, you might have been able to listen to each of their stories one by one. But nowadays? If you did that, it wouldn’t end even in a lifetime…

 

— Grandfather, I caught them all.

 

— You, I told you not to do it so recklessly…

 

— Ah—. If I don’t do it this way, when will it ever end? I’m hungry! Let’s eat quickly.

 

Thanks to that, I had considerable expertise in evil spirit exorcism from a young age.

 

While grandfather listened to hundreds of grievous stories, I mercilessly scattered talismans if I judged them to be evil spirits. My speed was remarkable.

 

Crack.

 

My hand with the talisman grabbed the pitch-black aura.

 

Physical exorcism is the trend these days, you know?

 

「Huh, how did you do that?」

 

When her attack didn’t work, the girl was flustered. She seemed somewhat amazed too.

 

「What an interesting mister!」

 

Why isn’t mister changing!

 

I brushed off my hands to dispel the aura and made an expression as if I found it absurd.

 

“Do you even know how old I am?”

 

「I don’t know. You just look older than me!」

 

“Hah…”

 

「And you’re speaking casually to me, so isn’t that why you’re a mister?」

 

The girl made an irrefutable point while spinning around in place. Her giggling laughter sounded like an innocent child.

 

…Her mind was probably that of a child indeed.

 

「Hehe—」

 

I briefly surveyed the surroundings. Old sacred ropes were tied here and there.

 

‘They look like they’re decades old.’

 

Sacred ropes ward off evil things. No matter how much time had passed and their effectiveness had diminished, normally the girl shouldn’t have been able to enter this place.

 

‘But the reason she can enter… there’s only one possibility.’

 

These sacred ropes were meant for the girl.

 

When the girl died, they must have been placed around the tomb to protect her from evil things.

 

Within this sacred territory created that way, the girl had spent a very long time. With the mind of a child.

 

‘I don’t see the tomb anywhere…’

 

Well, in the long flow of time, a tomb that no one manages is bound to disappear without a trace.

 

Time has a way of erasing traces.

 

“I don’t know what kind of story lies behind this. But I definitely can’t leave you here.”

 

A child’s tomb standing alone next to a school. There was definitely a story behind it.

 

But that’s one thing, and exorcism is another.

 

“Take your grievances before the Supreme Deity or King Yama.”

 

My role is to guide you there.

 

Swoosh!

 

I reached out threateningly. I had wrapped talismans around my hand, so now I just needed to touch the soul.

 

「…!」

 

The pitch-black energy shot toward me once again.

 

Whoosh.

 

I rolled my body to dodge the energy.

 

‘Huh, how did I dodge that?’

 

It was definitely incredibly fast. It seemed my reflexes had unknowingly improved while working as a Hunter.

 

Even if my stats were at a basic level, there were definitely things I learned through experience.

 

I got up on one knee.

 

“Don’t you get bored just staying here? Don’t you want to try living your next life?”

 

「…Next life?」

 

The girl who had been constantly on guard glanced at me. I spoke in a gentle tone.

 

“I’ll send you there.”

 

「Really?」

 

I nodded. This wasn’t a lie. I was uncertain at first, but now I understood.

 

‘The evil energy is thinner than I thought.’

 

She was definitely a spirit belonging to the evil spirits, but at this level, achieving enlightenment wasn’t impossible.

 

The related rumors had only just started and no one had died yet… It meant she hadn’t committed any serious sins yet.

 

Perhaps reincarnation might be possible.

 

“Come here.”

 

I extended the hand that didn’t have a talisman attached. The girl who had been watching cautiously began to slowly approach.

 

“That’s right.”

 

Let’s resolve this peacefully, peacefully.

 

I could feel Baek Kyul glancing at me. In his eyes, I probably looked like I was making a fuss by myself…

 

To shake off this embarrassment quickly, I needed to resolve this soon.

 

“Slowly.”

 

Hurry up.

 

With each step the girl took, one step, two steps, I also extended my hand a little further.

 

‘Just before we touch…’

 

I would switch to the hand with the talisman wrapped around it.

 

Finally, at the moment when the transparent form and solid flesh were about to touch.

 

「…You lied to me again, didn’t you?」

 

The girl spoke with a cold expression.

 

Whoooosh—!

 

At the same time, fierce winds blew around the girl. Fallen leaves swirled and dust clouds whipped through the air.

 

「You’re going to kill me, aren’t you? Just like you did to my older brother. You’ll spray that stinging smoke and stomp on me with your feet…!」

 

The smoke is what you’re spraying at me right now!

 

“Cough, kugh.”

 

Pitch-black energy came flying at me. The talisman, unable to withstand that malevolence, burst into flames and disappeared.

 

Only one talisman attached to the back of my hand barely remained to sustain me.

 

“…The Heavenly Lord is serene, kugh, and the hundred bodies follow his command!”

 

Before an opponent whose malevolent energy was growing thicker by the moment, maintaining my sanity while my spiritual power hadn’t fully recovered was a distant hope.

 

I quickly recited the Mind Calming Sutra.

 

“The celestial mechanism operates, opening and closing the cosmic order—.”

 

Step.

 

I barely opened my eyes and moved forward.

 

I couldn’t delay any longer. If I hesitated even a little, it would only be a matter of time before she was consumed by malevolent energy and became a complete evil spirit.

 

‘I can’t let that happen.’

 

I mulled over the girl’s words from moments before.

 

The stinging smoke of tear gas that makes people cry.

 

The hard military boots worn on feet that trample people.

 

‘And the 1980s school uniform…’

 

I bit my lip. Even without being told, even without hearing it, I felt like I could understand the girl’s entire story.

 

“Do not enter defilement, do not harm the body…!”

 

Spiritual power control began to become easier. The pitch-black energy blocking my path didn’t feel as overwhelming as before.

 

Soon after.

 

「Heuuk…」

 

I was able to grab the girl’s shoulder.

 

* * *

 

The situation was quickly resolved.

 

Rustle—

 

The girl’s form that touched my talisman began to scatter.

 

「…Is, is sister okay?」

 

The weakened girl muttered. She was talking about Kim Se-min, who still hadn’t regained consciousness.

 

“Yeah.”

 

「Tell her I’m sorry…」

 

“Alright.”

 

The girl suddenly looked up at the moonlight shining down on the back mountain.

 

「You know, I just wanted to make my friends happy. Friends who lost their families like me.」

 

Then she withdrew her gaze and looked down at her hands that were gradually disappearing.

 

Hands that had never aged, hands that should have been wrinkled by now.

 

“When she wakes up, she’ll thank you.”

 

「Really?」

 

“I won’t lie this time.”

 

「Haha.」

 

The girl smiled faintly. Now the girl’s spirit form was crumbling down to below her shoulders.

 

‘Supreme Deity. Please look after her kindly. …Isn’t she pitiful?’

 

I conveyed words that would never reach anyone, only in my heart.

 

As I said again, my role is merely to guide souls from this world to the afterlife.

 

Rustle.

 

Finally, the girl completely crumbled away.

 

But she hadn’t disappeared. This was merely the first step of reincarnation.

 

“Phew…”

 

I clenched and unclenched the hand that had held the talisman, catching my breath.

 

“Hey, what just happened?”

 

Just then, Baek Kyul, who had been watching silently, asked urgently.

 

I shrugged my shoulders and answered.

 

“It’s over. It won’t appear anymore.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Baek Kyul wore a bewildered expression.

 

“I see.”

 

After all, ordinary people wouldn’t have been able to see anything. It was only natural for him to feel puzzled.

 

“This is my first time seeing something like this. I didn’t know there were other powers besides monsters and hunters.”

 

“…It’s a very old power. Older than anything else.”

 

Even if it was now losing its place, it had lived and breathed on this land for hundreds of years.

 

“What about Se-min?”

 

“Ah. Her breathing has returned to normal. She’ll probably wake up soon—”

 

Before he could finish speaking, Kim Se-min opened her eyes.

 

“Mmm.”

 

After blinking her eyelids several times, Kim Se-min grasped the situation and sat up.

 

“…Is it over?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

She looked around at the chaotic surroundings and bowed her head deeply.

 

I spoke without any change in expression.

 

“I understand what your intentions were. But ghosts aren’t beings you can ‘use’ like that.”

 

“…”

 

“If you gain something, you must also give something. The opponent was once a human being. And that price is usually your own body.”

 

My fingertip pointed at Kim Se-min.

 

“What she meant by ‘play with me’ was essentially asking you to play together after dying and becoming a spirit.”

 

“….”

 

“You almost never woke up again.”

 

Kim Se-min couldn’t lift her head. She was surely reflecting on her reckless behavior.

 

…But it’s not like I couldn’t understand her actions. After all, I’m doing the same thing, trying to bring back someone who’s dead.

 

Sigh.

 

I suppose that’s enough warning.

 

“Can you stand up?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I helped Kim Se-min to her feet. Her neat school uniform was now a mess covered in dirt and dust.

 

“…Forget about today.”

 

“….”

 

“And think about tomorrow.”

 

A future where you can reclaim the person you’ve lost.

 

“Yes.”

 

Kim Se-min answered calmly.

 

* * *

 

We came down from the Back Mountain. It was already dawn.

 

“…Hmm.”

 

I turned around for a moment to look back.

 

‘Why did a spirit from the 80s awaken now?’

 

There was no way such a spirit could spontaneously manifest from a tomb that had sacred rope carefully placed around it.

 

‘There must be a trigger.’

 

I tried to guess the reason but soon stopped.

 

Things like this sometimes happen on the winter solstice. That must be it.

 

“Want to grab some food before going in? I’ll buy.”

 

I said, looking back at Baek Kyul and Kim Se-min. Then Baek Kyul asked back while twisting his hood string.

 

“Are there any restaurants open at this hour?”

 

“We could just go to a convenience store.”

 

“Oh, I want to eat a convenience store meal set. You’re going too, right?”

 

“….”

 

“She’s going, she’s going.”

 

I don’t think she answered though?

 

However, Kim Se-min didn’t particularly deny it. It seemed that in that brief moment, the communication between the two had developed a step further.

 

Flash.

 

Just then, a bright flashlight beam shone on us.

 

“Who’s there? What are you doing at this hour?”

 

I, Baek Kyul, and Kim Se-min made eye contact with each other.

 

It was the school security guard uncle who was supposed to be on vacation….

 

Let’s run, kids!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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