An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 100

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 99
Part 2. The Mountain That Harbors the Tiger Spirit’s Essence (2)
Crunch, crunch.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
The Shaman’s Bell chimed softly as I passed between the Malevolent Spirits.
Malevolent Spirits stretched out in long lines on both sides, while cold rain battered my body relentlessly through the night.
In a space devoid of even the smallest light, where only the sound of rain could be heard, I walked along the path the Malevolent Spirits had opened for me.
The Malevolent Spirits did not attack.
They did not even dare to look at me, remaining prostrate with their heads bowed.
It was the Mountain God’s command.
The order of the master.
The guidance of the Tiger Spirit calling for me.
Whoosh, squelch, squelch.
As I exhaled breath that frosted white and walked among the throng of Malevolent Spirits, I saw something that should not exist.
‘…Red Plum Blossom Tree?’
It was a Red Plum Blossom Tree as vivid as if it held blood within it.
Though this was not the season for plum blossoms to bloom, that distant Red Plum Blossom Tree displayed a red so intensely brilliant it seemed divorced from reality itself.
The Mountain God stood beneath it.
A Tiger Spirit with a colossal body gazed at me from under the luxuriantly blooming Red Plum Blossom Tree.
I gazed back at the Tiger Spirit.
And then,
Shing.
I drew the ceremonial blade from my bosom.
***
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Yoon Sang swung his phone at the approaching Changgwi.
The thought of capturing the Changgwi on video had completely vanished from his mind.
“No, no! Don’t come! Don’t come!”
Yoon Sang was desperate.
But the Changgwi approached slowly, wearing a mocking expression.
To them, no one but Kang Hyung-seok was necessary.
A plaything or prey that could be bitten and torn apart.
That was the impression Yoon Sang gave to the Changgwi.
“I said don’t come!”
Desperately, Yoon Sang wildly swung the hand holding his phone, then grabbed his bag strap.
Then he swung the bag at the Changgwi.
It was an unconscious action, but something unexpected happened.
Rip! Thud-thud-thud!
The loose zipper burst open, and the plums inside scattered everywhere.
These were the plums Kang Hyung-seok had bought from the Large Mart.
Thump, thud.
As the plums rolled across the muddy water and stopped, Yoon Sang recalled what Kang Hyung-seok had said.
‘He said Changgwi like plums.’
When the tense Yoon Sang looked toward the Changgwi, he saw the creatures approaching the plums.
Yoon Sang hesitated, but the Changgwi ignored him, burying their noses in the plums and sniffing.
Then they began crunching and eating the plums, and Yoon Sang felt his hair stand on end.
‘It’s, it’s real. Brother was right.’
I’m alive!
Yoon Sang immediately turned and ran.
Even as he ran, he glanced back, but the Changgwi only buried their heads in the plums and did not chase him.
Tap-tap-tap-tap, whoosh! Thud-thud-thud.
Throwing a few more plums as he ran, he caught his breath some distance away.
He had run for a long time, but he felt no sign of the Changgwi.
“Huff! Huff!”
He had run so hard that the smell of blood rose in his throat.
Yoon Sang grimaced and swallowed painfully, his head not just confused but burning hot.
‘What do I do now.’
He was worried about Kang Hyung-seok, but as an ordinary person, there was nothing he could do.
Going back was the right choice.
But strangely, his feet wouldn’t move easily.
“…Ha.”
Lost in thought, Yoon Sang swallowed dryly and lifted his head.
“I haven’t gotten all the footage for the broadcast yet. Where am I going.”
The incident wasn’t finished.
If I only broadcast the story so far, I’ll be cursed for leaving out the highlight.
I couldn’t leave because I was reluctant to abandon what I’d accomplished thus far, and I feared that my relationship with Kang Hyung-seok might deteriorate.
Phew!
Yoon Sang turned his head toward the Mountain and pressed his lips together before moving his feet.
The Mountain Shrine hadn’t been helpful.
‘Something will turn up. And I have the Red Plum Blossom Tree too—what could possibly go wrong? Damn it.’
There had to be something.
Yoon Sang climbed the Mountain almost at a run, sweeping his lantern across the darkness ahead.
It was a Mountain with a stone cairn shaped like a Tiger.
After climbing for some time, Yoon Sang stopped before something other than the Mountain Shrine.
“Huh? Wait, this…”
A stone mound reaching up to the chest of an adult man.
I’d often encountered them while hiking before, but in a situation like this, it was impossible to ignore.
A stone tomb.
A grave where those who fell victim to Tiger attacks couldn’t be buried in the earth, sealed with mystical wards to prevent what lay inside from escaping.
A Tiger Burial Mound.
***
Crash!
Raindrops scattered from the ringing Shaman’s Bell.
Though rain poured down relentlessly, the Shaman’s Bell that drove away malevolent spirits performed its role perfectly.
The fishy stench and spiritual miasma emanating from the Malevolent Spirits surrounding us grew faint, and those nearest even hesitated and retreated.
But the Tiger Spirit remained utterly motionless.
-Grrrrrowl.
It lowered its posture and let out a rumbling cry.
With just that sound, every hair on my body stood on end, and my hand shaking the Shaman’s Bell stopped for a moment.
‘A Mountain God is a Mountain God.’
And this was a Tiger Spirit capable of even harming the divine.
Kang Hyung-seok stared at the Tiger Spirit with a face growing increasingly rigid.
There was the meaning that I mustn’t be overwhelmed by it, but if I averted my gaze for even a moment, it seemed like it would attack.
Clench.
I adjusted my grip on the Shaman’s Bell and the Exorcist Blade, gritting my teeth.
Then I took a step toward the Tiger Spirit and opened my mouth.
“Tae-sang-wol hwang-cheon-ji-a hwang-ji-jae-a il-wol-jo-a seong-sin-yeong-a.”
Thud.
“Je-seon-geo-a sa-myeong-yeong-a tae-eul-rim-a ok-sin-do-a sam-gwan-bo-a.”
Thud, thud.
Treading through soil that clung to my shoes like mudflats, I recited the Tae-eul Guardian Spirit Scripture.
A sacred incantation protected by celestial spirits.
The fear in my heart subsided, and my trembling hands and feet regained their stability.
It was then.
—Grrrrowl.
The Tiger Spirit rose with a rumbling growl from its throat.
In that same instant, my mind—which had found stability through the Taeul Protective Scripture—wavered ever so slightly, and the Shaman’s Bell too fell silent for a moment.
Thud.
With heavy, deliberate footfalls, the Tiger Spirit began advancing toward me.
Its face bore no resemblance to an ordinary tiger.
Contorted like a tiger from a folk painting, with eyes wide and fierce—a visage that seemed an exaggerated rendering of a tiger’s face in the moment before it pounces upon its prey.
That was precisely what the creature’s expression resembled.
Thud, thud.
The Tiger Spirit drew closer.
Though my body felt crushed beneath its overwhelming presence and murderous intent, I rang the Shaman’s Bell once more and swung the Shaman’s Blade with renewed purpose.
“A great spirit walks with me.”
Murmuring the words low, I focused upon the two sacred implements.
I was unfamiliar with this.
Wielding two sacred implements simultaneously.
Yet I understood that no matter how powerful a sacred implement might be, the wielder’s heart and intention held far greater importance—so I concentrated with every fiber of my being.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
The Shaman’s Bell trembled with the resolve to send its voice echoing across the entire mountain, and the dull blade of the Shaman’s Blade gradually took on a keen, steely gleam.
As I achieved possession with increasing speed, I could feel a powerful force coursing through me.
It was because of the Shaman’s Blade.
A shaman wielding a blade like a general spirit can achieve profound possession.
Just as the Guardian Spirit was about to enter my body,
—Grrrrgh.
The Tiger Spirit’s jaw trembled, as though expressing its displeasure with a rumbling growl.
Its belly convulsed, and its fur rippled like waves, flowing toward its jaw.
And then it became a Changgwi.
The Changgwi—that spirit which clings to a tiger’s jaw and reveals the names of those it knows.
A person I knew, and who knew me.
Professor Jang Jun.
“Hyung… seok.”
The Tiger Spirit seized control of Jang Jun’s mouth and began to mock me.
The tears of blood streaming from Jang Jun’s eyes revealed the magnitude of the agony that came with being dominated by the Malevolent Spirit.
“Save… me. I’m… in so much pain. You… can do it… can’t you? Hyung… seok.”
Professor Jang Jun had been close to me.
We had spent our university years together with Kim Jae-sik.
He was a professor I respected, and I had shared coffee in his office with Kim Jae-sik on more than one occasion.
I remember the taste of that coffee.
“Professor.”
My face contorted, Professor Jang Jun coughed up blood and spoke.
“Lower… the blade. And… perform a liberation rite for me.”
My throat felt constricted, as though being strangled.
I harbored a profound desire to perform a Shamanic Rite of Passage for Jang Jun.
Yet that was not possible now.
Crackle.
I felt Changgwi behind me lower into an attacking stance, while the Tiger Spirit fixed me with its yellow gaze.
The moment I lower the Shaman’s Blade, my throat will be torn open.
I will be devoured alive by the Tiger Spirit and become Changgwi.
As both a Shaman Spirit and Changgwi, I would become a tiger with wings in the eyes of the Tiger Spirit.
Whoooosh!
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell lightly, then clenched his teeth before speaking.
“I will now exorcise the Tiger Spirit.”
“Hyung… Seok.”
“Please wait just a moment, Professor.”
“Hyung-seok… ah, listen to what I’m… saying.”
“So then…”
Kang Hyung-seok shifted his gaze from the suffering Jang Jun toward the Tiger Spirit.
“Stop your pathetic tricks. You rotten thing that should have decayed long ago.”
Whoooosh!
As I swung the Shaman’s Blade with great force, my Guardian Spirit entered my body.
The corners of my eyes lifted, and my pupils gleamed with divine radiance.
United with the divine, I shook the Shaman’s Bell and raised the Shaman’s Blade before me.
“Enemies, ten thousand spirits of vengeance. Spirits of fire and ruin. Spirits of ruin and ruin. You who are spirits of fire and ruin, flee now to the heavens, great generals of exorcism.”
Crack!
Gripping the hilt of the Shaman’s Blade firmly, I recited the next passage.
“By the Heavenly Sword’s descent to the human realm, the dragon’s celestial blade strikes without error. Mountains crumble, trees snap, stones shatter, waters cease, fire extinguishes, people live, spirits submit to spirits, all spirits bow before the Heavenly Sword.”
This was the Malevolent Spirit Scripture.
It was an incantation to suppress spirits with the Heavenly Sword.
Pointing the Shaman’s Blade at the Tiger Spirit, Kang Hyung-seok advanced with deliberate strides.
“First strike—the heavens move with the Heavenly Sword. Second strike—the earth trembles with the Heavenly Sword. Third strike—mountains and heavens quake with the Heavenly Sword.”
The Shaman’s Blade was my Heavenly Sword.
“Fourth strike—all spirits converge and submit. Five purities descend. Holy waters flow, holy strength rises, clouds gallop for a hundred years, spirits tremble.”
The moment the incantation ended.
-A tremendous roar!
The Tiger Spirit threw back its head and let out a deafening cry.
Whoooosh!
The surrounding leaves trembled fiercely, and raindrops and water cascaded down like the tears of those devoured by the tiger.
And the Tiger Spirit lunged at Kang Hyung-seok.
***
Gulp.
Yoon Sang swallowed hard as he stared at the Tiger Burial Mound.
He had no idea when Changgwi might return, yet his feet refused to move away.
Though it was merely a stone burial mound, the Tiger Burial Mound inexplicably held him in place.
As if it were pleading for his help.
That was when it happened.
Whoooosh.
“Ugh!”
A violent gust swept through, and the rain intensified.
Yoon Sang hastily wiped the rainwater from his eyes and mouth, then illuminated the Tiger Burial Mound with his phone’s flashlight.
For some inexplicable reason, he could not abandon this mound.
Gulp.
He swallowed the saliva thinned by the rain and reached his hand toward the Tiger Burial Mound.
And the moment his fingertips touched the pile of stones,
Rumble.
The Tiger Burial Mound shook violently, and several stones tumbled away.
“Ah, oh!”
Yoon Sang recoiled in shock, his face draining of all color.
“I, no. No no. No!”
He could barely form coherent words.
And with good reason—eyes were visible in the gap where the stones had collapsed.
“Ah! Ahhhhh! Aaaahhhhh!”
His legs giving way beneath him, Yoon Sang screamed as he stared up at the Tiger Burial Mound.
The pupils visible between the stone crevices gazed down at him in return.

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