An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 101

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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 100
Part 2. The Mountain That Harbors the Tiger Spirit’s Essence (3)
Knock, knock, knock, knock!
In the pristine corridor, a middle-aged man rapped on the door with fury etched across his face.
“Hey! Open this door! Guest!”
The man was the Motel Manager.
Under normal circumstances, his duties consisted merely of collecting payment on the first floor, showing guests to their rooms, and cleaning the vacated ones.
Yet now, with venom rising in his expression, he had no choice but to pound on the motel door.
Knock, knock, knock, knock!
“Open it, I said! What on earth are you doing in there! Guest!”
Even as the man hammered violently at the door, the sound of metal clanging continued from within.
Clang, clang!
“Damn it, what’s going on now?”
Despite using the master key, the door stubbornly refused to open.
“Please, just open it! Will you?”
Boom! Boom boom! Boom!
The sound of a drum continued from inside.
It was the drum being played by Park Mi-ryung, the Shaman who served the Great Goblin, and it was a ritual to ward off calamity.
I had to block the Victim Spirit.
And to help my benefactor Kang Hyung-seok, I had to protect Kim Jae-sik.
Knock, knock, knock, knock!
“A percussion ensemble, really? Just open it! Come on!”
Though the man cursed and shook the doorknob desperately, Park Mi-ryung remained focused on beating the drum.
She was blocking the Victim Spirit.
The Great Goblin, visible only to those with spiritual sight, stood above the motel, preventing the Victim Spirit’s approach.
Crash!
The Victim Spirit that dared approach was crushed beneath the goblin’s massive hand, and those attempting to circle around to evade the goblin’s gaze were trampled beneath its feet.
While the Great Goblin stood guard over the motel like a Guardian Spirit, Kim Jae-sik sat quietly on the bed.
The curtains were slightly parted, allowing a view of the outside.
Whoooosh!
Why did the rain have to fall so relentlessly?
Kim Jae-sik gazed out the rain-streaked window, his eyes brimming with thought.
What filled my mind was Kang Hyung-seok.
“Hyung-seok…”
As I murmured his name, my brow furrowed deeper, etching pronounced creases into my face.
“Did you really become a Shaman?”
Four years. Four years.
The time I spent with Kang Hyung-seok from when he had just entered university until graduation.
If I included military service, it was even longer, yet Kang Hyung-seok would visit my office every time he had leave, showing his face.
So even if Kang Hyung-seok tried to hide his true feelings, I could see right through him.
“Tsk! That bastard.”
If he’d become a Shaman, he could have at least told me earlier.
What was so important about keeping it secret, and why did he feel the need to hide it even from me?
Kim Jae-sik exhaled a sigh, his eyes twisted with a mixture of pity and frustration.
Then he wrung his hands together and pressed his lips firmly shut.
‘Tiger Spirit and Changgwi, the elephant statue.’
Boom, booom, boom-boom!
In the adjacent room, the sound of Park Mi-ryung striking her drum came through clearly as Kim Jae-sik continued to turn thoughts over in his mind.
‘Banyasa Temple, the Mountain, the Tiger Burial Mound.’
At that moment, Kim Jae-sik’s eyes widened as if something had suddenly occurred to him.
The Mountain.
The Tiger Spirit was the Mountain God, so its presence on the Mountain was nothing new. But the Mountain itself suddenly clicked into place.
On the Mountain, there existed something beyond the Mountain God.
Perhaps that would prove to be the most crucial role of all.
Swish.
Kim Jae-sik clenched both his fists tightly, his eyes squeezed shut as he prayed with desperate longing.
A Shaman is a human who has received a divine spirit.
Such a being is born from the desire to rely upon that spirit.
May that spirit protect Kang Hyung-seok.
May Kang Hyung-seok return safely.
Kim Jae-sik prayed and prayed again with all the fervor in his heart.
***
Pitter-patter! Patter-patter!
Yoon Sang stared at the Tiger Burial Mound from where he had fallen on his backside.
His mind had gone blank, and his arms and legs felt completely drained of strength—he couldn’t flee even if he tried.
Something was there.
Inside that Tiger Burial Mound.
Something that should not exist was present.
Clatter.
His phone slipped from his hand and rolled across the ground, yet Yoon Sang couldn’t even muster the will to film.
Pitter-patter, patter!
Even as this happened, the stones comprising the Tiger Burial Mound continued to crumble downward, widening the opening.
The hole that had initially revealed only eyes now exposed ears and a nose as well.
What lay inside was a person.
Not someone who had been devoured by a tiger in ancient times and subjected to a tiger burial, but a person with eyes wide open and gleaming with an eerie blue light.
-Pull it out.
At that moment, Yoon Sang heard a clear voice entering his mind.
“U-u-uh…”
But as he stood there in a daze, the voice entered his mind once more.
-Pull out the iron stake.
“I-iron…?”
Crack! Boom!
Lightning struck nearby, momentarily illuminating the Tiger Burial Mound with a bluish-white glow of intense brilliance.
A wrinkled face was revealed, and even to Yoon Sang’s eyes, it was clearly no ordinary being.
-The Tiger confined me here.
Yoon Sang caught his breath in gasps and reached for his bag.
The thought occurred to him that whatever was trapped in the Tiger Burial Mound must surely be a Victim Spirit.
Whoosh!
So he scattered the plums from his bag around the Tiger Burial Mound, but the eyes didn’t even glance at them.
Not a Victim Spirit, then.
As Yoon Sang grew even more terrified of this unknown entity.
-Pull out the iron stake.
Now Yoon Sang felt tears welling up.
He genuinely wished Kang Hyung-seok were beside him, but it seemed only he remained among the living.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Nearly sobbing, Yoon Sang hesitantly got to his feet.
His voice was terrifying and his legs trembled, but if he abandoned the entity in the Tiger Burial Mound and left, something terrible would surely befall him.
“W-wait, just one promise, please.”
-Speak.
“Please spare my life.”
Yoon Sang squeezed out the words, and the entity within the Tiger Burial Mound remained silent for a long while before emitting a voice tinged with anger.
-Pull it out!
Startled, Yoon Sang wiped his eyes with trembling hands.
Then, in an awkward crouch, he slowly approached the Tiger Burial Mound.
“N-no, I can’t do this without a promise.”
Clatter!
Another stone tumbled down.
There were no words, but it felt like an answer, so Yoon Sang painfully reached toward the Tiger Burial Mound.
Then he began scraping away the pile of stones as if ruffling hair.
-There’s no time. Hurry and pull it out. Don’t think about anything else.
“Hnnngh!”
Yoon Sang prayed this wouldn’t be something terrible as he cleared the stones from above.
In the process, something cool and hard touched his hand.
‘A jar…?’
It was a siru.
A clay vessel used for steaming rice cakes or grain.
It was riddled with holes, and a long iron needle-like object was inserted through them.
‘Am I supposed to pull this out? Why?’
Yoon Sang didn’t know, but the Tiger Burial Mound was no mere stone tomb.
It was a form of sorcery, almost a sacred ritual object.
Those devoured by the tiger were burned and placed at the very bottom, and the siru above was meant to steam-kill whatever lay within.
The holes in the siru represented the heavens, and the iron needle inserted through them symbolized lightning.
It was a spell to thoroughly seal what lay inside.
Therefore, pulling out the iron needle meant opening the path to heaven.
“I-I’ll pull it out.”
With a tense expression, Yoon Sang pulled at the iron needle embedded in the siru.
Rust had formed, so at first the siru moved with it, but as he pressed down with his palm and pulled, it gradually began to come free.
After Yoon Sang had extracted the iron needle from the siru,
Rumble!
The pile of stones came crashing down.
“Ahhhhh!”
Startled, Yoon Sang stumbled backward, and the rain poured down even more intensely.
From the drenched Tiger Burial Mound came a sound like a sigh.
It sounded like something escaping through the hole that had formed in the siru.
“Ah, ah, ah.”
Yoon Sang stared at the Tiger Burial Mound with wide eyes.
As if whatever lay inside were thrashing about, the entire Tiger Burial Mound shook left and right, casting off the stones.
And moments later, he saw something white as cigarette smoke seeping out through the holes in the siru.
What had been trapped inside was now freed.
“R-record it.”
Suddenly remembering his phone, he patted himself down to find it.
He spotted the phone on the ground, quickly grabbed it, and filmed the Tiger Burial Mound, but the phone’s screen only captured the pile of stones.
There were no longer any eyes within its sockets, no more wrinkled skin.
As if it had been hollow from the very beginning.
***
Whoooosh—!
My back struck a tree, and the rainwater pooled on its leaves came cascading down.
I snapped to attention and shook the Shaman’s Bell, but the Tiger Spirit remained invisible.
Sssssssss—!
Only a dark silhouette moved swiftly between the trees, barely visible in the gloom.
Yet I couldn’t afford to focus solely on the Tiger Spirit.
Screech—!
A Victim Spirit seized the opportunity, diving like a hawk with its hideous maw aimed at my throat.
Clang clang clang—!
I hastily rang the Shaman’s Bell.
This bell had repelled the Victim Spirits’ approach even when I was unfamiliar with wielding it.
The Victim Spirit’s movement halted abruptly, and I immediately swung my ritual blade.
Thwack—!
The sensation was like striking paper, and the Victim Spirit tumbled across the ground.
Gack! Eeeeeek! Gruuuuurgh!
What poured from the Victim Spirit’s mouth as it thrashed like a beast struck by a car were human screams.
Clang clang clang clang—!
As I blocked another Victim Spirit’s approach with the Shaman’s Bell, wails erupted.
Uuuughhhh—!
Huuuugh! Huuuuh—!
Aaaahhh! Ahhhhh—!
The cries filled with anguish came from the Victim Spirits.
They wailed as if their very intestines were being torn, desperate to kill me yet blocked by the sacred power.
Blood tears streamed from their eyes—a sight that chilled me to the bone.
‘The Tiger Spirit—!’
I continued ringing the Shaman’s Bell to keep the Victim Spirits at bay while scanning the forest.
Rain fell through the trees.
Not a glimmer of light penetrated this mountain darkness.
Only the sound of wind reached my ears, yet I couldn’t afford to lower my guard.
Clang clang clang clang—!
As I continued shaking the Shaman’s Bell—
Crack—! Thunder split the sky!
Lightning flashed, bathing the surroundings in a brief, brilliant blue-white glow.
In that instant, I glimpsed the Tiger Spirit near me, its tail swishing.
Its vertical pupils dilated to their fullest.
The Tiger Spirit with its mottled fur, its body festooned with severed heads like bunches of grapes.
Hiss—.
All my senses vanished in an instant.
Hearing, touch, sight—everything disappeared completely, leaving me unable to perceive anything.
The Tiger Spirit enchants humans.
‘Damn it….’
I shook the hand holding the Shaman’s Bell, but no sound emerged.
Even the sensation in my hand had vanished, so I couldn’t tell if I was still gripping the Shaman’s Bell.
Yet I couldn’t stop moving my hand.
Continuing to shake the hand holding the Shaman’s Bell, I surveyed my surroundings.
The tiger had enchanted me.
It was as if this place had become the Tiger Spirit’s cave.
“Eastern Azure Emperor, expel and slay the spirit. Southern Red Emperor, expel and slay the spirit.”
As I chanted the incantation and continued swinging my arm, the faint sound of the Shaman’s Bell reached my ears.
Cling.
“Western White Emperor, expel and slay the spirit. Northern Black Emperor, expel and slay the spirit.”
Cling-cling.
“Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces, expel and slay the spirit. Tai-se-se-hyung, expel and slay the spirit.”
Cling-cling-cling.
“Bing-bu-sa-bu, expel and slay the spirit. Da-sal-se-sal, expel and slay the spirit.”
Cling-cling-cling-cling!
My five senses returned.
And the first thing I perceived was a light source in the distance.
What illuminated the darkness was neither moon nor stars, but a tree.
Beneath a single crimson plum blossom tree radiating red light stood the Tiger Spirit.
-Soul. Soul.
Perhaps because I had been affected by the Tiger Spirit.
I could hear its murky voice, which I shouldn’t have been able to hear.
Thud.
The Tiger Spirit began approaching with its massive front paw.
I held the Shaman’s Bell forward and adjusted my grip on the Spirit Blade.
Normally, it would have been no surprise if I had surrendered my neck the moment the Tiger Spirit enchanted me, but two divine entities were protecting me.
-When perseverance vibrates, the shaman dances in vain on a mountain without gods.
Thud, thud.
Watching the Tiger Spirit approach slowly, I opened my mouth gradually.
“Stop your tricks.”
-All is futile. Meaningless sacred rope, homecoming without welcome.
Cling-cling-cling-cling!
I rang the Shaman’s Bell intensely, but the Tiger Spirit continued to approach, staring directly at me.
Its yellow, vertically slit pupils dilated unnaturally, and the screams of the Victim Spirits clinging to its body grew louder.
Save me. Save me.
I don’t want to die.
Free me from this creature.
Hyung-seok, Hyung-seok, save me.
The last voice I heard was Professor Jang Jun’s.
Kang Hyung-seok stared at Jang Jun clinging to the Tiger Spirit’s jaw, his teeth clenched.
My heart churned with anguish.
Yet I desperately steadied myself and shook the Shaman’s Bell.
“By the sacred ordinance of the Jade Emperor, in this world of illusion where mortals teem and spirits multiply, where human and spirit intertwine—”
—Life is but hollow suffering, a meaningless facade.
The Tiger Spirit, having twisted passages from the scripture meant to banish malevolent spirits, growled low.
—In divine wrath, all falls to ruin, and spirits feast upon the world.
Then it fixed its sallow gaze upon Kang Hyung-seok.
—Release the god.
Tigers enchant humans.
Through the venom of their tails, through the deception of their eyes.
They bewitch humans and make them move as they desire.
Yet Kang Hyung-seok, protected by two divine artifacts and the Guardian Spirit, could resist the Tiger Spirit’s command.
Shing—!
I swung the divine blade threateningly, gripping the hilt firmly as I anchored my spirit.
The Tiger Spirit’s jaws opened wide, its crimson tongue writhing as if drenched in blood.
The Tiger Spirit lunges forward.
It seeks to tear at my throat, rend my flesh, shatter my bones.
It aims to transform Kang Hyung-seok into a Victim Spirit, to mock the gods, and to scatter calamity upon the human realm.
Drawing a shallow breath through this moment, I opened my mouth, conscious of the Shaman’s Bell and divine blade.
“With body and spirit devoted, I offer reverence to the enlightenment of the celestial realm and its new heavens.”
Then I began my prayer.
Not directed at the Tiger Spirit, but offered to the gods themselves.
“To all heavenly deities who protect and guard Indra and Brahma, I offer my body and spirit in deepest reverence.”
Great gods and countless divine beings.
Grant this shaman’s prayer the power to ward off calamity.
“Purifying body and spirit, casting aside affliction to find my true self, I beseech the Mountain God who rules all sacred peaks in this world of suffering, that I may obtain the righteous dharma.”
As Kang Hyung-seok recited the Mountain God’s prayer, I met the Tiger Spirit’s gaze with serene eyes.
This is a Tiger Spirit that slays even gods, a malevolent spirit that mocks the divine.
Many Victim Spirits are bound to it, and my prayer was a plea for protection and salvation for them all.
And in that moment,
Boom—!
As if answering my prayer, the great sound of a drum echoed forth.

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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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