An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 117

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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 116
Part 7. My Thoughts Grow Heavy (2)
Step.
I stepped into the profound darkness.
A familiar, tranquil space.
The Dream Realm.
Though I had arrived here without warning, I felt no panic.
There was no need to.
Unlike before, Changgwi’s corpse was absent, and the acrid stench of blood had vanished.
In the heavy, silent darkness, I gazed down at my hands and discovered two sacred instruments held within them.
Ding.
The Shaman’s Bell chimed.
The sound rippled through the darkness like water dissolving into shadow, purifying the spiritual energy that surrounded me.
Thus I cleansed the path upon which the divine would tread.
Ding.
As I brought my hands together in reverence, the Shaman’s Bell and the sacred blade collided, and the bell rang out.
I bowed my head toward the darkness, my hands still clasped.
“Have you arrived.”
I did not need to see to know.
The Guardian Spirit stood before me.
The being who had made me a Shaman and granted me wondrous power now revealed itself in my presence.
“Your disciple offers his respects.”
I felt the Guardian Spirit’s gaze turn toward me.
“Speak. I am ready to listen.”
I remained bowed as I spoke.
Child, my vessel.
I bowed even deeper.
Then the Guardian Spirit’s voice—low and resonant with immense power—continued.
You subdued the Tiger and freed yourself from Changgwi.
I listened intently, my eyes gently closed.
You saved one who would have become a sacrifice, and prevented an untimely death.
I understood whom and what was being spoken of.
All of it was what I had accomplished.
The Guardian Spirit saw everything.
A great spirit, one whom even other spirits revered, watched over me.
I slowly moved my lips and spoke.
“Now I understand clearly the path I must walk.”
It was then.
The Guardian Spirit answered not with words, but with action.
A massive hand came to rest upon my shoulder.
Though the Guardian Spirit possessed neither body heat nor weight, its hand gently clasped his shoulder in a gesture of comfort.
Kang Hyung-seok drew his lips upward in a smile and nodded to express his gratitude.
“Please tell me why you have revealed yourself.”
And in a calm voice, he spoke as though in prayer.
A Shaman and a Spirit.
A bond forged by a connection that transcends causality.
The Spirit offers revelation, and the one who prays stands ready to receive it.
There is one who seeks to awaken that which is profane.
The Guardian Spirit began to guide the path that lay ahead with a voice as grave as Kang Hyung-seok’s reverent heart.
When it awakens, countless souls will suffer. Blood that no tears can wash away will flood this land, and great chaos and calamity will descend.
This must be prevented.
The Guardian Spirit was clearly saying exactly that.
“I understand what you are saying.”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke after having already learned through Shin Yoseph of those who serve the profane spirit.
He is one who weeps.
But whom does it speak of?
As Kang Hyung-seok furrowed his brow and waited for the next words.
Wipe away those tears.
Shin Yoseph? Or some other entity?
His brow furrowed deeper, and the Guardian Spirit’s presence began to fade gradually.
The possession was not being severed.
The Guardian Spirit was showing him something else.
Flutter!
From the darkness above, white cloth descended, billowing softly.
A revelation.
Through symbol and form, the Spirit bestows its message upon him.
Kang Hyung-seok gazed upward at the white cloth falling like rain in ever-increasing numbers, then lowered his gaze.
Then he fixed his eyes upon the Buddha statue standing at a distance.
Step.
To confirm with his own eyes, he began to approach the statue.
The white cloth continued to fall like rain, yet it neither accumulated on the ground nor touched his body.
He understands what the white cloth—so pure it seems to radiate purity itself—signifies. For in the past, there were those who sought to blanket the world in pristine white.
‘Baekbaek Church.’
Step, step.
Kang Hyung-seok walked beneath the descending cloth, drawing closer to the statue.
And then he saw clearly what he had taken to be a Buddha statue.
It was no ordinary Buddha statue.
It wore a voluminous, ornate robe of crimson, and beneath the sleeves, the exposed hands resembled those of a mummy.
It was a self-mummified Buddha.
White cloth obscured its face, concealing it from view.
Kang Hyung-seok slowly extended his hand toward the Buddha statue’s face.
That was when it happened.
A sharp grip.
The Buddha statue’s hand seized his wrist.
Kang Hyung-seok flinched in surprise and looked at the statue, and then the white cloth covering its face slipped away.
The revealed face was familiar.
Blood tears streamed down.
Crimson tears of blood flowed across the face.
Familiar features emerged beneath the blood.
It was Shin Jung-ah.
Kang Hyung-seok tried to pull his arm away in shock, but the statue’s grip only tightened around his wrist.
And at that moment, his eyes met Shin Jung-ah’s gaze.
Simultaneously, he awoke.
Opening his eyes in bed with his hand pressed to his chest, I gazed up at the ceiling and steadied my breathing.
My heart was pounding as if it would burst through my ribs.
“Haah! Haaah!”
Calming my breathing with deep sighs, I swallowed hard and sat up.
As I wiped away the cold sweat, the image of Shin Jung-ah from the dream came to mind, and chills ran down my spine.
‘This is truly dangerous.’
The clearer and more threatening a revelation is, the more it emphasizes the danger.
Every revelation from the Guardian Spirit I had seen so far was like that.
But this time, seeing Shin Jung-ah—someone I could call close to me—covered in blood suggested that difficult times lay ahead.
I had already experienced it with Gwak Young-ho.
How devastating it was when someone close to me became entangled in such matters.
“…Haah! Tsk!”
I rubbed my furrowed eyes with my palm and picked up my phone.
Saturday morning.
There were no client visits to make, no messages to send, and no urgent paperwork to process quickly.
‘I should find out.’
Kang Hyung-seok contacted Shin Jung-ah first.
Damn it, the call wouldn’t connect, and just as I was about to press the call button for the third time, a text arrived.
「I’m sleeping.」
Nothing urgent had happened yet.
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled a sigh of relief and shook his head.
But I couldn’t be completely at ease.
The revelation from the dream had been so vivid that my wrist, still gripped by the statue, seemed to throb.
‘…I should ask the Professor.’
As I prepared to go out, I found Kim Jae-sik’s number on my phone and dialed it.
The Guardian Spirit had guided me through revelations showing the path I needed to take.
It was my responsibility to interpret that path and walk it, and Kim Jae-sik’s knowledge would be the greatest help.
*Ring ring, ring ring.*
(Hyung-seok?)
“Yes, Professor. I’m terribly sorry to bother you on a holiday, but would it be possible to meet for a consultation? Yes? Ah, understood. No, I’ll come to you.”
I held the phone between my shoulder and cheek as I left the Rental House.
***
I met Kim Jae-sik at the University’s Professor’s Office.
It was my alma mater, and since it was a holiday, there were no students around, though I could see what appeared to be graduate students.
I had never seen people look so utterly exhausted.
I observed the graduate students with a heavy heart before turning my gaze away.
Then I drove through the familiar campus, a place I hadn’t visited in quite some time.
The exterior mimicked Western architecture.
A track-lined athletic field, a fountain that had stopped working.
I couldn’t fathom why the broken wing of the fountain’s statue still hadn’t been repaired.
‘Where do they spend the tuition fees they collect?’
My mind drifted back to my university days.
Back then I relied on public transportation and my own two feet, but now as a working adult, I drove a car.
I sipped my coffee and parked in front of the building Kim Jae-sik had indicated, then grabbed the bag containing a fatigue recovery drink and bread that I’d placed on the passenger seat.
*Knock knock.*
“Professor, I’ve arrived.”
“Ah! Come in, Hyung-seok!”
I opened the door marked “Professor Kim Jae-sik” and bowed slightly.
“You got here faster than I expected. Sit, sit.”
I pulled over a consultation chair and sat down across from Kim Jae-sik.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”
The Professor’s Office carried the scent of an archive.
With a specialization in folklore studies, there were many rare books, which made the smell even more pronounced.
I studied the books, which had increased in number since my last visit, before shifting my gaze to Kim Jae-sik.
“How is your health?”
“Me? I’m in my prime, boy.”
Kim Jae-sik laughed as he spoke, and I could see his gums showing between his thin lips.
Jang Jun’s death wasn’t so long ago.
Though his expression had improved considerably, the traces of his emotional suffering remained etched plainly on Kim Jae-sik’s face.
“You’ve lost quite a bit of weight, sir.”
“Then should we go eat some meat?”
“But you don’t like meat, Professor.”
“No, my doctor says I need to increase my protein intake. I’ve lost a lot of muscle, probably due to age.”
Kim Jae-sik rubbed his forearm with a regretful expression, and I lifted the bag.
“I brought some snacks. Please enjoy them while we talk.”
“Goodness, boy. Why did you bring such things?”
“I’m a working adult now, Professor.”
“Put it up there. Wait a moment. I’ll brew you a cup of coffee.”
“But you didn’t have a coffee machine, did you?”
It was an unnecessary question.
Kim Jae-sik had hesitated for a brief moment.
Still, Kim Jae-sik exhaled a laugh and approached the coffee machine, beginning to brew.
The coffee machine, operated with clumsy hands, felt familiar.
‘It must be Professor Jang Jun’s.’
It was Jang Jun’s keepsake.
I pressed my lips firmly together, and soon the rich aroma of coffee filled the Professor’s Office.
From the smell, the beans seemed somewhat stale, but I thanked him as I accepted the cup.
“But what’s this about wanting to see me?”
“Oh, nothing in particular. I came by on the way.”
“Come on now. Tell me.”
Kim Jae-sik spoke with the comfortable ease of an older neighborhood friend before sitting down across from me.
“I’ve received a divine spirit, haven’t I?”
“…That’s right.”
Kim Jae-sik had learned this during the Tiger Spirit incident.
That I had received a divine spirit.
“This time, I received a revelation.”
Recalling the scenes I had witnessed in the dream, I furrowed my brow and spoke as though sighing.
“I saw an Instant Buddha statue, and as the cloth covering its face was removed, it revealed the face of someone I knew. Tears of blood were streaming down.”
“An Instant Buddha statue?”
“Yes. It appeared to be a Buddha statue, but it was a mummy.”
I said only that much.
Yet Kim Jae-sik frowned as though a thorn had lodged in his throat, his lips moving uncertainly.
“The spirit showed you an Instant Buddha statue?”
“Why… are you asking that way?”
It was only after I asked carefully, troubled by the heaviness in Kim Jae-sik’s voice.
“If what you saw is truly a revelation, then it won’t be an Instant Buddha statue, Hyung-seok.”
I looked at Kim Jae-sik with an expression that demanded explanation.
If Kim Jae-sik’s words were true, this was an opportunity to correct a mistake made from the very first step.
Then what could it be?
What exactly was the Guardian Spirit trying to warn me about?
I narrowed my eyes, observing the gaunt, emaciated Kim Jae-sik.

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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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