An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 123

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

Chapter 122
Part 2. The Righteous Path (3)
“Huff, huff.”
My chest heaves as if it might burst, breath coming in ragged gasps.
My legs feel leaden, my mouth dry as a desert.
How many mountains have I crossed?
How many roads have I traversed?
Whip!
Without warning, Kang Hyung-seok spun around, breathing heavily through his nose.
Only distant streetlights and moths drawn to their glow were visible—no people.
Click.
He pulled out his phone, opened the map, and verified he was heading in the correct direction.
‘Northeast. The direction is right.’
I tried to move in as straight a line as possible.
But since I was doing my best to avoid people, there were several moments when I had to detour unintentionally.
Woof, woof, woof, woof!
A dog’s barking echoed from afar, as if saying, “It’s not easy, is it?”
Kang Hyung-seok rubbed his parched lips, glanced back at the dog, and quickly moved into an area beyond the streetlight’s reach.
Crunch, crunch.
Moments later, two men walked past the spot where Kang Hyung-seok had been, their shoulders aligned, their expressions blank.
One appeared to be in his sixties, the other around forty, both with unremarkable features.
But I saw it clearly.
The bulging pockets.
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!
As if sensing some sinister presence, the dog barked relentlessly at the two men.
Kang Hyung-seok closed his eyes, enduring his exhaustion, and waited until all sound of their presence vanished completely.
‘Is this really right?’
Must I sacrifice myself for people like this?
They have nothing to be proud of.
They move according to the Heretical Sect’s will, carrying weapons in their pockets.
Is there any value in destroying what the Cult believes in and worships, even for people like them?
Kang Hyung-seok gazed up at the moon, serene and floating among drifting clouds, and his lips trembled.
But no answer comes back.
Only a cool breeze blows, as if to comfort me.
“Sigh—!”
Kang Hyung-seok smacked his lips bitterly and looked at the vending machine in front of the distant Supermarket.
Then he glanced once more in the direction the two men had disappeared, pulled his wallet from his bag, approached the vending machine, and withdrew five cans of a beverage labeled “high protein.”
Click.
He sipped the thick drink and walked toward the northeast.
A 1,500-won beverage per can—it comforts a person.
The drink soothes my parched throat and replenishes the energy my glucose-depleted body desperately needs.
Clang.
After tossing the empty can into the recycling bin, I study the map with eyes grown colder and more resolute than before.
I exhale slowly through the gap between my teeth, my gaze shifting across the paper.
‘Is that the Mountain….’
A mountain ridge shrouded in darkness.
Beneath it, an ominous presence lurks.
On the map, only a single Temple sits isolated upon that peak.
And it is where the Cult’s object of worship dwells.
Kang Hyung-seok moves forward toward that place, quietly chanting a sacred incantation.
“Tai Shang Lao Jun shuo ling huang miao zhen jing, Tai Shang Yuan Ji da dao, Tai Shang san shi liu bu zun jing.”
Tai Shang Lao Jun, the Jade Emperor, the Earth Mother Goddess.
The Celestial Worthy of the North Pole, the Celestial Worthy of Purple Tenuity.
The Generals of the Left and Right Wings, the General of Solitary Strength, the Three Officials, the Four Stars.
“The General of the Moon Palace, the General of Preservation of Life, the General of the Nine Luminaries, the General of the Sun.”
Divine spirits of heaven and earth.
Aid this Shaman in my endeavor.
I humbly beseech all the celestial deities of heaven and earth.
Grant your blessing to one who walks the righteous path.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
As I hear the Shaman’s Bell nestled in my bag chiming softly, I continue forward into the darkness.
***
“Sigh…”
Shin Jung-ah exhaled a long, weary breath and fumbled for her lighter and cigarettes.
We were in the courtyard in front of Lee Geum-kyung’s Shamanic Temple.
It was early morning, and perhaps because the place was unfamiliar, sleep simply wouldn’t come.
Click, click. Whoosh!
Just as Shin Jung-ah swept her short hair back from her face and tried to light the cigarette, she heard a voice.
“What are you doing?”
“Eek!”
“Shh!”
Chung-geum, who had approached from behind, quickly gestured for silence, her brow furrowing.
“Ha, haha. I’m, I’m sorry.”
Shin Jung-ah offered an embarrassed smile to the younger Chung-geum and held the cigarette in her hand.
“It’s just that I can’t sleep…”
“Was the meal insufficient?”
“Pardon?”
Chung-geum took Shin Jung-ah’s arm and led her further away from the Shamanic Temple, then asked again.
“You’re awake at this hour. Was the meal not enough?”
“Um… no.”
Chung-geum gestured toward the cigarette as if to say it was fine to smoke, and Shin Jung-ah nodded to her before putting the cigarette to her lips.
Then she lit it, though her expression remained troubled.
“The meal was fine. It’s just that sleep won’t come easily.”
“Is the bedding uncomfortable?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you need a softer blanket?”
Shin Jung-ah met Chung-geum’s gaze and smiled with a subtle expression.
This was the first time I’d met Chung-geum yesterday.
But after wandering around the Shamanic Temple so much, I’d experienced these kinds of cryptic exchanges a few times before.
“I think it’s because my mind is unsettled.”
“But the bedding is comfortable, and the meal was fine?”
Inhale.
Shin Jung-ah drew deeply on the cigarette, then shook her head, her eyes narrowing.
“It’s just that I’m the only one comfortable.”
“Hmm?”
“Kang Hyung-seok. Given his nature, he tends to push himself hard, so I’m not sure he’s doing well.”
Chung-geum seemed to understand, and her lips curled up silently.
“That’s true. He is that kind of person.”
“Huh? You know?”
“He was like that before too. He even borrowed the Shaman’s Bell from me at dawn to perform a purification ritual.”
It was a memory from when we resolved the Vengeful Spirit that dwelled in the Warehouse.
Shin Jung-ah nodded with an “ah,” and Chung-geum sighed through her nose, her brow creasing.
“You’re no ordinary person. Anyone can see you’re someone who received such a grand calling from the divine.”
“…She said that?”
“You’re quite remarkable, young master.”
Chung-geum had once, if only briefly, envied Kang Hyung-seok.
A shaman not bound to live a life tied to the divine—it seemed like a dream, an impossibility, a privilege that defied all logic.
But looking at Kang Hyung-seok now, I felt ashamed for ever harboring such thoughts.
“The teacher said the same. That you’re a remarkable child. That you’re destined to become a deity after death.”
“A deity? Manager Kang?”
“Great shamans can ascend to divinity based on the achievements they accomplish.”
Just as Lee Geum-kyung would likely become one, so too would Kang Hyung-seok.
He would become a deity watching over vast lands, receiving the reverence and prayers of countless shamans.
The sweat and effort he shed—heaven remembers it all.
It will never allow such sacrifice to be rendered meaningless.
“I understand your concern for him, but please don’t let worry consume your body.”
“No, haha, it’s not that serious.”
“Yet here you are, awake at this hour?”
Caught in her contradiction, Shin Jung-ah opened her mouth to respond but instead brought the cigarette to her lips.
“If you insist, then join us in prayer at dawn.”
“Pardon? Prayer?”
“The teacher said you’re welcome to participate.”
Lee Geum-kyung spoke as though she’d already foreseen this moment.
While Shin Jung-ah stood speechless, eyes wide, Chung-geum turned her gaze toward the screech owl crying loudly in the night and continued.
“And please refrain from smoking for a while. The cleaner your body and mind, the better.”
“Ah… yes.”
“The teacher said so. She has something she’d like to ask of you, Shin Jung-ah. Something more meaningful than mere worry.”
As Shin Jung-ah stared blankly at Chung-geum, the latter checked her phone for the time and turned to leave.
“The night air is cold. Come inside.”
Shin Jung-ah answered in a dazed voice, “Ah, yes.”
Then she looked down at the cigarette in her hand, extinguished it, and followed Chung-geum inside, the stub still clutched in her palm.
‘What is this? The feeling…’
A premonition washed over me that I would soon be drawn into something beyond my understanding.
But another thought suddenly surfaced.
Come to think of it, I wasn’t the only one awake.
I realized it from watching Chung-geum’s back.
***
Crack!
The sound of bone breaking echoed from the branch beneath my foot.
The sky’s color was shifting as dawn approached, and the morning star gleamed with the brilliance of a final spark.
Kang Hyung-seok had reached his target Mountain.
Crunch, crunch.
This was a place few people frequented.
The thickly accumulated leaves swallowed my ankles with each step.
I pressed forward up the Mountain, my breathing heavy.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
The Shaman’s Bell tucked in my bag rang softly, purifying the spiritual energy around me.
And the higher I climbed the Mountain, the faster the Shaman’s Bell chimed.
‘I’m getting closer.’
To the object of their faith.
Whoooosh—!
The cold dawn wind swept through, shaking the branches with an ominous sound.
A place where the living should not venture.
A place where the Mountain Spirit and divine beings warned of approach.
A place where malice and murky energy swirled violently.
Crunch, crunch.
I walked toward such a place.
When I glanced back, the Building I had found suspicious was watching me.
If I moved in a straight line, the distance wasn’t that far.
‘This must be the right place.’
Clenching my teeth, I pushed harder up the Mountain.
Flap-flap-flap! Caw! Caaaaw!
A large black Raven suddenly took flight, and my gaze naturally fell upon a Temple.
It must be the Temple shown on the map.
I stared at the distant Temple before moving toward it.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling.
The bell’s sound grew louder.
The Shaman’s Bell rang once with each step, as if issuing a fierce warning.
Yet I continued toward the Temple, unconcerned about encountering anyone.
‘An abandoned Temple.’
No signs of life, and the eaves were occupied by large spider webs and palm-sized shamanic spiders.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!
‘Toxicity and malevolence.’
The energy I had felt from the Mountain’s entrance grew stronger, and the Shaman’s Bell rang even louder.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!
‘…The object of their faith.’
Ding!
Kang Hyung-seok halted before the Temple and reached toward the firmly closed door.
Creak.
The weathered paper door swung open to both sides, and the stale air trapped within rushed out like a Malevolent Spirit.
And what met his eyes was,
‘A Buddha statue.’
A Buddha statue with gentle eyes and a serene smile.
With both hands raised to chest level, the left palm facing inward and the right palm facing outward, index and thumb touching to form the Dharma Wheel Mudra—it was an ancient Buddha statue frozen in that sacred gesture.
Ding.
The Shaman’s Bell chimed as if announcing the arrival at the destination.
In that moment, as Kang Hyung-seok’s gaze met the Buddha statue’s, his pupils reflected a memory.
The Buddha statue he had seen in a dream.
That figure—whether an incarnate Buddha or a standing Buddha—and Shin Jung-ah’s face.
Observing the Buddha statue’s countenance, Kang Hyung-seok understood that he had drawn perilously close to revelation.

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