An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 146

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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 146
Part 3. Tears of Blood (1)
Crunch.
Kang Hyung-seok walked through the night with Yoon Sang.
From somewhere, an unnamed bird cried out, and in the distance along the highway, the sound of a car with its headlights on cutting through the air reached their ears.
Their footsteps were light.
The night air was cool and refreshing, partly because all their luggage had been loaded into the car.
“It’s a shame we had to leave the camera behind.”
Yoon Sang exhaled a wistful laugh, but fell silent when he caught the intensity in Kang Hyung-seok’s gaze.
There was no room for misunderstanding.
This was not a leisurely evening stroll.
This was the path to see the Jangseung, the path to commune with the divine.
Crunch, crunch.
Kang Hyung-seok pressed forward with lips sealed tight, his steps carrying him toward where the Jangseung stood.
After walking for perhaps three more minutes.
Standing before the Jangseung that rose solemnly beside the Soljae at the village entrance, he first brought his palms together in reverence.
Gulp.
Yoon Sang swallowed dryly and carefully stepped back.
And in that moment, Kang Hyung-seok slowly lifted his gaze to look up at the Jangseung.
‘An ancient Jangseung.’
Two of them.
The surface was weathered, and the faces carved with chisels now bore only traces of their former detail. So very old, and thus it seemed questionable whether any divinity remained within them at all.
Yet what dwells within a Jangseung is a guardian spirit.
“A disciple of the divine offers their respects.”
Guardian spirits do not depart easily.
Even when the world changes and no one offers them reverence or gratitude.
Even when the Jangseung is treated as merely a weathered relic of a bygone age.
The Jangseung has watched over the entrance to this village with the heart of a parent.
That is what a guardian spirit is.
“A Shaman who performed rituals has shed blood, and there is something that troubles the dreams of the village people with violence.”
Kang Hyung-seok offered his respects toward the Jangseung, his gaze lowering.
“It is not of this land, and it is a malevolent thing that bewitches people.”
Rokurokuби.
A Japanese yokai.
And a malevolent thing that spreads calamity.
“To prevent it, I humbly beseech you, Great Heavenly General and Earthly General, to hear the plea of this disciple.”
Kang Hyung-seok brought his palms together in a deep bow before the Jangseung.
His bearing was solemn and reverent.
Watching from behind, Yoon Sang’s mouth fell open slightly, and his hands, slick with nervous sweat, clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
Was this really Kang Hyung-seok?
When I saw him after so long, it felt as though he had ventured far deeper into realms beyond my memory.
“Reveal to me the true nature of that thing, and show me where those connected to it dwell.”
Speaking in a low, measured voice as if chanting a sacred incantation, Kang Hyung-seok slowly lifted his gaze.
Prayer is an act rooted in shamanism.
Thus it resembles sorcery yet differs fundamentally from it.
Prayer carries within it the desire to help, to beseech, to wish for blessing—whereas sorcery is grounded in the yearning for wishes, hopes, and desires to manifest into reality.
What Kang Hyung-seok was doing was prayer, an act of hoping for the divine to answer.
Wa-ra-ra-ra-rang!
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell.
As my prayer deepened and the very air around me began to settle and grow heavy, it was then—
“Uh….”
Yoon Sang, who had been watching from behind, opened his mouth despite knowing this was not the moment to speak.
“H-hey! Hyung-seok! Hyung-seok!”
Yoon Sang’s urgent voice calling out shattered the quiet of the night.
The cry of someone who has witnessed something they should not have seen.
That was precisely the tone of Yoon Sang’s voice.
“There! There! The jangseung over there!”
Kang Hyung-seok’s head snapped up, and I gazed toward the village guardian stone.
Through prayer, I had drawn near to the divine.
And thus the divine had drawn near to me as well.
“…What.”
As I stared up at the jangseung with a slack expression, my eyebrows trembled.
“Uh, uh-uh. Uh-uh-uh!”
Behind me, Yoon Sang collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
Kang Hyung-seok remained motionless, staring upward at the jangseung.
What in the world had transpired in this place?
What had the guardian spirit witnessed?
Drip, drop, drop.
From the eyes of the two jangseung, a crimson liquid fell.
Four eyes in total across the pair of guardians.
Four streams of tears of blood flowing downward.
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled a trembling breath.
***
Vroom.
Inside the moving car, Shin Yoseph lit a cigarette.
It was late.
So late that I wondered if there was anyone else leaving work at this hour.
Because of this, the road felt desolate, and I drove slower than usual while lighting my cigarette.
“Shhhhh—!”
As I exhaled smoke heavy with fatigue, I rubbed my dry, tired eyes.
Vroom.
Along with the vibration, the Gregorian chant I had set as the ringtone began to play.
I had discovered this recently.
That I could set different ringtones for different contacts.
The caller was Kang Hyung-seok.
The Gregorian chant was my way of ensuring that others would never suspect he was a Shaman.
Click.
“Found anything?”
(Sigh.)
His sigh was heavy.
Heavy enough that I unconsciously wanted to exhale smoke in response.
“Why?”
(I can tell something unusual is tangled up in this.)
“Evidence?”
(A stone guardian shouldn’t be weeping blood, right?)
Shin Yoseph muttered a curse under his breath before speaking.
“Are you joking, or serious?”
(Would I joke about something like this?)
“Shhhhh.”
(More than that, I need more information. Who exactly is this factory owner?)
I could hear intense emotion in Kang Hyung-seok’s voice—more than usual.
“I’ve been digging into that anyway. But he’s clean. There’s nothing that would be legally problematic.”
(What about people who quit working under him?)
“That’s still in progress.”
It wasn’t easy.
I was collecting information through a trustworthy Attendant, but the factory owner had sealed lips so thoroughly it was almost meticulous.
If I dug too recklessly for information, word would reach the factory owner’s ears.
That I was investigating him.
If that happened, all the effort Kang Hyung-seok had made so far would be wasted.
“I’ll do my best to find out. There were more than one or two employees who worked under him, so something will come up eventually.”
(How long do you think it’ll take?)
“It won’t take long.”
In the end, it was a race against time.
And such time could be bought with money.
If I guaranteed confidentiality and sweetened the deal with enough cash to make it worthwhile, there would inevitably be someone willing to talk.
(Then I have another favor to ask.)
“Anything.”
I couldn’t take notes while driving.
So Shin Yoseph pressed the call recording button, and Kang Hyung-seok’s voice followed immediately after.
(That person—I think there might be a Japanese person connected to their past.)
“What?”
(Whether it’s an employee, family member, daughter-in-law, or a child’s romantic partner. There could be a Japanese person involved.)
Shin Yoseph eased off the accelerator and rolled his eyes thoughtfully.
Rokurokuби is a Japanese yokai.
Human by day, yokai by night.
And typically depicted as a Japanese woman.
“Damn it, how did I not think of that.”
If Rokurokuби has an origin, it would be a Japanese woman.
“How did you even come up with that idea?”
(I saw her. Rokurokuби.)
“What?”
(I took a photo, but it’s blurry. Want to see it anyway?)
“…You’re joking, right?”
(I took it by accident.)
How much had he accomplished in such a short span of time?
Shin Yoseph scratched his eyebrow with the hand holding his cigarette, impressed.
“I made the right call trusting you with this.”
(Phew, there are more victims than I expected.)
“…Tsk.”
(I’ll look into it myself, so anything—no matter how trivial—is helpful. Let me know the moment you find out anything.)
“Got it. I’ll make sure to brief Daejeong Materials properly, so don’t worry too much.”
(If needed, we can continue this weekend.)
That was deeply regrettable.
In a sense, a Daejeong Materials employee was helping a Shinjin Construction executive—a cooperative relationship—and I knew all too well how precious weekends were to working people.
“For now, focus on this task. I have some ideas of my own.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s compensation.
I’d already given it thought, naturally.
Of course, it was contingent on things going well, but it was something that would put steel in both Gwak Young-ho’s and Kang Hyung-seok’s shoulders.
(Alright, understood. Even if it’s trivial, contact me immediately if you learn anything.)
“Yeah, thanks.”
The call ended there.
Shin Yoseph stubbed out his shortened cigarette into an empty coffee can serving as an ashtray and lit a fresh one.
Then he called his Attendant to relay Kang Hyung-seok’s request.
As quickly as possible, gathering as much as I could.
Along with a plea to uncover anything at all.
***
Click.
After ending the call, I pulled a portable battery from my bag and connected it to my phone.
Then I glanced toward the flickering light streaming through the driver’s side window, where Yoon Sang stood holding his phone.
“Everyone, seriously, wow! No, no, he’s right here with me now. That hyung I mentioned!”
From the faint voice I could hear, it was clear he was broadcasting.
Honestly, he’s something else.
You could even call it passionate, depending on how you look at it.
“Of course I can’t show you. I made a promise with that hyung, remember? I said I wouldn’t cause any trouble.”
This bastard.
Everything’s fine except why is his phone camera subtly angling toward me?
The moment my expression darkened, Yoon Sang quickly twisted his body to point the camera elsewhere.
“Wow, I even got a few photos. I’ll definitely share these on the broadcast later. A collaboration though? No way! Not until hyung gives me permission!”
Sigh.
I exhaled deeply and leaned back against the driver’s seat.
Then I sucked in my lower lip, lost in thought.
‘Why did the Jangseung weep?’
It meant the effect had reached even the guardian spirit.
If that were true, then contrary to what was commonly known, this yokai was more formidable than expected—but since I’d never encountered Japanese yokai before, I couldn’t say much about them.
Getting entangled with Japanese spirits was never a good thing.
True to the saying that Korea and Japan were close yet distant, Japanese spirits and Korean spirits possessed different natures.
‘Don’t think of this as an ordinary Vengeful Spirit.’
There was definitely something more to this.
Something with clear intent behind it.
“During the day, there was even a shamanic ritual held near the Factory. No, not by that hyung. It was performed by another Shaman. But then that person suddenly started coughing up blood, and when that hyung did something, they suddenly calmed down.”
As Yoon Sang spoke excitedly, something flashed through my mind and my brow furrowed.
“…The Factory?”
Creak!
I immediately opened the door, and Yoon Sang’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at me.
He quickly covered his phone with his palm to keep it from being filmed, but my gaze was fixed elsewhere.
‘The Factory.’
The Village’s nightmare.
The disruption of the ritual.
And the Jangseung’s tears of blood.
I stared toward the Factory under construction while running my tongue over my teeth.
Now I was beginning to understand.
“Uh, hyung?”
Without responding, I turned on the ignition.
As the engine roared to life with a heavy growl, Yoon Sang hastily ended the broadcast and yanked open the passenger door.
“Hyung, what’s wrong? Where are you going all of a sudden?”
“Get in, now!”
“Huh?”
“The Factory first. We need to check the Factory.”
Click.
As Yoon Sang fastened his seatbelt, his gaze flickered with a mixture of fear and confusion.
In the meantime, Kang Hyung-seok released the parking brake and pressed down on the accelerator, his voice cutting through the tension.
“That Rokurokuби—she’s at the Factory right now.”
The creature that had even desecrated the ritual to keep people away.
Rokurokuби, who had veiled the eyes of the Village Guardian Jangseung with tears of blood, now stood watch over the Factory.
Vroooom!
The engine spun with urgency matching his racing heart, and the vehicle lurched forward.

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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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