An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 158

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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 157
Part 6. In the End, This Is My Burden Too (2)
Thwack!
Startled, Bu-yong dropped her phone, and the screen went dark simultaneously.
(What? Uh…)
[What was that? Just now…]
[What happened.]
[Is this real?]
[What was that attached to her.]
[That wasn’t her boyfriend…?]
(I-I’m so sorry. W-we’ll end the broadcast here for today!)
Sensing the confusion in the atmosphere, Yoon Sang hastily terminated the broadcast.
Kang Hyung-seok removed his headset and exhaled a heavy sigh.
‘I want to ask.’
What in the world had happened.
What had she been subjected to.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a relationship that couldn’t be explained as merely a single Malevolent Spirit clinging to her.
Zzzzzing!
My phone rang, and naturally the caller was Yoon Sang.
“Hello?”
(B-Brother!)
Yoon Sang’s voice trembled slightly, shocked that the broadcast had ended so abruptly.
(W-well…)
What conversation would normally have followed.
Thankful that so many people came?
Grateful for the help with the broadcast?
Yet the spirit clinging to Bu-yong was so unsettling that such pleasantries wouldn’t come.
(W-well, you really worked hard today. Thank you for your effort.)
“…You too.”
(Um, uh, Brother?)
The atmosphere was difficult to speak in.
But I knew what he was about to say.
“Say it.”
(W-well? This is something strange, isn’t it.)
“It’s not good.”
Creak.
I lifted my back from the chair and leaned my body forward, bringing the phone to my ear.
“It appears she’s undergone a ghost marriage.”
In other words, a spirit wedding.
Normally, it’s a ritual meant to unite the dead with the dead.
It was a means to console and resolve the resentment of those left behind with regrets over not being able to marry.
Through it, the living and the dead had been bound together.
(Is that really bad?)
“A blocked marriage path is inevitable, and life can fall apart.”
The Victim Spirit had displayed a powerful obsession.
Given that it clung to Bu-yong, jealousy and resentment would be severe.
Normal social life could become difficult, minor ailments could multiply, and it would attempt to isolate Bu-yong from society to monopolize her.
‘Why on earth?’
Who would?
Do such a thing?
Questions piled upon questions, yet the answer that surfaced in my mind was horrifying.
(Who could have done it… ?)
“The Shaman, obviously.”
How could a spirit have orchestrated a wedding ceremony on its own?
Someone had clearly intervened, and Bu-yong had been caught up in it.
Since she seemed unaware, the Shaman had likely orchestrated everything in secret.
(Sigh, ugh.)
Yoon Sang’s sighs spoke volumes.
It was as if asking, ‘Will things be alright like this?’
“Tomorrow’s Saturday, after all.”
(Oh, yes! Yes!)
Yoon Sang answered eagerly, as if rushing forward.
“Let’s go check it out. You contact them.”
(W-wait, hyung, are you sure?)
“As long as you don’t shove a camera in my face.”
(Of course not! I’m already so grateful for your help this time!)
Kang Hyung-seok let out a bitter laugh and said, “Just contact me once you get approval and confirm a time.”
After hanging up, a heavy sense of unease pressed down on me.
‘How could the Shaman….’
Do something even a Malevolent Spirit wouldn’t do?
Kang Hyung-seok chewed at his drying lips, then covered his face with his palm.
The fact that someone who should be helping others had done such a thing weighed heavily on my heart.
***
Vroooom.
Inside the car heading to Bu-yong’s House, Kang Hyung-seok gripped the steering wheel while Yoon Sang sat in the passenger seat.
It was 9:10 AM on Saturday.
The road stretched open before them, but the sky hung heavy with clouds, lending the air the quality of approaching dusk.
“You’re certain about this place?”
Something about it felt oddly familiar, and Kang Hyung-seok furrowed his brow as he asked.
“Yes. I’m certain, hyung.”
Tsk.
As the car moved forward, Kang Hyung-seok studied the passing scenery with deepening creases between his brows.
He hadn’t recognized it at first.
But now it was unmistakable.
This was near Shin Jung-ah’s Apartment and the Law Office of her friend Lee Ha-yoon.
Vroooom.
Passing the place where the three of them had once shared a bowl of soup together, he turned the wheel sharply following the navigation’s directions.
After driving another five minutes, he pulled into the Public Parking Lot.
Click.
Bu-yong’s House was in a Residential District.
He’d parked in the public lot because parking seemed difficult—a decision that proved wise.
The cars were packed in tightly, bumper to bumper.
Though he couldn’t help but notice someone had deliberately parked over a no-parking sign.
And in an expensive foreign luxury car, no less.
Crunch, crunch.
“Here it is, hyung.”
Yoon Sang, who had been checking the map on his phone, stopped before a house.
Kang Hyung-seok looked up at it.
He recognized it from the care taken with the interior decoration.
Though it showed its age somewhat, it didn’t feel decrepit.
Rather, it possessed an antique charm.
The kind of picturesque house one imagined with a proper Courtyard.
Yet for all its refined exterior, something felt distinctly out of place.
‘The smell…’
A musty odor hung in the air.
Even without a Malevolent Spirit, ghosts left their scent.
Humans too—when they lingered long in one place, their body odor seeped into the walls.
Victim Spirits were no different.
It meant a ghost had clung to this place for an extraordinarily long time.
Whoosh.
Just as Kang Hyung-seok reached for the doorbell.
“Right, hyung. One moment.”
Yoon Sang suddenly remembered something and pulled a mask from his pocket.
“Use this. You can’t afford to be recognized.”
Yoon Sang handed me the mask I’d unconsciously overlooked.
I conveyed my gratitude through a glance and fitted the mask over my face.
It was an ordinary black mask sold at convenience stores.
The new material smell was strong enough to mask the stale odor that had clung to me.
Ding-dong.
That came after I pressed the doorbell.
Creak!
The door opened from inside as if someone had been waiting, and the entrance swung wide.
A young woman appeared.
She was the informant who went by the nickname Bu-yong.
“Oh, hello. Thank you so much for coming.”
“Hello! I’m Yoon Sang.”
“Oh, yes.”
Bu-yong bowed to Yoon Sang, then regarded me with uncertain eyes.
She’d heard I was a Shaman who looked like a salaryman.
But I seemed far more corporate than she’d imagined.
“So, this person is….”
“Yes. That’s the one I mentioned.”
“Oh my, hello.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I bowed respectfully, and Bu-yong grew even more flustered hearing my unaltered voice for the first time.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Oh, no. Please, come inside first.”
“One moment.”
I slowly surveyed the area around Bu-yong.
Whiiiit!
Then I pulled the mask slightly aside and whistled.
As Bu-yong stood bewildered by this succession of surprises, Yoon Sang quietly explained that it was a technique for detecting spirits.
“There’s no point going inside.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s hiding now. It’s perceptive.”
Watching Bu-yong’s face stiffen, I adjusted my mask.
“So I have to ask—did you sleep poorly last night?”
Bu-yong’s pupils trembled, and she swallowed hard.
She understood what I meant.
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Well, if possible, could we talk out here….”
“There’s a table inside. Would that be alright?”
Bu-yong spoke eagerly for someone who’d been skeptical, and I nodded before stepping past the entrance.
Yoon Sang followed behind, but his eyes held a sadness—he seemed completely disconnected from the conversation.
Tap.
Kang Hyung-seok, conveying to Yoon Sang not to worry with a gesture, sat down on the terrace placed in the Courtyard.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you. The mask makes it a bit difficult.”
“I have a straw!”
“Ah, then… thank you.”
Bu-yong went inside and returned shortly with two cups on a tray.
They were tall glass cups filled with ice and orange juice, and only Kang Hyung-seok’s had a stainless steel straw inserted into it.
Clink.
“Um, I was wondering… could you perhaps perform a talisman ritual or a shamanic ceremony for me?”
Bu-yong’s voice trembled as she set the cup down in front of Kang Hyung-seok.
It was horrifying.
The spirit attached to her was real, and what she had believed to be her deceased boyfriend was actually a completely different Victim Spirit.
The thought made her skin crawl and filled her with unbearable fear.
“Even if I do something immediately, it won’t help. This isn’t a connection that can be easily severed.”
“I see.”
Watching despair fill Bu-yong’s eyes, I let out a sigh-like breath.
“You’ve undergone a spirit marriage. That’s why I’m asking—have you ever posted your birth chart online? Including chat rooms or Internet Broadcasting platforms.”
It was an important question.
If so, it would be difficult to find the shaman who had done this foolish thing to Bu-yong.
“Why… why are you asking that?”
“It’s possible that using your birth chart, someone has already arranged a betrothal between you and the Victim Spirit that’s currently attached to you.”
In Taiwan, there’s a superstition about not picking up red envelopes that fall to the ground.
If such an envelope contains money, hair, and a document with personal information, the person who picks it up will marry the Victim Spirit, or so the legend goes.
Korea isn’t much different.
Being part of the same Northeast Asian region, similar customs exist, and the methods of spirit marriage aren’t entirely different.
What’s needed is a birth chart.
“I’ve never done that.”
At Bu-yong’s firm response, I exhaled in relief.
“That’s fortunate.”
Then, looking into Bu-yong’s eyes, I asked in a grave tone.
“Then, have you visited a Shamanic Temple recently?”
“I haven’t done that either.”
Yoon Sang’s eyes widened as he drank his orange juice, and Bu-yong’s lips, pressed firmly shut, trembled as her gaze fell downward.
“No. Indirectly, you must have.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ve recently shared your birth chart with someone else, haven’t you?”
Bu-yong’s lips parted loosely before she hastily covered her mouth.
Then, with her eyes wide open, she nodded vigorously.
Something had jogged my memory.
“Yes, there was. It happened a few months ago.”
Kang Hyung-seok shifted his gaze toward the Entrance.
There was no one there, yet Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes perceived something different.
“You gave it to a certain woman, didn’t you.”
Thud.
Startled, Bu-yong’s hand flew to her mouth as her body lurched forward, causing the table to shake, while Yoon Sang quickly steadied both Kang Hyung-seok’s cup and his own to prevent them from spilling.
“H-how… how did you…”
Bu-yong asked, but Kang Hyung-seok continued to stare toward the Entrance.
“A young woman with short hair—who is the one who took the paper with your fortune written on it from you and put it in her bag.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes could see it.
A woman around Bu-yong’s age, standing at the Entrance with a smiling face, receiving the paper with the fortune written on it and placing it into her bag.

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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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