An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 160
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 160
Part 7. In the End, It’s All Karma (1)
Ding ding ding!
As the phone resting on the dashboard rang, Kang Hyung-seok immediately reached for it.
Yoon Sang, who had been eating ice cream in the passenger seat, jumped in surprise, but Kang Hyung-seok gave him a reassuring gesture before pressing the answer button.
“Yes, Chung-geum.”
(I’ve secured the list and I’m organizing it now.)
“Thank you.”
(The teacher also helped us out.)
“Ah.”
Kang Hyung-seok laughed awkwardly, feeling apologetic, and Chung-geum’s voice continued immediately.
(But there are more than I expected. If this is urgent, you might need to hire some people.)
“Even though the area is narrow?”
(You know how it is. There are so many Shamanic Temples these days.)
I could even hear Chung-geum clicking her tongue, sounding troubled.
“You’re right about that.”
(As you know, it would be most accurate if those who aren’t practitioners of Shamanism went.)
Shamans recognize other shamans.
Especially since I am a shaman under the care of a great Guardian Spirit.
Chung-geum wasn’t much different.
She was a disciple of the great shaman Lee Geum-kyung, and there was a good chance her face had become naturally known.
(Do you perhaps have someone in mind?)
A cautious question.
Kang Hyung-seok clenched his teeth and then nodded heavily.
“Yes. If things go well, it might be possible.”
(Phew, I’m relieved you have such good fortune, young master.)
“No, actually, I’m sorry to ask for another favor.”
(Please feel free to ask for anything.)
Kang Hyung-seok laughed bitterly, feeling sorry, then parted his lips to speak.
“I need a fake birth chart.”
(Ah, I understand.)
As expected, her comprehension was quick.
I would need to find the shaman conducting the spirit marriage ceremony by sending in a proxy, and for the safety of those proxies, I needed to present a fake birth chart.
“One ordinary one, and another with a good fortune, please.”
(The gender would be….)
“Female.”
(Understood. I’ll ask someone skilled at this and bring back a few.)
“I’ll send you the details by text.”
(Yes. Ah, and young master.)
Just as I thought the call was about to end.
“Pardon?”
(Please be careful. The living are far more frightening than the dead.)
A Malevolent Spirit would have been easier to handle.
Humans are more terrifying than ghosts, and the most difficult thing about people is dealing with people themselves.
I had to face such a person.
“Thank you for your concern.”
(Please contact me once it’s all over.)
“Yes.”
I hung up the phone.
With the call ended, a silence as heavy as the atmosphere itself settled over my car.
So thick that I could even hear Yoon Sang sucking on an ice cream wrapped in thick plastic.
“…Is it good?”
“Oh, should I grab you one? Hyung-seok?”
“Just making conversation.”
I swept my hair back and exhaled deeply.
My mind was racing.
I’d roughly grasped the direction, and the method was decided.
The only issue was who to ask for help, and I did have someone in mind.
But asking wasn’t going to be easy. For several reasons.
It felt like I only asked when I was in need.
Slurp.
At the sound of Yoon Sang sucking on his ice cream, I furrowed my brow and glanced at him.
“S-sorry.”
Yoon Sang quickly lowered the ice cream, but I shook my head silently.
Then, as if I’d finally made a decision after long deliberation, I picked up my phone.
“Huh? Do you have someone to ask?”
“You know who it is.”
“Huh?”
Yoon Sang thought for a moment, then clapped his hands together.
“Oh, that noona! The really pretty one!”
Somewhere along the way, I’d become hyung-seok, and Shin Jung-ah had become noona.
It wasn’t wrong.
Shin Jung-ah was older than me too, so calling her noona wasn’t inappropriate.
So with the feelings of a younger sibling asking an older sister for a favor, I called Shin Jung-ah.
Beep, beep, beep.
The dial tone felt unusually long,
(Oh, Kang Hyung-seok!)
and then Shin Jung-ah’s voice came through, her tone bright and cheerful.
Beneath it lay a bustling background noise, like white static.
“Are you outside right now?”
(Yeah. I’m at a cafe with Ha-yoon. Why?)
Lee Ha-yoon was Shin Jung-ah’s friend and a divorce specialist attorney.
She was someone who lived and slept at the Lawyer’s Office, and Kang Hyung-seok had once helped her when she suffered from sleep paralysis caused by a ghost.
It was fortunate that the two of them were together.
Kang Hyung-seok decided this was actually convenient and carefully broached his request.
“Would you be willing to help me just this once? If possible, I’d also like Ha-yoon to help.”
(What’s going on?)
“Yes. I apologize for asking on the weekend.”
(Wait, wait. Hey. That’s Kang Manager.)
Modern phones were impressive—I could hear even the sound of Lee Ha-yoon being addressed.
Kang Hyung-seok tapped my knee with my index finger, waiting for the conversation to continue.
(I stepped outside the cafe just in case. So what’s the matter?)
“I’ve come to know someone who has a ghost attached to them.”
(Isn’t that your specialty, Kang Manager…?)
It wasn’t the tone of ‘Why should I do it?’
It was a reaction closer to genuine curiosity.
“It’s just….”
(Oh! Hey, what are you doing! Crazy.)
(Hello! Hyung-seok!)
Lee Ha-yoon’s voice came through with a higher pitch, distinctly different from Shin Jung-ah’s.
(Hey! Give me my phone back!)
(I was curious, so I picked up. What’s the matter?)
(Hey!)
This was confusing.
Still, thanks to this, I managed to grasp a feeling that made it easier to speak.
“I’ve come to know someone who underwent a spirit marriage.”
(…Pardon?)
“They were forcibly married to a Victim Spirit. Is Shin Manager there with you?”
(Ah, we’re on speaker right now, so I can hear everything. Go ahead.)
(This crazy…! Ugh!)
Hearing Shin Jung-ah’s voice so clearly confirmed that speaker mode was indeed on.
“Anyway, I need to find that Shaman, so I’m sorry to ask, but could the two of you visit some Shamanic Temples with fake birth charts?”
(I’ll do it. It’s fine if I go with Jung-ah, right?)
Lee Ha-yoon agreed so readily that all my worrying felt pointless.
“As for Shin Manager….”
(If I say let’s do it, then I will! It’s fine.)
Was it okay for the conversation to flow like this?
Was this really okay?
(Haha! Anyway, we’ll go around and check it out. But nothing dangerous will happen, right?)
She asked quickly.
Kang Hyung-seok laughed awkwardly and brought the phone closer to his ear.
“It should be fine as long as I’m with Shin Manager.”
(Oh? Does Shin Jung-ah have something too?)
He was probably thinking of some kind of ability.
But Shin Jung-ah’s ability had a nature completely opposite to protection, so it wouldn’t help in this situation.
However, there was something else.
“She has the Protective Amulet of the Immortal.”
After the cult incident.
It was a talisman that Lee Geum-kyung had gifted to Shin Jung-ah.
(What’s that?)
(Pfft! Hey! That’s mine!)
(Wait a second.)
Listening to the two of them chatter noisily, Kang Hyung-seok spoke with gravity.
“It’s an amulet that protects one’s person. Since the great Shaman wrote it, the effect is guaranteed.”
(Ah! That’s good then.)
“Yes.”
With just that amulet, the two of them would be safe.
Even if the Shaman saw through the fake birth chart and tried to do something terrible, the amulet would protect both Shin Jung-ah and Lee Ha-yoon.
(Ah!)
“Yes?”
As Kang Hyung-seok grew confused, a loud crash and Lee Ha-yoon’s rapid-fire voice came through.
(Hyung-seok! I’ll convince Shin Jung-ah, so just send me a text!)
Click.
Kang Hyung-seok stared blankly at the disconnected phone.
Then he glanced at Yoon Sang, whose expression was similarly bewildered.
“Did you hear that?”
“Brother, is that noona always like that?”
Kang Hyung-seok hadn’t been using speaker mode.
But the car was so quiet that the sound had carried anyway.
“Sometimes.”
Normally she wasn’t like that, but when she was with her friend Lee Ha-yoon, she did tend to be this way.
In any case, things were working out well.
People were gathering one by one.
Tap tap tap.
As Kang Hyung-seok typed out precautions and strategies on his phone, his brow furrowed.
The beginning of this work was Bu-yong undergoing a spirit wedding.
She had been betrayed by a long-time friend, and one could never predict how connections would flow or in what form.
Tap tap tap.
Sometimes they became guilt and pain.
Sometimes they became strength and solace.
In the end, fate cannot be summed up in a single word.
That is what fate truly is.
What proves difficult for one person may become easy for many.
Ding.
Just then, a text from Chung-geum made my phone chime.
Two forged birth charts had arrived.
Click.
I sent them along with the notes I’d written to Lee Ha-yoon and Shin Jung-ah, then leaned back against the seat.
“Brother, what do we do now?”
Yoon Sang’s eyes sparkled as if sensing progress, and he looked toward me with anticipation.
“We have to do our part too.”
There are people lending their strength to this.
I cannot simply sit idle and leave everything to them.
“How?”
“As fellow shamans, I can’t act recklessly. Still, since I oversee spirit marriages, I can search for any Shamanic Temples with an unusually high number of Victim Spirits.”
“Ooh.”
Yoon Sang’s eyes gleamed with curiosity and intrigue.
“You coming with me?”
“Of course!”
“Tell me now if you’re scared.”
“Come on, brother. How long have I been following you around?”
I laughed heartily, then glanced toward the passenger seat’s seatbelt.
“Then buckle up.”
“Yes, sir!”
Click.
I fastened my own seatbelt as well.
Then I pulled up the location Bu-yong had marked on my phone and started the engine.
Vroom!
The engine roared to life with eager vigor, as if ready to move immediately.
Vroooom!
As I pulled out of the Parking Lot, my jaw tightened with resolve.
‘I’ll finish this before the day is done, no matter what.’
Shamanism exists to help people.
Yet that very shamanism had caused harm.
And so Bu-yong’s night became hell.
And she may not be the only one forced into an unwanted spirit marriage.
‘May they find peace.’
May their nights become tranquil.
May they live ordinary lives with clear futures ahead, unobstructed by Victim Spirits.
Vroooom.
As if understanding Kang Hyung-seok’s heart, the car surged forward with exhilarating speed.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————