An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 173

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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 172
Part 4. It Saw Me (2)
Whoooosh! Splash!
As Kang Hyung-seok returned to the Village Community Center, Kim Jae-sik, who had been lying down watching television, sat up.
“Good heavens, why are you back so late?”
“I took a brief walk around the area.”
“You should do that during the day, during the day.”
As I organized my umbrella, I offered a bitter smile.
“There are things that only appear at night.”
Kim Jae-sik’s expression suddenly turned serious.
I had gone out with Lee Nak-yul, and he had been simply wondering if perhaps my home was located far away.
“…Did something happen?”
I nodded heavily and, peeling off my thoroughly soaked socks, stepped inside the community center.
“Yes. I saw the Imoogi.”
Kim Jae-sik’s expression hardened once more.
“The Imoogi?”
“Yes. It was extraordinarily massive.”
I wondered if I would ever witness such a sight again in my lifetime.
The Imoogi’s appearance was so shocking and overwhelming that such a thought naturally arose.
“What, no, wait. Hold on.”
Kim Jae-sik brought me a towel and retrieved a recorder, notebook, and pen from his bag of personal belongings.
Then, after seating me before him, he switched on the recorder and picked up his pen.
“Tell me in detail.”
Seeing him like this, he truly was a professor.
I exhaled in a way that resembled laughter and explained exactly what I had witnessed.
“My goodness, it really is the Imoogi, it is.”
“Could this rain also be related to the Imoogi?”
“It would make sense.”
To my half-hearted question, Kim Jae-sik answered decisively.
“The Imoogi and rain are deeply connected. When you were young, didn’t you ever hear stories from school—like how the Security Guard killed an Imoogi, and it rained on every school trip afterward?”
I suppose there were such stories.
There were urban legends like how the pages of the book held by the statue of King Sejong would all turn if the world were to end, or how the statue of General Yi Sun-sin would draw his sword at midnight.
But no matter how I thought about it, the idea that a school Security Guard had killed an Imoogi made no sense.
If that were possible, that school Security Guard should be hailed as a hero saving the world.
“In any case, if this is due to the Imoogi’s resentment, it won’t be easy to resolve.”
“That would be the case….”
Kim Jae-sik’s expression, which had been gleaming with intrigue, darkened.
After all, this was a matter where human lives hung in the balance.
With that thought, I could not help but feel a childish excitement.
“Still, you are a Shaman, so surely you have some method or approach?”
“The best approach is to meet and have a conversation.”
Korean Shamanism differs significantly from its Western counterpart.
The greatest difference lies in exorcism practices—while the West favors expulsion, Korea is founded on ‘dialogue’.
It could be understood as a concept of listening, understanding, embracing, and resolving the root cause by alleviating resentment.
“But it’s a Snake. Can we even have a conversation with it?”
“That’s what troubles me. That very thing.”
If only it had been human.
Or better yet, a Goblin.
At least then my mind would be at ease.
But the question remains: can an Imoogi even comprehend speech?
“Hyung-seok, you’re not thinking of going now, are you?”
Kim Jae-sik’s voice suddenly trailed off.
“You’re not planning to leave at this hour?”
“No, sir. I have no desire to die either.”
It was the dead of night.
Rain was falling.
Climbing the Mountain where the Imoogi dwelt would be arduous—and a certain method of suicide.
“Nothing else will happen tonight, will it?”
“Since I was responsible for today’s failure, it won’t attempt anything further.”
“What happened?”
“There was a minor incident at the Livestock Farm.”
Kim Jae-sik’s expression grew weary; he clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“All right, get some rest today. Sleep, and tomorrow we’ll think this through together.”
“Yes, sir.”
“But first, go wash up! I’ll turn on the boiler. You’ll catch a cold.”
Kim Jae-sik stood and approached the boiler, muttering, “How on earth do you operate this thing?”
Still, the LED glowed orange, and the motor hummed from the boiler room, so it seemed to be working properly.
Thanks to his efforts, I enjoyed a hot shower.
“Sleep well, Professor.”
“Yes! Don’t think about anything—just sleep soundly. Soundly.”
Could I manage that?
Doubts filled my mind, but I kept them unspoken.
From the look in Kim Jae-sik’s eyes, he harbored the same thoughts.
Click.
As I turned off the light, only the resonant sound of rain filtered through the Window.
‘The Professor must have switched it to heating mode.’
The air conditioner still ran, keeping the air cool, yet warmth radiated from the floor.
It was an extravagance, but it felt like a consolation for today’s efforts, and I could close my eyes in peace.
Though sleep did not come easily, my body could finally rest.
***
The next day felt like a repetition of the previous night.
Lee Nak-yul came by, and I prepared a meal with Kang Hyung-seok.
Kim Jae-sik handled the dishes and cleanup, and despite being someone who only ate instant food, he was remarkably tidy.
“We need to try something.”
After the meal, with the three of us seated in a triangular arrangement, I opened the conversation first.
“Have you given it any thought?”
“Yes. In the end, it comes down to the Snake.”
I exhaled a heavy sigh through my nose and voiced what I’d conceived during the previous night.
“We’ll need a considerable amount of borax.”
“Borax? Not white horse blood?”
“It’s difficult to obtain, and even if we spread it, rainwater will wash it away.”
Would the Imoogi have considered even that?
Was that why it brought the rain?
“There is a Pharmacy in the Village, but I’m not certain they’ll have that much borax.”
As Lee Nak-yul spoke in her measured tone, I shook my head.
“Since the Mountain is nearby, they should have borax in stock.”
There’s an old saying that snakes despise borax.
That’s why hikers often carry it with them.
When I was young, my grandmother would stretch her socks long and tuck borax around her ankles whenever she went to harvest mugwort on the Mountain.
“If it’s insufficient, I’ll ask someone to procure borax from outside the Village.”
Lee Nak-yul nodded gravely, and Kim Jae-sik quietly retrieved his notebook and transcribed my words.
“Today will be quite busy. So, Lee Nak-yul.”
Lee Nak-yul’s gaze turned toward me, and I continued with an apologetic expression.
“I’d like you to gather the Village people.”
Lee Nak-yul nodded like a soldier receiving a solemn order.
***
Patter, tap-tap, patter.
“Over there! Don’t sprinkle so much—save some for the other houses!”
“Kim! Your house isn’t the only one that matters!”
Under the Youth Leader’s and Village Chief’s direction, borax began spreading across the village.
The work had started since early morning.
All the villagers came out to sprinkle borax everywhere, and I observed the entire operation from the scene.
“Does anyone here keep dogs at home?”
Several people stopped sprinkling borax and raised their hands.
“Borax is toxic. There’s a chance your dogs might eat it, so please keep them on a tight leash or confine them indoors. The same goes for cats!”
“Yes, yes.”
“Well, dogs eat anything anyway.”
One person muttered this, but before I could respond, someone else struck him.
“Village Chief, is there enough borax?”
“It’s insufficient. But someone went to town to get more, so it should arrive around lunchtime.”
“Once the borax work is finished, please ask someone skilled to make straw ropes for us.”
“Straw ropes?”
“Yes. We need to place them around houses with children first, and then around livestock farms.”
Straw ropes have the effect of blocking malevolent forces.
If we sprinkle borax, which snakes despise, and hang straw ropes, the Imoogi’s influence will be greatly diminished.
“Until all the work is completed, you must tell people to refrain from going outside. Village Chief, you must broadcast this message several times, and make sure people carry borax when they do go out.”
“Ah, yes. Yes.”
The Village Chief’s gaze upon me was far from ordinary.
Now there was hope that the Shaman was actually doing something, and it seemed the anxiety was subsiding simply from taking action.
“And Youth Leader.”
“Yes?”
When the Youth Leader in the yellow raincoat turned his head, water scattered from the rain guard near his forehead.
“When I first came here.”
“Yes….”
Before the Youth Leader could form a confused expression, I spoke in a low voice.
“The person wearing the shaman’s robes—was the place they went last night that mountain?”
The mountain where the Imoogi dwelled.
The Youth Leader had been beside me.
Though lacking spiritual sight to see it myself, I had clearly witnessed the lightning striking around the Imoogi.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Is there something on that mountain?”
“There is something, but it happened so long ago….”
“What is it?”
“A shamanic ritual was performed there long ago.”
The Youth Leader sought help from the Village Chief’s gaze. The Village Chief approached, nodded, and touched the Youth Leader’s arm.
“It was so long ago that this young man probably doesn’t know much about it.”
“I would be grateful if you could tell me.”
“Long ago, there was a small lake on that Mountain.”
“A lake….”
The Imoogi is deeply connected to water.
“That lake had such clear and pure water that I played there often, but at some point, animals started dying off one after another in that lake.”
“Animals?”
“Later, people died too. Anyone who played in the lake would fall ill and collapse. Children and adults alike. Everyone suffered the same fate.”
Kang Hyung-seok drew his lower lip inward.
The more I heard the explanation, the more certain I became that this was not unrelated to what was happening in the Village.
“So we called a Shaman and held a ritual, but nothing came of it. Instead, we prevented people from going there, put up sacred ropes, and set up warning signs.”
Even the Shaman could do nothing about it.
So we only put countermeasures in place.
That was the feeling the Village Chief’s words conveyed.
“I need to go there.”
“Pardon? There?”
“Yes. I need to see it for myself.”
“In this weather….”
“I feel like something might come of it if I go.”
It was not arrogance.
I simply had a strong desire to confirm it with my own eyes.
If I could only meet the Imoogi directly, if we could communicate, there would surely be a way.
“Are you really going?”
“I have to.”
Whoooooosh.
The Village Chief gazed resentfully at the sky pouring down rain, then turned his gaze to Kang Hyung-seok.
“…I apologize and thank you.”
“It is the path to saving lives. It must be done.”
At that moment, the Village Chief’s face grew emotional, and he turned his gaze to the Youth Leader.
“You go with him.”
“…Pardon?”
The Youth Leader, caught off guard, asked again, and the Village Chief erupted in anger.
“No! You don’t even know the way—how can I let him go alone!”
“Village Chief, there are other people here.”
“Should I send old Kim, or should I go myself! You useless bastard!”
“There’s also Nak-yul, who is young.”
“You! You! Incompetent fool! I should beat you senseless!”
The Village Chief raised his walking stick, and the Youth Leader quickly covered his head. But the stick did not fall.
Instead, a sharp command came down.
“Stop your excuses and get ready! Move it!”
“Oh, dear me.”
“Make sure you bring the first aid kit! And keep your phone with you.”
“…Yes.”
The Youth Leader answered with a reluctant expression, and Kang Hyung-seok let out a wry laugh.
Either way, I needed a guide.
As they prepared to climb the Mountain, Lee Nak-yul excused herself to prepare some rice balls.

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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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