An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 182

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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 181
Part 7. An Unsettling Gaze (3)
“Lee Jang-woo!”
I burst through the door, calling out his name.
“Ah, ah!”
Lee Jang-woo jolted awake in terror, leaping from the bed, but the loose belt around his neck suddenly tightened, strangling him.
“Gasp! Choke!”
I immediately wrapped my arms around his thrashing lower body and lifted him upward.
Then I glanced at Shin Jung-ah—no words were necessary.
“Wait, wait!”
She rushed over, climbed onto the bed, and began frantically undoing the belt.
“No, no! Don’t!”
Lee Jang-woo thrashed even more violently, but his strength couldn’t overcome mine.
Click!
As the metal buckle came loose and the belt slackened, I threw Lee Jang-woo back onto the bed.
Then I pressed down on his chest with my weight while gripping his arms.
“Manager!”
“Ugh, ugh!”
When Shin Jung-ah added her weight to his other arm, Lee Jang-woo could no longer struggle.
“Sob! Please, please!”
“Come to your senses!”
“Please! For God’s sake, just let me die.”
The sight of him sobbing stirred an ache in my chest.
Noticing Shin Jung-ah’s face had gone rigid with shock, I spoke to Lee Jang-woo in a calm voice.
“I’ve come to help you. I’m a Shaman.”
The moment those words left my lips.
All strength drained from Lee Jang-woo’s body, and his eyes flew wide open.
“What, what?”
“A Shaman. Didn’t you receive a call?”
“No, ah… I didn’t get one.”
Damn it.
Shin Yoseph wouldn’t have delayed the call—someone else must have dropped the ball on delivering the message.
“Relax. I’m here to help.”
“Huff, huff.”
Lee Jang-woo breathed heavily with wide eyes, and I slowly released the pressure from my arms.
Fortunately, he stopped struggling.
“Huff, huff.”
Even in that brief moment, red marks had formed around his neck.
He rubbed the marks and sat up, while Shin Jung-ah and I stood on either side of the bed.
I retrieved a water bottle from the small refrigerator in the motel.
“Please, have some.”
Lee Jang-woo eyed Shin Jung-ah and me with suspicion before twisting open the water bottle cap.
I waited until he pulled the bottle away from his lips before speaking.
“Why did you do such a thing?”
“Huh!”
“Please calm yourself and speak slowly.”
Lee Jang-woo’s shoulders trembled violently before he hung his head low.
“A ghost, a ghost.”
“A ghost?”
“Yes. Every night, every night it comes for me.”
Lee Jang-woo suddenly sat up on the bed, then scrambled down to the floor as if seized by chills.
“There, from there! Yesterday it came out from there and grabbed my eyes like this!”
Lee Jang-woo flipped his own eyelids inside out to demonstrate.
Shin Jung-ah frowned as she imagined what must have happened, while I observed the area near the headrest.
Wheeeee.
I whistled, and a man passed by through the still-open door gap, giving me a look that said “what are you doing?”
Click.
Shin Jung-ah closed the door, and I carefully examined not just the bed but the entire motel room before shaking my head.
“There is nothing here now.”
“A-are you really a Shaman?”
“Yes.”
Lee Jang-woo swallowed hard enough that I could see his Adam’s apple bob.
Only then could I examine Lee Jang-woo’s face in detail.
‘A construction worker, you say?’
His skin was rough and darkened by the sun in a way different from Shin Jung-ah, yet not so much that it obscured his distinct features.
“Are you a heavy equipment operator?”
“Y-yes.”
“I’m not asking because I’m a Shaman. I’m wondering if perhaps you’ve been struck by misfortune.”
“Ah.”
Startled, Lee Jang-woo touched his scratched neck and opened his lips with difficulty.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Did you perhaps touch an old tree?”
“The foreman told me to do it, so what could I do?”
I exhaled a deep sigh through my nose.
Then I became conscious of the bag slung across my back.
The Shaman’s Bell was not ringing.
“If possible, I’d like to go with you.”
“N-no, I won’t.”
Lee Jang-woo refused absolutely, and I continued with furrowed brows.
“Will you continue to suffer from the ghost every night?”
“….”
“If it was so difficult that you wanted to hang yourself, why are you hesitating now?”
“Ugh, gah.”
Lee Jang-woo groaned with a pained expression.
“Surely anything is better than death, isn’t it?”
“….”
“I’m not asking you to go alone. Let’s go together.”
Lee Jang-woo squeezed his eyes shut.
After a long silence, he barely managed to nod his head.
***
Vroom.
I drove my car to the location where the tree had been uprooted.
I gripped the steering wheel, Shin Jung-ah sat in the passenger seat, and Lee Jang-woo in the back looked like a corpse—utterly vacant and lifeless.
“Say, would you like something to eat? It’s past mealtime….”
“No.”
Lee Jang-woo rejected Shin Jung-ah’s suggestion curtly, his eyes dark and hollow underneath.
“Sigh.”
Shin Jung-ah clicked her tongue sympathetically, while I kept my gaze fixed on the Tunnel Construction Site visible in the distance.
There was equipment, but no workers.
“These days, it’s so hot that everyone leaves early.”
Lee Jang-woo fidgeted with his fingers, his eyes cast downward.
A man who had tried to end his own life.
Whether from shame at that or embarrassment at his unauthorized absence, Lee Jang-woo couldn’t lift his head at all.
Grrrk.
I stopped the car and got out with Shin Jung-ah.
Then I opened the firmly shut rear door and coaxed Lee Jang-woo out with words.
“Where was the tree located?”
“O-over there.”
Lee Jang-woo pointed to a spot.
It was certainly a location where a tree would have obstructed the construction.
“Stay with me.”
“Huh?”
I gestured toward Lee Jang-woo with my chin, conveying my intention through my eyes alone.
In his current state, he couldn’t possibly come along.
“Ah, yes.”
Shin Jung-ah acknowledged with understanding, and I approached the spot where the tree had been uprooted, carrying only the Shaman’s Bell.
The tree had long since been cleared away and was nowhere to be seen.
Whoooosh.
As I shook the Shaman’s Bell and surveyed the surroundings, my brow furrowed deeply.
‘What is this?’
I sense nothing.
The tree was merely ordinary wood.
It bore no divine presence, no tangled history.
‘Damn it, this is going to be a headache.’
If the tree had been the source, sutras like the Wood Root Scripture, Wood Spirit Scripture, Wood Child Scripture, and Eastern Middle Cultivation would have proven effective.
But since that wasn’t the case, those scriptures couldn’t resolve the situation.
Ding.
Shin Jung-ah’s incoming call made my phone ring.
When I answered, her voice reached my ear from far away, soft as a whisper.
(Is it taking long?)
“Why do you ask?”
(No, it’s just… he seems to be struggling quite a bit.)
I could see Shin Jung-ah glancing back at Lee Jang-woo.
Right, there was no significant progress to be made here anyway.
‘Let’s go back.’
I turned my steps toward where Shin Jung-ah was.
Even as I moved, my furrowed brow refused to relax.
‘What on earth is happening?’
The Guardian Spirit remained silent.
That silence only made my heart heavier.
A third possibility—one too terrible to voice—was quietly raising its head in my mind.
***
Vroom.
The atmosphere inside the car heading back to the Rental House felt heavy.
There was nothing substantial to show for the trip.
“Sigh—!”
Shin Jung-ah exhaled deeply, equally frustrated, while Kang Hyung-seok rolled his stiff neck from side to side.
“You’re worried, aren’t you?”
“Otherwise it would be a lie.”
Anyone who had seen the expression on Lee Jang-woo’s face as he was left at the Motel would have said the same thing as Shin Jung-ah.
He had clung to them, begging them not to go, and only let go after they sprinkled salt on him and taught him a simple remedy.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like this before.”
Though I muttered it like a soliloquy, I was seeking agreement.
But when Kang Hyung-seok didn’t respond, Shin Jung-ah turned her gaze toward him.
“Kang Hyung-seok?”
“….”
“What? Is something bothering you?”
Tch.
Drawing breath through thin lips, Kang Hyung-seok shook his head and spoke.
“I’m not entirely certain yet, but I’m thinking of contacting Shin Yoseph.”
“Huh? Why?”
“There’s something I’d like to look into.”
Kang Hyung-seok furrowed his brows in obvious discomfort, giving Shin Jung-ah a brief glance.
“Please don’t worry too much about it, either.”
“Why are you like this?”
“It’s just… it could be nothing but my own anxiety.”
As Kang Hyung-seok drove toward Shin Jung-ah’s Apartment, he spoke in a voice tinged with a sigh.
“Perhaps the Guardian Spirit is telling me not to help that man.”
“…What?”
“I know it sounds strange.”
It was like a Shaman’s intuition.
It was similar to how one’s throat inexplicably grows parched when visiting the scene of a fire death, or how tears threaten to fall when entering a place where someone has been brutally murdered.
“To know for certain, I need information about this man Lee Jang-woo.”
“….”
“I’ll handle that, so please just make sure to keep the Shaman’s Bell safe.”
Shin Jung-ah moved her lips silently before slowly nodding.
By then we had arrived at the destination, and Kang Hyung-seok let her out.
“Be careful going in!”
“Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Kang Hyung-seok bowed to Shin Jung-ah and left after repeatedly reminding her to keep the Shaman’s Bell safe.
“What’s there to worry about…”
Shin Jung-ah chuckled softly and headed straight into her Apartment.
Then I took a hot shower, grabbed a light snack, and lay in bed enjoying some leisure time on my phone.
Even as I did, I kept the Guardian Spirit clutched tightly in my other hand.
‘What? Is it already this late?’
Shin Jung-ah gazed silently at the Guardian Spirit in her palm.
‘Shin Manager said to keep it close to me.’
Normally, I would have left it in my bag and placed it by my pillow.
But instead, I opened the pillowcase and slipped the Guardian Spirit inside.
I wanted to keep it as close to my body as possible.
Pat, pat!
After patting the pillow, I turned off the light, returned to bed, and closed my eyes.
And as I fell into a deep sleep, time passed until well past midnight.
Tap, tap, tap.
A white handprint appeared on the Bedroom window glass.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
The palm slid along the left edge as if trying to pry the window open.
But the window would not budge.
Tap.
Another handprint formed on the glass,
Thud.
The sound of a forehead striking the pane.
And the grotesquely twisted visage of a woman’s face was smeared across the window.
As if frustrated at being unable to get inside, resentful at failing to tear Shin Jung-ah to shreds.
An expression consumed entirely by hatred.

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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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