An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 186

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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 185
Part 2. I’ve Had a Lot on My Mind Lately (1)
Several days had passed.
During that time, Kang Hyung-seok had continued his ordinary office life without incident.
“Manager Kang, could you take a look at this?”
“Let me see. Ah, I think you should change this part. It was revised last quarter.”
“Oh! I must have referenced the old version.”
I reviewed the documents that Namgoong Min-ah brought for approval,
“Manager Kang, you’ve been dropping food quite often lately. Is something wrong with you?”
“No, sir. I’ll be more careful.”
“Why don’t you visit a hospital sometime? I’m genuinely worried about you.”
and even shared food with Baekseol to the point that Gwak Young-ho had grown concerned.
No one would ever know.
—Patter, patter.
That Lee Jin-pyung’s Baekseol had been approaching me every lunch hour these days.
Of course, the moment the meal ended, she would bounce away from my lap as if nothing had happened, returning to Lee Jin-pyung.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Shin Jung-ah, whom I occasionally encountered on the rooftop, stood there with a cigarette between her lips, her expression deeply furrowed.
Most of the time it was work-related or stock-related troubles, but today seemed different.
“Is something bothering you?”
“Hm? No, it’s not that.”
“If there is, please tell me.”
The Sales Team 2 employees in the distance cast furtive glances before heading down the stairs, and only then did Shin Jung-ah speak.
“It’s nothing major, but I asked Ha Yoon about something just in case.”
A divorce specialist attorney.
Someone who had lent her support behind the scenes during the spirit wedding as well.
“Did something happen to Ha Yoon?”
“Well, actually I consulted with her about that previous matter. You know what I mean?”
I had a good idea what she was asking about, so I brought the coffee to my lips with a bitter smile.
The matter was as bitter as coffee without a single grain of sugar.
The Malevolent Spirit and Lee Jang-woo’s affair.
“I was just curious how we could possibly nail that bastard, so I asked.”
“I see.”
“Since the investigation was already concluded long ago, and unless he confesses himself, it seems difficult to proceed.”
Shin Jung-ah swept her hair back irritably, cigarette still between her lips, as if the matter were her own.
“A guy like that deserves to rot in prison.”
“He’s probably already living in hell.”
“Still, I think human matters should be resolved by human means, you know?”
Shin Jung-ah had certainly been spending considerable time with me.
One could tell from the way she spoke—there was a subtle hint of my influence in her words.
“What’s so funny? Why are you smiling?”
Even though I had laughed silently, Shin Jung-ah, with an almost supernatural ability to sense such things, showed a displeased reaction, and I leaned my back against the railing before speaking.
“Nothing really. Though I’ve noticed it often—Manager, you seem to get genuinely angry on behalf of others, as if it were your own problem.”
“They’re pitiful.”
Shin Jung-ah responded as if to say, “Isn’t that obvious?”
Perhaps this was simply who she was by nature.
Though the White Tiger Calamity made her pounce like a beast whenever someone crossed the line, her innate temperament was fundamentally good and gentle.
“Well, we can’t solve everything anyway. So I don’t think you need to worry so much about it.”
“…Yeah.”
Shin Jung-ah replied with a melancholic tone, as if she understood.
Then, beside me as I sipped my coffee, she took a drag from her cigarette.
It had been the Beginning of Autumn not long ago.
Perhaps because of that, the sky felt clear, and the oppressive heat that had seemed relentless had finally broken.
Before long, the leaves of the street trees visible below would turn crimson with autumn colors, and as always, the world would prepare to welcome winter.
“A Victim Spirit can’t report to the prosecutors.”
Shin Jung-ah’s gaze followed me as I spoke something as inevitable as the changing of seasons.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking often about punishment lately.”
“You mean divine retribution?”
“Something like that. I was referring to the punishment that lingers in one’s heart.”
“….”
“Lee Jang-woo would be experiencing that.”
Every night, Lee Jang-woo might be locked away in some cramped room, drenched in terror—perhaps even now.
“Still, it doesn’t feel satisfying. Bastards like that deserve worse punishment.”
“Unless they save themselves, they’ll only suffer more.”
Perhaps before that even happens, he might take his own life.
I drank my coffee with a heavy expression.
Then I looked up at the blue sky—a sight that would bring peace of mind to some.
But not to Lee Jang-woo.
Perhaps because he already sensed where he would go after death.
“Sigh.”
“Don’t worry too much. Everyone receives punishment proportional to their own karma.”
I drained the remaining coffee from my tumbler in one gulp, then pushed myself away from the railing.
“It’s almost time to leave work. You should prepare too, Manager.”
“Yeah….”
“Are you heading straight home today?”
Shin Jung-ah stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, then turned her gaze toward me.
It seemed like a casual question without any particular intention behind it.
“No, just… you seem to have a lot on your mind. In times like that, meeting a friend is best, isn’t it?”
“Well, I was already planning to meet Ha Yoon anyway.”
“That works out well then.”
“What about Manager Kang?”
“I have an appointment as well.”
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she broke into a broad smile.
“A friend?”
“No. I’m just going to visit my teacher.”
“Ah.”
Shin Jung-ah knew this person too.
She was the Shaman who had given her the protective charm, and also Kang Hyung-seok’s spiritual mentor.
“I thought I’d pay my respects to Lee Geum-kyung after all this time.”
Shin Jung-ah nodded approvingly.
***
Grrrr.
As I climbed the uphill road toward Lee Geum-kyung’s Shrine, I glanced at my wristwatch.
Since evening had passed, she might have already finished dinner.
Still, I had snacks in the passenger seat for Lee Geum-kyung and Chung-geum, so it wouldn’t be a problem even if they hadn’t eaten.
‘Hm?’
Through the rearview mirror, I spotted a car following behind me.
Checking the time again, it was definitely late.
‘An urgent client, perhaps.’
Lee Geum-kyung doesn’t allow visitors at this hour unless it’s truly urgent.
Whoooosh!
I accelerated as if urging the car behind to keep up, and sure enough, it stayed close on my tail.
The two vehicles came to a stop side by side in the Shrine Front Yard.
Click!
Before I could even get out, the driver’s door of the adjacent car opened, and the eyes that met mine looked anxious.
It was a middle-aged woman, and her expression pleaded that I not be a customer.
Click!
I stepped out and gestured urgently for her to hurry inside the Shrine.
Only then did she bow gratefully to me before helping what appeared to be her husband out of the passenger seat.
Eyes rolled back. Mouth agape.
And skin tinged with a sickly pallor.
‘Damn. A possession case.’
I might need to help with this.
I quickly retrieved the bag containing my shamanic tools from the car.
“Young Master!”
Chung-geum emerged into the front yard and called out to me loudly.
“Just let the teacher know!”
I shouted back just as loudly, and the middle-aged woman, realizing I was no ordinary person, felt her heart clench as tears welled in her eyes.
Such desperation in a single person.
So I rushed toward her and draped the man’s arm around my neck.
“Teacher! I’ll open the door!”
The door swung wide.
Then I bolted toward the Shamanic Temple entrance that Chung-geum was opening for me.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
The woman’s voice behind me was trembling with suppressed emotion.
“Teacher!”
I bowed to Lee Geum-kyung before stepping inside the temple with the man.
I laid him down on the floor, and Chung-geum asked the woman to step outside.
“B-but…”
“Your presence here will only be a hindrance.”
Only after Chung-geum’s firm words did the woman reluctantly exit the temple.
Our eyes met just before the door closed.
She was sending me a look of desperate plea—asking me to help.
Click.
As the door shut, an unexpectedly solemn and heavy atmosphere descended upon us.
The Buddhist statues and shamanic implements within the temple, along with the distinct incense lingering in the air, only deepened this weight.
“Welcome.”
Lee Geum-kyung spoke while observing the man’s complexion.
“Heaven must have guided him here.”
Lee Geum-kyung exhaled a laugh, and I examined the man’s face before unfastening his belt.
Then I checked his pockets and clothing for any other metal objects or sharp implements.
It was to prevent any possible self-harm.
“Do you understand what this is?”
“Yes. Possession.”
The man’s breath carried a stench that was almost nauseating.
Lee Geum-kyung nodded silently, and I turned my gaze toward her, seeking explanation.
“A worthless husband.”
“Pardon?”
“Not a good husband, in other words.”
I understood what Lee Geum-kyung meant.
The faint scent of women’s cosmetics clung to the man’s clothing.
His hair carried the smell of shampoo—a different brand than what his wife would use.
“A man who was with another woman in a motel where someone died—a spirit has attached itself to him.”
For some reason, Lee Jang-woo came to mind, and I bit my lower lip with a complicated expression.
Then it came.
“What do you see with your eyes?”
It didn’t seem like a simple question about what my spiritual sight could perceive.
I fell silent for a moment, then shifted my gaze from the motionless man—whose eyes were rolled back—toward the closed door.
Then I parted my lips and spoke.
“I see sin, lingering attachments, and a victim spirit.”
The wife outside would surely know as well.
Her husband had suddenly behaved strangely at the motel and lost consciousness, so hadn’t she rushed to contact someone and come to Lee Geum-kyung in her panic?
What must she have felt?
When she discovered her husband’s infidelity, when she placed him in the car, and when she cast that pleading gaze toward Kang Hyung-seok.
The conversation I had shared with Shin Jung-ah at the company seemed to tangle my thoughts more than usual.
“You have much on your mind today.”
Lee Geum-kyung spoke in a low voice and straightened her upper body.
The gesture seemed intended to create distance from the man, drawing Kang Hyung-seok’s attention.
“You should try to resolve this yourself.”
“Me, you say?”
Lee Geum-kyung answered with a nod.
And Kang Hyung-seok shifted his gaze toward the man.
In his spiritual sight, a victim spirit clung to the man like a malevolent force.
‘A hanging spirit.’
A ghost that had died by rope.
A cruel spirit, with a savage nature.
The reason it had attached itself to this man was jealousy.
“In life, you were fond of women, and hating the wife who abandoned you for such shallow reasons, you took your own life.”
Speaking in a low voice that captured the attention of both Lee Geum-kyung and the victim spirit, Kang Hyung-seok continued with eyes still sunken and grave.
“What torment drives you to afflict the living? Release these meaningless attachments—your jealousy, your resentment—and depart to where you must go.”
Speaking in a slow, rhythmic voice like a sacred incantation, he drew out the Shaman’s Bell.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Then he began the incantation to drive away the spirit possessing the man.

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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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