An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 187

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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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Episode 186
Part 2. I Have Much on My Mind These Days (2)
“When the gate opens, fire spreads in an instant—the dharma nature is vast and complete.”
Kang Hyung-seok gazed down at the man and recited the Heavenly Eight Yang Divine Mantra.
Zing-zing-zing! Zing-zing-zing!
Shaman’s Bell chimed, and Lee Geum-kyung’s serene gaze remained fixed upon Kang Hyung-seok.
“May all sit in meditation, join palms, and offer incense to the Buddha, the Honored One.”
He recited the scripture and shook Shaman’s Bell, yet what unfolded could scarcely be called a proper shamanic ritual.
There was no Dharma Master to assist the ceremony, no musician to play the sacred instruments.
And yet, as though all the spirits of heaven and earth conspired to aid him, he performed the ritual alone.
“All sentient beings in the southern continent arise together, and from time immemorial, this lineage continues unbroken.”
A faint smile graced Lee Geum-kyung’s lips as she witnessed Kang Hyung-seok reciting scripture as a shaman for the first time.
Lee Geum-kyung had lived many years.
Her years as a shaman were equally long.
Yet she had rarely—so rarely it could be counted on one hand—seen someone devote themselves so completely to reciting scripture for another’s sake.
“The long-lived find joy, the short-lived find sorrow.”
As the lengthy mantra rushed toward its conclusion, the man’s complexion grew progressively serene.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Then came a grotesque shriek, yet Kang Hyung-seok continued the scripture without pause.
“Without ignorance or perception, the dharma is liberation itself.”
And when all the scripture finally ended, Kang Hyung-seok set down Shaman’s Bell.
Immediately after, the man’s eyes, which had been rolled upward, returned to their natural state.
“Uh… uh?”
The man rose as though waking from sleep, his face bewildered as he looked around.
“W-what… where… where am I?”
Overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the space, the man asked with both confusion and courtesy, while Lee Geum-kyung twisted her lips into a smile and clicked her tongue at him.
“Treat your wife well.”
“…Pardon?”
“It was your wife who brought you here.”
Perhaps the memory from just before possession had surfaced.
The man’s face flushed crimson, and Lee Geum-kyung called out loudly toward the door.
“Chung-geum!”
“Yes, Master.”
Chung-geum, who had been waiting just outside the door, answered, and Lee Geum-kyung gestured with her hand as she continued.
“It is done. Open the door.”
Click.
Chung-geum opened the door with her head bowed, and the man’s wife, who had been waiting in the Front Courtyard, came into view first.
She was a woman whose heart had burned black as the night sky itself, consumed by worry as deep as the setting sun.
“H-honey.”
The man saw his wife and hung his head in shame.
“Store owner. For your wife’s sake, don’t do anything foolish.”
The man rose to his feet with the expression of someone who would crawl into a mouse hole if one existed, just to escape and disappear from the House Owner’s presence.
Then he bowed deeply to Lee Geum-kyung, and his wife conveyed her gratitude by bending at the waist as well.
“I didn’t do anything. This young man did, so bow properly and go inside.”
As Lee Geum-kyung finished speaking, the man bowed to Kang Hyung-seok with the clear desire to leave this place immediately.
Kang Hyung-seok did not accept the man’s bow.
Instead, he offered a light nod of acknowledgment, mirroring the wife’s gesture of respect toward him.
“About the, the offering fee….”
As the man reached for his wallet in an awkward posture, Lee Geum-kyung’s sharp command cut through the air.
“No more talk—go back to your family! You can offer your thanks properly when you return with a clear mind!”
“Yes, yes!”
The man bolted toward the Front Courtyard as if fleeing, taking his place beside his wife.
Smack! Smack!
Because Lee Geum-kyung was watching, the wife couldn’t bring herself to curse, but she continued striking the man repeatedly.
All the way until they got in the car, perhaps even as the engine started.
Vroom vroom vroom.
Seeing the car shake, she might still be hitting him even now.
Kang Hyung-seok watched the departing vehicle with a bitter smile, then suddenly remembered something and rose from his seat.
“I brought some refreshments. I’ll fetch them.”
“Chung-geum, could you bring the tea?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kang Hyung-seok retrieved the paper bag containing premium yeot that he had placed in the passenger seat, and Chung-geum brought the tea service.
One small table, one teapot, three teacups.
The three of them moved to Lee Geum-kyung’s Residence and conversed in an atmosphere of unexpected serenity.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Not at all.”
“So, did you find your answer?”
Kang Hyung-seok, who had been smiling as he brought the teacup to his lips, let his expression fall as he looked at Lee Geum-kyung.
She, unconcerned for someone who had posed such a question, was piercing the yeot with a fork.
“An answer?”
“You came with a worry, and through heaven’s will you experienced this ordeal. So you should have found your answer.”
Those who yearn desperately seek answers desperately.
Sometimes heaven offers those answers through various means.
Methods one might ordinarily overlook.
But when the heart is desperate, through ways worth reconsidering once more.
Clink.
Kang Hyung-seok set down his teacup and, with a quiet expression, thought for a moment before speaking.
“I’ve had much on my mind lately.”
Chung-geum’s brow furrowed slightly, and Lee Geum-kyung nodded as if in understanding.
“What exactly is karma, I wonder.”
“It leaves an impression on the heart.”
“That husband just now committed a grave sin against his wife. Yet she brought him here and obtained help for him.”
The wife had saved her husband.
She did not abandon the husband who had betrayed her.
Was this truly the right thing to do?
Was the Dharma Master’s affection for Lee Jang-woo also justified?
“It is a matter between the parties involved. What is there to worry about?”
“But….”
“Think about it.”
Lee Geum-kyung swallowed a finely cut piece of yeot before speaking.
“How did the husband behave?”
He silently accepted the blows his wife rained down upon him.
He did not resist once, nor did he complain.
“If he were a man who felt no shame and would grow angry at his wife, would she have brought him all the way here?”
“There are times when such things happen.”
“But will that last forever?”
The words caught in my throat.
No, it would not.
People change, though it is not easy.
So even if they live accepting things that make their teeth chatter, eventually they find a way to exact revenge—by removing that person from their life or by some other means.
“That is how it always is. Misfortune will come, sooner or later, and that is their punishment.”
“…Yes.”
“I heard you helped people who underwent spirit marriages while I was away.”
Bu-yong.
And the Shaman and her daughter who connected the living and the dead.
Kang Hyung-seok, recalling them, narrowed his brow as he looked at Lee Geum-kyung, and Chung-geum also shifted her gaze toward Lee Geum-kyung.
“What became of them?”
“…I do not know the details.”
I only know that Lee Ha-yoon is doing her best to help the victims through legal means.
I did not know the details about that mother and daughter.
“The mother’s divine thread has been severed. She awaits only the punishment of the gods.”
“Ah….”
An image flashed through my mind.
It was the Shaman sitting vacant-eyed in that dark Shamanic Temple.
Likely, the moment all compensation to the victims was complete, the terrible punishment of the gods would guide her to the afterlife.
“The daughter has become pitiable. But it is karma—who can one blame?”
The resentment of the Victim Spirits that mother and daughter had attached to the living.
She would bear all of it.
Every night would be agony and hell; she would not be able to maintain her sanity.
“…She must have gone to the Hospital.”
Lee Geum-kyung nodded heavily.
The images blooming in my mind were not mere imagination.
The sight of the Shaman Daughter, her entire body restrained, screaming each night and resisting the Victim Spirits that touched her—
it was horrifying even to imagine.
And knowing that torment would continue even after death made it all the more unbearable.
“Those who caused harm to many have received their punishment.”
“….”
“You helped people.”
I smiled bitterly, my expression matching the bitter taste in my mouth.
“Those who deserve punishment will carry it with them, so do not burden your heart with it. You committed no sin—why should your chest grow heavy?”
It was the truth, and I found myself nodding without thinking.
At that moment, my heart finally lightened, and I smiled faintly before bowing deeply to Lee Geum-kyung in gratitude.
“Thank you, Teacher. Because of you, my heart has found peace.”
“Enough. I too once harbored such thoughts long ago.”
Lee Geum-kyung’s brow furrowed, as if recalling something from a distant past.
A brief silence fell, and Lee Geum-kyung spoke with a melancholic expression.
“Everything is bound by karma. There is nothing to regret, nothing to cling to.”
“I understand.”
I rubbed my lips, my expression troubled.
I had witnessed so much in this time.
People more terrible than Malevolent Spirits.
The words that humans are more frightening than spirits had not left my mind lately.
“What I needed to do was not to worry. It was to help.”
Lee Geum-kyung smiled as if impressed, her eyes narrowing as she looked at me.
“It will be difficult for you.”
“I see it as my destiny.”
“It is no easy path. An ordinary person would have collapsed long ago.”
“Still, it is my destiny.”
“Your words, your resolve, will become great strength for those who desperately need your help.”
I nodded heavily.
My wavering heart found its direction again, and my mind grew clear.
When I had found such peace, Lee Geum-kyung’s soft voice followed.
“Hyung-seok.”
“Yes.”
“I said punishment lingers in the heart.”
“Yes.”
“One day, someone who must overcome such punishment may need your help.”
Even for such a person, I must extend my hand.
For repentance and overcoming are also the work of humans.
“When the time comes, you will understand what I mean.”
Lee Geum-kyung’s lips curved upward in a subtle smile as she extended her hand.
It was a weathered hand, lined with wrinkles—the rough palm of a shaman who had devoted her entire life to helping others.
When Kang Hyung-seok grasped it with both hands, Lee Geum-kyung spoke.
“Do not crumble. Always hold your mind firm and steadfast.”
“I will take your words to heart.”
Kang Hyung-seok bowed deeply before Lee Geum-kyung.
Though they had never become parent and child, the two of them shared the bond of master and disciple.

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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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