An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 19

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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 19
Part 6. The Charlatan Shaman Will Fear the Young Master (4)
Crack!
As Park Su trembled violently before her, Kang Hyung-seok held Shin Jung-ah’s body even more firmly.
“I’m s-sorry! I’m truly sorry!”
There’s a saying that people only come to their senses after being beaten.
It wasn’t a phrase I favored, but this wretched Park Su was proving it with his entire being.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
Thanks to that, Shin Jung-ah’s anger had cooled somewhat, and she merely exhaled in ragged breaths without lunging forward again.
“Calm yourself. You’ve hit him enough. Please, restrain yourself.”
As I spoke in a soothing tone, Shin Jung-ah released more tension from her body and clenched her teeth.
Yet there was no reassurance to be found.
The venom gleaming in her eyes could erupt at any moment.
“Is that all? Do you have nothing else to say?”
To mediate the situation, I directed my words toward Park Su as well.
Immediately, Park Su’s eyes lit up as though he’d discovered Buddha himself in hell, and he pressed his forehead firmly against the ground.
“I-I’ve made a truly grave mistake. No, I’ve committed a sin. I should never have done that to a customer….”
Now I shifted my gaze toward Shin Jung-ah.
“…Fine. I understand.”
Shin Jung-ah, whose eyes met mine, spoke in a subdued voice, then brushed back her disheveled hair.
Only then did I release Shin Jung-ah.
“How many talismans have you written so far?”
Park Su, upon being questioned, jerked his head up sharply.
“T-two of them!”
Perhaps from the beating he’d received from Shin Jung-ah, he answered obediently.
“Two?”
Park Su lifted his head slightly, then upon seeing my face, quickly continued speaking.
“The first one I wrote probably had no effect. The person who received the talisman never returned or anything. Of course, I couldn’t even perform the ritual!”
“What did you use for the talisman?”
“Gyeongmyeon-jusa! I didn’t mix anything else in it.”
“What’s that supposed to be?”
I answered Shin Jung-ah, who had interjected into the conversation.
“It’s stone powder used when writing talismans.”
“Stone? Isn’t that strange?”
“It’s a good material. That’s precisely the problem.”
I clicked my tongue in dismay.
Gyeongmyeon-jusa is absurdly expensive.
Using something like that naturally meant the effect had to be good, and the fact that he hadn’t mixed anything else in it was at least some consolation.
If this fool had added something like beast’s blood or powdered burnt hair, the situation would have spiraled much further.
‘If he had done that… it would have gone exactly as I dreamed.’
A warning delivered to me by my guardian spirit through a dream.
Shin Jung-ah’s suicide attempt from the railing might have become reality.
“Why?”
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes met mine as she raised one eyebrow, but I simply shook my head.
I’d noticed it before—Shin Jung-ah was the type to be easily influenced.
It was a blessing that things were ending here.
“Um, did the talisman actually work?”
“What…?”
Park Su flinched at the look in my eyes.
Even now, he was curious whether the talisman he’d made had been effective. It was absurd.
What was I supposed to do with this guy?
Just as I was pondering this, Shin Jung-ah asked the same question.
“What are you going to do?”
With both Park Su and Shin Jung-ah’s attention on me, I tilted my head slightly.
“We need to take action. This is something a shaman should never do.”
“What can we do legally…?”
After a brief moment of thought, I clicked my tongue softly.
“It’s not easy.”
“Then we just have to let it go?”
Shin Jung-ah narrowed the space between her eyebrows in frustration.
“Proof is difficult. This isn’t something the law can handle.”
I continued speaking while looking down at Park Su, who was being overly cautious.
“I’ll speak to a shaman I know.”
“Wait, that’s too—”
“They’ll handle it better than you think.”
Since Park Su was watching, I didn’t reveal Lee Geum-kyung’s name.
But I could speak of her authority.
“She’s someone called ‘Teacher’ in this field. She’s more than capable of making this matter public, and she can hold both Park Su and his stepmother accountable.”
A charlatan shaman is still someone with a stake in the shamanic world.
And the fake fears the real.
If Lee Geum-kyung, a renowned figure among the genuine shamans, learned of this, Park Su and his stepmother would have to be prepared to leave this world behind.
That was when it happened.
Park Su’s face turned pale enough to be noticeable as he trembled visibly.
“Please, just forgive me once.”
Park Su looked up at me as if I held his lifeline.
“I-I’m from the Shamanic Academy, so I don’t even have a stepmother. Please, please forgive me just this once. I won’t do anything wrong again.”
“What? From the Shamanic Academy?”
“Yes!”
In front of Shin Jung-ah, whose face showed she was wondering if such a thing as a shaman academy even existed, I exhaled a hot breath.
‘So that’s why.’
Now everything clicks into place perfectly.
He clearly has talent, so why is he serving someone like Heo-ju?
Why would someone with such potential act so recklessly, as if he had no divine mother watching over him?
“If you came from the Shamanic Academy, you should have been more careful! You should have tried harder! You bastard!”
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry!”
Kang Hyung-seok covered his throbbing forehead with his palm.
There really were so many shamans these days.
People became practitioners of shamanism even without receiving divine possession.
I’d heard that with systems in place, they’d even established academies, though I had no intention of criticizing that itself.
Those who received divine possession were called possessed shamans.
Those who inherited shamanic practice were called hereditary shamans.
Those who received training were called learned shamans.
Among these, the academies could reasonably be interpreted as a modernized version of learned shamanism.
‘Still, even so. If it’s a place that takes money, they should have been more careful to prevent this kind of nonsense.’
“Damn it.”
After exhaling a sigh and a curse, I narrowed my eyes and glared at Park Su.
As if struck by the gaze of a reaper of the underworld, Park Su trembled violently, and Shin Jung-ah wore a complicated expression as she smacked her lips.
Though she didn’t completely understand the situation, seeing him shake like this seemed to make her think he was pitiful.
“If the academy finds out, I’ll be buried. The penalty fees will be enormous too.”
Park Su, his forehead pressed to the ground, spoke in a whimpering voice and clasped his hands in supplication.
“I really won’t do this again. Please, just this once, be lenient with me. Teacher, I’m begging you like this.”
It wasn’t often that a person became this desperate.
I bit my lower lip, then noticed Shin Jung-ah’s gaze and looked at her.
Was it right to let him off here?
That’s when she was looking at me with eyes that seemed to ask exactly that.
“I’ll make compensation. I’ll apologize and compensate for everything.”
“Compensation?”
When Shin Jung-ah spoke with a puzzled tone, Park Su hurried to continue.
“The offering money. All the offering money I’ve received so far, plus an additional amount as an apology.”
Park Su answered while looking at me.
The desperation in his plea was so intense it felt excessive.
“What will you do?”
I asked in a tone that reflected my decision, and Shin Jung-ah hesitated before asking in a low voice.
“He says he’ll compensate, so… but is it okay to accept?”
“Is it because of that thing about not accepting money from shamans?”
Shin Jung-ah nodded with an uncomfortable expression.
She’d heard somewhere that accepting money from a shaman would result in death or losing one’s good fortune.
“No, no! Absolutely not!”
I watched Park Su wave his hands in panic, then shifted my gaze to the bag tucked under my arm.
The Shaman’s Bell that warned of danger remained silent.
“If you’re going to settle this with compensation, that’s fine.”
If Park Su attempted anything violent, Shaman’s Bell would ring out.
But he didn’t look like someone capable of that, nor did the situation warrant it.
“Phew! Alright. Let’s do it that way.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I’m fine with it….”
“Thank you so much!”
Park Su cut off Shin Jung-ah mid-sentence and scrambled to his feet in a panic.
Though he stumbled from having been prostrate for so long, Park Su bolted into the inner room.
Crash, clang clang!
The cacophony erupting from the inner room filled the entire Officetel.
With such noise, Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Jung-ah’s conversation couldn’t reach Park Su’s ears.
“I wonder if we can really end it like this.”
“Are you worried Park Su might cause trouble for someone else?”
“Well, I was able to resolve it because you’re here, but that won’t be the case for others.”
Kang Hyung-seok merely lifted the corners of his mouth at Shin Jung-ah’s astute observation, then shook his head while looking toward where Heo-ju had fled.
“You don’t need to worry about that. He won’t be able to work as a shaman for quite some time.”
Perhaps never again.
“What? Why? Did you do something?”
“No. Heo-ju ran away. To work as a shaman again, he’ll need to cultivate his mind and body anew and receive a proper spirit.”
Crash!
Park Su continued rummaging through the inner room, oblivious to what was being said about him.
“Are you certain? He could come back, couldn’t he?”
“Heo-ju isn’t just any spirit. Child spirits do flee when they encounter strong-willed people or powerful deities, but they return quickly. Heo-ju is different.”
“Is… that so?”
“Yes.”
That Park Su can no longer harm people even if he wanted to.
He cannot write malevolent talismans, cannot bewitch people with honeyed words, cannot perform rituals.
Divination is beyond his reach.
To become a shaman again, he must endure harsh trials, and once he does, all that suffering will be repaid tenfold.
“He has talent. He’ll pave his own path forward.”
It was then.
Park Su returned carrying a thick white envelope.
“I’ve put it all in here.”
Today, this Park Su was watching Kang Hyung-seok’s expression very carefully.
Though he handed the money envelope to Shin Jung-ah and addressed her, his gaze was fixed on Kang Hyung-seok.
Yet there was no malice in that gaze.
When their eyes met, he immediately lowered his—the eyes of someone fearful and remorseful.
“Is the amount correct?”
“It seems to be, yes?”
“I added more to it!”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke while looking at Park Su.
“Be careful going forward, and strive to become a good person.”
“Yes? Yes, yes.”
Park Su had no way of knowing.
How much the words Kang Hyung-seok left behind would help him.
If he remembered them when life grew difficult, Park Su would become a great person, but if not, he would end up living a wretched existence.
“Let’s go.”
Kang Hyung-seok turned his body alongside Shin Jung-ah.
The moment the two of them stepped into the elevator after leaving the Shamanic Temple, they exhaled deeply as if they’d made a promise to do so.
There was exhaustion, and also the sense that this entire ordeal had finally come to an end.
Whoosh.
So the atmosphere in the descending elevator was different from when they’d arrived at the Shamanic Temple.
“Are you satisfied?”
“Hm?”
Shin Jung-ah, who had been holding the money envelope like a seal clutching a clam, met my gaze.
“It’s over. Are you satisfied?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
The answer was ambiguous.
I was probably out of it.
After all, I’d been tormented by ghosts two times in a row.
On top of that, I’d been betrayed by the Shamanic Temple I visited regularly, so it would be difficult for my mind to be fully present.
As Kang Hyung-seok stepped out of the elevator that had reached the Underground Parking Lot, I made casual conversation.
“It looks like you’ve trained in combat sports. Your stance was solid.”
“That? Oh, my parents made me learn it back in the day for self-defense.”
“Muay Thai?”
“No, mixed martial arts.”
So her parents had essentially given steel fangs to a ferocious tiger.
Kang Hyung-seok pondered why Shin Jung-ah’s parents had done that as I climbed into the car.
“Get in. I’ll give you a ride.”
Shin Jung-ah, who had been hesitating, then climbed into the passenger seat.
Kang Hyung-seok started the engine, and Shin Jung-ah, who had been blankly clutching the money envelope, suddenly dumped out its contents.
“What are you doing?”
“Hold on.”
Shin Jung-ah rifled through the stack of bills, then cut it in half and held it out to me.
“What is this?”
“Your share, Deputy Manager Kang.”
“What?”
“Take it. You always suffer because of me.”
“Are you serious?”
Shin Jung-ah’s lips curved upward as she watched Kang Hyung-seok’s flustered expression.
“Just take it. I’m doing this out of gratitude.”
Shin Jung-ah spoke with a smile that was difficult to refuse.
When Kang Hyung-seok still hesitated to reach out, she opened the glove compartment on the passenger side.
“I put it in here. Make sure you take it with you later.”
“Ma’am.”
“I don’t care. I’m giving it to you!”
Shin Jung-ah stuffed the envelope—noticeably thinner than before—into her pocket and crossed her arms, closing her eyes.
Watching her silently insist with her entire body that she wouldn’t hear any more objections, Kang Hyung-seok smiled, his lips lifting at the corners.
“I’ll accept it gratefully.”
With that, he drove toward her apartment complex, carrying the pretending-to-sleep Shin Jung-ah.

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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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