An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 199

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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 198
Part 6. Three Hundred (2)
When the next day arrived, Gwak Young-ho’s call started my day.
“Yes, Manager.”
Kang Hyung-seok, who had just woken, answered the phone with a drowsy voice and sat up.
(Manager Kang! Sorry for calling so early.)
“Not at all. Is there something urgent?”
(No, that place you mentioned was strange last time—remember?)
Sleep vanished from my mind in an instant.
“Yes.”
Kang Hyung-seok answered with a clearer voice, and Gwak Young-ho’s sigh immediately came through the phone.
(Man, Manager Kang really sensed something.)
“What do you mean….”
(There was a massive fire there yesterday!)
“…What?”
My face stiffened abruptly at this unexpected revelation.
(Actually, I’ve been observing the situation by contacting people I know in the area.)
“I see.”
(From what I hear, they did sign a contract yesterday. So the fire broke out right after the contract was finalized.)
“Ah….”
(He had requested the payment be deposited first, so it’s exactly as you said, Manager Kang. Exactly as you said.)
Could it really be?
If I hadn’t known better about that place, I might have spoken like Gwak Young-ho.
But things are different now.
I know that something occult was involved.
The news of a fire breaking out in such a place felt deeply ominous.
“Do you happen to know what happened to the Factory Owner?”
(Ah… well, I only heard it secondhand, so I don’t have all the details.)
But he did know something.
Kang Hyung-seok remained silent, knowing that asking carelessly might prompt the question, “Why are you curious about that?”
(From what I hear, it looks like arson. They even found a kerosene can. But something seems to have gone wrong. They found it at the scene too.)
Kang Hyung-seok unconsciously swallowed.
The man I saw a few days ago had burned to death.
‘Could all of this be coincidence?’
Fire symbolizes purification.
If what the Factory Owner did was truly hitobashira, then hastily finding a buyer and demanding payment quickly could be seen as passing on the curse.
‘Did he try to purify his karma with fire, only for something to go wrong?’
Or was it something else?
What if someone other than me knew what the Factory Owner had done?
My thoughts multiplied, and my head grew hot.
(Anyway! It’s not something I should say, but it seems karma really does exist.)
“…Yes.”
(The executives and the Executive Director contacted me—it was chaos. If we’d signed with them, we would’ve taken a real hit.)
It was the kind of situation the higher-ups would naturally think about.
Kang Hyung-seok laughed bitterly, and Gwak Young-ho’s laugh carried a note of melancholy.
(Still, things worked out well. They say no one knows what the future holds.)
“Is something the matter?”
(Why else would I be calling you at this hour?)
Kang Hyung-seok pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment to check the time.
It was admittedly earlier than necessary.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
(Ah! Kang Manager.)
Gwak Young-ho continued, his voice deliberately brightening as if trying to shake off the weight of their earlier conversation.
(The executives said you and Shin Manager prevented them from taking a major loss. They spoke very highly of you both.)
“…Really?”
(So a decision came through rather quickly. I’ve been on calls with HR since this morning—quite the production.)
“No, what—”
(Starting today, you and Shin Manager both get two paid days off. And with the weekend, that’s four days to rest properly.)
Kang Hyung-seok blinked like someone who’d just woken up.
He couldn’t fathom how things had unfolded this way.
“Manager…?”
(You know how much the executives care about these things.)
That much was true.
It was back when I’d had dinner with the executives long ago.
The moment they learned I’d studied folklore and knew Lee Geum-kyung, their eyes had changed.
(Honestly, I’m not sure this is right either, but it worked out!)
“Ah….”
(You’ve been under a lot of stress lately.)
Gwak Young-ho knows nothing of the truth.
Yet his voice—quiet and weighty like a father’s—carried a comfort that touched something deep within me.
(I don’t know what it is, but I could see you struggling these days. Use this chance to rest well, eat something good, visit somewhere nice.)
“Manager….”
(Goodness, I’ve been keeping you on the phone too long. Anyway, Kang Manager! Rest well, and I’ll see you next Monday with a smile on your face!)
Before I could respond, Gwak Young-ho hung up first.
As the whirlwind of the call ended, silence settled over the room.
“Ha.”
Kang Hyung-seok set down his phone and gazed at the ceiling, laughing with a sense of deflation.
It felt like things had worked out well.
As if heaven itself had granted me time to move freely.
Though there’s still work to be done.
Yet as my heart swelled with emotion, I felt energy surge through me that hadn’t been there before—a reminder that office workers are creatures of habit.
“Phew!”
I exhaled deeply, as if expelling stale air from my lungs, and descended from the bed with clearer eyes.
After preparing lightly for the outing, I grabbed the car keys and left the house.
Vroom.
While driving, I glanced at the navigation screen.
The factory where the fire occurred was my destination.
I had visited it just days ago, but my mood was completely different now.
Vroom.
My mood was as refreshing as the car speeding along the road.
I had a destination, but the condition of having four days to move freely had been secured.
Beep.
I touched my phone screen and called Shin Jung-ah.
(Mm, hello?)
As expected.
It was past 9:30 AM, and drowsiness filled Shin Jung-ah’s voice.
“Manager, this is Manager Kang.”
(Yeah….)
I chuckled silently and continued speaking as I exited the highway.
“I have a favor to ask.”
(Yeah, go ahead. Mm.)
Hearing Shin Jung-ah’s voice gradually regaining vitality, I took a moment to steady my breath before speaking.
“When you arrive at Suwon, could you visit Teacher Lee Geum-kyung?”
(Should I go with you?)
“I have something separate to check. I’m in Gangwon Province right now.”
(What?)
Now fully awake, Shin Jung-ah spoke, and I shifted my gaze to the willows spreading left and right along the road.
“I don’t think I’ll be there long. And it might be safer to move alone.”
(You’re not planning to do anything dangerous, are you?)
“Nothing like that. I’m just going to check on something.”
(Sigh, understood.)
“Then I’ll rely on you to handle Suwon.”
After ending the call, I accelerated further.
After driving for quite some time, I furrowed my brow at the charred smell brushing against my nose.
Mixed with the burnt odor was a fishy stench.
‘A ghost’s presence….’
The nauseating smell made me furrow my brow as I drove toward the factory.
Upon arriving at my destination, I got out of the car, seeing the factory completely transformed from my memory.
A small empty lot across the road.
After confirming no cars were approaching from either side, I approached the factory with my backpack slung over my shoulder.
Crackle.
The fire had burned quite fiercely.
The soil, saturated with moisture, had transformed into a mudflat-like surface mixed with ash.
“Whiiiiii.”
Using minor shamanic techniques to locate the Victim Spirit, Kang Hyung-seok walked slowly around the collapsed Factory, his breath forming whispers in the air.
Squelch, squelch.
With each step through the muddy ground that clung to his shoe soles like a malevolent spirit, Kang Hyung-seok circled the Factory once, then shifted his gaze to the facilities outside it.
The Kiln House.
Though the fire hadn’t destroyed it completely, the heat had reached it—the tarp had melted, and the pottery vessels lay shattered everywhere.
“Whiiii, whiiii.”
Kang Hyung-seok approached that location.
Where burial shrouds had been made, there was a Warehouse where Victim Spirits had clustered.
Then what about this place?
What about here, which I couldn’t examine back then?
Creak.
The door to the Kiln House was unlocked.
Kang Hyung-seok looked around cautiously, stepped inside, and as he walked through the interior thick with the smell of charred remains, he withdrew the Shaman’s Bell.
Clang clang clang!
“Supreme Lord Lao, by the command of the Jade Sovereign, I invoke the Great Way of the Supreme Primordial—the Supreme Primal Extreme Lord, the Thirty-Six Celestial Worthies.”
It was then.
Clang.
The Shaman’s Bell rang without being shaken.
Whoosh.
Kang Hyung-seok drew his spirit blade and approached the Kiln where cremation urns were fired.
“Supreme Lord Lao, Jade Emperor, Venerable Earth Deity, Polar Star Sovereign, Star Sovereign of Primordial Existence, Left Wing General, Solitary River General, Three Officials General, Four Stars General.”
Clang, clang, clang.
Had my heart touched the heavens?
Had the sutras seeking aid from the divine spirits proven effective?
The closer I approached that Kiln, the faster the Shaman’s Bell rang.
“Minor Star General, Ku-ko General, Left Guardian General, Right Guardian General, Moon Blade General, Life Preservation General, Nine Luminaries General, Sun General, Moon General, Jupiter General, Mars General, Saturn General.”
Clang clang clang!
Standing before the Kiln, the Shaman’s Bell rang loudly.
Kang Hyung-seok stopped his steps and the incantation, then carefully opened the Kiln.
Originally, this Kiln transformed lumps of clay into smooth ceramics with its scorching flames.
But now it stood cold as a frozen valley.
As if yin energy had condensed within it.
“Huff, hufffffff.”
Strangely, my neck kept stiffening with unease.
But having come this far, I couldn’t turn back.
Clunk.
Kang Hyung-seok held the sacred blade between his teeth as he retrieved his phone.
He stepped into the dark kiln and switched on the flashlight, scanning for anything conspicuous.
If sorcery had truly been performed here, there had to be evidence of it.
‘Where is it? Where could it be?’
As I swept the flashlight across the floor of the small kiln, I suddenly froze.
Someone was watching me.
That sensation—but the gaze didn’t come from the kiln’s open mouth. It came from above my head.
Clang, clang, clang.
Shaking the Shaman’s Bell, Kang Hyung-seok slowly lifted his gaze toward the kiln’s ceiling.
And I saw it.
‘…Insane bastard.’
Hitobashira.
In other words, human sacrifice.
The character for “human” refers to people.
It was sorcery targeting human beings.
“Haaah.”
The sigh escaping from between my lips around the sacred blade crystallized white in the cold air.
And Kang Hyung-seok swallowed hard, staring at the bumpy, uneven patterns covering the kiln’s ceiling.
Each blemish was the shape of a human face.
Hundreds of faces were densely carved in relief across the kiln’s ceiling.
“Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu.”
Suddenly, the voice of the Japanese Onmyoji from the dream echoed in my ears.
“Hyaku.”
The count reached 100,
“Nihyaku.”
surpassed 200,
“Sanbyaku.”
and reached 300.
Only then did Kang Hyung-seok understand what the Japanese Onmyoji’s counting meant.
‘So that was it.’
The heads densely carved into the kiln’s ceiling.
The number was 300.
The sorcery of the Japanese Onmyoji from the dream and this factory shared a deep, profound connection.
Kang Hyung-seok’s lips twisted as I gazed up at the faces staring down from the ceiling.
The faces above were contorted in anguish, as if screaming from unbearable suffering.

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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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