An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 220

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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 220
Part 5. What Is It You Really Want to Say? (3)
Crackle, crackle!
As Kang Hyung-seok lowered the rope, my body descended into the depths of the Well.
Narrow, dark, and damp.
Bracing myself against the Well’s walls with my palms and boot soles, I illuminated the darkness below with the lantern clenched between my teeth.
“See anything?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s voice echoed down from the Well above.
I removed the lantern from my mouth and shouted upward.
“I need to go deeper!”
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
More rope unfurled as I descended further into the abyss.
I’d already dropped at least seven meters, yet the bottom of the Well remained shrouded in darkness.
Then I retrieved the vial of holy water from my pocket and unscrewed the cap, pouring a small amount downward.
Splash!
Listening intently, I heard the collision of water meeting water.
‘Almost there.’
I gripped the rope firmly and tucked the holy water vial back into my pocket.
So far, I felt nothing unusual.
But then again, who knows.
Perhaps clues to tracking the Demon lay somewhere in this Well’s depths.
Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle!
Suddenly the rope gave way, and my body plummeted.
I arrested my fall by bracing myself against the walls with my arms and legs, then looked up toward the Well’s opening.
‘Damn it…!’
I was about to curse aloud when my expression froze.
Just moments ago, I could faintly make out the night sky and Kang Hyung-seok’s silhouette above.
Now I saw nothing.
Thick darkness enveloped me as if a lid had been sealed shut, with only the lantern between my teeth providing light.
Flicker.
Even that lantern suddenly began to flicker.
Flicker, flicker.
With a rigid expression, I watched the light spread across the Well’s walls.
Rough stone surfaces, moss.
And nameless insects that appeared only when light shone, vanishing the instant darkness returned.
Flicker.
And when the lantern finally extinguished, everything surrendered to absolute darkness.
In the suffocating darkness of this coffin-like Well, I exhaled slowly.
Then I removed the lantern from my mouth and spoke in a low voice.
“I’m here.”
This is not the work of humans.
A Demon is trying to seduce him and plunge him into fear.
“I know your name. By the authority of the Lord, I command you to return to where you belong. Amen.”
Shin Yoseph spoke in a low, forceful voice.
Behind him, a hand with long, pale fingernails stretched out.
And right beside his ear,
Clap!
A sharp handclap echoed.
“Gasp!”
Splash!
The lantern, released from his unconscious grip, plummeted into the Well’s waters.
Immediately after, its voice followed.
“Agnus dei, cur venisti huc—why have you come here, little lamb?”
Latin.
Shin Yoseph, his face hardened, hung suspended by the rope and slowly turned his head.
Drip.
A bead of sweat fell from him, striking the Well’s surface with a splash, and soon the Demon’s face came into view.
Not human.
Not Amen either.
A subordinate of the Demon.
Or something sordid whose name has never been widely known.
Yet precisely because it is not human, its form is grotesque and horrifying.
“Quod nomen tibi tuum—what is your name?”
A face like the skull of a goat with four eyeballs tilted its head to the side and answered.
“Interroga deum tuum. Nonne omnipotens tibi iam revelawit—ask your God. Has not the Almighty already revealed it to you?”
Ask your God.
Did not the Omnipotent One reveal it to you?
At the insult to the exorcist priest, Shin Yoseph’s face contorted.
He had to do something immediately.
Otherwise, this Well would become his grave.
Creak, creeeeak.
Hanging from the rope that emitted an ominous sound, Shin Yoseph stared at its face and gripped the crucifix hanging around his neck.
“Behold the Lord’s cross here.”
It began to laugh.
“Unclean spirit, whoever you are, we reject you and all the forces of the Devil, all the attacks of the enemies of Hell, all the legions and alliances of the Devil, and….”
At that moment, Shin Yoseph’s words faltered at a sound rising from the bottom of the Well.
A sound that should not have been audible was rising from the Well’s depths.
Grrrrrrr!
Kyaaaaaaooong!
The cry of an animal.
Waaaaahhhhh!
And the cry of an infant.
Squelch, squelch.
The decayed thing crawled up the Well wall toward Shin Yoseph, clawing its way upward.
Shin Yoseph’s face went rigid, and the acrid stench of sulfur pierced his nostrils.
“Beg.”
The whispered voice spoke in Korean.
“Beg like a dog. Prostrate yourself and flaunt your incompetence. Prove to your god that you have submitted to us.”
It was the moment Shin Yoseph reached out toward it, mocking laughter ringing in his ears.
Clang clang clang!
The Shaman’s Bell pierced the darkness and reached him.
“Heaven and earth are clear and bright. Heaven and earth are established in yin and yang. Sun and moon and stars are not defiled. The white tiger of the upper gate is not defiled. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter—the four seasons are not defiled.”
And Kang Hyung-seok’s incantation as well.
Shin Yoseph watched clearly as the sinister thing before him gradually faded.
“Night and day are not defiled. Mountains are not defiled. Temples are not defiled. The coming and going of men and women are not defiled. The three killings in the east are not defiled. External colors and internal colors—the four directions are not defiled.”
And the decayed animals crawling up the Well wall also gradually faded away.
“Haaah.”
Breath burst from Shin Yoseph’s lips, and soon light descended from above, illuminating him.
It was the light from Kang Hyung-seok’s lantern.
“Shin Yoseph!”
Kang Hyung-seok’s voice echoed down urgently.
“If you can hear me, pull the rope! Hurry!”
Shin Yoseph squinted upward at Kang Hyung-seok and the light, then reached out and grasped the rope.
Grip!
The moment he pulled the rope, he understood.
If he had reached out to the Demon, he would have fallen into that bottomless Well.
He could have truly died.
Grip! Grip!
As Kang Hyung-seok pulled the rope, Shin Yoseph’s body rose steadily upward.
“Gorilla bastard.”
He muttered inaudibly, his exhausted gaze fixed on the approaching Well opening.
He grasped the hand Kang Hyung-seok extended and pulled himself out of the Well.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
Kang Hyung-seok had exerted the strength, yet it was Shin Yoseph who gasped for breath.
Lying sprawled on the waterproof tarp spread around the Well, Shin Yoseph heard Kang Hyung-seok’s voice follow him.
“You alright?”
“…What just happened?”
Kang Hyung-seok clicked his tongue at the Well and shook his head.
“You were bewitched.”
Tsk!
Shin Yoseph rubbed his face and twisted his expression into a grimace.
“Damn it, seriously.”
“Did you find anything out?”
“Yeah.”
Shin Yoseph propped himself up and lit a cigarette first.
He flicked the lighter, took two deep drags, and only then opened his mouth.
“Something did come out, but it’s not just one.”
“If it’s not one, then…?”
“There are two.”
Shin Yoseph stared at his car with irritation welling up in his face.
That trash can of a vehicle contained a triangular kimbap wrapper.
Like the damned buy-one-get-one triangular kimbap Kang Hyung-seok had given me to eat, the problem wasn’t singular.
“A Demon and a Malevolent Spirit. It looks like both are there.”
Shin Yoseph recalled what he’d seen at the Well, his eyes squeezed shut as he drew deeply on his cigarette.
“Hell, I don’t even know where to start with this.”
He muttered under his breath, and Kang Hyung-seok rubbed his drying lips with his tongue and shook his head.
“We’ll have to dig into it as soon as the sun rises.”
Kang Hyung-seok was equally troubled.
So they had to swallow their complicated emotions standing before the waterproof tarp covering the Well where ghosts emerged and the Demon summoning circle.
Frustrated by who on earth had orchestrated such a thing.
***
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
A one-room apartment not far from the area.
A man in his late twenties, dressed only in underwear, typed rapidly across the keyboard with gestures that betrayed desperation.
(Hello! This is Yoon Sang… huh?)
Yoon Sang’s broadcast streamed from the headset and monitor.
(Oh? Thank you for the paid chat.)
It was a paid message the man had sent.
Crunch.
The man’s face full of anxiety, he gnawed at his thumbnail, and as Yoon Sang read the lengthy message, his eyebrows furrowed.
(I’m suffering because my Demon summoning failed. What on earth should I do? Even when I go to the Shamanic Temple, they say they need to exorcise it or perform a ritual, and they only demand huge sums of money. I can’t possibly afford that amount with what I have…)
Yoon Sang’s voice slowed as he read through the message carefully.
The man felt his mouth drying up.
‘Please, damn it, please.’
His name was Park Jo-hyuk.
He was already a thin man.
In just one week, his body had withered further until now his ribs protruded with every breath he took.
(Ah… I don’t think this is something I can help you with.)
“Damn it! I paid money! You bastard!”
Park Jo-hyuk’s eyes rolled back as he typed his message faster than before, raising the paid chat amount to five thousand won.
Ding!
(Could you ask that older brother you know? But he’s a Shaman. I don’t think a Demon would be any different.)
Bang!
Park Jo-hyuk slammed down his RGB keyboard, which flickered in a riot of colors, and clutched his head.
Blood seeped from his gums, which had deteriorated rapidly in recent days, and his upturned eyes were bloodshot.
I was truly desperate.
The only person who could help at all was Yoon Sang, an Internet Broadcasting host, and if he turned away too, there was no hope.
Clack clack clack clack!
[I paid the money so think of it as saving one person and just contact me what’s so hard about that you’re acting expensive as hell]
Ding!
(Ah, it’s not really a matter of the amount.)
Yoon Sang, finding himself in an awkward position, scratched his head.
As the situation refused to unfold as he wished, Park Jo-hyuk shifted his gaze to the chat window.
[You’re insane lol lol lol lol lol lol lol]
[Attention seeker for sure.]
[Now that the older brother’s famous he’s trying hard just to see his face. lol lol lol]
[Don’t ever do him the favor. If you meet that older brother he’ll secretly film your face and spread it all over the internet.]
“That’s not it! You bastards!”
Park Jo-hyuk shouted so hard spittle flew.
Saliva mixed with blood splattered on the monitor, and Yoon Sang on the screen also stared at the chat window.
(Yes. I think this is something I need to consider carefully. I’m sorry I can’t give you a definite answer right now.)
[What does Yoon Sang have to apologize for?]
[Oppa, don’t pay attention to Gwanjong. ㅠ]
[A normal person wouldn’t suffer because of a Demon.]
[Looks like he saw some demon summoning technique somewhere and got obsessed then got screwed. lol]
“Ah! Ahhh! Uhhh!”
Park Jo-hyuk groaned, covering his face in frustration, then glared at Yoon Sang on the monitor with eyes filled with resentment.
Then, unable to contain his rage, he kicked the computer away.
Pop!
The screen went dark, but Park Jo-hyuk remained seated for a long while.
“I really need this… Damn it…”
I knew I’d done something I shouldn’t have.
But I had no choice.
After being discharged from the military, I’d been chasing the Civil Servant exam for five years straight, yet I hadn’t passed the written test even once.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it.”
Without employment, you can’t even function as a human being.
Friends who pretended to comfort me at drinking gatherings while looking down on me.
Family members asking “How do you think this year will go?”
If I posted my troubles online, all I’d get were comments like “Who threatened you with a knife to prepare for the Civil Servant exam?”
How could I endure it when I’d even heard the mockery that I’d ruined my own fate?
So I did it.
I summoned a Demon.
Half in jest, or perhaps as a distraction—as if trying to signal to the heavens how desperate I had become.
I scoured the internet for a location that would appeal to a Demon, and in the dead of night, I performed a ritual to summon one.
The result manifested in the worst possible form.
Pop.
Suddenly, the lights went out.
Park Jo-hyuk held his breath, trembling violently with his face buried in his palms.
‘I can’t look. I can’t look.’
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Something scraped against the wall, crawling across its surface.
Knowing what it was, Park Jo-hyuk could only freeze, his blood running cold.
Scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch.
A naked man crawled across the wall like a cockroach, his grotesque smile fixed upon Park Jo-hyuk.

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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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