An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 223
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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 222
Part 6. When Evil Lurks (3)
Whistle, whistle, whistle!
Once Kang Hyung-seok finished scattering the salt, he began to whistle.
Whistle—!
A minor ritual to draw out the spirits.
Clang, clang, clang!
As he shook the Shaman’s Bell and the ritual blade, the air grew heavier, sharper as a knife’s edge.
Even an ordinary person would instinctively want to flee such an atmosphere.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Park Jo-hyuk, sitting bound, trembled violently, while Shin Yoseph checked the tissue wrapped around his ankles and picked up a cable tie.
Click, click, click.
We had to conduct both an exorcism and a purification ritual simultaneously.
Given how potent whatever dwelt within Park Jo-hyuk’s body might be, restraints were unavoidable.
“Hnngh! Gasp, hnngh.”
Park Jo-hyuk exhaled ragged breaths, his hips jerking upward, and Shin Yoseph placed a hand on his thigh.
With nothing but a glance, he stilled Park Jo-hyuk, then tightened a cable tie around the other ankle as well.
The preparations advanced methodically, yet with each step, tension seemed to mount rather than ease.
Rustle.
Kang Hyung-seok brought a blanket and draped it over Park Jo-hyuk’s entire body.
Breath, breath, breath.
Watching the thin blanket cling to and fall away from his mouth with each breath, Kang Hyung-seok spoke in a low voice.
“Heaven and earth are clear and bright, yet heaven and earth are unbalanced in yin and yang, the sun and moon and stars are unbalanced, the azure dragon of the east is unbalanced, the vermillion bird of the south is unbalanced, spring, summer, autumn, and winter are unbalanced, the four seasons are unbalanced.”
Yoon Sang stood frozen in the corner, watching Kang Hyung-seok, while Shin Yoseph made the sign of the cross and hung a crucifix on the wall.
“In the east, the azure emperor is unbalanced, in the south, the red emperor is unbalanced, in the west, the white emperor is unbalanced, in the north, the black emperor is unbalanced, in the center, the yellow emperor is unbalanced, the twelve divine generals are unbalanced, all four directions and eight winds, the twenty-four directions are unbalanced.”
Shin Yoseph stood before the crucifix with his eyes closed in prayer.
“I beseech you to have mercy upon all, to shield us from the temptations of evil, to lift the weak from the abyss.”
Breath, breath, breath, exhale, exhale, exhale.
Park Jo-hyuk’s quickening breaths and Kang Hyung-seok’s measured chanting intertwined.
“All impurity clinging to these garments, all karmic debts, all water and fire and mountain spirits—wandering ghosts, be banished beyond ten thousand leagues, depart and return to your dwelling.”
Clang, clang, clang!
As the Shaman’s Bell rang out, a solemn silence settled over the house.
It was then.
“Cursed dragon and all confederates of the devil.”
Shin Yoseph placed his hand upon Park Jo-hyuk’s crown, his gaze fixed upon where the eyes would be.
“Cease your deception of mankind, lest they fall into eternal damnation.”
Clang, clang, clang, clang.
As the soft ringing of the bell continued unbroken, Shin Yoseph’s voice pressed on.
“Harm not the Church, nor seek to bind its freedom. You are the author of all lies, the foremost….”
Shin Yoseph’s words grew indistinct.
Park Jo-hyuk’s trembling had stopped.
And then,
Shhhhhh.
With the sound of liquid seeping, yellow fluid began trickling from beneath the chair.
It was not a good sign.
Park Jo-hyuk had lost control of his body.
“…Satan, begone.”
Haaaaaah.
Scorching breath.
Waralalalang.
The soft, continuous sound of the Shaman’s Bell.
Drip, drip, drop.
The sound of urine droplets falling from the chair.
And then,
Flash! Crash!
The sound of a window shattering and glass shards scattering, followed by a brief flash of light that swept through the house.
In that instant, Shin Yoseph, Kang Hyung-seok, and Yoon Sang saw it clearly.
The countless shadows that filled the walls.
Shadows in the forms of humans and beasts stood as if watching over them.
“…Yoon Sang.”
At Kang Hyung-seok’s call, Yoon Sang couldn’t even respond, his trembling gaze turning toward him.
“Get out.”
Thud thud thud thud!
Yoon Sang bolted out and slammed the entrance door shut, then collapsed in front of it where salt had been scattered.
The piercing cold that stabbed through his skin was terrifyingly sharp, and Yoon Sang gasped for breath through his nose, his entire body quivering like an aspen leaf.
The ordinary residential district stretching before him felt like a lie.
As Yoon Sang gasped in that moment, Shin Yoseph gripped Park Jo-hyuk’s head even more firmly.
“Surrender to Christ the place where we find no trace of your activity, and the Church that Christ Himself established with His blood as one.
Warangwarangwarangwarangwarang.
Holy and universal, descended from the apostles, surrender that place to the Church.”
Shin Yoseph shook Park Jo-hyuk’s head.
But what he truly wanted to shake was not Park Jo-hyuk’s head.
What had burrowed deep within.
The head of what tormented Park Jo-hyuk, what emerged into the world because of Park Jo-hyuk, and what dwelt within Park Jo-hyuk.
“You shall submit beneath God’s mighty hand.”
Grrrrrrrrr.
A sound of vibrating vocal cords emanated from Park Jo-hyuk’s mouth.
A heavy sigh flowed from Shin Yoseph’s lips, and white, frozen breath escaped from Kang Hyung-seok’s mouth.
‘It’s over.’
Kang Hyung-seok, who had wanted to think of Park Jo-hyuk with only pity.
Yet as the air continued to shift and the situation grew more dire, the thought clawed at me: “Why? Why here of all places?”
Park Jo-hyuk’s summoning ritual had been conducted in the worst possible location.
Squelch!
Dark crimson stains bloomed across the plastic sheet concealing Park Jo-hyuk.
First, where a mouth would be.
Then, where eyes would be.
Three blood marks in total—they resembled a human face.
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter!
The chair trembled as though it might shatter, and Shin Yoseph stared at the expanding bloodstains.
Then he brought his hand—gripping the cross hanging from his neck—toward Park Jo-hyuk.
Crack! Screech!
Park Jo-hyuk’s hand, which had been bound with cable ties, suddenly lunged forward and seized Shin Yoseph’s wrist.
A hand drained of all warmth, cold as ice.
The fingernails had transcended blue, approaching violet.
That hand shook Shin Yoseph’s wrist violently.
“Kyaaaaaaagh!”
Park Jo-hyuk’s scream was wrong.
It sounded like multiple people shrieking simultaneously.
Crash, crash, crash, crash!
Kang Hyung-seok approached, vigorously shaking the Shaman’s Bell, and opened his mouth while gripping Park Jo-hyuk’s wrist.
“Gapja byeongja muja gyeongja imja—heo ni jaoja neun gamjungnyon eul jwajin heo go ganbangjikkin hyumun buchang bulleo nae yeo mun eul dadeut go jineul chilje swil hyuja ro mun eul sujikha ra!”
The Eight Gates Formation Sutra.
It was a sacred incantation for binding malevolent spirits that refused to submit.
Crash, crash, crash, crash!
Kang Hyung-seok swept the Shaman’s Bell from Park Jo-hyuk’s head down to his shoulders, continuing the incantation.
“Chuk ingan bang eun gansan nyon i ni ganbangjikkin saengmun buchang bulleo nae eo eulchuk jeongchuk giChuk sinchuk gyechuk heo ni chuk oja neun jwajin heo go.”
As he did, his gaze shifted toward Shin Yoseph.
It was a signal—do something, anything.
“…Saint Michael, Archangel of God.”
“Gab in byeong in mu in gyeong in im in heo ni in oja neun ujin ha ya gansan nyon eul chajikha go.”
“May the God of peace crush Satan’s forces beneath our feet, so that Satan may no longer dominate mankind, nor harm your Church. We humbly beseech you.”
“Ganbangjikkin saengmun buchang bulleo nae eo mun eul dadeut go jineul chilje nal saengja ro mun eul sujikha ra.”
“Let your mercy swiftly descend upon us, and carry our prayers before the throne of the Most High.”
It was then.
Crash!
The window shattered, and the curtains billowed inward.
Simultaneously, what entered the house seized both their attention.
A dove.
Flap, flap, flap!
The bird symbolizing peace rolled across the floor with its head split open, spilling blood.
Flap, flap.
The wind that blew through carried the curtains with it, and with each gust, light peeked into the house before vanishing once more.
A heavy silence descended.
Shin Yoseph drew a shallow breath and shifted his gaze toward Park Jo-hyuk’s face, obscured by the darkness.
“What is your true nature?”
“Haaaa.”
Watching Park Jo-hyuk respond only with breathing, Shin Yoseph continued in a low voice.
“You are not Aim.”
“Haaaa.”
“No one summoned you. You are an uninvited guest, and no one welcomes your presence here.”
“Haaaa.”
“Speak. What is your name and your purpose?”
Kang Hyung-seok pressed his lips firmly together and drew a sacred blade instead of the Shaman’s Bell.
And the moment he reversed his grip on the sacred blade, Park Jo-hyuk’s voice began.
“I am not one.”
“Then who are you?”
“We are Legion.”
Shin Yoseph’s face hardened, and Kang Hyung-seok’s lips grew dry as he clenched them.
Now it was certain.
‘The Gate of Ghosts has opened.’
The clumsy demonic summoning ritual had failed to call forth Aim as intended.
But it had knocked upon the gates of Hell itself.
It had succeeded in capturing the attention of demons, providing an opening for the vile and wicked things of Hell to cross over.
‘For them to cross over, there must be a passage. What is it? What could it be….’
Kang Hyung-seok halted his thoughts and gripped the image that had surfaced in his mind with iron certainty.
“The Well.”
The murmur drew even Shin Yoseph’s attention.
The two men shared the same thought, and their eyes met in silent understanding.
It had to be the Well.
There was no other possibility.
That same Well where the madman had thrown animals and a baby.
That same Well where Jo Un-su had neutralized the toxic energy with medicinal herbs.
“Car keys!”
As Kang Hyung-seok shouted, Shin Yoseph pulled the car keys from his pocket.
He tossed them forcefully to Kang Hyung-seok, who immediately bolted toward the door.
“Hold on tight! Don’t let it slip away!”
It was before Shin Yoseph could even respond.
Thud!
Park Jo-hyuk tried to rise from the chair.
Shin Yoseph pressed him firmly back down and began to recite a prayer.
“Lord, protect us from the pursuit of the Demon.”
Thud, thud!
It wasn’t just Park Jo-hyuk’s body that trembled.
Dozens, hundreds of invisible hands seemed to grip the chair he sat in and shake it violently.
Whoooosh—!
The sink suddenly gushed a brilliant crimson rust-colored water, and a deafening wind howled from beyond the window.
In the midst of an atmosphere so maddening, so grotesque and horrifying, Shin Yoseph continued his prayer while tracing the sign of the cross.
“O Queen most exalted in heaven and Mistress of the angels, Mary, you have received from God the power and commission to crush Satan’s head beneath your heel.”
Thud!
Kang Hyung-seok pushed against the entrance door, but it wouldn’t open.
‘Damn it!’
Thud, thud!
Turning to him, Shin Yoseph urgently recited the next passage of the prayer.
“We humbly beseech you, send forth the celestial armies to fight under your command against the demons, break their pride, and cast them into hell.”
Thud!
“O merciful and loving Mother, be forever the object of our love and hope.”
Kang Hyung-seok gripped his ceremonial blade and brought it down hard against the lock mechanism of the entrance door.
Clang!
The sound was metallic.
But the sensation at the blade’s tip was different.
It felt unmistakably like he had struck someone’s hand.
Creak!
Only then did Yoon Sang’s startled gaze follow Kang Hyung-seok as he stepped outside through the now-open door.
“W-what, hyung?”
Despite the tremendous noise from inside, Yoon Sang’s expression showed he had heard nothing at all.
“Huff, huff!”
“I-is it over?”
Kang Hyung-seok turned his head to look at Shin Yoseph.
Slam!
Immediately after, the door closed of its own accord, and the now-gentle wind quieted the curtains.
Seeing Shin Yoseph left alone with the malevolence, Kang Hyung-seok swallowed hard.
“Come with me. We can’t stay here.”
“Huh? Ah, yes, yes.”
Yoon Sang hurriedly began to follow Kang Hyung-seok.
And Kang Hyung-seok verified that his ceremonial blade and Shaman’s Bell were secure before rushing urgently toward the Public Parking Lot.
‘I must close the Gate of Ghosts.’
While Shin Yoseph confronted the Demon and the Malevolent Spirit, I had to close the Gate of Ghosts permanently, no matter what.
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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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