An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 239

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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 238
Part 4. Don’t Trust Your Ears (2)
Darkness envelops everything.
There are no streetlights, no nearby roads—nothing to cast even a glimmer of light.
The moon itself hides behind clouds, leaving the world invisible.
Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!
Yet the barking pierces through the darkness and becomes reality, savagely pounding against Kang Hyung-seok’s ears.
Whine—howl.
Suddenly, the Shaman’s Bell chimed on its own.
At that same moment, wind began to blow.
The wind pushes the clouds aside.
It reveals the moon, casting a faint glow across the world.
Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!
That savage barking—it was no dog.
Its entire body was covered in long, pristine white fur, yet its face bore none, appearing as though it wore an inverted black mask.
Was the redness beneath its jaw natural?
Or was it stained with blood?
And why did the corners of its eyes gleam such a sickly yellow?
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Standing on four legs, its head reached the height of an adult’s waist.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from it.
More precisely, I couldn’t.
Whine—howl.
The Shaman’s Bell rang in warning, and the wind pushed at me, yet my feet refused to move.
I must not show my back.
This instinctive thought flooded my mind completely.
And the desire to deny its very existence paralyzed my legs.
‘No, it can’t be.’
It shouldn’t exist.
The Jangsan Tiger is nothing but urban legend.
Yet its appearance matched every characteristic of the Jangsan Tiger perfectly, and it stood mere hundreds of meters ahead.
Uuuuuuuung!
From the wind that blew with an ominous chill, the stench of beast radiated.
The Jangsan Tiger was real.
Just as I found myself unable to deny it any longer and began to instinctively step backward—
Whoosh!
A rough hand reached from behind, clamping over my mouth.
“Stay still.”
A familiar, low voice whispered directly beside my ear.
‘Hong Kyung-soo?’
I tried to look at him, but Hong Kyung-soo’s grip was so firm that I couldn’t turn my head.
“Stay quiet and follow me slowly.”
Hong Kyung-soo glared at the Jangsan Tiger as he spoke, and I swallowed hard. Then I began moving slowly as he led me forward.
Whoosh, whooosh.
Even as I moved my feet as silently as possible, I kept my eyes on the Jangsan Tiger.
Fortunately, the wind was blowing from the Jangsan Tiger toward where I stood.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Once we slipped down the side path, the Jangsan Tiger vanished completely.
But knowing that the beast could leap out at any moment, Hong Kyung-soo and I had to walk much further before we could finally relax.
Gasp!
I shook off Hong Kyung-soo’s grip and fixed him with a sharp, piercing stare.
“What is that thing?”
“You’ll know when you see it.”
Hong Kyung-soo gazed toward where the Jangsan Tiger lurked, his lips pressed tightly together.
His eyes held the look of someone who desperately wanted to light a cigarette, but refrained only because of the Jangsan Tiger.
“Damn it, all sorts of vicious things keep showing up.”
“….”
“You must have been quite startled, Dong-gwan.”
I met Hong Kyung-soo’s gaze, then clicked my tongue and looked away.
I couldn’t let it show.
There was no need to reveal that I suspected and was wary of Hong Kyung-soo.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“Helping? I came because I had my own game set up.”
“You set up a game?”
“Why else would I be here?”
Hong Kyung-soo crouched down and checked the direction of the wind.
Then he placed a cigarette between his lips, but instead of lighting it, he merely inhaled its scent.
“I was asked to come. Me too.”
The other Shaman the villagers had called was Hong Kyung-soo.
I exhaled silently through my lips, and Hong Kyung-soo continued speaking as he rolled a lighter in his palm.
“Did you come for the same reason, Dong-gwan?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, you’re everywhere, aren’t you?”
Hong Kyung-soo looked toward where the Jangsan Tiger was with a pitying expression, then struck the lighter’s flint.
Click, click!
“What does that creature look like to you?”
My mind was already churning with questions.
What was Hong Kyung-soo’s purpose?
Why had he helped me just now?
Given the situation, Hong Kyung-soo’s sudden question was not welcome.
“Sigh.”
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled sharply, then crouched down to look at Hong Kyung-soo, who was smoking a cigarette, before speaking.
“It may sound insane, but it appears to be the Jangsan Tiger.”
For a moment, I expected Hong Kyung-soo to scoff or laugh bitterly and shake his head.
But contrary to my expectations, he simply nodded with his eyes narrowed.
“So it does appear that way to you as well….”
“Do you have any other suspicions about what it might be?”
Hong Kyung-soo scratched his eyebrow with the hand holding his cigarette and continued smoking in silence.
I had nothing more to say either, and a heavy silence enveloped us both.
It was absurd.
Two Shamans discussing the Jangsan Tiger.
To put it extremely, it was like seriously having a conversation with a Vengeful Spirit wearing a red mask.
“No matter how I look at it, that thing isn’t a tiger.”
Hong Kyung-soo muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming as he pulled out a fresh cigarette and lit it.
Then he transferred the flame from his old cigarette and twisted his lips.
“It resembles an Inugami or perhaps a Nue. Damn it, I can’t tell what it is.”
Both are Japanese yokai.
Since Busan is close to Japan, he seemed to think it might have crossed the Sea.
“What are your thoughts, Donggwan?”
“I’m still uncertain.”
It certainly appears to be a type of animal spirit.
The problem is that there are no records of the Jangsan Tiger in any documents.
If I were to point out similarities in external appearance, there is the Lion Spirit Guide mask, and the most likely possibility is that an animal spirit-possessed Lion Spirit Guide mask became a Goblin as is.
‘…No.’
For some reason, I don’t think that’s it.
It’s not a Goblin.
Something else—something far more ferocious and terrible.
The thought that it appeared on this land bearing the name of the Jangsan Tiger won’t leave my mind.
“Donggwan.”
Just as my thoughts spiraled endlessly, one after another.
“Still, I’m grateful you’re here.”
Hong Kyung-soo smoked with eyes that revealed nothing.
“Grateful?”
“I arrived at this village before you did. Would I have just sat idle?”
“….”
“You saw its eyes, didn’t you?”
Hong Kyung-soo asked, stretching his words oddly, and I simply stared at him without responding.
The Jangsan Tiger isn’t the only thing whose identity is unknown.
Hong Kyung-soo is equally mysterious.
“I’ve obscured its eyes. As long as you’re careful with sound and scent, it won’t attack first.”
The area around the Jangsan Tiger’s eyes had an unusually yellowish hue.
If Hong Kyung-soo’s words were true, it seemed as though talismans had been affixed there.
“Why did you only cover its eyes?”
“Because it’s cunning.”
Hong Kyung-soo rose from his seat and pointed toward the Mountain with an expression of displeasure.
“I set a trap and waited for that creature, but the ghost-like thing slipped away like wind itself. Who could have predicted it would escape so swiftly after I thought I had it?”
Like a beast caught in a snare, fleeing with a noose around its neck.
The Jangsan Tiger had fled with nothing but talismans affixed to its eyes.
That was Hong Kyung-soo’s claim.
“In any case, I need to capture that thing, and I was hoping you might help me.”
“…Do you have a plan in mind?”
“Of course I do!”
The response came easily and readily.
It seemed as though he had been preparing for this situation even before meeting Kang Hyung-seok.
“There are two Mountains. Since it’s a beast, it must have a cave somewhere—let’s find out where.”
Is this right?
The situation was unfolding according to Hong Kyung-soo’s will.
Hong Kyung-soo was deciding where I should go and what I should do.
“Kang?”
As the silence stretched, Hong Kyung-soo prompted me, and I opened my mouth with a thoughtful expression.
“No. Since its true nature remains uncertain, I think it would be better if we moved separately for now.”
How would this play out?
Should I stop him? Or should I restrain him?
Hong Kyung-soo’s mouth, like the Jangsan Tiger before my eyes, clamped shut firmly.
And then,
“That’s fine too. I think it would be good if we shared whatever we discover.”
Unexpectedly, he accepted my opinion readily.
“…Understood.”
“Oh, and Kang.”
Hong Kyung-soo flicked his nearly spent cigarette to the ground and added in a voice that carried an ominous tone.
“Don’t trust your ears. You understand what I mean.”
To a statement that sounded as though even his own words should not be trusted, I found myself uncertain how to respond.
So I ended the conversation by nodding heavily.
***
At the moment Hong Kyung-soo was restraining Kang Hyung-seok.
Park Su-il, who had been sleeping alone in the bedroom, opened his drowsy eyes.
It was strange.
No one had woken him, no one had called him, yet his eyes opened of their own accord.
“Mm…?”
Park Su-il checked the time and, frowning, tried to fall back asleep, but once sleep had fled, it did not return easily.
That was when it happened.
“Hey, Park.”
A familiar voice.
The Poultry Farm Owner’s voice.
Whoosh.
At the call of the man with whom he’d lost contact, Park Su-il sprang from the bed as though propelled by a spring.
Even as he did, the voice continued.
“Park, did you report this to the police? I mean, what’s with all these calls? Geez.”
“Is… is that you, Mr. Jung?”
“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be? Sigh, I’m on the phone with the police right now, so if you’re awake, just say a few words for me.”
The voice came from right in front of the window.
Park Su-il, who had been dreading that something terrible might have happened, was about to rush out with the joy of meeting someone returned from the dead.
But when his hand grasped the entrance door handle, Kang Hyung-seok’s warning suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Park? What are you doing?”
Don’t trust your ears, he had said.
Don’t respond, no matter who calls you.
Park Su-il’s blood ran cold. He could not bring himself to open the entrance door, and with a parched mouth, he struggled to swallow.
“Park, come out for just a moment. The police are keeping me from sleeping. You really need to take this call.”
“…Are… are you really Mr. Jung?”
“I’m telling you I am.”
Both the breathing and the voice were unmistakably Jung’s.
Which made it all the more terrifying and confusing.
If it truly were Jung, he would never knock on the door or make such an absurd request to answer a phone call.
Knock knock knock knock.
The sound of knocking came from beyond the entrance door.
But the door itself was not actually being struck.
Only the sound came through, as though someone were mimicking it from the other side of the door.
“Open it for me. Come on, Park.”
Park Su-il withdrew his hand from the door handle.
He stepped back hesitantly, and suddenly a whistling wind sound echoed around the house.
Park Su-il’s gaze slowly turned toward the direction of the sound.
As it moved toward the kitchen.
The small window where the sink was located.
Standing directly in front of that window, he saw it.
“Park Su-il, Park Su-il, Park Su-iiiil.”
Not human.
A beast with a black face covered in long, white fur stood with its mouth agape toward Park Su-il’s direction, its eyes plastered thick with talismans.
“Come now, why won’t you trust what I’m saying? Park Su-il, just open the door for me, would you?”
Park Su-il could only stare at the white beast, his body trembling violently.
The moment he made even the slightest movement, he was certain it would shatter through the thin glass and tear at his throat.

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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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