An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 268

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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 268
Part 6. The Affairs of Men (4)
Ding-dong.
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell.
I had taken the divine blade from Kim Il-hong, and now I limped toward the center of the Sealed Room.
Yoon Sang, Kim Il-hong, and the Vengeful Spirits all fixed their gaze upon me.
Though I spoke no words of intent, the atmosphere conveyed it clearly.
The Vengeful Spirit trapped in that jar—one that countless Shamans across the long ages had failed to guide to salvation.
Now I would attempt to guide that spirit to peace.
Ding-dong.
The Shaman’s Bell’s resonance filled the entire Sealed Room, and my Guardian Spirit drew closer to me.
Just as Kim Il-hong’s blood had filled the jar, my Guardian Spirit was now filling my body.
“Shhhhh.”
Exhaling a long breath through my teeth, I opened my mouth with a serene and tranquil expression.
“O mountain spirit who once roamed the three peaks beneath the clear heavens. O wandering spirit who traversed the night paths and hidden roads.”
O spirits slain in every manner of death.
“O Water Spirit drowned in waters white as egrets. O acrobat spirit who once danced upon the rope in spring’s gentle breeze.”
Release that resentment.
“O Vengeful Spirit Child whose petals once scattered in spring’s wind. O spirit of the beloved lost when autumn leaves fell.”
Ding-dong-dong!
“O spirit hanged among a hundred blooming flowers and verdant shade. O spirit of the monk who once chanted sutras at Hansan Temple beyond the city walls.”
I gazed upon each Vengeful Spirit filling this Sealed Room and recited the Sutra for Guiding Spirits to Salvation.
My Guardian Spirit had completely settled within me.
Now I understood why my Guardian Spirit had drawn near.
“O spirit of chastity who dwelt in the inner chambers of the palace. O heroic spirit who once traveled the great roads upon golden steeds and silver horses.”
The Vengeful Spirits fell silent.
Silent as the very rhythm of my chanting.
My Guardian Spirit had been waiting.
For the karmic evil wrought by humans.
For the evil that began with a Shaman.
For the resentment that dwelt within the Kim Il-hong household.
All of it—the affairs of men.
Human karma resolved not by the divine, but by the human.
Ding-dong-dong-dong!
“O spirit who once begged at the great gates of heaven. O spirit bitten by a viper in the deep forest. O spirit who once suffered in childbirth beneath the autumn moon.”
Now that a Shaman and a seeker of truth have opened the heavenly gates, may the Vengeful Spirits ascend the path to salvation with ease of heart.
Depart without lingering attachment.
Cross the gates of paradise into a realm without suffering.
“O female spirit who once poured golden wine from jade cups. O ferryman spirit who once traveled the vast seas.”
Whoooosh.
A sudden wind swept through.
The wind entering through the window felt strangely familiar.
It was the wind summoned by Lee Nak-yul, a path guiding the Vengeful Spirits onward.
As the wind swept through the sealed room and began to escape, the surrounding air grew progressively lighter.
The resentment that had pressed down, grieved, and wailed in agony was being cleansed away.
“Haa.”
Yoon Sang exhaled the breath he had unconsciously been holding.
Then his gaze shifted from Kang Hyung-seok, who was shaking the Shaman’s Bell, to Kim Il-hong.
He had said his spiritual sight had opened. Kim Il-hong.
Then what was it that Kim Il-hong was watching with those eyes brimming with tears?
The departing Vengeful Spirits?
Or something else entirely?
Swish.
Yoon Sang unconsciously reached out to him.
Then he placed his hand on Kim Il-hong’s shoulder as the man gazed silently toward the window, tears streaming down his face.
Kim Il-hong’s head drooped, and a sigh like a lament escaped him.
Yoon Sang sensed a heavy emotion, yet within it there was no relief.
Crash!
“Those unmarried and without form, those without master or lineage. Those unfed for eleven days, those bound by karmic debt. Those of five sorrows and false sight, those of three afflictions and eight trigrams.”
Kang Hyung-seok continued the scripture, praying that all spirits would depart.
The divine was with him.
The Guardian Spirit had laid a path for the Victim Spirits who had not ascended in all these long years, and Kang Hyung-seok had comforted the souls that had remained unresolved for so long.
“Young children and child spirits, those of fifteen or sixteen years. Those of twenty springs, those of thirty or forty years. Those of fifty or sixty years, those of a full century.”
The scripture drew toward its end.
“By the authority of the celestial generals and the six heavenly commanders, the five directional spirits and their guides. The Lion Spirit Guide of the East, the Lion Spirit Guide of the South, the White Fox of the West. The Lion Spirit Guide of the North, the Lion Spirit Guide of the Center—let all cavalry descend and guide both male and female spirits to twilight, that no wandering spirits remain.”
Now only a single passage remained.
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell and divine blade vigorously, then surveyed the sealed room.
The number of remaining Vengeful Spirit Children had dwindled.
Much had been released and resolved, yet the air within the room remained sorrowful and heavy.
May even that final sorrow be soothed.
“Sob! Sob-sob.”
For even Kim Il-hong, bearing the weight of original sin, wept thus.
Crash!
“By binding and constraining those male and female spirits who clung to this place through transgression and violation, cast them down to the great path of truth.”
The Hell of Wind and Earth, the Hell of Collapse
The Hell of Darkness, the Hell of the White Fox
The Hell of Wood and Charcoal, the Hell of the Yellow Springs
The Hell of Metal and Sand, the Hell of Earth and Sand
“In the waters of wind and earth, in the prisons of the Yellow Springs, let all perish and never again emerge into this world for ten million years.”
Kang Hyung-seok closed his eyes.
Then, as if in prayer, I brought my hands together—one holding the divine blade, the other gripping the Shaman’s Bell.
My face turned toward the ceiling, but the Vengeful Spirit looming above me was gone.
Thus I recited the scripture in a hushed voice, again and again.
It was the Sutra for the Departed.
When I finished all the verses and opened my eyes, only the dark ceiling greeted my gaze.
“…They have all departed.”
I spoke these words in a voice even lower than when reciting the scripture, then shifted my gaze toward Kim Il-hong.
He knelt with his head bowed, shoulders trembling.
Tears had left clear marks upon the floor.
“Your son will be safe.”
“Hah…”
Kim Il-hong exhaled at words he had so desperately longed to hear, then curled his body inward.
The floor was filthy and soiled, yet he paid it no mind.
He felt only remorse.
Remorse for everything.
“However, difficult times await you, Kim Il-hong. You will see what you wish not to see, and hear what you wish not to hear.”
Kim Il-hong shook his head with great effort.
Then, with a voice barely escaping his constricted throat, he spoke.
“…I will accept it all.”
I did not know. The sins were not of my own making.
Yet the karma of my ancestors was too great to dismiss with such words.
Kim Il-hong had resolved to bear that entire burden himself.
He harbored the hope that the curse flowing through his bloodline would end with his generation.
“It will take time. Accumulate good deeds and live with the resolve to wash away your karma. Then all will be well.”
“….”
“I will go ahead. Come out when you are ready.”
I limped forward with halting steps.
Yoon Sang rushed over to support me, then turned his head to look back at Kim Il-hong.
In the dark room—without light, without spirits, without gods—he remained crouched like a shadow.
His lips twisted, yet his eyes seemed hollow and vacant.
Yoon Sang thought those eyes seemed to peer into his own past, into the years he had spent in this house knowing nothing.
Creak.
As we opened the entrance door, the dim village greeted us.
“Hyung-seok, shall we go to the Hospital first…? Huh?”
Yoon Sang’s gaze drifted upward in a daze.
White snow fell softly upon the village, where only darkness had dwelt.
The first snow of the season.
“Let’s go by car for now.”
I exhaled a breath that froze white into the air, then leaned my battered and weary body against Yoon Sang.
Whoooooosh!
The wind was fierce.
Snowflakes caught in its grip danced and scattered, glimmering in the moonlight.
For the first snow of the season, it was falling quite heavily.
Judging by how white snow was already accumulating on the ground.
Crunch, crunch.
Leaning against Yoon Sang, I moved my steps slowly forward.
Snow flowers pouring from the sky dampened my shoulders, leaving distinct footprints on the ground below.
Thus I departed from Kim Il-hong’s house.
***
“Hello. This is Yoon Sang.”
In front of the Hospital in the dead of night, Yoon Sang turned on the Horror Broadcast through his phone.
A broadcast that began without warning.
What’s wrong? (worried)
(A broadcast at this hour?)
(Was there an announcement?)
(Nope, nothing.)
(Turned on the Horror Broadcast in a rush)
The expected reactions poured in, and Yoon Sang brushed away the snow accumulating on his shoulders while staring at the phone’s camera.
The only light was from the street lamp, and with the phone held at knee level, the composition didn’t look particularly appealing.
But given my mental exhaustion, it was difficult to do anything more here.
“I’ll give you the details later. The situation is resolved, but we need a bit more time to wrap everything up.”
(…What happened?)
(Why does your expression look like that….)
(Aren’t you moving with your hyung? Is it okay to broadcast like this?)
“Ah, my hyung.”
Yoon Sang glanced back at the Hospital and forced a bitter smile.
“He’s receiving treatment right now. He got injured.”
(Huh!)
(Why did he get hurt.)
(What exactly happened?)
(Are you seriously injured? ㄷㄷㄷ)
(That hyung shouldn’t get hurt.)
(For real)
“Ah, you don’t need to worry too much.”
By now, Kang Hyung-seok was likely in the Emergency Room having his ankle and forearm wounds sutured.
Impressive. In many ways.
The pain must have been considerable, yet he pushed Kim Il-hong into the Hospital Emergency Room first, then came to a different hospital himself to have his wounds treated.
“I’m not even sure where to begin explaining this.”
(Take your time.)
(someone/person)
(I thought this would resolve easily, but something seems twisted.)
(If that hyung got hurt to that extent, this is seriously no joke.)
Yoon Sang rubbed the corner of his mouth, pausing to consider what to say.
He’d turned on the broadcast thinking there might be viewers worried and curious, but now he felt he’d been a bit hasty.
He had no sense of how to proceed with the broadcast at all.
“…Um, viewers. I’m curious about something.”
So instead of explaining what had happened, he posed a question to his audience.
(???)
(Something feels different about today’s broadcast….)
What’s going on? (Seriously creepy.)
“It’s nothing major. But what do you think about original sin?”
(Original sin?)
(Christianity? The forbidden fruit?)
“No, no. Not that kind. I mean like sins passed down through a family. Not something I committed, but actions my ancestors did.”
Perhaps it was a question that would linger in Yoon Sang’s mind and heart for a long time to come.
Original sin was a concept so difficult for him to accept, and even harder to comprehend.
(Why is he….)
(If you’re curious, answering is only natural!)
(Geez, what an old catchphrase.)
(T_T)
(By that logic, isn’t it like inheriting your parents’ debts?)
“Debts…?”
(Someone/Person)
Yoon Sang carefully watched the chat that had caught his attention, his fingers growing numb and red as he adjusted his grip on his phone.
“What kind of debts?”
(Debts created by parents disappear if you just don’t inherit, right? There are actually quite a few people like that.)
(Right, right.)
(Honestly, it’s kind of unfair. What crime did the victims commit.)
(The law is strange. In our country.)
(And if you mess this up, it becomes guilt by association. It’s a more sensitive issue than you’d think.)
(That’s true.)
Among the flood of confusing messages, something caught Yoon Sang’s eye.
(I think it’s right to repay it morally.)
“Morally?”
(Yeah, other people said the same thing, but there are victims, you know. What crime did those people commit? It’s not a debt I incurred, but it seems right to pay it back anyway.)
(Wasn’t there some celebrity before? Didn’t they repay all the debts instead of their parents for their honor?)
(Cases like that seem to happen often.)
(Honestly, if you ignore it, you might get stabbed.)
(Good thing I was right. lol)
(If I thought about my child or nephew getting hit, I’d go crazy.)
(Anyway, having money doesn’t mean I’m hurting others with it, seriously.)
(ㅇㅇ That’s true 100 times.)
Is that so.
Can it really be seen that way.
Yoon Sang exhaled a sigh, his expression still heavy with thought.
Yet the turmoil and confusion reflected in his eyes had diminished somewhat from before.
(Anyway, if the original sin is a debt my parents incurred, I’d pay it back.)
(Huh? But isn’t this bait for the next broadcast?)
(Oh, is that really so.)
(His expression and all—looks like the original sin is the theme for the next broadcast.)
Yoon Sang let out a soft laugh.
Having hosted the broadcast for so long, the viewers’ intuition was no joke.
Yoon Sang was about to tell him to think of it comfortably when Kang Hyung-seok’s vehicle parked in the Parking Lot suddenly beeped and its headlights flared to life.
Turning his head to the side, he saw Kang Hyung-seok, his treatment finished, watching him.
“Ah! I’ll end the broadcast here for today!”
(Suddenly?)
Looks like the boss just showed up. lol
(Ah, right, right. He said it was the Hospital.)
Go quickly. Hahaha!
(Your expression lol)
(You’re like a puppy. Hahahaha)
Someone capture this. Hahahaha
“Ah, calling a person a puppy? Really. Anyway, I’ll turn the broadcast back on once things settle down. Thanks everyone!”
Yoon Sang waved his hand toward his phone and ended the broadcast.
Then he dashed toward Kang Hyung-seok, who was opening the driver’s side door.

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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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