An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 277

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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 276
Part 2. The Past Seeks to Devour the Present (3)
Crash!
Kang Hyung-seok brought the utility knife down hard against the plywood floor.
A bone-deep pain shot through his hand—there must have been steel reinforcement beneath the plywood—but he didn’t stop.
Bang! Bang! Crash!
Eyes still locked on the flesh, Kang Hyung-seok hammered at the plywood with his fist.
I had to get out of here.
Now!
Bang! Crash! Crack!
As I shifted position and struck at the plywood again, one sheet groaned and bowed dramatically.
At that same moment, the flesh turned its attention toward me.
It had no eyes, yet I could feel our gazes meeting unmistakably.
Crash! Snap!
The plywood shattered and fell away from my final blow, and a winter chill surged up through the opening.
“Shin Yoseph!”
I shouted down at Shin Yoseph, who stared up from directly below, then spoke urgently.
“Move!”
“What?”
“Get out of the way!”
The flesh crept forward sluggishly.
It resembled corpses twisted together in death—the sight made my heart turn cold and my hair stand on end.
“Hah!”
I exhaled sharply and pushed my body through the opening.
The gap between floor and ceiling was large enough that I should have climbed down a ladder.
But the flesh was closing in on my neck, so I had no time to hesitate.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
I landed hard on the floor and gasped, grabbing Shin Yoseph’s arm.
Then, struggling to my feet, I seized him and began to run.
“What? What’s happening?”
“Just run!”
Shin Yoseph, dragged along behind me, looked up at the ceiling opening, but without spiritual sight, he saw nothing.
Yet he could feel it.
Something vile and ominous descending through that opening.
“What is that?”
“I said run!”
I yanked Shin Yoseph forward brutally as we sprinted.
I switched on the lantern and swept it ahead—materials and equipment blocked our path like obstacles.
Thud!
Kang Hyung-seok, who had collided hard against the rail, clenched his teeth and turned to look behind him.
In that instant, he saw flesh that resembled a jet-black rubber hose drawing dangerously close to his face.
Sacrifice for gain.
One person obtaining profit through the death of another life.
Whoosh!
Kang Hyung-seok yanked Shin Yoseph forward urgently and bolted forward with even greater speed than before.
Even as they ran, that creature—having finally found a living human after so long—crept after them with the clear intent never to let its prey escape.
Thud, thud, thud!
They tore through the dimly lit Factory, and Shin Yoseph, glancing back, felt a chill run down his spine at the malevolent aura pursuing them.
“Lord, renew the grace of baptism through this holy water and protect us from all evil.”
Splash!
Shin Yoseph sprinkled holy water behind them as he hurried through his prayer.
“Grant us to approach You with a pure heart, O Lord.”
At that moment, Kang Hyung-seok finally spotted the Factory’s exit.
The door was drawing near.
But had they closed it?
He had no memory of closing it, yet the Factory’s iron door stood firmly shut.
Hisss.
Feeling the sticky, frigid sensation coiling around his neck, Kang Hyung-seok threw his shoulders and forearms forward.
Then, with all his strength, he rammed the door,
Crash!
The door burst open explosively.
Kang Hyung-seok clenched his teeth to stifle a groan; though he staggered, his feet never stopped moving.
Clang, clang, clang!
Shaking the Shaman’s Bell, Kang Hyung-seok rushed toward the car where Shin Jung-ah waited.
Click!
The car door swung open, and Shin Jung-ah stepped out, her face etched with shock.
“Get in! Hurry!”
“Y-yes!”
As Shin Jung-ah climbed back into the passenger seat, Shin Yoseph pulled the car keys from his pocket and unlocked the doors.
Beep, beep!
The flickering headlights seemed to speak.
Come on. Get in quickly.
Click!
Shin Yoseph jumped into the driver’s seat, while Kang Hyung-seok threw himself into the back seat. Simultaneously, they slammed the car doors shut and engaged the locks.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Breathing heavily, Shin Yoseph glanced back at Kang Hyung-seok.
Kang Hyung-seok nodded at the questioning look in his eyes, then swallowed hard through his raw throat.
Then he made a circular gesture in the air.
A signal that, thanks to the salt scattered around the car, they should be safe for now.
“Huff, huff.”
Shin Yoseph nodded while catching his breath, waving his hand dismissively toward Shin Jung-ah, whose eyes were wide with alarm.
It took several more minutes before the two of them could steady their breathing.
“Are… are you okay? Kang Hyung-seok, what happened?”
When Shin Jung-ah asked in a trembling voice, I leaned my head between the driver’s seat and passenger seat, staring toward the factory.
Fortunately, I saw nothing chasing us or approaching.
“Huff.”
After exhaling deeply, I looked at Shin Jung-ah and Shin Yoseph and opened my mouth.
“There was a Flesh.”
“…A Flesh?”
Shin Yoseph’s eyebrows furrowed, and Shin Jung-ah’s face grew cold.
It was shortly after she’d joined the company.
Because of the Flesh in the warehouse, Lee Jin-pyung had once been caught in a serious accident where his life hung in the balance.
Understanding clearly what it meant that such a Flesh existed in the factory, Shin Jung-ah barely managed to swallow.
“If there’s a Flesh, what should we do about it?”
At Shin Yoseph’s question, I took a deep breath through my nose.
A heavy silence fell, though it wasn’t caused by silence alone.
My eyes moved toward Shin Jung-ah.
“Manager?”
Shin Yoseph’s mouth formed a silent “ah,” and Shin Jung-ah covered her face with her palms.
“Damn it.”
“Please don’t curse.”
The conversation was already finished.
Only when there was something only Shin Jung-ah could do.
We’d agreed to help only at those moments.
Yet no matter how much we’d agreed, my heart couldn’t find peace.
It was because that task involved possession.
“…Do I really have to?”
Shin Jung-ah asked while keeping her face covered with her palms, and I answered in a heavy voice.
“Yes. We need to ask it.”
This factory was called Goblin Ground.
And Park Mi-ryung had verified that a Goblin existed here.
Over considerable time, there would certainly be a Goblin born at least when a catastrophe occurred in this place.
We had to ask the Goblin.
What had happened, and what needed to be done and how.
“Ugh.”
Shin Jung-ah groaned as if she truly despised this and might die from it, while a complicated smile spread across Shin Yoseph’s lips.
She would be worried.
Because possession itself would appear to an exorcist’s eyes as nothing but a possessed person.
“I appreciate your help.”
“I had my suspicions from the moment you mentioned Goblin Ground….”
“Neither I nor Shin Yoseph could do it.”
Shin Yoseph’s gaze turned toward Kang Hyung-seok.
His eyes posed a silent question—are you certain?—and Kang Hyung-seok answered by looking at Shin Jung-ah.
“She possesses the natural vessel for this.”
Shin Jung-ah had already accepted two great entities into herself.
Yet her body showed no signs of deterioration.
This could only be explained as a matter of innate constitution and talent.
“Tell her this time there won’t be any pork offal.”
“….”
“Say it! Please!”
In truth, pork offal sat in the trunk alongside ice packs.
But Kang Hyung-seok couldn’t speak the truth, so he offered the next best answer instead.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Ugh—seriously!”
“Still, I was more careful this time. It should be better than last time.”
Shin Jung-ah sighed heavily and nodded in resignation.
In the meantime, Kang Hyung-seok checked the time on his wristwatch.
10:30 PM.
Not bad.
“We’ll begin as soon as we’re ready. Manager, you wait here.”
“….”
“Of course, remove your bracelet and protective talisman from your body.”
Leaving Shin Jung-ah unable to respond, Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Yoseph stepped out of the car.
They spread salt more widely around the perimeter, and Kang Hyung-seok recited the Heavenly Passage Mantra.
Splash, whoosh!
Shin Yoseph, who sprinkled holy water without letting it touch the salt, recited a brief prayer as well.
The overcast weather of recent days had left the sky particularly dark.
The surroundings were desolate and empty, giving off the feeling of a remote rural area without streetlights.
“Can you be certain? That Shin Manager will be safe?”
Kang Hyung-seok cast a brief glance at Shin Yoseph before concentrating on purifying the surrounding energy by shaking the Shaman’s Bell.
“The Factory Owner told me. He said he heard the voice telling him to leave this place several times.”
“What?”
“It’s a pulling force. A killing force that takes lives.”
It was strange.
An entity desperate to capture people was sending signals to leave immediately.
That must be the Goblin.
“And no matter what happens, the two of us can handle it.”
The shaman and the possessed share a common experience—their bodies were seized by forces beyond themselves.
If a dangerous situation arose for Shin Jung-ah, the two of them were more than capable of resolving it.
“This is exhausting. I swear, you put me through every kind of ordeal.”
“Then find your strength.”
Shin Yoseph cast him a look that screamed *Is this guy in his right mind?* before concluding the purification ritual with prayer and holy water.
Pop.
Kang Hyung-seok flung open the trunk and exhaled sharply, puffing out his cheeks.
The space was ready. Now it was time to prepare the person.
Thud!
He retrieved a heavy bundle from his bag and tapped on the passenger door, signaling Shin Jung-ah to come out.
Pop, creak.
Shin Jung-ah opened the passenger door with deliberate slowness, dragging herself out reluctantly, and Kang Hyung-seok handed her a mask made of paper.
“Put it on.”
“…Why does it look like that?”
The paper mask was unsettling to behold.
The crimson lips curved upward toward the cheekbones, the eyes resembled those of a mythical beast, and inside the mouth, twisted paper fangs were densely affixed.
Made from white paper, the mask cast a ghastly pallor that, despite its distinct features, bore no resemblance to anything human.
“It’s a mask ritual to summon the Goblin.”
A mask ritual, literally speaking, is a shamanic performance conducted while wearing a mask.
Wearing a mask means becoming something other than oneself—an act distinctly akin to necromancy.
“If this seems too difficult, I’ll look into alternative methods.”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke with genuine sincerity, not mere courtesy.
It was painfully obvious how much Shin Jung-ah was struggling, regardless of their agreement.
He couldn’t force her, and forcing her wouldn’t accomplish anything anyway. As Kang Hyung-seok pondered what other options might exist,
“Sigh.”
Shin Jung-ah exhaled heavily and furrowed her brows.
“Fine. If not me, then who?”
With that, she placed the paper mask over her face.

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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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