An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 286

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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 286
Part 5. Taking Pity (3)
Clatter.
Once Sales Team 1 finished their meal, they set down their chopsticks in unison, their faces radiating satisfaction.
They’d eaten with admirable efficiency.
On the plate lined with oil-soaked paper towels lay only a few fragments of fried batter, and the kimchi stew had been scraped clean.
“Kang Manager really does make excellent kimchi stew.”
“The smelt tempura was truly delicious.”
“Cooking? Hardly. You just coat it and fry it—that’s all there is to it.”
“Actually, the simpler the cooking process, the harder it is to bring out the flavor. Thank you for the meal, Manager.”
Once Kang Hyung-seok spoke first, Namgoong Min-ah quickly bowed so deeply that the crown of her head was visible.
“Thank you for the meal, Manager!”
“Me too.”
Shin Jung-ah added her thanks as well, and Lee Jin-pyung nodded but missed his moment to speak.
“No, no. But about tomorrow’s schedule…”
“Do you have something in mind?”
At Shin Jung-ah’s question, Gwak Young-ho exhaled with a laugh and pointed to a warehouse set up at one corner of the courtyard.
“Of course. I checked that earlier and found plenty of burlap sacks inside. When I contacted the owner, he said they’re for sledding.”
“Sledding with burlap sacks…?”
“Haven’t you ever tried it, Shin Manager? You really pick up speed.”
“But where? Everything around here is flat.”
Gwak Young-ho seemed about to explain something, then looked at Shin Jung-ah with a regretful expression.
“You probably didn’t notice. Or did you?”
“Pardon?”
“You saw the reservoir on the way here, right? There’s a mountain right next to it. That’s where we’d go sledding.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
“There’s nowhere else we could use?”
“There isn’t anywhere suitable. Besides, we should use the place the owner recommended.”
Gwak Young-ho answered with eyes so serene they seemed almost innocent, but Kang Hyung-seok felt his mouth go dry.
‘Of all places, that mountain.’
The mountain where I first became aware of the Dog Spirit’s existence.
That was the mountain Gwak Young-ho was referring to.
“Then I’ll smoke a cigarette and get ready properly.”
Lee Jin-pyung began clearing up with a clattering sound.
Kang Hyung-seok tried to help, but Lee Jin-pyung declined, saying, “You already made the kimchi stew.”
“It’ll be faster if we do it together. We can leave the dishes for tomorrow and just soak them in water.”
“Understood.”
Kang Hyung-seok and Lee Jin-pyung carried the plates toward the kitchen inside, while Shin Jung-ah and Namgoong Min-ah meticulously wiped down the surrounding area with wet wipes.
“Are you going inside too, Shin Manager?”
“I was thinking of taking a walk.”
Shin Jung-ah pulled out an electronic cigarette and took a few drags, while Kang Hyung-seok, who had just emerged drying his hands, responded with “Let’s go together.”
“Perfect. You two take a walk around and come back.”
“Manager, aren’t you coming?”
“Ugh, I’m exhausted. My shoulders are stiff from fishing after so long.”
Shin Jung-ah, who had anticipated he wouldn’t follow, smiled faintly.
“Rest up. I’ll take a walk with Director Kang and be back soon.”
“We’ll be going.”
Kang Hyung-seok bowed his head and walked off with Shin Jung-ah.
“Manager, would you like me to massage your shoulders?”
“You, Deputy Manager Lee? No thanks. That’s creepy!”
“I’m actually good at it.”
“No, no. I’m fine.”
From behind, the voices of Lee Jin-pyung and Gwak Young-ho carried a sense of “isn’t this peaceful?”
But they didn’t know.
What frame of mind Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Jung-ah were in as they left.
What they were about to do.
Click.
Kang Hyung-seok pulled a bag from the car’s back door and shifted his gaze toward the mountain.
Then he began walking.
Step, step.
They’d mentioned there were wild dogs around, yet strangely, not a single dog was in sight.
Instead, something else occupied his mind entirely.
‘A Dog Spirit… a Dog Spirit…’
If the Dog Spirit’s origin was indeed an abandoned dog, what would be the right course of action?
It was already difficult to resolve through dialogue, being an animal spirit.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to think he should eliminate it with his divine blade.
Why was that?
Even Kang Hyung-seok didn’t know the answer.
Whoooosh.
A cold, heavy wind that mirrored his emotions swept across him.
It really did look like snow would fall heavily.
“Brrr, it’s cold.”
Shin Jung-ah confirmed there were no people around, then placed the electronic cigarette between her lips.
In the meantime, Kang Hyung-seok looked back and pulled salt from his bag.
“Should I sprinkle it?”
“We have to.”
He spoke matter-of-factly and began sprinkling the salt.
“By the origin of the Chak-gwi Scripture. The Six Realms Divine General, the Six Armor Divine General, the Gi-mun Divine General, the Palmun Divine General, the Five Directions, the Five Spirits Divine General.”
It was a scripture for distinguishing between benevolent and malevolent spirits.
It wasn’t something one would normally recite while sprinkling salt like this, but Kang Hyung-seok continued the incantation with the heart of performing a shamanic ritual.
“The Six Paths Battle Formation, the Desert Divine General’s original name, when establishing formations in all four directions from the Divine General’s battlefield—to the east, the Eight Gates with the Metal Serpent Formation.”
Shin Jung-ah couldn’t remain still either, drawing a sharp breath through her nose.
The crisp, dry air peculiar to winter filled her lungs, yet she felt no sense of spiritual presence.
Shhhh.
The electronic cigarette exhaled vapor like mist, salt scattered across the ground, and beneath the gentle glow of moonlight on the rural road, Kang Hyung-seok continued to recite the scripture.
“To the south, the Linear Formation; to the west, the Six Harmony Formation; to the north, the Eight Formations with the Eight Gates Metal Serpent Formation; apart from the Linear Formation, the Life and Death Gates are arranged, and when the Divine General descends with ten thousand soldiers.”
Grant me an answer.
Show me what I must do and how I must do it.
“When a malevolent spirit commits transgressions against the innocent, if it is a benevolent spirit, capture it through the Life Gate; if it is a malevolent one.”
Is it right to show compassion to the Dog Spirit?
“According to the scripture of rain, lure it to the Rest Gate and absolve its sins, then guide it through the Open Gate, but if it is a Malevolent Spirit.”
Or is it right to exorcise it?
“Capture it through the Death Gate, lure it to the Surprise Gate according to the scripture, and absolve its sins through the Wound Gate.”
If a Shaman bridges the divine and the human, and a prayer-keeper prays for humanity, then what must I act for?
Grant me an answer.
Show me.
Tell me what I must cherish and what I must do.
Whoooosh.
Salt scattered from his clenched fist like bone dust.
It was then.
-Woof woof woof woof!
I sensed Baekseol’s presence.
Kang Hyung-seok suddenly stopped the scripture, and Shin Jung-ah watched him with confusion as Baekseol rushed past them in an instant.
Then she turned back and barked at them.
As if urging them to follow quickly.
“Manager Kang, what is it?”
Kang Hyung-seok watched Baekseol without answering.
Coincidence or inevitability?
-Woof woof woof!
Watching Baekseol bark insistently, urging them to follow, Kang Hyung-seok opened his lips.
“It’s Baekseol. Let’s run for now.”
“What? What?”
Kang Hyung-seok chased after Baekseol alongside the bewildered Shin Jung-ah.
As they approached, she’d dart ahead again, then turn back to wait for them to catch up before pulling away once more—the two of them gradually increased their pace.
Running like this for quite some time.
-Woof woof woof!
Baekseol stopped in a field far from the village.
Large marshmallow-like structures stood scattered about, and the surroundings were wide open.
There was no light.
-Woof woof woof!
The two of them fell silent as they approached Baekseol, who barked with a ferocity that chilled the blood.
They understood why Baekseol had led them to this place.
There lay a dog, sprawled motionless on the cold ground.
It was the abandoned dog they’d seen during the day.
“Is this the Dog Spirit’s doing?”
“…No. There’s no malevolent aura.”
The Shaman’s Bell in the backpack didn’t ring either.
Then this dog had died from cold and hunger.
Why had Baekseol shown them this?
Baekseol was a divine spirit guide.
Being a sacred entity, there had to be a reason for this.
Perhaps it was offering an answer to my dilemma.
-Woof, woof, woof, woof!
Kang Hyung-seok gazed silently at Baekseol, then shifted his gaze to the dead dog.
Without words, I somehow understood.
What Baekseol was trying to say, what she was trying to show me.
“Yes, I understand.”
-Woof, woof.
Kang Hyung-seok looked down at the dog’s corpse with compassionate eyes and nodded heavily.
A white dog is said to be a messenger of the divine.
It conveys the will of heaven and guides departed souls to the afterlife.
There are no coincidences in this world—all things are inevitable—so there had to be a reason why Baekseol had led me to this dead abandoned dog.
“She’s telling me to have compassion.”
Kang Hyung-seok murmured these words as he reached toward the dog’s body.
He lifted the dog, which was heartbreakingly light.
“K-Kang Manager?”
“I’ll bury it and return shortly.”
Kang Hyung-seok gave Shin Jung-ah a look asking her to wait a moment, then departed with Baekseol.
Toward a place bathed in sunlight.
***
That night arrived.
I buried the Abandoned Dog in a good place, broke off thorny branches from the Mountain, and returned to place a protective ward around the Rural House where everyone slept.
Then, separating by gender into different rooms, only silence lingered.
It was then that the snow began to fall.
Snowflakes descended silently from the sky, growing heavier and accumulating softly on the ground.
A time when people, Wild Dog Pack, and the world itself seemed to have fallen asleep.
Within the cascading snow that threatened to bury everything, a dark form began to approach without a sound.
-Grrrrr.
The Dog Spirit.
Fresh crimson blood dripped from its mouth, and the heads of other dogs hung from its body like gruesome ornaments.
Shhhhh.
The Dog Spirit fixed its crimson eyes on Kang Hyung-seok’s car and approached slowly.
It circled the surroundings once, then flared its nostrils and turned its gaze toward where Kang Hyung-seok slept.
When the Dog Spirit finally followed Kang Hyung-seok’s scent into the Courtyard, the thorny branches hanging near the gate clattered against each other.
Though it was a ward meant to defend against Malevolent Spirits, it had been placed to announce their arrival.
Thud.
The Dog Spirit stopped in the middle of the Courtyard, its densely clustered crimson eyes fixed on the wooden floor.
There stood Baekseol, white as snow itself, beside Kang Hyung-seok on the floor.
Clang.
The Shaman’s Bell in Kang Hyung-seok’s hand rang of its own accord.

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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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