An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 290

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 290
Part 7. You Called Them Possessed Persons (1)
The new year had arrived.
At Daejeong Materials, we’d held one more company dinner, and there were words of encouragement to do well in the first quarter of this year too.
On the calendar, we’d merely turned to the next page.
Yet somehow, the new year stirred something restless in people’s hearts.
And so they set goals they’d failed to achieve before.
“Maybe I’ll try quitting smoking this year.”
“Really, Manager?”
“Shin Manager, want to quit together?”
“No. I don’t feel much need for it.”
Shin Jung-ah and Gwak Young-ho discussed smoking cessation, while Namgoong Min-ah and Lee Jin-pyung exchanged information about a gym near the office.
“Kang Manager, no new year’s goals?”
“Nothing in particular, Manager.”
“What about studying a foreign language?”
“I’ll give it some thought.”
Kang Hyung-seok smiled broadly and prepared to leave work.
Gathering my bag, I headed toward the underground parking lot and climbed into my car, where a chill and silence descended upon me simultaneously.
‘New year’s goals, huh.’
Usually, people set as goals what they failed to achieve the previous year.
Kang Hyung-seok pondered for a moment, then shook my head and started the engine.
That was when it happened.
Bzzzzt.
My phone, hung on the dashboard, rang with a familiar name appearing.
Click.
“What is it?”
(I have something I’m curious about—can you talk?)
Shin Yoseph’s voice was heavy.
Heavy enough to make me forget even the thought of exchanging new year’s greetings.
Kang Hyung-seok exited the underground parking lot and opened my mouth.
“Speak.”
(You know I’ve been sponsoring an orphanage, right?)
The place where Shin Yoseph and I performed an exorcism together for the first time.
Back then, our relationship was awkward, so it was a memory and place impossible to forget even if I tried.
“Yeah. Why?”
(They contacted me saying someone insisted on volunteering specifically on December 31st. The Nun said her attitude was strange, and something felt off.)
“On the 31st?”
(And she came the next day too. Even when they said it wasn’t possible due to internal schedules, she went ahead and cleaned the bathrooms.)
Isn’t that strange?
That was the tone I sensed in Shin Yoseph’s voice.
Volunteering around the end and beginning of the year wasn’t unusual.
But the fact that she’d forced her way here, and that the dates were December 31st and January 1st—that stood out.
(What do you make of it?)
“You said she cleaned the bathroom?”
(Yeah.)
“Check behind the bathroom. She did something.”
(What…?)
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled a sigh and turned right onto the road leading home.
“She visited on the last day of the year and the first day of the new one. That’s sorcery.”
(Damn it.)
Shin Yoseph clicked his tongue in irritation as expected, and Kang Hyung-seok, sharing the sentiment, furrowed his brow.
“Coming on the last day of the year seems like she was trying to pass on all the accumulated misfortune from the year to the children, and at the beginning of the year, she was trying to take in fresh energy.”
(Is that possible?)
“Sorcery is revealed through its actions and purpose. Understanding the intention is what matters most.”
(Sigh…)
It was sinister.
Both the attempt to transfer her karmic debt to children who’d lost their parents, and her desire to absorb their pure energy.
(I’ll pass this along to the Nun later. Thanks for your help.)
The conversation seemed to be ending normally, but Kang Hyung-seok raised one eyebrow.
Something felt off.
“You’re not going in person?”
Shin Yoseph had an irritating manner and expression, but a warm heart underneath.
Especially since he cared deeply for the children, I’d naturally assumed he’d visit directly.
(I have something to take care of.)
Kang Hyung-seok deliberately fell silent.
A heavy quiet filled the car, and through it, I could hear faint static from the vehicle’s Bluetooth speaker.
It was the sound of the car engine.
“Where are you headed?”
(You really are a Shaman. Impressive.)
“Don’t joke around.”
I was bothered by how low Shin Yoseph’s voice had dropped today.
“What’s going on? Is this something that needs backup?”
(What kind of question is that on New Year’s Day.)
“Tell me straight.”
(I need to confirm things first.)
So I can’t say anything before that.
That’s what Shin Yoseph’s voice conveyed.
“Got it. Let’s talk later then.”
Kang Hyung-seok ended the call.
It was Shin Yoseph’s first call of the new year.
I shouldn’t feel this way, yet sand seemed to roll across my tongue so persistently that my hand drifted unconsciously toward my lips.
What on earth could this be?
What could possibly cause his voice to sound like this?
Tsk.
Kang Hyung-seok shook his head, his mouth twisted into a grimace.
Whatever it was, it seemed clear that this year would not unfold peacefully either.
***
Beep.
After ending the call, Shin Yoseph focused on driving, his expression grave.
He was not dressed in casual clothes.
He wore a cassock, the vestment of a Catholic priest, and the automobile was far more modest than the one he typically drove.
The man in the passenger seat was not a company colleague either.
“A friend of yours?”
“More like a cooperative partner, Father Hilario.”
An elderly man dressed in a cassock like Shin Yoseph smiled, relief mingled with his expression.
Shin Yoseph’s face, which had always appeared lonely and isolated, had grown noticeably brighter.
He had found a friend with whom he could share affection and bare his heart—and though Shin Yoseph had denied it, the person on the phone seemed to be exactly that kind of companion.
“But there are a few things I’m curious about.”
The road wound and twisted.
Shin Yoseph continued speaking in a voice as slow and hushed as the car’s reduced speed.
“Is it alright for you to contact me?”
“Honestly, it shouldn’t be. It’s an exorcism, after all.”
Shin Yoseph rolled his tongue in his mouth, his eyes conveying an unsurprised acknowledgment.
All exorcisms proceed through official channels.
Through rigorous examination, one determines whether the petitioner is truly possessed by a demon, reports to the Vatican, and only then proceeds with the approval of the regional bishop.
Yet the way Father Hilario spoke suggested this was something that would have to be conducted unofficially.
“May I ask the reason?”
“A request from a priest I know is the biggest factor… and it’s rather complicated. The possessed person’s condition is also…”
Seeing it directly would be the clearest way to understand.
I don’t even know how to express this.
Reading the thoughts melting in Hilario’s eyes, Shin Yoseph nodded heavily.
Vroom.
The remaining distance on the navigation system steadily decreased.
The city had long since fallen away, the road was unpaved, and the sky grew dim.
And this was the path leading to meet the possessed person.
Thump, thump.
The swaying vehicle amplified the sense of unease.
Shin Yoseph kept his lips pressed firmly together, concentrating on the drive, and finally the navigation announced they were approaching the destination.
Shin Yoseph slowed the car and peered ahead with narrowed eyes, but only a pitch-black mountain loomed down at him menacingly.
“The possessed person is here?”
“Yes. He was someone who loved nature.”
Hilario spoke with courtesy, but the implication was clear—the man had been a hermit.
Shin Yoseph exhaled through his lips and retrieved a large bag from the back seat.
Then, together with Hilario, he began climbing the dark mountain.
Crunch, crunch, crack.
Winter had frozen the snow-laden earth solid, and the leaves were damp.
The two men climbed the mountain, where visibility extended barely a hand’s breadth ahead, their footsteps breaking dried branches and stepping over protruding stones.
“Huff, huff.”
The mountain climb was proving arduous for the elderly Hilario.
He gasped for breath to an alarming degree, his face noticeably pallid.
“Let’s take it slowly.”
Shin Yoseph extended his hand to him and deliberately continued speaking.
It was an intentional effort to maintain a slower pace.
“How did matters proceed with the possessed person’s family?”
“He has no family.”
“I see…”
“However, he does have people who are like family to him. They’ve been looking after him quite well, I’m told.”
“Were they local parishioners?”
“Yes.”
Shin Yoseph pressed his lips together.
A solitary existence without family.
Though their circumstances differed, Shin Yoseph felt an unexpected kinship with the possessed person.
Rustle.
“Ah, is that it over there, perhaps?”
When Shin Yoseph pointed to what appeared to be a mountain cabin in the distance, Hilario wiped the sweat beading on his chin and answered.
“Yes, that’s the place.”
Shin Yoseph paused briefly and drew a deep breath through his nose.
The possessed person, like those who are possessed, emanated a foul stench.
It was a smell woven into their very breath—resembling the putrid reek of rotting flesh and entrails.
This odor was called mal odor.
“I smell something.”
Not just the mal odor, but also something like sulfur.
Though he had yet to encounter the possessed person, the characteristics were already manifesting with striking clarity.
“And I must tell you something.”
It was Hilario’s gravelly voice that captured Shin Yoseph’s attention.
“This person underwent an exorcism once before.”
“…Pardon?”
“He is experienced, so to speak.”
Shin Yoseph’s face hardened like frozen mud mixed with snow and ice.
“He was someone who received help from Father Leo.”
“….”
“Let’s go.”
Shin Yoseph clenched his jaw and nodded.
Then he grabbed Hilario’s hand and pulled him toward the Mountain Cabin.
The stench grew thicker with each step, and a sinister atmosphere emanated from the unlit cabin.
This was no place to visit on New Year’s Day.
But what possessed person or demon would concern themselves with the calendar?
Creak, creak.
Shin Yoseph, his face rigid, grasped the cabin’s door handle.
It wasn’t locked—the door creaked open, and Hilario shone his lantern inside.
A chair carved from wood.
A table that appeared to have been scavenged from somewhere.
A folding table propped against the wall.
And the distinctive old man’s odor that no amount of cologne could mask.
“…You did say it was a possessed person.”
“Yes.”
Shin Yoseph exhaled silently and twisted his lips.
In the center of the cramped cabin sat a coffin.
“This is why I said it was better to see it directly.”
The stench was emanating from that coffin.
The possessed person was not a living human.
Neither was the demon that had entered.
It was the corpse inside the coffin.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————