An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 308

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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 307
Part 6. Ahhh. Ahhh (1)
Whoosh, whoosh!
After cleansing the land’s impurity with a simple ritual, Shin Jung-ah scattered the remaining salt across the Front Courtyard.
A sacred rope hung from the door, and the Courtyard, swept clean as if scraped with a broom, revealed bare yellow earth beneath.
“Teacher, I’ve finished everything.”
Shin Jung-ah called out to Lee Geum-kyung inside the Rental House, but received no response.
‘She must be busy.’
Observing Lee Geum-kyung with eyes closed in prayer, Shin Jung-ah checked the time on her smartwatch and tapped her pocket rhythmically.
Then she retrieved her electronic cigarette, only to find the remaining liquid running low, prompting her to think she should purchase regular cigarettes instead.
Thud, thud.
Shin Jung-ah opened a map on her phone and began walking.
Soon she spotted a Supermarket, and upon entering, she pointed her finger at the cigarettes on the display shelf.
“I’ll take two packs of those.”
The Supermarket Owner, retrieving the cigarettes, approached with a cautious tone.
“Are you here on vacation?”
“Something like that.”
Shin Jung-ah, who did not particularly enjoy such small talk, answered adequately before purchasing the cigarettes.
“How long will you be staying?”
“Pardon?”
“Well, there’s nothing much to see in this Village.”
Shin Jung-ah regarded the Supermarket Owner silently.
She appeared to be in her late fifties, seemingly having done this work her entire life, yet her manner toward customers lacked the polish of the city—likely because she had only ever run a Village shop.
Thus her unguarded thoughts drifted visibly like dust she could not conceal.
“Has something happened?”
“Something? Well…”
“I simply don’t want to commit any offense. If there are precautions I should take, I should know them.”
Shin Jung-ah asked while tearing open the cigarette packaging, and the Supermarket Owner pursed her lips and shook her head.
“Nothing serious, but don’t go toward the Sea. And don’t go out after sunset.”
“It seems something has occurred.”
“There’s an important event happening, so everyone’s a bit on edge about it.”
“I see.”
Shin Jung-ah made a sound of understanding and nodded.
“Yes, I understand. Thank you for your help.”
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“How long will you be staying? I’m just curious, personally.”
Shin Jung-ah smiled as if donning a mask and shook her head.
“I’ll probably only be here for a day or two.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes. Please buy a lot.”
Shin Jung-ah pulled out a cigarette and left the Supermarket.
Then she turned back and muttered silently, “What’s going on?”
Her attitude was far too strange.
She was hiding something.
Not knowing what it was, but feeling deeply unsettled, Shin Jung-ah hurried toward the Rental House where Lee Geum-kyung was.
“Huh…?”
When she arrived at the house, what greeted her was Lee Geum-kyung, sprawled on the floor with a calendar spread out before her, staring down at it intently.
***
Crunch, crunch.
Kang Hyung-seok turned his back to the Golmaekki Shrine, facing the Sea.
The Sea appeared calm and serene.
Yet someone was plotting something terrible in those waters—the sacrifice of human lives.
‘Did the teacher not know?’
Lee Geum-kyung was a Shaman.
Perhaps she had been waiting all along.
Waiting for me to be ready.
Waiting for the time to come.
Waiting for this very moment to arrive.
“Sigh.”
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled deeply and picked up his phone, scrolling through his contacts.
The person he sought was Professor Kim Jae-sik.
He needed to understand what intention lay behind sacrificing people to the Sea.
Beep, beep, beep.
Throughout the dial tone, Kang Hyung-seok gazed at the Sea.
The moment the call connected, Kim Jae-sik’s voice came through, carrying an unmistakable scent of alcohol.
“Oh, isn’t this Hyung-seok?”
“Have you been drinking, Professor?”
“Had a drink yesterday. But what’s the matter?”
Kang Hyung-seok laughed bitterly and carefully broached the suffocating question in his chest.
“I’m curious about something. I wondered if you might know anything about the Sea and human sacrifice.”
“Huh? The Sea?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on, let me drink some water.”
Footsteps sounded briefly, followed by the opening of a refrigerator door and the pouring of water.
“Phew, what’s suddenly come up? Human sacrifice?”
The power of a single glass of water was remarkable.
Kim Jae-sik’s voice now carried complete clarity, the alcohol and drowsiness entirely dispelled, and Kang Hyung-seok spoke while watching the Sea ripple gently in the breeze.
“Just curious, that’s all.”
“Are you caught up in something?”
“No, there’s no need to worry.”
(Tch, this guy.)
Without a word spoken, Kim Jae-sik clicked his tongue as if he’d already caught on.
(The most famous one is the Tale of Simcheong.)
It felt too much like a fairy tale, and Kang Hyung-seok’s brow furrowed right after.
(Don’t dismiss it? It feels like a fairy tale because it’s so famous, but it’s actually quite a deeply rooted story. The Tale of Simcheong.)
“Is that so…?”
(Its origin is the Geotaji legend. From the Unified Silla period.)
“Ah….”
(But where exactly is this place you’re curious about? The West Sea?)
“No. It’s the Namhae area.”
(Ah, then that’s not it. The Tale of Simcheong is set around Jangsan, so the background is the West Sea.)
Though he’d only just awakened and should have been disoriented, Kim Jae-sik spoke without hesitation.
(Are you perhaps trying to find a connection between Korean seas and human sacrifice?)
“Something like that.”
(Hmm, that’s difficult.)
“Pardon?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s brow furrowed, thinking this wasn’t the sort of reaction someone who’d just been talking about the Tale of Simcheong should show.
(In the Tale of Simcheong, who saved Simcheong when she fell into the Ingang Waters?)
“Well….”
Kang Hyung-seok’s words caught in his throat, and Kim Jae-sik clicked his tongue as if to say, “See?” with a tsk-tsk sound.
(It was the Dragon King, wasn’t it? Of course, there was a heavenly command to save her, but he didn’t just save her—he cared for her with genuine devotion. If he truly desired human sacrifice, such a response would be impossible.)
Perhaps that was it.
Perhaps that’s how it worked.
Kang Hyung-seok narrowed his brow and rubbed his lips.
“So it was a story about human wickedness after all.”
(Well, yes.)
It was a Buddhist monk who said Simcheong must be offered to the sea.
It was her father who pushed her in.
It was Qing merchants who led her to the sea.
It was a story of humans harming humans.
(Originally, both East and West had customs of sacrificing humans when the sea grew turbulent. The Tale of Simcheong shares similarities in that aspect—sacrificing to the sea to obtain what one desires.)
“….”
(More than that, be honest with me. What’s going on this time?)
“You know how it is, Professor.”
They say sorrow becomes half when shared, but worry doubles.
With the number of worried people simply doubling, I couldn’t bring myself to speak easily.
(You and that stubbornness of yours…!)
“I apologize.”
(No, well, if there’s a reason you can’t speak about it.)
“…Yes.”
(What I’m really curious about is this: what significance does it hold to offer a living human sacrifice to the Sea?)
Kang Hyung-seok nodded with a bitter smile, and before he could answer aloud, Kim Jae-sik’s voice flowed through.
(If that’s what you mean, you’d know better than anyone, you fool.)
“…Me, sir?”
(It’s sorcery. That’s what it is.)
My words caught in my throat.
Not because he’d struck a nerve, but because I realized that approaching this purely from a sorcerous perspective—setting aside everything else—might actually be the correct answer.
(Look at the situation more carefully. Who else but a Shaman like you could understand it best?)
“…That’s true.”
(What do you see right now?)
Kang Hyung-seok, focused on the call, slowly turned his head to gaze at the Sea.
The Namhae Sea.
‘The Sea where the Dragon King falls silent.’
Beyond it lay Jeju Island, and beyond that existed Japan.
Suddenly, chills ran down my spine.
Now I understood.
What that entity hovering above the Sea had been when the siren wailed at dawn.
“Professor, do you happen to know anything about Japanese deities?”
(It’s not my specialty, so I only know the famous ones…)
This was the first time. I’d never heard Kim Jae-sik sound so uncertain.
“Still, do you know of any deities related to the Sea with a cruel nature?”
(Hmm.)
“In human form, and likely male.”
(Ah.)
As if something had suddenly come to mind, Kim Jae-sik offered his answer.
(Susanoo! That’s it!)
“Susanoo?”
(There’s an incredibly great deity in Japan called Amaterasu. Susanoo is her younger brother—a god who rules the Sea and storms. An immensely powerful god.)
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled a long breath through slightly parted lips.
Now the puzzle pieces clicked into place in my mind.
What I’d seen at dawn wasn’t the Dragon King.
It was a foreign deity from beyond the Sea.
(He’d be called both a hero and a god of destruction. I don’t know the details, so if you’re curious, look it up yourself.)
“Understood.”
(And listen, Hyung-seok.)
“Yes.”
(If this truly is sorcery, no one else can help.)
Kang Hyung-seok’s face hardened as Kim Jae-sik’s voice continued.
(There’s something only you can do. Definitely. You’re the one who can end this sorcery.)
“…I understand.”
(So when this is all over, you’d better tell me what this was about! And hey! If something like this happens again, you call me!)
The voice carried genuine disappointment, and Kang Hyung-seok let out an embarrassed laugh as he wiped away cold sweat.
“Yes, Professor. I absolutely will.”
(Keep this up and I’m going to be hurt, you know?)
“I’m truly sorry.”
(Ugh, fine. You must be busy, so let’s end the call here. Make sure you eat properly!)
The call disconnected.
On the quiet hillside where the wind blew gently, I lowered my hand holding the phone to my chest.
Then I cast my gaze toward the Sea.
Whoooosh!
A fierce wind wrapped around my body, violently shaking the bare-branched trees and my hair.
‘Sorcery.’
Nothing but sorcery.
If I excluded everything else and considered it all sorcery, it became clear.
‘The Sea has not calmed, so they have not yet offered a living sacrifice.’
Just as the monk had instructed Shim Boongsa to offer Shimcheong, someone had been hinting that a living sacrifice must be made.
The purpose must be to draw an even greater deity to this Sea than the capricious Dragon King.
I had to stop it.
Kang Hyung-seok rubbed his canine tooth with his tongue and hurried toward the car.
I had to meet Lee Geum-kyung immediately.
Thunk!
As I climbed into the car, I started the engine and fastened my seatbelt.
‘If it’s sorcery, there must be an auspicious day set.’
Even moving houses is done on days without ill omens—would they not have set a specific day for taking a human life?
Lee Geum-kyung was the only one who could uncover that day, so I pressed hard on the accelerator.
Since I already knew precisely where she had settled in the Village through Shin Jung-ah, I drove forward without hesitation.

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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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