An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 313

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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 312
Part 7. Connected Fate (3)
Whoooosh!
The wind grew fiercer by the moment.
Kang Hyung-seok, rowing the decrepit Boat with oars that seemed ready to splinter at any second, glanced back toward the distant Sea.
All I could see was darkness.
Yet the wail of the siren told me I had traveled quite far.
Whoooosh!
I seized the Boat as it threatened to capsize, preventing myself from tumbling into the Sea, my entire body trembling like an aspen leaf.
The frigid seawater, descending like Mist, stole my body heat and drained my strength.
The waves grew increasingly violent, and now even I doubted my ability to survive.
Creak!
Yet I could not stop rowing.
Creak, creak!
I could not stop propelling this wretched, groaning vessel into the treacherous Sea.
The deity seeks to devour humanity.
The deity’s purpose is not merely to claim a single life.
‘It seeks to sever the lineage.’
Go Se-hee is the daughter of a Hereditary Shaman.
The true objective is to completely replace the Dragon King of Namhae by severing the lineage of the Hereditary Shaman Tradition passed down through generations.
Splash!
A massive wave rocked the Boat, crashing into white foam and drenching me completely.
This was the deity’s warning to me.
Do not come.
This is no place for someone like you.
Creak.
I understand. I do.
But I cannot abandon this.
How can I remain idle when I know someone will die?
Weeeeeoooow! Whoooosh!
Relentless waves and fierce winds violently shook the Boat.
The waves struck me hard once more, and the entire vessel groaned with creaking sounds.
“Cough, cough! Ugh!”
I expelled the seawater that had entered my mouth and clutched the oar to my chest.
Then I illuminated the Sea with my phone’s light, though it was far too faint.
Thinking that my light was as insignificant as myself, I opened my mouth wide.
“Go Se-hee!”
Weeeeeoooow!
The siren’s wail devoured my voice, so I screamed even louder, my throat raw.
“Go Se-hee! Where are you!”
If you can hear me, please respond.
Kang Hyung-seok called out Go Se-hee’s name with desperate urgency countless times, but all that returned were the bitter wind and the wail of sirens.
Despair as thick as the darkness enveloping him crashed over him colder than the waves themselves.
“Hah, hah!”
Gasping for breath, Kang Hyung-seok looked up at the sky and let out a hoarse cry.
Lee Nak-yul.
Why did her name surface in his mind?
He knew full well that matters entangled with the divine were beyond her reach.
Creak, creak!
Kang Hyung-seok slowly ceased his rowing.
“…With body and heart devoted, I offer my deepest reverence to the celestial realm’s new heavenly law of enlightenment.”
Then, gritting his teeth, he clutched the oar to his chest.
It was not from emptiness.
It was to keep the oar from being torn away by the sea, and to free his hands to move.
“With body and heart devoted, I offer my deepest reverence to the vast and boundless wisdom of the Seven Stars of Trayastrimsha Heaven.”
With trembling hands frozen white, Kang Hyung-seok pressed his palms together and recited the Dragon King prayer toward the Namhae Dragon King.
“With body and heart devoted, I offer my deepest reverence to all the celestial deities who protect and uphold Brahma and Indra, present everywhere.”
Silent Dragon King.
Awaken.
Open your eyes and prevent the calamity unfolding in your sea.
Please, please, please.
Pouring his desperate heart into every word, Kang Hyung-seok earnestly beseeched the Dragon King.
***
The moment Shin Jung-ah’s eyes opened, the air around her transformed.
Lee Geum-kyung stilled the Shaman’s Bell and sacred blade, while those beyond the door froze, their gaze fixed solely upon her.
A memory surfaced from ages past—when they were children.
The day of the Yongwang Ritual.
It was the Hereditary Shaman and Lee Geum-kyung who had conducted the Yongwang Ritual at a place where the Sea was visible, and that day the winds had blown with unusual ferocity.
Much like this place.
A soft rustling.
Lee Geum-kyung bowed deeply before Shin Jung-ah, her palms pressed together in reverence, and spoke with her head lowered.
“With body and spirit devoted, I offer my deepest respect to the celestial realm’s new heavenly law of enlightenment.”
Like Kang Hyung-seok before her, she recited the Dragon King’s prayer, then lifted her head and continued.
“The heavens open, and your humble disciple respectfully petitions the Dragon King—I beseech you to hear these words.”
Lee Geum-kyung’s tone was unlike her usual manner.
It was not the voice of one addressing another human.
It was a supplication directed at a deity—the Dragon King of Namhae itself—and because she had achieved possession, the power and resonance carried in her voice could not help but differ from her ordinary speech.
“A child wishes to save a person from the Sea.”
A soft rustling.
Suddenly Shin Jung-ah rose from her posture, and Lee Geum-kyung’s words continued.
“Grant aid to this child.”
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes did not face Lee Geum-kyung.
Instead, they gazed through the hole in the shattered door toward the distant Sea beyond.
“Hah, hah-ack!”
Those standing behind the door stumbled backward in a clamor that defied description.
Though the wind blew fiercely, not a single strand of Shin Jung-ah’s hair or hem of her garment stirred—a sight that made them instinctively sense a divine presence before them.
Shin Jung-ah opened her mouth.
Her chest heaved and her vocal cords trembled, yet no sound emerged.
And yet all present heard her clearly.
“That is indeed the child of whom you speak.”
Lee Geum-kyung continued in a grave voice, addressing the Dragon King of Namhae dwelling within Shin Jung-ah.
“Grant your aid.”
And then it came.
Shin Jung-ah nodded silently.
***
“Answer me!”
Kang Hyung-seok called out to Go Se-hee across the vast expanse of the Sea.
Then he clamped his mouth shut and bowed his head.
His face had turned deathly pale, and his hands had gone white as a corpse’s.
No sound would come.
“Cough, cough!”
My body convulsed as I hacked dryly, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
The Sea remained menacing, and the wind blew fierce.
The faint glow of my phone was too weak to spot anyone else.
It was in this moment of crushing despair, when waves of hopelessness battered my heart, that it happened.
Rumble!
The dark clouds overhead unleashed a deafening roar.
In an instant, my gaze shot skyward, and lightning flashed brilliantly between the clouds with another thunderous crack.
Rumble!
The delayed echo reverberated through both the Sea and my body.
Drenched as though caught in a downpour, I shifted my gaze back to the Sea.
Flash!
Relentless lightning illuminated the waters with blinding clarity.
I gasped for breath, my lungs freezing, and quickly scanned the heaving Boat beneath me.
It was then.
“…Found it.”
Not far away, a small Boat drifted across the waters.
Creak!
I immediately rowed toward the Boat, and with each stroke, serpentine lightning coiled between the dark clouds, illuminating everything around me.
The lightning remained only within the clouds, protecting me, never striking the waters below.
My heart pounds.
Whoooosh!
The wind that blows seems to speak to me.
Go there, it urges.
I will protect you—follow where I guide you.
Creak!
I turned back to the heaving Boat and pulled hard on the oars.
Whoooosh!
Suddenly, the wind intensified, shaking my Boat as though it might capsize.
At the same moment, lightning brighter and more powerful than ever crashed down upon the waters.
The force was so intense it felt like two deities colliding.
‘Susanoo and the Dragon King of Namhae.’
I could feel the Dragon King’s protective power enveloping me.
Crash!
Violent lightning painted the dark clouds with brilliance, and the scaled body of a dragon briefly emerged into view.
The Dragon King’s protection shielded Kang Hyung-seok, and the dragon itself was guarding him as well.
Creak, creak!
Though not swift, the boat Kang Hyung-seok rode drew gradually closer to the Boat.
Then a towering wave crashed over him, and when the surging waters subsided, the oar in his hand was snapped clean in half.
Haah!
Kang Hyung-seok fixed his gaze on the Boat mere meters away and rowed the Sea with his broken oar.
But lacking strength, he drew no closer to the Boat; instead, the current pushed him back, and the distance widened with each stroke.
Go Se-hee!
Kang Hyung-seok cried out in a hoarse voice and gripped the oar with crushing force.
Then he looked down at the Sea, and lifting his head, he gazed toward the Boat where Go Se-hee waited.
His Adam’s apple bobbed sharply.
His eyes widened, and his lips pressed firmly shut.
And then,
Splash!
Kang Hyung-seok hurled himself into the Sea to reach the Boat where Go Se-hee was.
The seawater was so cold it felt as though it would shatter his heart.
Wet clothes clung to his body, making even swimming a struggle.
Splash! Splash!
Though the harsh and merciless environment blocked his path like fate itself, Kang Hyung-seok stretched his arms and swam on.
And at last, his hand touched the Boat.
***
Shin Jung-ah, who had been silently gazing at the Sea, opened her mouth.
Once again, her voice reached not the ears but directly into the hearts of those who heard it.
Everything stems from humanity.
Evil is born of humanity, and the practice of goodness too is humanity’s work; therefore, only humanity can save humanity.
Those outside the door who heard these words prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling, and some wept silently, rubbing their palms together.
Shin Jung-ah’s gaze turned toward them.
Yet she revealed no emotion and turned her eyes back toward the Sea.
I have opened the path, but I will not determine its end.
Lee Geum-kyung nodded silently and gazed at Shin Jung-ah.
She beheld not the Dragon King dwelling within her, but Shin Jung-ah herself.
“I understand.”
Lee Geum-kyung had waited for this moment.
So now that everything was prepared, at last she could bring it all to a clean conclusion.
Just as Shin Jung-ah had grown enough to accept even the Dragon King, so too had Kang Hyung-seok prepared himself as a Shaman.
If the Dragon King had guided Kang Hyung-seok to the Boat, it was Lee Geum-kyung who had waited and believed in him.
***
Whoooosh!
After several desperate attempts to keep the Boat from capsizing, I finally managed to pull myself aboard.
My lungs burned so fiercely that my chest felt ready to burst.
Yet the pain was bearable—because lying on the Boat was the Young Girl in her white mourning dress.
‘She’s alive.’
Confined and battered by the merciless storm, Go Se-hee had lost consciousness.
But she was still breathing, so I frantically unwrapped the cloth covering her head.
Go Se-hee’s face emerged, pale as blank paper, and I immediately pulled her close, sharing my warmth with her trembling body.
“Heh… heh, heheheh.”
Laughter spilled out, strange and unbidden.
It was not a joyful laugh.
If it had been, tears would not be streaming down my face.
Flap!
I stripped off my outer coat and wrapped it around Go Se-hee’s body.
The gesture was not intended to preserve her warmth—though it served that purpose.
Still, my coat completely concealed the characters written across her back: Tribute.

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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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