An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 317

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

Chapter 316
Part 1. May Sorrow and Pain Find Healing, May We Advance Without Hindrance or Obstruction (3)
Several days had passed since then.
Kang Hyung-seok visited a business partner that morning, resolved lunch at the site, and immediately set out driving.
Not heading back to the Company.
Vroom.
He was driving toward Lee Geum-kyung.
On the surface, it was to express his gratitude to Lee Geum-kyung for introducing the business contact, but in reality, it was a journey to see a face he had been missing.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
The traffic light happened to be red, so Kang Hyung-seok called Chung-geum.
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Hello. I’m heading out now and will contact you.”
“Ah, how long do you think it will take?”
“It’s nearby. It shouldn’t take long. Would it be alright if I picked up something to eat?”
“Of course!”
“Then…”
After a brief moment of thought, Kang Hyung-seok continued with the corners of his mouth lifted.
“I’ll grab some chicken and something sweet. If I can find something trendy that’s popular these days, I’ll try to get that too.”
“She’ll love that. Understood.”
The person Chung-geum was speaking about was not Lee Geum-kyung.
“I hope so. It should take about forty minutes, so I’ll see you shortly.”
After hanging up, Kang Hyung-seok’s smile lingered on his lips for a long moment before fading.
He was heading toward Lee Geum-kyung’s Shrine.
But he was going for a different reason than Lee Geum-kyung or Chung-geum.
‘Go Se-hee.’
A child without parents.
According to Shin Yoseph’s investigation, her mother had passed away, and her father, Ko Jun-yeol, had lost all contact.
The Police said he was likely hiding on one of the islands, but finding him would not be easy.
Without the guidance of the Guardian Spirit, nothing would have been possible for Kang Hyung-seok either.
Neither finding the Container Building where the sorcery ritual had taken place, nor finding Go Se-hee on the sea.
Vroom.
“Sigh.”
What must she be feeling?
The heart of a daughter abandoned by her father.
And the heart of a young shaman who must inherit the Hereditary Shaman Tradition.
Even merely imagining it weighed so heavily on his chest that Kang Hyung-seok had to wear a somber expression even while packaging the chicken, as if he were a man with a story.
Even when buying Dubai chewy cookies.
Vroom.
Upon reaching his destination, Kang Hyung-seok stepped out of the car.
Though the weather was still cold, there was a sense that winter was drawing to an end.
Kang Hyung-seok cast a brief glance at the snowdrifts piled in various spots, then retrieved a chicken box and a plastic bag filled with snacks from the passenger seat, holding both with heavy hands.
“Teacher, I’ve arrived.”
This was a scheduled visit.
That’s why there were no parked cars or guests in front of Lee Geum-kyung’s Shrine.
The door swung open.
The door to the annex burst open forcefully, but contrary to his expectation that it would naturally be Chung-geum, it was Go Se-hee dressed in casual clothes.
“You…”
It was right after Kang Hyung-seok’s moment of bewilderment at how remarkably unbothered Go Se-hee appeared.
“Come in.”
Lee Geum-kyung, who had opened the door and was waiting for Kang Hyung-seok, spoke to him, and he immediately bowed his head to her before stepping forward.
A rustling sound.
Then Go Se-hee came scurrying over and quickly took the bag from his hands instead.
“Ahhh!”
Was she calling him mister?
My heart grows complicated at her bright smile.
However, unable to reveal my emotions on my face, I forcibly pulled the corners of my mouth upward with all my strength and stepped into Lee Geum-kyung’s Shrine.
The door closed.
I offered Lee Geum-kyung a respectful greeting before taking a seat.
“Did you greet her?”
At Lee Geum-kyung’s question, Go Se-hee made an “ahh” sound while gesturing with her hands.
“That’s fine then.”
As Lee Geum-kyung smiled faintly, I exchanged a brief glance with Chung-geum.
Isn’t it fortunate?
Chung-geum sent such a gaze, and I could only return a look that said ‘yes.’
Because this is a hundred times, a thousand times better than being crushed by sorrow.
My only concern is that this appearance also resembles someone desperately trying to flee from a dark past.
I hope it’s merely a concern.
I pressed my lips firmly shut and glanced at Go Se-hee, while Lee Geum-kyung exhaled a thin breath between her lips.
“I will look after Se-hee.”
“You will, Teacher?”
“She’s my friend’s granddaughter.”
At that moment, I saw an emotion flickering across Go Se-hee’s eyes.
It wasn’t a pleasant emotion like a cherished memory.
I don’t know what kind of relationship Go Se-hee and her grandmother had.
But it certainly wasn’t the kind of relationship ordinary children would have.
I pressed my lips firmly together, and Lee Geum-kyung reached her hand toward Go Se-hee’s head.
When her hand made contact, Go Se-hee’s shoulders flinched, but she didn’t brush away the touch.
“They say she’ll need several surgeries, but someday she’ll be able to speak, they told me.”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
“Everything will be fine.”
Lee Geum-kyung didn’t bother mentioning the odds of success.
Multiple surgeries would need to go miraculously well, and rehabilitation would have to progress smoothly before Go Se-hee could speak again.
Even then, her voice might sound different from anyone else’s.
Go Se-hee surely understood this, yet her expression remained serene.
‘Ah.’
It was only after Kang Hyung-seok looked at Go Se-hee with that “perhaps” expression on his face.
“Let’s talk for a moment, just us adults.”
“Okay.”
“Take this and eat it.”
Lee Geum-kyung handed her the chicken box, and Go Se-hee walked toward the door before bowing deeply to Kang Hyung-seok.
Click.
After Go Se-hee left, Lee Geum-kyung’s lips curved into a bitter smile as she turned her gaze toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“Do you understand?”
“…Yes.”
Kang Hyung-seok answered while looking at the closed door, his smile just as bittersweet as Lee Geum-kyung’s.
“She’s not turning away from the pain. Rather, it seems she’s accepted it all.”
“She’s trying to live.”
The memory of her father destroying her vocal cords.
The memory of being confined.
The memory of nearly dying in the churning sea.
Go Se-hee hadn’t turned away from any of it.
Yet she hadn’t been consumed by the pain either.
She had simply chosen to focus on living.
“Normally she communicates through written notes, but that child looked for you often.”
“She looked for… me?”
“At first, she didn’t even know if you were human. She remembered that it was the General who saved her from the sea.”
“Hah….”
Go Se-hee had been unconscious.
Yet it seemed she had caught a glimpse of something.
“I thought she wouldn’t be able to see her Guardian Spirit since she’s a Hereditary Shaman.”
“These days, the boundaries aren’t so rigid anymore. In any case, her will to live is remarkable. She’s eager to heal her throat too. She wanted to thank you in her own voice so badly.”
“…Is that so.”
“You gave a child who wanted to live the chance to do so.”
As if offering opportunity to the destitute.
As if providing a meal to the starving.
It was Kang Hyung-seok who had extended his hand to Go Se-hee and told her to live.
That gratitude would not be small.
“I only wished for her to live.”
“Most kindness springs from that. A hand extended from compassion.”
“It wasn’t anything remarkable.”
“It was salvation for that child.”
The moment I heard those words.
Drip.
A water droplet suddenly fell to the floor, capturing Kang Hyung-seok’s attention.
And soon I understood that droplet was my own tear.
“Young Master?”
Chung-geum, startled, hurried to bring tissue and pressed it into my hand, but I didn’t immediately wipe my eyes.
Chung-geum wasn’t the only one surprised.
I too was startled, staring blankly down at the tear stain that had fallen to the floor.
‘…I see.’
I could finally understand the meaning of what I had done.
It was salvation.
I had saved the Sea, saved the Village People, and moreover, I had saved Go Se-hee’s entire life.
I hadn’t been conscious of it, but I had saved a life.
Understanding how great a thing I had accomplished, tears flowed.
Ironically, they were tears difficult to comprehend.
“Because you understand the weight of life.”
Lee Geum-kyung spoke with a voice thick with emotion, as if deeply empathizing with my feelings, and took the tissue from my hand.
Then she wiped my eyes.
“You did something not everyone can do. You did well. So very well.”
A shaman’s voice touches the soul.
Yet the reason Lee Geum-kyung’s voice resonated so deeply in my heart was surely more than just that.
“…No.”
I accepted the tissue and spoke with a voice thick with emotion.
Then I pressed the tissue to my eyes for a long while, and after removing it, I met Lee Geum-kyung’s gaze with reddened, bloodshot eyes.
“Will you perform a cleansing ritual for that child later?”
“I must.”
“Would it be acceptable if I performed the cleansing?”
A cleansing ritual is not performed only for the deceased.
It is also performed with the hope that the path ahead of one who would become a shaman will be smooth.
It is an act wishing for the healing of loss and pain, an act hoping to move forward without any hindrance or obstruction.
I hoped this for Go Se-hee.
“…She would like that.”
“Thank you.”
I spoke again, pressing tissue to my eyes.
“Thank you,” I said.
***
Whoooosh, whoooosh.
Ko Jun-yeol gazed at the sea with his face shielded by fingers interlaced like a net.
A fierce wind swept across, churning the waters, and the sight of it plunged him into terror.
His appearance was wretched.
The unwashed clothes reeked of salt and decay, and his face, bleached white by the sea breeze, resembled that of a wraith.
“Ugh, uuugh.”
He was terrified of the sea.
Yet knowing that the Police Officer and the villagers were searching for him, Ko Jun-yeol could not escape this island.
Would it have been better if he at least possessed the courage to die?
Then his mind might find peace—either by hurling himself into those waters or by driving a blade through his own throat.
Whoooosh.
The sea surged as if displaying its wrath toward him, and Ko Jun-yeol retreated from the waters with eyes filled with dread.
“Ah, I understand. I know.”
I truly deserve to die.
But I lack even the courage for that.
Perhaps living in solitude and inhumanity until death comes is punishment enough, is it not?
Whoooosh, whoooosh.
So please, please, please.
“Do not urge me to die like this. I beg you.”
It was then that Ko Jun-yeol muttered like a madman, drool trickling from his lips.
Clang.
The sound of a Shaman’s Bell rang out from behind.
In that instant, he thought of Kang Hyung-seok and Lee Geum-kyung, and he spun around with a face drained of all color.
Yet what his eyes beheld was not those familiar two.
“…Who are you?”
Long hair tied back, a beard grown carelessly.
Though dressed in ordinary clothes, Ko Jun-yeol could discern what he was.
It was not because of the Shaman’s Bell hooked between his fingers.
It was the aura emanating from his body.
“That much your counterpart should already know well.”
Hong Kyung-soo, speaking with a dialect-tinged accent, withdrew a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
Click, flare!
Acrid cigarette smoke drifted on the wind toward Ko Jun-yeol.
In that moment, a metallic, bloody scent grazed his nostrils, and Ko Jun-yeol instinctively fixed his gaze upon Hong Kyung-soo’s breast.
There, a ritual dagger protruded, ready to be drawn.

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