An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 341

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

Chapter 341
Part 3. Two Shamans (1)
Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!
The Guard Dog lunged forward.
Clang!
Kang Hyung-seok dropped the Shaman’s Bell and seized Kim San’s Son’s arm, immediately pivoting his body toward the Guard Dog.
“Argh! Aaaahhh!”
The man with the sickle gripped in his hand thrashed violently, his neck ensnared by Kang Hyung-seok’s arm.
Though Kim San’s Son struggled with considerable strength, Kang Hyung-seok pressed him down harder while keeping his eyes fixed on the Guard Dog.
‘What is this?’
The Guard Dog that had charged halted just before him, baring its teeth and growling.
Grrrrr, grrrrrrr!
Could it be the leash?
No—though the end of the leash was invisible, it hung slack enough that the Guard Dog could attack Kang Hyung-seok whenever it wished.
Then could it be because of the Shaman’s Bell that fell to the ground?
Kang Hyung-seok glanced down at the Shaman’s Bell and saw it trembling faintly despite the absence of any breeze.
Crackle.
Kang Hyung-seok shuffled backward while still holding Kim San’s Son.
But the Guard Dog did not advance further.
“Let me goooo! Yooouuuuu!”
Whoosh! Whoooosh!
Even while subdued, the sickle swung threateningly, so Kang Hyung-seok raised the man’s arm higher, and curses born of desperation poured from his lips.
“You bastard! I should tear you apart, burn you, boil you to death and it still wouldn’t be enough! Where is this! Where is thiiiiis!”
Even as he cursed, Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes, which had been fixed on the Guard Dog, shifted to the man.
Now I understand clearly.
This man is not the Guard Dog’s owner.
He is merely another creature like the Guard Dog itself.
“Hrrrraaagh!”
A foul stench rose from his crown—he hadn’t bathed in days, and his hair glistened with grease.
But what troubled me was not this stench alone.
The scent of incense.
And another odor beneath it.
Kang Hyung-seok knew exactly what this smell was.
Similar to the stench of decay, it was the odor that emanates from a human corpse.
“What are you?”
Though Kang Hyung-seok asked in a low voice, Kim San’s Son exerted all his strength trying to stab him with the sickle.
A kidney knife was held in Kang Hyung-seok’s hand around the man’s neck.
The man surely knew this, yet he seemed desperate as though something mattered more to him than his own life.
Crack!
“Gasp!”
Kang Hyung-seok tightened his grip around the man’s throat and spoke in an even lower voice.
“What did you do here.”
“Gasp! Choke! Gasp!”
The man clawed at Kang Hyung-seok’s forearm with tears streaming down his face.
But it was still spring, when the air remained cool.
Though he wore a thinner coat than in winter, the fabric prevented the man’s nails from digging deep into his skin.
Crack! Thud!
“Gack!”
Kang Hyung-seok wrenched the man’s wrist with the resolve to shatter bone, forcing him to drop the sickle, then bared his teeth as he spoke.
“Talk. What were you doing.”
His voice was less a warning than a threat, and in that instant, the man’s resistance ceased.
Then, slowly, he turned his head, his flushed face glaring at Kang Hyung-seok with murderous intent.
Why.
A message conveyed only through the silent movement of his lips.
Kang Hyung-seok stared unflinchingly into the man’s eyes, watching them with absolute clarity.
‘This isn’t normal.’
From the gleam in his eyes to his every action, this man was unmistakably insane.
What could it be.
What was this man’s purpose that he would react in such a manner.
As Kang Hyung-seok’s gaze shifted to the Old House mere meters away, the Guard Dog bared its fangs and growled.
Any further advance would mean facing both this man and the dog simultaneously.
“Huff.”
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled hot breath through his teeth and kicked the fallen sickle far away.
Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark!
The dog snarled viciously, and Kang Hyung-seok carefully dragged the Shaman’s Bell toward him with his foot.
Then he swept the man’s legs out from under him, forcing him to collapse, and seized the Shaman’s Bell.
Thump!
Kang Hyung-seok shoved the man toward the dog and stood his ground, facing them both.
The dog crouched low, ready to pounce.
The man, his eyes bloodshot, glared at Kang Hyung-seok while rubbing his throat.
Yet even so, the man picked up a stone the size of his palm from the ground.
Kang Hyung-seok glanced once more at the house behind them, then began backing away slowly.
Step, step.
With each footfall through the weeds, the house, the man, and the dog receded into the distance.
His emotions grew turbulent.
That house—there was definitely something there.
Ding, ding.
The Shaman’s Bell chimed softly, as if affirming his thoughts.
Unfortunately, the bell’s sound offered no comfort to his mind.
So Kang Hyung-seok swallowed down his conflicted and confused emotions and approached his car.
Thud!
He climbed into the car, started the engine, and turned his gaze toward the distant house.
The man approached the roadside, his expression twisted with resentment and hatred as he glared at Kang Hyung-seok.
Kang Hyung-seok let out a silent sigh at the sight of the sickle in the man’s hand and drove away.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!”
The man’s anguished cry followed him like a shadow.
The sound only complicated his thoughts further, so Kang Hyung-seok bit his lower lip and continued driving along the road.
***
(Manager Kang! What happened?)
Gwak Young-ho’s voice boomed loudly through the speakers in Kang Hyung-seok’s car parked in the parking lot.
Kang Hyung-seok lowered the speaker volume and brushed his bangs back, surveying his surroundings.
“I apologize, Director.”
(No, there’s nothing for you to apologize for. What could you possibly have to apologize for?)
This was a parking lot in a shopping district, quite far from the Vinyl Factory.
People passed by nearby, and with the residential district close at hand, buildings and villas were visible in every direction.
I had come here desperately wanting to make contact with people, wanting to shake off the memories of that old house.
(Do you know how shocked I was when I got the call? The meeting being postponed because of the ritual ceremony is one thing, but an accident at the ceremony ground?)
I wanted nothing more than to head to the Vinyl Factory instead of sitting in this parking lot.
But I couldn’t, because of the call that had come through from Cha Byung-gun.
“Some of the shamans occasionally ride the spirit blade, don’t they?”
(Yes, yes. I know.)
“One of them fell off it.”
(What…?)
A twelve-foot spirit blade.
Falling from atop a blade honed to razor sharpness meant the wounds couldn’t be light.
I’d heard that parts of the body had been severed, so I could imagine without seeing how gruesome the scene must have been.
(Sigh, what do we do about this?)
Gwak Young-ho sighed repeatedly, his tone troubled, and Kang Hyung-seok bit his lower lip.
But I couldn’t deliberate forever, so I soon spoke up.
“For now, I’ll consult with the director here. We need to handle the aftermath first.”
(Phew! This must be distressing for you.)
Gwak Young-ho also sounded troubled.
It was inevitable.
One employee at Daejeong Materials had quit claiming to have seen a ghost, one employee at the trading partner had died, and now a shaman had been seriously injured in an accident at the ceremony ground.
At this point, even those who didn’t believe in shamanism couldn’t help but wonder if something was truly happening.
“Director, do you think the executives have found out?”
(Huh? No. Manager Kang, why are you worrying about such things?)
He’s trying to brush it off.
That’s what I sensed from Gwak Young-ho’s tone as he tried to laugh it away.
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled through his nose and carefully broached the subject.
“Manager, I’ll do whatever it takes to wrap this matter up.”
(Don’t burden yourself! I’m not sure what you’re thinking right now, but Kang shouldn’t feel pressured about this situation.)
“I don’t like it when the manager is in a difficult position either.”
(Sigh, really.)
Gwak Young-ho’s voice carried a hint of amusement, and Kang Hyung-seok forced the corners of his mouth upward in a smile.
“This incident arose from accumulated misfortune. It seems like superstition should be countered with superstition.”
(That shaman you mentioned before?)
“Yes. The executives will definitely feel reassured.”
A brief silence fell.
During that pause, Gwak Young-ho seemed to be thinking ‘so it comes down to a shaman after all,’ and also seemed troubled by ‘will that actually resolve it?’
(…Will it really work?)
“It definitely will. There was also that incident at the Chinese restaurant before.”
(Ah? Right, right!)
It was back when Kang Hyung-seok was still a deputy manager.
Lee Jin-pyung had been hospitalized, and Kang Hyung-seok had secured the warehouse renewal contract under very favorable terms.
For that achievement, a mere deputy manager had once shared a meal with the executives.
“When I mentioned the shaman I know to the executives back then, they were very pleased with the idea.”
(That’s right. Yes, that happened. But isn’t that shaman incredibly busy?)
“If worst comes to worst, I’ll ask their disciple for help.”
(Ah, they have a disciple?)
“Yes.”
(Phew! Well, that’s a relief then.)
A favorable narrative was taking shape for the executives.
If a report came up that Kang Hyung-seok had even resolved the haunted business partner situation, the executives would undoubtedly feel reassured.
(Really, damn. Phew!)
“Haha.”
Kang Hyung-seok smiled faintly, sensing the lightened atmosphere, and Gwak Young-ho’s voice quickly followed.
(Seriously, what would we have done without you, Kang?)
“It would have worked out somehow.”
(How? By whom? How exactly? Would Min-ah perform a ritual ceremony, or would Lee Deputy Manager chant sutras?)
It was after Gwak Young-ho’s joke that the call seemed to be winding down.
(Anyway, let’s prioritize resolving this matter.)
“Then….”
(After all, you’ll need to visit the Shamanic Temple and schedule things anyway, right? Since it seems best to proceed as quickly as possible, I’ll just mark it down as a business trip.)
You don’t need to come into the office.
So focus on this matter as much as you can.
That’s clearly what Gwak Young-ho was saying.
“…Yes.”
Kang Hyung-seok answered heavily, and Gwak Young-ho ended the call with a final request for his help.
In the now-quiet car, Kang Hyung-seok leaned back against the driver’s seat.
With that, I gazed out the window, my eyes heavy with thought. After remaining in that posture for a while, I reached out and grasped my phone.
Tick, tick, tick.
With rapid movements, I rifled through my contacts and soon pressed the call button.
Brrrring.
A brief dial tone sounded, and the moment the call connected, I spoke immediately.
“Shin Yoseph, I need a favor.”
Then I turned my head to gaze toward the direction where Kim San’s House stood.
A villa blocked my view, but as if that mattered little, I fixed my gaze on a single point.

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