An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 356

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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 356
Part 7. I Called You (3)
My heart raced with an inexplicable urgency.
Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!
The rooster’s cry sounded like someone’s desperate plea for help.
When I glanced back, Shin Yoseph’s expression made it clear he felt the same way.
“Huff! Huff!”
Despite his labored breathing, Shin Yoseph continued to chase after me, while I accelerated toward the source of the sound.
“Go ahead!”
Shin Yoseph shouted urgently, and I bolted toward the sound like a man possessed.
And then I saw it.
A middle-aged man cradling a rooster with a crimson comb.
Thud!
I skidded to a halt as if striking a massive tree, breathing heavily through my nose as I fixed my gaze on the man.
“Huh… huff?”
The man flinched at the sight of me, stumbling backward, while the rooster in his arms let out a cry, its neck twisting frantically.
The village was distant, nestled deep in a mountain where no one lived.
The two of us, meeting in such a place, said nothing and simply watched each other warily.
Zzzzzip.
Then, as I turned my bag forward and unzipped it, the man’s face drained of all color.
Jingle.
And when I shook the Shaman’s Bell, the man’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently, his face contorting with terror that transcended mere shock.
Jingle-jingle-jingle!
“Ugh!”
Perhaps because of the loud sound.
The man clutched the rooster tightly and stumbled backward, while Shin Yoseph, who had just arrived, bent forward with his hands on his knees, his upper body curled.
“Huff! Gasp! Wheeze!”
With breath caught in his throat, Shin Yoseph’s face pale as paper, he asked in a hoarse voice.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
Both Shin Yoseph’s and the man’s gazes fixed on me.
The atmosphere—that I held complete control over this situation—seeped through the forest like cold, damp raindrops.
“He’s not possessed.”
“Whew, whew!”
Shin Yoseph took a deep breath as if in relief, and I turned to the man, who trembled with fear yet still did not flee.
“Who are you?”
“Ugh, ugh.”
“Who are you that you fear so greatly, yet remain in this forest?”
This was not the tone one uses with ghosts or shamans.
It was the voice of one human speaking to another, and so Shin Yoseph’s attention fixed even more intently on me.
And then came the moment.
“A-are you Shamans?”
The man’s eyes held a desperate gleam despite his fear—like someone parched with thirst.
“Why do you ask?”
“Are you Shamans?!”
The man’s voice echoed through the rain-soaked forest.
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes narrowed slightly, Shin Yoseph rolled his tongue inside his mouth while observing the situation, and the man hesitated before cautiously taking another step toward them.
It was then that Kang Hyung-seok spoke.
“I am a Shaman.”
“Ahhhhh!”
The man let out a strange cry and collapsed to the ground.
And at that moment, the rooster cradled in his arms suddenly lifted its head.
Cock-a-doodle-doooo!
The rooster’s cry rang out across the mountain as if greeting the sun itself.
***
Vrrrrm.
The vehicle with Shin Yoseph at the wheel glided quietly down the road.
A display showing the route to the man’s house cast a soft glow inside the car, while the world outside was dark as spilled ink.
Except for the sound of rain pouring and the wipers moving with a soft swish-swish, the silence was oppressive.
Shiver-shiver-shiver-shiver.
So the trembling of the man in the back seat sounded unusually loud.
Cluck, cluck.
The rooster in his arms made sounds just as audible.
Kang Hyung-seok, sitting beside the man, met Shin Yoseph’s gaze through the rearview mirror and opened his mouth.
“So a Shaman told you to take a live rooster up the mountain?”
Cluck-cluck-cluck!
The rooster responded first with its cries, and the man nodded while clutching it tighter.
“Yes, yes.”
“Hmm.”
“That’s just how Shamans are, isn’t it? They ask you to do things that don’t make sense.”
Shin Yoseph exhaled silently in amusement, and Kang Hyung-seok nodded in agreement.
It truly was incomprehensible.
Going to a mountain where someone had died, carrying a live rooster.
It was absurd, yet this very task had led the man to be discovered by Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Yoseph.
“I have a few questions for you.”
Pitter-patter-patter!
As the rain suddenly intensified, Kang Hyung-seok glanced toward the window before turning his attention back to the man.
“Where is that Shaman now?”
The man pressed his lips firmly shut and opened his eyes wide.
His expression showed fear that he might misspeak and invite misfortune.
So Kang Hyung-seok had to shake his head to reassure him it was safe to speak.
“That is, he left this Village.”
“Left? Where to?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. He just said he couldn’t stay in this Village. That it was truly dangerous. He said only that much and then left.”
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed.
That Shaman must have sensed or seen something.
I don’t know what it was.
Whirrrr.
But looking at Shin Yoseph’s eyes reflected in the rearview mirror, he seemed to be thinking the same thing.
A Shaman skilled enough to introduce this man to Kang Hyung-seok had witnessed something sinister enough to fear for his own safety.
Nod.
Kang Hyung-seok nodded and opened his mouth to speak to the man.
“What was your reason for seeking out that Shaman?”
The man’s pupils trembled as he faced Kang Hyung-seok.
His grip tightened on the chicken he held, and sensing the discomfort, the bird puffed up its comb.
“If it’s difficult to speak of, I’ll ask something else.”
Kang Hyung-seok wanted to offer a smile if possible, to provide some comfort. But because of what he had to say, his smile was stiff and awkward.
“What is it that drives you so desperately?”
Desperately enough to seek out a Shaman.
Desperately enough to climb the Mountain on the day the Shaman designated, carrying a chicken exactly as the Shaman instructed.
This man carried a desperation within him.
Creak, creak.
The man’s lips pressed together until they turned pale.
But that silence didn’t seem like it would last long.
I could see his lips trembling.
“…Could you come up to my house with me?”
Kang Hyung-seok shifted his gaze to the rearview mirror, and after meeting Shin Yoseph’s eyes, he nodded.
“Yes, of course.”
Whirrrr.
And a heavy silence settled within the car.
The remaining distance was two kilometers.
There was no public transportation here, and no taxis passed through.
What kind of circumstances would make it possible to walk such a distance while clutching a chicken?
Vroom.
The car came to a stop.
An old, weathered Apartment Complex.
Low-rise buildings with aluminum-framed windows.
At first glance it seemed like everyone had abandoned it, but streetlights were on nearby, and scattered lights glowed in various units.
Patter, patter, patter.
Rain still fell outside, so Shin Yoseph opened an umbrella and stepped out of the car, followed by the man, who carefully cradled the chicken as he exited.
Kang Hyung-seok retrieved his bag and Shin Yoseph’s luggage from the trunk.
Thud-thud!
Then I ran toward the Apartment Complex where Kim San’s Son was waiting, climbing the stairs toward the second floor.
Click.
A doorknob that still required a key to open—how quaint for this day and age.
Kim San’s Son opened the door, and both Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Yoseph stiffened at the sight of the darkened interior.
A horrific stench permeated the air inside the house.
A familiar smell.
Mal odor.
The reek of rotting flesh emanating from the Possessed Person’s breath.
“How long has it been?”
“….”
In response to Shin Yoseph’s question, Kim San’s Son breathed heavily through his nose and entered the house first.
Then he flipped the switch, and the bulb hanging from the ceiling cast a dim glow throughout the space.
“I have a daughter.”
It was only after Kim San’s Son’s gaze—trembling ever so slightly—captured the attention of both Shin Yoseph and Kang Hyung-seok that he continued.
“Please save her.”
Kim San’s Son spoke with a desperation he’d never shown before, raising his finger to point at the firmly sealed door.
“Sigh.”
Shin Yoseph exhaled heavily and approached the door.
That was when it happened.
“Wait.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s voice stopped him, and Kim San’s Son’s gaze shifted toward me.
“Why… why….”
“Has your daughter ever been to the Mountain?”
“No, no. Never.”
“And she was born here?”
Kim San’s Son, tense with anxiety, answered with trembling lips.
“Yes.”
“…I understand.”
Kang Hyung-seok glanced at Shin Yoseph, then positioned myself before the door.
I could feel Shin Yoseph’s gaze from right beside me.
A look questioning why I’d asked that just now.
But with Kim San’s Son watching closely nearby, I couldn’t open my mouth.
Click, creak.
As the door opened, the stench of rotting flesh grew even more pungent.
The lights were off, so the interior was invisible, but silhouettes were visible.
Someone lay on that dark bed.
Step.
Kang Hyung-seok entered first, and Shin Yoseph followed, closing the door behind him.
Then I flipped the switch to illuminate the Sealed Room.
“…Sigh.”
A deep exhalation escaped Shin Yoseph’s lips.
The sight of the woman bound to the bed, stained brown with filth, was utterly horrifying.
Crack! Crunch!
The red cloth wedged in her mouth didn’t seem to be its original color.
The grinding sound was strange, likely because she’d ground her teeth so much that a considerable number had fallen out.
Her eyes were covered with black cloth, talismans were plastered all over the walls and ceiling, and a Bodhidharma portrait hung on the opposite wall.
“This won’t be easy.”
Shin Yoseph murmured, taking the bag from Kang Hyung-seok and questioning him with his eyes.
What was that question from earlier?
“I wanted to verify something.”
“What?”
“Whether she’s connected to whatever is bound to this land.”
But this woman had never gone to the Mountain.
She was simply born on this land.
“It’s more vicious than I expected, and ancient. This is bad.”
The feeling is deeply ominous.
It feels as though something bound to this land is about to break free from its shell at any moment.
It feels as though this entire calamity is unfolding purely because of that.
Shin Yoseph nodded, biting his lower lip.
“Let’s try to do something about this person first.”
“Can you manage it?”
“If the source remains, there’s no answer. But we have to try something.”
Like a doctor administering only painkillers, Shin Yoseph opened his bag.
Just as he reached for the holy water bottle while sitting before her, Kang Hyung-seok spoke in a low voice.
“Wait.”
Shin Yoseph lifted his head, still gripping the holy water bottle, and Kang Hyung-seok carefully approached the woman.
He grasped the cloth covering her eyes and slowly unwound it.
“Why?”
Shin Yoseph stood up, watching Kang Hyung-seok’s back.
Kang Hyung-seok answered like a groan, staring at the woman’s face.
“…She’s conscious.”
“What?”
Shin Yoseph quickly stepped beside Kang Hyung-seok.
And he saw it.
Blink blink blink, blink- blink, blink- blink, blink- blink, blink blink blink.
The woman’s eyelids moving frantically.
Three long blinks, three short blinks.
Her eyes held desperate rationality, clearly signaling a plea for help.

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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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