An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 359

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

Chapter 359
Part 1. Whose Doing Is This? (2)
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
Shin Yoseph’s expression remained serene as he watched the thrashing bed.
Yet beads of sweat gathered on his forehead, and his hand gripping the cross hanging from his neck trembled faintly.
An exorcism is a battle of the spirit.
A human must stand armed with faith against a demon, and such an act could never be taken lightly.
“Almighty and eternal Father, You bless the afflicted and protect them with manifold grace. Hear our prayer as we beseech You—heal this woman of her sickness.”
I had lost count of how many times I had repeated this prayer.
“Restore her to health. Raise her up by Your hand and enfold her in Your arms.”
Yet I continued the prayer.
I was not alone.
It was not a thought born of awareness of Kang Hyung-seok, distant as he was.
Nor was I speaking of faith itself.
A gentle touch.
I could feel a hand settling upon my back.
Warm and gentle, yet filled with strength—the sensation was far too vivid to dismiss as mere imagination.
“Gghhhhh!”
A harsh groan poured from the woman’s mouth, and her eyes—piercing as an awl—fixed upon me, yet my face remained calm.
I was not alone. Not now.
And beyond religion and faith, one human reaches out to save another.
Nothing held more value or strength for me than this.
“…Strengthen us by Your power that we may live with ever greater vigor.”
It was after I concluded the prayer, my voice heavy with emotion as grave as my calling.
Flutter, flutter!
A fierce wind rushed through the window Kang Hyung-seok had flung open.
The Buddhist painting caught in the gust swayed, and the lamplight flickered.
Crack! Crack!
Darkness and light arrived in rapid succession.
Each time darkness engulfed the house, a distinct, alien face overlaid the woman’s own.
It appeared masculine at times, yet feminine in other moments.
One thing was certain—it was not this woman’s face.
“What is your purpose?”
Flicker! Flicker!
The moment I spoke to the face that appeared each time darkness fell.
“Hhhhhh…”
The face exhaled a deep sigh, as though drawing its final breath.
Its eyes closed, and all strength drained from the body.
Simultaneously, the unbearable stench of rotting flesh dispersed rapidly.
Whiiing.
Shin Yoseph lifted his head and gazed at the wide-open window.
***
A faint whisper drifted through the air.
The sluggish form approached with the gentlest of breezes.
It was a breeze so delicate that not a single leaf trembled, yet Kang Hyung-seok’s wet hair swayed violently.
“What are you?”
A rush of wind swept past.
Raindrops that had traveled down his hair found their way into his eyes, but Kang Hyung-seok didn’t blink as he stared at the form before him.
“What has done this to you?”
The Mountain Spirit.
Known by other names as the Mountain Deity, or the Great Mountain King.
No minor deity, yet the Mountain Spirit before me bore grievous wounds.
It bore the marks of a terrible, prolonged struggle, and seemed not to have received even the smallest offerings or prayers in all that time.
A resonant chime echoed.
As Kang Hyung-seok took a step forward, the Shaman’s Bell rang out, and the Mountain Spirit’s movement ceased.
A crackling flash of blue light burst forth.
The Mountain Spirit’s form, illuminated by that ethereal glow, was pitiful to behold.
“Tell me, Great Mountain King. From what have you been protecting this mountain?”
At Kang Hyung-seok’s question, the Mountain Spirit’s lips parted.
Its blackened beard trembled as if to move, and a voice—hoarse and murky—echoed as if from a distant place.
But the pronunciation was so imprecise that I could not discern what it was trying to say.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you clearly.”
Kang Hyung-seok took another step closer.
Another flash of thunder and lightning tore across the sky.
In that brilliant moment, the Mountain Spirit’s face became unmistakably clear.
It had no tongue.
More than that, the only intact features on its face were one eye and one ear—meaning it could not convey the truth properly to any shaman, let alone Kang Hyung-seok.
The bell rang out loudly.
Shaking the Shaman’s Bell vigorously, Kang Hyung-seok swallowed, tasting salt from the rainwater and his own tears.
“If speaking is difficult, you may show me instead.”
You are a divine being.
You can convey meaning through means other than words.
Yet the Mountain Spirit merely stood motionless, as if even that were beyond its strength.
The bell chimed softly.
Shaking the Shaman’s Bell, Kang Hyung-seok swallowed down the ache in his chest.
“Yusecha geumiljinil.”
Then he began to recite the Mountain Spirit’s blessing prayer.
A prayer of devotion offered to the Mountain Spirit, who had received not a single offering despite all its labors.
“Jijucheunghyang ilbaekbaek gamsogoou.”
Kang Hyung-seok continued the Mountain Spirit’s blessing prayer in a slow, powerful voice.
Crack! Rumble!
The dark clouds that filled the sky writhed like dragons, unleashing lightning and thunder, while the Malevolent Spirits watching from afar began to vanish from sight.
“Great Mountain Spirit of Baekdu, sovereign of all peaks, blessed with fortune across heaven and earth, witness of sun and moon.”
I prayed that this incantation might restore even a fraction of your strength.
And that you would reveal to this humble disciple
what you faced and what transpired here.
Whoosh!
“Mountain torrents flow through all lands, spirits guide the lost. Om, swift as lightning, svaha.”
As Kang Hyung-seok’s chanting continued, the Mountain Spirit’s eyes gradually closed.
“Purify the demonic essence, crystallize the sacred light. Om, swift as lightning, svaha.”
And when the chanting finally ended,
a gentle ring sounded.
The Shaman’s Bell tolled alone.
Kang Hyung-seok lifted his head and gazed upward at the sky.
The rain that had been falling moments before vanished as if it had never been, replaced instead by a cool wind sweeping across the land.
The Mountain Spirit was nowhere to be seen.
The Mountain Spirit, having recovered even a fraction of its strength through my prayer, was showing me what had occurred in this place.
“Thank you.”
Kang Hyung-seok murmured softly in the dark forest, and soon I sensed a presence.
Since I had no need to breathe, I fixed my gaze toward the source of the sound.
Then I turned my head.
The sound was not coming from just one direction.
Pad, pad, pad.
Footsteps converging from all sides toward me felt deeply ominous.
The metallic, blood-tinged scent permeating the air made it feel even more so.
I knew well what this smell resembled.
“…The scent of blood.”
And soon, figures began to emerge one or two at a time from the undergrowth.
Though the moonlight was dim, the surrounding darkness was absolute, allowing me to see their forms only hazily.
Naked people, drenched in blood from head to toe.
Buzz.
Insects drawn by the scent circled around them, while I watched in complete silence.
And soon I could discern what they were.
‘Demon Worshippers.’
The word that came to mind when seeing their forms, as if crawling out from a madman’s nightmare.
***
A soft rustle.
It was right after Shin Yoseph retrieved the kidney knife from beneath the pillow.
Thump, thump, thump!
Suddenly, the sound of someone pounding on the door erupted.
“P-please, are you alright? Are you okay in there?”
How long had he been knocking?
The Boss’s Daughter’s father’s voice had grown hoarse from pounding on the door and shouting for so long.
Yet I hadn’t heard a single sound until just moments ago.
Click.
As Shin Yoseph twisted the doorknob, the lock gave way without resistance and the door swung open.
Simultaneously, the man who had been pounding froze and stumbled backward, while Shin Yoseph wiped his hand on his coat and spoke.
“Your daughter is fine.”
“Y-yes…?”
“She’s exhausted and weakened, so once she regains consciousness, have her drink sugar water and salt water first.”
The man couldn’t manage a single word.
He simply stared at Shin Yoseph with eyes wide as saucers, then bolted into the room like lightning.
“Ah! Ahhh! Aaahhh!”
When emotions overflow beyond the capacity of language, such sounds are all that can escape.
The man embraced his daughter, his entire body trembling like aspen leaves.
“Aaaaahhh!”
His daughter still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Yet her father wept thick tears while continuously stroking her hair.
He understood, after all.
It had been an eternity since he’d last seen his daughter’s face so peaceful.
The malevolent presence that had filled the room had vanished, replaced instead by fresh air flowing through the wide-open window.
“Thank you… thank you, thank you so much.”
The man bowed deeply to Shin Yoseph, tears streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
“I’m truly grateful. Waaahhh.”
Shin Yoseph merely offered a faint smile, pulling the corners of his mouth upward, then withdrew a business card from his wallet.
It wasn’t a card identifying him as Director Shin Yoseph of Shinjin Construction.
It was a business card from the doctor at the hospital where Father Leo’s body lay.
“Once your daughter regains consciousness, take her to this hospital. I’ll arrange things beforehand so they can help with her treatment.”
“Ah, yes…”
“Don’t worry about the medical bills. Your daughter’s smile is something you must reclaim, after all.”
The man didn’t even dare accept the card, so Shin Yoseph tucked it into the light switch on the wall.
Then, without a word, he gathered his bag and left the house.
The rain poured down.
The downpour above his head was cold.
Still, Shin Yoseph walked silently toward the direction of the road.
“Thank you, Father.”
There are moments when one can only be honest with oneself in solitude.
Walking through the rain with heavy, labored steps, Shin Yoseph clutched at his chest.
Waves of relief washed over him.
Relief that he wasn’t alone, relief that he had saved the Possessed Person.
Yet his heart remained unsettled because he knew it wasn’t truly over.
‘It didn’t speak its name.’
The Possessed Person had been freed from the Demon.
But the Demon hadn’t been subdued—it had fled.
Which meant that creature still lingered on this land.
Zing!
His phone rang, and Shin Yoseph checked the caller before pressing the answer button.
(Can you talk?)
Kang Hyung-seok’s voice carried the same exhaustion as Shin Yoseph’s own.
“Yeah, I can.”
Shin Yoseph walked beneath the row of trees and pulled out a cigarette.
Though the surface was damp from the rain, it wasn’t so wet that it wouldn’t light, so he placed it between his lips.
“This end is wrapped up. How about you?”
(I’m heading back.)
“Phones are convenient. The ambient noise cancellation is so good I didn’t even notice.”
(…I’m really grateful for the phone you bought me and I use it well, but anyway, I found something out.)
“What?”
(Let’s talk when we meet.)
Something wasn’t right.
Shin Yoseph lit his cigarette and exhaled a plume of smoke.
On rainy days, cigarette smoke billows with unusual richness. Enveloped in a bluish cloud of smoke, Shin Yoseph brought the phone closer to his ear.
“Come quickly. It’s cold.”
Whoosh—
After ending the call, he leaned against the tree and exhaled another breath of smoke like a sigh.

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