An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 360
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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 360
Part 1. Whose Doing Is This? (3)
Whirrrr.
Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Yoseph sat in their chairs, both staring at the same spot.
A large dryer at the 24-Hour Coin Laundromat.
Their clothes, drenched from the rain, had been washed clean and now tumbled inside the dryer like dancers, while Shin Yoseph and Kang Hyung-seok, dressed in fresh garments from the Hotel, sucked on ice cream wrapped in semi-transparent packaging as if smoking cigarettes.
Whirrrr.
A moment and space so peaceful and cozy that the events of merely an hour ago felt like a lie.
With drowsy exhaustion weighing on me and the sweet taste of ice cream in my mouth, everything felt as though it had already come to an end.
But I knew better.
We were far from finished.
Far longer than the time remaining in that dryer.
“Sigh—”
Shin Yoseph removed the ice cream from his mouth and turned his gaze toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“You saw Demon Worshippers on the Mountain?”
Kang Hyung-seok also lowered the ice cream from his lips and nodded heavily.
“I’m certain. I didn’t misread it.”
“What did these people look like?”
“Naked, covered in blood.”
Shin Yoseph clicked his tongue softly and furrowed his brow irritably.
Words he could scarcely speak aloud circled unpleasantly in his sweetened mouth.
‘Satanism, witchcraft….’
Those who could neither be understood nor forgiven always existed everywhere.
Shin Yoseph had even seen a Satanic Church disguised as an ordinary Church during his studies Overseas.
Those openly revealed could generously be called a Heretical Sect, but the despicable conduct of those who burrowed deeper and more insidiously defied all description.
“Do you have any idea who these people are?”
In response to Kang Hyung-seok’s question, Shin Yoseph sucked on his ice cream once more before speaking.
“Sorcery Fanatics.”
Shin Yoseph swept back his hair and continued with a troubled expression.
“Your side believes in karma and causality, don’t you?”
Concepts inseparable from Shamanism.
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes narrowed, and Shin Yoseph continued, watching the clothes tumble inside the dryer with confusion.
“Those people don’t believe in such things. They believe sorcery can solve everything.”
Those who reject karma and causality are dangerous.
Kang Hyung-seok had witnessed those consumed by sorcery several times before.
Without exception, they had ruthlessly inflicted harm on others for their own gain.
“This won’t be easy. In many ways.”
“Do you have any idea where these people might be?”
“No, it’s an old memory.”
When the vision shown by the Mountain Spirit ended, the first thing Kang Hyung-seok did was survey his surroundings.
The size of the trees, the positions of the bushes.
Everything was different from now.
“Well, victims have been appearing since thirty years ago.”
“That’s right.”
Whirrrrrr.
The silence allowed the sound of the dryer to fill the entire 24-Hour Coin Laundromat.
Then Kang Hyung-seok exhaled deeply, crumpling the wrapper of his finished ice cream before speaking.
“We have to do something.”
Shin Yoseph posed the question “How?” with only his eyes, and Kang Hyung-seok answered while keeping his gaze fixed on the dryer.
“The seeds the Demon Worshippers scattered long ago are finally beginning to sprout. This isn’t the end.”
“…That’s true. That’s the problem.”
“By the way, those three victims from before—do you know where their bodies were found?”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke with the determination to find even the smallest clue, and Shin Yoseph opened his phone, pulled up a map, and handed it to him.
The saved locations were marked with stars, and Kang Hyung-seok stared at them intently before opening his own phone.
“Why?”
“Just a moment.”
Click.
Kang Hyung-seok photographed Shin Yoseph’s phone screen, enlarged it significantly, entered edit mode, and marked the location of the Abandoned Apartment where they had just been.
The locations didn’t overlap.
But they couldn’t be completely ignored.
The positions of each point seemed to follow a certain pattern.
“Give it here.”
Shin Yoseph took the phone and placed it beside his own. Then he found a certain address and shifted his gaze to Kang Hyung-seok’s phone.
They had already seen one corpse.
The Herb Gatherer who would have led the way if he were still alive.
When his house was marked on the map, the points formed an inverted pentagon, though slightly skewed.
Clatter clatter clatter!
The dryer shook violently and made noise as clothes bunched up, but both men’s attention remained fixed on the phone.
‘An inverted pentagon.’
Could it be something related to Western sorcery?
Kang Hyung-seok glanced at Shin Yoseph, and Shin Yoseph began connecting the lines while pressing his lower lip firmly together.
As lines crossing through the inverted pentagon appeared, they formed one distinct shape.
An upside-down star.
“The Seal of Baphomet.”
“What is that?”
“Wait.”
Whoosh.
Shin Yoseph enlarged the photograph entirely and began drawing.
Two horns at the vertices pointing to eleven and one o’clock.
Ears at the vertex below them.
At the six o’clock point of the star, I drew a beard and mouth.
Scratch, scratch.
The finished drawing was crude, but I could make out what it was.
“A goat?”
“A famous symbol of the Demon. They were trying to complete the star.”
If the Possessed Person had committed suicide in the Abandoned Apartment, the star would have been completed.
If that happened, no one could guarantee what would unfold.
But based on the patterns I’d seen so far, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be peaceful or uneventful.
“It’s a matter of time.”
Shin Yoseph muttered while looking at his phone screen, and I shifted my gaze toward the ceiling, taking a deep breath through my nose.
“Still, you did save the Possessed Person.”
“Hm.”
Shin Yoseph smiled bitterly, rubbing the screen with his thumb.
His eyes held the look of someone swallowing many words.
He knew it well.
The Demon hadn’t been subdued—it had fled.
So someday, it would surely rear its head again and claim another victim.
“There were other people living in that Apartment Complex.”
At Shin Yoseph’s low voice, I responded with silence before he continued.
“We’ve bought time, but not much.”
Shin Yoseph spoke with a note of uncertainty, and I turned my gaze toward him.
“I saw a vision before coming here.”
At hearing this, Shin Yoseph’s face hardened.
“It must be somewhere beneath this land. We just need to find it.”
“Can we find it in time?”
“We have to.”
I spoke with conviction, then pressed my lips together firmly before opening them again.
“I’ve already contacted Yoon Sang.”
“About what?”
“To search for locations that look damp or ominous. He’s been in the Horror Broadcast business for a long time, so he’ll have good instincts. He’ll contact me by morning.”
So don’t worry.
The worst has already passed.
And Shin Yoseph and I are here.
We’ll make it work somehow.
No matter what, we must.
Understanding my resolve, Shin Yoseph nodded heavily.
“I’ll look into some things too.”
“At this hour?”
“Just throw in a little bonus.”
Shin Yoseph spoke as if squeezing out a joke.
Whirrrrrr!
The dryer came to a stop.
Kang Hyung-seok opened the dryer door to retrieve his clothes, while Shin Yoseph, who had been staring at the map displayed on the screen, drew a large circle.
It was a massive circle connecting five points with a single line.
***
Zing!
When Kang Hyung-seok awoke in the Hotel bed, the first thing his eyes caught was his phone vibrating as if pleading for attention.
I reached out and pulled the phone toward me, then removed the tangled charging cable before checking the caller.
It was Yoon Sang.
Click.
“Hey, Yoon Sang.”
“Oh? Were you sleeping?”
“No, it’s fine. I can talk.”
“Um, uh… Should I call you back later?”
I checked the time on my phone and let out a small sigh.
It was already approaching noon.
“I was going to get up anyway.”
“Yes, ah, so about that thing you asked me to look into…”
“Hold on.”
I got out of bed and, phone in hand, left my Hotel room.
Then I knocked on the door of the adjacent room, and Shin Yoseph emerged with a drowsy expression.
“What?”
I gestured for him to follow, and together we continued the call in my Hotel room.
“Sorry, I had to grab Shin Yoseph for a moment.”
“Ah! Hyung-seok, hello!”
Yoon Sang’s booming voice poured from the phone now on speaker mode, and Shin Yoseph shot the device a look that said ‘this guy never changes’.
Then came the revelation.
“I found several of them! Since there’s no street view in the mountains, I had to dig through all the old newspaper articles, which took forever.”
Sigh.
I exhaled with a mixture of admiration and guilt, while Shin Yoseph silently pulled out his own phone.
“I might have missed a few places, but I checked everywhere. I focused mainly on old Abandoned Mines! And, and, I marked the places that just felt right separately.”
“Thanks, Yoon Sang.”
“If I could help you, Hyung-seok, that makes me happier!”
When someone responds like that, it only deepens the guilt and gratitude.
As I swallowed the tangled emotions with a bitter smile, my phone chimed with a message from Yoon Sang.
“I just sent it, Hyung-seok!”
I checked and found a clean map screenshot with marked locations.
“Since these are Abandoned Mines from so long ago, I’m not sure if they still exist now. But I’m certain they were definitely there back then.”
“…Thanks.”
“Come on, Hyung-seok!”
“Once this is over, let’s make time to go together.”
(Huh…? Y-yes?)
“It’ll be hard for you to go alone anyway. I’ll drive, so let’s go together. We’ll need to take photos and videos for the broadcast, after all.”
This was all I could offer Yoon Sang in return.
So I spoke apologetically, but Yoon Sang fell silent for a moment, seemingly shocked and deeply moved.
“Hello?”
(Oh, wow, wow…. R-really? You’ll really go with me?)
“I know better than anyone how much you’ve suffered because of me.”
(What are you saying, hyung! I enjoy it too! Ah! But hyung, this time it won’t be dangerous, right?)
“It won’t be when I’m with you.”
(…Please stay safe, hyung.)
I fell silent for a moment, then ended the call with a word of thanks.
When I looked at Shin Yoseph, his eyes had changed.
“Let’s verify it.”
“Give me your phone.”
Shin Yoseph took my phone with an urgent expression and turned on his own screen.
Then, while checking the location Yoon Sang had sent, he manipulated his phone.
“…There it is.”
The Baphomet sigil that Shin Yoseph had drawn at dawn.
There was exactly one Abandoned Mine that fell within the circle he had drawn around it.
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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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