An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 67

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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 66
Part 6. As Much Good Deed as Accumulated Karma (1)
Vroom.
The approaching headlights of an automobile illuminated the faces of Kang Hyung-seok and Lee Geum-kyung.
At the hour when the sun had fallen, in front of the house where the cleansing ritual had taken place.
“Trust only your Guardian Spirit.”
Lee Geum-kyung spoke softly, her gaze fixed on the automobile.
Kang Hyung-seok looked at the same spot and opened his mouth slightly to respond.
“Yes.”
The man in that car was Hong Kyung-soo.
I didn’t know what his intentions were, but he had returned alone without resolving the source of the murderous intent.
What was he thinking? What was his scheme?
The car, approaching like a black viper laden with venom, came to a stop before them.
Clang.
Hong Kyung-soo’s appearance as he stepped out of the car was markedly different from earlier in the day.
Hair tied haphazardly.
Legs stumbling.
Clothes caked with dried mud.
He looked as though he had tumbled down a mountain.
“Ugh!”
Hong Kyung-soo, unable to steady himself properly, leaned against the car and bowed his head to Lee Geum-kyung.
“I have no face to show you, Teacher.”
“I’ve heard the gist of it.”
Hong Kyung-soo gazed at Lee Geum-kyung with eyes whose corners had sagged.
Then he turned his gaze to Kang Hyung-seok and withdrew a cigarette from his pocket, placing it between his lips.
Click, click, click.
The dirt on his fingers prevented the lighter from igniting properly.
So Hong Kyung-soo rubbed his thumb against his clothes and rolled the lighter again, bringing it to the cigarette.
Whoosh!
Was it merely my imagination that his face, illuminated by the lighter’s red flame, seemed ominous?
“What about the other practitioners?”
“They’ve gone to rest. I told them to do so.”
“Those ungrateful fellows. Sigh.”
Hong Kyung-soo shook his head as he smoked the cigarette.
“It didn’t go well.”
Then, with genuine shame, he continued in a subdued voice.
“It’s more vicious than I thought. This is beyond my strength alone.”
“Your skills should have been sufficient.”
“I thought so too. But my senior was far more diligent than I expected.”
An ironic turn of events.
For every person I helped, malevolent spirits accumulated.
It defied all logic—as if good deeds had spawned karmic debt instead.
“I need your assistance. Would you lend me your strength?”
Lee Geum-kyung smiled faintly.
At first glance, it appeared benevolent, but her eyes told a different story.
The eyes of someone who had anticipated this very request.
“Then I shall accompany you.”
“No. Do you understand where we’re going? The path is treacherous—you cannot go there.”
Hong Kyung-soo gestured toward Kang Hyung-seok beside Lee Geum-kyung.
“We need someone who has received a great spirit.”
Kang Hyung-seok and Lee Geum-kyung exchanged glances.
Then Kang Hyung-seok nodded first.
“I think that would be better too.”
Before Hong Kyung-soo arrived, we had already aligned on everything.
Yet concern flickered across Lee Geum-kyung’s eyes. But it lasted only a moment before returning to their usual expression.
“Will you be alright?”
“Yes. I must complete the senior’s cleansing ritual.”
“Understood.”
Lee Geum-kyung spoke gravely, patting my back while briefly touching the inner jacket pocket.
It was a sign to trust what lay within.
As I nodded, Lee Geum-kyung turned her gaze toward Hong Kyung-soo.
“There must be no danger.”
“I cannot guarantee it, but I will do my utmost.”
“Swear it to your Guardian Spirit. Swear there will be no danger.”
For a moment, Hong Kyung-soo’s eyes wavered.
But soon his expression returned to normal, and he spoke with conviction.
“I swear it—a hundred times, a thousand times.”
“Very well.”
Lee Geum-kyung pushed me toward Hong Kyung-soo.
Thud, thud.
As I stood beside the passenger seat, Hong Kyung-soo exhaled heavily and straightened, bowing deeply at the waist.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“This is your doing.”
Lee Geum-kyung spoke in a low, forceful voice, her gaze fixed on Hong Kyung-soo’s crown.
“You must resolve it.”
Hong Kyung-soo straightened and drew his lips into a faint smile.
“Yes.”
As Hong Kyung-soo climbed into the driver’s seat, I settled into the passenger seat.
Vroom!
The engine roared like a beast as the front wheels turned sharply. The car then moved forward in the direction we came from, leaving acrid smoke in its wake.
Clatter, clatter!
A villa complex near the livestock farm district.
The uneven road caused the car to rattle as it cut through the darkness.
Inside the vehicle, darker than the world beyond, I became acutely aware of the objects I carried in my coat.
It was then.
“What did the teacher prepare for us?”
Hong Kyung-soo’s casual remark caught my attention.
“Ah, let’s speak comfortably. Just by looking at our ages, I’m considerably your senior.”
“…Yes.”
“You don’t trust me either, do you?”
A probing question.
I glanced at Hong Kyung-soo’s profile and offered a gentle smile.
“It seems you’ve experienced such things often.”
“Often. Far too often.”
As if pain had surfaced, Hong Kyung-soo furrowed his brow and let out a groan.
Then he placed a fresh cigarette between his lips and transferred the flame from the old one.
Whoosh!
He flicked the shortened cigarette out the window, took two drags from the new one, then spoke.
“It’s always like this. When you deal with flesh and curses, it becomes harder to meet people who aren’t like that.”
Was the sincerity in that dampened voice genuine, or false?
Had it not been for Lee Geum-kyung’s words, I might have warmed to Hong Kyung-soo.
I blinked slowly and clenched the fist resting on my knee tightly.
“Then you simply shouldn’t do it.”
“Hahahaha!”
Hong Kyung-soo suddenly laughed, his shoulders shaking, then gritted his teeth.
“How long have you been receiving a spirit?”
“Not very long.”
“That’s why you can say such things. You see, I received such a spirit from the beginning.”
A path I had no choice but to walk.
That’s how Hong Kyung-soo’s words sounded.
“Not everyone obtains the power they need. We know of Shamans who failed to gain the power they desired.”
Indeed, that was the case.
There was a Shaman who, with Hong Kyung-soo’s help, had driven a malevolent spirit into one location.
We were currently traveling to resolve that situation.
“And I work according to my own principles.”
“Are there principles in flinging curses?”
I spoke as if I would not be swayed, and Hong Kyung-soo nodded heavily.
“Curses aren’t some distant thing. You’ve hated someone before, haven’t you? You’re human, after all.”
“….”
“When that feeling manifests outward, that’s a curse, and it takes countless forms. Leaving malicious comments online is also a curse—people just don’t realize it.”
Curses require certain conditions.
Anonymity and desire.
The wish to harm someone or see them fall.
Malicious comments, spiteful reviews on shopping malls or delivery apps, spreading false rumors about celebrities—all of these satisfy such conditions.
That’s why curses are never far away.
Scratch, scratch.
Hong Kyung-soo scraped his eyebrow with his thumb and twisted his lips.
“As you know, curses always come back around.”
I know.
Those who curse others must inevitably face that retribution.
From small misfortunes in daily life to grave sins that corrupt one’s entire present existence and the next life to come.
“The strong don’t need curses. Only the weak do. I help them by carrying out those curses on their behalf.”
“That sounds like you’re defending the perpetrators.”
“I’m protecting both sides.”
Hong Kyung-soo cast a brief, unwavering glance at Kang Hyung-seok, then turned his gaze forward again.
“People come to Shamans asking to have flesh torn from their enemies. If I refuse and they accept it peacefully, do you think they’ll just move on? No. People aren’t like that. They can’t.”
Hong Kyung-soo shook his head vigorously, twisting his lips further.
“That resentment already lodged in their hearts keeps growing and festering into something monstrous. I’m just letting off steam before the pressure cooker explodes.”
I could understand what kind of conviction drove Hong Kyung-soo to do such things.
It was similar to defusing a landmine.
But in Kang Hyung-seok’s mind, the act of cursing others could never be justified by any argument.
“This will be hard to understand, so let’s not try.”
Speaking like Lee Geum-kyung, Hong Kyung-soo drove with a solitary expression and took a drag from his cigarette.
“Convictions don’t need others’ understanding.”
Kang Hyung-seok watched Hong Kyung-soo’s profile and pressed his lips firmly together.
Now I understood why Lee Geum-kyung was so wary of Hong Kyung-soo.
He was a man with misguided beliefs.
“I am….”
Before Kang Hyung-seok could finish speaking.
“We’re almost there.”
Hong Kyung-soo spoke in a strangely hazy voice, drew deeply on his cigarette, and turned on the high beams.
The road ahead brightened, and the surroundings hidden in darkness came into view.
Tree branches growing wild and unchecked.
A narrow dirt path.
With few signs of people and an isolated atmosphere, it felt like a road one should absolutely never enter.
Bump, bump!
The car shook ominously.
At the same time, as the ominous energy grew denser, Kang Hyung-seok sank deeper into his seat.
It felt as though we were heading toward the Demon Realm itself.
And there was a fishy smell in the air.
Clunk, clunk-clunk.
Inside the swaying vehicle, Hong Kyung-soo stared ahead and opened his mouth.
“Yingbao Tianzun Anwei Shenxing Dizi Hunbai Wuzang Xuanming Qinglong Baihu Dajang Fenyun Zhuque Xuanwu Shiwei Ajin Jiji Yu Lüling Ze.”
A Taoist scripture.
Kang Hyung-seok shifted his gaze to Hong Kyung-soo, who was reciting a different scripture.
“Bianhu Bohu Boruo Wubian Dixin Weihu Tianzui Shaoqian Jingwan Fanluo Yunpai Huitian Gezhun Fazhi Budeji Jianyuan Jiji Yu Yuhuang Shangdi Lüling.”
A scripture seeking the protection of the Jade Emperor.
He too seemed to have caught that acrid, oppressive stench.
Clunk, clunk.
The car continued to sway as it moved forward, yet the stench did not diminish.
It wasn’t that Hong Kyung-soo’s scripture was ineffective.
When one malevolent presence retreated, another immediately took its place.
A lair of spirits, endlessly tangled and intertwined.
The impression conveyed by the scent from the destination at the end of this darkness was precisely that.
Thud! Clunk-clunk!
The car jolted as it struck a large stone, and Hong Kyung-soo pressed the brake, slowing the vehicle.
It seemed we had reached our destination.
Screech.
With the parking brake engaged, Hong Kyung-soo turned eyes seeking assistance toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“Get out.”
Kang Hyung-seok exited the car without a word.
Simultaneously, an acrid, fishy stench assaulted his nostrils.
The only light sources were the car’s headlights and the moon hanging in the sky.
Yet even so, I could discern what lay spread before me.
“A reservoir…?”
I pulled out my phone to check the location—it was a reservoir called Anmok Reservoir.
“Do you understand what kind of place this is, Donggwan?”
At Hong Kyung-soo’s words, Kang Hyung-seok answered with a nod.
I didn’t need to search to understand what kind of place this was.
‘A cursed place.’
A place where the living should not exist.
A place where a Shaman who spent his life helping others had gathered all the malevolent things he could not resolve.
A place in this world, and yet one the living should never approach.
That place was here—Anmok Reservoir.
Glub.
As if confirming my thoughts, viscous bubbles rose from the black water’s surface.

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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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