An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 77

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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 76
Part 1. Do Not Dismiss Dreams (4)
There was no trace of suspicion in Lee Ha-yoon’s demeanor toward Kang Hyung-seok anymore.
“Please, speak freely.”
Kang Hyung-seok addressed her with an ease that put her at comfort, and Lee Ha-yoon waved her hand dismissively, shaking her head.
“No! You’ve already done so much for me—I couldn’t possibly accept that.”
Her determination to treat them to a meal was unmistakable.
Kang Hyung-seok offered a wry smile and turned his gaze toward Shin Jung-ah.
“What would you like to eat, Manager?”
“Oh, whatever you think is good, Manager Kang.”
“Would gukbap be alright?”
“There’s actually a decent sushi place nearby!”
Lee Ha-yoon pointed in the direction, confirming it was truly close, but Kang Hyung-seok declined.
“That’s fine. Gukbap will be more than sufficient.”
It was the tact and consideration of a professional.
If someone opened an office in a place where ghosts appeared, their financial situation was plainly dire—no need to look twice.
“Ah.”
Lee Ha-yoon, realizing she had been shown consideration, laughed awkwardly and tucked her wallet back into her pocket.
“Next time, we’ll eat somewhere really nice.”
“Of course.”
And so the three of them ate sundae gukbap at a nearby restaurant.
It was a franchise gukbap establishment with a grandmother drawn on the sign.
They fished out the sundae filled with glass noodles, then mixed the rice with broth and ate it alongside pickled radish, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
Ding.
As Lee Ha-yoon settled the bill and pocketed the receipt, her expression remained apologetic toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“Next time, we’ll really go somewhere nice. You understand, right?”
“Understood.”
“So what will you do now, Manager Kang?”
Shin Jung-ah asked with a tone that carried subtle anticipation.
For a moment, Lee Ha-yoon’s eyes reflected the same curiosity, but Kang Hyung-seok, conscious of the scissors in his pocket, opened his mouth to speak.
“I need to take care of this first.”
“Ah.”
“A ritual is a necessary tool. It also brings peace to the attached spirit.”
“Wow.”
Lee Ha-yoon gazed at Kang Hyung-seok with the eyes of someone thinking, “He really is a true professional,” and marveled.
A fleeting thought crossed my mind—perhaps after today, Lee Ha-yoon would also become a regular at the Shamanic Temple alongside Shin Jung-ah.
That would be fine.
Since Shin Jung-ah already had memories of hardship with Shaman Heo-ju, she would not lead Lee Ha-yoon down any strange path.
“Then I’ll be heading inside now.”
“Manager Kang, this.”
Shin Jung-ah pulled out several ten-thousand-won bills from her wallet and held them out to me.
“It’s for the taxi. I mentioned it earlier, remember?”
Since we’d agreed on the amount beforehand, it felt awkward to refuse, so I took the money.
Strangely, I was the one who’d accepted the payment, yet Shin Jung-ah’s eyes held a look of gratitude.
“I really can’t thank you enough for today. Truly.”
I responded with a smile, bade farewell to both of them, and walked along the main road.
The gazes of Shin Jung-ah and Lee Ha-yoon pierced the back of my head.
Before receiving the divine gift, I could never have imagined such a look directed at me.
Whoosh.
Once I’d put sufficient distance between myself and the gukbap restaurant, I glanced back once, then turned into a quiet alley and drew a pair of scissors from my pocket.
The spiritual energy I felt here was faint.
But something was definitely clinging to it.
And that stain on the ceiling the Victim Spirit had shown me.
A sense of foreboding welled up—not now, perhaps, but someday I would face it.
‘I need to find out what this is….’
After deliberating for a while, I picked up my phone.
I knew exactly one person suited to consult about such an object.
Brrrring, brrrring, brrrring.
After the signal rang for quite some time, the call connected.
(What?)
A gruff man’s voice.
A man living a life not unlike my own.
Director of Shinjin Construction, benefactor of the Orphanage.
And an exorcist priest—Shin Yoseph.
“I need to ask you something.”
I rolled the scissors wrapped in paper in my hand as I continued.
“I came across a dangerous object, and it seems to be connected to religion.”
(So?)
“Should I hang up?”
Before I could finish, a shallow chuckle came through the line.
(Can’t even joke around. What kind of object?)
“Let’s see it in person. I don’t think this is something to discuss over the phone.”
(Tell me the location.)
“Are you coming yourself?”
(No, it’s a holiday so I can’t move around personally. I’ll send someone.)
His words seemed a bit contradictory.
Perhaps that’s just how people like him are.
Thinking that way, I relayed my location to Shin Yoseph.
***
Clink.
A crystal glass filled with whiskey was placed before Kang Hyung-seok.
Shin Yoseph wore comfortable linen clothing, and the setting was his villa.
“Drink.”
Shin Yoseph sipped from an identical glass before settling into the seat across from Kang Hyung-seok.
“Young master, I shall wait outside.”
“Thank you for your trouble, Kim.”
“Please, speak freely.”
The middle-aged man who had driven Kang Hyung-seok here bowed deeply and closed the door behind him as he left.
“I’ve only ever seen things like this in dramas.”
“You sound like a drama yourself.”
Clink.
He set down his glass, exhaled through his nose, and opened his mouth with a grave expression.
“So what exactly did you see?”
“This.”
Kang Hyung-seok withdrew a pair of scissors wrapped in A4 paper from his pocket and handed it over.
Shin Yoseph accepted it, cast a glance at Kang Hyung-seok, then carefully unwrapped the paper.
“Do you know what it is?”
“I think I understand why you’ve come.”
Shin Yoseph’s brow furrowed as his thoughts deepened.
Before him, Kang Hyung-seok sipped his whiskey in silence.
The people here were not Shin Yoseph of Shinjin Construction and Kang Hyung-seok of Daejeong Materials.
They were an exorcist and a shaman.
With the scissors that summoned spirits between them, they continued their conversation with utmost gravity.
“Where did this come from?”
“A lawyer’s office. It belonged to my superior’s friend—I found it in the ceiling.”
“What do you think it is?”
“There’s resentment clinging to it, but it’s not quite spirit-possessed. What’s your take?”
Huff!
Shin Yoseph exhaled a long sigh, his cheeks puffing out, then raised his glass and took a sip.
“I have a suspicion, but I can’t be certain.”
Kang Hyung-seok urged him forward with only his eyes.
Shin Yoseph took another sip of whiskey and grasped both ends of the scissors.
Screech!
The rusted scissors opened, forming an X shape.
Kang Hyung-seok’s brow furrowed, and Shin Yoseph watched his eyes as he rotated the scissors ninety degrees to the right.
Then he waited silently for Kang Hyung-seok’s reaction.
Whoosh.
As if offering a hint, Shin Yoseph covered one handle of the scissors.
With that, Kang Hyung-seok easily grasped the answer.
The form is what matters.
A cross that appears elongated because one side is obscured.
It bore a striking resemblance to a Christian religious artifact.
“…You’re certain?”
“I can’t say for sure.”
Shin Yoseph tapped the scissors with his fingernail and crossed his legs.
“If my suspicions are correct, it belongs to a heretical sect, but there are so many factions that pinpointing the exact one is difficult.”
Kang Hyung-seok nodded silently, his lips pressed firm.
Korea harbors far more heretical cults than one might expect.
Even excluding the few occasionally reported in the news, that remains true.
Pseudo-religions lurking in the shadows, swelling their ranks.
They destroy families, exploit people, and drain their wealth.
“I’ve heard shamans can perceive or sense things—did you notice anything?”
At Shin Yoseph’s question, Kang Hyung-seok drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose.
“The Victim Spirit did show me something.”
“What?”
Before Shin Yoseph’s curious gaze, he continued.
“I saw a figure sitting in a cross-legged position. The Victim Spirit’s neck had been severed.”
Shin Yoseph’s brow furrowed.
“An ancient cult. Tsk.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s silence was agreement.
Religion, like living organisms, adapts to local conditions when spreading to foreign lands.
Look no further than Christianity’s dawn prayers.
Numerous academic papers argue that practices of making offerings at shrine grounds or wells merged with Christianity.
If orthodox faiths undergo such transformation, what of heterodox ones?
They tend to actively adopt the forms of indigenous religions to maximize their propagation.
This tendency is especially pronounced in older cults.
“Could it be connected to what you’re pursuing?”
“It’s not unrelated. It doesn’t seem to extend to demon worship, but the possibility exists.”
Shin Yoseph appeared to focus on the Victim Spirit with the severed neck.
The way he touched his own throat suggested as much.
“Cults reject orthodoxy and engage in unholy acts. Naturally, demons take notice.”
“But it’s still a religion—how could such things occur?”
Shin Yoseph raised one eyebrow, revealing his discomfort.
“Demons aren’t anything special. They exploit human weakness and bring ruin. In the end, they’re no different from cults.”
That could be true, I thought.
Kang Hyung-seok pressed his lips together, considered briefly, then slid the scissors toward Shin Yoseph.
“You handle this.”
Shin Yoseph silently took the scissors but didn’t place them in his pocket.
The scissors were that horrifying an object to him.
“Investigate it. Let me know if you need my help.”
Shin Yoseph shifted his gaze from Kang Hyung-seok to the glass, nodding slowly.
“Thanks. The more clues, the better.”
His voice carried the weight of profound anguish.
Shin Yoseph hunted the demon for a reason—a deeply personal one.
I could guess at the circumstances well enough.
When I had performed the exorcism on the Boy possessed by that demon, I had heard the curses it spewed with my own ears.
Shin Yoseph had no choice but to pursue it desperately, carrying a burden too painful to share with anyone else.
Clink.
Shin Yoseph set down his glass, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and exhaled a breath heavy with whiskey.
“I have one request.”
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes narrowed.
Shin Yoseph interlaced his fingers and rested his hands on his lap, his gaze grave and unwavering.
“There’s something I must catch, no matter what.”
Kang Hyung-seok nodded heavily, his expression one of understanding, and Shin Yoseph’s interlaced fingers tightened with tension.
“I don’t know when the opportunity will come. If I miss it, I’ll waste endless time waiting for a chance that may never return.”
“…I understand.”
“Be ready when the moment comes.”
Make sure I catch him.
Shin Yoseph’s eyes and subdued voice conveyed exactly that.
As Kang Hyung-seok nodded with his eyes closed, a faint smile crossed Shin Yoseph’s lips.
“Anyway, it’s good to see your face after so long. How about we grab a meal?”
“I ate not long ago, so that’s a bit much.”
Shin Yoseph burst out laughing.
“Expensive taste. What did you eat?”
“Sundae soup.”
“Cheap taste.”
Shin Yoseph chuckled, his expression tinged with reluctance as he saw me off.
“Well then, get home safe.”
“Yeah. I’ll contact you later.”
Shin Yoseph waved and disappeared inside, while Kang Hyung-seok climbed into the car driven by Kim (Driver) and headed home.
Vroom.
The car was quiet.
In that silence, I withdrew the broken ceremonial knife from my pocket.
My fingers traced the fractured edge, my mind churning with countless thoughts.

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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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