An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 78

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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 77
Part 2. The Second Divine Object (1)
Scratch, scratch-scratch.
The conference room in the early morning.
Gwak Young-ho, who had written numbers and names on the whiteboard, turned around with a satisfied expression.
Kang Hyung-seok and the entire Sales Team 1 were seated there.
Tap!
Gwak Young-ho, who had tapped the whiteboard lightly, posed a question to Namgoong Min-ah.
“Min-ah, what do you think?”
“Well….”
Namgoong Min-ah, the youngest member, answered while gauging the reactions of others.
“It’s… good, isn’t it?”
“Exactly!”
A pleased smile spread across Gwak Young-ho’s face.
“This quarter’s performance for our team—as you can see, it’s far better than the other teams.”
Sales Team 2 and Team 3.
Team 3 could be considered an exception since their work is somewhat different, but Team 2 is direct competition.
“We’ve done far better than Team 2. That’s why we’ll all be getting performance bonuses this month!”
“Really?”
“Of course! Everyone worked hard, so let’s give ourselves a hand!”
Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap!
The applause that began with Gwak Young-ho spread rapidly throughout the conference room.
“Wow, this is the first time. The first time I’ve worked without this kind of performance pressure.”
Gwak Young-ho’s face was genuinely moved.
He wiped his eyes with his fingers and looked at each team member as if they were precious.
“Min-ah, you haven’t been a full-time employee for long, but you’ve been working with such sincerity. You’ve achieved great results too—really well done.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
Namgoong Min-ah laughed shyly, and Gwak Young-ho shifted his gaze to Lee Jin-pyung.
“Lee, you’ve had it tough with your leg being difficult. You don’t have results yet, but that’s because you can’t go out on sales calls, so don’t worry about it. I’ll take special care of you later, so don’t be concerned.”
“Yes.”
Lee Jin-pyung spoke in his usual blunt manner, yet Gwak Young-ho’s face remained smiling.
“And Manager Kang.”
“Yes.”
Kang Hyung-seok straightened his posture as he responded, and Gwak Young-ho’s smile deepened.
“Your role in this quarter’s results was truly significant. I’m only now recognizing an ace like you. I’m grateful to have you as my team member.”
“Not at all.”
“The clients we’ve brought in so far have been concentrated on the purchasing side, but next quarter, let’s focus on that. Understood?”
Now that I was a manager, there was a sense that my responsibility had grown accordingly.
I resolved to look into sales channels next time, and Gwak Young-ho’s gaze moved to Shin Jung-ah.
“Shin, our veteran.”
“It’s creepy, sir.”
“Hahahaha!”
Despite Shin Jung-ah’s grimace, Gwak Young-ho laughed heartily.
“You’ve adapted incredibly well for someone who just joined. Your performance has exceeded expectations, and especially thanks to all those sales contracts you’ve brought in, the balance between you and Manager Kang has been perfect.”
Gwak Young-ho was genuinely skilled at offering sincere praise.
Because of it, an embarrassed smile bloomed across Shin Jung-ah’s face.
“Well then, one last thing.”
Gwak Young-ho swept his gaze across the team members with a warm smile.
“It’s not really my place to say this, but let’s consider this quarter essentially finished and everyone should take it easy.”
That’s when Namgoong Min-ah raised her hand.
“Why? Wouldn’t working harder be better?”
Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Jung-ah’s eyes briefly met.
Without a word, they both shook their heads, and Gwak Young-ho began explaining in a way that even the less experienced Namgoong Min-ah could understand.
“Performance that’s too high isn’t good either.”
“Huh? Why?”
“When expectations rise too much, the pressure comes back just as hard as your success.”
Sales especially suffers from this.
Why did we perform worse this quarter than last quarter?
Management inevitably asks this, and your past hard work becomes a noose around your present neck.
It’s a truly miserable experience.
So knowing when to pull back was important—very important.
“So what do we do now…?”
“Focus on maintaining existing clients rather than breaking into new ones. You understand, but company life is a marathon. You need these breathing periods in between.”
“Ah.”
Namgoong Min-ah’s eyes sparkled as she recalled the workload from her internship days.
Perhaps she was remembering her school days.
That leisurely period between the college entrance exam and graduation.
A time when no one bothered you if you just did the bare minimum.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I didn’t make this happen by myself. It’s because our entire team performed so well.”
Even as he said this, Gwak Young-ho’s gaze briefly settled on Kang Hyung-seok.
After all, Kang Hyung-seok had produced the most significant results.
“In that sense, if anyone has requests, speak up now. Whether it’s vacation days, team dinners, whatever—it’s all fine.”
Gwak Young-ho clearly intended to be generous.
So I raised my hand comfortably.
“Oh, Manager Kang. What is it?”
“I’d like to take a day off.”
“When? Tomorrow?”
“No. I’d like to use it this Friday.”
“Then take off through Monday of next week.”
Hold on.
Before Kang Hyung-seok could even speak, sensing the atmosphere was getting too heavy, Gwak Young-ho beat him to it.
“I’ll mark Monday as a business trip, so take care of whatever you need to at your own pace.”
“But… even so…”
“What? No one’s going to say anything about Manager Kang taking personal leave. I’ll handle it with my authority as department head, so don’t worry about it.”
Kang Hyung-seok fell silent, his expression a mixture of embarrassment and gratitude, while Namgoong Min-ah cast an envious glance, and Lee Jin-pyung’s face remained unreadable.
“So where are you planning to go? An overseas trip?”
“No, sir. I was thinking of visiting someone who introduced me to Samgol before.”
“In that case, I can process it as a business trip. Go with peace of mind.”
It was such a bold decision that others might criticize it.
But it wasn’t a privilege just anyone could receive.
So Kang Hyung-seok conveyed his gratitude through a grateful look in his eyes.
“Um, Director.”
“Yes? Manager Shin.”
“I’d like to take Friday off as well.”
“You too, Manager Shin?”
For a moment, Gwak Young-ho’s eyes shifted to Kang Hyung-seok as he seemed to have a peculiar thought.
He found it strange that they were both taking personal leave.
However, Shin Jung-ah continued speaking calmly with an indifferent expression.
“It’s my mother’s birthday, so I need to visit.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Yes. Why?”
“No, no. You should definitely go for your mother’s birthday. That’s the right thing to do.”
Gwak Young-ho nodded as if he understood.
The meeting ended on that note.
So right after leaving work, Kang Hyung-seok couldn’t have anticipated the text from Shin Jung-ah.
Ding!
As Kang Hyung-seok was about to turn on the navigation to head home, he saw the message and furrowed his brow.
「Manager Kang, is something wrong?」
It was a worried message.
Kang Hyung-seok scratched his brow once, picked up his phone from the holder, and sent a reply.
Tap-tap-tap, tap.
「Would you prefer a call?」
Ding!
The phone rang immediately, and Kang Hyung-seok pressed the answer button while keeping the phone in the holder.
(Manager Kang, what’s going on?)
“You seemed worried, so I wanted to ask.”
(Is something actually wrong?)
Kang Hyung-seok set his home address on the navigation and exited the parking lot as he answered.
“Yes. Did you take Friday off because of that?”
(Just in case. Whenever Manager Kang takes a day off, something’s always happened.)
Kang Hyung-seok blinked and fell into thought.
That was certainly true.
Back during the infused liquor incident, he’d taken time off and resolved the matter with Shin Jung-ah.
“You don’t need to worry. I was just planning to stop by for a consultation.”
(If it’s someone who introduced Samgol, isn’t that a Shaman? That’s what the director said.)
He’d mentioned to Gwak Young-ho that it was a place Lee Geum-kyung had introduced.
“That’s true. But this time it’s purely for consultation.”
(Is there nothing wrong?)
Kang Hyung-seok nodded and answered.
“Yes. There’s just something on my mind.”
Ultimately, it was the Spirit Blade.
The Spirit Blade that Shin Yoseph had given me had reached the end of its lifespan.
Now when I swing the Spirit Blade, I feel nothing at all.
But was it right to buy a new Spirit Blade? That thought lingered.
“I had a dream recently. The Guardian Spirit appeared.”
Whoooosh.
Entering the highway, he accelerated while recalling the Guardian Spirit’s appearance from the dream.
“He was covered in blood and offered me a Spirit Blade. I think I should get a consultation from the teacher.”
(Ah….)
The Guardian Spirit and the Spirit Blade.
The realm of Shamanism and Shamans.
So it wasn’t something Shin Jung-ah should be involved in.
“It’s just a consultation after all. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
(Then why did you take a day off?)
Shin Jung-ah had clung to it somewhat persistently, but my words suddenly caught.
(Manager Kang?)
Even as she pressed for an answer, Kang Hyung-seok couldn’t respond immediately.
Perhaps it was because I knew.
Unconsciously, perhaps I’d need to move diligently this coming weekend.
At the very least, I might need to follow Lee Geum-kyung around to places that sold sacred implements.
“I might need to do some legwork.”
(If you end up moving alone, tell me. Understood?)
“You need to rest too, Manager.”
(Manager Kang! Are you going to keep hurting my feelings like this?)
“Yes?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyebrows rose, and Shin Jung-ah’s words continued.
(Remember when I helped my friend? And before that, you helped me move.)
“Yes. I remember.”
It was a memory difficult to forget.
Shin Jung-ah had suffered twice now because of the Rental House.
As Kang Hyung-seok’s face grew heavy with conflicted emotion, he smacked his lips, and Shin Jung-ah pressed on with her words.
(I’m not the kind of person to forget things like this. I’ve seen it more than once or twice, so you should know by now.)
“…I understand.”
(So if anything happens, or if you think you need my help, tell me right away. Got it?)
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke with a bitter smile, and Shin Jung-ah added a reminder to keep his promise.
Then the call ended.
In the quiet car, I drew a deep breath through my nose.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
My fingers, heavy with thought, tapped against the steering wheel.
‘Shin Jang-kal….’
The pseudo-religious cult Shin Yoseph had mentioned.
The demon I was pursuing.
And the Shaman Hong Kyung-soo, whose intentions remained unclear.
This wasn’t going to be easy in any way.
Rustle.
I touched the bag containing the Shaman’s Bell once more, then turned my gaze forward.
I wasn’t doubting the Shaman’s Bell itself.
But I felt that we had reached a point where something more than the Shaman’s Bell was needed.
‘If I consult with the teacher, something will come to light.’
Thinking of Lee Geum-kyung, whom I would meet on Friday, I drove toward home.
And time passed quickly, until Friday finally arrived.

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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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