An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 84

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

Chapter 83
Part 4. The Goblin Laughed (1)
When Kang Hyung-seok prepared to enter the cave, Yoon Sang’s assistance proved invaluable.
“Hyung-nim, here’s the hemp cloth you mentioned, and the purified water.”
“What about the salt?”
“Just a moment. I’ll get it for you right away. Would you prefer coarse salt or fine salt?”
Yoon Sang, the type who emerged from haunted houses without a single malevolent spirit clinging to him, carried far more supplies than one might expect.
Splash.
As Kang Hyung-seok poured the purified water saturated with salt onto the hemp cloth, Yoon Sang’s gaze followed his every movement.
Why was he doing this?
Detecting the look of someone already imagining broadcast material, Kang Hyung-seok offered a brief explanation.
“It blocks malevolent forces.”
The eyes are the windows to the soul, and malevolent forces enter the mind through the eyes.
Salt and purified water possess the power to repel impurity.
Covering one’s eyes with hemp cloth soaked in this mixture served as a minimal safety measure.
Drip, drop.
Just as Kang Hyung-seok was about to wrap the hemp cloth, its salt water droplets still falling, around his eyes—
“Hyung-nim, um, about that.”
Yoon Sang spoke hesitantly, his tone cautious.
“What?”
“I mean, I’ve been following your lead pretty well this whole time, haven’t I?”
“Turn on the broadcast and you die.”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke in a tone closer to warning than threat.
This place was more dangerous than most haunted houses; merely turning on the broadcast could expose Yoon Sang to spiritual backlash.
“What are you saying? I told you I absolutely won’t turn on the broadcast without your permission. I even posted an announcement—I’m taking a break from streaming.”
“Then?”
“I could use this later on the broadcast, so if you could just….”
Yoon Sang continued watching Kang Hyung-seok’s expression carefully as he handed over a small recording device.
“Would you mind taking just this with you?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s gaze shifted from the compact recorder—already powered on—to Yoon Sang.
The kind of man who seemed destined to be popular regardless of the gathering or the gender composition of those present.
When such a man directed a pitiful gaze toward him, one found oneself reconsidering twice what one had already decided once.
“I don’t care whether you use it for broadcasting or not, but my voice cannot be included.”
“Is that uncomfortable for you?”
I preferred to remain a mere viewer of internet broadcasts.
As Kang Hyung-seok conveyed his clear intention through his eyes, Yoon Sang nodded vigorously in understanding.
“Just trust me. I’ll apply heavy voice modulation.”
“Sigh, tsk.”
“I swear by the heavens I won’t cause you any trouble, hyung-nim.”
“I’d prefer we never have cause for embarrassment.”
Kang Hyung-seok shook the walkie-talkie pointing to Yoon Sang before tucking it into his inner pocket.
Then he draped a strip of burlap soaked in salt water across both eyes and tied it at the back of his head.
My eyes stung, and the salt water trickled down my cheeks like tears.
With that, the preparations were complete.
“Huuuh.”
I exhaled through my teeth and stepped forward into the cave.
The darkness and the blindfold made my gait so unsteady that Yoon Sang watching from behind couldn’t help but worry.
Crack, crunch!
As my hand touched the cave wall, soil crumbled without resistance, exposing tree roots beneath.
Yet the briny scent reached my nose before the earthy smell.
I exhaled through my mouth and slowly ventured deeper into the cave.
‘It’s larger and deeper than I expected.’
It felt like descending into the depths of the earth itself.
Moreover, the cold that pierced my skin was so intense it was hard to believe I was inside a cave.
A bad sign.
Haunted houses and places teeming with malevolent spirits felt like this.
‘A Goblin.’
In other words, a single-horned spirit.
A type of spirit.
And unlike the familiar image, the Goblin I’d learned about in university had far more hidden facets than expected.
Some brought illness, others brought calamity.
There was even a shamanic ritual specifically for driving out Goblins—the Goblin exorcism.
Goblins were certainly familiar to people, yet they were more than capable of being objects of terror.
And I was entering a Goblin’s cave.
Clang!
The Shaman’s Bell in my backpack rang, though it didn’t surprise me.
Honestly, I’d been wondering when it would sound.
Fumbling, I retrieved the Shaman’s Bell from my bag and shook it with trembling hands numbed by the cold.
Clang clang clang.
“Heavenly General of the Upper Realm, Great General. Earthly General of the Lower Realm, Great General. Five-Direction General, Great General. Four-Sea General, Great General.”
Spiritual power radiated outward, but it felt different from before.
Rather than pushing back evil, it felt like spiritual forces colliding head-on.
“Solar Star General, Lunar Star General, Wood Realm Path, Three Mountain Path, Twenty-Eight Mansions Star General, Heaven-Earth Water Servant, Three-Path Star Official.”
I focused on continuing to recite the Jade Spring Scripture.
Because of this, I didn’t notice.
Step, step.
As I descended deeper, the burlap blindfold was gradually turning black.
The salt that purified evil was exhausting its power and turning black.
Shedding tears of blackened salt water, I continued to shake the Shaman’s Bell.
“Original Qi, True General, Heavenly Messenger Ten, Four-Direction General, Self-Gathering Assembly, Flowing Water Assembly Demon, at this moment, may our spirit penetrate and harm cease, spirits and demons of all grades, swift binding and confinement, within this vessel dissolution.”
It happened right then.
“Yiyizhitianzhijhen dongshenshingjin miyizhitsi zuotianzhendong.”
“Dongjhentianzuosi zhihuimei shenjhindongzhen zhitianzhihuayiyi.”
“Zhiyaosafeng huashenjhinho huideuyuanguei yuzhaaguei dongul.”
“Uldonggueizhao gueiuyuandehuei hohujhinshua fengasayozhis.”
“Fengmulnaho henghaesungshu baikhtiangueishan dang guupa huadanghuajhangshan paagueizhangshan.”
“Shanzhangagueipha shanzhanghuadanghua paguguzhang deng shanagueikhtianbai sushenghaeheng honamilfeng.”
Someone recited the next passage of the Jade Spring Scripture backwards.
Kang Hyung-seok, who had stopped in his tracks, opened his lips—pale and ashen—while keeping the Shaman’s Bell in front of him.
“…Are you a Goblin?”
“Welcome, Iseng.”
A thick, low voice whispered with a hint of laughter in its tone.
It was not a human voice.
It seemed like something inhuman mimicking humanity, and it carried a power that stirred primal terror.
“My name is not Iseng.”
“All are Iseng, Iseng.”
A twisting sound crackled through the air.
With his vision obscured, Kang Hyung-seok could not discern the source of the sound, though he felt he should not know it.
Something he must not see seemed to be right in front of him.
“I have come to make a request.”
Kang Hyung-seok was about to ask for the Shaman to be released.
But the sound of breathing right beside his ear made him falter, his words catching in his throat.
“So Iseng is a shaman. A shaman with no roots, mixing three traditions together.”
A manner of speech like a serpent flicking its tongue continued from right beside him.
“You received spirits like a Possessed Shaman, gained learning like a Learned Shaman, and inherited sacred tools like a Hereditary Shaman. You are destined to become a shaman who will even determine this nation’s fate, yet that very destiny will make you wretched.”
Kang Hyung-seok felt his heart pounding wildly.
This was no mere Victim Spirit.
A Goblin.
A being powerful enough to become a Guardian Spirit was peering through Kang Hyung-seok’s very soul.
“One who commands beasts hunts Iseng. You will lose what must not be taken, and your remaining life will be nothing but misery.”
What could bring such joy?
The Goblin laughed in a phlegm-laden voice, stuttering and broken.
“After 422 days pass, Iseng will have a daughter, but she will not be born in human form. After 842 days, your parents will die. On day 1253, you too will lose the use of both your legs in an accident.”
Kang Hyung-seok covered his ears.
He must not be bewitched.
He must not listen.
He must not believe.
“On day 1301, the one you love will die. On day 2598, you will fall ill again and wait for death. On day 4000, Iseng will breathe his last in a house teeming with vermin, but your body will not be discovered for another 100 days.”
Even with his ears covered, the voice came through vividly.
Kang Hyung-seok clenched his teeth and thought, and thought again.
‘This is a lie.’
It is not the truth.
The words of a god are not always right.
It seeks to deceive me with false words.
“This life will be eaten away by worms and stuffed into a sack. Burned without a name, I will fall into a state where no one seeks me out.”
“Enough!”
Kang Hyung-seok cried out so loudly that the cave itself resonated.
Then, exhaling breath that froze white, I shook the Shaman’s Bell with all my strength.
Clang clang clang!
“Central Great Formation Thunder God General, Heaven-Breaking General Army Successor God General, Thousand Generals Total Soldier God General, Each Division Soldier Command God General, Iron Net God General—descend and respond as one!”
The Iron Net Scripture.
A shamanic scripture capable of affecting not only improper Victim Spirits but even gods themselves.
Even a Goblin could not ignore it—the serpentine tongue froze mid-motion.
“Haa, haa, haa.”
Kang Hyung-seok, now with eyes covered by hemp cloth turned completely black, stared in the direction where the Goblin dwelt.
Though I could see nothing, I knew where it was.
The malevolent and vicious energy pierced like an awl.
“A great god stands with me—hear me, Goblin.”
Kang Hyung-seok felt the Guardian Spirit descending and continued with a voice of profound depth.
“Cease your actions and withdraw your wickedness. Restore the Shaman you have driven mad to her former self.”
Silence fell.
During this time, Kang Hyung-seok heard a ringing tinnitus in his ears.
Then he heard a sound that felt discordant, and just as he was about to speak again,
“Kek, krkh, ha, ha, ha.”
The Goblin’s grotesque laughter erupted.
“Ha, ha, ha. This life, have you forgotten? I am a god as well. And what could a half-baked Shaman without all the proper implements do against a god?”
The Goblin’s voice shifted abruptly from left to right.
“Restore the Shaman, you say? It was that Shaman woman who found me. That woman, desperate to become a Shaman, accepted me willingly.”
Now the voice came from inside my ears.
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell violently to maintain his grip on consciousness. Even as I did, the Goblin’s demonic voice continued.
“This life is thinking of how to stop me. But this life, you know nothing.”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
“I play with that Shaman woman as payment for helping her. There is no other reason. So there is no way to stop me either.”
Clang clang clang! Clang clang clang clang!
The Goblin was clearly mocking Kang Hyung-seok.
Kang Hyung-seok began to back away slowly while shaking the Shaman’s Bell.
This is not good.
This Goblin is like a malevolent spirit.
Yet it is not a malevolent spirit—it is a Goblin.
Being what it is, it was not greatly affected by the Shaman’s Bell.
“Where are you going, leaving me behind like this?”
A grip.
An enormous hand, large enough to cover my entire back, blocked Kang Hyung-seok’s path.
The strength emanating from that abnormally massive hand was something no human could resist.
“You’re mistaken. You think you came looking for me, but the truth is I called you here. Didn’t you follow the Goblin’s fire all the way to this place?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s breath came in ragged gasps, turning white with cold.
The mad Goblin had no intention of letting Kang Hyung-seok leave quietly.
“So at least show me your eyes before you go.”
A finger as thick as a forearm began moving toward Kang Hyung-seok’s face. With a sharp claw, it snapped the hemp cloth that had covered his eyes.
The cloth, darkened as if dipped in ink, fell at my feet.
“Look at me.”
Kang Hyung-seok, who had kept his eyes shut, refused stubbornly.
Then the Goblin’s low, unsettling voice came again, mixed with mockery.
“What are you so afraid of? Look at me. Come now.”
Damn it.
Kang Hyung-seok clenched his teeth, breathing heavily, then slowly opened his closed eyes.
First, I had to get out of here.
But once I escaped, how could I possibly deal with this mad Goblin?
And when he fully opened his eyes, the Goblin’s face came into view.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Pitch-black, wrinkled skin.
A large, flat nose.
Eyes so deeply creased that the pupils were barely visible.
The Goblin laughed with a face like a rotted Hahoe mask.
“Heurgh, huuugh, heuuugh.”
Malevolence enters the heart through the eyes.
Resisting with desperate strength to keep my mind from being consumed, Kang Hyung-seok backed out of the cave.
“Hahahahahahahaha.”
In the thick, suffocating darkness, the Goblin’s laughing face receded into the distance.
“Hahaha! Ahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha!”
With that face still fixed upon me, I could not turn back even once as I fled the cave.

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