An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 86

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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 85
Part 4. The Goblin Laughed (3)
Kang Hyung-seok did not ask for much.
He simply hoped that sincerity would prevail.
Yet the Blacksmith’s eyes narrowed sharply as he raised his sickle.
“You bastard! Where did you get such a damned lie!”
Kang Hyung-seok met the Blacksmith’s terrifying gaze and spoke with conviction.
“Your daughter was a Shaman possessed by a Goblin, wasn’t she?”
At that moment, the Blacksmith’s body and eyes trembled violently.
“The Goblin that served as her Guardian Spirit is the cause. If we drive out that Goblin alone, your daughter can regain her senses.”
The Blacksmith’s lips and sickle quivered uncontrollably.
His eyes were filled with confusion, but he soon forced a venomous glare to surface.
“Damn it, so you’re a Shaman too.”
The Blacksmith bared his teeth, yellowed from years of neglect.
“Five Shamans have said the same thing! Each time they took their money and ran! Later, they just backed out saying they couldn’t do it! What makes you any different!”
His eyes glistened with moisture as he spoke.
The painful memories that had tormented him all this time came flooding back.
“A great Shaman said it! That even if the greatest Shaman came, my daughter’s spirit would never return! That she would grow old and die like this! That without her soul, she couldn’t even kill herself!”
His voice dripped with resentment.
Yet beneath it lay profound despair.
It was impossible to turn away from such pain.
Kang Hyung-seok clenched his teeth and pulled a recorder from his pocket.
“Your daughter’s soul is alive.”
“…What?”
The Blacksmith’s eyes widened in shock, and Kang Hyung-seok’s fingers hovered over the recorder’s button.
But he could not play it immediately.
The recorded voice of the Blacksmith’s daughter was filled with such anguish that it pierced the heart of anyone who heard it.
It affected Kang Hyung-seok deeply—how much more would it affect her father.
“It may be difficult to hear.”
Still, Kang Hyung-seok resolved to press the button.
It seemed this would help the Blacksmith more than anything else, now that he had lost all hope.
Click.
[Please save me! Please save me!]
The Shaman’s voice played through the noise and static.
The Blacksmith froze completely, his mouth opening but no words emerging.
“That should be your daughter’s voice.”
“You, you, how did you, how did you get this.”
Kang Hyung-seok looked at the Blacksmith’s face, then let his gaze fall to the recorder.
It was difficult to meet his gaze now.
“Her soul has not vanished.”
The Goblin has her trapped.
If I could drive that creature away, her soul would return to her body.
“I can liberate your daughter’s soul from the Goblin.”
Kang Hyung-seok continued speaking, his gaze still fixed on the recorder.
“I know you’ve suffered greatly. But I ask that you consider this the last time, and trust me just once more.”
Your daughter can be saved.
You won’t have to endure another hellish night listening to her anguished screams every evening—you can return to your old life.
Kang Hyung-seok conveyed much through his eyes alone.
He prayed his sincerity would reach him.
A heavy silence stretched out, suffocating even the breath itself.
Clang.
The sickle slipped from the Blacksmith’s hand and rolled across the floor.
Kang Hyung-seok lifted his head as the Blacksmith collapsed, shielding his eyes.
“Please help us. Please save our daughter, Dharma Master.”
It was a bestial wail.
The kind of cry that wrings your heart like a fist.
Kang Hyung-seok drew a deep breath, wanting to say something, but only nodded.
It seemed better that way for now.
***
Thud.
As Kang Hyung-seok returned to the car, Yoon Sang’s gaze followed him.
Sitting in the passenger seat, he had his phone, notebook, and pen balanced on his lap, with a Bluetooth earphone hooked over one ear.
“Hyung-nim? Your eyes…?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Kang Hyung-seok rubbed his eyes once, then gestured toward Yoon Sang’s phone.
“Are you keeping a good eye on that?”
“Yes. But… do I really have to do this?”
Yoon Sang’s face tensed as he gauged Kang Hyung-seok’s reaction.
“We have to—otherwise nothing will come out on the broadcast, right?”
“I suppose, but I’m not sure if I should be doing something like this.”
Yoon Sang tilted his phone to show the screen.
A video of a shamanic ritual had been recorded.
But it was no ordinary ritual.
The torches illuminating the surroundings cast an eerie glow, and the white masks worn by those seated on the platform emanated something deeply unsettling.
Shamanic rituals are fundamentally performed for people.
Yet this ritual in the video appeared to be a ceremony for something other than human.
“What kind of ritual is this, exactly?”
“Spirit possession play.”
A ritual to summon the Goblin.
“I’ve never even heard of it…”
“A Jeju Island shamanic ritual might feel unfamiliar to you. Besides, when you were a student, you’ve probably done things like summoning spirits before, haven’t you?”
“That’s true, but that was just a game.”
“This is a game too. A spirit game.”
“But it looks professional to anyone watching, hyung.”
Kang Hyung-seok seemed to have relaxed a bit by then.
Yoon Sang laid bare his true feelings with a sorrowful expression, while Kang Hyung-seok forced only the corners of his mouth upward.
“I’m asking for your trust. Nothing bad will happen, so don’t worry.”
“Yes… I really only trust you, hyung.”
Yoon Sang played the video on his phone again.
As he became absorbed in it, Kang Hyung-seok started the car’s engine.
For a moment, Yoon Sang wanted to ask where he was going, but he held his tongue.
Brrrring.
Kang Hyung-seok was making a phone call to someone.
“Hello?”
“Are you awake?”
“Of course I’m awake. Wait, where are you?”
Yoon Sang listened as Kang Hyung-seok and the unfamiliar Shin Jung-ah continued their conversation.
“I’m at the village where the Blacksmith’s Shop is.”
“What? You didn’t come back yesterday?”
“No.”
“Ha! You said you wouldn’t do anything dangerous! What exactly did you do last night? Did nothing happen?”
What on earth was their relationship?
She seemed concerned at first glance, but judging by Kang Hyung-seok’s demeanor, she didn’t seem like his girlfriend.
Yoon Sang’s eyes betrayed a faint curiosity before meeting Kang Hyung-seok’s gaze, after which he focused on the phone.
“So the work is all finished?”
“No. There’s one big thing left.”
“…It’s not dangerous, is it? And it can’t take too long.”
A live-in roommate?
Or was this woman also a practitioner of Shamanism?
Yoon Sang deliberately kept his wandering eyes fixed on the phone, and Kang Hyung-seok smiled wryly.
“I understand. I need to go to work. That’s why everything must be finished tonight.”
“Ah, another night.”
“I’m sorry, but could I ask you for one favor?”
“I don’t mind, but nothing too strange or dangerous, okay?”
“Could you just buy some things for me? I need quite a lot. If you could just check the list, I’ll come pick everything up.”
“…Is that all?”
“Yes. I apologize for the request, but you’re the only one with free hands right now, Manager.”
“Manager?”
Yoon Sang’s eyes widened in surprise as he turned them toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“You’re not doing anything right now, are you? Like a shamanic ritual or something with the Blacksmith?”
“That’s not it. I just have some preparations of my own to make.”
(Understood.)
“Yes. Then I’ll send you a list by text. You should be able to find everything at the market.”
(Wait, do I need to go all the way to Jukbyeon?)
Kang Hyung-seok shook his head.
He didn’t need seafood.
“Not there—a traditional market. Gangneung Central Market should work.”
(Got it. Just send me the list. I’ll get moving right away.)
Kang Hyung-seok transmitted the necessary items by text.
(Rice cakes, meat, candles—what’s with all this? You need a lot.)
“Technically torches would be needed, but candles should be easier to find.”
(Sigh, fine. I’ll be at Central Market, so come pick it up later.)
“Yes. Thank you.”
(Oh right, this isn’t actually dangerous, is it? I’m getting another weird feeling….)
Click.
Kang Hyung-seok hung up the phone quickly.
He could practically see Shin Jung-ah’s face turning red at the abrupt disconnect, but he couldn’t bring himself to answer her.
“Brother, were you a company employee?”
“What, did you think I sucked my thumb for a living?”
“No, I mean. No, why are you a company employee?”
Yoon Sang’s eyes showed genuine confusion.
A shaman of Kang Hyung-seok’s caliber wouldn’t worry about money.
“Brother, there are things like haunted house experiences that hobby clubs do. Shamans sometimes accompany them, and each job pays at least tens of millions, and skilled practitioners command whatever price they ask.”
There were rumors that shamans who appeared on broadcasts earned in the hundreds of millions.
Someone like Kang Hyung-seok would become known quickly—earning millions in a single day would be nothing.
“Do you know what I hate?”
“Oh, my apologies.”
He hated being pestered about haunted house experiences.
Yoon Sang straightened his posture and bowed his head, while Kang Hyung-seok pulled up Gangneung Central Market on his phone and began driving.
‘I gave the Blacksmith a rough explanation.’
Perhaps that was the most crucial part.
It might be difficult for someone outside shamanism to handle.
But a father’s heart desperate to save his child burns with such intensity that he would follow Kang Hyung-seok’s instructions faithfully.
‘The rest is up to me.’
I have to do this well.
Kang Hyung-seok checked the time on his wristwatch and drew a deep breath through his nose.
Afternoon was approaching.
***
“Here!”
The moment we arrived at Gangneung Central Market, I spotted Shin Jung-ah. Anyone could tell by her outfit that she was a tourist, and she stood out in every way.
“She’s in the car.”
Leaving Yoon Sang behind, Kang Hyung-seok alone got out and helped Shin Jung-ah load her luggage into the back seat.
“Why aren’t you using the trunk?”
“There’s luggage in it.”
“Luggage?”
“I happened to run into my younger brother and came with him.”
Kang Hyung-seok made a vague excuse about Yoon Sang and helped Shin Jung-ah into the back seat.
“Um… hello.”
“Oh, yes. Hello.”
It had been a long time since I’d exchanged such awkward greetings.
To dispel the uncomfortable silence, I opened my mouth while watching Shin Jung-ah in the rearview mirror.
“Director, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Huh? Oh, right. The call got cut off strangely earlier. What were you trying to say?”
Now that I was about to speak, the words wouldn’t come easily.
So I worked my lips for a while before finally starting to drive the car.
Click.
As the car picked up speed, the doors locked automatically, and Shin Jung-ah’s expression gradually hardened.
Instinctively, she sensed that whatever I was about to say wouldn’t be pleasant.
“Director Kang…?”
“It’s like this.”
“Hey.”
“Look, I know this is a difficult request.”
“Wait, hey.”
“We need to perform a ritual—a spirit-summoning ceremony to call out the Goblin.”
Shin Jung-ah’s face grew progressively pale, and I couldn’t bear to look at her, so I averted my gaze from the rearview mirror.
“We must use a greater Goblin to suppress the lesser one. To do that, we need a vessel to house the greater Goblin.”
“…Hey.”
“So, Director, I’m asking you to allow yourself to be possessed just once.”
“…Possessed?”
Shin Jung-ah’s face went slack before contorting into something monstrous in an instant.
“Hey, you! You crazy bastard!”
Shin Jung-ah shook the door handle as if trying to escape from the moving car.
But since the car was already in motion, the door wouldn’t budge.

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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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