An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 88

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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 87
Part 5. The Great Shaman Arrives! (2)
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The door shook violently as though its hinges would shatter.
Each time, the golden rope barred its path.
Terror clawing through his mind, Park Sang-chul wanted to collapse.
Had the golden rope not been in his grasp, he would surely have rolled across the floor.
“Gasp! Huff! Gasp!”
Park Sang-chul’s breathing spiraled beyond control as he stared at the crimson eyes gleaming through the doorknob.
Eyes that were utterly inhuman.
That thing he had prayed was an illusion still fixed its gaze upon him.
‘It’s fake. It’s fake. This is all fake.’
Park Sang-chul shifted his gaze to the translucent glass window of the warehouse door.
What appeared to be the doorknob was merely his daughter’s eye, and the crimson hue was nothing but a trick of perception.
Yet even in the glass, a human silhouette took shape.
Two heads.
Inside the warehouse was not his daughter alone.
“Lee-saeng.”
A voice, turbid and coarse as fingernails scraping earth, addressed him.
“Open the door.”
Like a demon’s whisper, its tone was gentle and solicitous.
Yet Park Sang-chul wound the golden rope around his hand once more, gripping it with redoubled firmness.
He could not release it.
Should the Goblin escape, his daughter’s soul would be lost forever.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Park Sang-chul clutched the golden rope as though it were his lifeline, pulling with every ounce of strength in his body.
Crackle, crackle-crackle!
The door did not budge, yet Park Sang-chul was dragged inch by inch toward it.
The golden rope stretched across the door like a pregnant woman’s swollen belly.
As though the Goblin might burst through at any moment.
“Ugh! Ugghhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!”
And so Park Sang-chul had no choice but to pull harder still.
The whites of his eyes flooded crimson with burst blood vessels, and droplets of blood beaded and fell from his palms where the rope had torn them raw.
It was then.
Whoosh.
The sound of flame igniting.
Crimson light rippled across the warehouse’s translucent glass window.
Fire had broken out inside the warehouse.
For a moment, Park Sang-chul nearly released the rope, but he squeezed his eyes shut and held fast to his resolve.
‘The Dharma Master said not to trust my eyes!’
What you see. What you hear.
None of it is truth—do not be deceived.
Recalling the teachings Kang Hyung-seok had imparted, Park Sang-chul threw his weight backward, pulling the golden rope taut.
Whoooosh! Whoooooosh!
The sound of flames roaring was far too vivid.
The heat tickling my fingertips felt real, and it was nearly impossible to believe that the firelight dancing across my tightly sealed eyelids was a lie.
“Dad! Dad, please!”
From inside the Warehouse came my daughter’s anguished screams.
“Dad, you’ve been tricked! Dad! Don’t trust that man! Please save me! I don’t want to die! Please! Dad, Dad, save me!”
At the raw desperation in my daughter’s voice, Park Sang-chul gasped for breath.
Could this too be false?
Or was the Warehouse truly ablaze, and my daughter—now conscious—genuinely begging for her life?
What if I was about to commit an act I would regret forever?
As this thought struck him, Park Sang-chul opened his eyes.
“Ah….”
The fire that had seemed so real moments before was nowhere to be seen.
Inside the firmly sealed Warehouse door lay only cold, suffocating darkness.
All that reached his ears was heavy silence, punctuated occasionally by the distant cries of birds and insects.
“Ah, ah, ah! Ah!”
Realizing he had been ensnared by the Goblin, Park Sang-chul was seized by an overwhelming urge to flee.
Yet a sharp, rational voice—that his daughter must be saved—kept his grip firm on the golden rope.
“Why do you not understand, mortal?”
The Goblin’s voice reached him, dripping with mockery and cruel laughter.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
As Park Sang-chul gasped for air, the Goblin’s laughter grew thicker, more acrid and bitter.
“Your daughter is here with me in this place—why do you not see?”
Park Sang-chul felt his heart stop.
His mind snapped into focus.
The Goblin is inside the Warehouse with my daughter.
And I am the one holding it back from escaping.
Realizing the Goblin could harm his daughter at any moment, Park Sang-chul’s thoughts spiraled into chaos.
Was holding this golden rope truly the right thing to do?
His resolve wavered.
And then,
“Open the door, mortal!”
The Goblin’s furious roar tore through the air.
***
Whirrrr, whirrrr, whirrrr, whirrrr!
As Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell with fervent intensity, I felt the spiritual energy surrounding us shift and transform.
It was coming.
Something that could only be described as divine.
The spirit possession ritual that Kang Hyung-seok was orchestrating.
A massive presence, summoned by the ritual, now prowled the perimeter of the space.
Whirrrr-whirrrr!
A great Goblin had arrived.
Yet it merely circled the area, refusing to approach the Ritual Platform where the offerings lay arranged.
Kang Hyung-seok’s gaze shifted toward Shin Jung-ah and Yoon Sang.
Now their role became crucial.
“Ah, um, uh…”
Yoon Sang, reading the unspoken command in his eyes, was the first to part his trembling lips.
“W-what is this? Sir, please come over and see for yourself.”
His delivery was awkward, as if he were reading from a textbook.
“Wow, this looks absolutely delicious.”
Shin Jung-ah added her voice.
Terror had paralyzed her tongue, leaving her pronunciation slurred and uncertain.
Sensing the presence beginning to withdraw, Kang Hyung-seok ceased shaking the Shaman’s Bell and spoke.
“Great Spirit! Come forth! Kim has prepared such fine delicacies for your pleasure!”
As Kang Hyung-seok’s commanding voice dominated the space, Yoon Sang and Shin Jung-ah turned to stare at him in astonishment.
“There is even the liquor you favor, Great Spirit! What of the millet cakes? And the millet paste?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s complete immersion became a wellspring of courage for both of them.
Yoon Sang swallowed hard and nodded sharply, then summoned his voice with greater conviction than before.
“These cakes were made fresh today!”
“A man of propriety, this Kim. And what of the pork offal?”
All eyes—Kang Hyung-seok’s and Yoon Sang’s—fixed upon Shin Jung-ah.
Her face contorted with distress, she shook her head briefly, but under their piercing gaze, she was forced to speak.
“That too is from a pig slaughtered just today.”
Excellent work, Shin Jung-ah! Truly impressive!
Whirrrr, whirrrr, whirrrr!
Kang Hyung-seok shook the Shaman’s Bell and swept his arm across the softly glowing candles surrounding us.
“Come forth, Great Spirit. Manifest yourself. Kim has prepared such abundance to honor you—please, come and taste what he offers!”
“The Great Spirit must eat first, or we cannot partake ourselves!”
As with all things, the beginning was the hardest, and Yoon Sang found himself swept up in the fervor of the moment.
“Hurry and come! Please!”
It was immediately after Shin Jung-ah cried out, her eyes squeezed shut.
Flicker!
A candle that had been casting a faint red glow in the distance extinguished itself.
Thump! Whoosh! Flicker!
In an instant, ten candles snuffed out, and a colossal presence that only I could sense drew near.
Yoon Sang and Shin Jung-ah perceived the anomaly in different ways.
Shin Jung-ah’s eyes widened like someone witnessing a supernatural phenomenon, her jaw hanging slack.
“This can’t be real.”
A candle flame had lifted from its wick and was rising into the air.
Like a Goblin’s fire.
***
Park Sang-chul was drowning in helplessness.
The sacred rope still hadn’t come loose.
The Goblin remained trapped inside the Warehouse.
Yet it was only a matter of time.
“Aaaaaaah! Uuuuaaaah!”
His strength had long since abandoned him.
His mind teetered on the edge of collapse.
Crack! Snap! Crunch!
Still, only one thought allowed him to desperately pull the sacred rope.
He had to save his daughter from the Goblin.
He’d glimpsed its true form for mere moments, yet the Goblin terrified him beyond measure.
Then what must my daughter have endured these past three years?
“Uuuaaaaaaah! Aaaah!”
Park Sang-chul screamed with his voice utterly shattered.
Anything to drown out the Goblin’s voice.
‘I won’t believe anything anymore! Never again!’
As he gripped the sacred rope with bloodshot eyes, his resolve steeled—
Crack! Snap! Crunch!
The sound of bones breaking echoed from inside the Warehouse.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
His daughter’s scream shattered Park Sang-chul’s iron resolve.
His strength faltered, and the sacred rope slackened ever so slightly.
The anomaly began at that moment.
Screeeech!
A black finger stretched through the narrow gap in the door.
Covered in coarse hair and the size of a cauldron lid, it bore no resemblance to a human hand.
“Uuuuh! Gruuuuh!”
Park Sang-chul screamed through gritted teeth.
His eyes darted desperately around, searching for help.
With such a commotion, surely someone from the Village would emerge.
But whether by the Goblin’s influence or sheer misfortune, not a single light flickered on in any house.
“Help me! For God’s sake, someone here—!”
Park Sang-chul stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening as he stared at the door.
Black hands began stretching through the gap in the door.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Dozens of hands.
Hundreds of fingers.
Blackened, rotting fingers writhed like spider legs as they crawled out beyond the door.
***
“H-hyung?”
Yoon Sang turned to Kang Hyung-seok at the sight of the abnormal phenomenon.
Right now, Kang Hyung-seok was the only one he could rely on, the only one who could explain what was happening.
True to form, he remained unmoved, his eyes fixed on the flames.
“A small Goblin is opening a path.”
In Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes, a small Goblin holding a candle was playing about.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Having drawn their attention to himself, Kang Hyung-seok pointed the Shaman’s Bell toward the Ritual Platform.
“Come forth! Bring the great spirit here at once!”
The moment his words ended.
Poof!
Ten candles were snuffed out in an instant.
As if a transparent, massive foot had stamped them out, the flames formed a circular pattern.
As the light diminished and darkness grew, Kang Hyung-seok continued shaking the Shaman’s Bell, clearing the path for the great Goblin with spiritual power.
Poof! Poof! Whoosh—aah!
As the dying flames drew ever closer to the Ritual Platform, Shin Jung-ah felt a strange sensation she had never experienced in her life.
Violent dizziness, as if on the verge of fainting.
Simultaneously, an eerie sensation of something approaching her.
The moment Shin Jung-ah’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed,
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind extinguished every candle.
The surroundings plunged into darkness in an instant.
A thick darkness where not even an inch ahead could be discerned.
The moon was hidden behind clouds, and even with eyes open, there was no difference from having them closed.
Squelch, crack, crunch, slurp.
Grotesque sounds echoed through the darkness.
Overwhelmed by the strange air surrounding him and the atmosphere created by the darkness, Yoon Sang collapsed to the ground.
Kang Hyung-seok pulled his phone from his pocket.
“…Have you arrived?”
Click, squelch, chewing, gulp!
Only grotesque sounds answered in return.
“I will illuminate the light. Do not be alarmed.”
Kang Hyung-seok exhaled through slightly parted lips.
As his white breath dissolved into the darkness and vanished, he illuminated his phone’s light.
The light illuminated only a narrow radius, as if a flashlight had been switched on.
Crackle! Clatter-clatter, slurp! Smack-smack.
Kang Hyung-seok slowly rotated his phone toward the source of the sounds.
The beam fell upon Shin Jung-ah, crouching before the Ritual Platform.
Crackle, snap! Slurp! Crunch-crunch.
She was ravenously tearing into the pig’s raw entrails with both hands, devouring them with savage hunger.
Slurp! Gulp, smack-smack.
Possessed by some ravenous spirit, Shin Jung-ah devoured even the wine and rice cakes—a figure so utterly alien to her true self.
Nothing could be further from the pristine, composed woman I knew.
Thud.
Yoon Sang lay sprawled unconscious on the ground, and Kang Hyung-seok, his face taut with tension, stared at Shin Jung-ah and opened his mouth.
“Is the food to your liking?”
It was at that moment.
Shin Jung-ah’s hands stopped.
Still holding the pig’s raw liver, she turned her head toward Kang Hyung-seok.
“…Master.”
The pronunciation was halting, unnatural—a borrowed voice, not her own body.
Yet the words carried a profound, unmistakable depth that affirmed its presence.
“I’ve received the offering you prepared for me well, Master Kim.”
Shin Jung-ah laughed.
No—the Goblin laughed.

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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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