An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 92
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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 91
Part 6. The Great Rise While the Small Fall (3)
Shhhhk.
An elegant blade emerged into view.
The pattern engraved in relief on the blade’s spine was ornate, and the black lacquer coating emphasized its refined craftsmanship.
Rather than a short sword, it was a long sword.
A masterpiece crafted by an artisan’s hands.
The sacred blade the Blacksmith had forged carried precisely that impression.
“What do you make of it?”
“It is a sacred artifact, sir.”
Kang Hyung-seok answered Lee Geum-kyung’s question while keeping his gaze fixed upon the sacred blade.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
The aura emanating from the blade.
It resembled the first moment I grasped the Shaman’s Bell.
“I can feel it. This is no ordinary object.”
Then, could there be something special about it, like the Shaman’s Bell?
I brought my thumbnail close to the blade, wondering if perhaps.
As my nail touched the blade, a faint mark appeared.
The edge was honed to razor sharpness.
I caressed the sacred blade with my lips pressed firmly together, and then Lee Geum-kyung extended her hand.
“Be careful. It has an edge.”
Despite the warning, Lee Geum-kyung accepted the sacred blade without hesitation and touched its blade.
I flinched for a moment, but not a single mark appeared on her hand.
“So this too chooses its master.”
I looked down at the blade mark left on my thumbnail.
Identical to the Shaman’s Bell.
Just as the Shaman’s Bell had rung only in my hands, the sacred blade revealed its edge only in mine.
Squeeze.
Wrapping my thumb with another finger, I rose from my seat and offered Lee Geum-kyung a deep bow.
“Thank you, Teacher. Thanks to you, I have obtained this precious sacred blade.”
“This blade has already chosen you as its master. There is no need to thank me.”
Lee Geum-kyung returned the sacred blade with a faint smile and continued speaking.
“It is the fortune iron you were meant to receive, Teacher.”
“It was always yours from the beginning.”
I gazed at Lee Geum-kyung with moved eyes and sheathed the sacred blade.
Then I carefully tucked it close to my heart.
Perhaps because it rested near my heart, I felt a faint warmth emanating from the sacred blade.
***
Click.
Kang Hyung-seok opened the door and stepped into his rental house, immediately setting down his bag.
Evening had fallen.
He hastily prepared a meal using the side dishes from his refrigerator, showered in hot water, changed into comfortable clothes, and sat at the table, arranging the Spirit Blade and Shaman’s Bell side by side.
Two divine artifacts.
After gazing at the Spirit Blade and Shaman’s Bell for a long while, he spoke in a low voice.
“Are you satisfied?”
Tap.
Kang Hyung-seok placed his hand upon the Shaman’s Bell.
It was his Guardian Spirit who had guided him to obtain the Shaman’s Bell.
“Through your divine revelation, I have acquired these.”
Tap.
This time, his hand rested upon the Spirit Blade.
His Guardian Spirit had provided hints through dreams and possession regarding the blade.
“What path must I walk?”
Kang Hyung-seok continued speaking in a murmur, his hands still upon the two divine artifacts.
“You told me to become a shaman among people. Now that I have obtained the second artifact, what can I do, and what must I do?”
His Guardian Spirit had always remained silent, never speaking directly to him.
Yet this time, he desperately hoped it would be different.
Kang Hyung-seok waited for a long while for his Guardian Spirit to appear, but no response came.
Disappointment welled up inside him, but he let it pass with a bitter smile.
Just as he was about to put away the divine artifacts, it happened.
Whoooosh.
A tremendous presence surged from behind him.
Darkness descended, painting his vision black.
Possession.
Though startled by the unexpected possession, Kang Hyung-seok did not panic as he once would have.
Thud.
From beyond the darkness, a general clad in black armor began to walk forward.
His footsteps were heavy, and the aura he emanated was extraordinary.
Unlike before, his appearance was immaculate.
There was no Changgwi, no corpse, no blood.
“You have come.”
Kang Hyung-seok bowed respectfully toward him.
-My shaman.
A clear voice resonated within his mind.
Kang Hyung-seok felt goosebumps rise across his entire body as he looked up at his Guardian Spirit.
It was the voice of the divine that he had longed to hear.
The call from the god who had remained silent until now.
“Are you speaking to me now?”
Kang Hyung-seok gazed at the Guardian Spirit’s face, obscured by shadow, and asked again.
The Guardian Spirit answered with silence, and Kang Hyung-seok gripped the divine blade with all his strength.
The divine blade symbolizes the Shamanic martial art.
A sacred instrument that allows one to draw near to divinity.
And now, at last, that divine blade granted me the ability to hear the voice of the divine.
“Speak, I beg you. What must I do?”
Kang Hyung-seok poured out a question he had longed to ask for so very long.
“I have strived to become a Shaman among people. I have not turned away from those who suffer. I have protected those in need as if they were my own flesh and blood.”
He paused briefly, swallowing hard before continuing.
“Have I been doing this correctly?”
Whether everything I had done thus far was right.
Whether it was truly virtuous.
Only the Guardian Spirit could tell me, yet he had remained silent all this time.
-You are my disciple. My vessel.
The Guardian Spirit, who had been that way, now spoke.
It was an answer that quenched a long thirst.
-You have always been right.
An answer delivered through spiritual possession.
Not through voice, but through soul entering mine.
Thus the Guardian Spirit’s answer transcended mere speech.
In this communion of soul to soul, the answer came without a shred of hesitation or doubt, conveying everything perfectly.
-You have walked the righteous path.
It was the most complete and perfect affirmation in all the world.
An answer that seemed to affirm my very existence was more than enough to fill the void of questions I had carried all this time.
“…Thank you.”
Kang Hyung-seok spoke in a low, trembling voice, and the Guardian Spirit continued.
-Now you have obtained the divine blade.
This was the moment.
Because I remained in a state of spiritual possession, I could fully understand the Guardian Spirit’s intentions.
“Please, tell me.”
Kang Hyung-seok read the Guardian Spirit’s will, which itself seemed parched with urgency.
“What must I do?”
At that moment, the Guardian Spirit drew a blade from the sheath at his waist.
Then he spoke directly into my mind.
-There is a place where your aid is desperately needed.
Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes narrowed.
-Go there and save yourself.
The Guardian Spirit’s final words followed.
And darkness began to fade away gradually.
As the background grew brighter, the Guardian Spirit’s form became increasingly blurred.
Soon the surroundings returned to normal, and I was back at my house.
Kang Hyung-seok gazed blankly around before exhaling deeply as he looked at the sacred tool in his hand.
‘What is this? He’s telling me to save myself….’
This time, use that power not for others, but for yourself.
That’s what the Guardian Spirit’s words felt like.
But then, where exactly could that place be?
It was as Kang Hyung-seok stared down at the sacred blade with troubled eyes.
Zzzzzing!
My phone, charging in the bedroom, rang.
‘Could it be?’
Was this also guidance from the Guardian Spirit?
Kang Hyung-seok placed the sacred tool on the dining table with a contemplative expression, then checked his phone in the inner room.
The caller was Professor Kim Jae-sik.
He had been my advisor during university and the one who provided hints during the Goblin incident.
Click.
Kang Hyung-seok pressed the answer button with a deeply thoughtful expression.
“Yes, Professor.”
“Sorry for calling so late! Were you sleeping?”
“No. It’s not that late, actually.”
Kang Hyung-seok, who had called the professor early in the morning before, laughed sheepishly.
“About that thing you asked me before—did it work out okay?”
“Ah, yes! Thanks to you, it wrapped up well, Professor.”
“Good. So there wasn’t anything else strange happening, right?”
“No. Nothing unusual occurred.”
I couldn’t tell him the truth because of Kim Jae-sik’s nature.
He was a folklorist.
If he heard that Kang Hyung-seok had encountered a Goblin and resolved the Malevolent Goblin using the Great Goblin, he would undoubtedly bombard me with relentless questions.
Whether it was true didn’t matter.
What mattered was why I said such a thing, and if it felt convincing, he would approach it from an academic perspective.
Just imagining it made my breath catch.
“But what’s the occasion for calling, Professor?”
“Well, hearing your voice after so long just felt good.”
“I’m sorry for not contacting you sooner.”
“Don’t apologize! You’re a working adult now, so it’s only natural. Anyway, how’s your schedule looking for the 15th next week?”
“The 15th?”
Kang Hyung-seok looked at his phone and made a humming sound through his nose.
“I’m free that day.”
“Then shall we hang out together after all this time?”
For a moment, I felt transported back to my university days.
Professor Kim Jae-sik used to say things like that often back then.
“Is there somewhere you need to go?”
(Professor Jang wanted to see me after all this time. Do you remember? Professor Jang.)
“Of course. He’s your colleague, after all.”
His name would have been Jang Jun.
I’d occasionally seen the two of them eating together at the university cafeteria.
(That friend actually moved back to the countryside not long ago. He said it’s a place with beautiful mountains and fresh air. He kept insisting I visit, saying “come by, come by.” Maybe this time I should actually go.)
“Ah, I wasn’t aware of that.”
For a moment, I felt an odd sense of dissonance.
The flow of conversation wasn’t particularly special or unusual.
It was the kind of casual exchange two people who hadn’t spoken in a while could easily have.
But this call had come right after the possession.
I wondered if, in this world where all connections are fate, Kim Jae-sik was trying to guide me somewhere specific.
“Is there perhaps another reason besides that?”
At my cautious question, Kim Jae-sik burst into hearty laughter.
(Ha! Your intuition is still sharp! Actually, there’s been some kind of incident happening there lately.)
“…An incident?”
(Yeah. Animals at the livestock farm have been dying in droves without any clear cause. And apparently people have died too.)
People as well…?
My eyes narrowed, and Kim Jae-sik continued.
(The causes are all different, but there’s a very interesting rumor going around. People are saying it’s a curse. In this day and age, can you believe it?)
I crossed my arms as I listened to the phone call.
This was definitely not ordinary.
I had a feeling something was going on.
But the Guardian Spirit had told me to protect myself.
If there was a connection between what Professor Kim Jae-sik was describing and me, what could it be?
“Did anyone mention what the curse was related to?”
It must have been my serious tone.
Thinking I’d shown interest, Kim Jae-sik responded with enthusiasm.
(Apparently there were originally two elephant statues in front of the place, but someone damaged them recently.)
“A curse from elephants?”
Could something like that actually happen in South Korea?
Finding it absurd, I raised one eyebrow, and Kim Jae-sik said “nah.”
(No, they’re not old enough to have accumulated that kind of curse. But do you know why they were installed in the first place?)
“….”
(Well, they were supposed to suppress a tiger.)
‘A tiger.’
I unconsciously touched my neck.
Something had surfaced in my mind unbidden.
The entity that had threatened me even without the Shaman’s Bell. And the blood surrounding the Guardian Spirit, and its corpse.
At the same time, a malevolent spirit deeply connected to tigers.
It was Changgwi.
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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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