An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 93

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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 92
Part 7. The Scourge of the Tiger (1)
Day 15.
The engine hummed.
Kang Hyung-seok drove toward Professor Kim Jae-sik’s house.
The sun, barely risen, was beginning to illuminate the eastern ridgeline.
The air carried the scent of dawn, yet without any chill.
The tires rumbled over the uneven road.
This was near the American military base in Pyeongtaek.
Passing a place known for its homemade burgers, he ventured deeper into the residential district and slowed his pace.
Professor Kim Jae-sik’s house was here.
The car door swung open.
As Kang Hyung-seok stepped out, a man with graying hair standing before a house greeted him with a warm smile.
“Well, well! It’s been a while, you rascal.”
“I hope you’ve been well, Professor.”
“You still talk like a soldier, don’t you?”
Kang Hyung-seok shook hands with Kim Jae-sik and climbed into the car.
The seatbelt clicked.
Both men fastened their seatbelts, and Kang Hyung-seok entered a new destination into his phone.
Yeongdong in North Chungcheong—where Professor Jang Jun had retired to farming.
The engine hummed again.
“Still fond of coffee?”
“Always. Tastes don’t change easily, I’ve found.”
I’ll buy you a cup at a rest stop on the way.”
“No, Professor. I’m earning money now—I should treat you instead.”
Perhaps it was because they hadn’t seen each other in so long.
Despite not having drunk any coffee yet, a warm comfort filled the car.
“You seem to stay in touch with Professor Jang Jun quite often.”
“Just a few days ago, actually. Don’t even get me started—whenever I’m about to forget about him, he sends photos through messages. Fishing, farming, and the other day he was bragging about digging up wild bellflower roots.”
“It’s reassuring to hear he’s living so healthily.”
“When I retire, I might just follow Professor Jang and take up fishing myself.”
It was a pleasant thought, and Kang Hyung-seok smiled.
“But what’s all that in the back?”
“Just in case, I brought some personal items.”
“We won’t be there for that long.”
“Better safe than sorry. I packed a portable charger and my laptop.”
Inside the bag were tools for work.
And naturally, other things as well.
The sacred blade and Shaman’s Bell were among them.
“Has that boss of yours been giving you trouble?”
“The CEO? I hardly ever see him.”
“Right, you’re in sales, so you probably spend more time out in the field than at the office.”
“That’s not entirely accurate.”
Kang Hyung-seok drove toward Chungbuk while exchanging casual conversation with Kim Jae-sik.
At a Rest Stop along the way, Kim Jae-sik bought coffee, and Kang Hyung-seok bought food.
“You don’t need to do that. What money do you have?”
“When I was a student, I ate so much thanks to you, Professor. Really, it’s fine.”
“You rascal, goodness.”
Overall, my reunion with Kim Jae-sik felt wonderful.
The two of us climbed back into the car and drove straight along the highway.
We arrived in Chungbuk at 2:30 in the afternoon.
But we didn’t head directly to Professor Jang.
“Don’t you need to contact him first?”
“He’ll understand. There’s time. If we arrive around dinner time, it’ll be perfect.”
Kim Jae-sik seized the opportunity of our awkward arrival time.
“Could you pull over for a moment in front of that bridge?”
“Yes, of course.”
I gradually slowed the car without asking why.
I had a rough idea.
In front of the concrete bridge stood two stone statues.
One maintained the form of an elephant perfectly, but the other did not.
Click, click-click!
While Kim Jae-sik photographed the broken statue from different angles, I stood beside him with my hands in my pockets, gazing at the other statue.
An elephant, of all things.
Click-click!
“Isn’t it fascinating, Hyung-seok?”
Kim Jae-sik spoke while taking photographs.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“The villagers pooled their money to build elephant statues. Of all animals, why elephants?”
“I looked it up—apparently they chose elephants because they’re stronger than tigers.”
Kim Jae-sik lowered his phone and flashed a bright smile.
“Wow, you’ve done your research?”
“It sparked my curiosity.”
“What a shame. Someone like you should have come to graduate school.”
Even though it was a joke, I shuddered with a nervous laugh.
“Over time, stories like this become oral tradition and then recorded history, don’t they?”
“That’s right.”
Kim Jae-sik touched the broken statue with a suddenly solemn expression.
It was a statue made by pouring concrete into a mold.
Though it lacked intricate craftsmanship and refinement, its intent and desperation were unmistakably profound.
“People are always like that. Regardless of the era, when something incomprehensible occurs, they lean on the supernatural.”
Knowing what had transpired in this place, Kang Hyung-seok nodded in agreement.
He had heard that many livestock and people had died here.
From a modern perspective, it could have been a zoonotic plague or merely a tragic coincidence.
“They say this region once suffered frequent tiger attacks, but where in South Korea hasn’t experienced such things?”
“It’s difficult to find a region without tiger burial mounds.”
“It happened nationwide, after all.”
Being killed by a tiger was called a tiger attack.
And tiger attacks were not regarded as mere accidents.
They were seen as fate ordained by spirits.
So rather than sympathize with victims of tiger attacks, people feared and avoided them.
Families touched by tiger attacks were shunned—no one would marry into such households.
They were denied proper burials.
The only grave permitted to those who fell to tigers was a stone cairn called a tiger burial mound.
“Looking at it now, it’s hard to fathom how people could be so cruel.”
“In a way, it seems similar to vampires.”
“Are you referring to Changgwi?”
“Yes.”
Kim Jae-sik nodded with a troubled expression and released a heavy sigh.
“In the sense that victims become perpetrators, you could see it that way. Changgwi are, after all, those entangled by tigers.”
Kim Jae-sik sighed once more and meticulously examined the stored photographs.
“We’ve spent too much time here. Let’s go.”
“Is there nowhere else you’d like to explore?”
“Professor Jang lives in a remote area. If we have time, we might take a walk around the vicinity.”
With that, Kim Jae-sik began walking toward the car.
Following behind him, Kang Hyung-seok turned his head to glance back at the elephant statue.
His expression was contemplative.
‘If the villagers thought of tiger attacks when faced with such strange phenomena, how frequent must they have been?’
There were many things that could be paired with strange phenomena.
Foxes, ravens, goblins, or serpents—or perhaps yokai.
Yet the villagers who erected this statue had thought of tigers.
A region so plagued by tiger attacks.
Then how many Changgwi must exist in this place?
Thump.
Kang Hyung-seok shook his head to dispel the thoughts and followed Kim Jae-sik.
***
The engine rumbled to a stop.
Kang Hyung-seok had cut the ignition in a quiet rural neighborhood.
“Ah, how peaceful and serene.”
Kim Jae-sik’s remark spoke volumes—Professor Jang Jun’s residence was nestled in a tranquil countryside village.
A man who had spent his entire life guiding young students and conducting research at the university.
After retirement, he must have wanted to live in a place like this, away from the crowds.
“I’m envious. Truly envious. When will I ever get to live somewhere like this?”
Kim Jae-sik muttered with genuine longing in his voice, while Kang Hyung-seok surveyed the surroundings.
Each house had its own stone wall and courtyard.
There was a faint smell of livestock from nearby farms, though it wasn’t overwhelming.
“Look, there’s even a well over there. A well!”
Kim Jae-sik’s excitement bubbled over like a child visiting an amusement park as he headed toward Professor Jang’s house.
This was definitely a retired professor’s residence.
The exterior was immaculate, distinctly different from the other homes around it.
It appeared he had purchased the land and had the house newly constructed.
Ding-dong.
Kim Jae-sik pressed the doorbell and waited with a smile.
But when there was no response, his smile faded.
“It seems he’s stepped out for a moment.”
“This man would have called if he was going anywhere….”
Ding-dong.
Kim Jae-sik pressed the doorbell again and pulled out his phone.
He called Professor Jang, but the line didn’t connect even after pressing the call button three times.
“What is this man doing….”
Worry creased Kim Jae-sik’s brow.
Jingle.
A faint bell chime emanated from the backpack Kang Hyung-seok was carrying.
A sacred object that sensed danger and protected its master.
Kang Hyung-seok’s consciousness shifted to the backpack as Kim Jae-sik exhaled sharply and pressed the call button once more.
“This isn’t like him. Something’s wrong.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“Wait, let’s be a bit more careful.”
Kim Jae-sik grasped the doorknob, anxiety flooding his features as he turned it.
He expected the door to be locked, naturally.
Click.
But the knob turned limply, as if it had been waiting for their arrival.
“What?”
Kim Jae-sik and Kang Hyung-seok’s eyes met.
Creak!
Kim Jae-sik immediately pushed the door open and rushed inside.
Crash!
A shovel and umbrella that Professor Jang had propped against the shoe rack toppled over with a deafening clatter.
“Professor Jang! Professor Jang!”
An elderly man lived alone in this house.
He wasn’t answering calls, and the door wasn’t locked.
Anxiety gnawed at Kim Jae-sik—the fear that something terrible had occurred—draining the color from his face and etching desperation into his features.
“Professor Jang!”
Shouting, Kim Jae-sik was methodically throwing open each door.
Creak!
The door to what appeared to be the inner room swung wide, and Kim Jae-sik—who had been moving with such urgency—froze abruptly.
Then he collapsed to the floor as though his legs had given way.
“Professor Jang….”
Kang Hyung-seok, following behind him, immediately shielded Kim Jae-sik’s eyes.
“Professor, don’t look.”
“Wait, Professor Jang….”
Grip!
Kang Hyung-seok seized Kim Jae-sik’s shoulders firmly and gazed into the room with a devastated expression.
Professor Jang Jun was someone he knew personally.
He had shared coffee with Kim Jae-sik in the professor’s office.
A man of good character and warm disposition.
And yet, this sight was unbearable to witness.
Buzz.
Flies swarmed around the corpse, circling endlessly.
Maggots writhed and churned in grotesque undulation.
Blood spattered across the ceiling had dried to a blackened crust, while the acrid stench of iron and decay assaulted the nostrils mercilessly.
The reek of blood.
And the stench of death.
“Ugh! Hngh, uuuugh.”
Wrapping his arms around the sobbing Kim Jae-sik’s shoulders, Kang Hyung-seok gazed upon the tragic remains of Professor Jang Jun.
Ding, ding, ding.
The Shaman’s Bell continued to ring softly and steadily.

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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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