An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 94
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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 93
Part 7. Tiger’s Calamity (2)
“I’m attorney Lee Ha-yoon.”
Lee Ha-yoon handed her business card to the young police officer.
It was the Police Station in the late hours of dawn.
A corpse had been discovered.
Kang Hyung-seok and Kim Jae-sik, the first witnesses, had to file their statements, and Lee Ha-yoon, Shin Jung-ah’s friend and an attorney, participated in the process.
“Ah, yes, yes.”
The police officer, accepting the business card with a reluctant expression, turned to look at Kang Hyung-seok sitting in the metal chair, wondering just what kind of person he was.
“If you need to contact anyone, you can reach me. Then I’ll be taking them home now.”
This sort of situation wasn’t common.
From an ordinary office worker discovering a corpse to calling in an attorney.
As a result, they could no longer detain Kang Hyung-seok and Kim Jae-sik.
“You’re free to go.”
The police officer spoke with a reluctant tone, and Lee Ha-yoon, Kang Hyung-seok, and Kim Jae-sik walked out of the Police Station.
Even as they left, the police officer’s eyes followed Kang Hyung-seok with the unmistakable look of someone wondering just what he did for a living.
“Thank you for coming despite the late hour.”
“No, it’s nothing. You’ve helped me before anyway.”
Kang Hyung-seok laughed awkwardly in front of the Police Station, and Lee Ha-yoon let out a long sigh and shook her head.
“Actually, it wouldn’t have been a major problem even without me.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. It’s that kind of case anyway….”
Lee Ha-yoon trailed off as she watched Kim Jae-sik, who still seemed dazed.
Professor Jang Jun was unmistakably the work of a beast.
His organs were exposed, torn open by something sharp—but the marks suggested fangs rather than a blade.
Most importantly, an alibi had been established.
“Just to be safe, get your work entry records and secure your call logs. And I’ll back up the dashcam footage.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Lee Ha-yoon scratched her head as if there was something she couldn’t easily bring herself to say.
Seeing her like this, Shin Jung-ah inevitably came to mind.
“Wait, let me grab a cigarette over there.”
“Oh, yes.”
Kang Hyung-seok excused himself to Kim Jae-sik before heading with Lee Ha-yoon to the smoking area in the corner of the Police Station.
There happened to be a man with a file folder tucked under his arm, and Lee Ha-yoon spoke comfortably.
“About Jung-ah, you know. Did something happen between you two?”
“Pardon?”
“No, that girl’s lost it. Half of it.”
Lee Ha-yoon made a circular motion with her finger against her temple.
“You might not know this, Hyung-seok, but she doesn’t get surprised by most things, right? But something happened, and she’s been really strange lately.”
“…Isn’t he doing terribly?”
“Just recently, I tried to force him to eat some pork soup, but would you believe it—he can’t even eat that pork soup he used to love.”
Of all the rotten timing.
Kang Hyung-seok squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.
“Do you have any idea what’s wrong?”
“It seems like it might last for a while.”
“What on earth happened between the two of them?”
“It’s a long story. Please keep him away from pork for now. Especially anything with organs.”
“I can’t make sense of this. Sigh.”
Lee Ha-yoon furrowed her brow as if she couldn’t even begin to guess.
How could she possibly know?
That he’d been possessed by a Goblin and devoured pork organs.
That’s why I’d kept it secret, yet somehow his memories seemed to be returning.
“How is he doing at the Company?”
“He’s been avoiding me.”
“Ugh, the girl. What’s her problem anyway?”
Kang Hyung-seok pressed his lips together and shook his head.
“You don’t need to worry about it. Anyway, thank you so much for your help. Will you stay a bit longer?”
“No. I need to head back up right away.”
“It’s late though.”
“There’s something I can’t be late for.”
She’s a lawyer. Lee Ha-yoon is.
And having just opened her own office, she must have countless things demanding her attention.
“I’m sorry about this.”
“Oh! It’s fine. Well then, I’ll be going.”
Lee Ha-yoon glanced at Kim Jae-sik standing alone and clicked her tongue softly.
“Please take good care of him. His expression looks really bad.”
“…I will.”
“Yes, then.”
Lee Ha-yoon bowed her head to Kang Hyung-seok and hurried out of the Police Station.
Watching her figure disappear, Kang Hyung-seok exhaled deeply and turned around.
It was toward Kim Jae-sik, who still hadn’t recovered from the shock of losing his friend.
***
Click.
As I inserted the card key, the motel room’s lights flickered on.
It was a nearby motel.
Kang Hyung-seok, who had entered with Kim Jae-sik, set down his bag and opened his mouth.
“Are you doing alright?”
“Yeah.”
Watching Kim Jae-sik, whose mind was still half-gone, Kang Hyung-seok ran his tongue across the bitter taste in his mouth.
“You don’t look well, Professor.”
“….”
“You need to keep your spirits up.”
It was then.
Kim Jae-sik’s lips pressed tightly together, and the corners trembled.
“Professor Jang asked to see me.”
“…Professor.”
“When you said you’d come too, that man was so happy.”
“….”
“I don’t understand. Why, why so suddenly. Damn it.”
Kim Jae-sik rubbed his rough lips with his fingers, his brow furrowing.
The gesture seemed both contemplative and like he was desperately holding back emotions threatening to spill out.
It was disheartening.
Kang Hyung-seok rubbed his own lips and spoke softly.
“They’ll catch the culprit.”
“Did it look like something a person would do, in your opinion?”
Struck by the question like a dagger, Kang Hyung-seok found himself at a loss for words.
But soon he parted his heavy lips and voiced his thoughts.
“It is strange.”
“Right?”
Contrary to expectations, Kim Jae-sik’s eyes were sharp and focused.
The glistening pupils, glistening with moisture, made them appear even more so.
“The police say it looks like a wild boar attack, but I can’t believe it. What wild boar sneaks into a neighbor’s place, closes the door behind itself, and leaves?”
The scene was exactly like that.
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t something a person had done.
It seemed like the work of something sharp, but rather than a blade, it resembled the marks of tusks, and parts of the body had vanished.
At first glance, it looked like a grotesque murder, but the pattern wasn’t something a human would create.
“The details will come to light once the autopsy results are in.”
“Sigh.”
Kim Jae-sik rubbed his face, trying to regain composure as much as possible. But the thought already firmly lodged in his mind didn’t fade easily.
“You’re right. You’re correct, Hyung-seok.”
Kang Hyung-seok nodded heavily and shifted his gaze toward the curtained window.
Professor Jang’s room had a window too.
However, security bars were installed on the window, making it impossible for anyone to break in.
It was, quite literally, a situation that would startle even a ghost.
‘A ghost.’
Kang Hyung-seok gnawed at his lower lip.
The faint, ghostly scent I had detected at Professor Jang’s House still seemed to linger at the tip of my nose.
“When you last contacted Professor Jang recently, was there anything unusual?”
Kim Jae-sik’s gaze shifted toward me as he organized his belongings, and I threw him a look that said I had suddenly thought of it.
“Just… I suddenly became curious.”
“Well, there wasn’t anything particularly strange.”
No, that wasn’t quite right.
It was Professor Jang who had told Kim Jae-sik about the broken elephant statue.
Perhaps Professor Jang had been trying to investigate something to share with Kim Jae-sik, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Could that have been why he fell victim to this?
‘No. It could just be speculation. And now that the investigation has begun, I won’t be able to enter Professor Jang’s House anyway.’
Kang Hyung-seok squeezed his eyes shut, exhaled a thin sigh, and shook his head.
“The professor needs to rest too. Will you be heading up tomorrow?”
“I have to arrange the funeral.”
Kim Jae-sik sat on the edge of the bed with a forlorn expression, resting his arms across his knees.
“He has no family, so I should at least take care of his final journey.”
“…I understand.”
“What about you? Don’t you need to go to the Company?”
“I can explain the situation and take a day off. It should be fine.”
“Let me know if you need my help.”
Kim Jae-sik was friends with the CEO, so he could arrange some understanding.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Kang Hyung-seok answered with a faint smile, and Kim Jae-sik followed suit, lifting the corners of his mouth slightly.
But it was a smile far too obviously forced.
“Come on. It’s late.”
“You get some rest first.”
“What about you?”
Kim Jae-sik’s gaze fell upon me just as he was about to lie down on the bed.
“I have some urgent matters to handle at the Cafe, then I’ll come back.”
“Phew! I’m sorry, Hyung-seok. Because of me…”
“Please don’t say that.”
Somehow, I had ended up staying with Kim Jae-sik until this hour. Having gone to the Police Station, I hadn’t had a single moment to handle any work.
Kim Jae-sik understood this, so he couldn’t hold me back.
“If work gets busy, I may not be able to return. But please make sure to have breakfast in the morning.”
“All right. And if anything comes up, contact me right away.”
“Understood. Then sleep well.”
Kim Jae-sik sent an apologetic look toward me as I gathered my bag.
She lay down on the bed first, and Kang Hyung-seok spent a moment checking work emails on his phone.
Kim Jae-sik didn’t take long to fall asleep.
Click.
After dimming the lights, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the motel where only breathing sounds echoed.
My face was heavy with thought, and my clenched fists were slick with cold sweat.
I tried to appear composed.
I didn’t want to unsettle Kim Jae-sik, didn’t want to provoke him further, didn’t want to pour gunpowder onto the flames already roiling with anxiety.
‘If what harmed Professor Jang Jun wasn’t human…’
I couldn’t dare say that everything had ended.
Kang Hyung-seok rubbed his parched mouth with his tongue and retrieved the kidney blade from his bag.
Then, against the blade he honed only for this purpose, I pressed my thumb to create a small wound.
Kang Hyung-seok smeared the blood onto the window frame.
Blood has traditionally been a tool of sorcery.
It carries the image of cursing someone, but that’s because wishes dissolve into it so easily.
‘May Professor Kim Jae-sik remain safe.’
With that wish embedded in my heart, I painted blood along the window frame and door frame with the care of someone inscribing a protective charm, then scattered salt densely across them.
As long as they remained closed, it wouldn’t be noticed.
Especially the window frame—the white salt barely showed against the sash.
After meticulously performing this minimal ward, I returned the kidney blade to my bag.
Then I turned back once to look at Kim Jae-sik, deeply asleep, and turned away with a face as heavy as the darkness that filled the room.
Click, clack!
The sound of the door closing followed me as I stepped into the brightly lit hallway.
Walking down the corridor, I rubbed my parched lips.
My purpose had become clear.
I would eliminate whatever had done this to Professor Jang Jun.
And I would fulfill the mission the Guardian Spirit had given me.
Kang Hyung-seok still hadn’t saved himself.
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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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