Exorcism Specialist Company: Ghost Soul Trading - Chapter 18

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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 18

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-
I burst forward with fierce determination, chasing the ghost that had emerged from Yuria Collection.
Despite the fall from that height, I felt no pain whatsoever.
No—my singular focus on capturing the ghost left no room to register such trivial suffering.
I ran with burning intensity, adjusting my grip on the blade.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-
Ghosts erupted from the surrounding shops.
Each wore different clothing and bore grotesque visages.
What they shared was twisted facial features and skin the color of a corpse—ashen gray.
Yet I pressed forward, my eyes fixed only on the fleeing ghost ahead.

Slice-slice-slice-slice-
Slice-slice-slice-slice-

I swung my blade with blinding speed at the approaching ghosts.
Each ghost I struck dissolved into black smoke and vanished.

Hissssss-

The smoke trailed in the wake of my rapid movement.
My running speed was unnaturally, impossibly fast.
“What—that’s—”
Yoon Ye-rim’s eyes widened as she watched my silhouette, then she snapped to attention and bolted forward herself.
The pain in her knees seemed to fade gradually as she began running.
She too squeezed the trigger, aiming at the heads of the ghosts swarming around her.

Bang-bang-bang-

The spirits struck by the salt-refined BB pellets transformed into black smoke around the impact sites and dissipated into the air.
“Tae-woo! Tae-woo!”
Ye-rim called out to Tae-woo from behind.
At this point, moving quietly was no longer an option.
I decided it would be safer to move together.
But Tae-woo didn’t stop—he kept running forward.
The distance between him and Ye-rim grew wider by the second.
“Ugh. Seriously.”
She felt frustrated, but at the same time, she thought it was fortunate.
If they lost that spirit, it would be difficult to find it again in the complex mart.
Since there were no windows in the mart, the risk of it escaping outside was low—but if the search dragged on, they might have to retreat without capturing it.
Screeeech—
The spirit fleeing from Yuria Collection leaped over a barricade on one side of the first floor.
It had entered the section selling food ingredients and daily necessities.
Tae-woo also vaulted over the 2-meter-high barricade in one leap and landed inside.
“Good grief.”
Watching from a distance, Ye-rim marveled once more, then glanced around before dashing toward the entrance where customers were pulling carts.
Her physical abilities weren’t sufficient to clear a 2-meter barricade.

* * *

“Huff, huff, huff.”
Tae-woo caught his breath and slowly pushed himself up.
Then the familiar sight of a large department store came into view at once.
Not a section where different vendors sold their goods, but an area where the mart itself distributed items directly.
Identical massive display shelves were arranged like a library, stacked with all manner of daily necessities.
Further back, he could see signs for refrigerated sections, fresh food areas, butcher counters, and seafood sections.
But the spirit he’d been chasing so relentlessly was nowhere to be seen.
It had definitely hidden between the shelves.
“Phew.”
He steadied his breathing and turned to look back.
The 2-meter barricade was visible.
He’d simply run hard chasing the spirit—but he couldn’t quite remember how he’d cleared it.
“Was it because of this?”
Tae-woo muttered, looking at the Ghost-Slaying Sword in his hand.
Clatter—
Then a sound came from deeper in the store.
Tae-woo shook his head as if refocusing on the spirit, then rushed back inside.
Screech—
Suddenly, another spirit burst out from between the shelves.
Tae-woo swung his sword upward sharply from directly below the spirit.

Shhwaaaack—

The spirit’s body split in two as it was hurled into the air.
Then it transformed into black smoke that scattered in all directions.
“There!”
Yoon Ye-rim, who had just entered the store, spotted the black smoke spreading above the display counter and rushed toward it.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

Tae-woo continued sprinting forward.
He reached the meat section and seafood corner at the far end of the store.
“Huff.”
He caught his breath and scanned his surroundings.
There was no trace of the spirit.
Tae-woo immediately activated the Ghost Radar.
Siiiiiiiii—
A soft blue light emanated from all the refrigeration units displaying meat and fish around him.
It wasn’t the vivid blue light of a human ghost, but rather an extremely pale, pastel-toned glow.
Confronted with this unfamiliar phenomenon, Tae-woo furrowed his brow and urgently looked around.
That was when it happened.
Tap—
Someone tapped Tae-woo’s shoulder.
Startled, Tae-woo immediately swung his sword backward.
Shhwaaaack—
Thunk—
It was Yoon Ye-rim who had tapped him.
His blade stopped just before it reached her neck.
Yoon Ye-rim’s eyes widened in shock as she looked between Tae-woo and the sword.
If the blade had penetrated just one more centimeter, it would have severed her neck.
What was even more astonishing was that Tae-woo, who had never trained in swordsmanship before, had swung his blade with perfect precision toward Yoon Ye-rim’s neck in his startled reaction.
The power of the Ghost Slash Sword exceeded imagination.
“It’s me.”
At Yoon Ye-rim’s words, Tae-woo immediately lowered his sword.
“Ah. I’m sorry. You startled me.”
Tae-woo spoke while bowing his head.
Yoon Ye-rim patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“But what are you doing here? Did you lose it?”
Yoon Ye-rim asked.
“I lost it, but—something strange showed up on the radar.”
“Something strange?”
“Yes. I’m detecting a very faint aura near the refrigerator section. It’s different from other ghosts—extremely faint….”
“It’s probably the spirits of slaughtered animals.”
“Animals? There are animal ghosts too? I don’t think I’ve seen any until now.”
“There are. Every living being in this world has a soul. Animals are no exception. However—plant spirits are called ‘gakhon,’ and because their cognitive abilities differ from animals, their spirits rarely manifest in the form of ghosts.”
“Gakhon. I see.”
“On the other hand, animal spirits are called ‘chughon,’ and if they die holding resentment, they can appear as ghosts. Animals that die in slaughterhouses like this can also leave their spirits behind. However, since their resentment doesn’t typically take a vengeful form, they rarely manifest in a noticeable physical shape.”
“Then—what about pets that people raise at home…?”
“In those cases, chughon can manifest in physical form. When a deep emotional bond forms with their owner, resentment and grudges can develop.”
The definitions of gakhon and chughon varied depending on the era and religion.
In ancient times, animal spirits were called ‘gakhon’ and human spirits were called ‘spirits,’ but after Christian culture arrived, plant spirits became ‘gakhon’ and human and animal spirits became ‘spirits.’
However, Guihon Trading classified them for administrative convenience: plant spirits as gakhon, animal spirits as chughon, and human spirits as ‘spirits’—the most representative term.
“So an aura of this level from chughon wouldn’t pose an immediate threat to us, right?”
“That’s correct. In a way, it’s unfortunate, but…slaughtered animals rarely hold specific grudges. They were simply afraid of death; they couldn’t have known who to resent or how.”
Ye-rim finished speaking and walked forward.
“Ugh. I’m going to feel weird eating meat from now on.”
“Just eat it. If you worry about every little thing like that, you can’t do this job. The ghosts we obliterate were all living humans just a few years ago.”
She continued speaking quietly while keeping watch of her surroundings.
“Of course, I’m vegan myself.”
At her words, Tae-woo shrugged and adjusted his grip on the Ghost-Slaying Blade.
In any case, we’d already swept through the first floor of the mart on our way here.
The ghost that had been dwelling in the mannequin at Yuria Collection was nowhere to be seen.
“But where the hell is this bastard?”
Ye-rim narrowed her eyes and turned from the food section toward the electronics area.
That’s when it happened.
Pop—
The displayed TVs suddenly turned on in unison, their screens filling with gray static.
Both Tae-woo and Ye-rim jumped in surprise and spun toward the display.
With only half the lights on, the gray static illuminated the surrounding area in an eerie gray glow.

Screeeech—
Grrrraaaaaahhh— Uuuugggghhh— Eeeehhhhh—

Then, the sample speakers displayed elsewhere suddenly turned on and emitted strange sounds.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
A sample robot vacuum inside a small barrier installed on the other side began moving back and forth on its own, cleaning.
Every electronic device in this vicinity had suddenly started operating.
Tae-woo and I exchanged urgent glances, our senses heightened.
That was when it happened.
A ghost suddenly burst out from between the new refrigerators displayed beside us and tackled me.
It was the very same ghost that had fled from Yuria Collection.
“Ugh!”
I tried to aim my gun, but as I fell backward and the ghost pinned me down, I couldn’t mount a proper counterattack.
That was the moment.
Tae-woo, standing a short distance away, immediately drew the Blood Crimson Blade and hurled it directly at the ghost.
Whirrrrrr—
The Blood Crimson Blade spun rapidly through the air and pierced the ghost’s back.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
The ghost shrieked, its mouth gaping wide open.
Immediately, the area where the blade had struck transformed into black smoke, and the ghost vanished completely.
Whoooosh—
Lying in the middle of the mart, I waved away the black smoke with my hand and took a deep breath.
“Phew—”
Then I gave Tae-woo a thumbs up.
“Well done.”
Tae-woo nodded in acknowledgment, approached and helped me to my feet, then picked up the Blood Crimson Blade that had fallen to the floor.

* * *

The next day at lunchtime.
When Tae-woo arrived at work, he spotted Ye-rim, who had come in earlier and was writing up a report.
She was compiling data while reviewing the footage Tae-woo had given her before leaving yesterday.
“So when you activate that ‘Ghost Raider,’ the spirits show up as blue dots on this screen.”
Ye-rim spoke while watching the recorded footage.
Since the Ghost Sensor UI wasn’t captured on the recording, the blue dots weren’t visible either—but she had deduced that blue dots would appear at the moment hidden spirits suddenly manifested.
It seemed she had realized that you could identify where spirits were hiding beforehand.
“Ah, yes, yes. They’re marked with a blue light.”
“I see. That would definitely be helpful.”
“But if there are actually a lot of other spirits nearby, the whole screen fills up with blue, making it hard to see. It probably needs some refinement.”
“Still, being able to find the hidden ones in advance has its merits.”
She watched the footage with fascination, typing text into the document file as she spoke.
Just then, Bang Ji-seok, who had returned from lunch, looked at Ye-rim’s monitor and spoke.
“What’s this? Is this footage that Kim recorded this time?”
“Yes. When Tae-woo uses the Ghost Raider function on his smart glasses, spirits appear marked in blue. See how a blue dot appears at this point on the screen?”
“Really? If there’s a spirit nearby, that would block your view while working.”
“That’s why you can probably turn it on and off. It’s really useful for finding the ones in hiding.”
“Is that so? Well, you’d think some intuition training would handle that.”
He pouted and turned back to his seat.
Tae-woo suddenly got the distinct feeling that Bang Ji-seok didn’t like him.
Just then, Ye-rim’s phone rang.
When she answered, she immediately nodded to Tae-woo.
“Yes, this is Yoon Ye-rim from Training Team 4. Regarding the Ilsan field we handled last night. Yes, I understand. Thank you.”
She hung up and immediately relayed the message to Tae-woo.
“The Settlement Team confirmed everything early this morning. There’s no deduction from the settlement, and they’ve confirmed the spirit has been eliminated. They said they’ll invoice it and count it as our sales.”
It was a call from the Settlement Team.
Tae-woo sat down, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
“Oh, that’s right. Tae-woo, remember that Building Owner Ghost we caught at the Incheon field in our car trunk yesterday? Could you take that box to the Incineration Team? They’re on the very top floor—the 20th floor.”
Ye-rim hurriedly handed him the car keys from her pocket, as if she’d just remembered.
“Yes, yes.”
Tae-woo took the keys and headed straight down to the parking garage.

Guihon Trading Company – Episode 18

Publisher
Chao Lens
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover
Lee Chi

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260318158.0018

ⓒ2026, Chao Lens

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright laws of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of this work may be reproduced or modified in any form without permission from the author and publisher.

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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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