Exorcism Specialist Company: Ghost Soul Trading - Chapter 38

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 38

I recalled a story I’d heard from my seniors back when I served in the military.
A soldier who loses their dog tag cannot return home.
If a soldier falls in combat and a comrade doesn’t retrieve their dog tag, they remain forever at the place of death.
It was meant to emphasize the importance of safeguarding one’s dog tag, but in this very moment, the words felt terrifyingly real.
“In a situation like this, shouldn’t we be searching for the soldiers’ remains?”
Ye-rim asked, looking toward Moon So-ryeong.
Moon So-ryeong studied the map with a thoughtful expression for a moment, then shook her head.
“Why would we do that, Manager Yoon? We catch ghosts.”
She tore her eyes from the map and headed straight outside.
Tae-woo and Ye-rim followed her to the front of the building.
She gathered the arrows scattered across the ground, placed them back in her quiver, and pointed toward the next door.
We were to continue the search.
Tae-woo and Ye-rim exchanged glances, then opened the next door according to her instructions and continued their sweep.

* * *

Creak—
As the door opened, an extraordinarily aged barracks interior came into view.
With a central corridor and bunks on either side, it had the quintessential atmosphere of an old military barracks.
The storage lockers were also simple wooden single-tier cabinets, heavily corroded by time.
It felt as though a single kick would shatter them into pieces.
I frequently checked my Ghost Radar, monitoring whether any spirits appeared and where they might be hiding.
“There’s nothing here. This area seems completely cleared out.”
Moon So-ryeong shrugged and turned to leave the barracks.
Tae-woo and Ye-rim also confirmed there was nothing and turned to exit.
That was the moment.
I noticed a blue dot appearing on my Ghost Radar.
It was beside and behind the central corridor where Ye-rim stood.
I stopped in my tracks and spun around to survey the surroundings.
But I saw nothing.
“What’s wrong?”
Ye-rim, who had been heading out, turned back with a puzzled expression.
“I’ve detected a spirit nearby.”
I answered quietly.
Right then!

Thud—

A gray arm suddenly shot out from beneath the bed, seizing Ye-rim’s ankle.
“Gasp!”
Ye-rim flinched in surprise and immediately pulled the trigger toward the arm.
Bang bang bang bang—
The spirit’s arm dissolved into black smoke and vanished.
At the same moment, another spirit emerged from the wall at the far end of the barracks.
As if passing through the wall itself, its grotesque face appeared first.
Pitch-black eyes and ashen skin.
Short hair and black veins.
It bore no significant difference from the common spirits I’d encountered so far.
The moment the spirit revealed itself, I immediately drew out the Blood Crimson Blade and hurled it.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—thunk—
The Blood Crimson Blade pierced through the wall and lodged perfectly between the spirit’s brows.
Crack—screeeeeech—
Black smoke cascaded down from the wall like a waterfall.
Witnessing this, Moon So-ryeong slowly nodded.
‘He detected the spirit’s approach before I even sensed it. That radar is impressive.’
As someone who possessed not only spirit sight but also spiritual intuition, she too could detect spirits’ locations in real time.
And because that sense was remarkably fast and sharp, she had been able to rise from an entry-level position to department head by hunting spirits with her bow.
Yet I had detected the spirit faster than her using IT technology.
That alone was impressive and praiseworthy, but there was certainly one risk involved.
Without that smart glass, without the Ghost Radar, I might not notice if a spirit attacked from behind.
After all, they had said my spiritual intuition was lacking compared to other employees.
She acknowledged that I had tremendous growth potential as an employee, but she also believed there were clearly areas that needed improvement.
“I thought they had all come out, but there are still many hiding in various places.”
I climbed onto the bed and pulled out the Blood Crimson Blade embedded in the wall.
That’s when it happened.
The smart glass’s UI flickered briefly, and the Ghost Radar went dark.
Crack—
Simultaneously, the bed I had climbed onto crumbled, and my foot sank through.
The wooden bed had deteriorated from years of neglect.
Grooooooooo—
What appeared through the hole in the collapsed bed were dozens of ‘red eyes’.
Startled, I frantically tried to pull my foot free when gray arms surged up and seized my ankle.
“Ugh!”
As I panicked in shock, Ye-rim immediately began firing.
Bang bang bang bang bang—
Some arms dissolved into black smoke and vanished, but others, even with bullets embedded in them, not only failed to disappear but gripped my ankle even more forcefully.
“Argh!”
I slashed the wrist of the ghost gripping my ankle with the Ghost Slayer Blade.
Screeeech—
The severed hand dissolved into black smoke and vanished, but the severed arm plunged straight into the hollow bed frame.
Disturbed by the sight, I hurried down toward the central aisle.
That’s when something unexpected happened.
The ghost burst violently from the hollow bed, grabbed me by the throat, and hurled me toward the ceiling.
It all happened in an instant.
The force of its emergence was so tremendous that a shockwave erupted around us, sending wood splinters flying in all directions, forcing Ye-rim and Moon So-ryeong to shield their faces and stumble backward.
“Ugh!”
I grimaced as I stared at the ghost’s face.
It looked no different from the other ghosts I’d encountered so far.
Gray skin, veins darkened to black, and eyes pitch-black.
But that wasn’t all.
Its back sprouted multiple arms like wings, and across its abdomen, chest, belly, and thighs, human faces were embedded in its flesh.
It resembled several people kneaded together like clay into a single form.
Every face—both the ghost’s own and those embedded in its body—was furrowed with deep wrinkles as if contorted in maximum agony.
“Raaaagh!”
I drove the Blood Crimson Blade I was holding down into its shoulder.
Black smoke billowed from where the blade pierced, but the creature didn’t dissolve.
Screech— Thud—
An arrow suddenly flew through the air, piercing the ghost’s temple and bursting out the other side.
Moon So-ryeong had fired it.
Yet the ghost still didn’t dissolve.
Instead, it turned its head toward Moon So-ryeong with an expression of even greater fury.
Drip, drip, drip—
Then the ghost began weeping tears of blood.
Simultaneously, an incredibly intense cold swept through every corner of the barracks.
It felt as though we were trapped inside an industrial freezer of immense power.
“Damn it!”
I seized the ghost’s hair with one hand and, with the Ghost Slayer Blade in my other hand, severed its neck clean through.
Thud—
I, who had been lifted to the ceiling’s height, landed back on the ground.
The ghost’s head hung in my hand, while before me, the ghost’s body—the Blood Crimson Blade still embedded in its shoulder—swayed unsteadily.
“Why… why hasn’t it dissolved yet?”
Ye-rim muttered, furrowing her brow.
“It’s a high-rank one. Can’t you tell?”
Moon So-ryeong answered as she nocked her next arrow.
At that moment, I finished it off by slashing horizontally across the ghost’s abdomen with decisive force.

Shhhhwooooosh—

Black smoke erupted along the sword’s trajectory, and the spirit dissipated.
Pop—
Simultaneously, with a sound like a balloon bursting, an enormous volume of black smoke exploded from within the Barracks bunk.

Gooooooooo—

The black smoke that emerged from slashing the spirit didn’t irritate my eyes or respiratory system, but it completely obscured my vision in an instant.
Tae-woo and his group huddled briefly, waiting for the smoke to clear.

Ssssshhhhh—

Moments later, a cold wind swept in from outside once more, and the black smoke vanished.
Click—
Tae-woo’s smart glasses UI returned to normal as well.
“Is it really over now?”
I checked the radar and surveyed my surroundings.
“This one didn’t show up on the radar?”
Moon So-ryeong asked, and I nodded.
“Yes. When the spirit emerged from the wall earlier, it was detected on the radar just before appearing, but the spirit that burst from the floor wasn’t detected at all. In fact, it seemed like the device went haywire for a moment.”
I removed my smart glasses and examined them from different angles before putting them back on.
“The device malfunctioning is something that happens intermittently when spirits appear. Don’t rely too heavily on that device. Develop your own intuition to sense spirits.”
“Yes, understood.”
I answered and put my smart glasses back on.
“Chief, what rank was this spirit?”
Ye-rim asked, still unable to hide her bewildered expression.
Moon So-ryeong briefly surveyed the surrounding scene before answering curtly.
“Grade 5 Mute Spirit. I’m fairly certain of it.”
“Grade 5?”
Ye-rim’s expression grew even more shocked.
“Why are you so surprised? It definitely seemed like a Grade 5.”
“It didn’t seem that strong though. Its appearance was a bit strange, but—”
“—You don’t know what you’re talking about. First, my arrows, the Blood Water Blade, and the Ghost Slayer Sword all struck it, yet it didn’t dissipate. That means it was a spirit bound together by resentment and willpower. Second, when it dissipated, black smoke erupted from beneath the bunk here, right? Other spirits following that one were clustered beneath this bunk. When it dissipated, they dissipated along with it.”
“Is that what they call ‘chain dissipation’ that I’ve only heard about?”
“Yes. Sounds like you’ve heard of it. And look at its form. Multiple spirits were fused into one body. A spirit that absorbs other spirits. That was the typical form of a ‘Mute Spirit.'”
Moon So-ryeong answered nonchalantly and then left the Barracks.
Ye-rim nodded with an animated expression and gestured for me to move.
Chain dissipation.
This was one of the unique phenomena that occurred when a Grade 5 Mute Spirit appeared.
Each grade of spirit possessed abilities suited to its rank.
When becoming a Grade 2 Bokryeong Spirit, one could gain the ability to manipulate the target’s psyche, and upon reaching Grade 3 Saryeong, beyond psychological manipulation, one could control humans themselves and even serve as the leader of other spirits.
And at Grade 4, they possessed extreme violence capable of attacking living humans while carrying objects.
Next came Grade 5 Mukjin Spirits.
Mukjin Spirits possessed all the abilities mentioned above, and additionally had the capacity to absorb other spirits.
In other words, they absorbed the resentment of other spirits as their own, becoming an “integrated” spirit.
Because of this, they sometimes grew enormously large, or many souls condensed within a normal human body size, forming an exceptionally “solid” form.
The spirit that had strangled Tae-woo’s neck moments ago was precisely the latter case.
That’s why it wasn’t easily vanquished by Guihon’s arrows, ghost-hunting blades, or blood-draining swords—but the moment it was destroyed, the compressed air that had been condensed exploded, and all the spirits it had absorbed vanished at once, engulfing the entire barracks in black smoke.
Among the Guihon Trading Company Training Team, this was called “chain annihilation.”
It was because all the spirits absorbed and trapped within the Mukjin Spirit were destroyed one after another.
Up to Grade 4 Jangdo Spirits could be seen at various sites, but Grade 5 Mukjin Spirits were rarely encountered, so the chain annihilation phenomenon wasn’t a common occurrence either.
“The reason we struggled just now was the sudden encounter in such a confined space. What do you think would have happened if we’d met one of these in a wider area? Everyone stay alert. Since there’s a Mukjin Spirit at the entrance, we don’t know what else might appear ahead.”
Moon So-ryeong added a word to Ye-rim before brushing the dust from her clothes.

Exorcism Specialist Company Guihon Trading Chapter 38

Author
Cha Woo Renz
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover
Lee Chi

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260318158.0038

ⓒ2026, Cha Woo Renz

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

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————