Exorcism Specialist Company: Ghost Soul Trading - Chapter 74

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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 74

“You holding up okay, Manager? You look like you’ve been through the wringer already.”
Cha Jun-ho asked while collecting the empty magazine.
“I apologize. I feel like I’m becoming a burden.”
I brushed dust from my clothes, embarrassed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. In situations like this, hard exorcists like me and Kim Chief always shine more than soft exorcists like you.”
“Still, though…”
“The reason I asked you to come along in the first place was because Jang Min-hee was murdered so tragically as a ghost—if she cooperates, I wanted to guide her to the afterlife gently.”
Cha Jun-ho patted my shoulder reassuringly.
Then he turned to face Tae-woo.
“Anyway, Kim Chief. That was impressive. I’ve seen the footage and heard from other staff, but you’re quite strong. Keep this up and you’ll make Employee of the Month in no time.”
“Th-thank you so much.”
Tae-woo bowed his head, caught off guard by the praise.
“When you make Employee of the Month, the incentives are massive—thousands of won—so everyone’s competing like crazy. But honestly, I figured you wouldn’t be too eager for it since you’re already comfortable financially.”
“That’s not true.”
“You can be honest. Still, there are real benefits to making Employee of the Month. Better equipment support. More major cases. Even if just one team member makes it, the whole team’s sales skyrocket. Right, Manager?”
Cha Jun-ho glanced at me as he spoke.
“Absolutely.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Just do your best.”
He gave Tae-woo’s shoulder an encouraging pat as well.
“Yes, I’ll work hard.”
Tae-woo bowed and replied.
“Bring that LP player in here.”
Cha Jun-ho gestured toward the record player with his chin, then stepped into the Management Office.
Tae-woo quickly gathered the equipment and followed him inside.
The interior contained an ancient computer, audio equipment including a microphone, and a desk with bookshelves.
But they were so covered in mold and cobwebs that it was nearly impossible to make out their shapes in the darkness.
“The stench is unbearable.”
I covered my nose slightly as I spoke.
Then Cha Jun-ho offered Tae-woo a quiet explanation.
“When many ghosts with deep resentment gather, they can produce a foul odor. The old-timers used to call it the ‘scent of the afterlife.’ But really, places with strong yin energy tend to have lots of mold and insects, with decaying matter present—that’s where the stench comes from. And that’s often where ghosts congregate too.”
“Ah. The scent of the afterlife…”
Tae-woo nodded in understanding.
He committed the description to memory.
If he encountered such a smell—it could mean a ghost was about to appear.
“Has the electricity gone out completely here?”
Cha Jun-ho scanned the Management Office quickly and tried flipping the light switch.
But nothing happened.
He checked outside the window and spoke to Jiseok.
“Manager Bang. There’s no utility pole out there, and I can see the power lines going up to the Rooftop, so it looks like they’re using independent power. Go up and turn on the generator.”
“Yes, understood.”
Jiseok answered without hesitation and left the Management Office.
A moment later, he called out from the Rooftop.
“Manager. There are solar panels up here. The battery appears to be fully charged.”
“Okay. Turn it on.”
“Yes, understood.”
The moment Jiseok answered, there was a soft clicking sound.
The fluorescent lights flickered on, and power surged into the computer.
But the computer didn’t boot up—only a blue light glowed from the monitor.
“Wait. But why is there power?”
Jiseok came down from the Rooftop and entered the Management Office, asking the question.
Instead of answering, Cha Jun-ho flipped a large switch on the wall.
Whiiiiiiing—
The streetlamps scattered throughout the Cemetery flickered to life.
Orange light settled across the tiered Cemetery, which had been nothing but pitch black.
Of course, from years of neglect, most of the lights flickered unstably, looking quite precarious.
“I need to draw them all out at once.”
Cha Jun-ho answered matter-of-factly and turned to me.
“Kim Chief. Set up the LP player next to that microphone.”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
I hurriedly placed the LP player beside the microphone and set down Beethoven’s Piano Sonata record that had been playing earlier.
“When this plays, the ghosts will start reacting. Some of them will even come rushing over because they want it. Manager Bang, you stay here and make sure the ghosts don’t take it.”
Cha Jun-ho explained.
The moment I heard those words, I recalled when Yoon Taek-jong, possessed by a ghost at Mando High School, had run off with an LP player.
So he too had been captivated by the stringed instrument sounds and wanted to possess it.
Jiseok nodded solemnly and began pulling out talismans.
He then placed one on each of the Management Office’s windows and doors.
“Play it.”
“Yes.”
The moment I heard Cha Jun-ho’s command, I started the LP player.

[Crackle crackle crackle— Ding— crackle— Ding ding— crackle—]

Beethoven’s piano melody began echoing through the entire Cemetery, transmitted through the microphone.
Due to years of neglect, the sound quality was dreadfully poor, marred by heavy static and noise.
Yet the sound blanketed the entire Cemetery and reverberated, spreading rapidly through the surrounding valleys.
“Then guard it well.”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
I answered while pulling out several portable incense burners and lighting them.
Cha Jun-ho gestured for me to leave, then stepped outside the Management Office.

* * *

As I exited the Management Office, I kept glancing back toward it.
Cha Jun-ho felt my gaze and put his arm around my shoulder.
“Don’t worry about Manager Bang. You think he got that manager title by playing cards?”
Even so—thinking back to what happened in the Bathroom earlier, it seemed like it could be dangerous.
As I remained fixated on the Management Office, Cha Jun-ho added:
“Do you know what characterizes employees who exorcise using soft methods? They excel at defensive techniques. Protecting that small Management Office is nothing for Manager Bang. Let’s go handle the cleaning.”
At those words, I shrugged my shoulders.
Just then, I closed the Management Office door.
Whatever I was doing inside, it seemed I was preparing some kind of countermeasure in anticipation of ghosts swarming in.
“Look ahead.”
Cha Jun-ho released his arm from my shoulder and spoke one last time.
As I looked forward—an extraordinarily eerie scene began unfolding.
The terraced Cemetery spread out before us.
Street lamps that had risen between the graves, their flickering orange light.
Beethoven’s melody, mixed with static, flowing from speakers mounted beneath the street lamps.
And below that, strange wisps of smoke like heat shimmer rising from the ground.
Some of them had taken on human forms.
“Wretched ghosts wandering the nine realms. Let’s help them forget this mortal world.”
Click—!
Cha Jun-ho smiled wickedly and chambered a round.
Then, stepping forward, he began firing at the nearest ghost.
Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat—
With each bullet that flew, the ghost hovering above the grave dissolved into black smoke.
The moment the ghosts recognized the attack had begun, they rushed toward us in unison.
“Go wild and have fun however you want.”
Cha Jun-ho said.
I set down the GPS terminal and drew the Ghost Slayer Blade in one hand and the Blood Severing Blade in the other.
Then I charged toward the oncoming ghosts.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—
Ghosts assaulted me from the sides as well, no small number of them.
They all had half-skeletal appearances, their forms utterly grotesque and spine-chilling.
Some were completely skeletal, wearing only tattered clothes, while others had flesh and muscle clinging to bone like rags.
Yet their eyes and tongues remained intact, which made the sight all the more repulsive.
Pap pap pap pap pap—
Tzzzt tzzzt tzzzt tzzzt—
As I rushed forward, the ghosts charging toward me dissolved into black smoke.
It was covering fire from Cha Jun-ho.
At that moment, a Male Ghost lunged directly at me.
Though standing only about 170 centimeters tall, his broad shoulders were impressively muscular, and he wore a plain hemp hanbok with his long hair flowing loose.
Half his face had turned black while the other half bore a sickly gray pallor—he looked like a corpse in the midst of decomposition.
Thunk thunk thunk—
Bullets embedded themselves in the approaching ghost’s body, but it didn’t dissipate and continued its advance.
“A Jangdo Ghost.”
Cha Jun-ho muttered.
He knew that any ghost not destroyed in a single shot from his bullets was at least a Grade 3 specter or higher.
But I had no such frame of reference yet.
I simply charged forward like a moth to flame.
Shhhhhhh—
My blade reflected the moonlight, gleaming white.
Cha Jun-ho lowered his gun barrel slowly upon seeing that light.
An irresistible urge to observe my swordsmanship in detail had seized him.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap—
As the ghost drew closer, I lowered the tip of my blade.
Screeeech—
The blade’s edge dragged across the earth, sending dirt flying.
The moment we closed distance—
I stepped forward with my left foot, channeling my weight, then drew my Gwicharl Blade upward in a sweeping strike.
Shwaaaaaah—
As dust erupted in the wake of the blade, the moonlit reflection of the Gwicharl Blade traced a path like a laser beam.
The Male Ghost twisted his body sideways with incredible speed, evading the attack.
Screeeech tzzzt tzzzt tzzzt—
Yet the diagonal sword energy bursting from my Gwicharl Blade shot forward even faster, simultaneously cleaving through dozens of ghosts that had been pressing in behind him.
Tzzzt tzzzt tzzzt tzzzt—
Like dominoes, black smoke erupted sequentially.
But my target remained this Male Ghost.
I immediately shifted my stance, throwing my body sideways while swinging my blade.
Whoooosh—
The ghost arched his back, evading the strike.
Then he thrust his upper body forward, using the recoil to pull his neck free.
In that instant, something utterly bizarre occurred.
The Male Ghost’s neck stretched several meters long as it lunged toward Tae-woo with terrifying speed.
If he remained still, he would be struck head-on.
Tae-woo threw himself to the side in alarm.
As he dodged the head strike, he swung his blade upward to sever the neck.
But the ghost, as if anticipating the move, twisted its serpentine neck and evaded the sword.

Hehehehehehehehe—

The ghost turned its head toward Tae-woo, seemingly amused.
Then it released an eerie, cackling laugh.
Flash—
Tae-woo steadied his stance, his eyes gleaming with intensity.
They burned with killing intent and fighting spirit.
From a distance, Cha Jun-ho bit his lower lip as he witnessed that gaze.
That expression.
It was a look he had seen only rarely from the Founder.
Though the Founder typically displayed a gentle demeanor, whenever he wielded the Exorcism Blade to perform exorcisms, such aggressive eyes would occasionally manifest.
Cha Jun-ho, blessed with spiritual sensitivity, could discern that those eyes did not emanate from the Founder’s own nature.
That aggressive gaze belonged to Kim Hwan, who dwelled within the Exorcism Blade.
The weapon’s inherent aggression was being projected outward.
“Kim Chief….”
Cha Jun-ho murmured softly.
In that instant—
Tae-woo’s Exorcism Blade pierced straight through the Male Ghost’s abdomen.
Without pausing, he wrenched the blade sideways and unleashed two more devastating slashes.
Shhhhhhk—
The body of the Grade 4 Long-Sword Ghost was cleaved into four pieces and dissipated into nothingness in midair.
Through the black smoke, the white gleam of the Exorcism Blade caught the moonlight and flashed brilliantly.

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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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