“Where can I take you?”
The taxi driver glanced in the rearview mirror. The passenger in the back seat was a middle-aged woman. When their eyes met, the driver lowered his eyes involuntarily. She was dressed in a neat suit, and it was because he felt an unknown coldness and spirit from her.
“Please go to Jongno Catholic Church.”
The woman succinctly stated her destination and took a stack of papers out of her bag. The driver drove right away. On a weekday evening after work hours, the Jongno area was moderately quiet. The driver turned up the volume on the radio and rolled down the driver’s window a little.
“You’d better not roll down the windows there.”
At that time, the woman who had been fixating her gaze on the paperwork all of a sudden opened her mouth.
“Yes?”
“Open the passenger side window, not the driver’s side.”
“Ah, yes…”
The driver followed the woman’s words with a bewildered expression. Her tone was perfectly polite, but somehow overbearing. She seemed like someone who was used to giving orders. The driver kept an eye on the woman while driving. She could feel the glancing gaze, but didn’t raise her head once. As the taxi arrived near the Jongno Catholic Church, the woman took out his bill from her wallet and handed it to the driver.
The driver who checked his amount widened his eyes. The taxi fare was only around 7,000 won. However, the woman had given him two 50,000 won bills. It was a total of 100,000 won.
“Never mind the change. Use the rest for the car wash.”
“Yes?”
“Sprinkle salt on the car after washing it.”
At the incomprehensible words, the driver put on a puzzled expression.
“W- What does that mean… ”
The woman looked at him for a moment, and then replied calmly.
“The car is dirty.”
‘Dirty? It was washed half a day ago?’ Just when the puzzled driver was about to say something, the woman got out of the car and relentlessly closed the door behind her. The driver, startled by the bang, jumped. The woman proceeded to take a tumbler out of her bag with a nonchalant expression. Without hesitation, she unscrewed the lid and poured the contents onto the cab. An unknown dark red liquid gushed down the body of the car.
“Uh? Hey there, customer! H- Hey! What are you doing!”
She could hear the driver yelling something from inside the car. Nevertheless, the woman turned her back to him and walked away. A look of annoyance crossed her face, which had been expressionless throughout. The woman tidying up her crumpled suit clicked her tongue disapprovingly. It was because liquid splashed on the sleeves.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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She didn’t feel any malice from it, but it was difficult to leave it alone as it could lead to a serious accident if it interfered with driving. Normally, she was supposed to exorcise it, but it could not be done in front of civilians. It was because in order to exterminate spirits, one had to use spiritual energy (鬼氣) or use talismans. In this case, it was best to return in moderation.
Seok Juryeon thought that she must not have great luck today, being caught up with evil spirits before entering the office. It was so, judging from the experience accumulated so far. The premonitions created by experience were rarely wrong.
“Tsk.”
The eyebrows of Seok Juryeon, head of the Naryecheong Exorcism Department, twitched.
***
When the sun goes down, the spirits come out.
That meant that when darkness fell, the exorcists also got busy. For normal people, it was a time to go home after a day’s work, but it was an exception for the exorcists. On the contrary, it could be said that it was the rush hour that signalled the beginning of a tiring day. Seok Juryeon, who was heading to Jongno Catholic Church, slowly turned around.
The Jongno Catholic Church was a deception. Always be careful, and be careful again. Maintaining security was one of the basic rules that had to be followed when entering Naryecheong. The place where Seok Juryeon was really heading was on the other side. It was Jongmyo, the shrine of the Joseon royal family.
It was about 200 years ago that Naryecheong, which had been passed down since the Goryeo Dynasty, was officially dismantled. After a long hiatus, Naryecheong, newly reconstructed in modern times, took a site on one side of Jongmyo Shrine. The spirit of the land gradually fades when many buildings are destroyed, but Jongmyo was a safe place with clean energy. It was also the best space to avoid the eyes of the general public while being in the centre of the city.
There was no one near Jongmyo Shrine long after the visiting hours had ended. Every time Seok Juryeon took a step, the heels of her shoes resonated. The door to the temple was firmly closed. Seok Juryeon grabbed a large cast iron ring-shaped handle and knocked on the wooden door five times as if knocking.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.
“I request the opening of the gate.”
As soon as Seok Juryeon finished speaking, the doorknob rattled, and the door opened with a creak. As she entered through the crack in the open door, the door closed behind her by itself. It was as if someone had opened the door. Even though the inside of Jongmyo Shrine was extremely dark without a single light, Seok Juryeon walked accustomed, as if walking in broad daylight. The place where Seok Juryeon stopped was the main hall of Jongmyo Shrine.
The main hall of Jongmyo Shrine was the place where the spirit tablets of successive kings and queens were enshrined. That’s how it looked from the outside. An ordinary person could only see 19 doors, but exorcists could see a total of 20 doors. The last column was the 20th door leading to Naryecheong.
Seok Juryeon stood in front of the door and picked up the card key that was hanging around her neck. As she inserted the card key through the gap between the pillars, the talisman engraved inside the card key flashed.
When the wooden door was opened, a wide and pleasant space spread out in front of Seok Juryeon’s eyes. From the outside, it was just an old wooden building, but the interior of Naryecheong was made up of modern and sophisticated interiors. It looked no different from any other big company. The exorcists who were walking around the lobby of Naryecheong politely bowed toward Seok Juryeon, who had just entered the office.
“Department head, hello!”
“Department head, hello!”
Seok Juryeon nodded her head.
“Call the Purification Department and ask them to wash the Jongno area once. There are ghosts running around.”
“Yes.”
“Request a patrol from the Undercover Department.”
“Understood.”
Following Seok Juryeon’s instructions, the two of them scattered in dispersed in unison.
Naryecheong consisted of a total of five departments. Among them, the ‘Undercover Department’, which disguises its identity and patrols various places in civilian areas, and the ‘Purification Department’, which was responsible for washing away uncleanliness, were struggling at the forefront of the field.
In the past, Naryecheong was built in the name of protecting the palace, but as time passed, the modern Naryecheong naturally transformed into an institution to protect the civilians. If there were police on the sunny side, there were exorcists on the dark side. It was a thing unknown to the public. Only a few high-ranking people in the political and business circles were aware of the existence of Naryecheong.
Of course, among the same kind, there was no gwijae who did not know Naryecheong. However, for ordinary civilians, who did not believe in spirits and could not see them, things were bound to be different. Ordinary people should be ignorant about this world, and it was better that way. It was good for both sides.
Just then, an urgent voice flew in from afar.
“Department Head Seok!”
It was Han Juyoung, the senior exorcist of Team 2 of the Exorcism Department and a direct subordinate of Seok Juryeon. As if she had run nonstop from her office to the lobby, Han Juyoung was breathing heavily, her chest heaving.
“What’s the matter?”
“Have you not received the message yet? Reports have come in that the soul of a child has been kidnapped.”
As expected, she thought she had an ominous feeling, but was it because of this? It’s been less than 5 minutes since she entered, but… Seok Juryeon sighed quietly and asked calmly.
“What is the situation?”
Han Juyoung, who was panting at her boss’s question, immediately straightened her back in moderation.
“First, despite the fact that there is nothing wrong with the body, he fell into a state of unconsciousness. Second, the biological father had a dream in which the child was taken away. Third, the bruises caused by the father’s fall in the dream remain as trauma in real life.”
“I see. Send two seniors from the Exorcism Department on standby. When the field investigation is roughly finished, we can mobilise them immediately. Have you requested cooperation from the Purification Department?”
“Yes. The investigation has already been completed, and the Exorcism Department Team 2 is on standby.”
It was quite enough. Han Juyoung had already taken action quickly, and the action was in line with Seok Juryeon’s instructions. Han Juyoung’s judgment was clear and accurate. To the extent that there was no need to hold on to the superior who had just entered the office and report panting.
“Good job. But then why are you making a fuss?”
Seok Juryeon raised her eyebrows.
“Ah, that…”
Han Juyoung swallowed her saliva and chose her words carefully.
“The child’s biological father… is the president of Jukyung Construction.”
“What?!”
Seok Juryeon’s face crumpled mercilessly.
“Senior Han, can’t you grasp the situation properly?”
“I- I’m sorry. So… What should I do?”
“‘What should I do’?!”
Seok Juryeon, who had secretly praised her for doing well just a moment ago, burst into anger. Embarrassed, Han Juyoung hung her head. Jukyung Construction was a company that became famous for its self-made young president. Or at least it was like that on the surface. And, of course, rare information unknown to the public flowed into Naryecheong.
The modern day Naryecheong, in charge of security in the shadows, was a state secret agency under the Prime Minister.
“Withdraw all requests for cooperation from other departments, and post a notice to all departments to thoroughly keep their mouths shut.”
The young president of Jukyung Construction, famous for being a self-made man, was actually the Prime Minister’s illegitimate son.
“Well, then how do you get his soul back…”
“I’m only sending one person. We don’t want the information to leak to the higher-ups.”
His family of all people was harmed. If the Prime Minister found out about this, it was clear that he would be furious about the handling of things. It was a situation where Naryecheong could be held accountable under the pretext of negligent management. They had to solve the case as secretly as possible so that the issue would not leak out.
“Yes? But Department Head, one is too few. And if something goes wrong…”
“I’ll send a guy who won’t mess up even if he dies and wakes up, so do as you’re told.”
In this case, she had to use someone who had a heavy mouth and more skills than anyone else.
“Where is Yoon Taehee now?”
Seok Juryeon brushed her hair with a hard face.
that was a strong introduction for the gong 👀
Creating a world and waiting for the major players to walk forward… Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣🌎👀
💗💗💗