Pr: K
There were two ways to defeat ghosts.
One was to force it to die, and the other was to resolve their resentment and let it leave on their own. Resolving their resentment was something that required time and effort. Naturally, most exorcists preferred the former because it was much more efficient.
To begin with, most exorcists hated and harbored hostility toward ghosts. So, they neither cared nor were curious about what grudges the ghosts held. There was no reason to bother understanding the ghosts’ perspective.
“Why are you here?”
However, Yoon Taehee was different from other exorcists, and before colliding with the ghost, he would subtly inquire about their stories. Yoon Taehee was often curious about things that no one else was curious about. If he judged that the story had a nature that could be resolved, he would sometimes postpone the elimination.
“…”
The earthbound spirit, which had a desiccated form resembling a mirage and eyes gleaming with malice, rose from the floor and stared at Yoon Taehee. Then, it began to repeatedly slam its body against the cement wall, making a thudding sound.
“Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! I said get out…”
The voice was so cracked that it gave one goosebumps. The building shook each time the spirit collided with the wall. One characteristic of earthbound spirits like this one was their tendency to compulsively repeat certain actions. It seemed as if it had forcefully pushed away the workers who were on duty like this.
A malicious aura emanated from the spirit with threatening force. The spirit seemed to have no intention of engaging in conversation and was very angry at the appearance of the intruder. Just when the exorcists, feeling the heavy and viscous energy, raised their arms to shield their faces, a pile of bricks on one side floated into the air.
It was the work of the earthbound spirit. The heap of bricks flew towards Yoon Taehee in a momentum that it was going to impale him.
Uh, uhh, I guess I have to stop it… At that moment, Jaegyeom, who was standing behind, unconsciously twitched his hand. At the same time, Yoon Taehee quickly swung his fan. As a result, the bricks that were flying like a flock of birds shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions. Jaegyeom, who was frozen in place, cautiously withdrew his hand.
“I was thinking of just listening to your story, but if you’re going to act like this…”
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.
Yoon Taehee didn’t ask twice. The rule was that spirits that harmed people were to be eliminated. Still, he wanted to hear the story, but he couldn’t help it if the other didn’t want to.
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The earthbound spirit, which had been standing with its back to the empty wall that had fallen away, collapsed like a pile of rocks. Trembling and convulsing, it emitted a strange groan. The spirit seemed unable to do anything. Jaegyeom became curious as to what the man had done. He quietly asked Kang Yibin, who was standing next to him.
“Is that fan a weapon with some special powers?”
Kang Yibin turned to Jaegyeom at the whispering voice.
“Huh? That? That fan is a tool used to capture vengeful ghosts. You can trap a ghost inside that fan. There is no other special use. But Chie- I mean, Imae said it was too much of a hassle to carry a separate weapon, so he tried to solve the situation with that whenever possible.”
Jaegyeom narrowed his eyes.
“Then why is that ghost like that…”
“Oh, that’s because it is hit by spiritual energy.”
Dealing with spiritual energy generally meant attaching it to weapons or tools. It was common to apply spiritual energy to an object to derive and utilize its effects, but it was very difficult to use physical force purely through energy itself.
Jaegyeom was someone who was able to do that. There was a time when he shattered a bookstore’s glass window with just spiritual energy, and he aimed his spiritual energy at Yoon Taehee’s neck. And Jaegyeom was not the only one who could freely use his energy. Yoon Taehee subdued the earthbound spirit with his spiritual energy alone.
As a result of the strong spiritual energy, the entire exterior wall of the building was breached, allowing a clear view of the outside. He thought it was a trick like the Ceremonial Instruments’ exorcists did on the mountain the other day… Of course, he thought they must have done some trick with that fan, but it turned out that they were purely just fooling around by imitating the shape of the fan.
The simple, ignorant way of pushing with force was quite unexpected.
“If your spiritual energy is as strong as Imae’s, the spiritual energy itself becomes a weapon.”
Kang Yibin added a detailed explanation for the youngest member.
“Imae can use physical force with just his spiritual energy. Even if you didn’t touch it, you can think of it as a hard slap. Well, consider this earthbound spirit like just a piece of gum! Got it?”
If there was a flaw, it was that it was information they already knew.
Jaegyeom stared at Yoon Taehee’s back with a bewildered expression. It seems that his confidence was not a lie. Now that he thought about it, the arrows he shot bounced off the mountain several times… Yoon Taehee had much better skills than he thought. Jaegyeom was relieved, but secretly surprised. Moreover, although he usually acted so noble, looking at him like this, he seemed to be a bit rough…
“Sigh, the completion date will have to be pushed back a lot.”
The exorcists seemed accustomed to seeing that kind of appearance of Yoon Taehee. As the exorcists joked, he saw Yoon Taehee looking behind him and grinning. Originally, it was right to handle it under the protection of the sun, as the building had been damaged. It would be quite a headache to deal with the aftermath, but headquarters would take care of it anyway.
“I went too hard. I’m tired…”
Yoon Taehee touched his chin and muttered to himself. After his return, he had been living with only short naps for several days, for there was a backlog of work behind him. Due to sleeping briefly, fatigue had accumulated. Perhaps because of that, his control over spiritual energy was looser than usual.
Yoon Taehee approached the earthbound spirit, gently turning his wrist. He then spread out his folding fan and attached the talisman that had been prepared. He tapped the spirit’s forehead with the amulet attached to it. Then, it melted into his fan.
The fan made with pure white cloth was stained pitch black. Yoon Taehee folded the fan until it made a clicking sound. At the same time, the energy of the earthbound spirit was abruptly cut off. The interior of the once modest building suddenly became quiet. It was as if time had stopped.
Indeed, the situation was resolved in the blink of an eye.
Yoon Taehee lightly pulled on the folded fan. The fan, which had been working well until now, would not open no matter how hard he tried, as though it was tightly closed. After making sure that the ghost was properly trapped, Yoon Taehee handed over the fan to Pyo Jiho.
“The situation is settled.”
While Pyo Jiho was handling the debt, Kang Yibin called the headquarters situation room. After briefly reporting the situation, she asked the Purification Department to purify the site of the evil energy and clean up the scene. Jaegyeom, who was wandering around Yoon Taehee for no reason, intentionally cleared his throat, as if to suggest he was listening. Yoon Taehee glanced back at Jaegyeom.
He saw Yoon Taehee chuckle and say, “Ahem?” And he tilted his head. Jaegyeom then lowered his gaze as if he was trying to distract him, but reluctantly spoke again.
“Ahem…!”
He decided to interpret it as meaning “it was quite impressive”, even though he wasn’t quite sure.
***
The ceremony to welcome Apprentice Kim ended smoothly.
The exorcists headed towards the bustling area near Jongno il-ga. It was to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Myeonsinrye. The after-party was an essential process that could not be skipped. The alleys filled with bars, restaurants, and shops were lively with the evening energy of office workers who had finished their day.
The place where the first team of the Exorcism Department settled down was a hearth-grilled meat restaurant. The noisy store was crowded with customers. It was almost fully booked, with office workers sitting around round tables, enjoying a drink. The exorcists, now without their ceremonial attire, seemed like an ordinary group of office workers at first glance.
As it happened, Jaegyeom and Yoon Taehee ended up sitting at different tables.
Since there were nine people, the exorcists had to sit at two tables placed together. Jaegyeom was planning to sit next to Yoon Taehee, for the person he was most comfortable with here was Yoon Taehee. However, while he was chasing him, he was caught by Kang Yibin. Kang Yibin grabbed his arm and said, “Jaegyeom! Come here, sit next to noona,” pulling him away. Unable to resist, he ended up sitting separately from the other man.
In fact, Jaegyeom thought that Yoon Taehee would come first and ask him to sit next to him. However, even as Yoon Taehee watched Jaegyeom being dragged by Kang Yibin’s hand, he did not say anything and simply took a seat inside.
“…”
Jaegyeom scratched his forehead and looked around.
The bustling interior of the store, thick smoke as the meat cooks, faces intoxicated with excitement, the occasional sound of laughter…
The scene of a company dinner was something he had often seen on TV dramas, so it was not entirely unfamiliar. However, experiencing it firsthand felt surreal and lacked a sense of reality. Somehow, the surroundings seemed strange and fascinating. Then, a staff member pushed a blazing grill towards them, startling Jaegyeom. The weird horn-like thing hanging above the grill made him wonder once again.
If he had sat next to Yoon Taehee, he would have secretly asked him what that horn was…
So, what was the purpose of that horn? In the end, Jaegyeom decided to think about it alone.
Thank you!
He is going to get drunk 🤣
Ooooh, now we see the chief’s power. He’s so girlboss with the fan and all. And Jaegyeom was so cute getting worried, I love them.