Chapter 5
First Strange Tale
A Bolt from the Blue
“Um… is it really okay?”
Minjeong looked back and forth between Gyeong and the man with an anxious expression.
“It will be fine. But remember this. What we are about to do may cause your father pain. We may even use somewhat extreme methods. Even so, do not interfere under any circumstances.”
“But…”
Now that the ritual was about to begin, Minjeong showed that she could not fully trust Siha and Gyeong.
That was only natural. Exorcism sounded like something out of thin air, and there were plenty of frauds out there, so ordinary people could not help but be suspicious.
Siha and Gyeong understood that well, so they gave Minjeong a little time to accept it.
“The shorter the time you spend hesitating, the shorter the time your father will suffer.”
At Gyeong’s words, Minjeong recalled the image of her father, who looked like he was only alive because he couldn’t die.
She bit her lower lip tightly, then made her decision with a desperate face.
“…Please.”
When Gyeong nodded at Siha, Siha summoned the jade pendant into the shape of a dagger.
Before Minjeong could recover from her wide-eyed shock, Siha lifted the man’s shirt and slashed across his chest.
Blood flowed along the path of the blade.
“Dad!”
Minjeong screamed at the sight, but Gyeong raised her hand and stopped her.
“Are you people insane?! Even if you told me not to interfere, how could you do something like this—!”
Breaking their promise, Minjeong tried to rush forward, but Suwon, who had been standing still, grabbed her.
“You promised to stay still. I’m staying still too, so you should stay still as well, Minjeong.”
“Let go! He’s going to die!”
Minjeong tried to shake Suwon off, but his grip was incredibly strong, so her resistance was weak.
If she had been calm, she might have found it strange that a boy like Suwon had such a powerful grip, but Minjeong was in no state to think rationally.
Since Minjeong would not calm down, Suwon had no choice but to forcibly twist her arm and restrain her.
“Ah, please calm down first. Your father will be fine. I’m telling you, it’s okay.”
“You frauds! I’m calling the police!”
“Well, you see…”
While Suwon struggled with her, Siha withdrew the dagger from the man’s body.
Instead of blood continuing to flow, black, sticky things clung to the tip of the dagger. They wriggled briefly, then scattered like ash.
What had been clumped together with them suddenly grew in size and filled the room with thick white fog.
It was the mist monster that had been parasitizing the Dusukseoni.
Seeing that no blood was flowing from the man, Minjeong was confused, but when she saw the state of the room, her face turned pale again.
A thick stench like a filthy sewer hit them all at once. It was the same kind of odor that had faintly come from the man’s body.
Minjeong frowned instinctively and covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve. Gyeong and Siha also fanned their faces with their hands, clearly disgusted.
But they could not keep the smell from seeping in.
“Ugh, hurry and do something. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
Even Suwon, who had been quiet, spoke up.
“W-What is that?”
“That’s the mist monster. It’s nothing special.”
Gyeong opened the fan she was holding and swung it hard. A powerful wind blew, scattering the fog that had clouded their vision in all directions.
At the center of the dissipating mist, something sparkled into view. When they looked closely, it was a pair of eyes.
Just like the man it had possessed, the eyes were bloodshot and glared at them.
Siha, who still had not put away her dagger, swung it wide. It transformed into a spear.
She slashed horizontally at the shining part of the mist with the spear. A thunderous sound rang out, and even the remaining fog vanished.
The air stirred briefly, then the stench disappeared, and the pair of eyes that had been glaring at them also vanished.
“Looks like there’s nothing left for me to do,” Gyeong said, wiping the tip of her nose and looking around the room.
The studio had returned to its original state, and the dark energy that had been coming from the man was gone.
“W-What just happened…?”
“After eliminating the Dusukseoni, we dealt with the mist monster that was fused with them when it jumped out. Ah, you must have been very shocked when you saw us cut your father. We should have explained that in advance… When a possessed person is wounded and blood flows, that gap becomes a passage for the Dusukseoni to crawl out. That’s why we had no choice. I’m sorry. The wound isn’t deep, so the bleeding will stop soon.”
Minjeong rushed to the man and lifted his shirt.
Just as Gyeong said, there was bleeding, but not much, and the wound was shallow. It wasn’t even deep enough to need stitches.
Only then could Minjeong finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Still, just in case, we’ll use one talisman. The Dusukseoni are gone, so the mist monster won’t come looking for this house anymore.”
“Really? Then… is it all over now?”
Minjeong asked, trembling, and Gyeong nodded.
“The immediate danger is over. But even though the monster is gone, your father still needs to continue psychiatric treatment. Exorcism is not a cure-all. This happened because of your father’s mental state in the first place, so treatment for that is essential. He needs to keep his heart bright so the Dusukseoni won’t cling to him again. It’s not completely wrong to say weak-minded people are possessed more easily, but these days, depression and panic disorder are clearly illnesses. It’s not just a matter of willpower, so please get help from modern medicine.”
Minjeong began to sniffle in relief, but Gyeong calmly handed her a business card.
“This is the account number for the fee. If something like this happens again, call that number and we will resolve it quickly and accurately.”
As Minjeong transferred the money to Gyeong’s account on her smartphone, Suwon voluntarily began cleaning up the mess.
Seeing the land god running a vacuum cleaner to clean up scattered salt was so down-to-earth that it hardly felt divine at all.
Since Minjeong had to return her father home before her mother came back, she hurried to leave.
At least there were more people now, so carrying the man to her car was not as difficult as before, which was some small comfort.
Minjeong bowed repeatedly and thanked them over and over.
After sending her off, saying the money was enough, Siha and Gyeong joined Suwon and thoroughly cleaned the room.
When Gyeong finished packing up the things she had brought to repel the monster and got ready to leave, Siha followed her out.
“I’ll call you a taxi.”
Only then did Gyeong notice the state of her leg and nodded obediently.
While waiting for the taxi, Siha brought out her scooter again, and Gyeong scolded her.
“Do you really have to go back to the reservoir now? You said there are only Dusukseoni left. It’s not urgent—let’s go slowly after my leg heals.”
“That’s exactly why I’m going. Because it’s only Dusukseoni. Your leg won’t heal in a day or two. What if something else happens because of them while we wait for months? The energy is clean now because the mist monster absorbed all the yin energy, but since it’s water, it’ll multiply quickly.”
“But still…”
“We can’t let there be another victim. And we already got paid. We should finish the job properly.”
At that, Gyeong shook her head.
“Hurry and find a junior already. I can’t help worrying about you working alone.”
“Don’t worry too much. If anything happens, there’s Suwon.”
“Suwon is a land god, so he can’t leave this area. So don’t push yourself too far.”
“I know.”
While they were talking, the taxi arrived.
“Please focus on getting your leg better first. Don’t worry about me. I’m more worried about you.”
“Geez, fine, fine. Anyway, call me right away if something happens.”
“And I transferred you back the one million won. We already got the fee, so it’s fine now, right?”
“What? Hey, wait! Don’t do that—just take it! Call it allowance!”
“Driver, please go.”
Ignoring Gyeong, Siha spoke to the front seat and slammed the door shut.
Gyeong opened the window and stuck her upper body out to shout something, but Siha covered her ears and looked away, and Gyeong ended up being scolded by the driver for doing something dangerous.
Siha rode alone toward the outskirts of the city.
After finishing the job, it was quite late at night, and there were not many cars on the road.
With hardly any tall buildings giving off light and even the moon hidden behind clouds, everything around her was pitch black.
Just a few hours ago, there had been some traffic on this road, but now it was quiet.
With only her scooter’s headlight to rely on, Siha drove carefully, unconsciously tense.
The weather was the same, and the occasional thunder and lightning made her feel uneasy.
It wasn’t quite a sense of doom, but for some reason she couldn’t shake an unpleasant feeling tonight. She just wanted to finish quickly and go home to take a hot shower.
The reservoir she reached again was still silent. Since night had completely fallen, it felt even more ominous.
Slightly tense, Siha headed toward the place where she had seen the Dusukseoni earlier.
But when she arrived, there wasn’t even a single Dusukseoni in sight—nor even a rat.
“Huh?”
Siha looked around in confusion.
“Where did they go? I’m sure this is the place.”
But the many Dusukseoni that had been swarming here were nowhere to be seen.
“That’s strange… where did they all go?”
It was baffling. Had someone else come here in the meantime? She should be the only Dusukseoni hunter around here.
If the Dusukseoni were gone, then she had nothing to do, which was good… but if they disappeared for some other reason, that would be troublesome in its own way.
If someone saw them and got scared, causing them to grow stronger, she would have to conduct another large-scale extermination.
