ROA 8

As soon as they received confirmation from the senior purification specialist that this bear doll had indeed been purified, they rushed over. That purification specialist even sprang up from their seat while holding the doll.

It was a senior about whom the whisper ‘That person must be attached to their chair’ circulated secretly among members.

‘Huh. Is it possible to erase a curse this cleanly in such a short time?!’

They marveled repeatedly as if witnessing a wondrous miracle they’d never seen before. At that, Jin Gwang-min reached the conclusion that he couldn’t forgive his ignorant self, and as soon as he returned, he bowed deeply to Shim Seo-woo.

Shim Seo-woo looked down at him awkwardly. What on earth was that strange expression ‘Your Excellency the benefactor’?

However, Do Seon-hwa didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping Jin Gwang-min from bowing with his forehead to the floor, and rather she was also covering her mouth with both hands with tears welling up.

Shim Seo-woo asked in a flustered mood.

“Um, first of all, what is purification…?”

Having no knowledge whatsoever about spiritual abilities, it was difficult to understand their reactions. All he’d heard earlier was that it was a power to remove curses dwelling in objects, but seeing this atmosphere, there seemed to be more to it than that.

Do Seon-hwa and Jin Gwang-min began explaining very carefully and kindly, as if handling raw gemstone.

“Have you heard the story about not carelessly touching objects where a ghost’s resentment dwells? Or having nightmares after visiting an abandoned house, or your body hurting, etc. All these ghost stories are damage caused by ‘ghost energy.’ It’s the bad energy evil spirits emit!”

“Originally the world of the dead and the world of the living are strictly separated, but evil spirits’ grudges sometimes cross the line. The jealous heart toward living, moving bodies is emitted as ghost energy and harms the body. It’s also commonly called a ‘creepy feeling.'”

They explained that even ordinary people complain of symptoms like getting goosebumps or chills when going to spaces full of ghost energy and want to escape quickly, and there’s this reason behind it. A warning the subconscious sends and danger instinctively grasped.

They said it was power used by evil spirits among ghosts that harbor wicked grudges.

“If you’re exposed to ghost energy for a long time or come into contact with too strong energy, your body will rot. And since Heun is an organization that hunts evil spirits, there are many practitioners who suffer such damage. It’s also expressed as ‘suffering retribution,’ but we more comprehensively say ‘afflicted with misfortune.'”

“The power that washes away such misfortune is precisely purification!”

Jin Gwang-min shouted while spreading both arms wide. Purification power was a very pure force that erases the misfortune that ghosts maliciously spread to blur the boundary of the world.

The ability most valued by ‘Heun,’ an organization that aims to balance the two worlds.

“Purification power also has grades. Washing away misfortune that rotted the body is much more difficult than removing curses dwelling in objects! But seeing how you brushed off the doll’s curse with a few touches, Your Excellency the benefactor can surely accomplish washing away misfortune too!”

At the series of explanations, Shim Seo-woo slowly nodded. Similar to a healer in games? The power to remove curses dwelling in objects, that is, to remove debuffs, and also heal people?

While thinking ‘healers are precious in reality too’ while recalling a game he played in a PC room dragged there by a friend in childhood, Jin Gwang-min chattered away.

“You even did it barehanded, not using tools like other purification specialists! This is SSS-rank, no, EX-rank purification specialist…!”

“With this level of purification power, you could erase that guy’s misfortune in one go, right?”

“Waaah, please! We’ve worked so hard serving our Vice Leader. Huuung.”

Do Seon-hwa was so moved that tears even formed at the corners of her eyes, and Jin Gwang-min also reacted most strongly to that story. He made crying sounds as if it was the most important matter.

“Vice Leader?”

“Ah, yes yes! Our team serves Heun’s Vice Leader, so… the organization’s successor.”

As Shim Seo-woo mulled over the unfamiliar title, Jin Gwang-min quickly explained. Somehow seeming to glance at Do Seon-hwa’s expression, when she nodded he continued the story.

“The Vice Leader is a bit difficult and has refused purification until now. He said he won’t accept anything but purification that erases misfortune in one go, and kicked out all the purification specialists saying he didn’t like being touched multiple times.”

“Misfortune goes beyond just skin rotting to the soul festering, yet he just endures it. Phew, stubborn kid.”

Do Seon-hwa clicked her tongue saying he’d refused purification for just such a reason despite that tremendous pain. Then she approached Shim Seo-woo and politely clasped both hands together.

“Benefactor, won’t you work with us?”

“I’m still a college student…”

“No, to have that reaction even after hearing all this talk.”

At Shim Seo-woo’s serious answer, Jin Gwang-min looked at him absurdly, but Do Seon-hwa smiled brightly. This much didn’t even count as an obstacle in serving the benefactor.

“HN can support employment contracts! As a regular employee! Salary, benefits, we’ll match everything to your wishes. We can treat you in a way you absolutely won’t feel slighted…!”

However, just as she was pouring out a fervent recruitment pitch, the office door opened.

“…What situation is this right now?”

Someone entered the space that had only three people. As the door opened, creak, with one word dropped, Do Seon-hwa and Jin Gwang-min froze stiff. It was as if the surrounding temperature had rapidly dropped.

Shim Seo-woo turned his head at the familiar voice and sighed.

“Oh, the construction worker I saw yesterday…”

It was that man he encountered at the science library last night.

He remembered him clearly because his appearance, wearing an elegant dark gray Dopo and adorned with many flashy accessories, was unique. Seeing him in the bright indoors, his mysterious atmosphere approached even more vividly.

Ah, was he at the library to carry out ‘Heun’s’ work? Since they met here, he must belong to Heun, and that doll must have been dropped on the way out after hunting evil spirits last night.

“Huh? Wh-what worker?”

“The two of them know each other?!”

While Jin Gwang-min looked around bewilderedly, Do Seon-hwa’s eyes sparkled. Then she quickly turned to that man and respectfully pointed to Shim Seo-woo with both hands.

“Vice Leader! Cheon Ijae! I brought the benefactor!”

“Why did you bring an ordinary college student here?”

“This person isn’t someone to attach the modifier ‘ordinary’ to! He purified this doll, the object with the library’s curse, by patting it with his hands!”

Do Seon-hwa boasted with an extremely excited face. She lifted the white bear doll on the table and spoke confidently, but he didn’t even examine it closely.

He just tilted his head back, covered his face with one hand as if hiding it, and let out a deep sigh.

“Ha, fuck…”

A stuffy energy was thickly infused in the quietly chewed curse.

Shim Seo-woo was surprised that the young master they served was him, and the unexpected reunion was also interesting, but the other party didn’t seem that way at all. The moment their eyes met again, he frowned sharply.

The successor of the strange organization, Cheon Ijae, just held his head as if it ached, then finally let out a short breath, hoo, and lowered his arms.

“You two must be desperate to stick a purification specialist on me. Even though I said I didn’t want it, you keep dragging them here.”

“This is all for the Vice Leader’s sake, you know? How can you keep fighting while afflicted with misfortune!”

“You’ve refused saying you didn’t want to accept anything but purification that washes away misfortune in one go. We’ve made bloody efforts to meet that standard…!”

“Stop talking nonsense and send him out. Why did you bring a human who can’t even see ghosts?”

Cheon Ijae firmly cut off Do Seon-hwa and Jin Gwang-min’s cries.

The two exchanged glances with surprised faces. How did he know he couldn’t see ghosts? Did he figure it out when they met last night? Hmm, the fact that he approached the science library alone, which was a place where evil spirits were being actively fought yesterday, also meant low ghost energy detection ability.

Jin Gwang-min could understand Cheon Ijae’s reaction since he’d doubted Shim Seo-woo until just before. So he vigorously shook his head and shouted.

“No, he saw a ghost at the university today! A petty ghost hiding on the tree-lined street made a surprise attack, and this person gave double thumbs up and tried to leave! In other words, he had been seeing ghosts all along but just didn’t know those were ghosts until now! And the senior purification specialist also said this doll has indeed been purified!”

“Right. He’s a hidden gemstone!”

Hearing about the commotion that occurred at school, Cheon Ijae fell silent for a moment. He looked at Shim Seo-woo with an absurd face as if his behavior was very ridiculous, but ultimately just tilted his head crookedly after a sigh.

After staring at Shim Seo-woo intently with gray eyes quiet enough to be inorganic, he extended his index finger—swish.

“No, that human has no spiritual sight.”

Simultaneously with the words that fell like a declaration, dark red mist faintly spread from Cheon Ijae’s fingertip. That was about all Shim Seo-woo perceived, but.

Plunk.

The water glass on the table right in front of Shim Seo-woo tipped over. The water glass he’d just lifted and drank from suddenly tilted and fell.

Telekinesis? The ability to manipulate objects at a distance?

However, while Shim Seo-woo looked down at the spilled water with interest, Do Seon-hwa and Jin Gwang-min turned pale. They protested to Cheon Ijae in shock.

“H-how could you bring that so close to a person!”

“It almost touched them if things went slightly wrong…!”

“Well. If you hadn’t spouted stupid nonsense, this wouldn’t have happened.”

The two were horrified as if something very dangerous had approached right up to Shim Seo-woo’s nose, and Cheon Ijae just shrugged. He even sneered as if the responsibility lay with them.

Following that, his behavior of standing crookedly with both hands shoved in his pants pockets was quite delinquent.

“Can’t see this, and you really believe that human did the purification?”