As soon as they received confirmation from the elder purifier that this teddy bear had indeed been purified, they came running. That purifier had even stood up abruptly while holding the doll.
Among the members, there were whispers that ‘that person must be glued to their chair.’
‘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 this, Jin Gwangmin reached the conclusion that he couldn’t forgive his ignorant self and offered a deep bow to Seowoo as soon as he returned.
Seowoo looked down at him half-heartedly. What on earth was that strange expression, ‘Your Honored Highness’?
However, Do Seonhwa seemed to have no intention of stopping Jin Gwangmin from bowing with his forehead to the floor, and rather, she too was tearing up while covering her mouth with both hands.
Seowoo asked in a flustered mood.
“Um, first of all, what is purification……?”
Since he had no knowledge whatsoever about spiritual abilities, it was difficult to understand their reactions. All he’d heard before was that it was a power that eliminated curses dwelling in objects, but seeing this atmosphere, it seemed there was more to it than that.
Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin began to explain very carefully and kindly, as if handling raw gemstones.
“Have you heard the story that you shouldn’t carelessly touch objects imbued with a ghost’s resentment? Or having nightmares after visiting an abandoned house, or your body hurting, and so on. All these ghost stories are damage caused by ‘ghostly 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 the vengeful thoughts of evil spirits sometimes cross the line. The heart that envies living, moving bodies spews out as ghostly energy and harms the body. It’s also commonly called ‘a chilling feeling.'”
They explained that even ordinary people complain of symptoms like getting goosebumps or chills when they go to spaces full of ghostly energy and want to escape quickly, and there’s this reason behind it. A warning sent by the unconscious and danger grasped instinctively.
They said it was a power used by evil spirits (惡鬼) among ghosts who harbored wicked vengeful thoughts.
“Actually, if you’re exposed to ghostly energy for a long time or come into contact with too strong an energy, your body rots away. And since Heun is an organization that hunts evil spirits, there are many shamans who suffer such damage. It’s sometimes expressed as ‘dongti,’ but we say more comprehensively that ‘hyung has entered.'”
“The power that washes away such hyung is precisely purification!”
Jin Gwangmin shouted while spreading both arms wide. The very pure power that was purification power erased the hyung (凶) that ghosts maliciously spread to blur the boundaries of the world.
The ability most valued by ‘Heun,’ an organization that seeks to balance the two worlds.
“There are also grades to purification power. Washing away hyung that has rotted the body is far more difficult than eliminating curses dwelling in objects! But seeing how you swept away the doll’s curse with a few touches, Your Honored Highness must surely be able to wash away hyung as well!”
At this series of explanations, Seowoo nodded slowly. Is it similar to a healer in a game? A power that removes curses dwelling in objects, that is, debuffs, and also heals people?
While thinking ‘healers are precious in reality too,’ recalling a game he’d played at a PC cafe when caught by a friend in childhood, Jin Gwangmin chattered on.
“And you didn’t even use tools like other purifiers, but did it with your bare hands! This is an SSS-rank, no, an EX-rank purifier……!”
“With this level of purification power, you could erase that guy’s hyung in one go, right?”
“Uwaaah, please! We’ve suffered so much serving our Young Master. Huuung.”
Do Seonhwa was so moved that tears even welled up in the corners of her eyes, and Jin Gwangmin reacted most strongly to that story. He made crying sounds as if it were the most important matter.
“Young Master?”
“Ah, yes yes! Our team serves Heun’s Young Master, so…… the successor of the organization.”
As Seowoo mulled over the unfamiliar position, Jin Gwangmin quickly explained. He seemed to glance at Do Seonhwa, and when she nodded, he continued the story.
“The Young Master is a bit difficult, so he’s refused purification until now. He said he wouldn’t accept anything but purification that erases hyung in one go, and expelled all the purifiers saying he didn’t like being touched multiple times.”
“Hyung goes beyond simply rotting the skin to festering even the soul, yet he just endures it. Sheesh, stubborn kid.”
Do Seonhwa clicked her tongue, saying that despite the pain being tremendous, he’d been refusing purification for just such a reason. Then she approached Seowoo and politely clasped both hands together.
“Honored one, won’t you work with us?”
“I’m still a university student……”
“No, to have that reaction even after hearing all this.”
At Seowoo’s sincere answer, Jin Gwangmin looked at him incredulously, but Do Seonhwa smiled brightly. This much didn’t even count as an obstacle in serving the honored one.
“HN can provide employment verification! As a full-time employee! We’ll match your salary and benefits to whatever you want. We can treat you in a way that’s absolutely not disappointing……!”
However, just as she was about to pour out her recruitment pitch with fervent momentum, the office door opened.
“……What’s going on here right now?”
Someone entered the space where only the three had been. As the door opened with a creak and a single remark dropped, Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin froze stiff. It was as if the surrounding temperature had dropped sharply.
Seowoo turned his head at the familiar voice and sighed.
“Oh, the construction site personnel I saw yesterday……”
It was that man he’d encountered at the science library last night.
He remembered him clearly because his appearance was unique, wearing an elegant gray dopo and sporting plenty of flashy accessories. Seeing him in the bright indoors, his peculiar atmosphere came across even more vividly.
Ah, perhaps he had been at the library to carry out ‘Heun’s’ work? Since they’d 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 personnel?”
“Are you two acquainted?!”
While Jin Gwangmin looked around bewilderedly, Do Seonhwa’s eyes sparkled. Then she quickly turned to that man and respectfully pointed to Seowoo with both hands.
“Cheon Yijae! Young Master! I’ve brought the honored one!”
“Why did you bring an ordinary university student here?”
“This person isn’t one to attach the modifier ‘ordinary’ to! He purified this doll, the cursed object from the library, by brushing it with his hands!”
Do Seonhwa boasted with an utterly excited face. She lifted the white teddy bear on the table and spoke confidently, but he didn’t even examine it closely.
He merely tilted his head back, covered his face with one hand as if hiding it, and let out a deep sigh.
“Ha, fuck……”
The low muttered curse was deeply imbued with a frustrated mood.
Seowoo 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.
Cheon Yijae, the successor of the strange organization, clutched his head as if it ached, then finally let out a short breath and lowered his arms.
“You two must be dying to attach a purifier to me. Seeing how you keep dragging people here even though I said I don’t want it.”
“This is all for the Young Master’s sake, you know? How can you keep fighting while carrying hyung every time!”
“You’ve been refusing unless it’s purification that washes away hyung in one go. We’ve worked ourselves bloody to meet that standard……!”
“Stop talking nonsense and send him out. Why did you bring a human who can’t even see ghosts?”
Cheon Yijae cut off Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin’s outcries decisively.
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 had been a place of fierce fighting with evil spirits yesterday, also meant his ghostly energy detection ability was low.
Jin Gwangmin had been doubting Seowoo until just before, so he could understand Cheon Yijae’s reaction. So he shook his head vigorously and shouted.
“No, he saw a ghost at the university today! A petty ghost hiding on the tree-lined street ambushed him, and this person was about to give it a double thumbs-up! In other words, he’s been seeing ghosts all along but just didn’t know they were ghosts until now! And the elder purifier also said this doll has definitely been purified!”
“That’s right. He was a hidden gemstone!”
Cheon Yijae, who heard about the commotion at the school, fell silent for a moment. He looked at Seowoo with an absurd face as if his actions were utterly ridiculous, but in the end, after a sigh, he only tilted his head slightly.
Staring intently at Seowoo with gray eyes quiet enough to be inorganic, he extended his index finger.
“No, that human doesn’t have spiritual sight.”
Simultaneously with the words that dropped like a declaration, dark red mist spread thinly from Cheon Yijae’s fingertip. That was about all Seowoo perceived, but.
Thud.
The water glass that had been on the table right in front of Seowoo tipped over. The water glass he’d just drunk from suddenly tilted and fell.
Telekinesis? An ability to manipulate objects at a distance?
However, while Seowoo looked down at the spilled water with interest, Do Seonhwa and Jin Gwangmin turned pale. They protested to Cheon Yijae in horror.
“H-how could you bring that so close to a person!”
“One wrong move and it would have touched him……!”
“Well. If you hadn’t spouted such stupid nonsense, this wouldn’t have happened.”
The two were shocked as if something very dangerous had approached right up to Seowoo’s nose, and Cheon Yijae merely shrugged his shoulders. He even sneered as if they were responsible.
Then his action of standing crookedly with both hands shoved in his pants pockets was quite delinquent.
“He can’t see this, so do you really believe that human performed purification?”
Dongti (동티) – spiritual affliction (traditional term)
