By Zephyria “Please contact us and we will come to pick you up.”
As the car disappeared, the whispering voices of children began to mix into Ki Jae-eon’s ears. With voices as soft as spring flowers, they piled up Curses like singing a song, ‘Die, die, die.’ It was simple revenge.
It was the childish harassment of the ghosts who had been wary of Ki Jae-eon for fear of being exorcised by him. You are nothing, an empty shell. Ki Jae-eon staggered at the voices mocking and enjoying themselves.
Having refused to eat and stayed up for several nights, his stamina was easily depleted even by this much stress. Ugh, as nausea surged, he hurriedly covered his mouth, but the tendons on the back of his hand writhed painfully.
In fact, Ki Jae-eon’s power had not disappeared.
Rather, thanks to the regression, his abilities themselves had increased significantly. Perhaps there was no Exorcist who could surpass him among the existing Exorcists. He could repel Evil spirits with a few gestures, Purify misfortune, and even sprout new seedlings in barren land.
A talent that would be considered invincible.
However, the problem was that he had no will to do so. Just as an inexhaustible spring exists in a vast land, it is useless if there is no one to drink it.
That’s why he’s being swayed even by Petty ghosts that he could chase away like gnats.
‘The sky is too clear…’
Ki Jae-eon unknowingly clenched his chest tightly and calmed his rapid breathing.
I just want to die like this.
In this world where his father, mother, and brother are alive, he can’t even do that. He can’t bear to drive a wedge into his parents’ hearts as a son. In the end, he has no choice but to wait helplessly for the ruthless time when ‘It’ appears and slaughters his precious things again.
‘Breath, breath… breathe, please.’
As he recalled the predetermined end, his whole body throbbed as if stabbed by a knife.
Ah, a wrecked life should sink quietly.
* * *
“Master Young! Are you ready?”
Meanwhile, the [Korea Exorcism Association Seoul Branch], commonly known as the ‘Main Office’, was in a frenzy, sweeping and cleaning everywhere. No wonder, the proud Incheon Branch (Heavenly Land), and even the second son of the Ki family, ‘that rumored kid’, is coming!
Park Hong, the treasurer of the Main Office, flapped his uniform and directed the cleaning, telling them to wipe here and wipe there. Kim Yeong, the Curse Unraveler of the Main Office, looked at him awkwardly.
“Yes, I’m ready. But, I don’t know if we need to make such a fuss…”
“Aitt-! What are you saying? We can’t let those unlucky Incheon guys find fault with anything! We’ll clean and polish everything to surprise them, that’s what I’m saying!”
And, ahem! Park Hong twitched his lips. His greasy face looked like a greedy toad.
“The Ki family of all families is kneeling down and asking for our help. Well, Curse Unraveling is better in Seoul than in Incheon. Yes! We’re second to none in that field. Ahem, ahem, ah-! Anyway, the point is not that, but if we succeed in this, can’t we get a good amount from the Ki family? We’re a bit short on the budget for the newly supported project anyway.”
Kim Yeong gave a subtle smile as he watched Park Hong, who was already thinking of emptying the Ki family’s coffers. It’s not wrong. If they just unravel the Curse of the second son whom they cherish so much… perhaps a huge reward awaits, as Park Hong expects.
He expects to receive enough money to live a lazy life like a cicada for several years.
‘But the problem is…’
He’s not confident.
How can he unravel the Curse that Ki Jae-eon himself couldn’t unravel? Kim Yeong let out a sigh from the bottom of his heart. The pressure weighed on his shoulders. Isn’t this like showing off in front of an expert?
‘I’m afraid of the glares I’ll get if I can’t unravel it.’
It’s not an exaggeration. The Ki family tended to look down on other Exorcists and sorcerers, befitting their reputation.
But they even directly nominated and asked for help!
‘I can’t make a mistake… Oh dear, I hope I don’t end up being a pariah because of this.’
The Heavenly Land (Incheon) is already ignoring the Main Office (Seoul). Kim Yeong groaned, suffering from a headache.
“Hehehehe~ My heart is beating so fast at the thought of seeing the Incheon guys’ faces turning blue with envy!”
Park Hong seemed to be just excited, not knowing Kim Yeong’s worries. There’s no such Curse Unraveler in Heavenly Land, right? We have one? It was so childish that he couldn’t stand it.
“Hold on.”
“Master Young has to do well. Who is better at Curse Unraveling than Master Young here!”
“Well…”
Kim Yeong gave a smile like a ‘white rabbit rice cake’, as the children often compared him to. Then Park Hong jumped up and down, saying he didn’t look dignified.
“Let’s be serious. Don’t be intimidated by that little brat!”
How can I not be intimidated? It’s Ki Jae-eon. Kim Yeong suppressed the urge to talk back.
“Treasurer, if you talk too loudly, others will hear you.”
“Oh dear, yes. I have to be careful. Those narrow-minded Incheon guys will scold us again for badmouthing them.”
Just then, an announcement was heard, “They have arrived from Heavenly Land.” The person they were waiting for had arrived. Kim Yeong said he would go to meet them and quickly left the hallway. As he walked down the long hallway, he realized one thing.
‘Everyone is looking forward to it.’
They were all cursing at the proud Incheon guys, the unlucky Ki family, etc., but when ‘Ki Jae-eon’ comes, all the sorcerers of the Main Office are standing on tiptoes, craning their necks. Well, it’s not hard to understand. They’re seeing in person the person who is called the closest human to God among us.
If you’re in this industry, it’s natural to be curious about Ki Jae-eon.
Above all, what they want to know most is whether Ki Jae-eon is…
‘Stronger than Kim Ju-won, that’s what it is, right?’
A joke we tell each other.
[If there is Ki Jae-eon in Incheon, there is Kim Ju-won in Seoul.]
Unlike Ki Jae-eon, who comes from a prestigious family, he is an Exorcist from a ‘commoner’ background.
However, he is the most promising prospect among the many talents who will lead the Main Office in the distant future.
‘I’m glad Ju-won is away right now.’
With his personality, if he had met Ki Jae-eon, he would have smashed everything, saying that he had to see who was on top and who was on the bottom.
Kim Yeong thought of his disciple, Kim Ju-won.
A guy who seemed to have been born from flames alone, when other children were carefully born from lotus flowers.
‘Hmm… I’m really glad he’s not here.’
“Where is Exorcist Ki Jae-eon?”
With a sigh of relief, Kim Yeong, who had come down the stone steps, asked the guide softly.
“He’s in front of the gate.”
“I’ll go to meet him.”
Before opening the bolt of the huge gate, Kim Yeong turned around and checked his condition.
[Main Office]
A Hanok house located at the end of a long line of blue and red lanterns. It has less splendor than Incheon (Heavenly Land) and Busan (Sea God), and even its rooted history is short, but we certainly have our own style. So, no matter what kind of guest comes, there is no need to be ashamed or intimidated.
‘Okay, let’s see his face.’
The next owner of Heavenly Land.
The one and only genius, the human loved by God, the future of Exorcists, the one with endless nicknames.
[Ki Jae-eon]
He is in front of me!
Kim Yeong calmed his trembling heart and forcefully threw open the gate.
But it was strange.
‘Is… is this child, that… Ki Jae-eon?’
Before his eyes stood a precarious young man who wouldn’t be strange if he died right away.
Kim Yeong carefully examined the child sitting quietly in front of him. More than ten minutes had passed since he entered the room, but he hadn’t even made eye contact once.
He even doubted whether someone else had come.
Because he was completely different from ‘that rumored kid’.
The slightly wavy black hair is the same.
His tall height and right-angled shoulders were also as great as he had heard.
But… his hunched posture, his gaze fixed on the floor, his hollow complexion.
Even the anxious gesture of picking at his hangnails.
His condition was not good, even at a glance.
‘His fingertips are all damaged.’
His very intimidated appearance was embarrassing to call him Ki Jae-eon.
Why is he scared? Kim Yeong put a cup of warmly brewed green tea in front of Ki Jae-eon, deliberately making a clumsy smile. It was a meticulous effort to ease his tension with the impression that he was as easygoing as possible.
“You must have had a hard time coming from Incheon to Seoul.”
“…Ah, n-no, not at all.”
He even stutters?
He had heard many stories about Ki Jae-eon. He couldn’t help but know about the ‘Ki family’s second son’ because he heard about it even when he didn’t want to. There were all sorts of rumors, such as his gaze that looked down on everyone because he grew up as a young master of a prestigious family, his oppressive tone, and his tendency to ignore and show off, apart from his outstanding skills. But the one he actually met was so different from the rumors. What part of this child did they see to create such ridiculous rumors?
‘He even had Petty ghosts with him.’
He saw the Petty ghosts sitting on his shoulder just before he crossed the threshold of the gate.
At first, he thought that he didn’t exorcise them because they were just Petty ghosts and he was annoyed, but he began to suspect that it wasn’t the case.
Kim Yeong thought, ‘Is it because of the Curse?’ and quickly started Curse Unraveling. What he held in his hand was a rosary made from a tree that had lived for a thousand years and was struck by lightning and split in half, a Mystical Instrument with the purest energy, inhabited by a tree spirit.
But Kim Yeong had no choice but to stop the Spellcasting he was reciting in just one minute.
Because… Ki Jae-eon was not Cursed at all.
* Curse Unraveling: A sorcerer who specializes in unraveling Curses