KTC | Chapter 20

Go Changhyun had just arrived and exchanged brief greetings with Choi Seonwoo before withdrawing all the surveillance personnel to a different floor.

“Won’t it be troublesome for the priest if something goes wrong without any witnesses?”

Go Changhyun asked. Frankly, it was hard to trust Choi Seonwoo. Despite being a priest, his young face and peculiar demeanor didn’t inspire confidence.

Plus, there was a cat involved.

Upon receiving Go Changhyun’s gaze, Angela flattened her ears and hissed. Go Changhyun looked up incredulously and sent a glare filled with distrust, but Choi Seonwoo didn’t even blink.

“Let’s not waste time on something we’ve already finished discussing.”

Choi Seonwoo replied with a gentle smile, his tone oddly commanding. Though slightly offended, Go Changhyun had no choice but to back down. However, he didn’t forget to ask one last question.

“Can you, as a priest, also see things like the past when you look into someone’s eyes?”

Internally, Choi Seonwoo felt vindicated, but he kept a nonchalant smile on his face.

“I’m not a shaman; I’m a priest.”

It wasn’t a lie. Just an evasion.

At that moment, the guards who had first entered Seo Jihan’s hospital room came out into the hallway.

“It’s done.”

In their hands were the dismantled cameras and listening devices that had been monitoring Goo Seungjun. Go Changhyun and Lee Juhee quickly counted them and inwardly clicked their tongues. Every single piece had been retrieved without fail.

“But here’s the fundamental question. Why am I going in there?”

Seo Jihan frowned reluctantly as he raised his doubts. Choi Seonwoo wrapped an arm around his neck with a generous smile.

“Come on, Brother John. You trust this priest, don’t you?”

“Ah, come on! Every time you talk like that, you totally sound like some cult leader, you know?”

“Yep, yep. Let’s go in.”

Hunched and reluctant, Seo Jihan was dragged into the hospital room. Thud, the door closed.

Go Changhyun, Lee Juhee, and even Seo Jihan’s security team were left with no choice but to wait anxiously.

Inside the room, Choi Seonwoo first checked the bed. As is typical with serious cases of possession, the man restrained there began gasping for breath as soon as his eyes met Choi Seonwoo’s.

It wasn’t surprising nor was it the soul of a cultist. It was one of those that encouraged villagers to harm each other.

It was unlikely that the cultist’s soul had possessed Goo Seungjun. In the depths of Goo Seungjun’s being, there still lurked a predator that had brutally torn the cultists apart. Any spirit bold enough to try taking over would likely awaken this beast and be devoured in turn.

After withdrawing his gaze from Goo Seungjun, Choi Seonwoo started rolling up the sleeves of his clergy shirt, turning to look at Seo Jihan who was shadowing him.

“What do you think I brought Brother John here for?”

“To run errands?”

Seo Jihan replied without hesitation. Choi Seonwoo chuckled ironically and pointed at an empty bed.

“Lie down.”

“…Me? Why?”

“I’m going to transfer the evil spirit from that guy to you.”

Are you insane?

“I can hear you cursing with your eyes. There’s a reason for everything, you know.”

“Didn’t you say it yourself, priest? It’s bad to keep dealing with evil spirits.”

“That’s when I’m not around.”

Choi Seonwoo smoothly guided a skeptical Seo Jihan to sit on the bed. At that moment, Goo Seungjun’s voice rumbled with bloodshot, bulging eyes.

“A priest who looks tender and a young lad harboring a den of evil… What fine prey both of you are. Whose soul shall I devour first?”

By then, Goo Seungjun had completely surrendered his mind and body to the evil spirit. Seo Jihan glanced at him with instinctive revulsion, about to turn away, but Choi Seonwoo snapped his fingers to stop him.

Seo Jihan, like someone just pulled from a swamp, took a deep breath and focused his gaze.

“No matter what that filthy creature spouts, you only need to listen to me,” Choi Seonwoo bent down to look Seo Jihan in the eye at the same level.

Seo Jihan looked back blankly and nodded. Choi Seonwoo whispered so softly into his ear,

“Remember what I told you? Evil spirits grow stronger by devouring vengeful spirits as sacrifices.”

“I remember.”

“The proper way to detach a vengeful spirit is to accumulate virtue. But in your case, even saving a nation might not be enough for a lifetime.”

“Thanks for the uplifting words.”

“I’m just telling you the facts, don’t get snarky. Anyway, there’s a kind of shortcut, a way to somewhat counterbalance the vengeful spirits.”

“If there was such a method, you should have done it already.”

Seo Jihan glared at Choi Seonwoo, his eyes shimmering with a threat as if to accuse him of playing games with him all this time. Choi Seonwoo smirked, finding it amusing.

“Brother, don’t get impure thoughts, or you’ll get in trouble. It’s a risky method that could even put me in danger, so I’ve thought about this a lot before deciding.”

Seo Jihan looked at Choi Seonwoo a bit longer then averted his eyes. There wasn’t much else he could do; following Choi Seonwoo was his only option now.

“So, what exactly are you planning?”

“Well, simply put, we use the grudges of the vengeful spirits. Vengeful spirits with a strong desire to corrupt targets sometimes throw themselves as sacrifices to hold onto the evil spirits. Essentially, they become bait, empowering the evil spirits to latch onto the target.”

“…If a vengeful spirit can become food for an evil spirit, wouldn’t it be better for the evil spirit to just devour them all?”

“No. There’s a significant risk if the vengeful spirit throws itself voluntarily, but forcing it is risky.”

Choi Seonwoo surveyed the area around Seo Jihan with almost golden bright eyes.

“Vengeful spirits, born from deep-seated grudges, seduce the target into ruin and ultimately revert to chaos. Forcing to devour that is like swallowing chaos itself. You could break mentally, whether you’re alive or dead. That’s exactly why you shouldn’t mess with vengeful spirits.”

“Evil spirits have identities too? Seriously, the nerve.”

Seo Jihan clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“Anyway, you’re saying the vengeful spirits that want to corrupt me will throw themselves to become food for the evil spirit?”

“That’s right. Plus, if the evil spirit strongly senses its own demise, it might consume more vengeful spirits to survive. That would actually be beneficial.”

“What’s beneficial about that? That just makes it stronger.”

“But I’ll still win.”

That was one hell of a confident priest. Or was it just plain confidence?

“Alright.”

Seo Jihan couldn’t imagine a scenario where Choi Seonwoo would lose.

“Do as you wish, priest. After all, saving me is your responsibility.”

Choi Seonwoo smiled broadly and ruffled Seo Jihan’s hair as if he were a child, which was annoying yet paradoxically comforting.

“And today’s events are a secret between us two until death. If the diocese finds out, I might actually get excommunicated.”

That was probably why he had so rigorously cleared out the surveillance. Seo Jihan nodded.

They moved an empty bed next to Goo Seungjun’s. Seo Jihan lay down willingly and accepted Choi Seonwoo’s restraints. Goo Seungjun continued to mutter endlessly on his left, but oddly enough, none of his words seemed to penetrate and were bouncing off.

Seo Jihan focused solely on Choi Seonwoo. As the priest began liberally sprinkling holy water around the bed and reciting prayers, Seo Jihan’s mind grew fuzzy.

“Can I sleep?”

“Yes. Get some good rest.”

The anxiety that should have felt like being awakened in hell was strangely absent. Seo Jihan closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. His consciousness quickly blurred into complete darkness.

His sense of time completely distorted. It felt like an instant yet an eternity had passed in a vague drift.

“I’ve never seen anything like you. A living person who deceives the eyes of a ghost! What exactly are you?”

…Huh?

Seo Jihan twitched involuntarily within his subconscious. There shouldn’t have been anything to see or feel at that moment, yet a raspy whisper sharply pierced his mind. He couldn’t tell whether the voice was coming from far away or emerging from within him.

“Cast aside that false mask and show your true face, cunning priest!”

Suddenly, it felt as if flames were rising from his core. Seo Jihan inhaled sharply and his eyes snapped open. However, that was merely a psychological response. Seo Jihan was still deep in trance, feeling dwarfed and trembling in fear under the presence of immense beings.