Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Ghostbuster (3)
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I had no idea how to procure the necessary materials.
Yohan had casually tossed the grimoire aside, but that didn't mean he'd given up on crafting the pentacle.
Lying on the hotel bed,
he mulled over his future plans and course of action.
Honestly, expensive as they were, precious metals like gold or silver were easy enough to obtain commercially.
The real issue was the rare ingredients.
A quick search revealed that alloys involving mercury, like those for a pentacle of Mercury,
typically used amalgam—the metal mixed with mercury for dental fillings, often combined with silver or gold.
That stuff they use to patch teeth. It turned out to be pricey too.
Other metals could work, but since mercury was involved, he wanted something with proven safety.
Anyway, being a dental material, he might be able to get it somehow. But even if he gathered the ingredients, fashioning each metal into disks of the precise size he needed was another problem.
If he had blacksmithing skills and access to a forge, he'd just hammer them out.
Of course, he had neither the skills nor a forge.
And honestly, learning new spells down the line would require all sorts of materials.
He wasn't some YouTube homesteading guru.
DIY self-sufficiency had its limits.
So the idea that occurred to him—still in the realm of wild speculation—was
to seek out a wizarding society. A market where they sold such materials.
There were government agents—not police, but officials from a secret organization handling bizarre incidents—who had visited Smith's mansion.
Conversely, there had to be networks and communities connecting wizards. He'd find them.
Where people gathered, trade followed.
There was bound to be a market specializing in ritual components.
Of course, it was just a hunch. It might or might not exist.
,
He thought about the two grimoires in his possession.
He'd jokingly dismissed them as junk from a junk dealer, but...
they were undoubtedly extraordinary items.
Having never formally studied magic, he couldn't gauge their true value.
Still, if wizard organizations existed, they might covet his grimoires.
Screw up, and he could end up targeted not just by government agencies, but by other wizards too.
"·········."
He stared blankly at the hotel ceiling for a moment.
It felt off, but his conclusion was set.
He knew there were risks, but...
if he'd resolved to live as a wizard, he had to investigate whether a wizard society existed.
Be cautious where caution was needed, exploit what could be exploited.
He'd wrestled with it, but nothing major changed.
For now, he'd handle what he could and wait for opportunities to gather intel.
And what he could do was obvious: exorcisms.
Ghostbuster work.
"Gyaah~."
Splash~ Splash~ He could hear Grizzly's wail echoing from the bathroom.
Training Grizzly was on the list too. Plenty to do.
"Hmm~ It's fine, but something's missing."
Aspiring model Minjun heard the same old line for the umpteenth time and flunked another audition.
Back in high school, he'd shot up in height and had decent looks, earning comments that he was handsome, model material.
Young and naive, he'd assumed becoming a model was a given.
Reality didn't bend to his whims.
Minjun reflected on his failed audition while working his hall-serving gig.
"Here you go. Your order's up."
It wasn't the glamorous life he'd dreamed of as a kid.
No suicidal despair or anything—just a part-time job he didn't hate.
But how long could he keep this up?
...A vague anxiety gnawed at him.
Was his "aspiring model" label just a pretty excuse as his life slowly crumbled? Failed auditions always dredged up those gloomy thoughts.
As closing time neared,
Pedro, the Black guy in an apron from the back, stepped out and said,
"Minjun~ Boss says we're wrapping up early today."
"Got it."
His coworker spoke good Korean, worked hard—a solid guy.
They closed early because Pedro was quitting to head home,
turning the empty dining hall into a casual farewell party with shop food and drinks.
On the way home afterward,
Pedro—on his last day—noticed Minjun brooding over yet another failed audition and spoke up.
"Minjun, you ever hear of Vodou?"
Catching Minjun off guard, he replied in a dumbstruck tone.
"Uh...? That curse-and-zombie stuff from horror movies?"
Pedro laughed.
"Haha~ Nah, that's not it. That's the American occult mix-up. Real Vodou is about honoring the Loa and receiving their aid."
"...Aid?"
Maybe the booze, maybe the gloom—whatever, Minjun listened to the absurd tale.
At Minjun's place,
he'd prepped a white women's vanity as Pedro instructed.
"Pedro, this work?"
"Yeah, perfect. Erzulie Freda, the Loa of love and beauty, loves white and pink."
Pedro spritzed perfume on the vanity and placed a small framed portrait of a benevolent, fair-skinned beautiful goddess.
Minjun eyed the portrait warily, something nagging at him,
and Pedro grinned knowingly.
"Surprised a Vodou goddess from African folk faith is white?"
"Uh? Well... kinda?"
"Loa aren't just indigenous African ones. During colonial times, enslaved Black people sold across regions blended them with local gods, birthing new Loa."
Minjun gazed at the kindly goddess portrait as Pedro explained.
"Erzulie Freda emerged from enslaved Black people in Europe wishing portraits of the benevolent Virgin Mary or goddesses would save them."
"But she's distinct from Mary or other goddesses. Loves handsome men. Has lots of lovers."
Minjun blinked in confusion at the follow-up.
"Huh?"
"You'll become Erzulie Freda's devotee and lover, receiving her blessings."
Pedro's rundown boiled down to this:
As Erzulie Freda's lover, clean and perfume the altar—her vanity—every morning,
offer dresses, accessories, sweet desserts as tributes, and she'd bring fortune.
"But watch out. Erzulie Freda hates cigarette smoke and marijuana. No smoking or drugs."
"She's benevolent but jealous. She allows human women since it's a mortal-Loa romance, but never sleep with another in front of the altar."
The more he heard, the more Minjun wondered what he was doing—but figuring there was no real loss, he gave it a shot.
Of course, Pedro didn't truly believe it either.
He just wanted to boost his friend Minjun's confidence before leaving Korea.
Implant a placebo: a goddess has your back.
But the ritual's timing was...
, , ,
A convergence of grimoires that would drive any wizard mad—potentially literally.
Mysteries gathering in Korea.
And Minjun fit Erzulie Freda's tastes perfectly, so the ritual took hold for real.
The night he set up the altar,
Minjun dreamed of a beautiful goddess.
And...
"I keep glancing over. There's just... something appealing."
He passed the model audition.
"Hey, just between us—buy this stock now."
"...Really?"
Minjun meant to buy the tipped stock but grabbed the wrong one.
"Ah... wrong one."
The mistaken pick skyrocketed.
Luck clung to him; everything went right.
And...
In his new luxury officetel,
his pretty new model girlfriend pointed at the closed door.
"Oppa, what's in that room?"
"Ah~ uh~ don't worry~ about it."
The room with Erzulie Freda's altar vanity and tributes.
Puffing weed he'd gotten as a "everyone does it" perk of model life, Minjun slurred with hazy eyes,
"...If I shouldn't worry, guess it's fine to open!"
His equally stoned girlfriend flung the door wide.
She laughed at the glittering dresses, sparkling jewelry necklaces and earrings, stepping inside.
"Haha! Like a doll room."
She pulled out a dress, held it to herself, beckoning Minjun.
"Oppa~ come here."
Enchanted, Minjun approached and kissed her.
Clothes shed, flesh met flesh.
The goddess portrait atop the white vanity trembled and toppled.
‧
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...And now.
Yohan had heard Minjun's tale in full at the cafe, the guy looking utterly wrecked.
"I see. ...Must've been tough. Thanks for sharing it all honestly."
He tried not to show it, but eyed Minjun with weary disbelief.
Idiot... Did all the "don'ts": drugs, sex.
His brow furrowed involuntarily.
Was it because it was occult that it didn't hit as serious?
Put in real-world safety terms, this was like—
soaking wet, grabbing chopsticks, and jamming them into an electrical outlet.
He glanced at the Ghostbuster business card he'd given Minjun earlier.
...Sorry, but
he wanted to snatch it back and send the guy home.