The First Request (1)
The First Request (1)
What I wanted was still money.
Why would I be so desperate for a job?
Money.
It was because of money.
And a means to earn that money had appeared!
"Whoa... so things like this exist too."
I was able to enter a site through the link the Gallery Admin gave me.
Korean Occultist Association site.
The name sounded oddly like an old-school website.
Once I entered the referral code the Gallery Admin gave me, an account was created.
-Spiritual Master: Absolutely do not use your gallery nickname or personal name. Gallery members must strictly maintain anonymity. This applies to reality as well.
-Spiritual Master: And for your first request, it would be best to choose one marked as Unranked.
Remembering his advice, I came up with a new nickname.
"I'll just go with 'Divine Dragon'."
When I typed in Divine Dragon, it popped up saying it was an unavailable nickname.
DragonDragon, DragonTigerClash, Yonggary, Imoogi—they were all blocked.
"Dragons are cool, though..."
After trying this and that, without realizing it, I typed 'Assei'.
[ Account created. A burner account has been automatically generated. ]
"Excuse me...?"
I searched everywhere for a nickname change button, but there wasn't one anywhere.
And so, my nickname on the Korean Occultist Association site became 'Assei'.
"Well... can't be helped..."
I clicked on Requests on the site.
'The site design is old-school too.'
[ Minor Spirit Exorcism Request Price Negotiation (Grade 5) ]
[ Luxury Mansion Exorcism Request, 5 million+ won, one spot left. (Unranked) ]
[ Possession by 14-year-old Female Evil Spirit Exorcism Request (Grade 2) ]
Among the countless requests, one caught my eye.
The luxury mansion exorcism request marked as Unranked.
When I clicked it, the details page appeared.
-You just need to assist with the exorcism. All materials are provided. It's 5 million won per day, and if the number of days increases, we'll pay 50% more. If you click request, the address will be sent.
At the words 'exorcism assistant', I immediately applied for the request.
Then, a message arrived on the site immediately.
"The address came right away."
I grabbed the black mask, hat, and hoodie I had at home.
Looking in the mirror, I looked exactly like a knife-wielding robber who appears in a soap opera, stabs the male lead in the stomach, and disappears.
"What does that matter? With just this one request, I'll earn 5 million won...!"
I laughed and threw the front door open.
Wait for me! Five million won!
"He'll be doing a good job, right?"
I told him exactly what he needed to be careful about, so shouldn't he do well?
A woman said, looking in the mirror in the waiting room.
Shoulder-length wavy bob hair, big sparkling eyes, a cute nose, and cherry-like lips.
Her kind and soft impression was cute enough to win anyone's favor.
'He's a truly fascinating person.'
He beat up that dangerous suicide ghost with his bare hands and even burned the tutorial boss, the Monster Bird, to death.
Even including everyone, there wouldn't be anyone who achieved such feats in the tutorial.
For a moment, she remembered when she first saw the Monster Bird, and she instinctively crossed her legs.
"Ugh... it's embarrassing to think about it again."
It was an embarrassing past, but she had ended up having a little accident right there.
Still, she hadn't completely wet her pants like Bupal-i.
"Su-a-ssi~ We're going into the next scene filming~"
"Yes~ I'm coming right away~"
The woman, Choi Su-a, headed out of the waiting room.
"Su-a-ssi. Did you rest well?"
"Of course."
A middle-aged man, Director Choi Mu-jin, or Director Choi for short, asked.
He walked on eggshells around Su-a, trying to appease her. In a way, it was natural. Choi Su-a was a top actress who had filmed ten-million-viewer movies several times.
"Um... by any chance... has there been contact from Nexflix..."
"I'm planning to work with you until the next project."
"Right? Ahem... your makeup seems to have gone on really well today. Su-a-ssi~"
"Thank you."
"Alright, alright~ What is everyone doing? Let's get ready~!"
He shouted, urging people who were already doing a good job for no reason.
'It really is fun. Being an actress.'
It was Director Choi who discovered her while she was standing on the street.
Acting out a fictional character woven from a script, not one's own life.
For a half-dragon who had lived for hundreds of years, it was enough to pique the interest of someone who was exhausted from managing the Choi Su-a gallery and exorcisms.
She was the 'Spiritual Master', the other face of the nation's little sister Choi Su-a, and the Gallery Admin of the Occultist Gallery.
"Even if it's Unranked, we've filled the headcount. Ha... finally..."
"That's why I told you to control the information properly, didn't I?"
A man and a woman were talking inside a black van.
Gyu Park, a man with a rugged, gym-rat body, said, looking at the woman Ye-rin Kwon.
"If it was a request this difficult, I wouldn't have taken it either, you know?"
"Ha... I heard that requests involving large corporations are a headache, but I didn't know it would be to this extent."
The luxury mansion where Chairman Choi of OO Corporation passed away.
His children sold off the luxury mansion as if they didn't even want to look at it, and a chaebol family was found dead less than two days after purchasing the house.
Chairman Choi's children were shocked. Screaming that the dead Chairman Choi's evil spirit was attached to the mansion, they eventually even made a request to the Korean Occultist Association.
And so far, four Grade 5 occultists have died.
Among occultists, it became rumored as a request that should never be taken.
"We have to succeed this time..."
"But since we found an assistant, won't we succeed? If worst comes to worst..."
"That's enough."
A monk sitting in the back seat said.
"No matter what, one shouldn't use a person as bait."
"This is why I don't like monks. My life is important, is someone else's more important?"
Ye-rin Han, with a sharp impression, replied bluntly to those words.
"Everyone's life is inherently precious."
"Can't talk to you."
"Hey, hey, Ye-rin-ah, even so, if it weren't for that monk, we could have died."
She clicked her tongue at Gyu Park's words and turned her head sharply.
Screech...
The van they were riding in suddenly braked hard.
"Driver! Why did you stop suddenly?!"
"This is the place where we were supposed to pick up the new person."
Just then, the van door opened, and a man wearing a black hat and mask revealed himself.
"This is the request, right?"
*
"Here we are."
The driver quickly dropped the four of them off in front of the mansion and said.
"I'll come back up at 6 tomorrow. You just need to finish the exorcism by then."
"Tsk, to think we have to spend another day in a place like this."
"Ye-rin-ah... don't be like that, let's give it a try."
Ye-rin Han shuddered as soon as she saw the yin energy flowing out of the mansion.
It was the same for Gyu Park and the nameless monk.
"Truly an ominous energy."
"Exactly. Um... Assei-ssi?"
Gyu Park called out to the man, Assei, who was standing still and looking at the house.
"I'm Gyu Park, and this is Ye-rin Kwon. We're both Grade 3 occultists. And this nameless monk here makes up our party."
"You don't use nicknames?"
"Huh...? Ah, anyway, in Korea, everyone knows everyone through connections, so that's why. Especially since showing your face is good for landing big jobs. Is this your first time doing this work?"
Assei nodded.
"As expected. Then, since you're the assistant, grab that bundle over there and follow us well. We'll handle everything."
Gyu Park felt something strange as he watched Assei staring at the mansion.
'Can he not feel it?'
The energy flowing from the mansion was unusual. If you kept looking at the mansion, you'd feel dizzy and get chills.
Assei was staring straight at such a mansion.
'He'll be fine, right?'
He checked his eyes, but they were extremely calm.
"Then let's go."
Assei picked up the bundle with one hand and walked toward the mansion first. Gyu Park's eyes wavered as he watched Assei lift the bundle lightly.
"W-wait a second... that's extremely heavy...?"
Assei thought while looking at the mansion.
'It's really big. I want to live in a place like that too.'
It didn't seem like there was any hazing or anything like that. There was a woman named Ye-rin Han who seemed a bit prickly, but well, she didn't do anything particularly annoying.
"Young man, it would be better to go together."
The monk with a kind impression said to Assei.
"Because there is dark energy in that mansion."
"Is that so?"
Assei thought while looking at the mansion.
'Dark? It's just peaceful.'
"The inside is cleaner than I thought."
I said as I entered the mansion.
Inside the mansion gate, there was a wide hall. There were two staircases leading to the second floor, and on the first floor, I could see dozens of rooms and two hallways.
How much money do people who live in places like this make?
Don't they make millions of won every second?
"So jealous."
"W-wait, it's dangerous to go ahead... huff... huff..."
"Why is your pace so fast?"
Perhaps because of the level-up effect, I wasn't out of breath even though I had walked up for a long time through the garden.
"Huff... you can put the bundle down."
I put the bundle down and looked around.
Whether it was well-maintained or not, there was nothing that looked special except for the dust that had piled up.
"You see that room right there? You just need to sprinkle this salt at the entrance here."
Gyu Park, who had taken out a bag of salt from the bundle, said.
I started sprinkling salt around the room just as he said.
'Easy.'
Perhaps because my strength had increased, the bag was extremely light. I meticulously sprinkled the salt and put the bag down.
"Hey... this..."
"Damn it."
A talisman with soot marks remaining on it.
Ye-rin Han's face, holding it, had turned deathly pale.
"A very powerful grudge."
The monk, who had taken out a wooden gong at some point, said.
"First, I'll reattach it..."
Ye-rin Han took a talisman from her pocket and started sticking it here and there.
'Why did the talisman burn?'
I stood next to the monk without knowing why.
"Hey, Assei-ssi? Could you stick some talismans on the floor above?"
Ye-rin Han said, handing me the talismans, as if they needed to be attached to the second floor of the mansion too.
"Sure."
I headed to the second floor with the talismans without any suspicion.
On the second floor, I saw rooms and two hallways on both sides, just the same.
I stuck the talismans on the walls and floors just like Ye-rin Han did.
'The hallway light is off.'
I pressed the button and turned on the hallway light.
In the neatly connected hallway, nothing could be seen except for the decorative stands placed here and there.
"It's clean."
Just as I was about to go back down after sticking the talismans in the hallway.
Click.
The light went out.
"Why is it like this?"
I turned the light back on and turned around.
Click.
The light went out again.
I slowly raised my head.
I made eye contact with a ghost with pale skin, whose whole body was twisted and whose limbs were grotesquely elongated.
"Heh... hehe..."
The thing had its finger on the button.
"You bastard, are you stingy about the electricity bill!"
I grabbed the collar of the guy who let out a twisted laugh and slammed it straight into the floor.