🎶 Lucia - Wollyeong

I didn't originally believe in superstitions.

My grandmother and my mother were both fortune tellers, but to be honest, I only pretended to pray beside them because I didn't want to get scolded, and carrying water was the extent of my involvement.

Ghosts. Exorcisms. Rituals. Divination. Shamans.

I saw them as occupations, but I thought they were someone else's story. How was I supposed to believe in something I couldn't even see? Disbelief is a freedom, after all.

I should never have indulged in that damn disbelief. I went to college without any major issues and finished my military service. After that, I was busy enjoying my life recklessly.

Then, exactly at twenty-nine—a number close to completion but still unfinished. My mother's words that I should be careful this year because the 'nine-year jinx' and the 'three years of misfortune' overlapped sounded like nothing more than typical, excessive fussing to me back then.

Where are there ghosts in this world? Where is there a god?

That day, as if to throw back all the denials I held in my heart, I failed to pass twenty-nine unscathed.

It was the wrath of a god who inflicted spirit sickness on a man who denied the existence of ghosts, as if to say, "Fine, see how you like it."

It hurt. It hurt like hell.

A guy who was perfectly fine drinking and meeting women and doing all sorts of debauched things was suddenly bedridden like someone possessed overnight. It felt like my whole body was breaking.

But there was something even more hellish. Things that shouldn't be seen started to become visible. At first, I thought I was going crazy. Then I thought I had a terminal illness.

Still, the survival instinct to live came before any other thought. Even now, it's an absurd situation. A guy who lived with every possible denial, saying ghosts don't exist, becomes a shaman overnight.

That's the story of when I received the call.

So, am I now an ideal shaman who offers kind prayers, reads people's fortunes, and goes around exorcising haunted houses?

Fat chance.

Fine. I admit ghosts exist. I admit gods exist. But that doesn't mean I'm going to live my life as their servant.

Prayers? I offer them. Just enough so I don't die. Throw sincere devotion to the dogs.

Divination? I have no interest in other people's lives. Looking into them only makes things complicated, and getting involved is a headache.

Ghosts? Exorcisms? They probably attached themselves to people for a reason. In this harsh and lonely world, just tell them to live together for now.

Possession and mediumship—giving up one's body to a ghost is such a disgusting thing to do. Besides, if I get caught by a ghost the wrong way, I'm the only one who ends up screwed.

Still, for those who come crawling to me after doing everything to invite bad luck and asking me to fix it, I just write a few talismans and send them away. That actually pays quite well.

So, I intended to just keep living like this.

Doing only the bare minimum of what needs to be done. Avoiding what the gods tell me to do as much as possible. Pretending not to notice ghosts to a reasonable degree.

One day, while I thought things were rolling along just fine, an outsider barged into my house.

Someone who worked under my mother, apparently. Along with the preposterous suggestion that I should take in and raise this novice who hasn't even properly opened their spiritual gate. Truly, nothing in this life goes my way.

What do you mean, a disciple for someone who can't even take care of himself? It's clearly just a plausible surveillance device attached to me because I'm suspicious.

But the real problem was this outsider.

Despite not even being able to open their own spiritual gate properly, their spirit was excessive—no, it was damn near overflowing. Are they really trying to serve someone like me as a master?

Fuck, it's burdensome as hell. They follow me wherever I go. They interfere with whatever I do. They're doing a great job acting as a surveillance camera rather than a disciple.

I told them not to take customers, and they go and book appointments as they please. I went to a club to blow off some stress for once, and they actually came to pick me up.

Seriously, they're a total buzzkill.

I can't even throw a proper ritual to kick them out. Just how the hell am I supposed to exorcise this person?