WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 32: Gutenberg Bible

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Pastor Kim.

There was a man named Pastor Kim Gwang-o, the star pastor of our church.

He was such an incredible star pastor that he had turned Gangnam Holy Temple Church, already a megachurch, into the number one church in Korea. As I remembered him, though, he had been an easygoing, good-natured pastor.

But he had been an exorcist?

And a famous collector in this field?

Benkei's Iron Staff, the collection rumors I kept hearing here and there... It was all confusing.

"Isn't the Gutenberg Bible a really old thing?"

"The first edition is nearly six hundred years old. Of course, later editions are newer."

The Gutenberg Bible.

In other words, the Bible printed with Europe's first metal movable type.

It had originally been famous as the world's first metal movable-type book, but apparently Jikji had taken that title by coming seventy-eight years earlier.

Anyway, it was an extremely old Bible.

"Once Catholicism became able to mass-produce Bibles with Gutenberg's movable type, it also created Bibles for armed priests who fought anomalies.

"That was the Seventh Edition. It was an edition of the Bible the Vatican created to fight anomalies after acquiring movable-type technology."

"I don't really know what it is, but it's an amazing item, right?"

"Yes. It is a remarkable holy relic among exorcists. Its value increased even further because it was one of the Collector's favored items."

"..."

Pastor Kim. Just what the hell had you been getting up to?

Pastor Park would be returning to Korea soon. I really needed to ask him seriously.

"Is it really okay for me to accept something like this?"

"Thanks to you, we were able to wipe out the dream demons in one stroke. It is more valuable than simple cash, but it is the association president's consideration for encouraging a promising talent."

"That's kind of them."

I accepted the Bible and skimmed the basic instructions, then froze.

What? Is this for real?

Just as I was about to inspect it more closely, Joo Seoyul spoke carefully.

"Gari Bodhisattva."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Was it you who resolved the demon summoning incident in Songpa District?"

"Oh, you saw that?"

"...!"

Joo Seoyul flinched and looked somewhere else.

"So it was you after all."

The person who appeared without a sound was a familiar old woman.

She even had that old man ghost in tow, so there was no way I could fail to recognize her.

"Mrs. Park?"

"Long time no see, young man."

Mrs. Park walked over without a sound and sat between Joo Seoyul and me.

"Allow me to introduce her. This is Manager Park Bokrye of the Mystic Association's Abnormal Ability Response Special Task Division."

"You were a civil servant?"

It wasn't entirely unexpected.

When I learned that Black Knot was a high-level pass within the association, I figured Mrs. Park might be connected to it.

"Seems you had guessed."

"I didn't think just anyone could hand out something like a Black Knot."

Mrs. Park nodded and asked me a question.

"Young man, are you affiliated with any group right now?"

I was a member of Gangnam Holy Temple Church, but I did not think that was what she meant.

She was asking whether I belonged to any group as an exorcist.

"For now, I'm a freelancer."

"That's surprising. I thought you were Pastor Park's disciple."

Was Pastor Park famous too?

Then again, Gangnam Holy Temple Church had been described as a well-known exorcist group in this field.

"What do you say? If you are unaffiliated, why not become a civil servant with the association?"

"A civil servant?"

"That's right. It's stable, and your paycheck comes regularly. The benefits go without saying."

Ordinarily, civil servants brought to mind low pay and people working only for a pension, but Mystic Association employees apparently were not ordinary civil servants.

"You also receive mission allowances regularly. It is performance-based, and you can rise through the ranks as much as you like."

"It came so suddenly that I don't know what to say."

"Ho ho ho... It is a standard scouting offer."

A civil servant.

Not an ordinary one, but there had been a time when I searched desperately for a stable job.

An employee of the Mystic Association.

I did not think they would treat me badly, but...

"I don't think this is a decision I should make right now."

"Think it over carefully."

With that, I left the Mystic Association.

I walked out with a five-hundred-million-won success fee and the Gutenberg Bible.

Still, why was it?

I had a feeling this was only the tiniest beginning.

* * *

The Gutenberg Bible.

I had acquired an unexpected holy relic, but there was something more important first.

"This demonic power... No, spiritual power is incredible. What am I supposed to use all of this for?"

The brass ring now contained the spiritual power absorbed from more than a hundred demons.

What could I do with this tremendous spiritual power?

I was curious too. Very curious.

"Should I try the new item first?"

I placed the wooden box containing the Bible on the dining table.

Inside was the Gutenberg Bible, wrapped in several layers of thick cloth.

The Seventh Edition, supposedly printed around five hundred years ago.

They said Catholic secret arts had been added during its creation, modifying it for use against anomalies.

Of course, it was not exactly as it had been five hundred years ago.

The cowhide cover had worn smooth with age, while metal binding had been layered over it as a refined decoration.

The silver embedded in this alone had to be worth something.

"Whew. Never thought I'd get to hold a Bible over five hundred years old."

Ah, was this really my first old book?

I had the original Book of Enoch Pastor Kim had given me.

The difference was that he had told me only to keep that one without explaining how to use it.

Though thanks to that, I had received Gari's help in a moment of crisis.

The Gutenberg Bible, Seventh Edition, had proper instructions.

They had even been translated into Korean.

[Gutenberg Bible, Seventh Edition: Practical Guide]

Author: Pastor Kim Gwang-o.

"Wow, he really was the original owner?"

The Mystic Association said it had paid a fortune to purchase the Bible after it was found following Pastor Kim's death.

Pastor Kim had owned it before them, so where on earth had he gotten it?

[The Seventh Edition has three major functions.]

First.

It functions as a barrier that prevents the entry and exit of impure entities.

Soak a page in holy oil to automatically create a barrier within a 'space' that prevents entry and exit.

Postscript.

It does not function outdoors because it cannot 'seal' the entrances to a 'space.'

Also, if there are too many entrances, gaps will form due to the limited number of pages.

Could not catch the werewolf in Florence because of this and suffered like hell.

Second. If the first function has been successfully completed, pages can be 'converted' into holy weapons for use in that area.

Ex) Silver-cross silver bullets from the Vatican's four major basilicas, enchanted repeating crossbow bolts from the Helsing family, 13mm explosive steel rounds with silver cross cores from Lancaster Cathedral, Macedonium-processed pure-silver-jacketed bullets. Confirmed successful replication of Marbles Chemical NNA9 propellant 13mm armor-piercing explosive rounds.

They are truly single-use, so replicate ranged equipment whenever possible.

"..."

Rather than instructions... he had written down reviews based on his own experiences using it.

More importantly, did everything listed in these instructions really exist? Did 13mm explosive steel rounds and armor-piercing explosive rounds actually exist?

Was our world really this dangerous?

"More importantly, it consumes pages?"

This was a consumable?

There was something else. Ah, here it was.

"It was printed with movable type, right?"

The Gutenberg Bible, Seventh Edition, did not contain only the Bible itself.

It also included the type needed to produce Bibles. The instructions said I was supposed to make pages myself, print them with the type, and replenish the supply.

"That sounds like a huge pain..."

Still, what choice did I have?

It would let me keep using these incredible abilities as long as I printed some paper.

Instructions for making holy paper, setting the type, and printing it... Hmm, this was pretty serious.

Postscript.

Outsource it. Myeongdong Cathedral or Gangnam Holy Temple Church have people who specialize in this.

Pastor Kim... You outsourced it.

I already knew that was the kind of person you were, but...

Maybe that was extremely practical?

Anyway, the Gutenberg Bible.

The writing inside was all Latin, making it difficult to read, but...

"I'm glad I studied hard during Pastor Park's Latin culture classes."

My parents had been active in church, and they had especially emphasized those after-service classes alongside Bible writing and reading, saying we needed to be prepared for anything.

Thanks to that, I had memorized the Bible by heart and even found a use for Latin. Life really was unpredictable.

"All right, should I give it a try?"

I picked up the Bible and used the first function first.

They said the Bible's power began with using the first function to block entry and form a barrier.

"The prayer... 'Do I have to teach you that too? Why not ask me to spoon-feed you as well?' Good grief, our pastor was quietly unfriendly in strange ways."

A prayer was an image.

The moment a miracle was performed came through earnest prayer and desire.

So rather than using a prayer learned from someone else, I would have to create one myself each time.

"By the Lord's word, I draw this boundary. Let nothing impure enter, and let nothing impure leave."

At once, pages tore themselves from the Gutenberg Bible and flew away.

Bang!

A sheet of paper embedded itself in the front door.

I was surprised that it actually worked, but what surprised me more was how it stuck precisely to the front door.

But more than one page had flown away...

"Ah. The windows."

Windows could be considered entrances in a sense too.

Pages from the Bible clung to every window, forming a solemn barrier.

"Then, let's test the barrier... Ah."

There was a problem.

The Bible's barrier had the power to prevent the entry and exit of 'impure things.'

Chirp?

Clack?

【Po?】

There was nothing impure here.

They might look like that, but my kids were all good kids.

* * *

Rain fell over Incheon Port.

Containers stood in rows at the unloading terminal.

Customs officers usually moved about the place, but today, the people making their presence known were not customs officers.

"Pastor Go, come take a look here."

"Did you find something, Deacon Kim?"

As Pastor Go approached, Deacon Kim turned on a flashlight and shone it on what had been found.

"This is..."

It was one of the containers commonly found at the terminal.

The problem was the dried bloodstains where the flashlight shone.

The dark red stains were not obvious, but they appeared in scattered patches.

A stale odor drifted from inside, and feeling uneasy, Pastor Go picked up a crowbar and forced the container open.

Crack!

The forced-open container door swung wide, revealing what was inside.

Blood was splattered everywhere, along with the stench of rotting corpses.

The inside of the container was a horrifying hellscape.

Pastor Go and Deacon Kim frowned as they examined the interior.

Despite the blood splattered everywhere, the bodies had been drained completely pale. They had become mummies, as if every drop of blood had been sucked from them.

"Damn it, vampires really are involved."

"I heard they were planning to enter illegally from China, but... we were one step too late."

Vampires.

Night beasts that fed on people.

As creatures representing Europe, they had threatened human society after dark ever since their progenitor, the Count.

"Why would vampires come to Korea? Don't tell me... it is because of Count's Coffin?"

"I do not think so. How would vampires across the sea know about Count's Coffin when even we do not? Only Pastor Park might know."

Vampires were beasts that loathed Korean soil.

They rarely set foot in Korea, so for them to suddenly sneak into the country...

"Let us notify the association and the other Five Great Lineages. I will contact Pastor Park."

"Yes, then I will notify the association first."

While Deacon Kim hurried out of the container, Pastor Go took photographs of the horrific interior and sent them to Pastor Park.

Soon, he succeeded in connecting the call.

[Pastor Go. Did you find them?]

At the immediate question, Pastor Go hesitated before answering.

"I found how they entered illegally, but... it is already too late."

[Phew...]

A sigh came through the receiver.

It felt like disappointment in him, and Pastor Go's mouth went dry.

[The head of the Lincoln Family warned us that a deserter has emerged from the Crimson Moon Clan, a vampire clan in Shanghai, China.]

A deserter.

A runaway vampire.

It was not a common occurrence.

Vampire society had a thoroughly vertical hierarchy.

They could not defy the parent vampire who had turned them into vampires.

"I heard the Lincoln Family's hunters clashed with the Crimson Moon Clan recently."

[Yes. The Lincoln Family's younger heir subjugated the Clan Lord.]

As expected of the Lincolns, an old American vampire-hunting family.

It was widely known in this field that their great ancestor, who had liberated slaves, had actually been a vampire hunter who wiped out the vampires of the American South.

If they were one of the two great vampire-hunting families alongside Abraham Van Helsing's descendants, they could probably turn a vampire clan into a wasteland.

[The problem is that one vampire stole the Clan Lord's blood and fled.]

"The Clan Lord's blood..."

As mentioned repeatedly, vampire society had a thoroughly vertical hierarchy.

And status was determined by how purely one inherited the blood of one's ancestor.

Someone had stolen that blood and fled.

Naturally, the clan would have trackers seeking to reclaim it.

"That is why they entered Korea illegally."

Korea, a cursed land for vampires.

Here, it would be easy to escape the trackers.

[Pastor Go.]

"Yes, please speak."

[There will also be trackers trying to reclaim the pureblood blood. They will need it if they are to rebuild the clan.]

Then they would have to deal with both the deserter and the trackers.

[We need to deal with these mosquito bastards before they start running wild. If necessary, ask Lincoln or Helsing for help. They owe Pastor Kim a great debt, so they will gladly come to help.]

"No. We cannot spend such a great favor on something like this. We can handle this matter ourselves."

[Pastor Go, it is good to always work hard, but there is no shame in accepting help.]

"Pastor, please trust me with this. Did Pastor Kim not accomplish such things as well? I am your disciple too."

[...Yes. I will trust you with it.]

The call soon ended.

Pastor Park had hesitated before answering.

Pastor Go could not demand to know why Pastor Park had not immediately agreed.

Pastor Kim.

Compared to him, Pastor Go was likely still an inadequate disciple.

"Phew... His shadow still looms large."

Sometimes, he resented the man who had vanished after becoming a legend.

Footnotes:

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