WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 82: Sanctuary Operations

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A month had passed since a sanctuary first appeared in Seoul.

During that time, the city had undergone many changes.

First, ghosts had begun migrating en masse.

Except for Earthbound Spirits that could not leave the land where they were born, ghosts from across Seoul had gathered in one particular triangular area.

Junggok-dong.

Munjeong-dong.

Bangbae-dong.

A Triangle sanctuary formed with those three areas as its vertices.

Ghosts gathered there, while evil spirits and yōkai could not enter.

A spiritually safe zone had taken shape within Korea.

The second change was that the land's energy had begun to rise in earnest.

"Dragon nodes in the area... and enormous spiritual power is surging around the Triangle's vertices."

"So what's good about that?"

"It means a virtually limitless supply of spiritual power. It also holds great spiritual significance. You've heard people say a plot of land has good energy, right?"

It was something that came up often in feng shui.

"On land like this, everything goes well. Start a business and it'll thrive. Build a house and live there, and you'll stay healthy and live a long life."

That made sense.

There were three dragon nodes at the sanctuary's vertices.

An old factory site in Junggok-dong.

A detached house in Munjeong-dong.

A hot spring hotel in Bangbae-dong.

Before they became Ghost Veins, all three had been places that brought prosperity to businesses and households, with special hot spring water bubbling up from them.

If we'd secured dragon nodes like these, we had to make use of them.

"You're building a medical device factory here?"

I tilted my head at Pastor Go's factory plan.

"Did you know the chairman of XX Medison attends our church?"

"No."

"The chairman is one of our church elders. You should get to know the chairman from now on. The chairman will be part of your network too."

I looked it up, and XX Medison's chairman headed a major corporation.

So the chairman attended our church.

Then again, Gangnam Holy Temple Church was no ordinary large church.

It was one of the top five megachurches in Korea, so of course it had all sorts of people.

"The chairman was planning to acquire another factory in Seoul, so I recommended this place."

From what I'd heard, a biomedical device factory was not simply a production facility.

Researchers needed to gather and work there, so they preferred Seoul. It was also advantageous to build there because they needed feedback from major hospitals.

"But the chairman decided awfully fast. Isn't building a factory a huge deal?"

"The chairman looked ready to sign immediately."

There was a reason for that.

"Pastor Park let the chairman know it was a Holy Vein. You know how people say businesses thrive if they settle down on an auspicious site."

"A corporate chairman believes in that stuff too?"

"You'd be shocked if you knew how obsessed this country's powerful people are with shamanism and faith. It actually works, too."

In short, the chairman had latched onto it as soon as the chairman heard it was a guaranteed auspicious site at one of Seoul's sanctuary vertices.

"The lease agreement... Wait, what is this?"

The rent was listed as a monthly payment.

But it had zeros. One, two, three, four... A nine-digit number?!

"The amount has to be wrong. The annual rent here isn't even three hundred million won..."

Had they mistaken the monthly rent for the annual rent?

"Possible."

"No, it's not a matter of whether it's possible..."

"They're building a factory on an auspicious site. That's cheap, considering the construction costs and the thirty-year lease."

The annual rent was over two billion won.

I hadn't even paid one billion won for this place.

"Won't the tax office investigate? Anyone would think it's tax evasion or a disguised gift or something."

"We'll sort that out later. Anyway, this will help develop our country's medical industry."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a medical device factory built in a sanctuary. They'll need to buy more of the surrounding land, but they're going to build the research site on your property."

Which meant...

"The researchers will develop things while soaking up the Holy Vein's energy. It'll be an auspicious site where everything goes well, businesses prosper, people live long and healthy lives, and ideas spring forth."

"Oh..."

"No matter what they make, it'll be equipment with 'holy' in front of its name. It'll definitely heal patients."

When you looked at it that way, the rent was cheap.

"And the real price isn't the rent."

"The rent alone is more than enough. What else is there?"

"Well, this part is a little illegal..."

We whispered in secret.

Was this really something a pastor should be suggesting?

* * *

The abandoned factory site would bring in rent from another company's factory, but that was not the real key.

The real key was reopening Yurim Hotel.

"Preparations for reopening the hotel are proceeding smoothly, boss."

"Boss... That's embarrassing."

"Haha, a young boss is still a boss."

I had received the rights to the entire hotel from the Great Unification Church Leader as payment for driving out the demon that had slept within Yurim Hotel.

Still, it would all amount to nothing if the hotel did not reopen.

Since I'd made an unbelievable amount from Kyoto in gold bars, construction for the reopening began right away.

Naturally, the interior design and construction company was also run by one of the congregation members at Gangnam Holy Temple Church.

Seriously, that church had everyone.

"The whole hotel has rotted through, so it'll need a complete interior renovation. We'll also need thorough disinfection."

Damn Martim.

Martim had unleashed rats, spiders, and cockroaches throughout the hotel, leaving every corner rotten.

The furniture was full of droppings and carcasses. We'd practically need to call a specialty cleanup company.

"How much will it cost?"

"A full remodel of the guest rooms will be 8.5 billion won. Three billion won for the lobby and restaurant. Then if we generously include electricity, fire safety, plumbing, heating and cooling, furniture, and contingency funds..."

Twenty-five billion won.

Good lord. So this is how much it costs to run a business.

"Deacon Kim, you know Deacon Park, right? The former chief designer at Arcadia Design Creative."

"Designer Park Tae-woon?! Park Tae-woon is doing it?"

"Yes. We're going all-out luxury, so secure a generous budget."

"Goodness! If Park Tae-woon is joining, it's a different story. Let's set it at seventy billion won!"

"..."

What?

How did twenty-five billion suddenly become seventy billion?

"If we include reopening preparations and enough operating capital for a year, ninety billion won should be plenty."

"Pastor Go? It's not like I don't have money, but isn't that a bit much to spend?"

I did have money.

Not long ago, my assets had only been in the billions of won, but the money I'd made during this Kyoto trip was no small amount.

The gold bars I'd received as payment for performing sacred relic transformation consecrations were worth over one hundred billion won, and the payment for managing the auspicious sites at the Japanese sanctuary was astronomical too.

Most of it would be reinvested in Japan, but they were planning to run various businesses there as well, so money would keep coming in.

Even so, as someone who'd been an ordinary citizen until recently, spending tens of billions of won still made me uneasy.

After telling Deacon Kim, the interior contractor, to get to work, Pastor Go continued.

"Yohan, what kind of place is Yurim Hotel?"

"It was famous as a hot spring hotel, right?"

"That's right. It was known for the excellent effects of its warm dragon spring water, infused with the dragon node's energy. Now that it's upgraded into a Holy Vein, what do you think will happen?"

"The effects will get even better?"

"Right. So will more guests come, or not?"

"Uh..."

That was true.

More guests meant more money, which meant we needed renovations and expansion to match.

"For the hotel restaurant, there's Deaconess Park, who works in food service. You know XX Place, right? Elder Oh owns the domestic corporation for that cafe. Then we'll run Korean, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants, along with a spa..."

The business plans were falling into place.

"Yohan, if you're going to process it all as business expenses anyway, you'll need to spend some money."

"Money?"

"Yes. Between the new factory and Yurim Hotel, you can make the tax situation look beautiful depending on how you handle the expenses."

That was true.

Hadn't I just brought back 1.2 tons of gold bars?

I hadn't reported it to the Mystic Association yet, but I'd need to deal with the taxes once I turned it into cash.

How was I supposed to explain all this money?

"That should take care of the major work. You can handle the rest by visiting the Mystic Association."

Thanks to Pastor Go taking care of all sorts of details, I had far less to worry about.

After checking a few more things, Pastor Go casually asked, "What happened to the angel? I heard Gari still hasn't come out of the cocoon."

"You should see it for yourself."

I teleported to our house in Munjeong-dong with Pastor Go.

* * *

We arrived at the detached house in Munjeong-dong through a space leap.

Eight-Foot Sister and Kohaku greeted us as soon as we arrived.

【Devour~】

"My loo~ord! You've returned!"

"Yeah. What about the petitioners?"

"I handled their requests until just now and sent them away!"

We were still resolving the complaints of the ghosts that kept coming in whenever we had time.

I wondered if we should hire contractors here too, like we'd outsourced work to the Tsuchimikado Clan at the Japanese sanctuary.

For now, though, it did not seem necessary.

This sanctuary was much smaller than the Japanese one, but more importantly, Kohaku was surprisingly capable at administrative work.

"Kohaku, you've made things so much easier. I didn't know you were this good at the job."

"Hehe, this humble one is only serving you devotedly, day and night, my lord."

"Are you digesting the fox orb well?"

"...I'm sorry to disappoint you after you showed concern, but it's all I can do just to digest the spiritual power. I think I'll need a little more time to show results."

"Take it slow. You're doing well already."

When we headed into the yard, Pastor Go was examining Gari.

"Gari's still inside the cocoon... but am I right about what I think is happening?"

Pastor Go was using bronze glasses.

The glasses alone would not let Pastor Go see the dragon node's writhing energy, but Pastor Go seemed able to sense it.

Well, it was hard not to notice when things were this turbulent.

"Yes. It's been like this ever since we came here."

Gari was still in a cocoon.

But I could see it clearly.

Gari was sucking in the pulsing energy of the ley lines from every direction.

That was exactly what was happening.

Gari was absorbing an enormous amount of energy from the sanctuary's dragon nodes.

"Gari's absorbing an incredible amount. So I've had Gari absorb energy from the factory district and hotel alternately."

"Dragon nodes eventually replenish themselves, but... the ley lines aren't going to be drained dry, are they?"

Considering that a dragon node was the energy of a ley line itself, the effect might weaken, but it probably would not run dry.

Still, an enormous amount of energy was flowing into Gari, enough to make me worry about it.

"Right. Before the ley lines dry up, Gari needs to come ou- Gah!"

That was when it happened.

The pale membrane twitched.

Hanging in midair like a gigantic silkworm cocoon, it pulsed slowly like a heart.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"M-My lord! Angel Gari!"

【Devour······.】

All of us witnessed it.

As the pulsing grew faster, cracks began spreading across the translucent membrane covering the cocoon's surface.

Blood-red fissures spread in every direction like veins.

Riiip!

A thin tearing sound rang out.

The very center of the cocoon split apart.

It looked like a reptile shedding its skin.

A grueling process of Gari shedding their old shell on their own.

At the end was a new shell... or a larger body... perhaps like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.

Fwoosh!

The shell peeled away, revealing wings.

They were unmistakably different from the fingernail-sized wings Gari had before. If that had been Gari's infancy, these wings marked Gari's boyhood.

They were still small compared to Gari's body, but that was not the only change.

Click! Clack! Clack!

Gari's teeth clacked together, sending out powerful shockwaves laden with a voice.

אֲנִי הַמֶּרְכָּבָה.

(Ani ha-Merkavah.)

מֶרְכֶּבֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ.

(Merkevet HaMelekh.)

Flames flashed like lightning around four rows of rings.

It shuddered as though it would charge forward at any moment... yes, a chariot, a Merkabah.

It looked like a chariot capable of smashing through and breaking everything in its path.

Footnotes:

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