WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 9: Wolryeong Bodhisattva

──────

Just as the talismans were about to hit me, Gari swallowed me.

Well, not exactly swallowed. It put me in its mouth. Thanks to that, I wasn't hurt at all by the flames pouring from the talismans.

"Gari! Are you okay?!"

Craaaack!

Gari opened its mouth again and spat me out.

Even after all those flames, Gari's body wasn't injured in the slightest.

"Thank goodness. Jeez, you scared me."

What the hell had those flying papers been?

Clack! Clack!

Just as I confirmed Gari was safe.

"T-this can't be...!"

Some old lady came rushing into the yard, crying out in horror.

Judging by her colorful clothes, she seemed to be the fortune teller from Moonlight Shrine.

So this old lady had sent those talismans flying at me?

Attacking without warning was one thing, but the fortune teller in my neighborhood was a wizard?

"Ahh...!"

Then the old lady suddenly threw herself flat on the ground and bowed to me.

"What...?"

"I did not realize you served a great god! I was frightened and overreacted! Please forgive me!"

What was she talking about?

A great god? Did she mean Gari?

"......"

Well, could this even be called a god? It felt blasphemous.

"But why did you attack me?"

"Th-that is... I thought you were an evil spirit."

Gari's figure was reflected in the mirror the old lady showed me.

Was that how she had seen Gari?

Hmm... fair enough. You'd need nerves of steel not to freak out after seeing Gari.

"Since you serve a great god, you must know. Evil spirits have been gathering in this area. I put up a barrier and hid away, but then you tore through it and entered..."

"Huh? You knew? That there were tons of ghosts around here?"

"Yes..."

"Then why didn't you exorcise them?"

The old fortune teller looked troubled at my question.

"What power does this old woman have to defeat evil spirits? All I can do is put up a barrier and hide."

"Hmm..."

Maybe defeating evil spirits wasn't actually easy.

The neighborhood's supposedly gifted fortune teller was like this, after all.

"But I caught most of the evil spirits nearby."

"What? That can't be. There were several incredibly powerful evil spirits..."

"Anyway, I got them all. It's safe now, so you can stop hiding."

"Good heavens..."

The old fortune teller looked like she couldn't believe it.

Ah, though there had been one more.

"There was an evil spirit at the general hospital nearby too, but I couldn't catch it. It was private property, so I couldn't get in."

"The nearby general hospital... do you mean Hallym Hospital?"

"Yes."

I had gone into schools while cleaning up the neighborhood, but the hospital had security right at the entrance, so I couldn't enter.

It was also pretty far from my house, and there hadn't been any reason to force my way in.

"How do you know there's an evil spirit there... no, never mind. Could it be... if you could enter the hospital, would you consider dealing with that evil spirit too?"

"Hmm..."

That took some thinking.

Did I really need to go catch an evil spirit that wasn't even a threat to me?

The nearby evil spirits were all dealt with now, so there wasn't even any smell lately.

And the hospital really was quite a distance from home.

"Actually, there is a request to deal with the evil spirit at the hospital."

"A request?"

"Yes. It is a public request posted by the Mystic Association, and the reward is quite good."

A word I didn't know came up. Mystic Association...

Wait, South Korea had something like that?

Should I ask?

Tell her I was a complete newbie who knew nothing about this stuff.

"Can I see the details?"

"Yes, please come inside for a moment."

I followed the old fortune teller farther in. The interior was just an ordinary house.

It seemed there was a separate annex used for fortune-telling.

"Please sit here and wait. I will bring some tea."

I sat at the low table, and before long, the old lady brought out teacups.

As she poured the tea, she began to explain.

"This area is one where ghosts are likely to appear."

I hadn't known that.

"Why?"

"You mentioned Hallym Hospital, didn't you?"

When I nodded, the old fortune teller continued.

"That place has handled funerals as well for quite some time. That makes it easy for ghosts to arise."

I see.

It was probably like the cemeteries that always showed up in occult movies.

"They say a person needs lingering resentment to become a ghost, but there usually aren't that many people with enough resentment to turn into one. Lately, though, that hasn't been the case."

"There were a lot of ghosts around here."

"Perhaps there were unusually many unfortunate restless souls, or perhaps something happened that caused resentment to build without my knowledge. It seems a powerful evil spirit was born at Hallym Hospital."

The old fortune teller had received a request to exorcise that evil spirit.

Since she was the certified spiritual practitioner for this area, it had apparently been the natural course of events.

"But the evil spirit at that hospital was not one I could handle alone. More than anything, there have been far too many evil spirits in this area recently. This old body could not endure it, so I had no choice but to hide away."

Of course, she had reported it to the Mystic Association.

They were investigating now, apparently, but for some reason things were moving slowly.

"That is why I ask you to exorcise the evil spirit in my stead. Someone who serves a great god like you should be more than capable."

"Hmm..."

The thought of exorcising an evil spirit made me hesitate.

Should I do it?

Me? Why?

Gari had made it easy to deal with evil spirits so far, but the one at the hospital might be much stronger.

Did I really need to put myself in danger to help exorcise it?

「No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.」

The verse suddenly came to mind.

It was the passage Jesus had taught His disciples.

"Grandma... Bodhisattva."

"I am Wolryeong Bodhisattva. Please speak."

"Can you help ghosts move on too?"

* * *

The next day, I met Wolryeong Bodhisattva in front of the utility pole.

In exchange for granting her request, she was going to perform a salpuri ritual for Han Gyeoul.

"I truly cannot sense any evil spiritual energy nearby."

"Because I caught all the evil spirits around here."

Wolryeong Bodhisattva couldn't hide her amazement at my words.

"You truly will be able to exorcise the evil spirit at the hospital."

"I told you, I'm a Christian."

While talking about Han Gyeoul, I told her I was Christian and had never received anything like spirit possession.

"Jesus Christ is a powerful god as well. He is an immensely great god."

"It's really weird hearing you say that. Is this idol worship?"

Jesus was the one being treated as a god, wasn't He? Then again, that made it complicated.

I didn't tell her about Gari.

There was no reason to, and I had no idea what kind of consequences would come from walking around with an angel.

"But if you are an exorcist, why do you not visit a cathedral or church?"

"......"

Wait, I hadn't known that.

Churches and cathedrals did that too?

Ah, in this line of work, there must be churches where people worked as exorcists.

She thought I was an exorcist, so naturally she assumed I was connected to other exorcists too.

"I don't know anyone."

At least that was true.

"That can happen. You cannot know every exorcist. Still, if it is Gangnam Holy Temple Church, you should have no trouble finding someone skilled."

"......"

Wait, Gangnam Holy Temple Church was an exorcist group?

Realizing the hidden identity of the church I had attended my whole life made my head spin.

"Here we are. Oh, my back."

I arrived with Wolryeong Bodhisattva at the utility pole where Han Gyeoul was.

As usual, Han Gyeoul was hiding behind it.

"Hah... I can definitely sense ghostly energy."

"Yes, they're here."

"They're here... can you see the restless soul?"

"Uh... yeah, I can?"

Wolryeong Bodhisattva inhaled sharply in surprise.

"S-spiritual sight? Can you touch ghosts too?"

"No. But I can smell them. Evil spirits especially stink."

"Spiritual scent...! You were born with an innate ability!"

"Is it that rare?"

Wolryeong Bodhisattva nodded.

"Being able to see ghosts at all is rare, but having your spiritual sight opened without any limitations is even rarer. I have only seen a few people like that in my life."

Apparently, that was called having one's spiritual sight opened.

Once someone could perceive ghosts with their five senses, they would naturally begin to see them.

"The most famous person... yes, in this land of Korea, it would be Pastor Kim of Gangnam Holy Temple Church."

"Uh... Pastor Kim?"

"Yes. He was someone who could see the colors of souls. If he had become a male shaman, he possessed enough spiritual energy to accept even Mahavairocana."

Pastor Kim... the pastor from our Gangnam Holy Temple Church could see the colors of souls and physically seize them.

That was why he had been a very famous exorcist in Korea.

"Anyway, if you can smell souls and distinguish them by their stench... you are not simply gifted with spiritual scent. Your ability may be on the same level as Pastor Kim's."

"I see..."

Anyway, I continued explaining Han Gyeoul's ghost.

"They keep looking for their parents. We need to ease their resentment, but how do we do that?"

"You said they died together in an accident. In that case, the two parents have likely already crossed the Samdocheon. If they had become restless souls, they would have been bound together as Earthbound Spirits."

Wolryeong Bodhisattva took out a stick with bells attached to it.

"I will now perform a rite to guide the soul onward. It is a ritual that sends souls to the afterlife."

Wolryeong Bodhisattva took out two white candles and set them before the utility pole.

Then she placed an incense burner and lit it. A familiar smell rose from inside.

Sandalwood and burned mugwort.

Wolryeong Bodhisattva slowly adjusted the sleeves of her white shaman's robes.

She laid out white hanji paper, a pair of rubber shoes, and a small brass bowl no bigger than a child's palm.

When she shook the bells, a clear jingle rang out.

Passersby glanced over curiously. A shaman in colorful clothes was bound to stand out.

"What's this? Why is there a shaman here?"

"Looks like they're holding a gut. A kid died here last month, remember?"

People guessed what was happening easily enough. Some watched, while others passed by.

Wolryeong Bodhisattva paid them no attention and continued shaking the bells.

"Let's go home. Stop crying now and go home. Go where your parents are waiting."

Jingle.

Jingle.

The bell rang slowly.

At first, nothing happened.

Han Gyeoul's ghost, visible to me, stared blankly at Wolryeong Bodhisattva from behind the utility pole. Then...

【I can't go.】

At that moment, the flame in the incense burner shook violently.

Without surprise, Wolryeong Bodhisattva pinched up some incense ash and scattered it over the candle flames.

Whoosh!

Blue flames flared up for a moment.

I had worried because there were onlookers, but they didn't seem to notice anything strange.

"You must go. You must go. Even so, you have to go."

At the pressing voice, Han Gyeoul's ghost's eyes filled with tears.

【No. I won't go. Mom and Dad... are nearby.】

"What do you mean? They're nearby?"

【That's why I can't go! I'm going with them!】

At that moment, the candles went out completely.

Wolryeong Bodhisattva's ritual stopped as well.

"......This is strange. The restless soul is resisting fiercely. It is uncommon for a child's soul to resist this strongly."

"They said their parents are nearby, so they won't go."

"......The ability to communicate directly with a soul truly is powerful."

"You can't do that, Bodhisattva?"

"Only through spirit communion. It consumes a great deal of physical strength and spiritual power."

Apparently, I was the strange one for being able to do it without any restrictions.

"But for the parents to be nearby... there must be a reason the soul is bound so strongly. But why are the parents' souls not here... ah!"

Wolryeong Bodhisattva suddenly took out her phone and searched for something.

Then she seemed to find something and let out a hollow laugh.

"I wondered if that could be it, since they said their parents were nearby..."

"Did you find something?"

"Yes. I searched for news reports about the accident."

She was pretty tech-savvy.

But I had searched too, so what had she found?

"The child died instantly at the scene. But the parents did not."

"Then the parents..."

"They were taken from the scene, but died at the hospital. The hospital is where the parents died."

They had died at the hospital?

Wait, the hospital nearby where emergency patients would be taken...

"Hallym Hospital?"

Wolryeong Bodhisattva nodded.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried