Chapter 30.2

Chapter 30.2

“You’re… the quack?” Ara asked, her confusion deepening.

“Don’t worry,” Hong-seon reassured her with a calm smile. “It’s not that I lack skill, just that I don’t have an official license.”

Isn’t that basically the same thing?

Ara stared at him, unsure whether to trust him. Hong-seon, however, didn’t bother explaining further. Instead, he gestured politely toward the empty sofa.

After hesitating for a moment, Ara reluctantly sat down. Hong-seon knelt on the floor next to her, carefully inspecting her wounds before opening his bag.

“Other than your wrist and ankle, are there any other injuries?” he asked.

“No, nothing else that’s turned this black,” Ara replied, glancing at the ominous dark marks on her skin.

“Got it.”

Hong-seon nodded and pulled a sleek silver case from his bag. Inside was a long, ornate needle.

“What’s the plan? Not that she’s going anywhere before dinner,” Cheong-seon chimed in suddenly.

Without even turning to look at him, Hong-seon replied while gripping the needle firmly. “Fortunately, it’s not too severe. But still, inform His Majesty. If it’s a malevolent spirit strong enough to cause physical harm, he should know.”

“Roger that.”

Roger that? What kind of ancient goblin talks like that? He looks more like a college kid who streams video games.

Ara could only shake her head in disbelief as she watched Cheong-seon, now fiddling with his smartphone, squeeze into the seat next to Baekseol.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Hong-seon said as he adjusted the grip on the needle and firmly held Ara’s wrist.

“This is a fire needle,” he explained. “It’s used to scrape away malevolent and impure energies. With this, I’ll burn away the dark energy inside you.”

“Wait, you’re going to scrape and burn?”

“Oh, I won’t be scraping everything away—just writing a single character. The burning will only affect the dark energy, so don’t be too scared.”

Yeah, right. Like Hong-seon wouldn’t be scared himself.

Ara swallowed her complaints, realizing that if she didn’t remove this horrible thing soon, she might actually die.

“Please try to… make it as painless as possible.”

“Honestly, that’s not really something I can guarantee,” he replied.

“What?”

“Just hold on. It’s going to hurt a little.”

The moment his calm but ominous prediction ended, the sharp tip of the needle began to scrape against Ara’s wrist.

“…!”

Ara flinched, pressing her mouth shut with her other hand. A searing pain surged through her, unlike anything she had ever experienced, spreading like wildfire through the wind.

A little? He said it would hurt a little?

Hong-seon’s words were nothing but a blatant lie. This felt less like a needle and more like self-inflicted harm with a heated blade.

“If you move, we’ll have to start over from the beginning.”

As if he could read her desire to yank her arm away, Hong-seon warned her in a cool voice.

Ara clenched her fist, swallowing back a groan. Tears streamed down her cheeks involuntarily.

It hurt too much. She couldn’t even see what letters Hong-seon was writing on her arm or how the dark energy was being burned away. All she could do was pray and hope that this hellish moment would end quickly.

“Done.”

In what felt like thirty years, thirty seconds passed.

As Hong-seon finished the final stroke of the character, he pulled the needle away. The angry red mark that had been burning like a flame transformed into a dark stain in the shape of the character.

The letters, infused with dark energy, crumbled to ash and vanished as if they had never harmed Ara. The intense pain that had felt like fire also disappeared.

Ara gasped, exhaling the breath she had been holding. Her eyes, now drenched with tears, looked up at Hong-seon.

“Can… can we do my legs tomorrow?”

“We can, as long as you’re still alive by then.”

He sure knows how to draw out a ‘no.’

Sniffling, Ara stretched her legs toward Hong-seon. Given the choice between unbearable pain and death, she had no choice but to choose the former.

“Hmm? What’s with the spiritual gate now…?”

It was then that Cheong-seon, who had been fiddling with his smartphone on the other sofa, murmured. His gaze was fixed beyond Ara, toward the window facing the garden.

Hong-seon, who had also turned to look, frowned in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

While Ara was trying to gauge their reactions, the front door suddenly swung open, and hurried footsteps rushed in.

“Lee Cheong-seon! I heard that a malevolent spirit attacked Na Ara. What’s going on?”

The person froze in the doorway as if hitting the brakes abruptly, wearing half-removed leather shoes.

It was then that Ara blinked in surprise.

“Kim Seok-kyung?” A tear that had been welling up finally rolled down her cheek at that moment.