ANTITOXIN Chapter 14

Originally, he was not the type to answer calls from unknown numbers. It was because they were mostly spam or wrong numbers. He expected this time to be no different.

After some hesitation, Seolwon pressed the decline button. As the ringing cut off, Park Moonhyuk spoke up with the words he hadn’t finished, as if he had been waiting.

“Anyway, let’s have a drink over some meat tonight. It’s my treat.”

It was an offer that was burdensome yet welcome. However, Seolwon had no time to respond to that offer. It was because of the ringing sound that echoed once again.

Seolwon, who had been about to throw the cell phone back onto the sofa, checked the screen in embarrassment. The same number as before was displayed. It was calling again from the exact same number in succession, immediately without even a proper interval. Somehow it felt persistent, giving a sign that it would keep calling until he answered.

To keep ignoring it gave him a strangely unpleasant feeling. In the end, Seolwon gave a light eye gesture toward Park Moonhyuk and answered the phone.

“Hello?”

He let out his voice cautiously.

Then, what returned was.

[Uh-huh, Mister Shaman! It’s me, me. President Kim!]

It was a familiar but unwelcome voice.

[No, because no matter how much I thought about it, it felt uncomfortable, you see. I went to get a divination last week, you know? They said there’s a baby mistress in Busan who just received a spirit possession, that she’s so spiritually powerful or something? Oh, fuck. I went all the way to that far place to ask. But wow, I was completely startled! That master said so too. That a ghost is attached to me. They said he’s dripping tears of blood, which gave me real goosebumps… Ah, then she said I have to do a Gut right away? She said he’s not a guy who will fall off easily, so temple food wouldn’t even come close. Well, what could I do. I just did it. Wow, since then, that guy doesn’t appear in my dreams. It seems he fell off. But that master couldn’t guess that bastard, whether it’s Happy or an illness, at all. She said there’s nothing visible. She said it’s pitch-dark or something. She didn’t even know he’s a guy who sells weapons, you know? That’s why I saw Mister Shaman in a new light. I thought, it’s not for nothing that Junggu guy said you’re spiritually powerful. So, about that…]

“Yes?”

“So, what would it be like if you saw that bastard in person. Wouldn’t things be more clearly visible?”

The introduction brought up by President Kim, whom he met again after two weeks, gave Seolwon an unpleasant impression just like the call that came without notice.

Asking if a divination turns out better if he sees him in person? Of course. Not to mention physical clues, psychological clues revealed through gestures and voices, and even the directly felt energy… These elements, which originally could only be known by seeing the opponent in person, made a divination much more clear.

“Yes, well…”

Though it was completely uncomfortable, he agreed for now. Since there were words he had said last time, it was difficult to pull his foot out now and say it wasn’t so.

Snap, at Seolwon’s answer, President Kim snapped his fingers and shouted, “That’s it!”

“It’s set then. The day after tomorrow, leave some time free.”

“…Why?”

Although he asked back, Seolwon felt he knew what President Kim wanted to make him do. In the context of the conversation, he must be trying to make him meet that weapons broker in person.

“What do you mean why. It’s to make you meet that bastard in person, of course.”

He wondered if that was the case, and sure enough, it was. A response that did not deviate from his expectation returned. Even so, it was impossible not to be bewildered.

“Me?”

“Then the Mister Shaman who knows how to see a divination should go, who else would go?”

Ever since he received the call yesterday, an unpleasant feeling had lingered all along… That was why he had rejected President Kim’s offer to meet again several times, but in the end, he could not avoid it. Why, because when he unilaterally hung up the phone using work as an excuse, today he had come straight to his house. When he left the house to go to the workshop, President Kim was standing right there in front of the door, wasn’t he.

‘Ah, really! I’m just asking to share a bit of talk like last time, so why are you stalling like this? I’m really desperate, desperate! Mister Shaman, if you help me this time, right? I’ll really look after the divination fee properly. I’ll strictly charge that Junggu bastard to look after our Bodhisattva well in the future too, huh?’

It was to the extent that he came all the way to the house, which he had never been informed of, to beg frantically. No matter what excuse he made, he was unlikely to give up easily. Already to President Kim, Seolwon was a spiritually powerful shaman and the only lifeline that would resolve the problem.

Besides, in truth, Seolwon could not help but be tempted. Isn’t he a human who gave as much as 300,000 won just for car fare? Although he didn’t know how it would be by his standards, to Seolwon, who was desperate for every single penny, it was a large amount of money. Such a human was saying he would look after the divination fee properly. As long as he suffered from the shamanic illness, medicine expenses would keep going in, and since he also had plans to move, Seolwon could never become detached from financial problems.

The result was right now. This current situation where he came to a nearby cafe to listen to the story and even received an absurd request.

However, looking at it now, it seemed to have been a wrong judgment. He had wondered what on earth he wanted him to help with, but to think he would ask him to meet that person called a weapons broker in person. It was an unwelcome request even if the opponent was an ordinary person. Moreover, he is a figure who inflicted merciless punishment upon the one who pursued his back. To meet such a person in person? It was a proposal difficult to comply with at all.

Seolwon caressed his forehead, revealing his troubled feelings openly.

“Um, that’s a bit… I think it would be better to just bring a proper photograph or date of birth instead.”

“Since that doesn’t work out, that’s why I’m appealing to Mister Shaman gracefully like this, right?”

That was true. Generally, there is one reason people look for a shaman. It is because there is a problem that cannot be resolved within their own limit. Especially in Korea, where shamanism is deeply rooted, the tendency to rely on transcendental power was on the stronger side compared to other countries. In that aspect, President Kim was also indeed like a Korean person.

“I tried putting people on him again, tried slipping money to the cops, went down all the way to Busan to see a divination, huh? I also, fuck, busted my ass properly this time. How much money went into it again? Yet, I couldn’t salvage even a single photo. No matter how much I dig and dig, nothing comes out. I barely managed to salvage this one piece of information that he’s receiving entertainment the day after tomorrow, you know.”

If he was a person whose security was that thorough, it was better to just cut off the deal with the side that requested the information. Seolwon’s judgment was such.

“I think it’s better to just give up.”

“Ehei, no way! How much is the cost that went into it until now! Even if my pride is hurt, I can’t stop here.”

But President Kim didn’t seem to have the slightest intention to break the deal.

Anyway, he acknowledged that he had exerted effort in his own way. He also understood the feeling of not being able to stop even because the money that went into it until now was a waste. Even so, Seolwon did not feel up for it.

“I am sorry, but still, I won’t…”

He was just about to refuse to the end. President Kim suddenly raised his thick hand and folded his fingers, leaving only his index and middle fingers.

“Two pages. In big ones.”

2 million won just for meeting once and reading that person. It was an amount he could not help but pause at.

Detecting a possibility from Seolwon, who could not cut it off flatly this time and hesitated, President Kim’s eyes shone.

“Listen. Actually, where requested me this time is Jogang Tech, a household that sells weapons here in Joseon, you see? In that field, it’s a house that snorts a bit in its own right, but for several years, business has been completely poor. The stock price is a mess, and the ones called shareholders are throwing a fucking fit saying something about CEO risk… But oh my. They say that weapons broker came to Korea, you see? They thought, that’s it. That bastard, what, holds the sea routes toward Russia and the Middle East tightly? It’s a big fish, a big fish. If they can just open a deal with that bastard, they’ll hit the jackpot.”

Though he was tempted by the large amount of money again, the mind to accept still did not arise. Even so, Seolwon listened to President Kim’s words quietly. …Though he didn’t understand more than half of it.

Honestly, since it was a field like the defense industry or distribution that he had never once held an interest in until now, there was a limit to understanding it completely. However, he could at least know that the position of the weapons broker, who was President Kim’s target, was to a remarkable extent in that market.