ANTITOXIN Chapter 9

He thought about playing innocent and pretending he didn’t know. In the first place, there was a limit to Seolwon’s fortune-telling. Since he didn’t have a deity to deliver oracles, he had to rely solely on his own intuition and unstable divine energy. There were times when things were visible even when he didn’t want them to be, while there were plenty of times when things weren’t visible even when he wanted them to be. That was why he was a half-shaman.

However, for this matter, he could tell the moment he saw the photo. The relationship between the woman in the photo and the drug dealer. The two were brother and sister. It was certain. The energy, which felt as if the same poles of magnets were pulling each other, was the proof. It was normal for the same poles to push away, but blood relatives characteristically gave a feeling of pulling each other instead.

If so, why was he asking to see the compatibility even while lying? To the question that naturally arose, the answer his intuition put forward was this:

He’s testing me.

Seolwon, who was agonizing over whether to play along or not, eventually told him exactly what he felt from the photo.

“Your relationship should be fine, but you won’t be able to get married. Incest is illegal in our country.”

At Seolwon’s answer, which came out in less than five minutes, the drug dealer’s eyes grew round. Next, he even clapped his hands and whistled. It meant it was the correct answer.

“Wow! Fucking hell, you actually got it right. Did you happen to guess?”

“No. It was visible. But why are you asking this kind of thing?”

What is the purpose of testing him? He couldn’t tell that far. Therefore, Seolwon asked point-blank.

The drug dealer confessed right away without beating around the bush.

“To see if you’re really effective.”

“Why did you suddenly want to know that?”

“Well, you see.”

All of a sudden, the drug dealer leans his upper body forward and places his arms on top of the table. Then, he whispered as if delivering a secret talk.

“Actually, a hyung I’m close with has been practically singing a song lately, asking if there’s an effective shaman anywhere. It seems like he has some kind of headache-inducing matter, so wouldn’t you pop right into my mind?”

It seemed fine to only listen up to this point. Whether he listened further or not, it would be equally unwelcome content anyway. He wasn’t a proper shaman, nor did he have any desire to act as a shaman. Without even making a gesture of agonizing, Seolwon firmly refused.

“Find a proper shaman and introduce him.”

“Ayy. There’s one right here, what more are you looking for?”

“I think I told you last time, I’m not a shaman. I am in no position to read anyone’s fortune.”

That was so. He had already clearly stated his position before. That he was nothing more than a half-shaman. Since his spiritual eye and even his ghost-gate were open, yet he didn’t serve a deity, there would be no better expression to designate such a person.

“What does it matter if you’re a half-shaman? If you guess well, that’s it.”

Just as he did in the past, the drug dealer had an inkling of not listening at all.

“Whether you serve a deity or a ghost or whatever, in my eyes, you can set up a shop right away. Look at my mom. She calls you a Bodhisattva. She says there’s no one as effective as you.”

In fact, there was a proper reason why he treated Seolwon as an effective shaman. It wasn’t only because he passed the simple test just now, but because he had a track record of receiving help from Seolwon.

It was about six months ago, when they met for the second time. While they were trading drugs just like now, a phone call came to the drug dealer. The sender was his mother. However, the moment he faintly heard the voice beyond the receiver, an ominous energy swept over Seolwon. Along with a strange smell. It was the smell of formalin that would occur in a hospital and the smell of a fire hazard. Seolwon could immediately recognize that it was a clue. Of an unfortunate accident that would happen to the drug dealer’s mother.

At first, he tried to ignore it. Ignoring it was right. However, now as in the past, Seolwon was not cold-hearted. He couldn’t turn away from the smell full of fire-energy. Moreover, the voice coming from beyond the receiver… was so warm. Enough to make him miss his mother, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time and whose face he had never even seen.

So he ended up intervening.

‘Your mother. It would be better if she didn’t go near the hospital. There is a high probability she will get heavily injured by being caught in a fire.’

Naturally, the drug dealer was puzzled. He had reacted as if it were what kind of nonsense. Having no choice, only then did Seolwon reveal that he was a medium, and told him that his mother had an accident-bound fate.

The drug dealer, who was half-doubting, found it unpleasant but for now delivered Seolwon’s words to his mother exactly as they were. His mother, who was said to go around looking at divine fortunes every year, did not ignore Seolwon’s warning.

As a result, Seolwon’s prediction hit the mark exactly. That day, a big fire broke out in the hospital building where the drug dealer’s mother had intended to go. It was a major accident with as many as 7 dead and 12 injured. The drug dealer, who came to know this, immediately contacted Seolwon. Asking how he knew, and whether he was a real shaman.

“My mom still talks about that whenever she gets a chance. She says if she had gone to the hospital without knowing, she would have died, but thanks to you, she lived. She says she wants to visit you to look at her fortune for next year. She’s making a huge fuss asking for your contact info. Her faith has no end, I tell you.”

Already several times, he had received requests from the drug dealer to meet his mother. Saying his mother was so grateful that she wanted to treat him to a meal. Naturally, there was no way that was all. No matter how one looked at it, the purpose was to ask him to look at her fortune. Because he knew this, Seolwon refused every time.

Furthermore, at that time, Seolwon suffered a divine backlash (Dongti) as a crime for interfering in another person’s fate, and truly had a hell of a time. In his dreams, he was beaten with a switch by his grandmother, and in reality, he suffered a terrible body ache.

“It doesn’t hit the mark that well every time. And it’s not like everything is visible either.”

Seolwon, who felt a sense of frustration, repeatedly stated that his ability was unstable. Even so, the drug dealer was stubborn.

“But it could hit the mark, couldn’t it, just like that time? And I already talked about you to that hyung. When I told him about my mom’s matter, his eyes turned completely bloodshot and he was making a fuss asking me to introduce you.”

Ah…

At the irritation that surged up, Seolwon pressed down on his temples. A divine backlash is a divine backlash, but such points also played a part in the reason why he shouldn’t rashly look at fortunes.

“Nooo. Don’t just hate it like that, uh? Frankly, our little brother needs money. One look and the estimate comes out. You can’t even become a bronze spoon, can you handle this drug cost?”

“…”

That estimate was thoroughly accurate. Seolwon, who was actually burdened by the drug cost, fell silent without being able to deny it.

“See. That’s why think positively. That hyung might not know about other things, but his hand is a truly big gentleman, you know? I guarantee you, he’ll take damn good care of the fortune fee.”

“…I’m sorry, but I will refuse.”

Even so, what’s not right is not right. Just as the drug dealer said, he needed money. It was also true that he was overdoing it compared to his earnings. Even if that were the case, he had no intention of making a living through shaman work. In a situation where he left his hometown because he hated serving a deity, even discarding his name and living with bated breath, was it even plausible?

“The talk is finished, right? I will be on my way now.”

There was no need to listen to more talk. Unilaterally putting a period to the conversation, it was just when Seolwon packed his paper bag and jumped up.

“Ah, damn. You’re making a person troubled. You shouldn’t do this. I’m a person with a super severe grudge, you know. If I feel disappointed, where would I feel the motivation to supply you with drugs in the future?”

The drug dealer applied a threat. To Seolwon, who would need drugs in the future as well, it was content that could not be ignored.

Seolwon, who faltered, frowned and looked down at the drug dealer. Wearing a delinquent expression, he deliberately picked up the half-eaten sandwich and added words.

“Ah, well, I’m not the only lunchbox merchant, of course. But I wonder if there’s another guy who sets the price well like me and lets you eat healthily? Though I’m saying it only now, you can’t obtain that nutritional supplement just because you have money. I told you, right? That it only goes to the grade-one clean water psychos. Even so, the reason I brought it to you? It’s loyalty, loyalty. Loyalty toward the Bodhisattva who saved my mom. Then wouldn’t it be human nature for my little brother to show some loyalty to my sincerity as well?”

Just as he said, there was no way that human was the only dealer in this field. Drugs could be obtained even if one only had a social media account, and if that didn’t work, even if one only loitered around the back alleys of clubs located in Gangnam or Itaewon, the guys who sell would approach on their own.

But would there be another dealer who even sells the neutralizing agent? The words that it couldn’t be obtained just because one had money were not a simple bluff. It would be a clear fact. That much he could know through intuition.

Sigh!

Seolwon swept back his hair and burst into a lament. Did he feel an inkling of him giving in? The drug dealer swallowed the food inside his mouth down the back of his throat, and then began trying to persuade him once again while smirking.