The Ex-Hero Is Too Good at Exorcism

“Is this new?”

I looked at the black orb I was holding.

The moment I wanted to know what this was.

The item description window was displayed above the field of view.

＜Gourd Drops＞

– It has already been used and only the shell remains.

– It is resonating with the cursed soul.

“What is this?”

It was not an item that was easy to understand even after looking at the explanation.

Although it was a miracle, it was definitely not a weapon or armor.

It was probably some kind of expendable item like Haeju’s arrow, but it seemed that this one had already been used.

Like an empty tube of toothpaste?

i.e. garbage.

But the explanation below caught my attention.

Resonance with the cursed soul.

Like the quest brought me here.

It was most likely that the cursed soul was the mortal spirit we were looking for.

Does that mean that I can find the Earth Stop Spirit with this?

“hmm···”

I calmly looked at the gourd’s drops.

Black smoke flowing over drops.

The smoke clearly had a direction.

Just in case, I picked up the bell and tried changing directions.

Then, as expected, the smoke flowing over the drops pointed in one direction.

like a compass.

“You want me to follow this one this time?”

If that’s the case, can’t you just take me to the place where the Earthbound Spirit is with an arrow from the beginning?

I spit out such dissatisfaction in my heart, but it was also greed.

Just being able to find this is a huge help.

I need something like this to be able to make an excuse after I find the Earthly Spirit.

I immediately picked it up and went back to where the vehicle fell.

There, the other three were still detecting traces of demons.

“Come here for a moment.”

I called them together and showed them the bell.

And he explained that he was roughly around here, and he felt spiritual power here.

“Your spirit? hmm···”

Lee Hyun-seok tilted his head as he looked at the bell.

Apparently, the remaining spiritual power in the bell was so insignificant that he couldn’t feel it.

However, Monica and Dayoung Kim were different.

“It’s very weak, but I think it’s right.”

“agreement. Almost, to the point of not feeling it. But it sure is.”

“okay. I don’t know.”

“By the way… where was this?”

Dayoung Kim asked.

She had been searching around for a long time, so she must have been paying attention.

“Over there. It’s a bit far away and hidden in the grass, so the police probably missed it.”

“Wow, you did a good job finding that. You are great too.”

“That’s right. Jinwoo’s ability to detect spiritual powers is very helpful in investigations.”

“hahahaha… Well, I was lucky. More than that, this acting.”

I evaded the topic moderately and changed the subject.

“This is pointing in a certain direction, isn’t it suspicious?”

“direction···?”

“This is…”

They looked in the direction the smoke was flowing.

That’s the road we were on.

No, it was in the direction of the mountains on the other side of the road.

and after a while

“Ugh… Mr….”

He gasped and took a step.

The plume of smoke was, as expected, directed towards the mountain above the road.

And now I’m going up that mountain, and this was another taste to die for.

The slope was steep and there were no roads.

There, thick grass and trees blocked the view and the path.

“Wow!”

The bugs that came out in the middle were a bonus.

Especially when something like a giant moth flew up, my heart almost dropped.

Spirits have levels.

It flew towards my face without any warning, scarier than a ghost.

“There is something there.”

At that time, Lee Hyeon-seok, who was walking ahead with a bell, said.

He had a past as a firefighter and was confident in his stamina, so he was paving the way in front of the group.

Looking at the place he pointed, the slope ended and a shallow plain appeared.

And above it was a haunted house engulfed in bushes.

“…was it abandoned?”

An old house made of gray cement with an iron plated roof.

However, one wall had completely collapsed and the collapsed roof was taking over the role of the wall.

The battered wooden door was clinging to its rusty hinges and seemed ready to fall off at any moment.

It only has the shape of a house, but it is no different from a hut.

“be careful.”

Did you detect a threat?

Monica sounded a timely warning to everyone.

Then everyone took out their weapons.

I also grabbed the star cloud sword and approached the haunted house.

As if taking turns with Lee Hyeon-seok, who was in the lead, I took the lead.

“·······”

However, no matter how close I got to the haunted house, the spirit detection did not respond.

This means that no anima exists within at least 20 meters.

So, no way… is there such a thing as another monster?

That was when he approached the door of the haunted house.

Checking the smoke from the bell, it was now pointing down to the ground.

“There is something down there.”

But… it’s below ground level.

The size of the haunted house was smaller than that of a normal house, so it didn’t look like there was a separate basement there.

then···

I opened the old wooden door of the haunted house.

Then what I saw beyond it was a hole.

The entrance to the crypt in the black dirt floor.

It was just big enough for one person to fit in.

“Something… very suspicious.”

Seeing the entrance, Dayoung Kim murmured.

I wonder if this haunted house was a camouflage membrane to cover the entrance to the cave?

Or did you intentionally dig a hole under the chest?

Either way, it seemed clear that the intent was to hide something.

“Is he down there?”

At Lee Hyun-seok’s words, I nodded.

It was a difficult situation.

If the thing down there was truly the Earth Spirit, its strength would be formidable within its realm.

If it was the emperor, it was at least level 30 strong.

Even the blood clot that Monica and I faced was level 33, so it means that it’s that strong.

But to deal with such a monster inside the crypt.

It was obviously dangerous.

However, the other two, Dayoung Kim and Monica, seemed to have made a different decision than I did.

“I have no choice but to go down.”

“···that’s right.”

“I will go first.”

Dayoung Kim took the lead, followed by Monica.

Are you thinking of going that way?

It wasn’t a good judgement.

In the first place, the narrow dungeon was a terrain where four people could not be utilized at all.

Therefore, it is necessary to arrange personnel carefully, but Kim Da-young and Monica did not seem to have thought of that far.

So I called them both.

“wait a minute.”

In a narrow cave, the spear’s attack method is limited to stabbing.

Greatsword is hard to write at all.

So, even if those two had excellent fighting power, it was foolish to stand in the lead.

The lessons I also learned from going through hardships in the anthill during my time as a warrior.

I conveyed my thoughts to three people.

Then, the facial expressions of the two who were about to take the lead change subtly.

I wanted to refute as it was, but the two nodded their heads immediately.

“…agree, do it.”

“That’s… I guess.”

“Then can I go first?”

Lee Hyun-seok asked me as if asking for permission.

I didn’t mean to move on my orders.

Monica and Dayoung Kim were still waiting for my mouth to open.

For a moment, I focused my eyes on the entrance to the crypt.

Even as we stood at the entrance to the crypt, there was still no sign of movement inside.

So I kept my eyes on that side and opened my mouth.

“So in this case-”

In the end, it was me who stood at the forefront.

The star cloud sword I was holding was not that long as it was a one-handed sword, so I could fight in the dungeon without any problems.

Also, I had the experience of fighting in caves and had the ability to scout, so I was suitable for the lead.

And Lee Hyun-seok stood at the back.

He, who uses knuckles, is also suitable for fighting in narrow terrain.

It was because it was basic to be careful of the back due to the nature of the crypt.

Monica and Dayoung Kim were in between.

At the same time they hold the LEDs and gain visibility inside the dark crypt.

Utilizing a long reach, it was enough to hit and run behind me and Lee Hyun-seok.

“Well… You can fight roughly like this.”

As I explained the outline, the three nodded.

“I understood. But do you know this very well?”

“…as expected, expert.”

“hahahaha… well, it’s nothing special.”

At Dayoung Kim and Monica’s words, I smiled awkwardly.

It was because it was basic knowledge that even novice adventurers knew in this world.

But that didn’t mean they were stupid.

It’s just that common sense there is different from common sense here.

Things like the deployment of cold weapons against soldier ants in an anthill.

It was knowledge that could not be learned or used in this modern society.

“Then let’s go in.”

I led the way into the crypt.

The crypt was narrow and the slope down was quite steep.

It is fortunate that the ground is hard enough that your feet do not fall off.

If it wasn’t for that, it would have been too much to go down at the risk of falling.

It wasn’t long before he entered the crypt like that.

“Hey, is there another way…?”

As Dayoung Kim said, a fork in the middle of the crypt suddenly appeared.

Fortunately, no other demons were detected from that side.

If so… is it just a path made to confuse?

It didn’t matter because we were following the black smoke in the drops.

In the thick darkness, the crossroads that all looked the same were enough to give confusion.

But… is that really all there is to it?

“Wait.”

I took the LED and looked closely at the two forks.

Then to the left, somewhere in the middle of the crypt, not in the direction we were supposed to go.

A line so thin that it was difficult to see visually, was visible at about the height of the person’s ankle.

It was a trap.

If you choose the wrong path, it seems that there is a trap lurking there.

“hmm···”

I briefly thought about the nature of the trap, but to no avail.

In another world, poisonous arrows or traps would come out and attack them.

But that… I can’t imagine the case of stepping on it.

It is not strange even if a landmine explodes, and poisonous substances or gases may be ejected.

In the worst-case scenario, we should consider causing a much larger explosion and collapsing the crypt itself.

Then don’t think about dismantling it, and it’s best not to activate it.

I reported that to someone else.

“Ha, a trap?”

“yes. something could explode I think everyone should be careful.”

“·······”

The faces of the three people, who had been calm even in the darkness of the crypt, hardened at once.

To think that an explosion could happen in such a narrow and closed place.

Finally, the sense of crisis was heightened.

“Then keep going. The road I came from is safe, so please follow me closely.”

started moving again.

The downhill road ended at the timing when I thought I had descended about 10 meters into the ground, and a flat road continued.

However, it was a bit uncomfortable to walk.

It was because Dayoung Kim was right behind me.

Well, you’re right when I told you to follow along.

I didn’t ask them to stick together enough that I could hear their breathing.

“excuse me···”

“yes?”

“You can come down a bit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

Dayoung Kim hurriedly stepped back.

Then I bumped into Monica, and this time I apologized to her.

It would have been a very peaceful sight without holding a greatsword in one hand.

Meanwhile, the crypt continued deeper than expected.

In the meantime, there were several more forks in the middle, and there were just as many traps.

Did it last like 10 minutes?

Finally, my skill, Spirit Sensing, was activated.

“There’s a demon ahead.”

The visible guy’s level is 22.

However, considering the case that he was an underground spirit, I had to think that he was actually level 32.

An opponent that is never easy.

So I kept my tension and moved forward.

The crypt was still narrow, and the road was straight.

Only then, no matter how fatal an attack, it is impossible to evade.

So it’s better to focus on offense rather than defense.

“then···”

I looked back.

The three nodded silently.

If an enemy appears in the crypt, approach them quickly.

It was a matter that had already been agreed upon in advance.

There was no ranged attack anyway, so there was no reason to approach slowly.

So I ran forward.

However, the appearance of the demon that soon came into view was very different from what I expected.

“hmm?”

At the end of the crypt was a small room.

And is that thing in the middle of the room… a cross?

A cross made of pitch-black wood was driven backwards into the ground.

Commonly referred to as an inverted cross.

And the one tied to it was none other than the imperial spirit.

The emperor had a bizarre shape with twisted limbs, and black branches wrapped around his body.

A part of it penetrated the emperor’s body and was entangled in the inverted cross, binding the spirit.

“aaa…”

The emperor’s body wriggled and let out a low creeping cry.

However, there was no resentment or intent to kill in that voice.

All I feel is pain.

“what is this?”

I couldn’t answer Dayoung Kim’s question either.

Yeah, because I didn’t know either.

end of the crypt.

There, there was only an imperial spirit imprisoned by a black inverted cross.