Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4. The American Dream?

“You're... the bastard who took down Jack?”

A heavy voice came from behind their masks, and I slipped a hand inside my clothes to grip a talisman.

“I'll ask again. Are you the one who took down ‘Jack’?”

“You've got the order wrong. Isn't it basic courtesy to introduce yourselves first?”

“Guess you're not the reasonable type. You look like some kind of Asian exorcist.”

“Is that a problem?”

The largest man pulled an enormous hammer from behind his back.

Its surface was densely engraved with sacred seals, and every movement sent a low vibrating pulse through the ground.

“Looks like we'll have to beat the answer out of you. Try not to cry when it hurts.”

Crack!

He slammed the hammer against the ground and closed the distance.

His movements were astonishingly nimble for such a massive weapon.

I concentrated divine power into the tips of my feet.

‘Reveal as little about myself as possible.’

I didn't pull out any flashy Taoist arts or talismans.

This wasn't an emergency, and there was no need to advertise to suspicious strangers that I was a Korean shaman.

And while I was at it...

‘Let's run a little test. See how far my condition has recovered.’

The hammer came crashing down over my head.

The sound of splitting air struck my eardrums.

At the last possible instant, I tilted my head slightly and slipped out of its path.

Boom!

The asphalt cracked like a spiderweb as fragments of stone sprayed outward.

‘He dodged?’

‘This bastard... is strong.’

Shock filled the man's eyes.

He clearly hadn't expected me to evade an attack that fast head-on.

Do-jun rushed in.

Thud!

With a dull impact, the huge man's body slid five or six steps backward.

“Guhk!”

Even Do-jun himself was slightly surprised by the punch.

Not long ago, it would've done little more than throw his balance off.

But now things were different.

The divine power belonging to the immense spirit dwelling in the tobangguri of his lower abdomen was multiplying the weight behind his fist several times over.

‘Not bad at all. Been a long time since I've felt this.’

That settled it.

No weapons or techniques needed. I'd handle this barehanded.

“You bastard!”

“Take him!”

The remaining two joined the fight at once.

One wielded a dagger coated in holy water, while their leader swung a silver chain.

Do-jun crouched low and drove forward.

There were no flashy forms.

Just clean close-quarters combat reinforced with divine power.

Clang!

When the chain tried to coil around his forearm, Do-jun snapped his arm outward and detonated his divine power.

With a metallic screech, the chain was flung helplessly aside.

‘Damn it! Who the hell is this guy?!’

‘He's extremely skilled.’

The more they fought, the more bewildered his opponents became, while Do-jun felt the energy in his body meshing together naturally.

Their breathing, the tremors of their muscles, the intent behind their attacks—he could read them clearly.

It wasn't perfect, but he could feel the combat instincts from his prime returning.

‘Let's finish this.’

He kicked off the ground.

The startled man tried to use his Bible as a shield, but...

Grab!

Do-jun seized him by the collar first and slammed him straight into the ground.

At the same time, he kicked the hammer-wielding man squarely in the chest with his other leg.

“Guhk!”

“Keh-heeegh!”

The huge man was launched into the air before crashing into a pile of garbage bins.

It was over in an instant.

The last man, still holding the dagger, trembled under the blue glow in Do-jun's eyes.

“Want to keep going? I don't really like fights that don't make me money.”

“Enough... We'll stop. We lost.”

Do-jun roughly released the collar he was holding.

The men staggered backward.

They had cleanly admitted defeat.

“We're enforcers dispatched by the ‘Underworld Board.’ We received a tip that this job was suspicious, so we came to investigate.”

“Ah, right. Here I was wondering who you were.”

Enforcers.

They were probably the muscle operating in the shadows to maintain the Underworld Board's bare minimum of order.

I'd taken this request in the first place because I wanted these guys to come looking for me.

The man who seemed to be the leader of the three asked.

“So what happened to Jack? And the evil spirit in the abandoned hospital?”

“The evil spirit's gone, and Jack's inside having a party with the vengeful ghosts of the people he killed. A few of them still had unfinished business in this world. There wasn't really any need for me to interfere. You could call it... natural causes.”

“What?”

Silence followed.

The leader looked at the abandoned hospital, then back at Do-jun, before letting out a deep sigh.

‘This bastard is insane.’

‘He did something like that without batting an eye. He's no ordinary man.’

No matter how much of a murderer Jack was, feeding someone to evil spirits wasn't something an ordinary person could calmly do.

“Haaa... Fine. We understand the situation. We'll report it as is. Sorry for interfering. Let's withdraw.”

The men put away their weapons and prepared to leave.

That was when I raised a hand.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“You guys have some pull with the higher-ups at the Underworld Board, don't you? You're enforcers.”

“Why... are you asking?”

Do-jun's lips curled into a sharp grin.

“I want to make a deal with the operator. Directly.”

***

Inside Chunchugwan at the Blue House in South Korea.

Standing at the podium, the president read from a prepared script with a solemn expression.

“My fellow citizens.”

Dozens of camera flashes poured down like a waterfall.

“Today, the government intends to officially acknowledge the existence of supernatural phenomena we have long dismissed as unscientific—ghosts, evil spirits, and anomalies.”

The press seats erupted into murmurs.

A wave of stunned whispers spread throughout the hall.

“Countries across the world have already established dedicated organizations to respond to invisible threats. The Republic of Korea can no longer ignore the sacrifices taking place in the shadows.”

After a brief silence, as the tension reached its peak, the president extended an arm.

“Therefore, the government hereby announces the establishment of ‘Cheongwa,’ a special unit dedicated to responding to supernatural disasters.”

The heavy doors opened, and men and women dressed in dark navy uniforms marched out with disciplined steps.

At the head of the formation stood Lee Seo-jin, Director of Cheongwa, his cold eyes raised confidently.

The president picked up the Four Clouds Swords resting on a stand one by one.

A ceremony followed in which Seo-jin and the other unit members were formally presented with the swords.

The event carried the solemn weight of a ceremony honoring military generals.

Once every procedure had concluded, the president spoke.

“For years, these men and women have worked in cooperation with the National Intelligence Service, protecting this country from the darkness without ever receiving recognition. In particular, three years ago, during the ‘Black Killing Curse’ incident at Inwangsan Mountain, they destroyed the great evil spirit Saeuni and saved Seoul. They are true heroes. My fellow citizens, please give them your warmest applause. And... please support them.”

Thunderous applause erupted among the reporters.

Seo-jin bowed with a gentle smile on his lips.

...

...

A short while later.

“Hard work, my ass.”

Back in the Director's office, Seo-jin threw himself onto the sofa.

He roughly undid his buttons and crossed one leg over the other.

His secretary approached, offered him a strongly aromatic tea, and bowed.

“You worked very hard, Director.”

“Hard? This is only the beginning. This doesn't even count as work.”

“I see.”

“What do you have to report?”

“You have a tea meeting with the prime minister in three hours, lunch with the ruling party leader tomorrow, and...”

The secretary rattled off the schedule.

When the report ended, Seo-jin asked.

“Hmm. More importantly, what about Kang Do-jun?”

The secretary's eyes wavered for a moment.

“Well... after he was last spotted on the outskirts of LA's Koreatown, we lost his trail.”

“Lost it?”

“Yes. There have been no sightings since. But I don't believe it's anything worth worrying about. His divine power is already gone, and he's nothing but a hollow shaman with an oversized vessel. He's just a chunk of meat begging for dangerous things to latch onto. Isn't it far more likely he quietly died somewhere?”

A mocking smile appeared on the secretary's face.

The reason they had sent Kang Do-jun to America in the first place was that its beliefs and divine systems differed from Korea's.

The divine power used by shamans and exorcists came from ‘faith.’

Most Americans followed Abrahamic religions, meaning most of them borrowed power from ‘the God of Abraham’ whom they worshipped.

In other words, America was a land overflowing with evil spirits while offering Kang Do-jun extremely few spirits capable of granting him power.

They had essentially sent him to America to die quietly.

But...

Slap!

“Guhk!”

Before the secretary could finish, his head snapped violently to the side.

His cheek swelled red almost instantly from the brutal strike.

“You fucking—”

Seo-jin glared at the secretary with murder in his eyes.

“You call that a report?”

“I-I'm sorry!”

“Mobilize every local agent. Search every rat hole if you have to and find his trail. Find him no matter what, and report every single detail—what he eats, how long he sleeps, everything he does!”

“B-But... do we really need to go that far? We're already short on available agents...”

“Fuck... Are you my boss?”

“I-I'm sorry.”

Seo-jin slammed his fist onto the desk and roared.

The terrified secretary staggered backward, and Seo-jin continued in a low voice.

“That Kang Do-jun is a monster who could've taken on our entire Cheongwa unit alone and wiped us out. Even with his vessel empty, if we take our eyes off him for one second, there's no telling what he'll do. Do I really have to spell this out for you? Fuck... Idiot. He disappeared? He's obviously trying to shake us off. One hundred percent.”

“I'll correct the situation immediately.”

“Get the hell out. If you don't find him fast, assume it'll be your head next.”

The secretary fled the room in panic.

Left alone, Seo-jin steadied his harsh breathing and rubbed his temples hard.

‘...Fucking idiots.’

Three years from now would come the Giyu Year.

The ‘Day of the Darkest Night,’ which countless shamans and prophets had warned about, was rapidly approaching.

And Kang Do-jun himself had been the one who issued the strongest warning about that day, while also appearing within the prophecy.

Before that enormous wheel of fate upon which the nation's future rested.

It would be extremely troublesome if Kang Do-jun, one of the people mentioned in the prophecy, refused to move according to their wishes when the time came.

“You'll never escape my grasp. You never have, and you never will.”

Seo-jin murmured quietly while staring down at the nightscape outside the window.

***

Night in Williamsburg.

It was a kind of glamorous madness.

Multicolored neon signs spilled across grimy sidewalks, while ear-splitting techno beats traveled through the pavement and pounded against the soles of my feet.

‘Is this basically America's version of Hongdae?’

Every street was packed with tattoo-covered hipsters and drunken people staggering around.

The acrid scent of marijuana mixed with cheap perfume in the night air, creating an oddly unpleasant atmosphere.

Do-jun pulled his hood low and surveyed his surroundings from behind his mask.

‘This place is chaotic in every possible way.’

He clicked his tongue inwardly.

Was it because he was a shaman, or was it just his personality?

Either way, he'd always hated crowded, noisy places like this.

‘Not exactly the time to be picky.’

If I had my way, I'd quickly earn an official license from the exorcist association.

That would be the cleanest route with the least trouble.

But the time wasn't right yet.

If I put my name into an official database before establishing a foundation for myself, it was only a matter of time before Cheongwa's intelligence network found me.

With someone as relentless as Lee Seo-jin, sending scouts across the Pacific to dispose of me would be easy.

‘That would be a pain in the ass.’

The Underworld Board might be dangerous, but at least anonymity was guaranteed.

There was no better place to feed my spirit in the shadows while rebuilding my strength.

‘Sure, these guys probably come with their own risks... but they're still better than dealing with Cheongwa.’

At least the people here were probably money-hungry bastards motivated by profit rather than some hidden agenda.

“Hey, stop spacing out and follow me. We need to hurry.”

“Okay.”

The exorcist leader walking ahead urged me onward.

After pushing through the crowd and turning through several alleys, we reached a massive steel door with no sign whatsoever.

It was a club.

Its name was ‘Alice in Wonderland.’

“Go in.”

The huge men at the entrance checked their faces before opening the door.

The inside of the club looked like a slice of hell.

People writhed strangely beneath red lights, their bodies slick with sweat.

Club girls dressed in what looked like Alice costumes danced throughout the room, while sexually charged displays of affection between men and women could be seen everywhere.

“This way.”

“...”

The three men calmly crossed the club and headed into a VIP room.

“This is... a dead end.”

“Wait.”

Click!

The exorcists pressed a specific spot behind a display cabinet on the wall.

A voice immediately came from within the wall.

《Who's that bastard with you, Mad Hatter?》

“He wants to work with us. Said he wanted to meet the boss, so we brought him.”

The antique-looking wall silently slid backward without even the sound of mechanical friction.

What appeared wasn't an elevator, but an endless spiral staircase.

Oddly enough, the wall beside the stairs was one enormous aquarium, but instead of fish, black liquid and silver particles swirled inside.

‘...They hid this place pretty thoroughly.’

It felt like walking into some secret base from a movie.

At the bottom of the stairs was an office covered on all sides with screens.

Hundreds of displays showed live stock charts, incidents occurring all across the world, and CCTV footage from countless locations.

Clack-clack! Tap-tap-tap!

At the center, someone sat cross-legged on a luxury leather sofa, rapidly typing at a keyboard.

A thin figure wearing a white rabbit mask.

And...

‘He's got divine power in his body too.’

Apparently, he was an exorcist himself.

“What did you do with Jack?”

“This man handled him. And the evil spirit that was there too.”

“So he's capable?”

The rabbit mask rubbed his chin with interest, and the exorcists nodded.

“All three of us lost to him. And he beat us barehanded.”

“Oho... You beat all three of them by yourself? Now you've got me curious.”

The rabbit-masked man took a long pull from his vape and asked again.

“Who the hell are you?”

“If I wanted to trade names and backgrounds, I wouldn't have bothered coming here. Isn't skill all that matters?”

“Hey! Watch your fucking mouth...”

The exorcists bristled when I spoke casually to him.

The rabbit mask raised a hand and waved them back.

“Ahaha! It's fine, it's fine! He's right. This is where suspicious bastards come, after all. So... what do you want?”

“I need serious money. And there are a few things I'll need your help with.”

He snapped his fingers repeatedly.

“Let's hear your conditions.”

“A secure home where my identity won't be exposed, and weapons that leave no trail. I'll pay the proper price.”

The rabbit mask let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“Ahahaha! You know I'm the operator of the Underworld Board, right? And you still have the nerve to propose a deal?”

“That's exactly why I came. The operator I know would be someone good at calculating profit. Someone with enough judgment to recognize talent too.”

“Now this is interesting. Judging by your accent, you're Asian. And you're an exorcist who houses a spirit inside his body? Your energy is strangely hot. Good. You've got me curious in more ways than one.”

He's perceptive.

Do-jun simply shrugged in response.

“I'll give you a small job first. If you prove your ability, we'll move on to something bigger. Handle the job to my satisfaction and I'll meet every one of your requests.”

“Anything works for me.”

The rabbit mask snapped his fingers, and grotesque photographs of corpses appeared across the main screen alongside a red warning message.

“You know about vampires? Lately, plenty of people have been wanting those bastards gone. They're extremely dangerous too. The number of people dying to them... It's gotten to the point where we can't even count them.”

“...Vampires?”

This guy's giving me something interesting right from the start.

The Catastrophe-Class Exorcist Is Too Strong in America

Author

: Gisigami

Production Date

: September 15, 2026

Publisher

: ACES Media Co., Ltd.

Editor

: ACES Media Editorial Team

Address

: 12F, Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Email

: acesmedia9@gmail.com

※ This work was published by ACES Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder,

and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.

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UCI

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