The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 104
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 104
What happened afterward was predictable.
Pee So-won snatched Lee Yu-ji’s phone from her pocket as she clung to her arm, then left a message for Lee Yu-gyeom using it.
She received help from Kwon Ik-seong in unlocking the PIN.
“It’s 032784.”
“…How did you know?”
“Intuition.”
“If you hadn’t become an investigator, what do you think you would’ve been?”
“A criminal, I suppose?”
“Yeah.”
“I think so too.”
Kwon Ik-seong answered without a moment’s hesitation.
That irritating bastard.
Lee Yu-ji really ought to know what he’s truly like.
0327 was Lee Yu-ji’s birthday, and August 4th was Kwon Ik-seong’s birthday, but Pee So-won, knowing neither, simply unlocked the PIN without resistance.
Her younger brother would worry if he found out she’d been drinking.
After hearing that he’d be worried sick, the two of them decided to become criminal accomplices rather than investigators.
Then they found the messenger room with Lee Yu-gyeom and left this message:
The dinner ended late today, so I’m staying at the Team Leader’s place. Go to sleep first.
The response came quickly.
Did you drink?
No. The Team Leader got really drunk.
Worried a call might come, Pee So-won sent the message rapidly.
You could tell from how quickly he replied that real siblings worry about each other.
Her younger brother’s concern was no lie.
And—
‘In case it happens again.’
The reason behind such worry was no lie either.
“Using your good intuition, tell me. When he says ‘in case it happens again,’ does it mean your brother worries because Lee Yu-ji’s parents passed away, or—”
Pee So-won couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
With an irritated expression, she rolled down the rear window of the taxi.
Cold air scattered through her hair.
You could see the tension building in her neck as she clenched her jaw.
She craved a cigarette desperately.
Pee So-won fingered the vitamin stick in her pocket.
Pee So-won, who had been quitting smoking for a long time, began feeling the urge to smoke again after Lee Yu-ji was discovered in that unregistered dungeon.
Lee Yu-ji.
This damned partner kept rushing into dangerous situations, then resolving them.
She wanted to stop her but couldn’t.
[She’s just like that. How do I put it… To put it badly, she’s a bit reckless. To put it nicely, she’s full of justice. But this place isn’t like that. The good ones get hit first.]
That was the reason.
I couldn’t stop Lee Yu-ji’s sense of justice.
Even if she quit the training she’d been doing for so long, even if she accepted that cost, I knew what she wanted to protect until the very end.
Because that’s what had sustained her all this time.
And because it kept making me think of Han Su-eop.
If I had my way, I’d call her in and give her a disciplinary warning under the guise of procedure, make her rest for a few days, but Lee Yu-ji showed up for work the next day too, scraped and injured in various places.
While watching Pee So-won’s expression.
But what?
‘Am I worried about you?’
That couldn’t be it.
Pee So-won was worried about herself.
About herself, who would lose her partner again and wander lost.
“We’ll arrive soon. Please get out first. I’ll carry her.”
“I’ll carry her. Anyway, what’s your answer?”
The car stopped, and Kwon Ik-seong handed his card to the driver, then glanced over at Pee So-won.
“Don’t you already know the answer?”
Just as annoying as always.
Pee So-won thought this while glaring at Kwon Ik-seong and shook Lee Yu-ji slightly.
Then Lee Yu-ji pouted her lips and spoke.
“I’m really… not going to die. This is all so I don’t die. It’s just that I can’t explain it well. It’s frustrating, you know? So could you… just look out for me? I’m bulletproof, really. I didn’t even wear headgear when we sparred….”
At those words, Pee So-won let out a sigh.
“There’s no one in this world who can’t die.”
She, who had lost someone who seemed absolutely immortal in such a futile way, answered curtly and flicked Lee Yu-ji’s head with a chop.
“Ow!”
“Bulletproof head. Let me carry you.”
Pee So-won barely managed to carry Lee Yu-ji, who had regained some awareness from the stinging chop.
That was from last night.
* * *
And now, today.
Beside me, whose expression was troubled by fragmented memories, Pee So-won checked her phone.
“News just dropped.”
“What news?”
Pee So-won turned her phone screen toward Kwon Ik-seong and me.
A news flash was displayed on it.
President White Elevates ‘Hunter Investigation Unit’ to ‘Hunter Investigation Bureau.’ Ministry of Interior and Safety Expedites Review.
“Our Captain Hong will probably become a bureau chief.”
…!
Wow, this is actually happening.
When the Special Team members, including myself, received special promotions, I had a rough idea of what was going on, but I never anticipated an organizational elevation would happen this quickly.
“It’s faster than expected.”
Kwon Ik-seong spoke as if he hadn’t anticipated it either.
“Well, thanks to someone, public opinion was swayed quite well.”
Pee So-won glanced at me.
I had nothing to say.
It was true that the Hunter Investigation Unit gained attention thanks to me stirring up a local government official.
Moreover, that official had become a smuggler beyond a shadow of a doubt, and the Korean Party, now in opposition, had nothing left to say.
It meant the president’s support for the Hunter Investigation Unit made political attacks impossible.
“It’s symbolic in meaning, right?”
“I don’t think it’s just symbolic.”
Pee So-won tilted her head as if she’d heard something more.
“Normally, the president should have empowered the Hunter Management Office, but instead, they deliberately bypassed our organization, skipped the Management Office, and had the Ministry of Interior and Safety issue the directive for elevation. The president’s will is behind this.”
Oof… Shit.
Something quite burdensome continued to unfold.
But it was clear that once the Hunter Investigation Unit became the Hunter Investigation Bureau, the Hunter Management Office would find it much harder to exert influence.
And we wouldn’t be entangled in ridiculous terrorist attempts like before.
‘But from now on, there’s a high possibility we’ll be swayed by political issues.’
In other words, it was like a municipal office employee suddenly becoming a city hall employee.
Regardless of salary grade, it meant we would now work under politicians rather than being mere civil servants.
“Our duties will change too.”
“What kind of duties….”
Weren’t we still an organization whose purpose was investigating villains?
It was when I held such doubts.
Pee So-won’s phone rang.
We all saw the name displayed on the screen.
“…Why is this bastard calling me.”
The Chief
He’s got some nerve, seriously.
Cursing out the Chief on a work phone, no less.
As if it doesn’t matter who sees it.
Pee So-won answered the call with an irritated expression.
“Yes… Yes…”
How could anyone answer their superior’s call while radiating such obvious annoyance?
Where does she learn such audacity? I wish I could pull that off with Pee So-won!
“…Yes?”
Pee So-won’s brow furrowed.
“Sigh… Yes…”
Then came a sigh laden with deep frustration and resignation.
“Yes… Yes…”
And another dismissive response.
After wrapping up the entire conversation with six “yeses,” Pee So-won hung up.
Then she looked at me and spoke.
“Hey, we’re going on GoGo Show.”
‘We’?
I stared at Pee So-won, not quite understanding what she meant.
“What… do you mean?”
“You, me. We’re going on GoGo Show.”
“Not Team Leader Kwon?”
“Right. Not him.”
?
I recalled what kind of show GoGo Show was.
A TV talk show hosted by Shin Gyeong-tak, known as the nation’s MC.
While it primarily features celebrities and renowned figures, this world’s number-one rated entertainment program occasionally invites citizen heroes or ordinary office workers whose vlogs have gone viral.
“Why would we appear on that?”
“Do you know what a civil servant’s first principle is?”
Even as I answered, I despised myself for answering.
“Do as you’re told?”
“Correct.”
* * *
And so, two days later, I found myself in the waiting room of the variety show studio.
“Ehehehe, see that? I took a photo with Shin Gyeong-tak! My daughter’s going to love it, right?”
Captain Hong—no, the Bureau Chief now, looking absolutely delighted, while Pee So-won regarded him with pity.
And beside those two stood the Hunter Management Bureau Chief, his expression one of resignation.
“You look so happy you might just float away now that you’ve got that Bureau Chief title, huh?”
“I shall endeavor not to, sir.”
Captain Hong responded immediately to the Chief’s remark.
‘Damn it.’
Being a civil servant is exhausting.
What good is grade three? I’m constantly surrounded by grade one civil servants!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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