The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 141

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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 141
However, I couldn’t prevent the sensation of my back being crushed by Choi Se-a’s strength.
“You know why I came here early, right? If the Association Chairman finds out I brought this, I’m as good as dead.”
Choi Se-a dangled a small USB drive before my eyes.
‘She’s holding onto something, no doubt about it. My aunt knows she’ll eventually be discarded like a worn-out tool, so she’s waiting for that day to come. She’s not holding it to expose anyone—she’s holding it to blackmail Grandfather. But Grandfather wants to handle my aunt’s disposal so cleanly that she never even realizes it’s happening, which is why he’s using this method.’
That’s exactly what this is.
Choi Se-a’s leverage over Choi Jun-gu.
“Now you need to make a promise with me, don’t you?”
Choi Se-a’s eyes gleamed.
I smiled bitterly as I looked at her.
At that, Choi Se-a’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you—”
Choi Se-a’s hand, which had reached out to grab my collar, dropped limply to her side.
I immediately smiled, gazing at the ring on her slender hand—the special restraint cuff.
“Criminals sure do talk a lot.”
As I spoke, a window appeared before my eyes.
Congratulations! You have completed the Quest ‘Capture Choi Se-a (A)’!
I snatched the USB from her hand and spoke quietly to her.
“First, let’s check what’s on this, and then we’ll make our promise. Doesn’t that sound right?”
I’ve completed the quest, saved a life, and obtained leverage over Choi Jun-gu all at once.
Ah, how sweet.

* * *
The deal between Choi Se-a and me came to fruition thanks to Choi Woo-jin.
‘Choi Woo-jin deserves most of the credit for this….’
Not that I wanted to admit it.
I hadn’t shown the transaction records between the Hanseong Sub-Guild Master and Officer Oh to Captain Hong first.
I showed them to Choi Woo-jin.
“Why are you bringing this to me?”
Choi Woo-jin’s usual smug expression had vanished, probably from the tedious work of verifying the personal information of 40,000 people one by one.
“Help me make a deal with Choi Se-a.”
Choi Woo-jin had clearly stated that Choi Se-a held leverage over Choi Jun-gu.
If that were true, it would undoubtedly be something essential to Choi Woo-jin, the protagonist of this world.
I intended to hand it over to him.
Not simply to curry favor with the protagonist of this world and increase my survival odds.
Going through this incident, I understood it clearly.
‘Choi Jun-gu doesn’t care whether innocent citizens die or live for the sake of his goals.’
I’d known this even when reading the original work, but seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t forgive it.
The village chief running about to save the townspeople.
The innocent villagers.
High school students around Lee Yu-gyeom’s age.
He treated them like objects.
Disposable toys that could be replaced if broken—no, worse than that.
“Choi Se-a has leverage over the Association Chairman. Whatever that leverage is, we need to secure it.”
At my words, Choi Woo-jin studied the photograph I’d sent him quietly, then spoke.
“Did you really obtain this ‘by coincidence’ because of your younger sibling?”
“…Huh?”
“I mean, that coincidence—”
Choi Woo-jin leaned against his supercar’s steering wheel, tapping it lightly with his fingers.
“Why does it always seem to apply only to our Investigator Lee Yu-ji?”
I swallowed hard without realizing it.
I quickly ran through my thoughts.
Had I overlooked something? Were there any suspicious circumstances remaining that could incriminate me?
No.
That couldn’t be.
I hadn’t missed anything.
In that case, the only way was—
“I’m just lucky?”
I smiled brightly.
Just slip back into the bumbling Investigator Lee Yu-ji as always!
“I’m always lucky anyway. My mother used to say I’d be fortunate and everything would work out….”
As I mentioned my mother, I unconsciously clamped my mouth shut.
Since there’s someone who knows about my mother, I find myself unconsciously bringing her up in conversation.
But of all people, it had to be Choi Woo-jin.
‘I mustn’t let my guard down.’
I steadied myself and thought carefully.
Choi Woo-jin tilted his head at an angle.
He looked up at my face from below, speaking to me.
“You’re quite perceptive about people.”
There was no smile on his face.
His refined features—devoid of savage intensity or artificial warmth—spoke to me with composed indifference.
“That police officer, you know. They’re quite perceptive about people. Always.”
“Police officer? My mother… is a woman.”
How could my mother be a man?
What kind of nonsensical thing was he saying?
Yet Choi Woo-jin merely chuckled softly and didn’t answer my words.
‘So he’s just glossing over it…?’
As I was thinking that, Choi Woo-jin leaned back against the chair and spoke.
“But for this matter, it would be better if you handled it directly, Investigator Lee Yu-ji.”
“Me?”
“Once this situation breaks, my aunt has no way to contact me directly. And it’s difficult for me to be seen making contact with her either. As you know, our grandfather keeps a tight rein on his bloodline.”
Ah, so Choi Woo-jin was still maintaining his reckless heir to a conglomerate persona.
Completely disinterested in Association matters, and as a non-Hunter, positioned to have no influence over succession.
That’s how he survived.
“So be a bit of a messenger between my aunt and me.”
Choi Woo-jin looked at me with a smile.
“Before the suspect interrogation, I’ll propose a deal to my aunt. Then during your investigation, Investigator Lee Yu-ji, you’ll seal the ‘contract.’ How’s that?”
That’s actually a good plan…?
The naive dove of peace that I was nodded in agreement.
“Okay!”
I didn’t know back then.

* * *
Who knew pigeons had such a brutal profession!
‘Now that I think about it, on the seventh day of the seventh month, magpies and crows must have lost a lot of feathers too.’
As I thought this, I grimaced at the pain radiating from my shoulder and back where I’d collided with Choi Se-a moments earlier.
‘Ugh….’
Choi Se-a and I had entered a separate room where we could speak privately.
We’d informed the lawyers that the investigation building had changed and relocated entirely.
Having ditched the lawyers, we each had something we wanted from the other.
“No one can know that I handed you this USB. You must absolutely ensure that it doesn’t reach anyone who would reveal it.”
True to form for a master of ‘contracts,’ Choi Se-a was already refining the terms of our agreement.
“I haven’t even verified the USB yet…?”
At my words, Choi Se-a let out a derisive laugh.
“You think I brought fake evidence? I’m already taking the fall and facing death in prison anyway.”
Choi Se-a added, looking at me.
“Anyway, your face looks much better now. Back then, your act as a middle-aged woman was so awkward and unconvincing.”
“You were fooled though.”
….
Hmph.
Nothing to say to that, is there?
But why am I still treating a criminal like my superior?
I quickly switched into investigator mode and spoke.
“As I mentioned, I won’t use this evidence directly. I’ll launch an investigation based on it.”
That was our agreement.
It was also the only way to secure Choi Se-a’s lifeline.
‘It’s actually fortunate that Choi Se-a has the Themis Blade skill.’
With no fear of her contract being broken, Choi Se-a actively pursued our agreement.
I would hold the evidence—her lifeline—and in return, I would help ensure Choi Se-a received protective custody while undergoing investigation.
I’d already informed the Special Investigations Bureau.
In exchange for Choi Se-a receiving a reduced sentence through judicial cooperation, she would be confined for a certain period or longer in a place beyond Choi Jun-gu’s reach, whether domestic or abroad.
That was the crux of our contract.
I inserted the USB that Choi Se-a handed me into the laptop in front of me.
Then Choi Se-a, who had been watching quietly, spoke.
“But you have no idea what’s on it, do you?”
“If I knew, would I be sitting here like this?”
I’d already be out hunting down Choi Jun-gu.
As I had that thought, Choi Se-a spoke with a subtle expression.
“I wonder if Woo-jin doesn’t know either? What’s inside it?”
What’s inside this thing?
No, don’t be swayed by what a criminal says.
That person has a mental-type skill, after all.
Listening to him would only cloud my judgment.
With that thought, I opened the video file stored on the USB drive.
The footage showed an ordinary traffic accident scene.
A white sedan ran a red light at high speed, with a police car in pursuit.
A large truck coming from the intersection swerved in panic, crashing into the sedan’s rear and the police car’s side.
Though the video had no sound, I could almost hear the impact.
The screech of metal tearing, the shatter of glass.
Screeeech—
The ominous hiss of steam rising from the fuel-laden vehicle.
Soon, a man stumbled out of the white sedan.
His face twisted in pain as if his ribs were badly broken, the man didn’t head toward the truck or the back seat—he moved toward the police car behind him.
But his steps faltered after just two strides.
The man collapsed in front of the police car, his knees buckling.
He fell.
He… fell.
My hand pressed the left button without my realizing it.
I pressed it again and again.
He falls.
I press again.
He falls.
I press.
Again. Again. Again. He falls.
Even watching it, I couldn’t believe it.
Why was this Choi Jun-gu’s weakness? Why was it…
I stared quietly at the fallen man’s face.
Even from this distance, even on such a low-quality screen, I could tell.
The stubborn jaw when clenched, the round eyes like an ox’s, the shirt he wore often and the jacket reeking of cigarette smoke.
It was him.
My father was hidden within Choi Jun-gu’s weakness.

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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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